Ahhh! WAY more than I bargained for! Just gimme the stats!

What can I say? I consider myself to be a complicated person. But if you think about it, we all are. Human beings are inherently unique, and I am no exception.  I am spiritual, I amrebellious, I am a teacher, I am a student, I am gothic, I am a hippie, I am professional, I am reactionary. I do my best to play by the rules, except sometimes when I don't agreewith them. When I first heard the song "Bitch" by Meredith Brooks, I  thought,"Hey, she's singing about me!", because it was about how she could be so many different things. Then I realized that most women that I talked to thought the same thing when they heard the song.  So we are all unique. And as my brother Colen so eloquently put it,"Some people are more unique than others."

My Background...The Basics

I was born in February 1970 to Merrie Garoutte and Harry Smith, at the time both students at Monterey Peninsula College. Mom was the newspaper editor, dad was the student body president, and I was unexpected. I didn't see my dad from the time I was 4 until I was 17. But that's another story. We lived all over the southern bay area, Monterey (where my mom owned a bookstore on Cannery Row, The Polygon), Carmel, Pebble Beach, and a brief (2 month) stint on Alcatraz Island in 1971 with the Native Americans. In January 1975, I got a little brother, Colen. Shortly after that, my mom, me, my brother and my stepdad moved to Eugene, Oregon to live with my grandma (my moms mom) while my stepdad looked for a place in Washington. I went to kindergarten at Lincoln Elementary in Eugene, a place that is now condos, but at the time was a "progressive" school, that is, we called all the staff by their first names. My teacher's name was Joyce, the principal was Nick. The summer after kindergarten, we moved to Olympia, Washington, where I went to Garfield Elementary for the first and most of second grade, and where my sister Annie was born in December of 1977. My stepfather was abusive, and we left him in April of 1978 to go back to Eugene. I went to Meadowlark Elementary, my brother and sister went to preschool, and my mom went back to college, this time the University Of Oregon, for her psychology degree. In 1981, a friend of my moms invited us to come visit her in Hawaii, so we decided to do it. We had only intended, initially, to visit for 8 months. We wound up staying 7 years. So I spent age 11 to age 18 growing up in Kailua-Kona, on the Big Island of Hawaii. I believe it was a very beneficial experience, for the most part. I grew up being a minority, even though my ethnic background consists primarily of European ancestors. But I'll go into my views on race issues later. In 1985, I had another little brother, Noah Mai'ka'i Ka'eo. After I graduated high school, I went to stay with my dad in Idaho. I had found him the previous summer, illicitly using the DMV computer, where I had been
working at the time. I got fired for it, but it was worth it. Especially after I found out that my dad was dying. He had contracted Hepatitis B with Delta Complex when he was in Vietnam. Conveniently (insert sarcasm here), the Army lost his medical records, but that's another story. I spent almost a year in Couer d'Alene with him, attending North Idaho College as a drama major, with my best friend Shaedra. In February 1989, I moved to Lake Oswego, Oregon and attended National Broadcasting School that fall.  I had had a radio show when I was in high school, and decided that that was the career that I wanted to pursue. After graduation, I moved back to Eugene, where my mom and brothers and sister had moved to in November 1989. I spent the summer of 1990 living in my moms garage, which I had turned into a pretty kickin' apartment. There, I discovered "modemland" as we called it then, primarily consisting of local BBS's. That fall, I moved out of my mom's and into an apartment with a roommate that I had met while attending Lane Community College (I was going for a business degree...figured I needed something practical), and I started working at KZEL 96.1 as Kate McAllister, where I worked for the next 4 1/2 years. I dropped out of school after 2 years, frustrated that I had 3 years of college credits under my belt and still had several more years to go before I'd get any kind of degree. 1991-1996 I spent with school, work, and dealing with relationship issues which I no longer wish to discuss here. A turning point occured in May 1996 (That February I had left KZEL and started working at KRVM). Just out of a 4 year relationship, I decided that I needed to stop grieving and start living again, so I joined my sister at Egil's, a 4 day camping event with the Society for Creative Anachronism. It was there that I met new people, and it was after the event that one of them (Andreas) took me to meet his friends. Strangely enough, some of them I already knew,  including a guy named Quentin. We had conversed online back in 1992, and I had met him in person at a party that same year. Hadn't thought much of it at the time. The summer of 1996, we got to know each other much better, and I found in him qualities that I'd been searching for: a rapier wit, extreme intelligence, and very loving. We got married on a whim on September 18th, 1996 and split on April 15, 2006. We moved to Beaverton, Oregon the next year, at the urging of Quentin's brother and some friends who had moved there. Now, I work as a store manager for Stein Oil, Quentin left me and moved to New Orleans, I have been re-examining my life and looking up old friends, I have a wonderful kitty named Buster, who I watched being born, and is now 9 years old, and I had another wonderful kitty named Patchouli that now lives with a preacher in Springfield, Oregon. He's a little neurotic and I didn't want to have to move him again, and I miss him terribly, but he's better off now. In June 2003, Quentin and I "adopted" (it's a long story) a teenage girl named Kayla, who we love as our own, she is beautiful and smart and we are very proud of her. She now lives in Eugene with her boyfriend, who we've actually known longer than we've known Kayla! :) My mom is an astrologer with her own web page, has raised four great kids, and I have learned a lot from her, I'm proud of her. My sister lives in Portland, married a great guy, Neil, and has a beautiful daughter named Lily, and a beautiful daughter Daisy, and is doing very well, I'm proud of her. My brother Colen is a computer genius who is working full time for Microsoft in Seattle, and I'm proud of him. My littlest brother Noah is now 22, a shift manager at Starbucks in Seattle, and I'm proud of him. And I still keep in touch with my friend Shaedra, she is married, has four kids, and lives in Oklahoma, and just finished college, with a degree in accounting. I'm proud of her too. :)

My Interests

My interests are widely varied, and there are many. Let's see, where shall I begin? Computer related: I used to be a Desktop Themes whore, and even learned how to make my own. I also like images (especially animated ones) and nifty fonts too. And mp3s. And downloading TV eps! And of course, making web pages! :) I have about 25 up on 6 different sites.  Outside of computers, I used to watch TV. I used to record Youngand the Restless every day (I watched it for 21 years.) but have been too busy lately to keep up with it. My favorite show in the last couple years tho was Cupid, with Jeremy Piven. He is absolutely fantastic, and the show was as well (damn you ABC for cancelling it! Oh, and damn you for cancelling Twin Peaks too. :P ). I am also a *total* Buffy (the vampire slayer) fanatic. Well, more of a Spike (the vampire) fanatic, really, but I digress.. :). In addition, I loved Angel (stupid WB!!!) and I like Charmed but am tempted to not watch it this next season because I am so pissed at WB for cancelling Angel. I also liked Roswell when it was on, and recently got the 1st season DVD. I am also into Vampire:The Masquerade RPG, a White Wolf role playing game system. I don't get to play much anymore, I work alot. But its fun when I can. My favorite animal is the cat, my favorite colors are purple, turquoise, and black, I'm into psychology, and I used to make tie-dyes, beaded jewelry, and friendship bracelets. I'm also a writer, although you probably can hardly tell from this psychobabble. :)  And music. I am a rock and roll trivia goddess, and would totally kickass if I ever went on Rock and Roll Jeopardy or some similar program. I looked into getting on My Generation on VH1, but they didn't need any more contestants. I also like history to a degree, and herbalism. And I love to cook. 1998 was the first time I hosted my family Thanksgiving, and I think I did pretty good, if I do say so myself. :) And how could I possibly forget, I plan all year practically for Egil's, an event with the SCA that takes place in the Eugene area every Memorial Day weekend. I manage (with my sister) a large SCA household, I coordinate a large group of SCA households, and sometimes I think my play uses my management skills more than my actual job does. That's it for now, but I'm sure I'll think of more and add it in later.

My Religion

I call my religion "The Truth", and I am a Truist. Before you jump to conclusions,
let me explain. I call it the Truth NOT because it is the ONLY truth, but because
it allows for many truths to be true at once, even if they contradict each other. That
is the basic rule. The other basic rule is, all rules have exceptions. Confused yet?
Click below for a page dedicated to my essays about my spiritual beliefs.
Oh, interesting note: I am actually an ordained minister through the Universal Life Church.
Email me if you want me to perform your wedding ceremony. :)

One of the symbols of my religion.
This one symbolizes balance in nature, as in Wicca.
 
 

Well, that's it for now. I'm sure that I have more to say, I just don't know
what it is at the moment. If you have any questions,

Send me e-mail: katte_13@yahoo.com