Top 3 Pop Culture Moments of My Life

Let's do it countdown style...

3. Jack and Kate: Congratulating Matthew Fox on his Golden Globe nomination for LOST at The Art Bar.

Story: I was at the Hard Rock one night with Nicole (yes, I realize this could have been any night from 2002-2005) and I checked my cell to find 21 missed calls from Linzi Gizzle. Desperate to get a hold of me to tell me that Matthew Fox of my favorite-show-ever LOST was at The Art Bar watching some weird goth-hippy band BY HIMSELF. I immediately left the Hard Rock and drove to The Art Bar. Now for those of you who do not know, The Art Bar is the epitome of dive bars. But yeah, in that cool way. So I get there and there he is. Smoking cigarettes in the corner, sipping on a Miller Lite. It took everything I had not to yell "JACK!" or ask him 'Where's Walt?' (this was right after season one ended for you fellow Lost fans.) Instead, I watched (like a stalker) from afar and waited until he was in the middle of a conversation with the lead singer to awkwardly approach him and stand there until they were done. I then apologized (I'm so polite) and told him what a huge fan I was of the show and congratulated him on the shows Golden Globe nomination. I did not ask take a photo (IDIOT!) and do not remember if we touched or not. I would like to think we did.

2. Katie: Justin! Justin Timberlake: Hi.

Story: Justin Timberlake is who I listen to when I am getting a root canal. That is how much this man soothes my soul. The date: February 14, 2005. Location: The Hard Rock (Surprised?) Nicole and I were meeting Brandon to do a little booty-shaking at Body English. When we arrived, Brandon was talking to some dude and Brandon said "Bro, you gotta tell my girl who you were just playing blackjack with..." Dude goes, "Uh, Justin Timberlake?" WHAT?!? WHERE?!?? Dude,"Over there." I dash to the high roller tables and my jaw drops. There, sitting 15 feet from me was JT. In the flesh. Now this is before Hard Rock got all gay on me and put up glass around the high-roller room (probably to stop girls like me from doing stuff like this...) After standing there for not nearly long enough (30 minutes or so), we go inside Body English. I made a promise to myself that if he was still there when I came out of da club, I would have to say something. Sure enough, 2.5 hours later, Justin was still playing. There was something different at this hour though, he must've lost a couple grand because he was. not. happy. He was pacing back and fourth and I eventually yelled "Justin!", you know like we were old friends and I had just run into him in Vegas. He turned and said "Hi." Justin Timberlake was my Valentine. 2005.

1. Kanye and Katie at The 2007 VMA's

Story: Through a website called 1iota.com, I scored tickets to a private VMA party hosted by Kanye West. Jenner and I headed to The Palms on Friday, September 7th and were escorted up to The Bowling Suite in the Fantasy Tower with about 50 other MTV kids. There they provided us with free alcohol and snacks (I LOVE SNACKS) Around 10 p.m. or so, after standing in the room for 3 hours, they led us up to The Hugh Hefner Sky Villa. This place was amazing. Outside, on the top of the Fantasy Tower, they had a runway set up where my moment would later take place. Cameras, more alcohol and Stronger glasses told me we were in for quite the experience. Kanye's Graduation album was supposed to be released the following week but I had gotten my hands on a leaked copy so I knew all the words to his new songs. He came down the stairs starting with 'Touch the Sky' and man, did I lose it. I'm sure he was wondering what this little white girl was doing shaking her thing and singing along to his unreleased tunes but HE LOVED IT. When Stronger came on, we all put on the glasses and my first appearance on the VMA's happened http://www.mtv.com/overdrive/?id=1568795&vid=173552 Time: 3 minutes, 39 seconds then Jenner and I make an appearance again at about 2 minutes, 20 seconds. The energy was something like I'd never experienced before, that man has a way of hyping up a crowd that is UNREAL (although I'm sure the alcohol helped a bit as well.) That could've been it. But it wasn't. Picture this: Outside, 80 degrees, a little tipsy, on top of the Fantasy Tower at the Palms in Las Vegas...'The Good Life'? There couldn't have been a better song for a better moment. http://www.mtv.com/overdrive/?id=1568795&vid=175205 Time: 37 seconds. Synchronized dance moves? You betcha.

And that. that moment. Topped it all.

Totally 80's!!!

My dearest Eener threw herself an 80's Prom Theme Party to celebrate her 26th year. Costume parties can be difficult, basically if you're going to one you have to commit to that one event for that evening OR be OK with going somewhere else in your themed costume. For instance, last year I went to a bar in my toga after Renee's party to meet a boy I had been dating for .5 seconds (Jenner) Every one was in high spirits though as we danced the night away to Madonna, Cheap Trick and A-Ha. The highlight? Jenner and I won Prom Queen and King. As you can see from the photo above, it really met a lot to me :)

My name is Katie and I'm a Scrabulous Addict.

Since my dear pung-you felt compelled to write a comment about how I have turned my back on my new baby blog for Scrabulous, I felt I should address this issue.

Yes. It's true. I have turned my back on quite a few things in my life for this online, interactive game of language. But don't worry, it is my productivity at work that is suffering more than this blog (obviously if I am taking the time away for a....wait, it's my play. BRB!) Good thing things are on the slow side right now.

For those of you who I have not played a game of Scrabulous with yet...first off....I apologize because IT IS THE BEST THING EVER and you should IMMEDIATELY sign on to www.scrabulous.com and invite me to play. For those of you who are playing against me, well then you are aware of how much my game improves on a daily basis and I will soon be THE ULTIMATE SCRABBLE QUEEN.

An update? St. Patty's Day was this week. We did it up right at Brenden's, an Irish pub inside The Orleans. Took down some shots of Jameson. Did a jig. Ate a chicken sandwich. Success.

Tomorrow is a very special day for two reasons. One, it is The Gizzle's 25th Birthday but I'm pretending it's not since she's not coming in to town until Sunday. Two, it is my one year anniversary with the boyfriend. That makes me feel all warm, fuzzy and REALLY REALLY giddy. Saturday, is Eener's birthday party with an '80s Prom Theme. Pictures will be taken and posted, have no worries. The mustache is gone. Sunday is Easter a.k.a. the day I still make my mother hide eggs and give me clues on where to find them. I plan on having a pretty serious tummy ache from over consumption of Cadbury Mini Eggs from the hours of 10 a.m. until midnight. This blog was actually almost named after those little guys but somehow Heart Shaped Cut-Outs of Cadbury Mini Eggs just didn't work.

P.S. I just kicked Pep's ASS in Scrabulous.

Words Can't Even Descirbe

How much fun we're having with this.

"If You Can't Achieve It, Weave It"

On my way into the building today I ran into a co-worker who has a cute sassy new hair-do. I complimented and she went on to tell me how much she loves my long, luxurious locks (for those of you who do not know, I was part of a magazine make-over feature in December and got free extensions out of it.) I thanked her, explaining that my own hair would never be this flowy, thick or sex-kitten like. She then said "Hey gurl, if you can't achieve it, weave it."

At that moment, my Tuesday was officially MADE. And all before 9 a.m.

Google Alert: Katie Knoch

Lauren and I got to talking about "Googling" this a.m. When you Google her name, a short bio from her semester abroad comes up with photo attached. It's unfortunate that something she wrote at age 16 is the first thing that comes up when potential employers, people to date or stalkers Google her. But hey, at least it's a conversation starter.

For work, I receive daily Google alerts for clients at the agency. I decided to add my own name to that list and there is this Katie Knoch of Chico, CA that is such a SUPERSTAR. 3-4 times a week I get emailed an announcement that she's won another swim meet (she's like a fish.) And she can write. Check out today's alert.

Katie Knoch of Marigold Elementary School is this month’s winning essayist, nominating her teacher for Teacher of the Month: "I would like to nominate Steve Andes, my 4th Grade teacher, because he is a great teacher, and he is funny and patient when kids ask questions. He always makes everything fair. He is nice to all the kids, and it is the best school year ever."

Katie Knoch of Marigold Elementary should probably start her own blog.

The Diving Bell, The Butterfly and The Giz

Looking for inspiration for my Monday morning post, I visited my friend Chloe's blog and she had blogged about a movie we went to see together last week called the Diving Bell and the Butterfly. I'm going to do the same.

Chloe and I are part of the SK+G Double-D's book-club. I can't remember what exactly the Double-D's stand for but I think it's something along the lines of Daring Divas. Dashing Dames. I digress. In book club, we read books that are being adapted into movies. When the movie is released, we go see it and compare and contrast over a drink or four afterwards. The release of The Diving Bell and the Butterfly was so limited that it snuck up on us and I was unable to read the book. After seeing the movie though, I am definitely going to pick it up.

I see a lot of movies but this was one of the best ones I have seen in the past year. The film is based on the true story of the editor of French Elle magazine, Jean-Dominique Bauby who suffered a massive stroke at age 43 and woke up completely paralyzed except for his left eye. In the movie, you experience his "locked-in syndrome" defined on Wikipedia as "a condition in which a patient is aware and awake, but cannot move or communicate due to complete paralysis of nearly all voluntary muscles in the body. The condition has been described as "the closest thing to being buried alive". His speech therapist devises a method for him to communicate by blinking his eye by creating an alphabet that is in order from most commonly used letter in the French alphabet to the least commonly used letter. Jean-Do then wrote an entire memoir based on this method. The movie was beautifully done with a majority of it being based on Jean-Do's one-eye perspective which really made it more of an experience then anything else. The movie was nominated for 4 Academy Awards but unfortunately, didn't take home any golden statues. I'm not sure if this movie is still playing in a theatre near you, but I highly recommend at least adding it to your Netflix Queue.

Another perk of my weekend was having my B.F.F. for a surprise visit in town. Her name is Linzi G a.k.a. The Giz and she left me a few months ago to move to Denver, CO. It's where her heart has always been and she is incredibly happy out there although everyone back here misses her terribly. Her sister, who is like my own, got married this weekend which was cause for celebration. So celebrate we did. All over town. We visited McMullens Irish Pub over on Trop on Friday night and Saturday we visited The Havana Cigar and Wine Bar before hitting up The Griffin. The Griffin has really become one of our favorite spots to go. It's located in the new 'Freemont East' District and stands out among the rest with it's feeling of a cozy basement complete with fireplaces, leather couches and brick walls. It can get pretty hipster in there which makes for great people watching. My only warning to you would be that the drinks come strong. However, Freemont is always a good place to walk off a few if you need to afterwards.

Sunday, Lauren, Jenner and I went to my nephew's 5th birthday party that was held at Mini Grand Prix. With go-cart racing, photobooths and skee-ball, Jenner re-capped our afternoon perfectly when he said, "I would rather get a table here than at a nightclub."

I sure hope Jesse enjoyed his party as much as we did.