I Still Have Never Tried Stroh Light
40 and Feeling Sporty and other ironic clothing items that are no longer in my possession. SEE! That's the Sun!
One of the first used pieces of clothing I remember intensely loving was an old Stroh Light grey hooded sweatshirt that I found in the College of the Ozark’s1 campus laundry Free Box in 1996. My friend Zach2 worked there for his campus job, and he would let me rummage through the unclaimed items. College of the Ozarks was a work-study school, pretty religious and strict, and I remember thinking that I was pulling the wool over the eyes of the administration by scooping up a free sweatshirt that advertised a beer I had never tried. I kept this sweatshirt until 2019 when we moved out of the first house we had ever owned in Portland, a dilapidated 1915 dwelling in the Roseway neighborhood. We had just had Hank and were quick to realize that this house was not equipt for a newborn baby and that we were not equipt to fix it up, so in a cleaning frenzy, I got rid of my cherished sweatshirt to make more space in our brand new, yet tiny apartment rental. Dear 2019 Kate, 2025 Kate wants you to know that the sweatshirt you intensely love does not take up that much space, and there is no reason to donate it. Please reconsider. However, thank you for taking photos of the sentimental clothing you hastily dumped so I could use it for drawing reference six years later.
I still have never tried Stroh Light.
Later in my 20s, I thrifted a T-shirt that said, “40 and Feeling Sporty. " I thought it was hilarious whenever I wore it because no one would ever think I was 40. Ew! Gross! I also had a T-shirt that said, “Better 40 than Pregnant,” and dear reader…many years later, I was precisely both3.
I love drawing clothing. And if I can’t have the Stroh Light perfectly soft sweatshirt from the mid-90s, I at least have the drawing to memorialize it. That’s one of the many things I adore about drawing and documenting and why I am not mad at my younger self for starting down this rabbit hole of collecting, documenting, drawing and repeat.
Looking for ideas for something to draw? Then, this new KBBBLOG feature is for you.
Introducing PROMPT! PROMPT! PROMPT! Kicking it off with prompting you to → Draw a Favorite Clothing Item. Write a few lines about it. Share it or not share it. It’s up to you!
I love the weekend scavenger hunts that Hank and I embark on, which include frequenting fossil shops (the selenite wand purchase from 2.2.25, the mood ring from 3.1.25) and trying to locate the elusive Fun Dip, which he tried for the first time at a Valentine’s Day party and the experience blew his mind. We finally found a box at Walgreens on 2.22.25. We also reloaded our Tri-Met Max Train card (3.2.25) to swiftly move around downtown and visit Grandma Sherry at the Saturday Market, which opened for the 2025 season last weekend. He also requested a hairdryer (2.13.25) for his half-birthday. How could I deny this humble request?
Bigger-ticket items included a heavier coat (2.8.25) for my trip to the East Coast, where temperatures were in the single digits, and a travel backpack (2.12.25) after my 2007 Muji carry-on finally lost a wheel and was sent to carry-on heaven.
I am about five hours into Ione Skye’s new memoir, Say Everything, and I am finding it very fun. However, I am also sure I am the book's exact audience. Lots of gossip. Lots of music talk. Lots of nostalgia. I love my new morning car commute listen.
Diary of an 8-Bit Warrior books 1-6 are all we have been reading for nighttime stories and weekend mornings. We just started book six this morning, and this entire series surprised me with how much I don’t hate it. Is it Minecraft fan fiction written from the perspective of a villager tween? Yes, yes, it is. Is Hank hanging on to every single word and also reading sentences along with me? Yes, yes, he is. Do I miss the many months we read books 1 through 14 of The Wizard of Oz? Yes, yes, I do. This is also your reminder that the new Minecraft movie comes out in 26 days. ‼️😑‼️
Portrait of a bunch of VHS/DVD players found on Craigslist. In family movie night news, I highly recommend Apollo 13, School of Rock, and Bedknobs and Broomsticks. They also all hold up to multiple viewings. And let me save you some googling…Apollo 13 is on Netflix, School of Rock is on Paramount Plus, and Bedknobs and Broomsticks is on Disney. Also, Matilda (1996) fans rejoice; it is back streaming on Netflix. I swear to god, one of my next purchases will be a combo VHS/DVD player so I can start collecting physical media and stop this dumb “what is it playing on” dance. Long live physical media!
Fact: I will watch Parker Posey in anything. In non-family movie night news, I am very into season 3 of White Lotus, which I watch on my tiny iPad with my headphones every Sunday night after everyone goes to sleep.
And I made another color related playlist. Welcome to the world YELLOW. This playlist is simply based on the yellow album art that I spy in my liked list on Spotify. This isn’t a deep practice, but it’s been fun unearthing some stuff I haven’t listened to in a bit based on color.
Tomorrow is the start of the last week of winter term and I am starting to think about summer even though I have an entire spring term to get through, but it’s getting closer. It’s there. I can SEE IT!
See? That’s the Sun!
🌞KBB🌞
I have much more to say about my time at College of the Ozarks, but the time is not now. Trust that this was not my top college pick.
I have much more to say about Zach and his work-study job at the laundry, but let’s say my ability to get free clothing ended when he decided it would be fun to drive the laundry truck up onto the sidewalk as an attempt to get fired. It worked!
Both of these shirts have long ago been donated and I hope they are in the hands of a twenty something who thinks they are hilarious.
Such blog fun! Thank you for encompassing us older folk, at 77, I'm never sure how connections continue, but am delighted that they do. The colors and drawings continue to generate hopeful creating, with quite a bit of rambling spontaneity thrown in.
The sun is yellow today. Linus and Charlie see it clearly, even in Michigan. And you saw and shared.
Merci.
Part of me wants to check out that Ione Skye book to see what she has to say about Ad-Rock, plus I’d imagine she’s had an interesting life. I don’t think I’ve seen any of her films!