Taylor Swift Raps

she didn't even swear! hahaha...

Committed: This Love

the second season is back...holly, chip and I are into it and I had to share some of this amazing stuff. this group is by far the most flawless, well-rounded talent present, gospel dudes keeping it real ;)

kids teaching kids how to breakdance, Uganda (BPU)

Love is an Action

a profound movie quote, i couldn't say it any better

from the movie The Last Kiss
a conversation:

"Every asshole in the world says he loves somebody. it means nothing."
"But it's true!"
"It still doesn't mean anything. Because what you feel, only matters to You. It's what you do to the people you say you love, that's what matters, it is the only thing that counts."

cup of tea quote

"in the cookies of life, FRIENDS are the chocolate chips"

enjoy this flash mob type of collaboration performance ;) just click on the post title

Josie and Aunt Kori sprinkles cupcakes

click for my updated fall album for thanksgiving pictures, my dear college friends from CA and Phoenix gathered together for our first "friends thanksgiving" which was a blast!

Embracing being in my Optimistic Twenties

You know when you are in a certain mood or mind-set that you can't get rid of until you validate it by finding that song, that artist, that sound that expresses how you're feeling in the moment? Well here I am :)

"There's a new wind blowin' like i've never known.

I'm breathing deeper than I've ever done.

And it sure feels good, to finally feel the way I do.

I wanna love somebody,

Love somebody like you.

An' I'm lettin' go of all my lonely yesterdays

I've forgiven myself for the mistakes I've made

Now there's just one thing, one thing I wanna do, mmm, mmm

I wanna love somebody,

Love somebody like you."

-Keith Urban (from the wonderfully sappy, chick-flicky soundtrack in How to Lost a Guy in 10 days)

Goodnight!

To Love Another Person is to See the Face of God

So i've done some things lately, new things, that I'd like to share here.

Been to see "A Midsummer Night's Dream" ballet with my sister for her birthday, in Phoenix.

Taken to my first college football game, ASU vs. Stanford, close game but ASU still lost.

Seen the 25th Anniversary Celebration production of Les Miserables on screen, for a one night, one time showing played in select theatres throughout the U.S. It was superb and magical and as always touched me to the core:)

Glowed in admiration and pride (this fall) hearing my one and half year old niece Corinne say "Aunt Kowi" whenever I come through the front door --this is a perfect example of the title for my Blog :) And she continues to expand her vocabulary every day!!

Celebrate being employed as a teacher's assistant for a Montessori Preschool for almost three months now! I feel blessed for a job and one that I can see myself staying in and continuing my education for. And Ironically, it quickly turned into a personal dating service for Kori by her two matchmaker boss's. ha! or Rather, one blind date turned very successful and still promising :)

In my free-time/part time work status, Finished some more seasons of the HBO series Dexter and Entourage, still catching up to their current seasons now and kicking back to laugh my socks off with my mom watching the new tv hit, Modern Family, which I highly recommend to just about anyone:)

Currently reading : Harry Potter no.7 The Deathly Hallows, Three Cups of Tea, and a couple self-help books of a personal nature ;) those who talk to me often and know me won't need further explanation there.

A day back on Facebook (for desperate stalking purposes, LOL, yes I'm honest) quickly reinforced for me why I left the "social network" in the first place in the summer of '09, a test of sorts after leaving college and the east coast to allow me to choose more tangibly who and when I contact those people in my life. Using the old-fashioned ways of telephone conversations, face to face visits, e-mailing and letter writing which are (to me) more productive a way of personal communication without all the silly distractions of status updates, picture album viewings of people you hardly know and unintended time-wasted, browsing intricacies of every one's lives minus probably the most important one, oneself.
So needless to say, I'm Kori, and I've been facebook sober for 17 months ;)

And lastly, I've been taking college dance classes four nights a week, in Ballet and Jazz, which have been awesome and I plan on continuing my education there in the Spring!!

In closing, after a helpful reminder from a Sunday School session yesterday I plan to be others-minded and use my time availability as best I can to serve the less fortunate during what can be one of the hardest times for those alone, during the holidays; It was a reminder because I can definitely get caught up and stuck in my "family bubble" of happiness and easy thankfulness, that I forget what my religion and spirituality calls me to do. To live the love I've been given.

amen and peace friends!
-Korianne

footnote* the above title to this post is a quote/lyric in the finale of Broadway show, Les Miserables, and it is one of my favorite quotes of all time!!

Can't Tell Me Nothing with Zach Galifianakis - High Quality Video

I came across this video a while ago but still watch it from time to time for a good laugh...plus the song is genius by Kanye:)

Glee - Teenage Dream - Katy Perry

This is why I love Glee...can make a crappy song so fun and beautiful and make you want to sing along;)

If not Now, When? If not Me, then Who?

I'm trying to live with intentionality and grace today. I'm trying to do my best to live my life responsibly and by these wise words:
to whom much is given, much is tested
AND
be the change you wish to see in the world

"She's making plans and making tracks" - Rascall Flatts


"Maybe you have to let go of who you were to become who you will be?" - Sex and the City

Silent Monks Singing Halleluia

Embracing a Passion

Here's some great lyrics from an all time favorite musical, Les Miserables. Song by a young boy, named Gavroche, fighting in the french revolution, a tragic character but also a comic relief in the show as you can see below and HEAR

*And the Title for this post is reflective of my new appreciation for the opportunity to work at a Montessori Pre-school academy, began this school year and do believe I've found my calling or passion or as Messiah College loved to put it, my vocation.

Enjoy...

"Little People"

They laugh at me, these fellows, just because I am small.

They laugh at me because i'm not a hundred feet tall.

I tell 'em there's alot to learn down here on the ground.

The world is big, but little people turn it around

A worm can roll a stone

A bee can sting a bear

A fly can fly around Versailles 'cos flies don't care

A sparrow in a hat, can make a happy home.

A flie can bite the bottom of the Pope in Rome.

Goliath was a bruiser who was as tall as the sky

But David threw a right, and gave him one in the eye

I never read the bible but i know that it's true

It only goes to show what little people can do.

So listen here Professor, with your head in the clouds

It's also kind of useful to get lost in a crowd

So keep your Universities I don't give a damn

For better or for worse it is the way that I am

Be careful as you go, cos little people grow

'Cos little people grow

And little people know

When little people fight

We may look easy pickings, but we've got some bite!

So never kick a dog

because it's just a pup

You'd better run for cover when the pup grows up

And we'll fight like twenty armies and we won't give up!

bonus track haha...god this woman is blessed! Enjoy Lea Salonga singing both "I dreamed a dream" as Fantine and "On my own" as Eponine from Les Miserable as well.

hope, i am aware now, here we go...5 months later :)

you are the bearer of unconditional things
you held your breath and the door for me
thanks for your patience

you're the best listener that i've ever met
you're my best friend
best friends with benefits
what took me so long

i've never felt this healthy before
i've never wanted something rational
i am aware now (i like to think i am)
i am aware now

you've already won me over in spite of me
and don't be alarmed if i fall head over feet
Don't be surprised if i love you for all that you are
i couldn't help it
it's all your fault

-alanis morissette head over feet

Just Fine

"music is the healing source of the world" -a song on the radio, (can't remember? sorry.)
A sampling of Verses I relate to from Alanis Morissette's very real lyrics: "Hand in my Pocket"

I'm broke but I'm happy,

I'm poor but I'm kind.

I'm sane but I'm overwhelmed.

I'm lost but I'm hopeful.

I've got one hand in my pocket and the other one is giving a high five.

I'm young and I'm underpaid.

I'm tired but I'm working.

I'm high but I'm grounded.

I care but I'm restless.

I'm here but I'm really gone.
I'm wrong and I'm sorry.
I'm sad but I'm laughing.
I'm sick but I'm pretty.
I'm free but I'm focused.

What it all comes down to is that I haven't got it all figured out just yet.

And What it all boils down to is that no one's really got it figured out yet.

And what it all comes down to, my friends, is that every thing's gonna be fine, fine, fine.

My words: "Music is the voice of God, the voice of wisdom, age-less, time-less, speechless it is."

"Nothing is ours. All belongs to God and we are temporary tenants to the master, if you will. So, having like-minded attitude that all we possess is for the purpose of sharing then we're on a ready course to give and not hoard away selfishly."
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I'm still trying to figure out how I want to write on this blog. I may try out some new things soon. Feedback is welcome, thanks!

Daily Life

"Every day takes figuring out again how to fucking live." -one character's quote from the HBO series, Deadwood.
I am feeling this today. I think sometimes one just needs to get dirty to appreciate cleanliness. Here's a Poem to describe this thought.

messy to clean the house, wash dishes, take out the trash
smelly to flower fragrance air freshners
be a slob to be made up and put together
eat junk to eat healthy and delicious
laziness to be diligent and productive
self-gratification to self-discipline's gift later
skip, play hooky to be present and early
be naked to being dressed
take a break to push forward

Perhaps this is my attempt at reconciling my ups and downs? Actually that is exactly what it is.

For One Great Peace

words by Shirley Erena Murray, from the hymn For One Great Peace


this thread I weave this step I dance
this stone I carve
this ball I bounce
this nail I drive
this pot I shape
this fire I light
this fence I leap
this bane I knit
this seed I nurse
this rift I mend
this child I raise
this earth I tend
this truth I sign
this is a small part in one small place
of one hearts beat for one great Peace.

Four Peaks Hiking Adventure!

This is the highest peak of the four peaks with the only "name" Browns Peak-- all are in the 7,000 ft high peak range.

I ALMOST made it to the summit. This was sometime back, a few months ago...

Thank you dirt

Another disappointing trend-slacking off with my blogging. However, due to another real-life disappointment of resigning from my position working at a shelter for girls in CPS just two weeks ago, I now have more time to do this kind of stuff, so hooray!

I have pictures to update you with some of my life happenings in Arizona visible on my link to my picasa album and go to Holly's for more if you like... as well as some breath-taking photos of the Grand Canyon below. from 6 days ago.

Down and up in 1 day. heck yes!

Snow/ice at the top, slid on our butts down...

So, I am in limbo once again. And thankfully, honestly, genuinely and sincerely, THANKFULLY (to dad, mom, sister, brother Chip) I have the luxury to survive with no income for a couple months now as I look for a new job. Now speaking of, I am taking it on as a full-time job to finding the adequate position that will provide me with my needs. Networking as best I can with church folks in the choir and joining Linkedin as encouraged by a dear friend's father and getting that resume out there and bugging employers until they get back to me. I am taking a hold of this search with both hands and all my well-trimmed business suits to be all I can be! (ha, maybe I should just join the armed forces, not...) Please don't ask me how the search is going, I will let you know when something promising comes or if I need encouragement, but as I'm sure you all can understand the constant questions and inquiries get to be tiresome and down right annoying however well intended they may be. Thank you. Now if you were one of the people in the above parenthesis you are not included in this request :)

SO--
A nice diversion is March Madness! Still rooting for my Nova boys in Philly and it just so happens my father who I usually watch the games with, is going to be out here!! Mom comes in two weeks as well to be together for Corinne's first birthday. And THIS here; blogging, I hope more regularly with feedback highly encouraged so I know more how YOU are. And I will get back on the horse with my letter writing too--thank you for those who have written back. Thirdly, I am going to walk every morning in time to see the sunrise and jump start my day, there is a nice new exercise route Tempe town has created to walk on so it is not all traffic lights and stores:) and not to mention a mountain with trails up the waaahzooo to explore just down the road in biking distance! As you can see below and in more pictures, I have been exploring Arizona's unique terrain on hiking trips thanks to meeting someone with a similar adventurous spirit and the means to get around his home-grown desert state.

under a sweet rock at Superstition Mountains.

I'm continually visiting my dear elderly friend Helen who is in Hospice care. It feels amazing to be loyal and committed to something and someone more importantly who truly deserves more of this attention; I have sadly learned she is very much alone, no family and so I know with assurance I make a difference. This is not me trying to brag or raise myself above you or others-so I hope it came out in a humble manner for which I do aim for. I continue to faithfully sing in the UPC choir with Holly and we have an ice-cream social to perform in ("blackbird" hol on acoustic guitar and vocals with kori back up harmonies:) as well as the Palm Sunday Cantata the choir's been working on for Months! It should be quite rewarding and beautiful to hear I might add.

"dirt made my lunch, yes dirt made my lunch, thank you dirt, thanks alot-- cuz dirt, you made my lunch." -one of the kid songs i listen to in holly's car. good messages and I must get them out of my head (ha.)



One day hol and i found ourselves jamming out to one of these and there were NO kids in the car, so we quickly realized, changed to the radio and got back our dignity! (haha.)

And I would not want to forget my most recent mini-roadtrip to California a couple weekends ago. It was all to see my best friend Lizzy and her boy Kevo (no i don't call him that it just works here) while they were in Riverside, CA looking at a potential ph.d. program for the gentleman- and the lovely Emily was my co-pilot on the drive over. We had a fabulous time (met Jaclyn Smith one of the first Charlie's Angels for those unimpressed ha, she is ironically related to the gentleman Kevin, so crazy and go figure we are there the weekend of the Academy Awards none-the-less!) and then we had a nice day/night in L.A. -first time and I enjoyed it, especially the closeness to the ocean and beach life and everyone is outdoors!! it's always beautiful so no wonder, eh? almost saw Erin who lives there now, but next time it will happen, right girl?
ok, Peace out folks. until next time!!!

ode to deadwood and my sister

"'Deadwood'...with its Shakespeare-in-the-mud swear-word-marathon mix of bloody drama and dark deeds of men (and hookers)...It's the kind of series that gets people talking." (June 02, 2006By Tim Goodman)

AND so it's got me thinking and typing, a.k.a. talking to those of you who read my humble blog:)

'Just trying to keep putting one foot in front of the other' is one of the overall messages I took from this historical, mining frontier period piece, Deadwood, an American-Western fictional drama set in a real time (1870's) about a notorious law-less town called Deadwood in South Dakota.

I enjoyed the way the final episode wrapped all the different stories up. I realize this may not make much sense for anyone not having seen this HBO series that lasted only three seasons. However, there is just that pure, raw truth in it that speaks so powerfully to me-which I hope will transcend not knowing the background. we shall see.

"right or wrong you side with your feelings" -character Dan

"can you come to yourself in time to be of some fucking use?" -Dan (again) to friend and co-hort

--a question we ask of ourselves every morning, the executive producer David Milch, comments after this line of dialogue in the final episode's commentary

another great piece of dialogue

Mr. utter: you done fucking good.
Sheriff Bullock: I done fucking nothing.
Mr. Utter: that's often a tough one, in aid of the larger purpose
Sheriff Bullock: which is laying head to pillow not confusing yourself with a sucker?
Mr. Utter: far as i ever get
Sheriff Bullock: cause that's gonna be a project tonight."

David Milch again in the commentary states-"that's every night's project"

I've read some criticisms of how Deadwood was concluded and I respect Milch's defense at the end of the commentary when he says that the last line of the film spoken by Al Swearengen "camp's boss" is, "he wants me to tell him something pretty" parallels quite well how he intended to complete the show.
He says,
"tell something pretty, to please the audience you know...don't feel that the failure to wrap things up, is a failure. It's not, it's just a refusal to tell something pretty...

nothing has concluded that we should conclude about it. We gotta just keep trying to put one foot in front of the other"

Speaking truth to power is a great motif as well throughout Deadwood, as the growth from camp to town, going through many changes and outside forces entering in trying to disturb the way things are- you get to watch amazing character actors perform.

I hope this turns some of you on to watching this show on dvd--the language takes some getting used to, both the profanity and Shakespearean-like prose, I will say that much, BUT please believe me it is so worth it!

I heard somewhere that this television drama series is already being discussed in college class rooms.

Thanks Holly for introducing me to Deadwood.

grace

quote from a bubble bath bottle believe it or not!! here's to being inspired in the shower:):)

"how you climb up the mountain is just as important as how you get down the mountain. and, so it is with life, which for many of us becomes one big gigantic test followed by one big gigantic lesson. in the end, i all comes down to one word. grace. it's how you accept winning and losing, good luck and bad luck, the darkness and the light."

this is quickly becoming my life philosophy. And it has not always been. I remember when everything was so black and white and what and who was right and wrong were clear to me; made even clearer through my Christian upbringing. But now as I am older and more "worldly" shall I say, i.e. I've been outside the country, even outside my hometown would do it, taken challenging college courses, etc...AND now for me life is all about balance between the black and white/right and wrong and with that comes grace. Every person has different equations, I suppose, my goal is

humility + openness(love) = Grace

Here's a sweet lyric from the band Switchfoot, I've been listening to in the car- on my 'lovely half hour commute to work!'

"Life is a day that doesn't last for long...We've got information in the information age ,what do we know what life is, outside of our convenient Lexus cages. she said he said live like no tomorrow every moment that we borrow brings us closer to the God whose not short of cash, hey bono i'm glad you asked life still worth living, life is still worth living"

even when it's not perfect.