Life as a Dessertetarian

I'll Be Home for Christmas

2011-12-17T15:43:00.001-05:00

I'm back in PA! It's way weird to be in my room again after 10 months on the other side of the country. I'm here for two weeks, visiting family and friends for the holidays. I took an 8 a.m. flight yesterday and arrived at 2 local time. I'm still thrown off by the time difference; I was starving at 10 last night, didn't go to bed till 1, and woke up at 8 because I usually wake up around 6 in Arizona when the cat sticks his paw in my face ("Hiiiiii miss lady, I think you overslept, I know it's Saturday but you get up at 6 every other day so here I am, hellooooooo").

Already I've been busy, meeting my friend Sara for brunch and cleaning my room. I cleaned before I left, but I kept stuff that I thought I might want shipped out to me. Looking at it now, I have no idea why I didn't just throw it out/recycle it/donate it in the first place. What am I going to do with 25 hangers, 3 broken purses, and a dish drying rack?

In more exciting news, I have pictures of the holiday cookies I made. I took pictures throughout the whole decorating process, but to spare you from looking at 30+ pictures, here are the finished results:

I made snowmen for my office's Christmas in July party, but I never took pictures. The faces I made in July were way better than these, but I was pressed for time and just wanted to finish.

The lights on the trees actually dried to much brighter colors than what you see here.

I made a few different designs on the mittens.

I added yellow sprinkles to the stars, but I apparently never took a picture of that. They look a lot better with the sprinkles. These all dried much brighter.

I put red sprinkles on the red part of the candy canes, but you can't really see them. I like them like this, though.

I had a picture of gingerbread reindeer with saddle blankets saved on my computer for the past 3 years. I tried to copy it, but they didn't exactly turn out as planned.

The white lacing dried a little more see-through and blobby than I would have liked.

I also made some less-holiday-y cookies for my family:

Family in gingerbread form (from bottom left counterclockwise: my dad, my mom, my sister, random blonde girl, random black-haired guy), but I sort of failed. I didn't really plan these out that well.

My greyhound, Brody*. I think these could have been better, but they turned out alright. For comparison:

Our parakeet, Sunny. Out of all the cookies, I made, these were my favorite. I could have done more with the edible markers, but overall I'm happy. For comparison:

I had SO MANY cookies that didn't fit in my family's boxes, so I packaged some up for my supervisor (along with brownies and chocolate chip oatmeal cookies)...

And for our admin assistant.

I'm pleased with my cookies this year; they're way better than last year's or the year before's. Next year, I'll hopefully have more time to bake and decorate closer to Christmas; this year, I made them all before Thanksgiving, decorated them Thanksgiving weekend, and then froze them afterwards. The problem with freezing was that when they thawed, the icing kind of melted and re-hardened into a grainier finish than I'd like. But now that I know that, I'll be able to combat it next year!

Tonight my sister and I are going to decorate the tree (and house, if I have the energy left!). Hopefully on Tuesday/Wednesday, I can begin making jelly donuts (sufganiyot) for our family Chanukah dinner, and if I can find the time, maaaaybe I'll try my hand at some cake pops on Friday. But we'll see--I might just want to curl up in bed and sleep!
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*I tried making my cat by swirling gray, brown, and white, but it just looked like poop, so I gave up and made these. My roommate and I ate them.

Baby, it's cold outside

2011-11-25T13:51:00.001-05:00

Look, November isn't over and I'm making a blog post! I'm therefore going to count the last post as October's and pretend like I never missed a month.

1. Sir Niles is still ridiculously cute.

2. Thanksgiving!

When I was in London in 2008, I wrote about Thanksgiving:

"As for Thanksgiving, well, on Thursday Amy and I are planning on going to Starbucks. Why Starbucks? They have a holiday turkey pannini that has cranberries and stuffing on it. It's pretty much Thanksgiving on bread. We're also hopefully going to find a pumpkin pie tomorrow--let's hope Sainsbury's has them!! If only Starbucks had pumpkin spice lattes."

We did end up getting our Starbucks panninis, but then we also heard that Whole Foods had Thanksgiving food for expats. We walked all the way to the nearest Whole Foods... only to discover they didn't have Thanksgiving foods at all. Turns out it was only the Whole Foods in Kensington, which was a good half hour train ride away. We hurried over there and made it before the store closed (although we were probably the only customers in the store). We got some pumpkin pie, stuffing, and cranberry sauce, then headed back. Some other people on our floor used the communal kitchen to make a full T-day meal, and they made a MESS. In fact, the sink was clogged with turkey grease for the rest of our time there because the geniuses didn't realize that there was no disposal in the sink. It was awful. Amy and I ended up heating our food and eating alone in our rooms. Oh, and we couldn't find any whipped cream at the store, so we ended up with soy whip, which tasted like nuts.

So.

This year, I decided I did not want to repeat that experience. I settled on making the whole meal by myself. It seemed daunting, but I read recipes over and over again until I had them memorized. The final menu I settled on:

1. Alton brown's brined turkey
2. Gravy made from drippings
3. Cranberry sauce
4. Martha's honey-roasted vegetables
5. Sweet & savory green beans
6.Libby's mini pumpkin pies
and
7. Stuffing, made on my aunt's guidance and not from a recipe

It ended up being me, Matt, and the new VISTA at my office, Alex. I'm glad it wasn't just me and Matt; having someone over encouraged me to actually get dressed and to eat at a table instead of on the floor like a barbarian.

As for making the turkey: while it was quiet a process (make the brine on Monday, turkey into the brine at midnight Wednesday-Thursday, add tons of ice all night because I was paranoid it was too warm in here and I didn't have enough room in the fridge, flip the bird over at 8 am, add more ice all day, move it back and forth from bathroom tub to kitchen so that we could shower, accidentally set the smoke alarm off three times because the oven was too small and the top of the turkey started smoking), it was totally worth it. I'm not a big turkey fan, but the turkey was definitely moist. I think, in our hunger, we cut it a liiiiittle too soon, and some juices did run out (all over the counter), so it could have been even better, but for my first ever turkey, not bad!

The evidence:

12 pounds of deliciousness.

I told Matt to take pictures. He decided to be artistic. I was not amused.

I was chided for not smiling. Take two.

Just waiting to be stuffed with apple, onion, sage, rosemary, and cinnamon.

Turkey's in the oven! Taking a break to enjoy the beautiful fall weather and the vast amount of Arizona sky.

It's done! This was my camera without the flash, and the turkey wasn't really this color...

And this is the turkey with the flash, but it also wasn't really this color...

But you get the idea. Turkey!

Cranberry sauce, stuffing.

Honey-roasted veggies.

Sweet & savory green beans.

And the shining star, a plate of turkey! (The gravy is to the right, though I'm not a gravy person and didn't really care for it.)

I didn't take a picture of the pies, but they look more or less like last year's, just less messy.

Once dinner was over, it meant I could play holiday music without feeling guilty! I also decorated with a small tree I got a Target for $5, but it looks kind of like a Charlie Brown tree.

It looks slightly better during the day.

Now I'm going to go enjoy the remainder of my 3-day weekend. I refuse to visit any stores while Black Friday shoppers are out, so looks like I'll be staying here and enjoying the nice weather!

Wish I was an English muffin 'bout to make the most out of a toaster

2011-11-06T17:41:00.002-05:00

Oh, no! I forgot to make a post in October! It's not like I was even all that busy last month. How could I forget?

To sum up:

1. At the start of the month, I made recycled Halloween decorations out of glass, tissue paper, construction paper, and paint.

and then I used (fake) tea lights to make them glow.

2. I went to the Boyce Thompson Arboretum for a work event. It was pretty, but I didn't get to do much exploring as I had to get back early so I could go for a run.

3. Ran my first half marathon... up a mountain! The Mount Lemmon Half Marathon, which was insane and beautiful and awesome.

4. Made Halloween pumpkin cookies and then decorated them with melted chocolate. Mmmm, I wish I had more.

5. Parents visited right before Halloween. Dressed up as a dragon.

6. Spent more time with my awesome cat.

Speaking of the cat, I just got him a leash and harness today, so I'm going to go test that out. Now I just need to remember to make another update this month about Thanksgiving so that I can keep up with my one-post-a-month promise!

California, I'm coming home

2011-09-25T16:24:00.007-04:00

Vacation.

Vacation is amazing. I highly recommend everyone take one, even if you're only earning a measly $700/month like me. Wow, did I need that. It was so great to get out and see my friends, not to mention going somewhere with reasonable September weather was amazing.

I went out to California last Friday through yesterday (Saturday) to see Jocelyn and Elyse. We spent the first few days in LA so we could see Elyse's brother's race:

Go go car 51!

Racing is actually pretty enjoyable when you know someone who's in the car. Some of Elyse's extended family members were there as well, so her brother had a whole cheering section. Plus he came in third for the season! Pretty awesome.

We drove back to northern California on Monday, taking our time and stopping at Big Sur on the way:

We got an appetizer (goat cheese and garlic on toasted bread, mmm), cider (me, Jocelyn), and hot chocolate (Elyse), then sat around the fire and lamented having to get back in the car.

The rest of the time, we just kind of hung out, went to a few restaurants, and watched TV shows and movies. I know a lot of people will tell me I could have just done that at home and I should have enjoyed my time going out and seeing things, but I was there for the people, not the sights, and I couldn't have had a better time.

We did go to Half Moon Bay one day, which has cute shops. Mostly, though, we went out there because I wanted to see pumpkins. Elyse suggested we check out the pumpkin patches there, so Jocelyn drove us out. Being in the desert, you don't realize that it's fall in the rest of the country--it's still 100 here every day. I'm sad I'm not going to see leaves changing color or get to wear plaid shirts every day, but at least I got a nice experience while in CA:

There was a second pumpkin patch directly across the street, so we went there, too. Why not?

We finished out the visit to Half Moon Bay with a visit to the water, where I was ecstatic because it was foggy and I didn't have to see the sun:

On Friday night, we made fondue for Elyse's family and her brother's friends. I haven't had a big dinner like that in a long time, and it was a lot of fun. Good food, good wine, good people! Afterwards, we watched Singin' in the Rain. Elyse and I stayed up talking for a while after because we had the theory that if we just never went to bed, I'd never have to go back to Arizona.

Sadly, that didn't hold true, and Saturday morning I had to take off on my plane anyway. I'm now back in Arizona where it's still hot, still dusty, and still home for the next 5 months. Fortunately, October is right around the corner, and hopefully cooler weather is on the way. I have my first half marathon at the end of October, and my parents will be coming out for a visit after that. It's crazy to think that Thanksgiving will be here before I know it! It looks like I'll be having a similar Thanksgiving to the one I had in London, though at least this time I can hopefully make food instead of tracking down Whole Foods and buying pie and stuffing.

And with Christmas just after Thanksgiving, it looks like I"ll be visiting home before I know it...

Wild Montana Skies

2011-08-20T21:31:00.000-04:00

1. So it's August 20th.

Yesterday, I ran my first ever program for a high school. I had to coordinate all of the volunteers for it, make all of the photocopies, organize everything, etc. etc.

Overall? It was fun, though stressful. I had never coordinated 1 volunteer let alone 100, so it was definitely a learning experience. I have another event next month at a much smaller school (about 1/6th the size of yesterday's!), so I'm thinking it'll be a lot easier to do. We'll see, though--I don't want to jinx anything.

Anyway, that's the reason for my absence lately. I've been staying late at work quite a few nights, and I definitely have plenty more to do, but hopefully I won't have nearly as much stress as I did these past three weeks.

2. My sister came to visit

Please note that I am the paler sister despite living in Arizona.

3. Um...

Huh. That's all I can think of right now. Really, all I've done since I got back from camp is work on this program. And now that it's over (the first round, at least), all I can do is think about ways I can improve upon what I did. I've turned into one of those people who thinks about work nonstop, help!

Within You, Without You

2011-07-20T17:15:00.000-04:00

I don't know how professional bloggers do it. I've been managing to update my blog about once a month, and even that's time-consuming enough. I can't even imagine having enough interesting events in my daily life to post a photo a day. Yeesh.

Well, where to start?

1. I got a cat.

Sir Niles is about 5 years old according to the shelter. His original name was Niles, but he believes he's royalty, so I feel "Sir" is appropriate. I usually just call him "Kitty" or "Kitteh," but when he's being particularly mischievous (like at 3 am when he wants to wake me up and play), I call him "Sir" ("You are being very obnoxious, Sir. Stop that, Sir. Please don't pounce on my head, Sir.")

He's a long-haired cat, but he had some serious mats in his fur when I got him. Mats are painful, and they're pretty much impossible to brush out unless you have a toothless cat.

So Kitteh got shaved. He was not pleased. It's growing back out, though.

Kitteh really likes socks and shoes. The smellier, the better.

He spends most of the day sleeping, either upside-down on the couch or curled up under a computer desk. From about 3 am to 8 am, he gets super hyper and bounces around, pouncing on everything he can find.

So basically, Niles is my child, and I'm going to be posting a lot more pictures of him because if everyone else is allowed to post pictures of their children, I'm totally allowed to post pictures of my cat.

2. I went to a cave with my fellow VISTAs.

We went to Colossal Cave, the largest dry cave in...hm... the U.S.? North America? I probably should have paid better attention to the tour. Oh well, it was fun--and a delightful 70 degrees inside the cave.

3. I saw the big dust storm that went to Phoenix.

I live southeast of Phoenix, so the storm that went up there passed over here first. Giant dust storms like that are called haboobs. They don't happen often, but when they do, they're a doozy!

4. I went to 4-H camp last week.

And I took a lot of pictures! ...but I'm hesitant to share them because a lot feature the campers, and though I have photo release forms for all of them, I'm reluctant to show them in my personal photos. I'm planning on making a video advertising our camp for next year (VISTA in action!), so once that's done you can see everything.

For now, here's a few that I can show you:

That shirt in the middle? Yeah, that's mine.

I taught the campers two workshops: SunWise (a sun safety course from the EPA) and Running for Fun. They went over pretty well, especially SunWise when I cracked out the UV-reactive beads. They change color in sunlight, so I had the campers make bracelets so that they could have a reminder that they were getting UV exposure. Campers love bead bracelets, apparently!

I also made a few friendship bracelets with some girls, which I really enjoyed. I know camp is for the campers, but I had a great time. It was exhausting and I'm super glad not to be driving a 15-passenger van around anymore, but I'd totally do it again.

And now it's a Wednesday, and I'm at home relaxing because I need some time off after that crazy week at camp. We're having a Christmas in July party at work on Monday, which means I get to make cookies for the party! I'm super excited. I also have a reason to wear the Christmas socks my sister bought me last year. The weather isn't Decemberish at all, though it's actually be a cool 104 the past few days. Generally it's 110+ this time of year. It's nice that it's not as hot, but we could actually use the super high heat as that's what brings the rain in.

Hopefully the rain holds off today though--I plan to go to Michael's around 4 to pick up some more friendship bracelet string (I'm addicted!) and cookie-decorating supplies, and I don't feel like getting stormed on!

Till next time, which is probably next month...

Here comes the sun

2011-07-19T10:42:00.000-04:00

I've been running around like mad out here trying to get a billion things done, but I finally have some pictures! I went to our 4-H camp last week and it was tons of fun. Hopefully I'll get around to updating sometime later in the week, but knowing me, don't count on it!

Besides, Harry Potter #7.2 just came out, so I have to go see it this week.

Hot Stuff

2011-06-05T15:23:00.009-04:00

Time is just whizzing by here in AZ. It's June now, which means it's hot and going to stay hot until September rolls around. Today is a nice cool high of 103, and eventually it'll start hitting 110 on a daily basis. Hooray!

This past week, I was lucky enough to go to a camp for a meeting for my work. The weather was delightful--I was actually cold some of the time! The last night there, the temperature got down to 35. It was a shock on the way home; when I got in the car at the top of the mountain I was wearing jeans and a jacket, but when I got home, I immediately had to change into shorts and a tank top.

I didn't take too many pictures because I thought they weren't accurately capturing how pretty everything was, but here's a brief overview...

Flowers in a tree at a rest stop on the way.

Prickly pear cactus at the rest stop.

A really pale me jumping in front of the mountains at the rest stop.

Cute little bridge on the way into camp.

Outside the kitchen.

Nurse's cabin.

Smoldering fire remains at 7:30 am.

Sunrise over the fire pit.

Girls' cabins.

Not picutred: water slide in the middle of the pond.

Hiking through the woods.

C'est tout!

Eventually, I'll upload some pictures of the food I've made recently, but at the moment, I'm being a nerd and watching Star Trek: The Next Generation.

Fame Monster

2011-05-18T17:44:00.002-04:00

Look ma, I'm famous!

Coming up from below

2011-04-24T17:01:00.000-04:00

Oh, geeze. Where to start?

I apparently had the wireless router as of April 3rd, looking back on my last post. So why is it that I haven't updated and today is April 24th?!

Time is moving way faster than I ever thought it could. Monday turns into Friday turns into the weekend turns into Monday all over again. During the week, the last thing I want to do when I get home is stare at a computer screen even longer. I'm still trying to find a new (cheap) hobby to take up, though, because instead of doing something productive, I end up watching movies or cooking and staring into space all night.

My first couple of weekends here were hectic. There was always something I needed to buy, seeds that needed planting, a gym that needed visiting... It wasn't until recently that weekends have freed up--though they still pass too quickly, and Monday rolls around before I've even had a chance to relax.

I was also rather sick last weekend and spent most of my time sitting on the couch or in bed staring at the wall. I had a high fever and couldn't keep food down--yuck. I'm happy that I'm finally better.

But really, I don't have a good excuse for not updating. I'm just lazy. So I'll attempt to give a good update in this entry, but I'm getting bored already, so "good" may just turn into "good enough."

1. This is where I live.

It kind of looks like this every day. Yesterday was slightly cloudy, which was nice--cloud cover keeps the sun from shining too strongly, which keeps it from getting too hot here. I've noticed that it's not the heat that's bad so far--it's the sun. It beats very strongly, and it saps you of energy faster than it does up north. The highest it's gotten so far has been 97 in early April, though it went back down to the 85-90 range these past few weeks. (The weather is honestly exactly the same every day.) It looks like it's going to start getting up into the 90s on a regular basis starting this week, which kind of sucks, but I suppose it has to happen eventually. In June/July/August, temperatures will hit 110--yikes! I'll definitely be running the AC then. So far, though, I've managed to get by just using fans, a huge energy saver.

2. What I did in March

Pretty much as soon as I got here, it was time for the county fair. It was what you'd expect of any typical fair: rides, fried (and overpriced) foods, face paint, glow wands, really bad tribute bands--except I was there for 4-H. I never went to the county fair growing up (we went to the traveling state fair instead), but livestock showing is a big part of fairs. I'm working with the county 4-H program, so part of my job was to go around and film/photograph 4-H kids in their events. This was a bit difficult for me for a few reasons:

A) I didn't know who to film. The first day I was there, the competitions hadn't started yet, so the kids weren't in their 4-H garb. They changed out of their clothes after showing their animals, too--after all, would you want to be in a long-sleeved shirt and jeans in the desert? Plus not everyone there was in 4-H; there were some other livestock club kids too.

B) I had to be careful of filming faces. We obviously didn't have photo releases for everyone at the fair--remember, it wasn't just 4-H kids but people from other livestock clubs, parents, siblings, county members, etc--so I couldn't film in a way that a person was recognizable. This was difficult, as kids and animals don't exactly like to stand still.

C) There was dust. Lots of dust. So much dust. We get dust storms out here because there's no rain to keep the earth damp. The fairgrounds are basically a big, empty plot of dirt. It's also windy in Arizona. No rain + empty land + wind = dust, dust, dust. Did I mention it was dusty? That reminds me; I should vacuum.

D) Filming is boring. I now know why I didn't go to film school.

That's about it for fair. It was a hectic week, and I was all too happy when it was over. Then it was back into the office to begin working on other projects.

3. What I've been doing in April

We're working on getting a program into schools this fall. It's a life skills course, teaching money management and employment skills to 9th graders. I think it's vital for kids to have--most of them are stuck in "I'm-in-high-school" mode and haven't thought about the future yet, but we all know that applying for college sneaks up quickly. Most of these kids have no idea how to write checks or budget money--or even how to interview for a job.

I've volunteered at the program twice in another county. Volunteers do practice interview with the kids. I promise you, most of them respond to the question, "What are your weaknesses?" with totally negative statements--despite having learned earlier in the morning that they should ALWAYS put a positive spin on their weaknesses ("I'm a slow worker, but I get around that by teaming up with others and learning to refocus on what's important."). I don't know that the program is going to drastically change kids' lives--to do that, I think we'd need to start them on this way earlier, like 4th grade--but it's better a good start.

That's taken up a good portion of this month along with some other things like certifying leaders. At home, I've been mostly relaxing, though I do have a garden! I originally planted garlic, green onions, and a bell pepper plant. So far, though, only the garlic is thriving. Sad little onion shoots have come up, but I don't know if they're going to survive the summer. The pepper plant never even grew. I planted a few seeds in a pot thinking that the warm weather would make it grow quickly. I kept waiting and waiting and waiting, but nothing came up. Finally, one Saturday, I decided to plant new seeds. I came out the next day...

and Papa Bird was eating the seeds!

Two mourning doves (Mama Bird and Papa Bird) have set up a nest outside, right next to the spikes that are supposed to prevent birds from landing there in the first place, and one hatchling has already flown the coop. I named it Francis, figuring it was a good name for a boy or a girl, and plan to name the next hatchling Bacon, and if there's one after that, Eggs.

Anyway.

Yes, a dove was sitting in the flower pot happily chowing down on pepper seeds. I don't know for sure if it was Papa Bird--after all, mourning doves are the pigeons of this town--but I'd like to blame him. I yelled at Francis (who was still in the nest), telling him that his father ate all of my seeds, went back inside, grabbed some more garlic cloves, and planted those instead.

They're now growing quite nicely.

4. Plans for the future

This coming month, I'll be working on that life skills course, certifying more leaders, making a video about the fair, and who knows what else. My job kind of changes all the time. I'm never sure what I'm going to be doing, so I have to learn to go with the flow. I have some events coming up this summer--conferences, 4-H camp, family and friends visiting, and who knows what else. It'll be hot and dry and dusty! And it'll be here before I know it.

As for what I'm doing today, well, I may have to suck it up and go to Walmart (I know. I'm sorry), as I'm thinking of getting a slow cooker so that I can make meals while I'm at work and come home to delicious food that doesn't require me turning on the oven when it's 95 degrees outside.

And I'm also going to save this entry and publish it right now. :)

Baby, You're A Firework

2011-04-03T22:43:00.000-04:00

Okay, I haven't posted.

And I will post!

...but not today.

Why not today? Because I'm tired. Because it's warm in here, and I don't have a fan in this room. Because I hit my elbow on the (moving) ceiling fan while trying to measure the depth of the sill in front of the skylights and now my arm hurts when I keep it bent too long (no, it's not broken).

But I DO finally have internet! And a wireless router, so that I can access the internet from anywhere in the apartment! That means you can look forward to a hopefully massive update this coming weekend.

And if I don't post anything, I promise you can yell at me.

But for now, I'm going to go drink mango juice.

Quick Post

2011-03-13T19:52:00.003-04:00

Tomorrow, I move to an upstairs apartment. Hooray! Hopefully the internet connection will be stronger from there. If not, I'll probably shop around and invest in getting my own internet. We'll see.

Until then, the internet is lagging, and I'm too lazy to type anything too long...

I'll tear up this town

2011-03-05T13:22:00.000-05:00

As I write, I'm sitting in front of the sliding door in this bedroom. It's open, and a delightful breeze is coming in because it's a wonderful 65 degrees at 10 am Mountain Time. I can hear birds and see palm trees. The sky is a delightful blue. There's even green grass, though that's only because this apartment complex is constantly watering the lawn. The local birds love it; they land every night and drink water straight from the grass.

So this is Arizona. In some ways, it's not what I expected, and in others, it is. There's dusty red dirt everywhere, warm sunshine, giant Saguaro cacti, and tumbleweeds blowing down the street. But then there's green grass (I guess Arizonans like nice lawns, too), cold night weather (okay, 40s, but still), and "shade trees" that don't have any leaves yet (because spring is just arriving here, too).

All in all, though, I like what I've seen this first week. It all started when I arrived on Thursday, when I arrived in Casa Grande after PSO, or Pre-Service Orientation. I spent three days in Albuquerque, New Mexico, right next to Sandia Mountain:

so named because at sunset it looks pink, like a watermelon ("sandia" is Spanish for "watermelon").

PSO was from Monday the 21st through Thursday the 24th at noon. It wasn't an orientation for what I'll specifically be doing but more for what AmeriCorps VISTA (Volunteer in Service to America) is. Close to 200 people were there, ranging in age from 18 to over 70. We split into smaller groups; I was in the blue group, and I'm pretty sure we were the best one there. We discussed poverty, how to facilitate good meetings, volunteer recruitment, and a bunch of other stuff that relates to our year of service. I'm sad that I had to split apart from all of those people in my group, but we were all excited to start serving.

On Thursday at noon, we all swore in as VISTAs. Hooray! As soon as swearing in was done, I headed to the airport with a bunch of other people... and got there too early, because I can never not be early, and sat around for two hours with a bunch of girls from my group waiting for our flight (we were all headed to Phoenix). Once I got to Phoenix, I got a ride down to my new town of Casa Grande and then met up with my supervisor and her husband. They were wonderful and gave me food and a place to stay for the first few days--a huge help. My supervisor also took me around the next day to look at apartments. I settled on a place that was a bit pricier than I wanted, but it's also nicer (one of the other places had a dead roach!) and bigger than all the others. The thing is--I wanted to move upstairs, but all of the upstairs apartments were filled at the moment. We managed to strike a deal where I could move into a downstairs apartment and pay the rent for the last 3 days of February, then, with the move-in special they were having, get rent for the month of March free, and move into an upstairs apartment as soon as it became available (which should be by next weekend).

Anyway.

My supervisor's house was very nice, and she had three little pugs named Maury, Noelle, and Leon. They were very playful, despite two of them being senior dogs, so much so that I couldn't ever get a good picture of them:

My supervisor also had a lemon tree in her backyard. Apparently citrus grows well down here, so there are citrus trees everywhere.

Her husband also had tortoises. Did you know they hiss when they're angry??

We also have one of the greatest things about the west coast out here: In-N-Out. It's a legendary fast food place where burgers are made fresh and you have to know the lingo to order anything that's not on the official menu. I've already had it twice since I've been here, and I'm sure my waistline isn't thanking me, but my mouth is:

Those are some animal-style fries, a protein-style burger (wrapped in lettuce instead of a carb-filled bun), and then some regular cheeseburgers and hamburgers. I think the more you eat In-N-Out, the better it tastes, which is probably a dangerous thing for me.

I know I still need to describe my first week at work, but I have a ton of stuff I still need to do, like visit the gym today (I joined my first ever real person gym!), do some laundry, clean up the apartment, cook some food.... I promise I'll try to update again soon, but internet service is spotty (I'm using the complex's free WiFi at the moment, and it's not all that great), and until I find out how much it costs for internet service, I'm stuck using this, work internet (on the Slowest. Computer. Ever.), and the WiFi at the library (which is only open for a few hours on Saturday and not at all on Sunday).

'Till next time!

2011-02-28T13:12:00.000-05:00

This is just a quick post to say that yes, I am alive, yes, I made it to Arizona, and yes, I have somewhere to live.

I've been super busy trying to find stuff for the apartment, and today I begin work at 1:30 pm (hooray for a lovely supervisor who didn't ask me to be there at 8 am my very first day).

I'll post some pictures soon, but until then, just know that it's lovely and sunny here, and I miss you all!

2011-02-20T16:13:00.002-05:00

Ceci n'est pas une pipe

2011-02-13T23:47:00.000-05:00

Belated resolution:

I have made a goal of taking one picture a week and then blogging about it while I'm in Arizona. It can be of anything--something I'm doing at work, what my new apartment looks like, sunset, sunrise, a piece of trash on the sidewalk... I don't care what it is, but I *must* update.

I was going to implement this change this past week, when I traveled between New York, Philly, and Boston visiting family and friends, but I naturally forgot my camera, and I hate taking cell phone pictures. The only two pictures I managed during the whole week were one of my friend Anahita's tomato plant:

and another of the new couch in her suite:

I'd write about my travels, but I really don't think there's much to say, other than the amount of hipsters and crazy people in NY seems to have doubled since I was last there.

I leave next Monday (the 21st) for orientation in New Mexico, and I'll definitely have my camera then, because I'm moving to Arizona straight from there and will have to have all of my things with me (minus the few bits and pieces I'm shipping). So I promise to try my hardest to remember to take a picture when the plane takes off, or when I arrive in NM, or when I get to orientation or... something. SOMEWHERE in there, I can find time to take a picture.

But now it's late, and I'm going to go enjoy sleeping in my bed one week more.

But Let's Not Talk about Fare-Thee-Wells Now

2011-01-20T22:48:00.005-05:00

***WARNING: This entire post contains pictures I've already posted. Sorry to bore you all over again!***

1. Moving
At some point, I will address the fact that HOLY COW I AM MOVING ACROSS THE COUNTRY TO ARIZONA to work with Americorps for one whole year. But right now, I'm going to talk about how

2. my blog gets really random hits all the time because of pictures of cakes I've made.
I guess people do Google searches for "rainbow cake" sometimes, and this entry pops up because I link to my rainbow cake in it. And for some reason, other people go to this entry because I have a basket cake on there. You probably think I'm exaggerating--

-Today, I had five page views.
-Yesterday, I had 17.
-Since I started this blog, I have had 23 views from Denmark and 108 from Germany.

Okay, so to any big-time blogger, that's not even a day's work. But for me, that's kind of weird. I mean, this is just my personal blog. I didn't ever intend to have complete strangers read it. (Oh, the internet and its lack of privacy.) It's not that I mind these views. The problem is that I'm vain and sad that I only ever have pictures when the food I make looks bad.

Seriously. I've had comments on those posts that are like, "Great work! But next time try..." or "Cool, but you should work on..." Hey. HEY. These were, like, the first cakes I ever made. Ever. EVER. Hear that? I was brand new to decorating. I don't have artistic talent; I can't even draw a star free-hand. I can admit that there are parts of the cakes that need improvements (the rainbow cake was pretty much a disaster all around; the only improvement was eating it), but I've done some good work since then.

Except I never have a camera when I make pretty foods.

The best I can show you is the cookies I made for Steph's wedding, which I'll repost just to prove that I can sometime do things right:

And okay, those still aren't perfect, but they were my best cookies to date.

I made mini pumpkin pies around Thanksgiving, when I wanted to use up some leftover condensed milk, but naturally they came out looking terrible (but tasting great, everyone said):

And then there were my Christmas cookies, butI didn't have a camera except for the one on my phone, and I only managed to get a very blurry picture (minus the reindeer, because everyone ate them before the picture) and it doesn't show off the cute sprinkles (that I attached using meringue powder dissolved in water, and boy was I proud of myself for that little trick) or how smooth the icing came out, and besides these were the rejects that I didn't give out and kept for my family:

3. But the good news!
My dad got me a new camera for Christmas, so hopefully now I can take pictures of the foods I make. They'll still probably be bad pictures; after all, it's just a point-and-shoot (though a very nice one), and I don't know anything about lighting and angles and blahdee blah blah.

I don't know how often I'll be baking once I move to Arizona; Americorps isn't exactly a high-rolling job (it's not a job at all, in fact, but service), but we'll see what I can do. I spent tonight sorting through my college boxes deciding what to ship out there and what to toss/donate, and all of my cooking stuff definitely needs to come with. Now I just have to decide on everything else I have... when on Earth did I accumulate so many things?!

Feliz Navidad

2010-12-25T13:17:00.001-05:00

I'm being called to leave for my aunt's house now, but...

MERRY CHRISTMAS!

Sleigh bells ring, are ya listenin'?

2010-12-18T13:27:00.000-05:00

1. Christmas is coming

Oh geeze. Christmas is in ONE WEEK. I still have to wrap my dad's gift. My sister and I need to find something for our mom (who reads this blog. Hi, Mommy). I write my friend Sadie a story and send it to her on Christmas Eve every year, so I need to write that. I have some leftover dough in the freezer for making cookies (more on that in a minute), and I should probably use it soon.

Christmas also means work is way busier. The cafe has been SLAMMED lately, and unfortunately we've been a bit understaffed for the demand. Supposedly, today is supposed to be the second-biggest shopping day in the year, right after Black Friday. We were super busy on BF, so I'm praying that it's not like that today--but I know it will be. College kids are back in town, teenage mall rats are let loose by parents who want to get some shopping done, and mothers are out with small children in tow, picking up last-minute gifts.

On the plus side, my coworkers are still wonderful people. I honestly don't know how I'd get through all of this without them. Cracking jokes makes everything so much better. The cafe manager is fantastic, keeping everything running, and our lead manager is brilliant, too. I don't know how they get everything done, but they do.

At home, all of our Christmas decorations are up. I decorated my room, too, switching out the leaf garland for tinsel, hanging stockings, a gingerbread man, and snowman on the wall, and even putting mini lights around my bulletin board:

I like it so much, I might just leave the lights up year-round (and take them with me whenever I end up moving!). Ah, holiday decorating. It makes me happy.

2. So how 'bout some decorated cookies to make me even happier?

We had a cookie exchange at work, so I made sugar cookies with royal icing (there was a reindeer, too, but my family ate all of the ones on this plate before I could get a picture). I thought the cookie exchange was on a Sunday the 12th, so I had planned to do all of the baking on Thursday and all of the decorating on Saturday. I started the decorating on Thursday just to get ahead of the game. It's a good thing I did--I found out on Friday afternoon that the exchange was actually on Saturday the 11th! I went home and finished them that night. They turned out much better than last year's:

though last year's photo quality was better, since I still had a camera back then! I learned a lot about using royal icing over the past year, though, like about piping outlines and flooding (which I'm too lazy to do, as there are only 24 hours in a day, and not 40) and not piping red icing onto half-dry white icing as it will bleed, and using no-taste red instead of regular red gel coloring because that way the icing doesn't taste like crap!

The only difference I didn't like was that I used meringue powder for the icing, as I was afraid of giving people raw egg whites (normally, for royal icing, I use raw egg whites, powdered sugar, water, and some lemon juice or almond extract). I liked the colors better with meringue powder; they colors were sharper (though that may just be because I finally used enough gel paste!) and the overall consistency was better. I didn't like the taste, though.

If I use up that remaining dough, I think I'll use egg whites in the icing this time and see what happens. I'm not sure if I have time to make them for Christmas day, since I'm working Monday-Friday next week, but if not, I'll make them for New Year's Eve. Why?

3. BECAUSE I HAVE OFF!

I have New Year's Eve off, so I can go up to NY! Besides Thanksgiving, it's my favorite holiday of the year. It's a fantastic excuse to get together with friends and stay up late celebrating--not that we didn't do that all the time in NY anyway, but it's doubly fun when the whole city is doing it, too. And even better, my friend Jocelyn is returning to NY on the 28th, so we can all be reunited (we haven't all been in the city together since July). I'm super excited and can't wait. I know there's a lot of work to be done in the meantime, but that one small little ray of hope is getting me through it. Really, I just start smiling sometimes because I remember that!

I can't believe yet another year is ending, though. That means it's been 3 years since I decided I was going to do Bike & Build. Eek! And speaking of biking, I got a nice tuneup for my bike (yay!)... but have yet to ride it to work. I was going to today, but... well, staying in bed and updating my blog sounded more fun than rushing to get dressed. I have to work at 10 am on Wednesday and Thursday, so I'll definitely bike those days (unless it's snowing/raining), and I for sure want to bike on Christmas Eve, since I find the idea of a Christmas Eve bike ride romantic (in the capital R sense).

Happy Chrismahanukwanzayear!

Y'a quleque chose

2010-12-10T00:16:00.002-05:00

Uh...

Excuse me? It's December 10th? Really?

:O

King of the Road

2010-11-20T16:45:00.004-05:00

Ah, November. Time is still flying, and I'm still not updating frequently.

To update you all on my fascinating life:

1. Quick trip to New York and Boston.

Went to NY and Boston from the 5th through the 11th. Visited friends, had good times.

2. Returned to el cafe.

Back to Barnes & Noble I went. I've started opening! On the plus side, I get the afternoons to myself; on the negative, I'm not a morning person.

3. It's almost Thanksgiving!

So I made a pumpkin pie and have now baked mini pies to take into work tomorrow.

I also used the leftover filling (I ran out of pie dough, grr) to make pumpkin custard (it's basically just pie without the dough).

And that's that! Chanukah is coming up in under two weeks, and I don't have a single thing for anyone yet. I get a special discount at work starting November 29th, but the problem is that Chanukah starts the December 1st, eek! So I'm going to have to do all of my shopping in the two days before it starts.

We're also having a Chanukah dinner here on the 5th, though I don't know if I'll be working yet, and my sister has decided delegated the task of making sufganiyot, or jelly donuts, to me. It's an Israeli thing, their version of the potato latke (fried foods are the way to go for this holiday), but donuts are notoriously hard to make. My mom randomly has a deep fryer in the kitchen closet that hasn't been used in years. I figure I'll try to make donuts with that, but she warned me that whenever she used to use it, everything got burnt. No matter, I'll probably just burn the house down and/or myself when I use it, anyway.

I can't believe it's almost time to put away my glittery pumpkin and leaf garland in favor of stockings and tinsel! Didn't I just graduate? Oh... that was 6 months ago...

Happy Halloween!

2010-10-31T10:46:00.001-04:00

Help I'm Alive

2010-10-11T16:01:00.004-04:00

Hm. I meant to update more frequently, but yet again, I failed. Today is October 11th, and I haven't posted since September 1st! Drat. The problem is that not all that much has happened in that time. Let's see...

1. Still working at Barnes & Noble Cafe

Yep, I'm still working at the cafe! I even got a new nametag with toffee mocha on it instead of pumpkin spice. Last I wrote, I didn't even know how to make either of those drinks. I'm now mostly competent at making drinks; I still check the drink guides every now and then, and I definitely mess up sometimes, but the good thing about this job is that it's only coffee, not life and death.

I've been biking... or trying to. It didn't rain all summer, and now it wants to rain all the time! My general rule is that if there's below a 50% chance of rain, I'll still bike. So far, I haven't been caught in the rain at all; however, tonight there's a 60% chance of rain starting halfway through my shift. I haven't decided yet if I'm going to risk biking. I'm not worried so much about getting myself wet as I am about getting my STUFF wet--I don't want to show up at work with a soaked uniform.

So yeah, work is moving right along!

2. Stephanie's wedding

Stephanie is married! The wedding was this past Saturday, October 9th. The weather was fantastic (78, sunny), the service was pretty, and the reception was filled with lots of food (which we all needed, because we were STARVING by the time we got there!).

Two weeks before that, we had the bachelorette party at Elizabethtown College. It was a huge success and lots of fun. I made cookies for the favor bags:

A heart-dress

A cake

And a daisy (A. C. Moore didn't have any other individually sold wedding-shaped cookie cutters)

So many cookies!

I tried adding almond extract to the royal icing this time for a different flavor. I enjoyed the taste, but the almond flavor wasn't as pronounced as I had hoped it would be. Next time I might add it to the cookies, too, instead of vanilla extract. I plan to make pumpkin-flavored cut-out cookies later this week, but those will be decorated with candy melts instead of royal icing in the hopes of bringing out the pumpkin flavor. Any leftover candy melts will be used to create these ghost pops from marthastewart.com. They're not something I would normally do, but I was watching the Marhta Stewart Halloween special today (yes, I recorded it so I could watch it later; yes, I'm a nerd) and my mom said, "Why don't you make those instead?"

"Instead of cookies?" I asked. "I don't know. Because I'm decorating cookies."

"I don't like pumpkin," was my mom's reply. Now, I know she eats pumpkin pie, so this can't be true :P but to appease my mother, I will make the ghosts*. Besides, I love Halloween!

3. Halloween

Halloween, the last thing on my list. I wouldn't talk about it just yet, but I'm afraid I'm going to get lazy again and not post until after the 31st! I decorated my room at home this year, though I had to buy a few more pieces since I only had two decorations last year. I cannot believe it's already been a year since then. Time needs to slow down! :(

Before I bought decorations, I printed out Halloween coloring book pages and filled them in using colored pencils and Sharpie markers. I now also have an autumn leaf garland, window clings, a ceramic pumpkin candle holder, and a fake pumpkin that I'm going to cover in glitter later this week with my sister--again, a la marthastewart.com. I also bought a light-up ghost necklace to put around the base of the pumpkin.

My friend Amy's mom has about 100 times more decorations than I do, due to her years of collecting things (she's an expert vintage/thrift/flea market shopper), and her house looks really awesome. I'm not quite there yet, but this is good enough for me this year! I can definitely see the perks of buying used decorations, though; I feel a bit guilty because I'm adding to the vast amount of waste this country creates. Used items can add character, too! Hopefully next year I can reuse what I bought this year and work on creating a more sustainable decorating system.

I think that's all for now. Hopefully I remember to update soon...

_____________________
*Assuming there are leftover candy melts. Actually, Martha's recipe calls for white chocolate and I have vanilla candy melts, but I'm going to assume it will work the same.

And when my mind is wandering, there I will go

2010-09-01T21:51:00.007-04:00

1. September 1st

Ah, September.

Wait, what? September? Already?!

Ahhhhhhh!!!

Time is moving way too fast. Today is September first, which means the Hogwarts Express left from Platform 9 3/4 at 11 am GMT. If you're not a Harry Potter fan, that didn't mean anything to you, but it means a lot to me. I was actually IN London this time two years ago, and Amy and I stumbled across the "entrance" to the platform that evening as we rushed on our way to see A Midsummer Night's Dream at The Globe (note: the entrance to the Kings Cross train station is not the same as the entrance for the tube). We didn't ever get pictures with it, though, because it just wasn't something that I thought about much. I think I took a lot of London for granted, the same way I did with New York. After a while, it was just so normal to step outside and have British stuff everywhere.

Maybe next year I can go back to London and actually catch the train to Hogwarts. Sure, I'll be 23 and the average first-year student is 11, and yeah, I'd be graduating Hogwarts at age 30, but those are only minor details. Hogwarts can be my grad school!

2. Barnes & Noble

Yes, yours truly is now employed at the local Barnes & Noble cafe. It's a temporary thing, since no office jobs seem to be hiring at the moment, and my bank account and student loan statement would both like money.

I officially start on Friday. I have a pretty decent uniform, I think: black shoes, black pants, black shirt, green hat, and green apron. It could definitely be way worse (Amy definitely isn't a big fan of AMC's uniforms), so I won't complain too much. I also have a name tag that currently advertises Pumpkin Spice lattes/frappuccinos! Mmm, can't wait to have my first one. I almost got one yesterday with Amy at the actual Starbucks around the corner (note: Barnes & Noble cafe is NOT a Starbucks!), but it was just too darn hot, and the idea of a latte in 95-degree weather wasn't pleasant. Of course, then the Starbucks was FREEZING and I shivered through a Vanilla Bean frap, but it was worth holding out for September. Pumpkin just isn't appropriate in the month of August*, as much as I love it.

My goal is to bike to work. We'll see how well this works out; hopefully I don't cave and beg for rides if it's too hot/windy/rainy/cold. For those of you worried for my safety (Mommy), I assure you that I take every precaution when I ride. I stick to well-lit roads; I would never even dream of riding on Galloway at night. I have a headlight and a taillight (both alternate between flashing or steady--flashing is easier for drivers to see, I think, but flashing headlights tend to annoy me as I ride). I have a bright yellow reflective jacket. I have a reflective wrist band. Heck, I even have a lighted bike lock key. I know that even with every safety precaution, there's still a risk, but I intend to be as careful as possible. (P.S. I always wear my helmet, and you should, too!)

I think that's mostly all for now. I took my dress for Steph's wedding to a seamstress for alterations today, and that should be ready in just under three weeks!

________________________
*For those who don't know, Pumpkin Spice is only around from about September to early December since Pumpkin is, duh, a fall flavor. I'm not a big coffee person, but I love Pumpkin Spice.

Embrasse-la

2010-08-22T21:55:00.002-04:00

Okay, just to prove that I'm still here and remember that I have a blog, a mini-update!

1. Tomorrow's goal: clean!

I cleaned out my desk today, since the drawers were a bit disorganized, but I want to clean out more of my room. I have lot of stuff stored under my bed that I could probably get rid of, and my closet is definitely really messy. I'm also thinking of cleaning out the linen closet; it's not exactly the most organized part of the house :P

2. Power outage

There was a power outage tonight! From about 7:30 to 8:30, I used a flashlight and a candle while I read Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows. It was actually really fun... I should read that way more often! Very cozy.

Alright, that's all for now. I leave you with a song from La petite sirène, or The Little Mermaid: "Embrasse-la" ("Kiss the Girl") because French Disney songs are fun!

Embrasse-la!

What I've Been Doing All This Time, Part Deux

2010-08-14T15:59:00.003-04:00

We last left off with me finishing my triathlon, eating lots of ice cream, and sleeping. I had to go to the Verizon store and get a replacement phone for the one I lost. It's the same phone, only not porta-potty-fluid-covered. And so ends June!

1. WIBDATT: July

I made a berry cobbler for July 4th--no pictures, sadly. Then we prepared for Stephanie's surprise bridal shower. Steph's mom had to sneak over here a few times to drop things off and cut up fruits and veggies. We managed to do it, though, and Stephanie was totally surprised! Trying to get the decorations set up and the food set out before everyone arrived was a bit stressful, but it was worth it. Steph and Steve got some really sweet stuff for their new house--towels, vacuum cleaner, TV trays, plates... hopefully they have a decent start on decorating now!

Other than that, I pretty much hid out for a while in the beginning of July as I was slightly under the weather and a tad bit gross. Fortunately, I was healed enough that by Thursday, July 15th, I was able to go up to NY for a weekend! Jocelyn's birthday was the 17th, so we all got together and celebrated for a while. It was awesome and fun and we ate an enormous amount of Thai food, as per usual. I ended up coming home on Monday the 19th instead of Sunday the 18th because I was so wiped out.

That Friday, the 23rd, I had my wisdom teeth out. UGH. Not pleasant! Getting put under actually wasn't as stressful as I had thought it would be, but waking up wasn't very fun. My mouth had started to hurt, my tongue was swollen, I was thirsty, and since I was biting on gauze pads and still loopy, I had no way of telling people what was really wrong with me. Apparently the surgeon came in to speak with me and my mom afterwards, but I barely remember that. Once I came home, I immediately got some water--ah, bliss--and then had to bite down on tea bags as the bleeding hadn't stopped (the tannic acid is supposed to help blood clots form). I took a pill for the pain, an antibiotic so my mouth wouldn't fall off, put ice on my face, and fell into bed. Eventually, as the day went on, I began to feel better, and I was really excited when the swelling went down and I could finally shut my mouth.

All in all, it wasn't terrible: five days or so in bed, lots of pudding and chocolate milk, and music that friends sent me to keep me entertained. I never knew before that chewing was such an integral part of enjoying food. Yesterday was the 3-week mark, and I can barely tell that I had any surgery at all. There are holes in the gums where the teeth were, and sometimes if I chew gum for too long my mouth starts to hurt, but overall, I'd say healing has been a success.

And so ends July!

2. WIBDATT: August

A week of birthdays! Stephanie, Brody (yes, my dog), Sara, Matt! I took a trip up to Boston for a surprise for Matt's birthday, stopping in NY on the way up and the way back. It was really nice to hang out with people again, but man, there is nothing like sitting on buses and trains for hours on end. Perhaps I should just start biking everywhere. I mean, if I can bike to San Francisco, Boston is totally within reach!

And what else? Not much more. Applying for jobs, got speakers for my computer, new internet connection... hm. That's about all for now. I've been seeing movies with Amy as per usual, taking Brody for his nightly walks, and trying to get back into running. We'll see what else the month holds! As for now... I suppose that's all.

What I've Been Doing All This Time, One

2010-08-11T22:43:00.003-04:00

1. Updating

The last time I saw Diana, she asked why I didn't update my blog anymore. I didn't realize anyone actually read it! I promised her I would update it after my triathlon, which was on June 26th... and then I didn't. Tonight, after seeing an update in Karen's blog, I got the urge to update my own. That leads to...

2. New background image! (OoOoO)

I chose a random background image from the ones Blogger has. I'll probably choose various other images every time I update it because I'm terrible at making final decisions.

Now that that's out of the way, onto the updates about my life!

3. What I've been doing all this time: May

So I graduated in May, as is evidenced by my last post, on May 12th. I ran a 10k in Central Park that Saturday, May 15th. It was my first race of any kind, and I was super nervous, but it was really fun! There's something about running with a ton of other people that's just super fun and awesome. I kept a 9:50 pace for the race, which definitely isn't fast by any means, but it's a huge improvement on where I was on October 12th, the start of triathlon club. I probably couldn't have even done a mile back then!

There was only one picture of me from that race:

And I'm really pale in it (that's me in the back, 9726). Hey, you try getting tan in NY!

I came home the next day, the 16th. My parents were gone on vacation, so my sister and I took care of the house--which means that I took care of the house: cooking, cleaning, walking the dog, feeding the dog, feeding the bird, etc.

Almost as soon as my parents came home, I took off for Boston to run another race. My friend Matt from Bike & Build was running a half marathon during Memorial Day weekend, and there was a 5-mile race that I decided to do. Afterwards, I realized that I probably could have done the half marathon, but I hadn't mentally prepared for it, so it's best that I didn't.

And there I go, prancing by! I was mortified when I realized how bad my running form was. The next picture is slightly better...

...but not by much.

Then it was June, and I came back home.

4. WIBDATT: June

Workouts. Workouts, workouts, workouts. That's what I did in June. I was busy preparing for my triathlon, so I did a workout just about every day of the week. I didn't have access to a pool; I was only able to swim once, at my grandmother's condominium, and that wasn't quite the same.

On June 25th, I went to Philly with Elizabeth to see Diana and Puja! Puja was nice enough to host me the night before my triathlon so I wouldn't have to drive down really early the next morning. The girls went out for dinner and then we all stayed up talking--longer than I should have stayed up, probably. I barely slept that night since I was afraid I was going to miss my alarm. I woke up at 4, and thankfully, tons of morning practices had given me the ability to eat oatmeal at odd hours. I also managed to eat part of a Clif bar and drank some weak Gatorade.

Elizabeth and Diana were good sports and woke up at 5 to drive me over to the start (Puja would have come, too, but Elizabeth's truck didn't fit everyone). They dropped me off, and I walked down to the transition area. Everyone was super friendly and nice... especially when I pulled a Susanna and dropped my brand new phone in the porta potty.

Yes, brand new phone. Porta potty. I would have tried to rescue it, but (un?)fortunately, as I was there so early, no one had really used the porta potty yet, and there was only a large amount of liquid at the bottom. I couldn't even see where my phone was let alone try to fish it out. I went back to my bike rack, asked the girls next to me if they had a phone I could borrow, and they very nicely handed me a phone. I contemplated calling the house phone, but I didn't want to wake everyone up, so I called my dad's cell, left a message telling him what time to show up, and went about my business, feeling surprisingly calm.

Lesson learned for next year: getting there at 5:15 is a tad bit early. I kind of wandered for a while, familiarizing myself with the bike-in bike-out and run-out areas. When they finally opened the swim start for a warm-up, I waded in with the rest of the crowd and tried to adjust to the water. It was super warm--84! No wetsuits allowed. I had never swum in open water before, and it was odd. I thought I wouldn't be able to see at all, but instead, I could see murky brown water and my pale hands cutting through it. I should have stayed in the water longer and made myself get used to it, but I wimped out and told myself that other people needed to practice in the water, so I got out.

Before I knew it, the first wave of elite amateurs was starting, and then my wave was called forward. It was an in-water start. Before the practice swim, I had assumed it would be shallow enough for standing, but it definitely wasn't. They had us all get in the water and then informed us it would be three minutes before the start. I was worried. Three whole minutes of treading water? I could feel myself getting panicky.

And then the horn blew! Definitely not the full three minutes. There was a massive frenzy, kicking and splashing and accidental pushing and shoving. I immediately fell to the back, where I was more comfortable, but my breathing was still off. Try as I might, I couldn't exhale enough. The coach always warned us that not exhaling was what caused that panicky feeling in your chest, and I knew if I couldn't exhale, I wouldn't have a good swim. After struggling for a while, I finally decided that I should just keep my head out of the water and swim however I could. I'm not sure there's any name for the stroke I did, but I completed the swim! It took about 20 minutes longer than it should have, but I did it.

I finally came back to transition...

...and despite the look on my face, I was actually super happy to be there because it meant I was no longer in the water! Land had never felt so good.

T1 was stressful, but I did it. That led to the bike...

...which was glorious. I finished last in my age group for the swim but 9th in the bike, which is awesome. I wasn't pushing particularly hard on the bike, either; I kept it at 16.9 mph, which was a nice, even pace. I'm glad the coach instilled the idea of keeping a high cadence in my mind, because that definitely was a better than using my speed to judge how I was doing. I wish I had known about that on Bike & Build!

All too soon, the bike ende,and it was time for T2. I stupidly forgot to put on my race "belt," which was really just a shoelace with my number tied to it. Fortunately, I didn't seem to get any time added for it. Phew!

By the time I got to the run, I was a little tired. My legs felt fine--as fine as they could be after biking--but I could tell that I used too much energy during the swim. I had two options: push the run, do terribly, and hate myself for not going faster, or take a nice easy run, enjoy the scenery, and be happy that I finished. I opted for the latter and had a blast. I was out of it and didn't realize that the run out was upill and the run back was downhill until the guys at the turnaround told us about it. It was thrilling to hear. The run back felt a thousand times faster, and before I knew it, I was at the finish line!

Okay, ignore my horrible hair. Look at the smile on my face. That was genuine! I was so happy that I had finished. I was also really loopy; the woman who asked me to take off my timing anklet had to actually pull it off of me as I was unable to understand her request. I grabbed my finisher's medal, went to the food tent, chugged some water, and got some Gatorade and half a hoagie. That was it, though--I really wasn't hungry. Looking back, I wish I had eaten more.

I sat around for a while, and a guy came over and told me he saw me during the bike and tried to keep up with me, which felt AWESOME. A dude? Trying to keep up with me?! Maybe one of these days, I can actually beat the guys when I'm riding! Maybe...

Around 11, I decided to head back up to the Please Touch Museum, which was where I had told my dad to pick me up. I had told him to be there between 11 and 12. By 1:00, I realized he was not coming. I had a headache and was really tired by then, probably due to dehydration and lack of food, and I really didn't want to ask someone to borrow a phone again, but I had no choice. I explained my situation to two guys, and they also proved to me how nice triathletes are and lent me a phone. I called my dad, and he hadn't received my message. Naturally, I started crying. Poor guys who gave me the phone--they were probably freaked out. My dad promised he'd be there soon, and he was, at 1:30. I was really cranky and probably didn't thank him properly, but I was glad to have a ride home.

On the way home, I got ice cream. I ate half of it upon arrival, took a shower, and fell asleep. I didn't really eat dinner that night so much as random food I found in the kitchen, and I'm pretty sure I went to bed around 9:00 that night. I wasn't too sore the next day, and I recovered pretty quickly. All in all, it was an excellent race, and I still can't believe I did it.

This has been a long post, and there's still July and August! I'll just post more in a few days... really. I promise.

What do you do with a B.A. in English?

2010-05-13T11:17:00.000-04:00

2010-04-23T13:15:00.002-04:00

1. I should update more.

2. But it's finals time, and I need to work on my two portfolios that are both due Tuesday.

3. In the meantime, this is a nice article about how not to beat yourself up after a workout that went wrong.

Can't read my poker face

2010-03-18T22:55:00.001-04:00

Ah, spring break. I have woken up late every day this week (except for today, when I woke up at 8:30. Okay, and the past two days when Brody decided to come in and say hello at 8 am). I should really be sleeping right now since I have to wake up early tomorrow. Why?

1. I'm going to Boston

Yes, again. I know. But how could I resist? Besides, Anahita has my sunglasses. I already bought a new pair (that I LOVE), but I should probably have a back-up pair. I do tend to lose them frequently, after all.

2. 7 weeks, 6 days till graduation

Thank god. No, really. I'm ready. I'm done. I want out of here. I'm so over this homework thing.

3. Anyone wanna hire me?

Soon-to-be NYU grad, worked at a publishing internship for a two semesters, and will bring you coffee. Please?

4. I'm tired.

Alright, I think that's all for now. I felt guilty about not updating, but I don't have much to say.

I've got a theory: it could be bunnies

2010-02-26T22:15:00.005-05:00

Okay, so I'm 22. Does it feel different from 21? Yes. Yes, it does. I am now even more ready to graduate, find a job, and be completely done with this "school" thing.

I managed to get The Worst Cold Ever the week before my birthday; I kept hacking up mucous in all kinds of colors, and the cough that came with it was horrible. I kind of felt like I was drowning when I tried to breathe, and I had to sleep in almost a sitting position so I wouldn't wake myself up coughing. Even then, I still didn't make it through the night without waking up at least twice, despite the Nyquil I took. Fortunately, I'm finally better, and after taking ~2 weeks off of triathlon practice, I'm now back in the swing of things.

So unless you've been living under a rock (or not in the northeast), you'll know that it's been doing nothing but snow these past few weeks. It snowed again yesterday and today. Yesterday it was going back and forth between raining and snowing. I kept hoping it would just rain, but sadly, it decided to snow. I really want spring already!

Despite the snow, swimming was still on today. It's funny; two weeks ago, when I first got sick, Wednesday practice was canceled due to the impending snow. At 6 am, there was hardly anything on the ground. Today, when walking to the gym was almost more of a workout than being AT the gym, we still had practice. Only around 20 people showed up, but it was nice because we all got some personalized swimming attention. There were also only two other people in my lane. That was awesome. So much easier to swim when the water isn't all choppy.

In related news, my goggles felt too tight today, but I didn't feel like fixing them. The skin around my right eye felt sore tonight, so I poked it, and I realized I have a bruise from the goggles. I had a horrible tan line from my sunglasses during Bike & Build; now I have a goggle bruise. I don't do well when I wear things on my face, I guess.

I also got my hair cut today! I wanted to learn to work with the natural texture (read: thick, wavy), so I had the stylist thin my hair out. It definitely feels thinner now, but I don't know what it looks like when it's not blow-dried straight yet. I'll be swimming on Sunday, so we'll see...

I did take a picture of my hair, but I looked atrocious. Well, okay. It was more a picture to showcase my new Snuggie. Yes, I have a Snuggie. Don't knock it till you've tried it. The only hard part is figuring out how to take a nap in a Snuggie. I like blankets pulled over my shoulders during naps. Snuggies DO go over your shoulders, and your arms are covered, but your arms just aren't underneath the entire thing where I like them. I've taken to removing my arms from the sleeves and putting them underneath as if it's a normal blanket during naps. I could solve the problem by using a real blanket, but that'd require moving a whole five feet to grab one off the back of my chair.

For my last bit of news, I have named my Snuggie "Richard."

We are stardust

2010-01-19T21:11:00.002-05:00

Wow, I really fail at updating. Like, horrendously fail. I said I would update on December 23rd. It's now January 19th and a brand new semester. Eek.

Well, I guess I'll update with whatever I can... starting with:

1. My camera broke :(

Yep, no more camera. I can't tell if it's the battery or the camera itself. Either way, it has gone kaput. That means I currently can't upload anything! One day, I'll borrow someone's camera and use it to upload my pictures, but until then, I'm stuck. I hadn't really taken THAT many pictures, but I really would have liked to post something.

2. A new semester... and the final semester.

Okay, so I'm officially a second-semester senior. I feel like it, too! I really don't want to do my work at all. I'm taking two writing courses (Advanced Fiction and Intermediate Creative Nonfiction) as well as French 1 this semester. I also still have my internship with the publishing company. I'm already slightly stressed out, though; I have my first piece due for workshop on Tuesday (meaning it has to be sent out by Sunday, so naturally I haven't started writing yet).

I ordered the French book online, but it doesn't come with the workbooks, so tomorrow I have to return it to Amazon (by taking it to a UPS center, which stresses me out), and then I have to go to Barnes & Noble to pick up two books for my one writing class as I need to read parts of them by Tuesday and write a response paper, plus I have to go grocery shopping, and I need to do laundry, not to mention...

3. Tri Club starts again tomorrow.

Yep, starting again tomorrow at 6:15 am, Tri Club resumes for the semester. As tired as I know I'll be, I can't wait to be active again. I did some stuff over break, but I feel like I was very inactive the entire time I was home. I started up again as soon as I got back to NY. Having a gym to go to makes me feel more motivated somehow. I also went for a run this past weekend, but I definitely didn't push it as hard as I should have. We'll see how tomorrow goes.

4. Went to Boston... again.
So this was my 9th visit to Boston. ...yep. I should really just move there at this point. On the plus side, I'm *this* much closer to getting my free Bolt bus ride! Of course, with the extra $2-5 that I spend on each ticket as compared to the Chinatown bus, it hardly comes out to a free ride, but at least Bolt is cleaner/has WiFi/is nicer.

This time, I went up to see Karen who was visiting from AZ. I mean, I also saw Anahita and Matt (Mattahita?), but as I hadn't seen Karen since last April or so, I was excited to go. It's not like she and I don't talk online every single day... but still. It's nice to see someone in person.

5. Hm, anything else?

I suppose that's all for now. Break's over, Boston trip is done, and school's started. It's my last ever semester of college... I guess I should take advantage of it while I have it!

Don't go; won't you stay?

2009-12-18T00:59:00.000-05:00

Oh, jeeze, I really need to get better at updating. It's not even like I have an excuse for not writing. Okay, so there was another impromptu trip to Boston. Finals have started, and I had two papers to write. My internship ended for the semester. I caught up with friends and had TV/Torchwood/Buffy marathons. Triathlon training came to the end for the semester, and now I'm responsible for making sure I work out over break. (I went swimming Tuesday, did a hills workout on the treadmill/elliptical/bike yesterday, and will swim again tomorrow.)

But really, it's not like I haven't had time to update this thing. And I would do it now, but it's 1 AM (just about), and I don't feel like it. Ah, see, there's the reason I haven't updated--I'm really, really lazy. My goal for next semester is not to come home after class/work ends at 5 and sit around doing nothing all night. Now that people will finally be back from travels abroad (seriously, everyone, way to choose the same semester to all take off at once!), I can hopefully head out more often and stop spending so much time watching Buf... uh, I mean, studying. Yeah. All that studying I do. Mmmhm.

My last final is Monday. I PROMISE to update on the 23rd if it kills me. I PROMISE. (I'd do the 22nd, but hey, I need a day off in between, and besides, I'll be baking then.)

How is senior year so close to being over? Didn't college just start?

Orangutans are skeptical of changes in their cages

2009-11-23T19:55:00.001-05:00

Wow, I'm terrible at updating. November has just been such a hectic month. I can't believe it's Thanksgiving already! Wasn't it just Halloween? Eek.

Eventually I'll upload pictures (like of Willy, my plant--so named because I got him for free... Free Willy? Ha ha?), but for now this is just to say yes, I'm still alive.

And it's also a reminder to myself that I'm not the center of the universe, so maybe I shouldn't take things so personally all the time.

Cry to me

2009-11-06T19:28:00.001-05:00

Okay, sour gummy worms usually taste really good.

Just do not buy the knock-off brand.

Ever.

They taste like Windex smells...

Give me the hook or the ovation

2009-10-20T20:58:00.000-04:00

What's that? It's been 12 days since I last updated? Yeesh. Time is going too fast!

Triathlon club is going really well. Last Monday was the first practice, and I pretty much died on Tuesday. Seriously, I could barely walk down stairs. It's almost exactly how I felt a year ago when I went for a 5-mile run in London. Thing is, after that happened in London, I just didn't work out again, and I felt stiff and miserable. We had practice again on Wednesday, and it actually made me feel better! I'm amazed. Friday was supposed to be swimming, but the lifeguard didn't show up (we train before the gym is technically open), so we introduced ourselves (there's +60 people) and then learned about swimming techniques. I'm still nervous for this Friday, especially as I'm not sure how I'm going to remember to do everything he showed us at once, but I don't want to stress too much before Friday.

I have tri again tomorrow, which means waking up at 5:30 am for the 6:15 am workout. I'm worried about my neighbors... they're INCREDIBLY loud. They have a friend in the dorm who visits and talks SO loudly. I sent out an e-mail to my floor today letting them know that I wake up early, and if they could PLEASE respect quiet hours it would make me super happy. Hopefully they'll actually read the e-mail as I hate confrontation. Ugh.

Other than that, though, tri is going swimmingly (bicyclingly? runningly?). My legs don't really hurt today, which is surprising considering all of the squats we did on Monday (my legs felt like Jello afterwards... J-E-L-L-O. It's alive!). I'm not sure if it's a good thing that I don't hurt, though. I guess I'll just have to push harder tomorrow! My arms hurt, though! He added push-ups to the mix yesterday, and let me tell you, Sign Language class is pretty hard when you don't want to lift your arms...

Twist and shout my way out and wrap yourself around me 'cause I ain't the way you found me and I'll never be the same

2009-10-08T22:33:00.003-04:00

Highlights from last year's October blog posts:

1. 10-12-08: Found out Grace died. Went to Regent's Park to enjoy the beautiful weather and think about her. Reminded everyone that you're not allowed to get sick because I like all of you too much. (This is still true!)

2. 10-17-08: Decided to go for my first run with the running club. Ran 5.3 miles. Felt pretty cool.

3. 10-19-08: Running 5 miles caught up to me. Could barely walk to communal kitchen. Was humbled. (At least, I was humbled for a brief bit, but then in April [March?] I went to Boston and tried to ride 50 miles in the cold/wind/rain and failed and felt like poo. You should have seen my face during Bike Philly in September when Brendan said our practice ride was going to be a "short" 40 miles...)

4. 10-28-09: Fall break was about to begin! Slightly sick, but really excited.

It's weird to think how far removed I feel from my time in London. That all feels like a lifetime ago.

-------

Now, to catch you up with the things I haven't posted:

1. Bike Philly

September 12th-13th. Went to Philadelphia to stay at Susanna's/Brendan's place for a while. Found out that 40 miles of a practice ride on flat ground isn't as bad as riding 50 miles in Boston's hills in the wind/cold/rain. Also found out that if your seat is too low, your quads will cramp and you will hate your life for the last five miles if you are too stubborn to admit it and don't get off and fix the thing.

Some pictures...

It's always so cool to see a big mass of B&B jerseys. Last time I saw that was into San Francisco.

That's Eleni on the left. She was one of my trip leaders and made the trek up from DC for the weekend. Thank god... I would have had to ride alone otherwise!

This is what it looks like when you hear, "On your left." (What cyclists say when passing other cyclists. If you're slow, you hear it a lot...)

Pretty.

Toddler on tricycle:Bike & Builder in week 7::Rachel:Her uncle

(I hope all of you are old enough to remember analogies on SATs...)

2. School

Meh. It's alright. I still enjoy Sign Language most. I went to a Deaf tour at The American Museum of Natural History last Saturday with some classmates, and it was really fun. Best part is that admission is pay-what-you-wish, so from now on, when people visit me, that's where we're going. Get used to it.

After the tour, we briefly wandered through the torrential downpour to Central Park to show the one girl what she was missing (she had never been to Central Park... ever... and she's from Westchester).

And the leaves are starting to change...

which I represented on my mug.

I really love fall/Halloween, and since I didn't really have Halloween last year, I've decided to decorate this year. I stupidly left most of my decorations at home, and I don't want to spend a bundle, so I decorated with the witch door hanger my mom sent me for London last year:

and bought a cheap light-up jack-o-lantern at Kmart:

and am using a picture from fall break last year as my computer desktop image:

And just for kicks, here's a picture of the Snape and Ron (from Harry Potter) jack-o-lanterns Amy and I carved in senior year of high school (holy cow, 4 years ago!):

Before I go,
3. The problem with my fridge

So my dorm doesn't give us full-size fridges but mini fridges. Annoying, but since my roommate doesn't keep food here (I really have no idea where she goes all the time! but I'm totally not complaining... and when she IS here, we get along), I have room to keep all of my food. Thing was, I couldn't keep anything frozen because the little freezer door was missing. Since the freezer is just on top of the inside of the fridge--what I mean is you open the door and the freezer is just a little box with a flap on top of the fridge--anyway, since it was like that, I couldn't keep the temperature low enough to store anything in the freezer or else everything would get too cold. But then the temperature would get too warm and my milk would spoil quickly.

So I made a ghetto freezer.

With the lid of a shoe box.

The inside is lined with aluminum foil to maybe help with insulation or something. I don't know. I'm sure a science major could explain to me why that's going to fail, but I'm an English major and I don't research things before I do them.

Work again tomorrow 9-5, meaning I should head to bed now. Maybe I should start updating my blog more frequently so I don't have to make ginormous posts once a month...

The trees on the hill had nothing to say; they would keep their dreams till another day

2009-09-22T17:39:00.002-04:00

1. Happy fall!

2. Mika

Mika's new album The Boy Who Knew Too Much came out today. Go buy it!

I'm through accepting limits 'cause someone says they're so

2009-09-10T14:04:00.004-04:00

1. New title!

So if you were looking at Google Reader today (or however you read this blog) and were like, "Hey, where's Blog O' (Cycling) Insanity? I love that girl!", fear not! This is that same blog under a new title! The cycling bit was a bit outdated, and Karen suggested that, since all I ever talk about (mostly) is desserts, I should change the title to something about being a dessertetarian. Apparently, Calvin and Hobbes uses the term "dessertarian," but I prefer dessertetarian, so I'm keeping it. Either way, the spell check is trying to inform me that both words are spelled wrong, so it doesn't make much of a difference.

2. I'm not always a dessertetarian.

Really. I've been trying to eat better foods. Proof:

Lemon garlic tilapia with spinach, pepper, and tomato. I'm trying to eat healthier. Really, I am. Last night I had beans and leftover tilapia. And yet there's just something missing whenever I eat healthy foods. Sigh.

3. But proof that I do like desserts

Especially when I make them myself. I made a cake for my dorm's floor meeting this week because I was incredibly bored and wanted a chance to practice my cake decorating skills. I decided on a basket cake, which is what it sounds like--a cake that looks like a basket. It's kind of cheesy, but I wanted to learn to make other kinds of flowers, so I went with it.

The cake itself was a Duncan Hines French vanilla box mix. I wanted to get a white cake so I could make a rainbow cake, but this was the closest the grocery store had, and then I forgot to make it rainbow, anyway. Oh well, it would have overwhelmed the cake, anyway.

Working on weaving:

It took a while to do, and I didn't refrigerate the bag as frequently as I should have. Consequently, when I finished, I realized that the icing slowly faded from white-ish to yellow-ish because the butter was doing weird melty things. I probably should have added more powdered sugar (I never add the full amount), but I hate really sweet frosting.

Adding a border:

And the finished cake:

You probably can't tell what those flowers are. They're supposed to be roses, hydrangea, and gerber daisies, but... yeah. They're a bit more cartoonish than I intended. I didn't finish the roses; I got halfway through and just gave up. The hydrangea are my favorite and super easy to do, but I forgot that the frosting color would darken, so they ended up looking more like violets than hydrangea (they were originally a purple-blue). And the gerber daisies? Yeah, I need to work on those... maybe it would help if I used the right piping tip instead of being lazy and using a smaller one.

Here's a sans-flash picture so it doesn't look as greasy:

A close-up of the hydrangea:

And a view from the side that shows I need to work on leveling my cakes:

Everyone really liked the cake, but naturally the only person to bring a plate and fork to the meeting was the RA since no one else ever bothers to read emails. We took it around door-to-door afterwards, and except for a double piece that my roommate and I split (ok, she ate a sliver and I ate the rest...), the whole thing went. People know me in the elevators now--they say, "Are you Rachel? Yeah, you made the cake! It was sooo good." It's nice to get recognized, but sometimes I'm an awkward turtle when I get compliments and just kind of shrug.

My roommate also liked it, and I appreciate her compliments because she's a Studio Art major, and I'm nowhere near as artistic as she is.

Ah, praise. How I love it. :)

La vie boheme

2009-09-08T10:12:00.001-04:00

Well, it's not like I waned that internship, anyway. And I doubted they would hire me because I couldn't fulfill their schedule requirements.

But it still sucks that they don't want me. Hopefully one of the other two comes through...

Don't be tricked; he's strictly quadrilateral

2009-09-03T13:36:00.005-04:00

1. Mini B&B Reunion
What a week! School doesn't start till Tuesday and the weather has been gorgeous, so I've spent a lot of the past week outside reading in Washington Square Park. On Saturday night, I went to see Chicago with two SUS 08-ers, Ryan and Susanna, then saw Ryan on Sunday for dinner and Monday for a quick walk around my part of the 'hood before he had to head to the airport for his flight. It was so nice to see a Bike & Builder again; it felt like the trip had never ended and we were all right back there again. Ryan and Susanna also talked about Steinbeck's Travels with Charley in Search of America, so I borrowed it from the NYU library and just finished it today. Now I need to travel!

2. Freshmen Move-In Crew
Sunday morning, I woke up at 5 in order to show up at my old freshmen dorm at 5:40 to help freshmen move in. (Long story short: I volunteered to help freshmen move in so that I could move in a day early.) I hate to admit it, but I actually enjoyed helping. They were all so happily naive. I'm really starting to feel like I don't belong in college anymore; it's like at some point over the summer, I graduated, but NYU forgot to tell me. Seeing the freshmen really amplified that feeling. Hopefully I feel more student-like once school starts.

3. Cookies
We were supposed to have a floor meeting for my dorm on Wednesday night, but the meeting was canceled. I was going to bake cookies for everyone, and I already had the supplies, so rather than letting them go to waste, I sent out an email and told everyone to stop by. No one seemed to be coming, so I was a bit put-out (free! cookies! what's not to like?!), but at 9:00 my RA stopped by and said there were a bunch of happy, hungry people waiting. I took them to her room around 9:30 and while there weren't as many people as I was expecting, everyone loved the cookies. I left them at her room because I do NOT need a plate of sugar cookies sitting around my room (especially with Bike Philly coming up...), and she came by later and said that a ton more people came by and "tore those cookies up!" :D

4. Bike Philly
Bike Philly is coming up next week. I'm going to stay with a bunch of B&Bers (woohoo, sleeping on the floor!) and then ride in the event. Bike & Build gets to lead the first 10 miles which is AWESOME publicity... but we have to maintain a 12 mph pace. Now, I lost my cycling computer, so for all I know, that's the speed I maintained this summer whenever I rode. But I'm TERRIFIED that I'm not going to be able to keep up. I'm doing the whole 50 miles, and that also worries me because the longest distance I've done in a long time is 10 miles. I haven't worked out all summer, and I'm going to force myself to go to the gym every day starting tomorrow (hey--I'm busy today and have stuff to do tonight), but I don't know how much that's going to help. I remember how much the first day of Bike & Build sucked, and that was ~60 miles, so... ack.

5. I need your opinion!
Ok, so internships. Originally, I only thought I had one interview this week...but on Tuesday, I received one phone call and one email from two separate companies looking to interview me.

The first interview was by phone Wednesday with a big company. I'm slightly worried that it was phone and not in person, but it seemed to go fantastically well, and I'm pretty sure I have a decent shot at getting that one. I'd be doing editorial work on fiction as well as learning some marketing stuff, and I think that's great, though I'd really rather just do editorial (but I know the marketing knowledge would give me a big advantage over competition).

The second interview was this morning at another big company. I'm not so sure how that one went. The first half, with the woman who called me, was pretty good, but the second half, with the director, seemed to hit a snag: I can only work Thursdays and Fridays, and they seem to want someone Monday-Wednesday. They pay, which is fantastic, but they also would have me doing mostly non-fiction work plus a lot more marketing and sales. It's a BIG company (I mean, everyone knows their name), and if they call me back, I don't see how I could turn them down, especially because of the pay. But there is still that first company, and they're also well-known...

And then the third interview is this afternoon at 4. It's with a literary agent this time, an aspect of the publishing world that I don't know much about but could possibly get into. There would be some editorial work, but they represent only non-fiction, a lot of which seems to be women's literature. I don't want to turn my nose up at it before I've even gone, but I'm not entirely sure this is what I want to do. I'll see how the interview goes, I suppose. They also seemed to REALLY want to interview me--I'm going in today even though the office is closed. Unless there's a line of other potential interns out the door, it sounds like they're seriously interested.

UPDATE: Well, that interview was alright, though I still think the first one went the best. They won't be making a decision until late next week at the earliest, so I'm kind of doubting I'll be working for them. It turns out agents actually have some pretty cool work, a lot of it similar to editorial work, but it would also be a TON of work for me because a) fall is the busy season and b) the business is really, REALLY small.

I suppose this isn't the worst problem I could have--after all, last semester I could barely even get ONE interview. But suppose all three call me back with positive responses--what do I do?!

Running around like a clown on purpose

2009-08-27T22:49:00.007-04:00

Long time, no post! Not much has happened in the month of August. I worked at AC Moore up until the 23rd, and I've been spending this week packing/seeing friends/running last-minute errands. I have mostly everything packed; tomorrow I need to put away shoes/coats/hairdryers and stuff, and then Saturday morning I have to put away stuff like shampoo, toothbrush, etc. Every year, I've gotten better at condensing my items in the boxes, and it takes much less time to pack. Two years ago, I would have started packing a week in advance. This time? Three days in advance. I prefer this method. Much less mess in my room.

I saw my friend Sara today and made her a belated birthday cake. For those of you who don't know, I decided to try my hand at cake decorating--nothing fancy, just things to make them look pretty. I was inspired after trying the Harry Potter cupcakes, so I watched some tutorials online to get the basic gist. I made a cake for my friend Stephanie's birthday, but I forgot to take pictures of course. I figured Sara's cake would be a good opportunity to show off, so I made sure to keep my camera nearby.

First, back in July, I attempted my first rose. I made it with a VERY tiny piping tip, and it came out cute yet small:

A week later, I had a bigger tip, so I tried again:

Stephanie's cake was chocolate with chocolate buttercream, plus it had pink buttercream roses on top, her name in orange, a chocolate border, and pink, orange, and white stripes on the side. Since I have no pictures, just imagine it.

Sara's cake was somewhat similar with a chocolate buttercream, but I found cute sprinkles at work and bought them with my 20% discount PLUS Moonlight Madness 25% discount, which means a 45% discount, which is awesome. Here's what I ended up with:

Ta da! A view from the top (in which you can see my slightly shaky writing and wonky roses):

The cute sprinkles up close:

The cake had a surprise, though. Sara mentioned she liked the rainbow cake I made... hm, I never posted pictures of that. We tried to frost my cake while it was still warm, which was a bad idea, and it came out like this:

And yes, it DID have ponies and three types of candles on top:

But the point was that the inside looked like this:

So here's the inside of Sara's cake, in just one layer but done properly this time:

I'm never going to be Chef Duff of Charm City Cakes/Ace of Cakes fame, but it's something I enjoy, and hopefully¹ I'll get better with time.

Alright, now that I've posted here, time to post these pictures to the baking community I'm part of...

1. We all know I'm not very artistic. There's only so much I'll be able to improve before I hit my artistic wall.

And it's gonna be totally awesome

2009-08-04T22:25:00.001-04:00

Thanks to Zach, former SUS 08 leader, for posting this:

http://happydays.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/08/02/averted-vision/.

It pretty much explains my love for Bike & Build.

I'll cast some spells with the flick of my wand

2009-07-16T11:17:00.003-04:00

So Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince came out Wednesday at midnight, and my friends and I got tickets for a 12:05 showing at our local AMC. I just bought a new hand mixer, and I wanted an excuse to use it, so I decided to make Harry Potter cupcakes.

Now, THESE:

are the Potter Puppet Pals (potterpuppetpals.com). When the 7th book came out, pretty much every midnight book release party experienced a bunch of fans acting out "The Mysterious Ticking Noise," one of the PPP episodes. Even though the new craze is A Very Potter Musical, the PPP are easier to make into cupcakes, and more people would recognize them, anyway.

For the first time, I actually planned ahead on what I was going to do:

I woke up early on Tuesday (after limited sleep) and made the cupcakes so that they would be cool after I came back from work. At work, I spent 4 hours asking people if they would like to join our free rewards program... which meant I had plenty of time to think. I realize that AC Moore stocks plenty of cake-decorating stuff, so I might as well buy some piping tips and bags so that I could actually make these look good. As soon as I finished, I bought the tips I needed (and a rubber spatula!!!) and headed home. For the first time, I actually made something CUTE!

Harry:

Ron (my favorite):

Hermione:

Snape (I thought he was kinda ugly, but my friends loved him best because he looked so surly):

Dumbledore (said a friend, "Rachel, I'm just sayin'--he looks a little Arab." Hey, ever tried making a triangular hat on a circle?):

Voldemort (he's supposed to be white, but I was tired and forgot, so let's pretend he went to the beach and got a tan):

I made double of all of the characters, but there's no point showing you two versions, now is there? I also made some that just said HP and had lightning bolts:

My hand was starting to cramp at that point, but they still tasted fine.

If I could do this again, I think I might try marshmallow fondant since I've never done a fondant project before. I'm hoping it tastes better than regular fondant! Plus it'd be cool to give them all ears.

Work tonight from 5 to close (9:15...ish) again, then work tomorrow 5-close and work Sunday 1-close (which is at 6 on Sundays, but my schedule says till 6:30, so I don't know if that means we close differently on Sundays). And my friend Najma is coming back from her army camp thing, hooray! She's officially not allowed to sit near us on the beach anymore because she'll make us all look bad.

This could mean danger

2009-07-13T11:32:00.003-04:00

This week's schedule:

1. Monday: work 6 pm-close. Not exciting.
2. Tuesday: work 11 am-3 pm. Not exciting.
3. Wednesday: Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Price movie 12:05 am. Very exciting!
4. Thursday: work 5 pm-close. Not exciting.
5. Friday: work 5pm-close. Not exciting.
6. Saturday: day off. Exciting!
7. Sunday: work 1 pm-6:30. Probably going to be awful because weekends at AC Moore are ridiculous.

And now, a brief update in pictures:

First, proof that I really do work at AC Moore.

My spoiled brat of a dog sulking outside my room.

My new hand mixer!!!

It has a nifty snap-on case so you don't lose the beaters and whisk.

And finally, some garden pictures... flourishing tomatoes:

...flourishing peppers:

...and stunted, dying everything else!

Last thing before I go to lunch: I applied to be a volunteer for freshmen move-in at NYU on August 30th! I have to work from 6 am to 10 am (and I have to be there at 5:40 am, arg), but I figure no one will be there during that shift, really, since move-in doesn't even start till 8 or 9. I'll be working at my old freshman dorm, which will be weird, but at least it's air conditioned. Plus this means I get to move in a day early on the 29th... and since I already know what the room looks like, I'll hopefully be able to set up quickly. I have to go to a meeting at 2 pm that day, but I'd really enjoy a chance to set everything up a day ahead of time so unknown-roommate-of-the-future and I don't have to try to shove all of our boxes in the room at once.

Still hoping for a good roommate... or, you know, none at all would be great...

Loose gooses take trips to San Francisco

2009-07-10T11:39:00.002-04:00

Ok, 12.75 hours this week plus an additional 3.25 hour shift to make a total of 16 hours of work this week.

21 hours on the schedule for next week.

Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix Tuesday night (Wednesday, really) at 12:05 AM. Fortunately working Tuesday morning instead of night so I can get in line early, and no work on Wednesday so I won't be tired.

It's not as bad as I made it out to be, so ok, I whined again.

But if I suddenly won the lottery and got a ton of money, I would still quit in a heartbeat. Whatever happened to summer?

Like a bridge over troubled water, I will lay me down

2009-07-03T14:57:00.003-04:00

So I know I complain a lot. I know it's annoying. But I'm going to do it in this entry anyway.

I started work at a craft store, and frankly, I haven't enjoyed myself there yet. Granted, I've only worked two days so far. Who knows? Maybe I'll start to enjoy myself during the next eight weeks. I work tonight 5-9 and tomorrow 2-9 (yes, we're open and having ridiculous sales on July 4th). Maybe these next two days will be better.

But I don't remember ever disliking Rice to Riches this much. Yeah, it was super busy all the time, and customers were just as mean as they are in the rest of the country, but it was more enjoyable. Something about working at a craft store just isn't fun. It may be because I'm used to serving and selling food. Now I have to worry about the billions of items we stock, where they go on the shelves, what their actual prices are, what the sales are each week, what to do when a customer wants a refund... it's a lot more stress and a lot less fun.

Thing is, I have nothing else to do this summer. If I quit, I'll be right back where I was, sitting around the house and cleaning. It took me forever to get hired in the first place, and I don't think I'll have luck a second time--particularly as the summer season is half over. And I DO need spending money for school. I guess I just need to decide if my sanity is worth exchanging for money.

It's all that I love and all that I need

2009-06-27T23:13:00.003-04:00

A word of advice: never bite the inside of your mouth when you're stressed. Ever.

It seems like a fairly harmless habit at first. Just a few bites. Sure, people will ask why you're making that weird face at them, but it's only for a few seconds. And yeah, sometimes your mouth feels a little sore, but it's no big deal.

Until you get so mad at work and can't say anything because you're the new girl and you're not allowed to tell the person training you to be nice even if she IS being a big meanie-head. And you continue to bite the same spot for 4 hours. And then you come home and eat a hotdog with honey mustard and realize that the mustard is irritating your mouth, and you now have a big swollen lump on your lip that's keeping you from closing your mouth properly.

Also, four days later, your mouth will still be in intense pain, and every time air, saliva, food, etc. hits the spot, you will be very unhappy. Ice, by the way, does not help numb the pain because the initial contact with said spot is really, really awful.

Yeah. Don't do it.

Preserve your memories. They're all that's left you.

2009-06-11T00:19:00.009-04:00

So tomorrow is it. My plane takes off at 7:35 a.m. from Philadelphia and lands in Jacksonville, FL at 9:58. Then it's time to meet up with some B&B riders, wait for the shuttle bus, and get to orientation by 1.

So there it is. One year ago, I was getting ready to leave for SUS. I was terrified. I didn't know what to think about Bike & Build. I didn't know anyone else, and I had never flown alone before. I barely slept that night, and I was cranky at the airport because I was afraid to leave. I didn't know what to expect when I landed.

When I was finally in Jacksonville, I met up with Kelly, then Tim, and Karen, and Anahita, and Roger... I didn't know that these guys were going to be some of the most awesome people I had ever met. We ate and drank, talked about our lives, then met up with others and squished into some cabs. Orientation is a blur; I vaguely remember piecing together a bike, getting the wrong size Pack Towel, and playing a million ice breaker games. We worked on a house one day, then took our shakedown ride... and that's when I thought things might go badly. I was THE last person to make it. And no one even noticed that I wasn't there. Granted, I had issues because my handlebars were loose, and then Deb thought we were following another route and got lost. But still. It was slightly depressing. I raced back, determined not to lose sight of the people in front of me.

Saturday, we went to the beach, took our pictures a million times, and took off. And boy, did everyone take off. We were all so concerned with proving how fast we were that no one stepped back and said, "Hm, gee, maybe I should have fun with my fellow riders and enjoy the ride instead of speeding towards the destination."* It was a problem for some of us all summer, actually--seeing everyone rush to the host site when we weren't quite ready to get there. Or in my case, couldn't. Yes, I was SO. SLOW. I mean, turtles passed me. It was bad. I was discouraged. On the third day, I told Zach I couldn't do it. I mean, I was riding at 8 m.p.h. EIGHT, people!

He said to keep going, that it didn't matter if I was going 10 or 8 or 4. So I made it to lunch, ate some watermelon, rode with Anahita, and somehow made it to the host site where I then asked at the first group meeting if maaaaybe we could wait for people who needed help and not just leave them. I almost cried when Talia and Amanda told me that they would love to ride with me the next day. We formed a group, and even though we went slowly, we did it.

Somehow the summer passed, and even though I whined a lot (there was one not-so-flattering rant on the 110-mile day--sorry to Lisa, Sara, Roger, and Karen!), I still loved every minute of it. Sleeping on my Thermarest with earplugs and a sleeping bag? Fantastic! Riding into a headwind for 80% of the day? Bring it on! Arriving at a campsite with no water showers but a meteor shower? Hooray!!!

I think when it ended I somehow deluded myself into thinking that it wasn't really over. Just give it a week and Roger and Brad would pop around the corner on my walk to class. Or I'd wake up in Nevada and London would be a dream. But it never happened, and now, a year later, I'm sure I'll remember where I was a year ago. And I'll miss it.

Well, most of it. 4 AM wake-up calls, how I don't miss you.

_______________________________
*Ok, this is my opinion. But that's how it felt.

You're a superstar, man

2009-06-08T12:42:00.002-04:00

Yesterday we had a girls' day at the beach (me, Diana, Rachel B. [nee L.], Amy, and Liz) since we haven't all been in the same place at the same time since high school, and that was a scary 3 years ago. Puja and Najma couldn't make it, but Naj at least came for the barbecue at Amy's house when we returned. It was an awesome day... except for the part where I got sunburned. You know this girl?

Yeah, that's what I look like. Only red. Yeesh.

In other news, still no job, so here are some pictures to distract you from how boring (and red) my life has become...

Arrival! Ocean City, NJ:

Diana and Liz! (She's wearing a suit, I swear):

Starfish checkers!:

Happy gull:

I'm off to sit in bed and think about how much my legs hurt.

Everywhere you look

2009-05-29T15:30:00.003-04:00

I haven't updated in a while, but not much has happened, so it's not like you're missing anything. I wanted to write that I was cleaning the house while my parents were away, but I was cleaning their (gross) bathroom and room, and it was a surprise, so I couldn't put that down now, could I?

I tried to vacuum my room today, but the filters were completely clogged, so I had to clean them all and now have to wait for them to dry. The shower was clogged, too, so I had to clean that out. I'll probably clean my tub again tonight because thanks to the clogged drain, the bottom got all gross again.

I've also been watering the vegetable garden every day. I finally put the pictures on my computer so here we go...

Before the garden:

My mom's flowers:

Turned-over soil:

Raked:

Planted:

And here it is two weeks later...looking exactly the same. :\

The cold weather definitely didn't help these guys.

The pepper plants are thriving, though:

Extra flowers planted at the edge of the garden:

Tomato plant:

Then put the princess in the trunk

2009-05-12T18:53:00.002-04:00

Here I am, sitting downstairs with my parents at home! I came home on Saturday morning, went to dinner Saturday night, and have been doing random things around the house since Sunday. I planted my vegetable garden (tomato, pepper, eggplant), and I'll post pictures as the summer goes along! I took pictures yesterday, but since my camera is upstairs, I'm too lazy to go get it.

Tonight my sister and I cooked dinner for my mom for Mothers' Day (a bit belatedly): shrimp scampi and salad with artisan bread. Personally, I thought I could have added more butter to the pasta for flavor, but it was okay. I also trimmed a hydrangea plant earlier today and hauled around some mulch yesterday. I might go see Amy and Najma soon, woo! Naj and I hung out last night, but Amy just came home today. I'm waiting for her to call... *twiddles thumbs*

I've also traded one annoyance for another. One of our neighboring families is super annoying, and it seems I had forgotten that the one son sits in the minivan and blasts music from it. Joy. At least I don't have to live with him in my room.

Hm, guess I should text Amy and find out what's going on. Man, I'm tired... it seems summer vacation is wearing me out!

He was a most peculiar man

2009-05-08T12:44:00.002-04:00

I'm finished!!!!!

...for the semester, anyway.

One more year to go at NYU. Eek. I think I need to decide what I want to do with my life. My teacher asked me on my ASL exam what I wanted to do, and I said maybe editing (ok, so I said "book fix"), but I really just wanted to ride my bike.

Speaking of riding bike... as of Sunday/Monday, the weather is supposed to be GAWJUS back home. Which means that in between looking for a job and cleaning and playing with my dog and sleeping, I will be riding my bike and pretending that I'm still in shape. I can't wait! My poor bike is shoved in a corner in the basement right now, and I can't wait to rescue him tomorrow.

I packed everything in my room today. Well, okay, I haven't packed my computer (obviously) or my sheets, but those are last-minute things I'll do tomorrow. I also have to take down the photos on my wall...

THESE photos, if you had forgotten. I just can't bear to take them down. Think I could leave them up and just come visit them next year? I don't have to worry about the tape ruining them because I printed all of them out from a photo thing at CVS anyway, but I'd be really sad if I ripped one as I took it down. I figure I'll take them down either tonight or tomorrow morning. Sigh. I definitely won't have the space to do this again next year (unless I take the bed by the wall, and I want the bed by the window), so I'll have to think of other creative ways to display photos. And hey, if I do Bike & Build again ever, I'll have double the pictures to display... I'll never need to paint if I just cover my walls in photos!

I'm not sure what I'm going to do for the rest of the day. Amy and I will probably get dinner later tonight, and I'm stopping by my boss's place one last time since they're having a goodbye party for another guy working there, and I didn't get to say farewell to anyone on Wednesday since we didn't have our meeting. After that, my friend Andre is recruiting me to keep him company (his girlfriend is back in CA for three weeks, and despite the fact that they're always fighting when I see them, I think he misses her terribly).

And after that, I'm homeward bound... *cue Simon & Garfunkel music*

I get my glory in the desert rain

2009-05-06T14:11:00.002-04:00

So I'm running on five hours of sleep, but my first final exam is over! It was for American Sign Language I, my favorite class by far this semester. I haven't gotten lower than an A- on a quiz this entire semester, and I'm pretty sure the final went well. It was just... I dunno. Maybe it's because I was super tired, but I feel like it went really quickly and I didn't think enough. The first two questions were "Ask your teacher if she wants to join you at the activity" and "Ask your teacher if she can help you at the activity."

English is often a second language for Deaf people, so written sentences sometimes sound off. This means that when the questions said "the activity," my teacher did not literally mean one activity for both questions. She meant "an activity. Dumb me asked about cycling for the first question AND the second question, so she told me to choose something else. She seemed relatively friendly about it, so hopefully I don't get points deducted. I told her about my cycling trip last summer, but it wasn't really relevant to the question, so I hope it still counts. I have her class again next semester, and I'd hate to go in on the first day knowing I horribly screwed up the exam or something.

In an hour, my final portfolio is due for my writing class. I was originally stressing because after that I was supposed to go to my internship meeting and take notes, but it was canceled. Part of me is sad because I won't get to say goodbye to the other guys in the company, but another part of me is really happy because now I can either study and then pass out at 7 or take a nap and study later tonight. Yay sleep!

I started packing up a few things in my room over the past few days--kitchen stuff, books, desk decorations. This is the first year I haven't packed a week in advance--but trust me, you have no idea how hard that's been for me. I like feeling productive... ok, and procrastinating. I really only packed books today because I didn't want to study for my Human Evolution exam anymore. I mean, I could totally pack everything on Friday no problem. But I pretended that if I waited till then, I would run out of time and be rushing to throw things in at the last minute and end up forgetting something. Plausible, right? Right?

Alright, I've rambled enough for this entry. I don't even know if this entry makes any sense. So tired... but desserts again tomorrow! Cupcake at 12:00! :D And then packing up and going home Saturday and sleeping, and sleeping, and sleeping...

Oh, Billy Brown, you are a victim of the times

2009-04-29T19:34:00.002-04:00

Almost the end of April! So much to do, so little time...

Last night, the company I work for had a book release party on the Lower East Side, so I went down there to help with the merchandise table. The poet, Nathan Austin, was a fantastic reader, and we managed to sell a few books. Afterwards, I met Elyse and her friend Jess for a trivia game on St. Marks. Our team was ridiculously large, and we won, woo! I mean, we pretty much just won bragging rights for a week, but whatever, still a good prize.

Usually I have we have a company meeting on Wednesdays, but there's no meeting tonight, so I'm sitting in bed, trying to figure out what I want to do. I already made dinner, showered, and did a tiny bit of homework (the last thing I'll have due this year before finals!), but I'm just too tired to focus. I wish my roommate were gone so I could just turn off the light and nap or somthing. Sigh. Ten more days with her. I can't wait!

So next semester I'm moving back into Second Street. I lived there last year, and though the walls were super thin and you could always hear annoying people (like my awful downstairs neighbors), I generally liked the dorm and its location. I'll be living in the room directly below last year's since it's one of the slightly bigger rooms. I'll only have one roommate, but it's a studio and has a kitchenette instead of a kitchen, so things are kind of cramped. Still, it's better than living with a million people I don't know.

Well, last night I had a dream that I moved in but the room was horribly small, not at all like the room above it, and my new roommate was just as big a bitch as this one is. Ack! Not a good dream at all. I hope I have a a roommate like last year's who likes to go to bed early and wake up early. Or, you know, no roommate at all. That would be even better.

In other news, only one week and one day left till A) junior year is over and B) I can eat desserts again! Yes, I've lasted this whole time and have only one week to go. :) Ok, so yeah, I ate sorbet, but really, frozen juice. With a little extra sugar. That's all. I probably could have frozen juice in a cup and gotten the same thing, right?

I'm excited for finals to be over, but I'm not excited to be a senior. I have my first exam, American Sign Language, on Wednesday at 9:45 AM, then a portfolio due for Creative Writing at 3:30 that day, and lastly an exam for Human Evolution at 10:00 AM on Thursday. After that final exam, I'll head to my last day at my internship. After that, I really SHOULD go to the gym one last time, but I'm thinking I might just pretend we don't have a gym and go straight to a bakery to get a cupcake. And then eat a box of Girl Scout cookies. And chocolate. Man, I'm going to be horribly sick... I'll probably make up for the ~5 weeks in just one day. But it will so be worth it.

Alright, I should find something vaguely productive to do. 10 days!

P.S. I just have to tell someone this--my roommate went to bed about the same time I did last night, midnight. Then she woke up at 3:30. Yes, that is indeed 15 hours of sleep. Guess what she did when she was awake? Yes, made a phone call. And guess what she said? That she was tired.

2009-04-20T13:04:00.003-04:00

1. Hey, Radio IO on iTunes radio--whatever piece you're currently streaming sounds like "London Bridge is Falling Down." What's up with that??

2. Yesterday I went to yoga. And then the gym. Yes, I finally convinced myself to do both. Now I just need to convince myself to KEEP going to the gym. That means Tuesday night, self. I don't care how tired you are. Get your butt up and get it on the treadmill (well, get your feet onto the treadmill... that's a bit safer). I also need to make sure that I get up and about this summer.

I'm the worst runner ever. I just hate having nothing to do but be with my thoughts for long periods of time. I find it hard to tune out the way I used to during karate. I also have no idea what a proper running form looks like. In high school, we all did the "Bensalem Shuffle." It kind of consisted of moving your legs along--but just barely. You could go great distances by barely lifting your foot from the floor.

I must have been able to run once upon a time. I came across an old journal entry from 10th grade, right before I took my black belt test, and I had a close-to-8-minute mile. ...no, really, me? ME?!

A gym teacher once told me that I should join track.

I said, "I hate running."

He replied, "Really? You look like you're having fun out there!!"

Looking back on it, he probably saw how much I enjoyed beating all the boys (and the girls, too) when I crossed the finish line. 'cause that was pretty nice. But the actual act of running? No. Not my favorite thing. Biking > running. Even if I'm a pretty sad cyclist now, too.

Well, congrats to all you runners out there. Maybe I'll be as motivated as you one day. Maybe.

The odds are getting fatter by the minute

2009-04-17T19:31:00.004-04:00

I go to yoga on Mondays and Fridays at 12. Last week, I missed the Friday class because I was home, so I went with Karen on Sunday. Sunday's class was great; I felt really good afterwards and couldn't wait to go on Monday.

Then Monday's class sucked. I was sore, I was tired, I was cranky... I wasn't in a good mental place and it reflected in my practice. When I woke up today, I wasn't even sure I wanted to go. It felt like I hadn't gone to yoga in ages, and I just didn't feel like going. But I went anyway, mostly because I wanted to avoid my Sleeping ~~Beauty~~ Nasty of a roommate.

And then today's class?

Fantastic. We did a lot of really hard stuff, and I noticed that I don't wobble like I used to. I can do fly aways and binds sometimes. I can balance during my airplane/warrior 3/standing split and not have my ankle scream at me. Even if I can't see any physical changes in my body, I'm glad I can feel them.

I said I'd go to yoga on Sunday this week since Monday I have class scheduling for next semester... let's just hope it's not too soon to go back. I like feeling strong, not feeling achey and mean.

Before I go to Amy's (I would have gone earlier for our Friday night TV-and-falling-asleep-by-midnight ritual, but she was napping :P), here are some pictures from the Karenhita visit so you'll believe they were actually here.

Healthy apple cinnamon muffins. Recipe here if you want to make them!

I have gone crazy*

2009-04-12T17:29:00.003-04:00

What a weekend!

So I came back to NY on Friday night, ate dinner with friends, came home, and crawled into bed around 2. I woke up at 8:30 on Saturday morning, showered, and made healthy apple-cinnamon muffins (the recipe was for strawberry, but apples were cheaper). They're made with unsweetened applesauce instead of oil and an egg white instead of a whole egg. They were actually ridiculously delicious and I'm tempted to make more tonight. Then I went to Chinatown to meet Karen & Anahita! ...only they took Lucky Star, not Fung Wah, so when Karen said they were at the rest stop, they were at the Lucky Star rest stop which is way earlier in the trip than it is for Fung Wah (FW usually stops an hour and a half outside NY... LS stopped about an hour and a half outside of Boston). I waited around in the rain for a while, and when I got too cold, I went to a Popeye's and sat at a table awkwardly.

After they arrived, we went to Spice, my favorite Thai restaurant. It has the best Thai food ever. EVER. Karen and Anahita seemed to like it, so that's proof right there. We came back to my room afterwards and just hung out for a while. At 6, we went to a dinner at Yuan Express, a Chinese cultural club event at NYU to raise money for China Care, a group that provides children in China with medical care and adoption services. The dinner also had a talent show... well, it was... interesting, to say the least. Karen says it was exactly like the shows she used to watch in Taiwan. My friend Vanessa was working the event, and I have to say the officers all did a great job. The room looked way better than I had ever seen it.

We came back here and watched Rent (the movie, not the filmed "final" performance, because the latter is $25!!!). Well, Karen & I watched it... Anahita slept. And slept some more. I know the showtune soundtrack by heart, so the movie to me isn't quite as good, but I still like it. We watched "the first act" (up to "La Vie Boheme B"), and then we went to sleep. I got to crack out my Thermarest! It was awesome. And this morning I got to roll it flat and squeeze the air out. Oh, man. Summer.

Also, Karen & Anahita agree that my roommate is weird and that I'm not just imagining that she's rude. If my sister is reading this, she's probably going to say that I can't trust MIT students' judgements because they're just as weird as I am.

Today Anahita had to leave at 11:30 to get back for a movie event thing, so we woke up early (me at 8:00, them ~8:20... I was planning on playing "Here Comes the Sun" B&B-style, but my roommate came back at 7:58, boooo) and then went to Central Park. My first visit every year makes me wonder why I don't go more often. I really shouldn't go this week, but on Friday, if it's nice after yoga, I might be forced to go and sleep by Turtle Pond**. That's where I took them, Turtle Pond, because that's the only area of CP that I know. We went to Belvedere Tower, too, because I had never gone and it gave a nice viewpoint of the park.

After Anahita got on the bus, Karen and I came back here and watched the rest of Rent. Around 1:30 we left for yoga at Yoga to the People. Anyone can attend no matter what skill level, and it's free. Ok, it's $2 if you don't have mat, and they're a donation-based studio so they ask for donations, but if you're poor like me, you don't have to donate. Karen seemed to enjoy herself, and now she sees what I mean about it being more of a body-strengthening thing than a stretching thing. Afterwards we ate ramen... mmm, ramen. Now she's gone, and I'm here in bed typing while my roommate eats pizza because she's lazy. I heard her tell her boyfriend how she ordered pizza because she doesn't want to cook for the next two days. I'm wondering... maybe she's going somewhere? I hope so. I think she might be going away this weekend which is awesome because I can finally get some sleep!***

Alright, I'm either going to go eat some leftover pad thai or take a shower. Either way, I'm probably going to pass out by 10 tonight.

___________________________
^{*So in case you haven't figured it out yet, I always use song lyrics for my titles. So no, I haven't gone crazy. It's lyrics to "Daydream" by The Smashing Pumpkins.
**We actually saw turtles in the pond today!
***Anahita's snores are just... wow.}

What a beast was I to chide at him

2009-04-09T12:26:00.003-04:00

Here I am at home! I bet my mom will read this blog post while I'm still in the house. Last night started Passover, and even though I'm not exactly religious (ha), I like my family's food, and coming home was a good excuse to get a free meal. And play with my dog. My dog absolutely loves me, it seems. He was so happy when I came home last night, jumping and wagging... and then I immediately had to leave. He did the same exact thing when I came back from dinner.

Today I turned over the garden (it apparently turned into a grass-and-dandelion garden since last summer). My dog followed me outside... and then lay down right next to me as I was shoveling. He tried to get me to play, he made me pet him, he whined at me when I ignored him... So yeah, basically my dog loves me too much. It's cute.

Tomorrow I have to catch up on some work. I've done most of it, but I need to read the notes from lecture that I missed today (don't worry, I would have fallen asleep in class if I had been there anyway). I should probably read some more short stories for Monday, but I can do that on the train tomorrow night. On Saturday, Karen & Anahita ("Karenhita" or "Anaharen," depending on who you talk to) are coming for a visit! I cleaned everything the other night because my place was kind of gross. Last year my roommate and I cleaned every other week, but with just me cleaning this year, it's too much to do every week... and by the week after, I'm tired and don't feel like doing it. This summer, if I can't find a job I'm planning on cleaning the entire house, so I better get over this lazy cleaning thing!

Anyway, I cleaned on Tuesday night, and I did all of my laundry--clothes, towels, sheets, comforter, blankets, mattress cover... I've been feeling sneezy lately, and since I made it across the country fine without any allergies, I get the feeling there's just too much dust in my life.

I'm looking forward to baking muffins on Friday night/Saturday morning. I gave up sweets--

"WHAT?!" you say. "You can't give up sweets! That's who you are! You're a dessertetarian!"

But I did. My sweets:real food ratio was getting a bit out of proportion. I would try every week at the grocery store to buy only healthy things, but by Wednesday I would crave something sweet and buy cookies, chocolate candy, cupcakes... It was getting to be a bit too much. Plus I don't need to spend all that extra money. I've vowed not to eat sweets until after my last final (May 9?). I have a can of change on my desk, so I'll take it to TD Bank and get it changed to bills and then go buy something deliciously sweet as a reward. Today is only day 4, but I'm determined to make it--even if it means facing down the dessert table again tonight at my aunt's house.

I'm replacing the sweets with healthier options--fruit, yogurt, granola, etc. I'm still eating sweet things this way, but they're not going to be the death of me (hopefully!). I'm still eating sorbet, though... I mean, the way I look at it, it's just frozen juice, right? And I drink juice sometimes. So eating a tiny bit... I mean, that's not cheating... right? Right?

Ok, I'm waiting for Sadie to come pick me up for sushi--I think. I just realized I didn't ask if she was picking me up, so I texted her and we'll see. Whoops!

What role do I play?

2009-04-01T10:04:00.004-04:00

So maybe you've heard about this Conficker virus that has everyone paranoid today. So far today, they haven't heard much from it; nothing terrible seems to have happened.

My cousin Ben does a lot of computer stuff, so he had me download Norton Internet Security and gave me a thing to run and see if I had the virus. It all seemed to check out just fine. I read an article last night that said you should make sure to install all of the Windows updates, so I did. My computer needed to restart, but I was tired, so I just waited till I went to bed, shut it down, and figured I'd restart it this morning.

So I turned my computer on this morning... and things were looking funny. "Oh no," I thought, "Virus!" I turned it off quickly and started it up again. "Oh, right, I installed updates," I realized, and everything started loading smoothly.

"svchost is trying to access the internet," Norton popped up. My sirens sounded. What was this thing I had never seen before? I chose to "block this instance."

But it popped up again. "Oh ho, no you don't, computer virus!" I said (in my head, of course). "Always block" was my final choice.

Except then my internet connection was messed up. Google Talk, AIM, and Mozilla Firefox would not load. "Blast, you cursed internet virus!" I thought. "Now I am stuck! Maybe... maybe it's just my internet connection here? Yes, yes, there's construction outside; maybe they cut through a wire..."

I brought my computer to class and tried to access the internet via NYU Wireless. ...nothing. Even though it said I was connected, I could not get online. I wrote to Ben in a last, desperate plea for help...

and realized, as I was writing, that I was an idiot. I had blocked svchost, which is, as Ben then told me, a Windows service that is perfectly safe.

I blocked myself from the internet.

Derrrrrrrrr.

Everything is fine now. But jeeze... now I'm stuck in the library and actually have to do my work. Sigh!

Guilty of swallowing Jenny Craig whole

2009-03-29T18:28:00.005-04:00

"It is a hard thing to leave any deeply routined life..."

I started thinking a lot about next summer yesterday. Or not even just next summer--but what I'm going to do after graduation in general. I've been thinking about it a lot lately, probably because this time last year I had received and built my bike and had an article written about what I was doing. Class scheduling is coming up on April 20th, and though I should really start thinking about what I want to take as my final English class, I'm instead thinking about what I'm going to do after college. My friend Jocelyn really wants to do Bike & Build; after she heard about the whole summer and saw my pictures, she thought it sounded cool. She keeps saying that she and I should do it together and that I should be her leader. I'm not so sure I'm leader material, but I don't really have an excuse not to lead other than the facts that A) I hate being in cars for extended periods of time and B) since I missed two days of riding over the summer, I'd really like to do every single day this time. But leading but would be its own challenge, bigger than completing every single day, I think.

My best friend, Steph, is engaged, and I'm wondering if her wedding would interfere with this plan. She comes first. I've known her since I was really little. We went to school together. We fought--okay, I picked at stupid things and got mad and didn't tell her why, which probably confused and hurt her. We walked to the bus together every single day, and when I got a license, we drove to school and made coffee runs when we got senioritis. So her wedding comes before everything. I choose her over Bike & Build again.

At the same time, going back to the Bike & Build lifestyle would be so nice. Wake up early, ride and ride and ride, eat a lot, sleep, wake up and do it again... "It is a hard thing to leave any deeply routined life," Steinbeck says, and it is. When the summer ended, I still woke up early for about a month afterward. I ate like I was still on the trip (which was not a good thing). I missed having that safety net of 31 friends. The real world was scary. It was nice to live in a bubble.

Susanna mentioned taking down old photos and putting up new ones, replacing the distant past with the more recent. At the beginning of the semester, I covered my wall in my favorite photos--most from Bike & Build, some from regular life. It's sad to think that with each passing day, the people in those pictures grow further away from me. I want to have more happy pictures to hang up (of course, remembering to use my camera might help with that). I can't definitely say I'll do Bike & Build again, but I feel that my last "real" summer should be just as memorable as last year's.

And after that? I'll save that for another entry. I still have some thinking to do.

Tell me or I walk away

2009-03-27T00:09:00.004-04:00

Things I Learned Today*

1. Antarctica has soil underneath the ice, and, in some places, there isn't any ice at all.
Seriously, they never taught us that Antarctica had soil in elementary school when we learned about continents and maps in 4th grade. My mind was blown when my teacher mentioned it. I Googled "Antarctica soil" and came across this blog that shows pictures of Antarctica... where there isn't any ice at all. Ahh! I then used the Wikipedia article and found out that Antarctica has the highest elevation of any continent.

Why didn't I learn this when I was little???

2. There is a grizzly-polar bear hybrid, and it has even occurred naturally.
I posted a portion of Puck's final audience address from Shakespeare's A Midsummer Night's Dream** as my going-to-sleep status on Google Talk last night, and my friend couldn't remember where they were from, so I told him. He said I should have gone with The Winter's Tale as it includes "exit pursued by bear." I said I almost hit a bear with my bike this summer (true story!), and he mentioned that he had heard that grizzlies had mated with polar bears and were making super bears. I wasn't sure whether to believe him, so I asked what color they were. He didn't know, so I searched Google again, and found this Wikipedia article.

!!!

Where have I been for the past few years? How have I not heard of some really cool/simple stuff like this?

In other news, I'm reading East of Eden, and so far it's alright. I'm not ready to call it my favorite book ever, but I'll admit it's better than Grapes of Wrath.

Ok, I should go to bed. I really want an avocado, though. I bought raspberry sorbet tonight (wanted lemon, but they didn't have any, boo) because I was trying to just cut sweets out of my diet***, but I caved and needed something. As a way of justifying it to myself, sorbet is not as bad as ice cream, and hey, it has fruit in it, yeah?

I do need sleep, though, as I'm going to yoga again tomorrow. I'm not sure if I want to go at 12 or at 2. I go at 12 on Mondays, but I'd like to laze around tomorrow. I need to do homework, though, so I should really go at 12 and suck it up and admit that waking up at 10:30 on a Friday is lazy enough as it is.

Ok, off I go.

__________________________
*"Today" being March 26th and 27th, but since I'm still awake, I'm counting the 27th as part of yesterday.
**"If we shadows have offended, / Think but this, and all is mended, / That you have but slumber'd here / While these visions did appear."
***Ok, it wasn't ENTIRELY cold turkey... more like it would have been 80% gone, but then Puja came up to NY and we went to Max Brenner's and I ate SO MUCH CHOCOLATE.

It's a shame you went and destroyed the door

2009-03-24T22:50:00.004-04:00

Look at me, updating again after updating yesterday. I'm turning into a regular blogger. Not that anyone would want to read mine, but whatever. I actually spent most of today looking for poetry blogs that will review a book for work. I asked my former poetry teachers if they knew of anything, and they wrote back really quickly! I'm glad. I really like and respect both of them. Unfortunately, they confirmed what I found out--there's not very much in terms of blogging 'cause poets are narcissists and just push their own stuff. Still, they gave me a few tips. I'm torn between looking at their suggested sites now and putting it off. My boss said I don't have to do anything tonight and we can put it off till Thursday, but I feel like he was disappointed when I said I didn't send out any e-mails today.

Edit: Cut for your sanity.

Basically I whined a whole bunch in my first attempt at this post, so I'm removing it. I'm not going to be happy living with my roommate if I whine that my attempts to be happy aren't working.

Happy Wednesday.

How far is too far?

2009-03-23T23:19:00.002-04:00

Quick update, mostly for myself, to see what I've accomplished today:

1. Pedigree charts, due Wednesday--finished, need to print.
2. Short stories for creative writing class, due today--half read one, finished them in class. Forgot they were due thanks to spring break.
3. sign language homework, units 4:1-4:5--finished.
4. Horror reader for internship--Finished 134 pages out of +300, so hopefully my boss didn't expect me to get much past that in a week.
5. $10 bill for Student Health Center--paid, confirmation number received.
6. Check East of Eden out of library--not done yet, but Susanna says it's her favorite book, so I should give it a go.
7. Lottery card problems fixed--no e-mail from the housing department yet. Getting antsy. Will call on Wednesday morning if not fixed.
8. Roommate eaten by lion/run over by bus--has not yet happened. Still working passive aggressively to fix this.

Ok, I'm going to go to bed now before my roommate gets back so I can actually sleep tonight. Who'd-a thunk I'd need a vacation after my vacation???

He'll kidnap our children then take off their clothes

2009-03-22T21:01:00.005-04:00

1. Miami

I'm back from Miami, as sad as that is. I greatly enjoyed getting away from NY for a little bit, especially because it meant I got away from my roommate. It wasn't as perfectly warm and sunny as I had hoped it would be, but it was good enough. I at least managed to get to the beach and read for a while. I have a slight farmers tan/burn again, and it's a true B&B tanline because I was wearing my build shirt when it formed. I was also wearing jeans that day (it was so windy!!!), and I rolled up my pantlegs so I wouldn't get them wet... when I came back inside, I had a burn on just my feet. It kind of looks like I'm wearing red socks. I also had bandaids on at the time, so when I removed them, I had bandaid tanlines, too. You know, I just had to make sure I kept my "coolest tanlines" position.

On Thursday night, we went to a drag show at The Palace Bar. We ordered the greasiest food possible (chicken tenders, fried calamari, and mozzarella sticks) and watched two fabulous drag queens strut in the streets. They really mess with the crowds; they do the whole show on the sidewalk as people are passing, and they go in the streets and force cars to stop for them.

Overall, Miami was fun, but I wish I were still there. I don't want to be back in NY for more stress. Hopefully the rest of this semester goes smoothly. While I don't quite want it to be summer just yet (because it means not getting to see all of my friends in NY/Boston frequently!), I also don't feel like doing anything with school.

2. Books
I finished* One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest while I was there. We had read the play in HS English class, but the book was definitely better (duh). The movie wasn't bad, but I feel like they made it too comical. Yeah, a lot of the stuff in the book WAS funny, but since we were watching from Bromden's point of view, it didn't come across as funny as the movie made it out to be. I guess it's weird that I read the novel AFTER reading the play and watching the movie, but whatever.

Now I need something else to read. I was given the suggestion of East of Eden (Steinbeck), and I'll probably check it out of the library sometime this week. I'm not sure how I'll feel about it since I wasn't exactly a Grapes of Wrath fan, but I can give it a go. I also feel like I should read Of Mice and Men because references to it have been popping up a lot recently. I actually never read Romeo and Juliet, either. Amy loaned it to me in 10th grade, but I think I lost it somewhere (sorry, Amy).

3. School

As much as I don't want to think about it, I HAVE to. I have a bunch of pedigree charts due on Wednesday for Human Evolution, and if I don't do them tomorrow, I'll be scrabbling around on Tuesday night hoping for the best. I need to pay a $10 bill to the NYU Health Center, and since I can't find an envelope in which to mail a check, I'll need to call sometime tomorrow and try to pay by credit card over the phone. I also need to submit my lottery card for housing, but I'm unfortunately one of the unlucky students who keeps getting errors. I e-mailed the housing people, so hopefully they respond in a timely fashion as it's due by Friday. If I don't get a lottery card, I'll still be able to participate, but it means I'll be one of the last people to choose, and I definitely won't be able to get a single. Ugh.

I wish I had more interesting stuff to say. I'm watching my roommate unpack, and I can't believe how much stuff she took with for one week. How do high maintenance people live? Sheesh. When I went to CA for spring break freshman year, I remember taking a rather large suitcase... After surviving on 4 T-shirts this summer, I brought one small duffel bag to Miami and even then had too much stuff. Seriously, you don't need a million shirts for a week of vacation. It's just stupid.

Let's hope my roommate doesn't stress me out this half of the semester. Let's hope going to yoga helps me relax!!

_________
*I bought it freshman year, read a few chapters, lost it, found it next to my bed this winter, restarted it in January, forgot about it, read more in February, lost it behind my bed, and found it while packing on Monday.

Where was the warning?

2009-03-15T23:44:00.005-04:00

1. Midterms...

...are over! I managed to get a B+ on my Human Evolution midterm with the curve which is completely shocking considering I had to guess on a lot of stuff. I have an A in my writing class (surprise, surprise), and I don't know what I have in ASL, but I assume it's at least a B+ considering I got all A's on the quizzes (except the last one which I messed up not because I didn't know the signs but because I couldn't read the English right).

But since midterms are over, that means...

2. SPRING BREAK!!!

I went to Boston on Friday and came back today. First I went to Karen's place and we baked 4 pies*... because Saturday was Pi Day (3.14). There were far more than 4 pies, though... there were over 22 pies. !!! It was ridiculous. We ate so much pie... I never want to eat that much pie again. Ever. Ever. EVER. Not even after biking all day. Just no.

Afterward, we went to Anahita's surprise party which started at midnight... even though she didn't get off work till 2. When she finally showed up, I was pretty tired. There was SO MUCH CAKE, and after you have eaten SO MUCH PIE, you do not want to eat SO MUCH CAKE. I accidentally fell asleep on the couch despite the rowdy people and the loud music. I woke up at 4:30 with the party still going strong. Yeesh. I went to sleep in Anahita's room finally because my eyes would not stay open. We woke up around 11 or so, and then we went to the aquarium. It was really hot and crowded, but it was fun. We watched the fish get fed, but it was really weird to see people in the tank. We said they should have had a little "human" label along with all of the information on the fish.

Senior Haus (where Anahita lives) had a party that night to raise money for their end-of-year party, but we didn't go because we were pretty tired by that point, and Anahita had to work again anyway. I tried to sleep around midnight, but the music from the party made it kind of hard. I must have drifted off at some point because I woke up at 6:30 to Yoshimi, Karen's ferret, climbing on me. I guess it's just about the same as waking up to Brody banging against my bed asking for food. We went out to lunch around 12:30 or so at Cosi and enjoyed the amaaaazing spring-like weather. Apparently, it was not that nice in NY today, so I'm super glad I was in Boston.

I came back on a 3:30 bus today, and despite the fact that the driver warned us there was traffic due to St. Patrick's Day parades, we still made it back on time. I chose to walk home from Chinatown rather than take the subway because it's not like I had anything time-sensitive to do.

Tomorrow I have to pack for spring break part 2: Miami! I'm excited to be warm. I think my plan is to sit on the beach and not move every day. It is not allowed to rain the entire time I'm there. I haven't checked the forecast yet, but it is just NOT allowed to rain. I want to be warm and tan. Okay, so I'll just burn. But at least I'll be warm.

Hm, what else?

3. Garden

I want to have a vegetable garden again this year, and tomatoes grow well in our yard because of the acidic soil. Anyone know some other easy-to-grow plants that like clay soil? I need more vegetables in my life (okay, and fruits, technically, if I'm growing tomatoes), and fresh ingredients in salads are way better than store-bought ones.

Ok, I need to sleep soon. I'm beat!

________
*We baked key lime pie ("Lyme Disease"), chocolate-peanut-marshmallow-whipped-cream-chocolate-sauce thing ("Choconut"), cherry-apple ("Santa Brainz," so named because it was baked in a Santa-shaped dish and looked like brains), and lemon meringue ("Lemon Meringue Soup" since we lacked the corn starch necessary to stiffen it).

There's nowhere to go but home to Avenue Q

2009-03-08T19:57:00.004-04:00

Chewing.

I hate it.

I hate, hate, hate the sound of someone chewing.

Other sounds bother me, too. Sniffling, coughing, rustling plastic, talking, tapping...

But chewing bothers me most of all.

I just had to walk out of a study group because I couldn't take it anymore. I could hear a girl TWO ROWS behind me chewing gum. I was sitting at the far left; she was sitting at the far right. I should haven't been able to hear her. If she had learned to chew with her mouth closed, I wouldn't have heard a thing. But like 90% of the population, she chews with her mouth open. I don't understand it. Why don't parents teach their children how rude it is to chew with open mouths? And chewing with any open mouth signifies "dumb" to me, particularly when someone chomps gum with an open mouth. It's always girls, too. It's like they're so focused on twirling their hair and staring into space that they can't remember to close their traps as they chew.

And then the kid next to me decided to start chewing his water bottle cap. "I have a thing about chewing plastic," he explained to his friend. I used to like chewing plastic. Ok--I still do. But as of today, I have officially given it up now that I know how annoying it sounds. He, too, couldn't not figure out how to chew with his mouth closed. Though I like to pull pieces off pen caps, I then chew them with my mouth closed. Still, I now know how annoying it must be when I pull pieces off.

But yeah, I got so angry that I had to walk out of my study group. The questions people were asking were also really dumb; one girl clearly wanted to suck up to the TAs. Another kid had clearly never attended lecture or read the book. I know I'm worried about this exam, but at least I know more than SOME people.

I was all de-stressed, too. I went to yoga today (with the mat my sister bought me for my birthday--thanks, sis), and then I got my favorite cinnamon sugar pita chips.

Well, I'll be bringing ear plugs for the exam on Wednesday...

Keep your sunny side up

2009-03-05T15:38:00.003-05:00

I tried to be miserable today. Really, I did.

I woke up totally set on it. I was cranky yesterday and wanted it to continue today. I even made an "I'm miserable" playlist. But it's so hard to be cranky when you're wearing your raspberry and vanilla lotion. And then the sun was out, and it wasn't that cold. Plus my iPod kept shuffling to good songs.

I mean, what could I do but be happy?

Sure, I've had my annoyances today. That homeless-looking guy was sitting at my favorite desk on the 7th floor again, so I had to sit against the inside windows instead of in back. People walked too slowly down the streets. I got assigned more work for my Human Evolution class when I haven't even started studying for the midterm yet.

But despite it all, I'm still happy, gosh darnit.

Do I like what you like?

2009-03-04T17:24:00.003-05:00

Man, winter can go away anytime now. It's supposed to get up into the 50s this weekend, but I would really appreciate not having snow on the ground. I'm not asking for it to be 85. I'm just asking that at 6 am it's around 65 F so I can comfortably ride my bike again. That's all.

I have to leave for my internship in 15 minutes or so. I wasn't there last Thursday, and I wasn't needed yesterday, so this is my first time back in a week. I always hate going back to something when I haven't been in a while. It makes me nervous. School, class, activities, work... Having time off makes me feel like I'll forget everything when I get back. Fortunately, Wednesdays are just supposed to be my note-taking days, so hopefully I can get eased back into the swing of things (just in time to get comfortable before I disappear for spring break).

My Human Evolution final is a week from today, and supposedly the professor gives very hard exams. I don't REALLY need an A in the class since I just need to pass in order to fulfill part of my science requirement... but still, I can't just slack off. If only I could live comfortably with a guilty conscience...

I don't know what I'm going to do with these 15 minutes. Well, 11 now. Yesterday I cleaned my bathroom with all the free time what with the canceled internship. I had noticed that my tub was constantly brown in one spot despite how often I cleaned it. I thought maybe it was from the shower curtain, so yesterday morning when I showered I touched the curtain. We have two curtains; one is on the outside and is brown & blue. I thought the one on the inside was a clear-ish brown color. Oh, no. When I touched it, I realized it was COVERED in mold. EWW!!!!!

I spent about an hour alone scrubbing mold off that curtain. It's now crystal clear and a thousand times cleaner. Ew. Then I cleaned the sink, the toilet, the mirror, and the microwave (my pasta exploded in it the other day, and I figured while I was cleaning, I might as well get it...). Seriously, though, I can't believe I never noticed the curtain before. And I can't believe no one cleaned it for so long that it got that filthy. I mean, that's abominable. I'm glad I bought sponges yesterday when I went grocery shopping... they really came in handy!

Ok, now I have about 8 minutes. I'm completely exhausted, but at least I don't have class till 11 tomorrow. I bet I'll still go to bed before midnight anyway...

You look like you're 16

2009-03-01T21:26:00.003-05:00

This is how I blog:

(click to make it bigger)

I don't want respect, I'd much rather have fun

2009-02-27T14:20:00.002-05:00

1. Home again

So here I am at home again! I came back for a doctor's appointment yesterday, and I figured I might as well spend the weekend chilling at home instead of stuck in my super hot room in NY. Last night Sara and I went to The Great American Diner & Pub, more affectionately known as The Pub, and I got a giant peanut butter & chocolate dessert thing that was actually kind of disappointing. I should have stuck to the Oreo sundae as we all know Oreos > Reeses...

Today I'm trying to write a story for my fiction class, but I'm too lazy. I've finally decided that I prefer poetry to fiction because I don't have to create characters in poems. I don't like having to come up with a story and write about it for +5 pages. I just want to write 10 lines and let that be the end.

Tomorrow I'm off to get sushi with Steph, Dani, & Romberger. Sadie was supposed to come, but since today is senior cut day, she decided to go visit family in Altoona. I'm a bit disappointed since I haven't seen Sadie in forever, but I'm sure I'll enjoy sushi nonetheless. Afterwards, I'm going to Philadelphia to spend the night with Diana and Puja!

Sunday, I head back to NY and start the school week all over again, sigh. Fortunately, it's almost spring break, but that means it's also almost my Human Evolution midterm, and it's supposed to be hard. I don't necessarily need to get an A as I just need to pass the class to fulfill the second half of my science requirement. Oddly enough, I haven't taken the first part of my science requirement yet. I'm hoping to find a really easy class... like the math class I had last year. I want to show up to class late with a vanilla bean frap and still know everything that's going on.

2. Google Reader

When Karen and I spoke about blogs, she asked why I didn't use a thingie that checked the blogs for me rather than individually checking each blog. I had tried this once before, but I kept forgetting I had it and stopped using it. I decided last week to try Google Reader, and now I read everything there. Granted, I only read a few blogs, but still. It makes my life so much easier. Thanks, Karen!

I think that's all for now... I should at least PRETEND to write this story. It is due Monday, after all.

2009-02-24T13:45:00.002-05:00

I'm only posting because I feel guilty that there may be some SUS 08ers out there who have been waiting for me to post, but I haven't. Yes, Karen, I'm talking about you because I'm pretty sure you're the only one who still reads this.

I went home last weekend... for a day. I just needed to get a new license since mine expired the day after my birthday. Fortunately, I'll also be going home this weekend for a bit longer, and since Steph and Dani start spring break on Friday, we're planning to get sushi because, well, what else do we do when we're all home? Sadie will be there too, of course, but she's still in Bensalem, so that's implied.

I've been spending a lot of time in the library lately (like right now) because I figure it's easier than having to deal with a hot, stuffy room and a roommate who sleeps all the time. It's not my ideal workplace, but I probably do get more work done... even if that paper I just wrote is the worst paper I've ever written. I can't help it, though; it's for a science class, and there's no thesis. I'm just writing what the book says. I can't understand writing a paper without a thesis statement. I am so not cut out to be a science student. And I still have one more science class to take next year. Sigh.

Wow, some kid just sat down at the table opposite mine, and I swear for a second I thought he was Zach Subar of Bike & Build leader fame. That was strange. I think it was the massive beard. Zach did, after all, win "Most Biblical-Looking Beard."

I'm desperately craving mustard, and I have some at home, but I have nothing to put it on. I need to at least buy bread and milk today so that I can eat pb&j, eggs, and French toast today and tomorrow. I figure I'll stop on the way home from my internship tonight because I don't feel like knocking stuff off shelves with my super heavy computer bag.

On a completely different note, I can't believe it's almost March. It's been almost a year since I got my bike. Ahh! I wish it were warmer so I could go riding. I'm a big wimp. I hate riding in the cold. I think I may start riding to class every day once it gets warmer, though I suppose I might need a backpack of some sort, and if I have to carry my computer, too, that might get annoying. The only thing is that I'm still scared of riding in NY. I can ride on a freeway into Dallas, soar down tight curves at Tahoe where the shoulder is almost nonexistent, but I cannot bring myself to ride in NY. For some reason, I feel like it's a thousand times scarier.

Lastly, I want a burger. I really should go grocery shopping next week. And do my laundry tonight. I will do my laundry tonight. I will, I will, I will...

Like a bridge over troubled water

2009-02-18T08:31:00.000-05:00

I'm 21.

That's all.

And I'm so tired

2009-02-11T17:31:00.001-05:00

Dear Headache 'o Doom,

Please go away. You have been around for three days now and I'm sick of you. I much prefer being well-rested and headache-free. Also, while you're at it, take away my smelly suitemate. The stench is getting pretty bad.

Thanks,

Rachel

You're a rock and roll suicide

2009-02-05T13:09:00.005-05:00

So about 45 minutes after I wrote my last entry, I thought to myself, "Hm, I don't feel so well. In fact, I feel like I have a fever. And I did have weird half-awake dreams last night, the kind I only have when I'm sick. I wonder..."

I cracked out my thermometer, and sure enough, it beeped the "fever" beep at me, "101.1" displaying on the screen. Greeeeat. I spent the weekend in bed doing mostly nothing. I started making a fever chart at one point when I was bored; at 9:30 PM it was 100.3, so I took ibuprofen and watched it dip to 98.4 at 12:30 AM. Exciting! Then I woke up the next morning with 102.8 :( Not fun. I managed to read Chimpanzee Politics for my Human Evolution class, but that was about all I did. Well, and I wrote my story for creative writing, but that was it. I watched some House, took naps, and talked to people online.

Fortunately, my fever was gone by Monday, but I didn't feel better until yesterday (Wednesday). I ate PB&J for dinner on Tuesday after my internship, but my stomach didn't approve and decided to regift it to the toilet. Fortunately, I'm finally better! I'm still super tired, but that probably has more to do with celebrating Elyse's birthday with a nice French dinner last night than with being sick. A happy 21st to her!

In other news, my roommate was still sleeping at 8 PM when I left yesterday. It's getting very frustrating since I feel like she's lazy. I don't know what she does at night, but I don't understand when she goes to class if she doesn't go anywhere during the day. I almost want to ask the RA and find out if she actually DOES do anything. I felt similarly over the summer when riding. It would be maybe 10 AM or so, right around lunch (a little before or after depending on the day). People in cars would pass us and do angry honks if they thought we were in their way (we quickly learned the difference between friendly honks and mean honks). In my mind, I could not understand why they'd honk. I slowed them down for, what, 15 seconds? 20? For 20 seconds, someone had to drive at 20 MPH instead of 60, drive slow enough to be on my level. Instead of taking the chance to slow down and relax, these people would get ANGRY that we were delaying them for the tiniest bit of time. Why rush? I had already done more with my morning than most people did in the entire day.

I always felt like these people were just lazy; they just wanted to get where they needed to go as quickly as possible and not have to work while doing it. Dropping down to 20 MPH was work; it takes effort to drive slowly and watch what's around you. I would sometimes yell after them, telling them to get their lazy butts out of their cars and try riding up a mountain into the headwind sometime. I get annoyed when I'm working and someone near me is slacking. I don't mind slacking if you've done a lot and are just relaxing now. But if you spend all week in bed and go out every night, you really are just a waste of space, in my opinion. You're using up resources that someone else could use, you know? Give that bed to Stephanie, my music major best friend who is constantly running around and could use a nap. It's not fair for my roommate to keep hogging it when someone else needs it more.

Enough of that. Amy is just about done class, meaning it's almost time to go to lunch! Mmm. Food.

Have I ever told you?

2009-01-31T12:46:00.002-05:00

I really want cream of wheat. Really, really, really want it. I seem to be on a breakfast kick today, and though I have granola, that is not what I want. I want a hot bowl of cream of wheat. Mmm.

I slept over Amy's last night, and we went to McDonald's this morning to get bacon, egg, & cheese biscuits, something we always want but are too lazy to wake up early enough for. I haven't had one since Altus, OK when we got free, all-you-can-eat McDonald's during Bike & Build. It was just as deliciously greasy as always. I feel bad that I ate one and haven't worked out, but I haven't been feeling 100% well this week, which is not a good excuse, but at least it's an excuse.

Anyway, last night at Amy's was fun. We ate Easy Mac, drank Koolaid (yet we're still alive!), and then watched Hamlet 2. Yes, that's right, Hamlet 2. As in a sequel to Hamlet. It was about a drama club teacher who tried to save the club by writing his own play. It involved Jesus, who had a swimmer's bod, Hamlet, and Snoopy, among others. It's not the greatest movie ever, but it was funny. Afterwards, we had an impromptu dance party. We think I should audition for American Idol and win them over as I sing with my hot dance moves. Our only rule for the dance party was that no real moves could be used. Whoever lives below Amy probably wondered why elephants were let loose in her building, but hey, it WAS a Friday, and quiet hours didn't start till 1 am.

Speaking of elephants, somewhere upstairs is thumping around. It reminds me of my upstairs neighbors last year who were caught rollerblading in their room. Yes, seriously. I hope it's not another situation like that... though fortunately, this is the first time I've heard anything, so hopefully it won't contiue.

At the moment, I'm trying to write a story loosely based off cowboy camp from Mosquero, NM. Our assignment is to make a first-person story in which we come up with a "what if" situation, i.e. "What if I drove across the country instead of riding my bike?" Of course, I kind of think this is a dumb assignment because I really could just do, "What if I were a boy?" And besides, no one in the class knows who I am. I could make up anything. It's supposed to be 5-6 pages, and I'm on my third... hopefully I finish soon!

Alright, off I go... I should pretend I'm writing.

Don't use a toaster while standin' in the shower

2009-01-29T21:43:00.003-05:00

1. Susannna & Jon!

Mini B&B reunion, part 2. Today I met up with Susanna and Jon. I took them to Cafe Reggio, my favorite cafe in NY (particularly good for reading on Saturday afternoons [if you get there early enough to get a window table!] and eavesdropping). It was great seeing them again. I almost didn't recognize either of them. It's weird seeing everyone back in normal clothes again! Jon had his awesomely awesome fixie (fixed gear bike), and Susanna took pictures of people and their dogs. All in all, it was a great way to relax after class this morning. School is stressing me out a bit, so I'm trying to find ways to calm down this year, like yoga and swing dancing (again).

2. Dropped a class

Speaking of stressing out, I ended up dropping my Symbolism & Decadence class. I didn't really need it; I only need one specific class to finish my major. It was a three-hour long class, which I didn't mind in London, but here it meant that I was out on Tuesdays from 9 am till 8:30 pm or so. I couldn't handle it, so it's gone. It was also kind of boring... no offense to the professor, but she just did not hold my interest. I read the book's intro... Almost everything she said came from it. I almost fell asleep. Now I actually have time to do work on Tuesdays before my internship, and that means I can come back after my internship and relax instead of trying to do all of my work before midnight so I can sleep.

Hm... that might be all for now. I'm exhausted and don't have much more to say. I'm probably going to kick back and watch an episode of House soon or something. I have work I should do for my internship, but I can do it tomorrow after I start writing my short story, which is due Monday, and I have the idea so I just need to find the motivation to write the thing...

Better pray for your sins

2009-01-23T13:34:00.003-05:00

1. Boston!

Boston was amazing! I had an absolutely fantastic time hanging out with Matt, Karen, Anahita, and the random other people I met (Alex, uh.... those people at Tep... uh... all those names I forgot). It was SUPER cold and snowed a lot, but considering I haven't seen that much snow since I was about 7, it was kind of exciting. I unfortunately didn't get to see Susanna on Tuesday (my class turned out to be at 2, not 3:30), but we're going to meet up next Thursday since I only have one class that day. If any SUS 08 people are still reading my blog, I highly suggest visiting Boston and/or NY in the near future. We're pretty fun.

2. Cycling!

So I joined the cycling team... and my first race weekend is March 7-8. Uh... wow, do I need to get into shape! I've been going to the gym, and I'm going to hopefully get a training schedule planned soon. I'll need to borrow a jersey for the first race since mine won't arrive in time, but I'll do it if it means I can at least try racing. I made a New Year's resolution that I would do one race, so if I do two, I'm way ahead of my promise! My other race is April 11-12 at Yale. I need to get some cold weather gear, though, like thicker spandex tights and long-fingered gloves. There's a ride tomorrow afternoon, but without the tights and gloves, I really don't want to go. I'm a huge wimp when it comes to the cold. It's actually kind of nice out right now (woo, 40s!), but I unfortunately need to do work today and can't justify riding around Central Park.

3. School!

School is alright so far. I really like my American Sign Language class. We can't talk; we have to stay silent because it's the best way to learn. So far, I can't understand more than the first letter when people fingerspell, but at least I know how to ask for a name, who someone is, and where someone is. I can also count to ten. Ooo.

I'm only taking one English class this semester. I wanted to finish my major, but the senior seminar I wanted was full (because the teacher is this awesome British guy who drinks tea and plays music). Instead, I'm taking a topics course, which is supposed to be a small seminar but is completely overbooked and is more like a lecture. It's three hours long, so I'm not sure how I feel about that. I like long classes, but I don't like being part of a crowd in a topics course. Last spring, I took a Chaucer seminar, and that had maybe 15 people (though only about 10 usually showed up). Well, hopefully the teacher won't notice if I fall asleep this way!

Human Evolution, my science/anthropology class, is alright. I'm not a science person, and I have to memorize bones in the human skeleton as well as classifications. Maybe I should have my sister take the class for me.

And then my fiction workshop... I'm used to poetry students. They're generally hipster-ish, cool, and express themselves well. The fiction students remind me of middle school rejects. I get the feeling I'll be reading a lot of bad scifi/fantasy stuff this semester. At least I know two people in the class, and they write well.

4. Internship!
Hooray, internship! I finally got one! It's with The Sporting Gentlemen, a startup publishing company. At the moment, the first book they're working on is the collected letters of H. P. Lovecraft on his thoughts about religion. I feel crazy having such an important manuscript in my room, but hopefully this will be a fun experience. There's another meeting on Tuesday and one on Wednesday, during which I'll be taking notes. I need to learn to make my handwriting decent... I asked if they wanted typed notes, but he said just handwritten, which puts me in quite a pickle!

The #1 internship I wanted actually wrote back to me TODAY. Good timing, guys! They apparently filled up really quickly (even though I applied in November), but they said I should reapply in April, but since the Deadline is April 1, this time I think I might apply in late February. At my interview, The Sporting Gentlemen said I might be needed for 6 months or so, but since the meetings seem to be at night so far, I might be able to swing getting two... although I kind of need something that pays!!! I'll see what I can do when the time comes, though. I don't even know if I can afford to stay in NY this summer.

Okay, that's all for now. I got back from the gym about a half hour ago, ate lunch, and now need a shower pretty badly. I guess over the summer I didn't realize how bad we smelled all the time... but now that I'm back in The Land of NYU Girls Who Get Dressed Up to Go to the Gym, I should probably try not to smell like a wildebeest.

So we all may rise again

2009-01-15T23:31:00.003-05:00

1. Boston tomorrow! I have an 8 am bus... yes, the dreaded Chinatown bus. I'm determined not to have my wallet stolen this time. Once I get into Boston, there will be a mini B&B reunion, woo!!!

2. Then I come back on Monday, and I supposedly have an internship interview at 7 pm. I still haven't received an e-mail confirming the location, however... I don't know if maybe I missed it before or something. I hope I get a response! I need an internship!!!

3. Classes start Tuesday! My first class is American Sign Language (ASL) 1 at 9:30. The book is intimidating... I hope it's not too daunting of a class. Between my Human Evolution class at 11 and my Symoblism & Decadence class at 3:30, I'm supposed to see Susanna. After this weekend and this meeting, I hope I can still focus on school. Is it really so bad that I just want to be a smelly hippie who rides bikes and builds houses?

4. Alright, sleep time... I'll need to get enough rest!

Fly down to Mexico

2009-01-08T14:30:00.004-05:00

1. Moving back to NY in 3 days!

Which means I actually have to do my laundry. The first load is in; I have about 2 more to do after this. Then I have to actually PACK the suitcase, which requires that I look through my closet and find the things I want. Fortunately, it's now much easier to get into my closet because...

2. I cleaned my room!

Three bags of trash later (the giant black kind, not the pathetic kitchen kind), I have a lot more space in here. Well, and the fact that my college boxes are now downstairs and not in my room also helps. It's amazing how long I hold onto stuff. It's never important stuff, either. I guess at the time I think, "Well, I might need this soon," but the problem is that by the time I come home again, it's definitely not important. Why would I ever think I'd need calculus notes again??? I still haven't organized anything underneath my bed, but I could if I wanted to. Speaking of cleaning...

3. I'm going to buy a Swiffer Sweeper for my dorm this year.

We had one freshman year, but we used the wet cloths, and they were a pain. Last year, my roommate bought one, but I always used my broom because I was incapable of working the thing. This year, I'm going to suck it up and buy the Swiffer. It cleans a thousand times better than the broom, and I really hate living with dust under my bed. It grosses me out. However, I think I'm also going to look into "green" cleaners. If you have any tips, let me know!

Alright, it sounds like my first load of laundry needs to go in the dryer, so I better go do that. Next post will be from New York!

How sweet it is

2009-01-03T16:40:00.000-05:00

Happy 2009!

Let your honesty shine like it shines on me

2008-12-22T12:40:00.002-05:00

1. So here I am, 8 days after my plane landed. Hooray! My room looksl ike a clothes bomb exploded; since all of my college room stuff is in front of my closet, I haven't quite been able to put my clothes away yet. My suitcase is still sitting behind my door. I also have a blanket on my floor to encourage my dog to come sleep in here. Of course, since he farts a lot, I might not want that...

2. And the reason I have my blanket on the floor is because I got a new blanket for Chanukah last night! Thanks to my sister. My mom got me one, too, and then realized that my sister already got me one, but I like blankets, so here's to having two new blankets!! :)

3. I haven't finished my shopping yet, and since Christmas is Thursday, I need to get stuff today! I also need new jeans since one pair stretches a lot between washings and the other has a huge hole. Fortunately, both Aunt Shelli and Mom Mom Ruth got me H&M gift cards, so I'll head over and see if I can get some new pants (okay, so shopping for myself isn't exactly in the giving spirit, but I need pants!).

4. Saturday night, I got to spend time with the girls (Amy, Naj, Diana), which was really fun. We made brownies (okay, Betty Crocker brownies) and played our favorite games. It's so nice to be back home and in the right time zone!

5. I baked cookies yesterday--or as I like to call them, "Disaster Cookies." I tried to make royal icing, but it ended up so ridiculously thick that icing was taking too long. I ended up dipping some in the icing instead. They were... artistic? There was one that I particularly liked. Hopefully I can take a picture of it before it disappears!

Alright, that's all for now. Shopping time!

Fa la la la la la

2008-12-14T10:18:00.000-05:00

This is just to say that I'm back in the US!

:)

Electricity sparks inside me

2008-12-03T20:10:00.002-05:00

Well, with 9 days to go, I have 2 exams and one paper until I can finish the semester! I can't believe the year/semester went by so fast (yes, I did just quote Rent).

For our last modern drama performance tonight, we saw Billy Eliot. EEEE! It was just as good as I had hoped it to be. I'm a huge fan of the movie, and the musical did not disappoint. Someone in the class was disappointed because she liked the movie for its use of silences to say things, but I liked how... flamboyant the show was. The songs are great, and the dancing is brilliant. They have a bunch of different actors for the kids, and for each Billy, there's different choreography based on what the kid's talent is that night. The boy we saw, Brad, had only been dancing for three years. Talk about a real-life Billy Eliot! He was absolute fantastic and I am insanely jealous of people who can dance. I knew I should have done ballet as a wee one.

For anyone near NY (or Sydney, Australia), Billy Eliot is also on Broadway right now, and they haven't changed a thing about the show. Though it's a very "British" musical, it nonetheless has been received very well. I would highly suggest getting tickets and going!

Alright, that's all for now. I'm tired and need to go to sleep!

If one night you find that you're not sleeping and I'm not sleeping, just call me up

2008-11-24T19:01:00.005-05:00

Time for another update! It's now 12:03 a.m. on Tuesday, November 25th, which means it's A) two days before Thanksgiving, which I'm missing this year, and B) 18 days until I'm home!!!

As for Thanksgiving, well, on Thursday Amy and I are planning on going to Starbucks. Why Starbucks? They have a holiday turkey pannini that has cranberries and stuffing on it. It's pretty much Thanksgiving on bread. We're also hopefully going to find a pumpkin pie tomorrow--let's hope Sainsbury's has them!! If only Starbucks had pumpkin spice lattes.

I'm not very tired yet, since I napped today after not sleeping well last night, so in an attempt to waste time, here's the last of my fall break updates!

We attempted to get to Bruges from Haarlem. Wow, was that hard. Our original plan had been to go from Haarlem to Brussels, spend the day in Brussels, and then go to Bruges that night and have the next day for exploring Bruges. This seemed like too much of an effort, though, so we thought we'd go straight to Bruges. We bought our tickets upon arrival in Haarlem so we would have them the next morning. Our train was scheduled for 8:58 a.m., but we had a slight problem because checkout at the hostel didn't begin until 8, and we needed to take a bus to the train station. I asked a staff member if we could check out early, and she said just to leave our keys at reception.

Problem--I had lost my key the night before. Personally, I blame Cori--I had mine on the table, and she did too, but I took mine when I went to the vending machine and then put it right back where it was. She was showering at this point, and I did not remember seeing her key on the table. When she came out, she freaked that her key was missing, so I thought maybe I had somehow put her key with my stuff. The next morning, however, I had no key. I had no proof that she had misplaced hers and taken mine, but I was absoultely positive that she had my key. Well, whatever. I was just going to pay for it and get on with things. Turns out the reception guy was late, though, so we missed the first bus and had to hope to catch the next one. When he finally got to work, he realized there had been a misunderstanding--the woman thought I meant a BICYCLE key, not the room key. It was no big deal that I lost it; they said they had BOXES of room keys just waiting to be used! Great. We went outside and made it across the street *just* as the bus was pulling up. We got to the train station in plenty of time.

But the trains in Haarlem are tricky. Even though it was a Monday morning, the train for which we bought tickets was not running that day. Great. They were telling everyone directions in Dutch... we did not speak Dutch. One conductor pointed and said, "Spoor vier." We knew "spoor" meant "platform" (what they use instead of "track" over here). I assumed "vier" was "four." It took us forever to figure it out, but when we finally did, we had to take a train to Antwerp and then switch to Bruges. Once in Antwerp, we had a hard time figuring out where to go, but we made it... to Bruges!

We found the hostel easily enough and spent the first day buying chocolate. And fries. And then for dinner we had fries. With European ketchup (EW, gross, don't eat it!). We pretty much ate the entire time. Amy and Cori got Belgian waffles; I only tried a bite of one because I was cold and ate onion soup instead. Mmm. I also had to pay to get water at that restaurant because they didn't give out tap. Geeze. Classy.

I don't know what to say about Bruges other than the fact that it was super cute and we ate a lot. We saw Michelangelo's Madonna and Child, looked at a lot of birds... the pictures really show what we did--wandered and looked.

The giant bell tower that loomed over the square:

Cori wanted to climb it for the gorgeous view... that would have been an 800-step climb. Fortunately, it was too foggy the next day.

An example of the fog:

Remember the bell tower? This was the next day in the fog:

Happy belated Halloween...:

The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse... or, as I like to think of them, The Four Horsemen of DOOM! (I didn't take pictures of all four... you get the idea):

"Greet street! Here you can greet your neighbors.":

Spider web! (they were everywhere):

WINDMILL!:

"Close-up" on me & Amy:

There were swans everywhere:

And a nun in sunglasses....:

We ate lots of chocolate, but Amy & I also ate lots of deliiiicious marzipan:

Around 3:00 on Tuesday, we left and went to Brussels for our next hostel:

And... that was about all we saw of Brussels. We ate more fries. We hung out with locals who were ecstatic that it was election night and were happy to meet some Americans. We had free internet from 7:30 a.m. to 11 p.m., so at 7:30, I woke up and checked abcnews.com. WOOOOOOHOOOOO! My first presidential election, and my candidate won! It was ridiculously exciting.

Getting to the train station to catch our Eurostar was a little stressful because we argued over which way was the right way, but we got there eventually. Getting back into the UK from Belgium was tougher than getting in from America! Anyway, I then got lunch (and more chocolate) with Amy and we boarded the train. The ride was about 2 hours and relatively uneventful.

I showered when I got back (nothing like weirdo hostel sheets...), slept, ate chocolate, and went online.

So all in all, not a bad trip!

Alright, that's all for now... I'm going to go dream about T-Day.

Isn't it nice to know that good will conquer evil?

2008-11-15T11:44:00.003-05:00

I finished my art paper, yay! And in 28 days at this time, I will have been on my flight home for 45 minutes. Wooohoo!

Now all I have left are three papers, one art notebook, and two final exams. *sigh* But in the meantime, pictures of Haarlem!

So we got on a train around 10 or so to Haarlem... and when we got there, we then waited at the train station for about an hour because we couldn't figure out where the bus was that would take us to the hostel. Something was posted in Dutch, but, you know, I can't read Dutch. Eventually, I figured out that it was telling us the bus was on the Jansweg Viaduct, but we had no idea where it was. We asked a bus driver who did the route in the opposite direction... and it turns out it was just at the other end of the train station. We eventually got to our hostel, checked in, and then went to some market square or other.

A giant church (what a surprise, a church in Europe):

A statue of someone presumably important (note the pigeon on his head):

Like Amsterdam, Haarlem is a city of canals:

A picture B&B-style:

We saw our first windmill! It wasn't really exciting though because we couldn't get to the front. Besides, we were imagining it to be all Don-Quixote-like in a field, but it was instead like this:

We walked around some more, getting Flemish fries and freezing slightly as the temperature decided to drop:

We saw the mini Red Light District, which was basically a tiny circle around a church. These grew there:

And we saw some pretty flowers (not tulips, but it's too cold for tulips, really):

We eventually waited around on a bench till 4 when the pancake place opened. Their pancakes are not breakfast but meals; they're crepes more than American-style pancakes. After getting delicious hot chocolate with home-made whipped cream, I ended up with an apple, cinnamon, and powdered sugar pancake that was the size of the plate:

(Yes, I ate it all.)

Overall, Haarlem was a very cute town good for a daytrip. There weren't many tourists because, well, the tourists were in Amsterdam, but it was nice to go somewhere cute and relaxing!

Our hostel that night was an 8-person room, but since it was out of the way, we were the only ones in it. In fact, other than a group of schoolkids, we were the only ones in the hostel, I think. Sweeet. And they didn't charge me for losing the keycard to the room! Awesome.

Next time: Bruges!

Now that's heaven

2008-11-09T13:03:00.009-05:00

Well, I've written the 1000 words of my 2500-to-3000-word paper that I told myself I would write today, and I've made a schedule for myself to follow for the rest of the week (we'll see if I actually keep to it...). I realized I have a day trip to Oxford with NYU on Sunday, so that means I lose a day of doing homework/studying for finals! :( I should have thought about that before I signed up for it. I can technically skip it; the only "punishment" is that I wouldn't be allowed to go on any more trips, but this is the last trip I've signed up for, so it wouldn't make a difference.

Anyhow, now that I've finished doing some work, it's time for me to update you on my trip! I figure I'll do this in parts since I'm going to post the actual pictures here instead of a slideshow :D

On Halloween morning, Amy, her friend Cori, and I all set off for a ferry ride (after 2 train rides and a tube ride) to Amsterdam! The ferry ride was about 6 hours, but we slept through most of it, seeing as how we woke up before 5. The ferry didn't go to Amsterdam, though, but to The Hook of Holland (Hoek van Holland). From there, we took two more trains to Amsterdam Centraal! (We were unfortunately followed by some annoying cockney British boys along the way. So it's not just American guys--British boys can be annoying, too!) Our hostel was about a 20-minute walk from the station, but we got a bit lost on the way because they hostel people can't figure out the difference between three streets and four streets when they write directions.

We finally arrived close to 9 pm... at The Shelter Jordan, a Christian hostel. Actually, we were really glad to be there because it meant if those annoying boys were in our hostel, they couldn't be on our floor/in our rooms! The staff were friendly, but the "Christian" aspect got a bit annoying in the fact that they were all volunteers, and some of them were a BIT too cheery. I mean, I know you're volunteering because you're trying to help out, but there's a level of cheeriness I can't tolerate! The cheeriest volunteer gave out breakfast in the morning (the best breakfast we had all trip!), but when I asked for my refill of apple juice, she slipped for *just* a moment and I saw her give that clenched-teeth response of "sure" which I totally did at Rice to Riches all the time last year.

On the way to the hostel, I took this picture of a canal at night:

and a picture of this statue of Ganesha outside a building:

After breakfast, we went to the Anne Frank House ("Anne Frank Huis") which was conveniently right across from where we were. It was eerie to think that she had walked down that same street when they were found, and it was even stranger to be inside a place where she had lived. Her father wanted the house to remain unfurnished when he helped it to become a museum, but pencil marks were still on the walls from where she and the other kids had been measured during their time in hiding, plus she had pasted pictures on the walls. We managed to get in before the crowds, so thankfully we had plenty of time to really watch the videos/read the information.

Waiting in line/on line/in the cue (home, NY, and British versions, respectively) at the Anne Frank House:

Cori really wanted to see all the museums, which was nice because we saw some cool stuff, but I'm not really a museum person (the things English theory classes will do to your perceptions of museums!). I really just wanted to relax and explore the city like the twenty-somethings we are, not like really lame thirty-somethings who insist on following their guidebook to the letter. Still, I did have a good time overall.

A street on the way to the Rikjsmuseum (pronounced "Ricks museum"):

Amy walking to the Rijksmuseum:

A duck in a canal:

A boat in a canal:

A typical scene:

Pigeons outside the Rijksmuseum! I love pigeons because they remind me of all our birds we've had. (Cori kept making fun of me for liking pigeons. Whatever. Pigeons are cuter.):

Damien Hirst's For the Love of God exhibit was going on in the museum (he's the one who puts animals in boxes and made the diamond-encrusted skull, the latter which was part of this exhibit), but I actually don't like Damien Hirst and refused to wait in line to see something he probably had nothing to do with. Seeing a picture of a Hirst is just as good as seeing the real thing because he's generally had nothing to do with either of them. He's all about art as a brand, and he's very snotty about it. You might remember that he had an auction at Sotheby's in London recently, and he made a ridiculous amount of money. The art world knows no recession!!!

Anyway, we left the Rijksmuseum and went to Bagels and Beans, a cafe chain that sold bagel sandwiches and coffee/tea items. It started raining right when we finished, so we went to the Van Gogh Museum--no line in the rain! There was one piece of a skeleton smoking I had never seen before, and I rather liked it. I wish there were more Van Gogh pieces like that! We kind of got lost in the museum and found our way into a part we didn't know existed (there was only one door for entering and exiting...), but we managed to get out just in time for closing.

We went back to the hostel, rested for a half hour, and then found an Indian restaurant nearby that had a deal with the hostel--5 euro for any curry, rice, and naan! It was a little too dark for any pictures of us to come out right, but I did manage one picture of a candle:

We wandered around a bit, looking at all the touristy stuff, but it was ridiculously cold, rainy, and we were a bit tired. We ended up going to bed early (not my choice...) so we could catch a train the next day... to Haarlem!

So there you have it, days 1 & 2 of vacation. Tune in soon for Haarlem pictures!

It's all for free. Follow me now!

2008-11-05T14:36:00.004-05:00

1. OBAMA!
So I was on my fall trip from October 31st till today, and despite the fact that I was in a hostel in Brussels last night, I still made sure to check the internet (yay, hostel with free internet) the second I was able to use a computer (7:30 this morning) to check the results. People in Europe were ecstatic!!

2. New layout!
So that you can see everything that's in #3...

3. Fall break!
Okay, I'm a little break-ed out right now; I don't feel like talking all about it just yet! But here are some teaser pics...

Amsterdam:

Haarlem:

Bruges:

Brussels:

We were only there for sleeping, really, so not many pictures!

Till next time...

Step out of your echo chamber

2008-10-28T14:58:00.002-04:00

Break begins on Friday! ...and I'm sick! :( Fortunately, it's just a cold, and I'm slightly able to breathe better today, so hopefully I'll be better this weekend. I can't wait to go!

I hear it's snowing back home. I wish it would snow here. Without Halloween & Thanksgiving to look forward to, all I can think about is the winter holidays. The weather suddenly got cold; apparently it doesn't usually get this cold now. It feels like December outside, and shops are starting to put up their Christmas displays. I realized yesterday that once I get back from fall break, I have a month of class and then a week for finals--and that's it! :O I can't believe it's going by so quickly. In some ways I'm glad because I feel like I've been on a very long vacation since June. In other ways, though, I wish it would last *just* a little longer. Today, when my art class walked around to different galleries, I saw a lot more of the nicer areas of London, and I wish I had more time (and nicer weather) to explore.

I don't think I have much to say for this entry; I just wanted to make sure I got something posted before I left for my trip!! :D I really can't wait. I really need some time off from school to enjoy myself!

Words that tear and strain to rhyme

2008-10-19T12:22:00.004-04:00

Dear Self,

The next time you decide to go on a five-mile run, please make sure you build up to it first. We can barely walk to the kitchen. This is not acceptable because we like ~~eating food~~ going places.

Thanks,

Me

---------------

Seriously, though, I had to skip running today because I completely can't walk. I'm an idiot. Clearly, I did not remember that by the third day of B&B, I was miserable and not wanting to exercise ever again. The fun of the trip made me forget that yes, exercise hurts, especially when you haven't gone running since May and you have absolutely no running muscles because you spent the entire summer on a bicycle.

I spent yesterday and today mostly at my desk/in bed (although I did venture to the other tower in order to watch a DVD) so that I can avoid walking. It was good, though, because it means that I actually wrote both of my papers. One is due Tuesday, but we have to meet at Tate Modern and turn it in there before we look around, so I need to print it tomorrow. I also read "The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde" because I thought it was 158 pages... turns out the book I have is called The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde and Other Tales. It was really only 68 pages or so. It was a nice surprise when I reached the end faster than I expected! I still have to read something from The Country and the City, a terribly boring book about, well, the country and the city, but that's not due till Friday, so that means I have the rest of today free. I didn't wake up till 10:38 because I forgot to set an alarm (derr), so it feels like the middle of the day to me even though it's 5:30. I've been playing The Sims 2 because I don't know what else to do.

I think that's probably all I have to say for now. My roommate was gone this weekend, she's back now, and will be gone again for Paris next weekend, so hooray having the room to myself for a bit. Now if only my next-door neighbors would stop talking outside my door at 3 in the morning...

Get up, get up!

2008-10-17T12:23:00.002-04:00

So today I finally dragged myself out of bed on time and went to a running club meeting. Yes, over a month after I joined. In my defense, my Writing London professor kept scheduling Friday classes, and on Sundays, er, well, I kind of kept either missing my alarm (whoops) or purposely not seting it. But I went today! I'm still a firm believer that cycling is far superior to running, but since I don't have a bike here, I have to do something.

Turns out the running club is mostly the same two girls every time, and no one else ever shows up. The one girl just ran in the gym today, so the other girl and I went for our run. Walkjogrun.net says it was 5.3 miles. ...yeah, I hadn't ever done more than a mile in my life. Seriously. Not kidding. But I figure it was kind of like cycling--I had only ever gone 20 miles before I did my first 60, so why not just throw myself right into it?

Oy, do my legs hurt. We meet again on Sunday, and, for some crazy reason, I've decided to go. I think I mostly want to go again because my class meets once more on Friday, so I'll have to wait till the 26th otherwise, but also, I didn't really mind it (TOO much) once I got into the swing of things. The first mile was definitely rough; it felt like climbing up to Yuba Pass again (the day out of Lake Tahoe... quite the mountain!!!). It was cool seeing parts of the city, though. I didn't realize how close I really am to St. Paul's Cathedral. Every other time I've been in that area, I've taken the tube or walked there from another place. Running makes the city pass faster. It was a little colder today, but that meant I didn't get disgustingly sweaty during the run.

I should be writing my journalism paper right now, but I just can't find the motivation. The class simply isn't interesting. Why did I take a journalism course? I know I don't want to go into journalism. What on earth was I thinking? I also have to write an art paper, but hopefully, if I can finish the journalism paper tomorrow, I can do the art one on Sunday (after the run, of course).

Two weeks and I'll be in Central Amsterdam! One of the girls from running club will be there on the first, and I'm sure plenty of other NYU kids will be going.

Oh, and one last thing--my freshman-year RA is applying to be a leader for B&B! I'm so excited! I can live vicariously through someone this summer! I hope she loves it as much as I did... I can't praise this trip enough.

Alright, I think I'm off to procrastinate on this paper some more.

Why'd you have to break all my heart?

2008-10-12T09:53:00.004-04:00

I haven't updated since Sept. 30th, although it really feels like that was just yesterday and not 12 days ago. Time is passing so quickly! That's bad news for my papers (one due next Monday, another next Tuesday) but good news for fall break. Amy, Cori, and I are going to The Netherlands, Belgium, ~~and France~~*. It's going to be insane, I'm sure, especially since there's delicious chocolate in Belgium--I might gain ten pounds in one day!

The weather was gorgeous this weekend, and it looks like it's going to continue for the rest of the week. That's a relief since it was rainy and cold for the first few days of October. Last week, my art class went to see an exhibit by Gerhard Richter (4900 Colours), but it was absolutely rainy when we left. I was *so* close to a bakery that sells American-style cupcakes, but I didn't want to walk through the rain. I did, however, end up taking my first ever London bus (not really that scary) and talking with someone from my class about Bike & Build (she was supposed to do it last year but had to cancel). The ride was about 45 minutes long, so naturally I talked almost the whole time about biking.

In more serious news, I found out on Friday that my friend Grace passed away last month. I met her at NYU through my friend Amy. She was an acting student in Tisch, but her studio was pretty nutty and known for focusing on the fun of acting rather than on being successful. She was diagnosed with brain cancer last summer, so she went back to Tacoma, WA and went through treatment, including many surgeries. She was originally hoping to come back to NYU in the Spring '08 semester, but the cancer was pretty tough. I talked to her earlier this summer, and she seemed positive. Grace was never one to let anything get her down; she had an amazing sense of humor. She was Christian and kind of religious, and in her last online post she said that she accepted that she was healed when Jesus died for her, so she was going to step up and accept that healing. From that, it sounds like she was expecting the worst--she knew that the cancer just kept spreading despite all the chemo and surgeries. It's weird to think that she actually died because she was so positive that I was somehow sure she would survive. Still, she fought bravely, and that's all we could hope for.

My friend Amy was closer with her than I was (they lived in the same dorm), so on Friday afternoon, we got a picnic lunch, went to Regent's Park, and went through all the "remember when Grace..." things we could think of. I took some pictures of the leaves changing--the season seemed fitting for remembering someone.

Here are the pictures, and I hope everyone out there takes care of himself/herself. You hear me? No getting sick, guys!

*Due to the high cost of getting back from France, we're now finishing our trip in Belgium and taking a very cheap Euro Star train back on Nov. 5th to enjoy Guy Fawkes day!

So long, Frank Lloyd Wright

2008-09-30T16:36:00.002-04:00

This past weekend was fairly good. On Friday, we had another makeup class for Writing London. We took a walking tour of Dickens's London. It wasn't particularly interesting, but we did see a lot of the pretty parts of London (it was a gorgeous day!) as well as that place from the scene in Closer where Natalie Portman's character chooses her name off a wall of people who did heroic things. I forgot my camera, unfortunately :( but trust me, it was pretty.

On Saturday, I woke up at the lovely hour of 5:20 a.m., something I hadn't seen since B&B. Oddly enough, there were actually a few days when we were just about on the road at that time. Anyway, I was off for a weekend trip to Liverpool! NYU lets you take one NYU-sponsored overnight trip (if you apply), and I really wanted to go on the Bath/Stonehenge trip, but my art class was required to go on the Liverpool trip so that we could visit the biennial exhibit at Tate Liverpool. The bus ride was a glorious six hours, ugh, but there was at least a 45-minute break halfway through. The weather was pretty miserable on the way up; I saw my first London fog as well as rest-stop fog. Fortunately, we arrived at Liverpool an hour early and the sun came out to make for a beautiful day.

I didn't really know anyone, so I sort of chilled for 3 hours, getting lunch and looking at the tourist-trap shops. Then we were stuck back on the bus for another 3 hours for a "guided coach [bus] tour of Liverpool." Our guide was boring, so I slept again. We stopped at the Mersey waterfront for Anthony Gormley's piece Another Place. It's basically just casts of his body standing in the water and sand looking out at the horizon. It's interesting, but it's not all that exciting. Cool to see, though. Better than a bus.

We arrived at the hostel, and fortunately I was roomed with people from my class, so after a fairly gross dinner of lamb curry & rice, we hung out for a while so that we weren't all alone. Apparently, the Liverpool nightlife is ridiculous--for the 30s/40s crowd. I can't count the number of adults I saw walking around in light-up bunny ears and pink cowboy hats. Insane!

We all went to the exhibit for art class the next day, too, after waking up around 8 or so--not nice, considering how tired we were from the day before. The exhibit was actually fairly cool, probably my favorite exhibit so far. I now have to write a paper on it, and I swear I'll start tomorrow... really.

Anyway, we got back on the bus later that afternoon for another 6-hour-ish ride back. I couldn't really sleep, but I watched the movie they showed, Run Fatboy Run. It was cute and much better than the Liverpool movie they tried to make us watch on the way up. We got back around 8:30, so I went online, checked my e-mail, and fell asleep. Liverpool was tiring!!

I took some pictures, but since I forgot to charge my camera, I don't have that many. Oh well. Enjoy!

When she goes, she's gone

2008-09-21T17:57:00.003-04:00

Today was the trip to Brighton! I woke up at 6:55 today... after going to bed at 2:30 and not being able to sleep until about 3:30 or so. Why? Well, Amy, Cori, and I went to Tortilla yesterday, a Chipotle-like place, because we were craving Mexican food (hard to come by in the UK, as you can imagine). After getting (unwillingly) chatted up by the (Polish?) cashier, I filled my fountain Diet Coke (which has 1 calorie in the UK) and drank as we discussed fall break plans. And then had Amy fill it, only forgot to mention that I like my soda to be half ice and half soda, so got a full cup of soda, and drank it. And then drank another half glass of soda. (Cue having to pee very badly an hour later.)

Anyway, I never really drink that much soda (even though all the rest of SUS 08 lived off Diet Coke), so the caffeine overload sort of hit me hard. I was jittery all night and just couldn't get to sleep. My roommate also had her friend over, although they ended up going to bed before I did, so it's not like I can even use that as an excuse! I finally fell asleep, but when I woke up, I had a pretty lousy headache. I ate an avocado (mmm) and drank green tea, took an Aleve (or two), and then went to meet the bus ("coach").

Well, what with my headache, I forgot a few important things:

1. my camera: so no pictures of Brighton! I didn't mind so much, though, since the photo-ops we had were pretty cheesey.

2. my money: I left my 5 pounds cash on my desk and only had about 2.50 with me. Fortunately, Amy was kind enough to loan me money for lunch.

and, sadly, 3. my Wal-Dram: the Walgreens brand of non-drowsy Dramamine. The bus ride wouldn't have been so bad if I hadn't had a headache, but combine that with city driving for the first half hour or so plus an all-green-foods breakfast and you can imagine how I felt. There was no bathroom on the bus, but fortunately I kept everything in its proper place. Other people felt sick as well, and we ended up stopping at a Burger King along the way in order to let people use the toilets (that's what they call bathrooms over here--doesn't it sound terribly rude?!).

Anyway, Brighton was fun, but our-ah tour guide-ah had the worst-ah accent I've-ah ever heard-ah, that's spelled h-e-a-r-d-AH. She talked like that the WHOLE TIME. She was a French woman who had been in Brighton for a qutie a few years, so I'm wondering why no one has told her that these words don't have extra syllables on the end. She was also incredibly boring. Our tour guide inside the Royal Pavillion was pretty decent and gave us a good (brief) history of the place. Afterwards, Amy & I wanted cheap fish and chips, but Cori wanted Thai, so we split and said we'd see each other later. I ended up with pie and chips, and I'm almost kind of pretty sure it was maybe some kind of beef inside the pie. We then proceeded to the boardwalk-y section (the pier) to get candy floss (cotton candy) and ice cream. Much better! This is where my 2 pounds came in handy. Phew!

We ended the day by sitting on the beach... which is made of rocks, if you didn't know. There are just stones everywhere. They're not too terrible to sit on, but it's not the same as sitting in sand. Amy prefers it because she doesn't get sand everywhere.

There was also a HUGE triathlon going on, so we watched some of the swimmers, and I oggled bikes all day. I saw some really nice bikes... and some really not nice ones. Who does a triathlon on a mountain bike??????? I also saw some tri bikes which was cool because they're so strange looking. Oh, and someone had the Specialized Allez Triple, which was one of the options for B&B '08 and what some of my fellow riders had, so I mentally sent my best wishes to that rider if only because he could have almost kind of passed for a Bike & Builder.

The traffic on the ride back was insane, so I slept for an hour and then looked at the pretty England scenery. I saw a fox... dead on the side of the road, but it was a fox! I also saw a million sheep as well as some very shaggy ponies.

Alright, and before I go (since I have to wake up early tomorrow in order to print out my first paper at the academic center), I finally uploaded pictures of my room! :)

The dark I know well

2008-09-17T19:52:00.005-04:00

So after reading Susanna's blog entry in which she talks about wanting to do Bike & Build again, I'd be hard pressed not to say I agree with her. I stalk the B&B website, waiting to see what new pictures will be placed on the site for 2009 applicants to see. I check to see if any new entries have been added to the SUS journal (none), whether any pictures have been added to our SUS album (only the few that I sent to be posted right after I came back, available on page 23), and to see if the 2009 apps are available yet--and they are!

It doesn't help that there's now a photo contest for B&B in order to create the new Bodies in Motion video. BiM is what we show to towns when we do presentations. Basically, the presentation (slash breakfast) chore group (super happy fun groups!!!) gets up and introduces what Bike & Build is, what we do, what we've BEEN doing, and then shows this. The video is a tad dated, though; there are people in the video, for example, not wearing the official B&B jersey--which is totally against the rules, as all of us rule-abiding Bike & Builders know!! But choosing my favorite pictures to enter has made me miss it even more. Going to class and not being active all day? Makes me miss B&B. Eating avocados? I think of Joe, who always ate them, and miss Bike & Build. Also, since when do I even like avocados?

In some ways, I wish I could do B&B again. I wish it were a financial possibility; I wish I had money so that I could just spend another summer riding across the country into freedom. But at the same time, I know I need to raise money for myself and not a charity organization because if I don't, I'll be the one who needs affordable housing! I also need to focus on figuring out what to do with my life; somehow, I don't think being a hippie who rides bikes and builds houses is going to cut it. Besides, another trip isn't guaranteed to be as good as the one that I already had; in fact, it could end up being the worst experience of my life for all I know, especially since I doubt we'd have a fabulous Bike & Build Choir again!!!

Anyway, before I go to bed, since I should, here's a video of SUS '08! In New Orleans, some of these awesome people spent their day off raising money and awareness. Just watch past the first part with the interview with the guy; I was barely able to capture the video let alone try to edit it.

Looking for fun and feelin' groovy

2008-09-14T19:09:00.000-04:00

Hey, just so you know:

Vicks Sinex nasal decongestant spray, the stuff that's sold in the UK? Yeah, it feels like you put Vicks up your nose. Er... interesting.

At least it works. *breathes*

That is all.

I'm made out of glue

2008-09-09T07:03:00.003-04:00

So I woke up at 8 this morning, figuring I would get my packages before my 10:00 class and then head on my way. I did get my packages--one a care package (OF FOOOOD!) from my mother (thank you!) and the other... the computer charger!! WOOHOOO! And it works, so I'm now typing in my room! :D

I then started walking to class with my roommate... and about two minutes later said, "Hm, my class isn't till 1:30, is it?" Sure enough, I checked my schedule, and it's at 1:30. Derrr.

On the plus side, you can now see pictures of London! :) I'll pictures of my room up eventually, but I warn you that the room is fairly ugly.

It's getting hot in here

2008-09-07T07:40:00.002-04:00

So apparently Nido cannot figure out that hot, humid rooms are not exactly what students want. So long as I keep my dorm room window open, my room is fine, but the TV lounges, sometimes the cafe, the kitchen, and all other parts of the building are ridiculous. I need my B&B jersey; it has wicking action!

So Friday was the NYU-L-sponsored trip to Greenwich. For those of you who don't know, Greenwich is the place where time is measured from (GMT). Like the four corners on Bike & Build, I felt that this was an arbitrary line that didn't really matter. What, time's measured out of England because we seem to think that only the "West" has anything to do with anything at all? Our tour guide (whose sense of history seemed a bit skewed...) said that so much important work was done at Greenwich that when they had the convention, it was naturally the best site to decide upon for determining time. Of course, he neglected to mention the clocks that the Chinese created...

Anyway, the day actually was pretty fun. It rained most of the day, but I knew ahead of time because I actually know how to check the weather, so I was prepared with a rain coat, umbrella, boots, and my spandex underneath. Some girls apparently never thought to check the weather; they were in flip flops and shorts. They looked miserable the whole day. Oh, well. I was fine.

The day started out with a ferry ride to Greenwich (after we found our way to the Westminster tube stop, which I'm glad to say I did with no problem seeing as how the tube is a lot like the subway in NY). We had a tour guide on the boat, too, who sounded like Baldrick from the British TV show Black Adder. His tour was also slightly historically inaccurate, but it was entertaining, and I got a lot of good pictures (which I'll upload once my computer is up and running again!). When we finally landed, I managed to catch one of the first tour groups, and we went all around Greenwich. I feel like my English theory class last year slightly ruined my appreciation of museums; all I can think about is how arbitrary everything is. What do we consider art? Sure, a painting stuck on a wall is the general idea, but how about the paint that dripped on the artist's shoes? Does that paint count as part of the painting? Anywhos, it was still fun, and everything was very pretty, particularly because of the rain.

After the tour, the guide pointed out a Chinese restaurant that served huge portions for cheap. Amy and I were planning on going to Chinese for dinner that night, so we just went a little earlier and ate it for lunch instead. We both ordered separate plates, but we could have ordered just one--the portions were huge! I had "seafood in oyster sauce," which was good but slightly sketchy as it didn't specify what type of seafood was going to be in it. I didn't get sick, though, so that's a good thing.

Afterwards, we came back, and I wanted to go to a bakery that had American-style cupcakes. I looked up the directions, and we started walking around 4:00. Around 5:30, we called Amy's roommate, convinced we had passed it. After all, I was certain that it was only a 40-minute walk. She gave us the same directions we had, so we assumed we were on the wrong street. We figured we'd just go on Saturday because the bakery closed at 6.

So yesterday, I looked up the directions again and realized that I had looked at the time when traveling by car, which was 40 minutes. Walking was 1 hour, 38 minutes. Ugh. We instead took the tube, and after a few slightly wrong turns, we managed to find it. The cupcakes were good, but they were way overpriced and not worth the long travel. There's another place somewhere near here that hopefully will be better, but I need to figure out where it is first.

Well, I guess I should go read my book for class, Evelina. It's actually not bad, and it's not due till next Wednesday, so if I can finish it this week, I'll actually be ahead of my work. You know, I do this every year--I start out way ahead, and then one day, usually after Thanksgiving (so probably after fall break this year), I end up way behind and wonder how I got there.

Okay, off to read.

I don't wanna waste my time

2008-09-03T07:52:00.003-04:00

I'm currently in the cafe in my dorm again because my converter still hasn't arrived. I'm hoping it's in by later tonight, and if I don't see a message in my mailbox tomorrow saying the front desk has a package for me, I may go ask them if they have any packages without room numbers ('cause stupid me forgot to put my room number on my address). Nido (the name of the dorm company, pronounced like "Neat-o") is super annoying; we all have to share mailboxes with five other people. I don't know why they just couldn't build mailboxes for everyone; NYU can manage to do that, and NYU can barely manage to do anything. We also have our official room cleaning on Fridays, the one day we don't have class... and based off the cleanings I saw this morning, they take your sheets off your bed. WTF. Don't touch my sheets! They're only supposed to clean the floor, so what does taking my sheets off the bed have to do with anything? Will it be rude if I leave a note asking them not to touch my sheets?

In other news, I really miss waking up and riding my bike :( which is funny, because the entire last week of B&B, all I could think about was not waking up and riding my bike! Hopefully, the running club will start soon, and once October starts, I'll have a ton of British school clubs to join to take up more time. And, you know, I'll eventually have to start doing classwork, like papers. Eventually. Problem is that my professors say things like, "Well, read this book," and if you ask what pages, they say, "All of them."

Gotta leave for class in 15 minutes... I should probably go get a bottle of water and a snack from my kitchen. Writing London today... a class that is not, in fact, about writing, but about reading a ton of books and seeing how London was written. Man, I should read class descriptions before I sign up for classes next time.

I am a goat in a moat with a boat.

2008-08-31T09:50:00.003-04:00

London! So here I am. It's definitely not Bike & Build. I'm in a dorm run by Nido, which I'm pretty sure is a synonym for "NYU hates you." I mean, our location is great; I enjoy having a view of King's Cross station from my 16th-floor window. I do not enjoy, however, the size of the room (smaller than the rooms in Palladium back at NYU), the shower that sprays water everywhere, or the mental-hospital theme we have going on. Nonetheless, I have nowhere else to live, so Nido it is!

At the moment, I'm sitting in the second-floor cafe using one of the common computers. I've been doing this since the first day I moved in, and originally I was doing it because the ethernet connection in my room was totally broken (someone pretty much smashed the thing into the wall). Now I'm doing it because the adapter I bought for my computer charger doesn't work (even though the guy in the store said it would), and the converter/adapters I bought in the US don't have the three-pronged thing I need (I should have looked before I bought it, so that one's my fault). I ordered one from amazon.co.uk, but the earliest it will come is tomorrow. I hope it gets here soon... English majors kind of need to type papers pretty frequently.

I haven't done much exploring of London yet, but I did walk around a little yesterday. Yesterday was GORGEOUS--a high in the 80s, sunny, slight breeze... lovely. It's slightly sunny now, but it was raining earlier today. So far, there hasn't actually been much rain (except for this morning, none), but by October and November, that's supposed to change. I kind of want rain because I really wanna wear my new rain boots! But with a half hour walk to class every day, I'm sure my opinion will change soon.

I'm not sure what else to do with myself today. I might paint my nails just because, and I guess I need to organize my books (which will take all of three seconds). I could go sit outside somewhere, but I"m not really in the mood to put on real clothes. Oh, yes, that's something I haven't given up from B&B--I've been wearing pretty much the same exact clothes as I did all summer. I do mean to put on real clothes, but I didn't pack much real clothing, so I'm sort of stuck like this. I think I packed much less than most normal people, but whatever. I mean, I won't have someone doing my laundry every three days here, but I'll figure out a way around it. I actually need to buy detergent soon because yesterday I sprayed sauce all over my white shirt :'( and I couldn't get it out just by hand-washing it.

I suppose that's all for now. The cafe smells like a giant cookie/cupcake, and it's making me hungry. I had my yogurt for lunch... woo! Nothing like trying to live in London on a budget.

Cheerio for now! (Mmm, cheerios...)