K-Vap's Artist Blog

Welcome to the Discomfort Zone

2012-01-20T07:31:00.000-09:00

"Yes is how you get your first job, and your next job, and your spouse, and even your kids. Even if it's a bit edgy, a bit out of your comfort zone, saying yes means that you will do something new, meet someone new and make a difference."~Eric Schmidt My preferred way of meditating. In the past month and a half I have gone into a deep meditation. Okay snickering friends keep going.

The Kanye Factor: Why People Hate This Man So Much

2012-01-11T07:53:00.000-09:00

Kanye West inspire ire, disgust, and criticism because he raps about his ire, disgust, and criticisms. Kanye West: Cause I'm suffering from realness Got my niggas in Paris And they going gorillas, huh! [Will Ferrell & Jon Heder] "I don't even know what that means" "No one knows what it means but its provocative" "No it's not..." "It gets the people GOING"~ Niggas in Paris I posted these

Choosing the Theme Song of the Week

2012-01-02T11:28:00.001-09:00

It's an unusual tradition that came out of nowhere. A rather organic process that is unlike my ritualistic half hour with my Franklin Covey planner pouring over appointments, prioritizing my tasks, and notating materials needed for the week. Yet, somehow the selection is tied to the process of sitting with my calendar. At some point, before the new week starts, I'll have the radio/iTunes/Pandora

Last Thoughts of 2011

2011-12-31T22:36:00.000-09:00

"New Year's Day... now is the accepted time to make your regular annual good resolutions. Next week you can begin paving hell with them as usual."~Mark Twain It's 9:29 here in Alaska and I'm sitting alone in my living room watching the Sarah Jane Adventures. My husband, who is recovering from surgery, is tucked in his bed and my son is off at The Cabin's annual New Year's Party. And had this

The Benefits of the Sith Code

2011-12-30T23:48:00.000-09:00

Note from K-Vap: I asked fellow blogger Reco Aric of Philosophical Rantings to write this post soon after I started reading Geek Wisdom by N.K. Jemisin. A year ago, we had a discussion about how the Sith code is assumed to be bad because the Sith are always portrayed as bad. Below are his thoughts on this misunderstanding: The Jedi and Sith Code side by side. I don't know why I'm being

Teenage Code: What "That's Dumb" Really Means

2011-12-29T06:56:00.000-09:00

"The best substitute for experience is being sixteen." ~Raymond Duncan When a teenager utters "That's Dumb" chances areit really means "I really don't know much about it." So I get this phone call yesterday: Ivan: Hey mom. Guess where I'm at? Thomas's. I've been here for six hours playing Mario Fortune Street. It is so cool! Me: What?! Isn't that the game I wanted for Christmas, but

Happy Anniversary: 13 Years of Marriage and Understanding It All

2011-12-28T07:43:00.000-09:00

"Basically my wife was immature. I'd be at home in the bath and she'd come in and sink my boats."~Woody Allen. Astrology warns that two Scorpios should think twice before marrying. However, a successfulScorpio-Scorpio marriage can be passionate,intense, and fulfilling. I read once that two Scorpios should never marry. Go ahead and laugh at my fascination with horoscopes. No, I don't

What I've Learned About the "High Road"

2011-12-21T22:19:00.001-09:00

"...whoever established the high road and how high it should be should be fired."~Sandra Bullock The Fallacy Taking the High Road doesn't protect you from peoplewho are willing to climb out of the trenches to attack. I'm going to start of my anti-bully spiel the same way I always do: I am not a woman who generally advocates violence. That said, I think there is a great fallacy that all

The Number One Rule I've Learned--Seriously

2011-12-20T12:00:00.000-09:00

"Drop the idea that you are Atlas carrying the world on your shoulders. The world would go on even without you. Don't take yourself so seriously. "~Norman Vincent Peale "It is not materialism that is the chief curse of the world, as pastors teach, but idealism. Men get into trouble by taking their visions and hallucinations too seriously. "~H. L. Mencken Even "fun and games" has it's spot

The Outside Perspective is NEVER What You See

2011-12-12T09:07:00.001-09:00

"There's no secret about success. Did you ever know a successful man who didn't tell you about it?" ~Kin Hubbard (1868 - 1930) Setting aside the books to tackle things in my ownspecial way. No matter how silly that way seems. A respected Fairbanks journalist stopped me at the market the other day-- somewhere in the middle of my search for anti-bacterial soap-- and asked me about my

What is Your Personal Stock Ticker?

2011-12-09T10:12:00.001-09:00

J.P Morgan, when asked what the stock market will do, replied: It will fluctuate. If I had my own stock ticker it would predictably be the one I've used for this blog and on my license plates. Yes, Rachael Kvapil (KVAP) is her own industry. Not a typical industrial like Google (GOOG) or General Electric (GE). No this personal industry in which I have assigned my own personal stock ticker

Ba Humbug Bums Out This Secret Santa

2011-12-08T16:34:00.000-09:00

"Aren't we forgeting the true meaning of Christmas? You know, the birth of Santa."~ Matt Groening (1954 - ), The Simpsons If homemade isn't good enoughthen I'll find more useful holiday gift. I had an eye opening experience today. We are in the middle of "Secret Santa" season at work, which means we spend a lot of time sneaking into an assigned person's office and leaving them gifts

A Very "Charlie Brown" Post

2011-12-07T08:00:00.000-09:00

"Nobody can be exactly like me. Sometimes even I have trouble doing it." Tallulah Bankhead (1903 - 1968) Sparse postings on the K-Vap Artist Blog a lot like this Charlie Brown type Christmas tree. I've been in an anti-social mood. You may have gathered that since it's been two and a half months since my last post. Oddly, I can't tell you exactly why I stopped posting. At first I told

Latest Publication

2011-09-19T12:36:00.001-08:00

Latest article about the increase of drag show in Fairbanks, Alaska:Work It! Even Conservative Communities Appreciate a Good Drag Show (photos by Kyle Lindholm)- Remember any number to the zero power is 1.

Remember the Dress? Here's It in Action!

2011-09-19T09:28:00.001-08:00

When We Last Left Our Crazy Artist... In my previous post, I discussed my sewing bender to make a dress for our performance of "Fun For Me" choreographed by Dance Revolution owner/instructor Kendell Macomber. Here is the video so you can see the dress in play. The Dance Rev Crew performed "Fun For Me" at the 2011 Pink Party, which was a fundraiser for Dance Theatre Fairbanks. And

Project Runway Inspiration: It Would Never Make It to the Runway, But Works Great on Stage.

2011-08-22T13:47:00.000-08:00

The Project My self-appointed mission, one I chose to accept on my own, was to sew a dress. A costume dress that was able to survive a hip hop piece, look incredibly outlandish without looking ridiculous, and fit me. Now, I have basic sewing skills. Enough to tailor a Star Wars themed robe for my son, make his ninja costume and his Amtgard outfit. However, I had never made a dress until this

All In a Days Work: Acknowledging a Superpowered Type of Day with Props to my Mom

2011-07-17T15:50:00.002-08:00

2011 will be the year I tackled my phobias. I didn't mean it to be like that; but when my chronic injuries took me away from dance, I suddenly found myself with a lot of time on my hands. Some phobias you've already read about: housepaint, writing contracts, asking for testimonials. But here is one I've kept real close to the chest: I am afraid of being a house mommy. Now here's the

Rabe's Interview with Writer James Sallis Puts My Writing Career in Perspective

2011-07-11T07:39:00.007-08:00

Yesterday, while volunteering in the Fairbanks Arts Association Bear Gallery, the FAA Literary Writing Group came in for their monthly meeting. I had participated in this group for four solid years before taking a break to perform with Dance Theatre Fairbanks. There were a lot of hugs with authors that published an anthology in 2009-- Out of Darkness, Into the Light. Of course, there was the

If it Requires a "?": My Top Fears are Unusual

2011-07-06T07:05:00.004-08:00

Here are the top 34 Fears according to SelfHelpCollective.com: 01.Fear of flying 02. Fear of public speaking 03. Fear of heights 04.Fear of the dark 05. Fear of intimacy 06. Fear of death, dying 07.Fear of failure 08. Fear of rejection 09. Fear of spiders 10. Fear of commitment 11. Fear of flowers 12. Fear of driving 13. Fear of dogs 14. Fear of dentists 15. Fear of snakes 16.

My Bizarre Life Rating System and Why Everyone Should Have One

2011-06-28T08:55:00.015-08:00

Recent Facebook Post/Comment Feed: "I just solved a huge coding problem today. I am going to have a beer when I get home... I am racking up so many Beer Points I may have a party...Beer points are different than Karma Points that I use for good parking spaces." Yes, I have a rating system just for my own special self. Two in fact. One for my personal life and one for my professional life.

To Boldly Go...Err... to Go Boldy... Hm! Tackling a New Frontier

2011-06-14T07:51:00.000-08:00

Today I am tackling my first website proposal. Yes, I have managed to run a growing business for years without writing a single proposal. There have been pluses and minuses to running a business this way, but if I've come to the point of writing one, then it's obvious that the pluses are not overwhelming. And so I am staring at my screen. It's worse than writer's block. Way worse than

Why I Could Never Be the Doctor's Companion

2011-05-17T12:25:00.000-08:00

"I'm the Doctor, do everything I tell you, don't ask stupid questions and don't wander off."~The Eleventh Doctor (Matt Smith) in the Eleventh Hour.I completely missed the 5th season of Dr. Who. The changeover from David Tennant to Matt Smith was just too traumatic. Here and there I caught scenes. Amy Pond and the Doctor trying to assess why a child would cry alone, the fruity-colored Daleks,

Saying Goodbye to a Good Friend

2011-05-13T09:45:00.001-08:00

Moving day approaches for my good friend Jarek and his girlfriend Linda. This is their last weekend in Fairbanks, Alaska and by the middle of next week they will be heading down to sunny Southern California with our mutual friend Zak. It will be a huge shift in my life because for the last two years Jarek and I have entertained each other with our adventures in bars, clubs, house parties,

Being Home

2011-04-27T18:04:00.001-08:00

It's been ten years since I've been back to Los Angeles. The place I call home when you ask me where I'm originally from. Even though I love LA, there is something about it that really scares me. At first, I thought it was the crime rate though I've never personally encountered violence. Then I thought it was the traffic though I haven't driven here in ten years. But what I realized, is that

One Week

2011-04-08T10:31:00.002-08:00

I have one week until I leave for LA. One week until I get in that plane and attend one of the most challenging dance festivals of my life. People have asked me if I'm excited and all I say is "I guess" because it is so much better than admitting that I am truly terrified. Aside from performing on the Disneyland stage and adjudicating a piece that makes me want to cry on stage, I will be in a