Kristin Sample » C.K.

Christmas in Jackson

Kristin Sample — Wed, 24 Dec 2008 18:59:39 +0000

C.K. and I are down in Jackson, MS for the holidays. It’s nice to see C.K.’s family again. The eating has begun and I don’t expect it to stop until we board the plane back to New York. Already I’ve sampled (no poor pun intended there) some pickled shrimp, spiced peaches, smoked ham, pound cake, and flavored pecans from Indianola (I think that’s how you spell it). All very good. The ham is my favorite though. There’s really nothing more tasty that fresh ham that has been dressed with spices and smoked. It is NOT the “maple glazed” run-of-the-mill spiral cut ham from your local grocer.

The weather is nice here in Mississippi too. According to the Samples, the 70s and partly cloudy this week is nice respite from the 20s Jackson had last week. Looks like New York isn’t the only part of the country with unpredictable weather patterns. Just last week, New York saw a beautiful sunny day with highs in the 50s and then freezing rain and snow not two days later. (Global warming is real, people.)

I’m off to eat some more. Hopefully the next few days will bring me enough quiet to work on revising the novel.

Happy Holidays!

Obsessable

Kristin Sample — Thu, 25 Sep 2008 03:02:32 +0000

Since we’ve moved back from California, C.K. has been working with Brian Alvey on his new company Crowd Fusion. It’s a new website publication platform (don’t ask me what that is). They just launched their first website the other day. It’s called Obsessable. Yeah, I know. The name is catchy. It reminds me of other make-believe words that are fun to say. Like Nastical (my own creation), and Ginormous (this one is way too common), and Romantical (a nod to my man Flava FLAV!).

Obsessable focuses on technology – everything from digital cameras and mobile phones to gaming consoles. I really like their product profile pages. Each contains a snippet explaining the product, further details if you want them, and some photos. I think it’s very helpful if you were going to buy a digital phone and couldn’t tell the difference between a Nikon D70 and a LeClic camera. Okay, you could probably tell the difference between those too. (Sidenote: I just got the urge to buy a LeClic on Amazon. Maybe Obsessable would let me write the “Product Profile” page?)

Check out C.K.’s post on 5 Cool Things about Obsessable.

The Prime Minister

Kristin Sample — Sat, 13 Sep 2008 01:30:28 +0000

This is the perfect “prime minister” picture of Thatcher. She looks very aristocratic. She looks like she could run a country, definitely a small country like England (teehee). She might even be able to run Westchester. (The pug looks a little fat in this picture though. She’s really not fat. She’s just lumpy like that when she sits down.)
C.K. even did a drawing of the picture with PhotoShop.

Century 21, New York’s Best Kept Secret

Kristin Sample — Wed, 03 Sep 2008 15:35:45 +0000

Okay, so it says that on the sign but Century 21, as you can tell by the packed lot, is no secret to New Yorkers. There’s one in the city, one in Brooklyn, and one on Long Island. Last Friday, my mom and I visited the Long Island store for some “back-to-school” clothes. Century 21 carries all kinds of trendy brands and designer names at half price. Of course, you have to check the sizes and check for any weird sewing errors. The store gets surplus and some awkward stuff. But as long as you’re willing to sift through racks of clothing, you could find some really good buys. In fact, last year I found a Nicole Miller gown for a friend’s wedding here. I paid $40 for it. It’s normal retail was about $400. My friend Kim was shopping with me and agreed that I was losing money if I didn’t buy it. Like my awesome shopping logic?

On Friday, I bought C.K. four polo tops (Izod, Ralph Lauren, and Tommy Hilfiger included in that). I also needed some tops for work at Preston this year. Because schools don’t have air conditioning and September can be warm in New York, I needed a few professional but light, airy tops to wear to work. I got a few things. A nice Da-Nang cotton top with peasant sleeves among them.

Escape from L.A.

Kristin Sample — Tue, 19 Aug 2008 15:01:18 +0000

It’s our last day in L.A.

Our flight is early: 7:15 am on Virgin America. I like to fly early when going from LA to NY because of the time change. You lose five hours of the day flying and when you go from west to east, you lose even more time, three more hours to be exact. We’ll get in at 3:50 p.m., just in time to wash up and have dinner at Gino’s, a mom-and-pop Italian restaurant in my hometown. They have THE BEST food. What they lack in sophisticated service and atmosphere, they make up for ten-fold with their yummy pastas.

I can’t wait to get home. We’ve been here a year and a day. I’m ready to start a new chapter of our life. I’ll be directing a musical this year, working with Preston’s administration, finishing my book and securing an agent (fingers crossed on those), and probably starting back at Fordham. I have five classes of my second Master’s completed so I want to finish. Hopefully, all of those credits are still good. My first Master’s, also from Fordham, is in English. Now this one will be in Adolescent Education. I believe it’s an MST (Master’s of Science in Teaching). Didn’t think teaching was a science though. I’d say it’s more of an art form. But whatever.

It’s no coincidence that I titled this post “Escape from L.A.” Kurt Russell is one of my favorite actors. Overboard. Captain Ron. Backdraft. Big Trouble in Little China. He’s been in some classics. I know Kurt Russell would want us to escape from Los Angeles. He seems like a a good egg.

Busy Week, Car shipping

Kristin Sample — Fri, 15 Aug 2008 05:35:22 +0000

It’s been a busy week for CK and I. However, it looks like everything is basically done for the move back home. Now, I just have to get everything organized at our apartment in Westchester before I start back to work for the school year. The books and DVDs will be easy. But organizing our clothes again, our files, and just the general setting up shop will be some work. (I just realized I have absolutely nothing in my pantry. No non-perishables. No cleaning supplies. It will be some trip to Super Stop & Shop. Or maybe to Stew’s! How I’ve missed Stew’s!)

The car was picked up Wednesday morning for shipment. Probably one of the best things about shipping a car is that you can fill the trunk with clothing and linens. The contents of the trunk can’t look suspicious for check points. It can’t have anything breakable (for obvious reasons). And it can’t make the car look bottom heavy.

Just a note for anyone who needs to ship a car. They give you a rather broad schedule for when they will pick up your car. Of course, anyone who needs to ship his / her car is probably moving a long distance and therefore needs said car for a long as possible beforehand. Last summer when I shipped the Passat to LA, they gave me a week–we will pick it up any time between this Monday and next Monday. Then, the driver still called me four days prior to that first Monday and told me he needed the car the next day. This time, it worked out better.

The birdies are already in NY. The books are on their way. The DVDs are getting shipped. About twenty other boxes are following them. Tomorrow the Passat will make it way back home. And next Tuesday at 7:55 am, CK, Thatcher, and I will go back to the “right” coast.

Will Rogers State Beach

Kristin Sample — Tue, 05 Aug 2008 17:50:09 +0000

Here’s some pictures from our trip to the beach last weekend. It was pleasant day. We drove up to the Pacific Palisades after and had some lunch at Mogan’s Cafe. I go there a lot after my dance classes. They have great soups, fresh granola, and good burgers. I had a tasty turkey burger.

Doctor Who? More like Doctor WTF

Kristin Sample — Sat, 26 Jul 2008 16:49:31 +0000

I just don’t get the allure of Sci-Fi shows. I like Sci-Fi movies. I should clarify: I prefer fantasy and superhero movies to Sci-fi but Sci-Fi can be cool too. But Sci-fi Shows, particularly the British ones, I just don’t like. And it doesn’t stop at just different tastes, I honestly can’t understand why anyone would like them. Unless people watch them because they are awesomely bad.

C.K.’s watching Doctor Who right now and the production quality is horrible. It looks like a stage show. It has this sappy music playing in the background. The special effects are almost non-existent, the robots, aliens and monsters are all lackluster. If this is supposed to be an alternative universe, they are not doing a good job making me belief it. I’m sure Who and Torchwood fans would cry “Sacrilege!”, but I think they should outsource the show to an American studio, make it sexier after selling some ads, then put it back out there. Also the show does nothing to reward a new viewer. But as C.K. says (and I suspect many fans of Sci-Fi would agree), “who needs you?”

With that, I’ll be quiet. Just had to get it off my chest. I tried on a few occasions to “get into” Torchwood, Dr. Who, or even American shows like Battlestar Galactica. And they just miss the mark for me.

C.K. and I are doing a blog…together

Kristin Sample — Tue, 22 Jul 2008 22:37:45 +0000

It’s not up yet but we bought the domain name. It’s going to be all about living in Los Angeles and our new albeit temporary lives here on the West Coast. We hate it here. So, why not complain about it.

I’m not telling the name yet. But I promise it will be good.