Be Yourself, But Perfect

Must read article (especially for women) in the NY Times about the pressure to be everything. Check it out.

Get-Away Thoughts

I'm almost ready to leave for Baltimore. My apartment is as clean as it's going to get, I'm packed up (except for my computer, obviously) and I can't wait to see all my friends in the land that I used to call home. Just a few random thoughts:

- The Internet is so my friend. In the craziness that is my life these days, I've had trouble remembering to actual write out checks and pay my bills. Oh, but now you can do it all online, directly from your checking account. Way cool, way easy, I'm way happy about it.

- It amazes me how my apartment can be clean for Pesach yet at the same time, a cluttered mess. Oh well.

- I've been advised against donating my eggs in leiu of working next year. Still considering it - it's good money.

- I'm am SO bad at packing. The problem is, I'm not a planner. So I can't plan out outfits in advance. So basically, I cram as many clothes into my suitcase as I can and hope that they make outfits. And then I stuff a few extra things in. Hope I didn't forget anything!

Ok, think that's it for now. Blogging will definitely be light for the next week or so - have a great Pesach everyone!

Exodus

I was chatting with SaraK yesterday about everyone who is heading down to Baltimore for Pesach. I made some comment about it being an exodus. Then I thought more about how apropos that comparison is - here we are, Pesach time, breaking the chains of bondage from the slavery of New York, heading to the promised land of Baltimore to celebrate our freedom (and maybe even some David Chu's Chinese food). Works for me ;)

Just a note, I'm not planning on having the David Chu's during Pesach. That's why I'm leaving a few days early :)

Red Flag

Another great article from the NY Times, this one about another item to add to your list of potential deal-breaking criteria for dates. Don't worry though, there's hope at the end of the article.

Turban Promotion

Interesting article in the NY Times about the decline of men who are choosing to wear turbans these days. Despite the religious Sikh custom of not cutting one's hair (ever!) many young men are finding it too difficult and desire to fit in with the rest of the world, so they are chopping their hair off and no longer donning turbans. What I found really interesting about the article is the part where they describe the measures being taken to try to encourage these men to wear turbans - from an instruction video explaining proper turban style for face shape to pageants highlighting the best turban tying techniques, attempting are being made to rescue this custom. It reminds me of high school, where we had a Sikh student who initially wore a turban but, due to the torments of our high school classmates, eventually succumbed to peer pressure and shed his turban and long locks in exchange for fitting in.

Hotties

Thanks to SaraK who sent me my own copy of last week's TV Guide, with Patrick Dempsey's lovely face gracing the cover.



I'm sure enjoying that one! Thanks Sara!

Saturn

Ok, if I don't get to go to Jupiter, I think I should at least get to visit Saturn (besides, I think riding on the rings would be a lot of fun).

To Sleep, Perchance to Dream

No, really, this article at Slate.com is all about it. And I had no idea such a huge percentage of people don't get enough - I guess I'm in good company.

Awe-Inducing Pic of the Day

This is where I want to go on my next vacation:

Very Cool

Caterpillar...or robot?

Mystery

Ever have that experience of trying to solve a mystery (AKA stalking) but honestly not really wanting the mystery to be uncovered, because you know it won't be nearly as much fun after the veil of secrecy is gone? The annoying sense of suspense that you want to end, but knowing that once gone, the real thing probably won't be even close to as interesting as you have imagined? It's almost enough to make you stop trying to solve your mystery, but not quite.

Southern Kindness

I've finally put my finger on the difference between the Northern mindset and Southern hospitality. In the South, when I go into a store and finish paying for whatever I am buying, the cashier thanks me for my business and I thank him or her for their help. Here, when I finish paying and thank the clerk, I get absolutely no response in return :(

Levels of Excitement

I found out last night that a chick I know got engaged. I passed along the information to a couple of friends who also know her, and we were all extremely excited by the news. We were trying to figure out though, about the fact that this was a HUGE mazel tov, rather than just a normal one. We all felt it, but we couldn't articulate why one excitement should be more exciting than another. But it was. Maybe it's because this particular chick is "older" (whatever that means). Or maybe it's something else. All I know is our excitement was very sincere and very enthusiastic.

Voices

Absolutely fascinating article in the NY Times about those who hear voices and the new reframing being done in order to avoid a diagnosis of schizophrenia in such circumstances, which can result in treatment that is often more damaging than the original voices. I've occasionally wondered (usually spurned by a movie portrayal) what it must be like to be in a situation where you hear voices that you have absolutely no control over and that no one else can hear. I think it would be terrifying, but the people interviewed in the article take a very different, and seemingly therapeutic approach to the experience.

LOTD

I'm still addicted to The Fray and this song was the last I heard on my Ipod before I got to work, and it's sticking in my head:

Heaven Forbid

Twenty years it's breaking you down, now that you understand there's no one around.
Take a breath, just take a seat, you're falling apart and tearing at the seams.

Heaven forbid you end up alone and don't know why
Hold on tight wait for tomorrow, you'll be alright

It's on your face, is it on your mind, would you care to build a house of your own.
How much longer, how long can you wait, It's like you wanted to go and give yourself away.

Heaven forbid you end up alone and don't know why
Hold on tight wait for tomorrow, you'll be alright

It feels good. Is that reason enough for you.
It feels good. Is that reason enough for you.

Heaven forbid you end up alone and don't know why
Hold on tight wait for tomorrow, you'll be alright
Heaven forbid you end up alone and don't know why
Hold on tight wait for tomorrow, you'll be alright

Out of this one
Don't know how to get you out of this one, don't know how to get you out of this one,
Don't know how to get you out of this one, don't know how to get you out of this one

America's Top 50 Rabbis

Newsweek published it's unscientific list of America's Top 50 Rabbis (hat tip - David Kelsey. As one of the commentors mentioned, it's hard to take such a list seriously when, for some reason, they spelled "Orthodox" wrong over and over, and I just don't agree with the credit they are giving to some of the individuals. Besides the fact that I have to question the authority of those making the list. But regardless, check it out.

Update - It seems they have fixed the misspelling of "Orthodox."

Please Daven

For Gittel Chava bas Pesia

Cleaning Break

I've done a lot of Pesach cleaning and my apartment is really appreciating it. Despite my avoidance of the hard work of scrubbing and vaccuming, it really is nice when it's all done.

I heard a shiur yesterday about separation between men and women. I surprised myself by agreeing with what was said. I might write more later, but in general, I think a very good point was made. While I do think it's important to trust people to their senses and sensibilities, there are weaknesses and people are human.

Ok, back to cleaning.

Terrifying

Something else to look forward to with the students I'm planning on working with - really scary to even attempt to comprehend the level of discontent and unhappiness that generates such contempt and hate.

And kinda related...but more hopeful.

LOTD

I received my first CD player as a gift for my high school graduation. After that I got it, I went out and bought two CDs. One was Lisa Loeb's "Nine Tails." I don't remember what the other one was, but it might have been Counting Crows. During my freshman year in college, I would listen to my Lisa Loeb CD over and over and over, and had every word memorized. This morning, I woke up with one of her songs in my head, so here's the LOTD:

Lisa Loeb
Lisa Listen

who would steal on sunday?
who'd made them believe make-believe?
who'd buy a prayer when you can pray for free?
if the way you held your coffee was the way you looked at me,
then i could take both my hands off the tv.

i've been sleeping on half of my bed lately,
and thinking about what you said to me,
"you're tipsy, you're turning, you are alive, you are burning.

lisa, won't you listen?
The moon shines for you.
you're tipsy, you're turning, you are alive, you are burning."

a sweet man will sing a seafaring song,
and a dear, strong woman coos gently along.
good guys at the cozy are servin' folks for free.
did you ever notice there are so many people in bands in the city?

i've been sleeping on half of my bed lately,
and thinking about what you said to me,
"you're tipsy, you're turning, you are alive, you are burning."

i will not judge you by the way you play your instrument.
no, that's true as fiction, sometimes i do,
but the moon shines halfway sometimes too.

lisa, won't you listen?
the moon shines for you:
you're tipsy and turning, you've got one foot on the floor.
you're alive, you are burning.
you always wanted more.

It's All Relative

It's amazing how relative things are - in one circle, you can be at one end of a spectrum, and in another circle, all the way at the other end. It just depends on where you are standing.

Warm

I walked to school today for the first time in months - yay! It was SO nice. I hope this means warm weather is here to stay - it's been about six weeks since that groundhog saw his shadow, hasn't it?

Spring

That's the name of the new background picture that I have put on my computer at work. And, the picture is from Israel. So pretty!

Excellent post

This post on Emes V'Emunah, and written by Rabbi Yakov Horowitz, is a must-read. Check it out.

Natural

Check out this article in the NY Times about a couple who has decided to have a "No Impact" year. Interesting stuff, I think I'm too spoiled to live like that.

My Turn - Buffalo

This one is for my parents. Newsweek has a feature called "My Turn" where anyone can write in about their lives. It's often quite a poignant column. This week, the writer writes about leaving Las Vegas for the bitter cold of Buffalo (I certainly don't understand that one - NYC is cold enough for me). But the author's journey is predicated on a lot being offered there, despite the weather, but mainly family and legacy. My parents both grew up in Buffalo, leaving the snow behind roughly 30 years ago - right before I was born.

Facing the Music

Sometimes things get so blown up in your head, when in reality they are non-existent. That reality check can be quite a relief, if only you (I) can push yourself (myself) into facing it. Phew.

Paleoneurology

I finally got around to reading last week's Newsweek last night on my bus ride home from school. The cover story was related to paleoneurology (my new career dream, they are starting to pile up). According to the article, scientists are starting to find that the evolutionary trail is not as direct as they once thought. The article is full of information about the evolution and changes that have occurred in brain structure throughout the years, leading to different survival factors, and which I just find fascinating.

One statement really stood out, towards the end of the article. The author discusses the changes in the structure of the brain that must have occurred in order for humans to have developed in the way that they have. The article states that scientists "comb[ed] the genome for genes that emerged just when language, art, culture and other products of higher intelligence did, researchers have found three with the right timing."

The final gene that the article mentions is "called ASPM and also involved in brain size, clocks in at 5,800 years. That was just before people established the first cities in the Near East and is well after Homo sapiens attained their modern form."

Interesting. What's the Hebrew year again?

Monkey Morality

Interesting article in the NY Times about the morality that seems to be found in non-human primates. I'm not sure that the empathetic and seemingly caring behavior shown from one primate to the next is necessarily moral, or is more about what's best for the group survival (which was mentioned in the "Darwin's God" article on whether religion is necessarily for moral living), although if it's the latter, there are plenty of classic philosophers who would argue that humans operate according to the same principles. Check it out.

Divorce and BTs

Interesting post over at Beyond BT on BTs and divorce. Not positive I completely agree with the authors theories (which is fine, as he asks for other suggestions) but interesting nonetheless. I may update this post later with some of my thoughts.

Non-Productive

Some days I get so much done and manage to get my mind focused on what needs to be done. And some days I spend hours with very little to show for it, even though technically, I think I was doing work. I've just spent the last three hours doing homework and the outcome has been clean and neatly folded laundry, a straightened up bedroom, and washed dishes. Oh, and about half a chapter outline for the presentation I have to give in two and a half days. Hmmm, not quite what I had hoped for.

LOTD

What I'm listening to right now:

Sheryl Crow
We Do What We Can

Downstairs theyre playing kenton
The house set to swing
I lay in my bed
And listen to everything
Cause leos in rare form tonight
His trombone sings so sweet
This is the room
Where they all come to meet

He said
I do what I can
I live for the moment
And thats who I am
Yeah thats who I am

And isnt it good
If we could freeze moments in time
We all would
But I do what I can
I do what I can

Downstairs hes playing kenton
The magnavox sighs
But oh how the music has changed
In all of our lives
He says nobody listens
To modern jazz
And Ill never have what those guys have

He says
I do what I can
I work for a living
And thats who I am
Yeah thats who I am

And its good to be alive
But everythings different since leo died
I do what I can

Is this the end of the modern world
What could it mean for a young girl
Who sees the pain on his face
He does what he can

The procession on the tv screen
What could it possibly mean for a man
Whos come this far just to turn around
Could there still be life in kentons swing
With the kennedys gone and everything
Those sad rows of houses with their optimistic colors
Democrat grandparents and draft-dodging brothers
Riots down the street and discontented mothers
We do what we can

Downstairs its quiet
Less alive somehow
Somehow he was everything that I am now

And he says
I do what I can
I work for a living
And thats who I am
And thats who I am

But its good to be alive
And these are the choices
We make to survive
You do what you can

Crazy

My co-worker just got back from vacation in the Caribbean. Because of the bad weather over the weekend, instead of flying directly from where she was to JFK, she had to take a slightly more indirect route.

First they flew from the Caribbean to North Carolina, where the pilot had to land the plane on a runway that wasn't really big enough for the plane they were in. Then they flew from North Carolina to Boston. Then from Boston to Newark. Then somehow they got home to Long Island. I'm sure glad I flew into NY a day earlier.

Tamarind

I get such an education at work. Today, my co-worker brought in tamarind, a fruit native to Africa. It has a hard shell and pretty little black seeds in the middle and tastes kinda like dried apricot. It's yum and she was kind enough to share it with me.

Sigh

Sigh.

So much can be conveyed in those four letters.

Middle School

This article talks about the challenges of working with middle school kids - what I have to look forward to :)

Productive

What a productive day. First, I managed to fix the windshield wiper that I broke when scraping the ice off my car last night. And I fixed it all by myself, thank you. And now I'm making spanish rice for the first time ever. Wish me luck on that one!

Thank You

"Thank you" - just two words, and not such big ones, but it truly is amazing what a big difference it makes in your perception between the people who say them and the people who don't.

Brand New

Episode of Grey's Anatomy in less than two hours! And I don't have school so I can watch it while it's actually on! (Though that does mean I have to endure the suspense during commercials.) I'm ready!

Artistry

I had my hair done for the wedding I attended yesterday. The woman who did my hair is a true artist. Here's a picture of what she created with my hair (and this picture doesn't even do her work justice - it was gorgeous!):

7 Hours

That's how much sleep I've now had in the last two days. That's up three hours from when I landed back in NY this morning, when I decided to ditch work because I honestly thought I would fall over if I attempted to make it through the day. It was well worth it, more will hopefully be written about the reason for my lack of sleep later (if I can manage to be eloquent enough to write about it). Let me just say, I thought Detroit weather was crazy when I woke up this morning and saw snow on the ground, considering it was 70 degrees there yesterday. And then I got back here, and found out that we'll have a ton of snow coming tonight and tomorrow. Yippee. (Yes, that's sarcasm.)

Insane Kindness

Don't forget about the Kindness Blog! Check out my latest story of insane kindness.

Duck!

Apparently, I'm not the only person who sees this guy in Manhattan.

NY Times

I've decided that it's time that I get acquainted with current events and try to keep up with the news. I've taken it upon myself to at least glance through the NY Times (online) each morning, in addition to reading blogs. Here are a couple articles that I found quite interesting:

"Dark Energy" - an article feeding my fascination with space about the composition of the universe.

An article about Terence Tao, a math genius, since I'm a math geek myself, though not in that league.

An article about naked parties on prestigious campuses.

And one from my rarely-commenting friend, an article about laughter and why we laugh even when the joke isn't so funny.

Happy reading!

LOTD

Today's LOTD is from a favorite from a while back - this is a beautiful song and the lyrics kinda haunt me.

Edwin McCain
Sorry to a Friend

Sittin' on the edge
Looking for songs in a bottle
Talking with strangers who don't know my pain
Blurry eyed and burned out
Choking on more than I can swallow
Crack in a little voice called out my name

She said - Whatever happened to you
It's been two years where have you been
And I guess all my fears were true
The words were all gone the time's been too long
But I deserve to know what happened to my friend

Staring in her face
I see a past that still haunts me
The road where we split up is paved with the things I didn't say
We had wonderful times, but terrible timing
Now just leave her alone, I'll just be in the way

She said - Whatever happened to you
You took the coward's way out again
And I guess all my fears were true
The words are all gone, the time's been too long
But it's not too late to say I'm sorry to a friend
I'm sorry to a friend
Sorry to a friend

Like a stone in a stream
Life smoothes all our edges
'Til we barely make a ripple any more
But those times in my life will live with me forever
But we're not the same people that we were before
And I'm sorry for the smiles we missed and the times that I blew it
I've got so much to tell you
I don't know where to start
Maybe I'll find a way maybe you'll help me do it
'Cause friends like us should not be apart

And I'm sorry to a friend
Well now I'm sorry

Hebrew in the Streets

Because it's actually fairly warm out, I decided to take a walk at lunch. I was walking down the street, when all of a sudden, I hear "Ma Nish Ma?" (Hebrew for "How are you?" I turned around and saw a guy looking at me, smiling. I smiled back and kind of waved, then hurried off before he could try to engage me in a conversation in Hebrew (since he would quickly discover just how poor my Hebrew is). For a minute, I couldn't figure out how the guy knew I was Jewish, since I don't look particularly Semitic, but I think it was my skirt that tipped him off.

Free Flow

I have to admit to being a bit disturbed by my loss of an hour. Just because some beaurocrats decided that the clocks should change, doesn't really mean I'm ready to go to sleep an hour ealier than usual. I have yet to change my watch, mainly due to laziness. Actually, any clock where it takes more than just the push of a button to change, has yet to lose its hour. Am starting to gain my health back, after almost a week of being in various states of not feeling well.l I think it's time already. I do appreciate everyone who has been checking on me to see how I feel, and the refuah shleimah comments, even if I don't always respond :( I've been quite bad at responding to comments lately - not the commentor's fault, I promise.

Been taking short strolls down memory lane today, triggered by various stimuli. I try very hard to live my life with no regrets and to view those choices I hope that I would no longer choose to make as learning experiences. But sometimes I still wonder what on earth I was thinkig and why Hashem would have thought it best for me to experience some of it. And then, have I really learned anything and would I really make a different choice if faced with the same challenge tomorrow. I hope so. And does my impulsive nature always lead to "learning experiences" or does it sometime create beautiful opportunities that lead to accomplishment and life enhancement? And would it really kill me to write just a few things down in a calendar once in a while?

Monday will be here too shortly, I think it's time for sleep, at least I hope. Good night.

More Sparklies

What's better than sparkly make-up? Sparkly make-up on clearance, of course! Target is awesome. Just saying.

Just a Few Words

It's so nice when, on occasion, you get an e-mail that just makes you smile. It doesn't have to say much. Just a few words sometimes, but the words you need and it really kinda brightens your day a little. I hope to send more of those kind of e-mails.

Kite Magic

Sent to me by a friend, this video is pretty cool - check it out.

LOTD

Am home relaxing, trying to nurse myself of the full-blown cold my stuffy ears has apparently turned into. Today's LOTD is another of those songs I remember from junior high dances and singing on the bus on the way to school (the yellow school bus, not the mass transit one). I woke up this morning with it stuck in my head, so here ya go -

Total Eclipse of the Heart
Bonnie Tyler

Turnaround, every now and then I get a little bit lonely and youre never coming round
Turnaround, every now and then I get a little bit tired of listening to the sound of my tears
Turnaround, every now and then I get a little bit nervous that the best of all the years have gone by
Turnaround, every now and then I get a little bit terrified and then I see the look in your eyes
Turnaround bright eyes, every now and then I fall apart
Turnaround bright eyes, every now and then I fall apart

Turnaround, every now and then I get a little bit restless and I dream of something wild
Turnaround, every now and then I get a little bit helpless and Im lying like a child in your arms
Turnaround, every now and then I get a little bit angry and I know Ive got to get out and cry
Turnaround, every now and then I get a little bit terrified but then I see the look in your eyes
Turnaround bright eyes, every now and then I fall apart
Turnaround bright eyes, every now and then I fall apart

And I need you now tonight
And I need you more than ever
And if youll only hold me tight
Well be holding on forever
And well only be making it right
Cause well never be wrong together
We can take it to the end of the line
Your love is like a shadow on me all of the time
I dont know what to do and Im always in the dark
Were living in a powder keg and giving off sparks
I really need you tonight
Forevers gonna start tonight
Forevers gonna start tonight

Once upon a time I was falling in love
But now Im only falling apart
Theres nothing I can do
A total eclipse of the heart
Once upon a time there was light in my life
But now theres only love in the dark
Nothing I can say
A total eclipse of the heart

Instrumental

Turnaround bright eyes
Turnaround bright eyes
Turnaround, every now and then I know youll never be the boy you always wanted to be
Turnaround, but every now and then I know youll always be the only boy who wanted me the way that I am
Turnaround, every now and then I know theres no one in the universe as magical and wondrous as you
Turnaround, every now and then I know theres nothing any better and theres nothing I just wouldnt do
Turnaround bright eyes, every now and then I fall apart
Turnaround bright eyes, every now and then I fall apart

And I need you now tonight
And I need you more than ever
And if youll only hold me tight
Well be holding on forever
And well only be making it right
Cause well never be wrong together
We can take it to the end of the line
Your love is like a shadow on me all of the time
I dont know what to do and Im always in the dark
Were living in a powder keg and giving off sparks
I really need you tonight
Forevers gonna start tonight
Forevers gonna start tonight

Once upon a time I was falling in love
But now Im only falling apart
Nothing I can do

A total eclipse of the heart
Once upon a time there was light in my life
But now theres only love in the dark
Nothing I can say
A total eclipse of the heart

This Week

It has been a week of ailments. Sunday I woke up with stuffed up ears. Monday I pulled a muscle in my neck and was in major pain the entire day. Tuesday I was granted a minor reprieve and only had to deal with the still stuffed-up ears. Wednesday I developed an extremely sore throat which caused my whole head to throb. Today, my throat pain has dissipated and has been replaced with a stuffy nose, including some coughing and sneezing. What next? Can't wait to see what's in store for Friday.

In order to relieve all these ailments, I have consumed a massive amount of tea (which is weird because it used to be that I wouldn't go near tea, but I have developed an affection for it), been soothed by the healing touch of Ben-Gay (which smells so nice, let me tell you) and have acquired Pseudoephedrine, which I had to specifically go to the pharmacist to obtain (it's apparently a somewhat controlled substance now). SO looking forward to my day off tomorrow and the weekend.

On a completely different note, a construction crew has been tearing down the building next door to use brick by brick for the past few weeks. They are rapidly reducing the size of the building, and I have to admit that it's fairly fascinating to watch. And my office now has a lot more light without that building blocking all our windows. I had a very tentative idea that it would be fun to tear down buildings for a living, but then I woke up to a chilly 11-degree temperature outside and quickly re-evaluated that idea.

LOTD

My rarely-commenting friend has offered up another LOTD, this time one that features my name! (I have quite a soft spot for songs with my name in them, so Purim is one of my favorite times of year.) I had never heard this song before (mainly because I'm not up on my Hebrew songs), but now I'm a fan - enjoy!

Erev Shel Shoshanim

Hebrew Lyrics
Erev shel shoshanim
Nitzeh na el habustan
Mor besamim ulevana
L'raglech miftan.

Chorus:
Layla yored le'at
Veru'ach shoshan noshvak
Havah elchash lach shir balat
Zemer shel ahava

Shachar homa yonah
Roshech ma'ale t'lalim
Pich el haboker shoshana
Ektefenu li.

Repeat Chorus


English Translation
Evening of roses
Let's go out to the grove
Myrrh, spices, and incense
Are a carpet to walk on.

Chorus:
The night comes slowly
A breeze of roses blows
Let me whisper a song to you quietly
A song of love.

At dawn, a dove is cooing
Your hair is filled with dew
Your lips to the morning are like a rose
I'll pick it for myself.

Repeat Chorus

Lottery Dreams

My co-workers and I went in and bought a nice number of lottery tickets for tonight's $335 million drawing. So, of course, we've spent the morning discusses what we would do with such amounts of money. It's fun to think about, though honestly, beyond quitting my job so I could attend school full-time, I have no idea what I would do with that kind of money. I wouldn't really want to buy a house, because I don't know where I would want to live. My car is fine, though I suppose I could buy one a little nicer. I'm not into things so much, so I don't have any idea about what I would want, though I suppose I could use some furniture that isn't a hand-me-down or falling apart. I just don't understand how people manage to blow their lottery winnings- what do they buy?

Hope for Chareidim

Via Emes Ve-Emunah, an article on JTA highlighting a new program for Chareidi women to work in business and earn money in order to support their families.

I have to say how happy I am to see such an article, especially in light of news in the past few months of continuing education programs being truncated. I hope that more companies follow suit in order to give these Chareidi women the opportunity to make ends meet more easily.

iTunes is Evil

I just spent about the last hour and a half installing and uninstalling and reinstalling iTunes to do some hunting to find out that really, QuickTime needed to be uninstalled and reinstalled. And all because I was trying to stay up to date. If so much of my music wasn't locked in iTunes I wouldn't have bothered, but lots of my music files I only have in iTunes format. So annoying :(

Austin, Texas

I watched Jeopardy tonight for the first time in ages. It used to be a favorite of mine. I might start watching again. Tonight's final Jeopardy answer was Austin, Texas (question - what state capital within the Central Time Zone has the largest population while also having no NFL, NBA, MLB or NHL teams). I figured it out while none of the contestants managed to. Do I hear Alex Trabek calling?

Word Nerd Strikes Again

How come there is a word "unscathed" but not "scathed"? There is "scathing," but again, no "scathe." The English language is quite confusing.

Snowing Up

All of a sudden, massive amounts of snow are falling from the sky. The wind is so strong that it's snowing upwards, what a weird sight. I'm really, really ready for spring.

Ears

I woke up yesterday morning with a head cold. Of course, I can't be normal, so a head cold to me is my ears being stuffed up. I'm reminded of the time when I was in college and this happened. I went to work, and told my co-workers how my ears were stuffed up. They tried to correct me by informing me that, no, my ears weren't stuffed up, my nose was. I explained to them that I had learned the difference between my nose and my ears way back in kindergarten and I was fairly certain that it was my ears that were stuffed up. The problem with having stuffed up ears is that they don't really make medicines for it, since most people have stuffed up noses. If anyone knows of any medications for stuffed ears, please let me know.

Additionally, my Ipod was playing very oddly today. I couldn't hear the vocals on the songs. But I wasn't sure whether it was my stuffed up ears or the Ipod. I'm kinda hoping that it's my ears.

Internships

I'm (belatedly) beginning to look for an internship, now that I've actually had a bit of time to polish up my resume. It's reassuring to have built a list of a very good number of middle schools not too far from where I live. I'm also quite encouraged to see that on a good percentage of the school websites there is a section dedicated to the guidance department. Now I just have to send my resume over and hope to find an internship! Wish me luck!

Additional Note - I find it quite amusing that within a 20-minute drive of my home, there are several Thomas Jefferson Middle Schools. I mean, gosh, I know he's famous, but aren't there any other famous people to name schools after?

LOTD

I'm getting addicted to The Fray - here's some more lyrics from them:

All at Once

There are certain people you just keep coming back to
She is right in front of you
You begin to wonder could you find a better one
Compared to her now she's in question

And all at once the crowd begins to sing
Sometimes the hardest thing and the right thing are the same

Maybe you want her maybe you need her
Maybe you started to compare to someone not there

Looking for the right one you line up the world to find
Where no questions cross your mind
But she won't keep on waiting for you without a doubt
Much longer for you to sort it out

And all at once the crowd begins to sing
Sometimes the hardest thing and the right thing are the same

Maybe you want her maybe you need her
Maybe you started to compare to someone not there
Maybe you want it maybe you need it,
Maybe it's all you're running from,
Perfection will not come

And all at once the crowd begins to sing
Sometimes
We'd never know what's wrong without the pain
Sometimes the hardest thing and the right thing are the same

Maybe you want her maybe you need her
Maybe you've started to compare to someone not there
Maybe you want it maybe you need it
Maybe it's all you're running from
Perfection will not come

Maybe you want her maybe you need her
Maybe you had her maybe you lost her to another
To another

WAY Cool Website

My co-worker obviously misses me today, because I've gotten a couple e-mails from him. The most recent one was pointing me towards this way cool site. He is kind enough to feed my dreams of becoming an astronaut - this will be a perfect complement to the glow in the dark stars on my ceiling. Enjoy!

Zonked

I'm zonked. Between waking up around 5:15 this morning, having a not-so-great fast and just getting in from school a little while ago, I'm wiped out. This is my first week taking Fridays off work as a catch-up day - have some school stuff and some apartment stuff to take care of, but looking forward to having a generally lazy day where I can sleep in and take it relatively easy. Oh yeah, and get ready for Purim! What are you dressing up as?

Fading

There are some tornadoes being spotted in and around my hometown at the moment. Both of my parents happened to call while waiting to see what would happen. I'm a little worried, but what's really frustrating is that while I'm using the Internet to check up on what's happening there, I realize how long I've been gone and how much I've forgotten of Alabama. It took me a few tries to remember the zip code where I used to live. I can't recall the name of the TV stations there. I guess I've been gone a long time. I just hope I don't lose the Southern warmth that Alabama is known for.

Disappointment

I just realized that tonight's Grey's Anatomy is a repeat :( Sarah - it's time to catch up!

Duck, Duck, Goose

I see lots of weird stuff in Manhattan, but this morning I was walking down the street and there was a large black man making duck calls on the street. I'm not exactly sure what ducks he was calling, considering it's winter, and we are in Manhattan. I thought maybe it was like Batman, and the Duckmobile was going to drive up, but if it did, I missed it. THAT would have been cool, though.