Halloween

For a little pre-Halloween festivities, Brie, Rebecca and I decided to dress up and go downtown for a costume contest. I went as Sarah from the movie Labyrinth complete will my David Bowie owl. Rebecca was a medieval alchemist and looked really cool with a black wig. And Brie was a garbage bag. All of our costumes were home made. We didn’t win anything in the costume contest, but Brie got a lot of attention and laughs. She had to have all her drinks with a straw.

Katie

Joining my next ship: Zuiderdam

I have just accepted a contract with Holland America Cruise Lines. I will be broadcast manager on the Zuiderdam. As manager I will get my own room and much better pay then I got at Celebrity. My uniform is pretty much my own clothes as long as they are all black. There isn’t a staff mess, I just get to go up and eat with the guests. On Holland America I will be considered a two stripe officer (no cool officer’s uniform though.) My friend Dave got me the job. He’s on a Holland ship too.

The Zuiderdam does an East Caribbean run for the whole time I’ll be there. I’ll be in Ft. Lauderdale most every Sunday. From there the ship will go to the Bahamas, St. Thomas, Tortola and that’s pretty much it. My contract will be short, only four months. I leave in five days and I will be back by March 4th. Which will be just in time for the Oscar Party. It will also be perfect timing to start working as a photographer.

That’s right, as soon as I get back, I’m going to be working as an associate photographer with Woodward and Rick Photography. They are my favorite photographers in Asheville and I’m so excited about working with them. They can’t start me right away and winter is slow anyway so this contract will be the perfect filler (not to mention an escape from the cold.)

There’s no free internet access for me on the ship and since I will be manager and a first timer at that, I imagine I will be very busy to begin with, but I will of course keep you all updated as much as possible. Well I have to get packing and get everything in order before I ship out, tee hee.

Katie

Walking the Dogs

The weather is getting cooler and the leaves have finally changed a bit. It’s starting to feel and look like fall here. Honey is my sister’s hound dog, but somehow I always seem to be the one taking her on a daily walk in the woods. Not only do I take her, but her friend Bella (our neighbor’s dog) comes over almost everyday at right about the time I take Honey for a walk so now I usually take them both. Our pug, Mae, is old and likes nothing more than to curl up in someone’s lap and be petted, but sometimes I make her get some exercise too.

I’ve attached some nice pictures I got on one of our evening walks. And some walking sticks that I’ve been working on. That pitiful expression in the first picture is the same one I see every afternoon from Honey so that I can’t possibly skip out.

Katie

Chimney Rock

Chimney Rock Park is just a short drive from Asheville. Biltmore Estate Employees can get themselves and family members in for free. So Brie and Rebecca and I set off on a spur of the moment adventure (I’m so sorry I forgot to call you Michael, I will get you next time.)

We stopped by an apple orchard to pickup some fresh apples and pet the animals they had. Then we hiked all over Chimney Rock Park. My favorite is Hickory Nut Falls. It’s over 400 feet of cascading water. You might recognize it as the sight of the final scene in Last of the Mohicans.

Rebecca played in the water a bit and then when it came time to take a group picture she put her icy hands on my neck and Brie’s. That’s why our smiles look more like grimaces. We all had a great day and hope to go back again before winter.

Katie

The House

We have long since finished the major construction on our new house and have been living in it for a while. There are still lots of little things to be finished. Putting in a wood burning stove is my top priority, but we are waiting until we sell the house we were living in before we move forward with any major projects on the new house. So if anyone feels like moving to Asheville, we have a cosy little 3 bedroom house with a full basement on the market. And if you just want to come for a visit, you’re welcome to the nice big new house (sans wood burning stove.) I’ve attached some pictures of the new house we’re living in to temp you.

Katie

Movie Review for Vanity Mirror

My horror movie just got a great review. Check it out at:

http://www.pretty-scary.net/modules.php?name=News&file=article&sid=339

The woman who wrote the article is also writing a book on female horror film directors and she wants to include me in it.

Katie

Mt. Mitchell

Rebecca and our friend, Brie (yes, sounds just like the cheese, but it’s actually short for Gabrielle) and I drove up to Mt. Mitchell to watch the sunset. After driving for an hour to get to the summit which is one and a quarter miles above sea level and the highest peak in North Carolina, we found ourselves enveloped in a cloud! We had been to Mt. Mitchell before and enjoyed breathtaking scenery, but this time it was just fog and more fog. Attached is a picture of Brie and I threw in a nice scenic shot of the mountains that I got the time before so that you wouldn’t be too put off.

Katie

Rejected

Well this isn’t the exciting news I promised, that’s still to come. I’m waiting on pictures to include with that Chronicle. Rebecca and I just got our rejection letters from the masters program we both applied to. So she’s looking into other degrees for teaching and I’m looking for work as a photographer. I’m still going to finish my manuscript. It’s just too good to abandon. Then I guess I’ll have to find an agent and get it published. I also want to make a feature film out of that story, but we’ll see which comes first. Thanks everyone for your encouragement and support. Too bad that program didn’t see the incredible talent they let go ;P

Katie

The News

I haven’t sent a Chronicle for September because I have been completely boring the entire month long. I am still waiting to hear if I have been accepted to the masters program I applied to. In the meantime I have been working on my manuscript (regardless of weather I am accepted to the program, I plan on finishing this novel, getting it published, adapting it for the screen and making my first feature with it.) So I’ve been mainly writing. I’ve also been putting together a photography portfolio of large prints. And that’s boring to write about, but look I just did :)

Rebecca is looking into taking her GRE so that she can get a job teaching (can’t be a Biltmore Estate house host forever.) The old house is on the market! I have also been helping to get the old house ready. Mom and dad have put a lot of work into repainting and fixing it up.

And that’s where things stand now. I’ll have more exciting news later, so stay tuned.

Katie

A Note From Katie

Unfortunately the lack of posts here is not because I have been too busy, but because I have been completely boring this month and didn’t send out any Chronicles. Next month I have a few adventures and I also explain my lack of posts in September. So please proceed to October.

Katie

More Cabin

We've had a full house at the cabin. In addition to Jessica, her boyfriend Jose Miguel came for the weekend as did Kristin, Rebecca’s friend from school. We all had a blast. Miguel learned to shoot a bow and arrow, we cooked dinner one night, we’ve been riding Papa’s four-wheeler, and of course playing lots of Canasta. I even got around to doing some writing. Jessica, Kristin, and Miguel have all gone now, and it's finally time for Rebecca and I to go too. Time really has gone by too fast.

Katie

Blackberry Picking

The other day we went blackberry picking at a local friend’s farm. Jessica had never been before and she didn’t believe us when we told her to get out and start picking blackberries on the side of a dirt road in the middle of nowhere. We suspect Rebecca ate far more than she picked. Grama made a delicious blackberry pie for dessert that night, sorry there are no pictures of that, but we ate it too fast.

Katie

At the Cabin

Our cousin Jessica (the J in JKR Productions, for those of you who don’t know) is visiting for a few days with Rebecca and I at the cabin. We’ve been watercolor painting and swimming in the creek and just having a grand time in general.

Katie

Riding Greyhound to Pennsylvania

So Rebecca and I wanted to take a trip to Pennsylvania to visit my grandparents at the cabin for a couple weeks. Rebecca didn’t want to fly, and with the price of gas, driving was not the most economical way. No, we decided to take the Greyhound bus. It was far cheaper than any other means of transportation. So together we set off on what was sure to be an adventure.

Right off the bat Rebecca realized that she forgot a hat, so she Magivered one out of my fan, and that’s the only picture we got before the camera died. We decided to keep track of all the interesting things we heard and saw on our trip in a little journal. Here are the excerpts:

1 (by Rebecca) Smoker in the Bathroom “That person smoking better put it out, please,” says the bus driver to the skanky man who went in the bathroom.

2 (by Katie) The toilet on the bus might have been more savory than the ones in Knoxville, TN. Upon entering one was greeted by a knocked down stall door that sat crooked on the toilet seat.

3 (by Rebecca) Words of Wisdom from the Bus Driver
“I’ve been held up with guns, knives, and bats.”
“Working for Greyhound is madness.”
“At the Greyhound training school, they teach you to run over kids, if they jump in front of the bus. Because if you swerve, you risk killing 55 people instead of 1 dead person.”
“The only accident you can’t prevent, is when a plane hits a parked bus.”

4 (by Katie) Katie took another reserved sip from her water bottle, not wanting to be too hydrated and be forced to use the tiny, stinky, sloshing toilet on the bus. “Hey, baby.” The words came from behind her. She froze and braced for a creepy hand on the shoulder or a foul smelling crooked toothed smile. The figure passed wearing a head set that obviously belonged on a computer and not a cell phone continuing his conversation. Katie breathed a sigh of relief as Rebecca laughed.

Katie

Rigoletto on the lawn

Asheville may not have much to offer in the way of work, but the town makes up for it in culture. Mom, Rebecca and I went to see Rigoletto on the lawn. There is a company that performs at an outdoor theater near Asheville. It was a great opera and everyone was jealous of the fabulous picnic that we brought. One guy that worked there even took pictures of us.

Katie

Asheville Ghost Walk

The other night I went on a ghost walk tour of Asheville with mom, Tricia, and Brie pictured here with a ghost-detecting meter. The moment the meter was turned on it peaked at the red danger level. It seemed that the spirits really liked Tricia. The ghost tour was a really cool way to see the city. I got some great night shots of Asheville. And did we see any ghosts? Is that last shot of the green woman a specter, or is Katie just being clever with her shutter speed? You decide.

Katie

High Tea

Despite being held in record heat for Asheville, mom's high tea was a smashing success. We dined on a variety of sweet and savory treats all prepared by the Damien women. Everyone enjoyed the cool breezes on our wrap around porch. We were even lucky enough to have our old neighbors from Florida come over and visit.

Katie

Windsurfing Vancouver

I have arrived safely back home in Asheville, North Carolina. I had some terrible flights, but mom hired a driver to come and pick me up from the airport so I felt very important leaving baggage claim with my own chuffer and I got to sleep the whole ride home.

Before I left the ship I had some final great adventures. Dan and I went windsurfing and biking around Vancouver. I told him we had to do superhero poses in our wetsuits because that's what they remind me of. We stopped at a little know ice cream place that had over 200 hundred flavors all right there. It was very cool. When I was in Juneau last Dan and I went hiking up a mountain and stopped in town for dinner with Michael and our dancer friend Terry Lee. And finally no farewell would be complete without a midnight Martini in the Martini Bar. You can probably tell from Michael's picture that he was already on his second one.

So now I'm going to apply to the masters program for creative writing at Warren Wilson College. The program is very competitive so Rebecca, who is also applying, and I are going to Pennsylvania to play…I mean prepare our submissions to the program. I'm set to join a ship in January after the holidays, which is how I like to do it. So now I have six months to decide what I will do with myself. For now, it's time to start writing. Then I suppose I better find some work. Which in this town is easier said than done.

Katie

floatplane

Dan and I had a great adventure in Ketchikan. We went on a floatplane trip through Misty Fjords National Monument. We flew around the mountains for about an hour then our pilot landed in the middle of this lake and we all got out and stood on the floats. It was magnificent.

Katie

Vancouver

I had been windsurfing once in Aruba and Dan (French Canadian audio tech in the theater, and the taller one wearing blue) who lived in Vancouver for a while suggested we make a trip to Jericho Beach to windsurf. I thought he was joking at first because the weather in Vancouver is pleasant, maybe little on the chilly side, but the water is really cold. He said no people do it all the time they just wear a wetsuit. So he and Paul (Scottish AV tech also in the theater) and I went biking around Vancouver and then windsurfing. The water was freezing, but after a little while, you were working so hard to stay up that you didn’t notice how cold it was... that is until you fell in.

Katie