I can't stop playing. It haunts me when I close my eyes. Little flags, little bombs. Also I saw a 7 for the first time yesterday. And I saw it again later that day. I've only seen the 7 twice now. Is there an 8??? I must find out!!!
I'm also ecstatic because I pre-ordered the new Harry Potter book. I was giddy all day when that happened. teehee
I love my new Ultimate Matrix Collection. I watched The Matrix a few nights ago and it was still amazing (even after the 5th time). I still find words and images that I hadn't noticed before that really tie all the movies together. I can watch it over and over. The first special features DVD, Matrix Revisited is also great.
Also, I love H&M. I spent about $200 there in the last 2 weeks (all on myself). There's a lot of stuff I like there. Their sizes are the same across all the products, and since I know what size I am, I just grab stuff off the racks and buy it without trying it on and it always fits perfectly at home. My only complaint is they don't have pants in "short" sizes. Only "regular" and "extra long."
I also love what I do. The last few weeks have been pretty exciting in lab. I won't bore anyone with details. The next big thing coming up is my first Qualifier.. sometime in March. It's a little scary, but I think the preparating I have to do for it will really make a difference. Right now I still feel like I haven't learned a whole lot, but since I'll have to know my topic inside and out to answer my committee's questions, I'll really have gained a lot of knowledge. And that's exciting.
I also love giving gifts. I love that eureka! moment when you come up with the perfect gift for someone.
I'm alone in the apartment right now. Everyone is gone for Christmas. I woke up at 11:30, but then I just rolled around in my warm bed till 3, sort of going in and out of consciousness. It's too comfortable in bed and too cold in my room. The thing I currently hate is showering. There is no heater in our bathroom so it's really really cold in there. Maybe I'll get a small space heater (but there's no outlet in there).
Anywho... overall life is good. I'm heading out to Colorado on Monday. And tomorrow will be a busy day running around returning stuff to Target, going down to Brooklyn, and finishing stuff up in lab.
I don't get sick very often (thank G-d), but because of that, I always forget the side-effects I get from medication.
Note to self: NyQuil makes you delirious!
I went to bed at 9, and was tossing and turning all night. I had a bunch of frustrating dreams that put your brain to work instead of allowing it to rest. I woke up a bunch of times completely dehydrated. It was the most restless night I had in a long time.
I mentioned to my grandmother that I had a mild cold, and her reaction, as always is "OH MY G-D!" as if it's the end of the world. Which is why I usually don't tell her when I'm sick. I can't really feel my hands right now so typing is kind of amusing. I want to write something and then my hands just do it. The skin around my head is also particularly tight today.
I woke up at 6am, watched some Bewitched, took a shower, and went to Gristedes to get some OJ (I've been craving it for the last few days). I also bought some Red Raspberry tea (yum), and some regular Lipton. Overall, I have to say this is really a pretty mild cold. I remember being much sicker on other occasions.
I hope I beat this thing by tomorrow evening because I'm going to a comedy club with Diorella and her friends.
There's nothing worse than the taste of liquid medicine, DayQuil/NyQuil in particular. I've been feeling something coming on for a few days so last night I wanted to get some medicine. It was cold, windy and dark so I was too lazy to go to Rite Aid and instead I went across the street to the local grocery store. I find that DayQuil and Nyquil generally work the best out of all the other medicines I've tried, but the store didn't have them in gelcaps, only in liquid form. The NyQuil, luckily, was cherry flavored, which was still bad but covered up the gross liquid medicine flavor. The DayQuil, which I took about 5 mins ago, is not flavored, unless you consider "Mint" a flavor. The only minted things that go in my mouth are gum and mouthwash. Drinking 30 ml of Dayquil was like drinking thick mouthwash. It was totally disgusting. My throat still has that "cool minty tingle" which is nauseating. I'm totally grossed out.
ick!
fantastic news:News: Publishing date for next 'Harry Potter' book?
not so great news: PLJ is playing Christmas songs from now until Christmas day. How annoying.
I saw Bridget Jones: The Edge of Reason today. At times I found myself extremely annoyed at Bridget's denseness. Also, she's not fat, and there's no reason for her to wobble when she walks. Mark Darcy is an emotionally dead snob. On a positive note, we had lunch at Republic and it was delicious. I must go back and get the pad-tai.
After lunch I went to Target for some necessities. After about an hour of dodging very early holiday shoppers, I wanted to look at some purses. Since the aisles were too narrow, I left my cart on the side (not obstructing anyone) only to find it missing 5 mins later. Why would anyone take a cart full of random stuff from the store they're in? I suppose either someone accidentally pushed the wrong cart away (and never brought it back) or someone hoped I had put some personal things in there and wanted to rob me. Either way, it really annoyed me.
I also love my new VS sweater :)
6 weeks' worth of kitchen floor... can you guess which is the rinse side?
This time next week I will be (almost) done with class FOREVER! I'll definately be done with lectures and problem sets. I still have a presentation left, which is worth 50% of the course grade, but I never have read 13 papers on stuff I'm totally not interested in and pretend to care.
Also, they finally posted our grades from last spring, I guess that means that I finally, officially, have a masters.
I have plans to see lots of movies in the next week. I <3 Huckabees tomorrow, Bridget Jones on Sunday, and The Incredibles on Wednesday. Of course after that I'll just bring my pillow to lab and spend the next 4 years there. It's been nice knowing you all.
SCIFI.COM Battlestar Galactica
The DVD of the miniseries comes out in late December, and the series premiers in mid January. I really liked the old series, but this one is fantastic. The theme is the same as the original, but I think this show can stand on its own.
MSNBC - Exit poll
I think one of the more interesting (and somewhat disturbing) statistics was that only 7% of voters thought that intelligence was the most important quality in a president, and of those, 91% voted for Kerry. That was beaten by 8% who think "strong religious faith" is the most important quality (who do you think that vote went to?). So there are people out there who think going to church is more important than having a strong grasp of what's going on around you.
Another mind boggling number was the 23% of gay/bisexual voters who supported Bush. If a guy says "i'm against everything you stand for, and I believe you should have no civil rights" would you say "that's the man I want to be my president!"
Madness!!!
Unfortunately, it looks like we'll be staring at Bush's smug grin for another 4 years. How very disappointing. That's 4 years of 2 people who have no concerns of reelection. They will fuck up this country and the world in a way we can't even imagine, and which will take decades to undo. He will appoint at least 3 supreme court judges who will set civil rights in this country back by decades. Americans will be unable to travel abroad because everyone will hate us. The occupation of Iraq will continue for another 4 years.
The MSNBC commentators were making all sorts of assertions about the types of people who voted and why they voted. There was the "macho man" voter, who felt powerful because America is at war. I hope there aren't any people stupid enough to vote for Bush because they feel a surge of testosterone. Sometimes I feel that we should really let the south and midwest go. The Northeast would do much better without them.
Not everyone can or should be president, and George Bush certainly falls in that category. It's time to move to another country. Canada? Australia?
There's still time to inspire people to vote, and everyone does it in the best way they can.
Eminem's "Mosh"
very powerful (especially the last half)
is it wrong to open a bottle of wine for a dinner (alone)? I just had a craving for my Shiraz.
I'm also watching TNG, "All Good Things..." part I, it's SO GOOD! It's the best series finale of any show I've ever seen. It just ties it all together perfectly. A good end to a shitty day.
...if you consider moving 3GB of data using 2 100MB zip disks fun.
But once I have that old Mac monster backed up, I get to set up my new Dell!
Last week my friend Maggie had surgery, so I thought she could use Legolas Greenleaf ("LG") to keep her company during her recovery. She's been wanting to hang out with him for a while. So Katie and I took LG over - from tower 2 to tower 1. It was quite an adventure. Come home soon, LG. I'll miss you.
We watched Trekkies 2, which made me miss the whole convention scene even more. I want to buy Trek merchandise and maybe do some simming. We're slowly making our way through the DS9 DVDs, and I've actually grown to like Enterprise.
Also, Dryden isn't looking so good. Eventhough he's only 2 weeks old, in hollowed-out pumpkin years that must be 90. The mold makes him look even more menacing though.
On friday, my laptop of many years died (for the 2nd time in its life). Luckily, I had backed up my important data on a whim a few days before. The proportions of the windows were all off, and there were only icons without text. The same was true even in Safety Mode. System restore didn't fix the problem. Of course getting to system restore without text was difficult. The whole thing was ridiculously messed up! Alex had to use my desktop to figure out where all the menus were and then count down the empty menus on my laptop.
He's not really into IT, but he's always useful for fixing my computer issues :) My laptop only has to last me another 2-3 weeks till our new desktops arrive to lab.
It's just really scary to step away for a few minutes and come back to find things have gone horribly wrong.
I'm having a ridiculously hectic day. First there was lab meeting. I was one of the people who presented. I thought my part completely sucked while everyone else thought it was great. I hate talking about projects that I have no idea about. Both are inherited from other people so I don't have all the details. So it was just me showing a picturea and mumbling generic nonsense hoping someone with actual knowledge would jump in and rescue me (which they did).
Then I had to finish preparing samples for the microarray, which is also hectic and stressful. No one here has done this type of microarray so no one knows what to do, so its just me and the protocol, which is vague at times. I left the samples out for 20 minutes between steps which may or may not have been catastrophic.
On top of that, I have to finish a problem set for tomorrow and prepare to present a paper in class which I haven't looked at since Saturday.
I'm just in a really bad and snappy mood.
I'm going to Dallas BBQ for a texas sized margarita.
*originally from LJ
i'm still excited about blogger, so i've been posting there recently. it looks very good, but it's not the most user-friendly site, but i'm sure they're working on it. Also, i actually had 2 random people comment on my posts (well, they both commented on the same post). That's kind of weird. Does that make me obligated to read their blogs and comment??
anyways, to check out my recent (treasonous) ramblings: Anna's blogspot
I think I upset Katie last night. As we were coming back from our walk to Ft. Tryon park, we got to talking about living situations and I said something about wanting to live alone. I think she took that to mean I don't like living with her. Sometimes I don't think about how people will take the things I say. I should really think more before I speak.
Kissing Jessica Stein
It's been sitting on my TiVo for 2 weeks. I finally got around to watching tonight. I thought the acting was very good. There's something compelling about movies where people try to figure themselves out.
Yesterday Katie organized a pumpkin carving party. I've never carved a pumpkin before, or really even touched one. I got to pick out my own at a farmer's market near the main campus. Then a few people came over and we all carved together. I think for my first attempt it came out pretty well. I really like it :)
all lit up :)
I've been catching up on one of my favorite TV shows - Bewitched. It's so cute and innocent in that 60s kind of way. I just don't get Darren. Why won't he let Samantha use her magic? And why does she listen to him? She asks his permission to use her magic to save lives, and then he yells at her. If you knew your wife/husband had extraordinary powers, would you try to force them to be "normal?"
A lot of people in the 60s must've been obsessed with having a normal suburban family image. Then there's the whole "the man is master of the house" thing.
Shut up Darren.
White Gold Vs Platinum : White Gold and Platinum Information ~ Gillett's Jewellers
I was under the false impression that the value increased:
Recently, I had an overwhelming urge to go to another Star Trek convention. "Another" of course implies that I've been to one before.. well I've been to at least 2 others (possibly 3, not sure).
My friend found information on the next one in the NY area (Creation Entertainment), unfortunately, it's during the Thanksgiving weekend. I already bought tickets for myself and my grandmother to go down to Florida and visit my parents. (Which is a topic that deserves its own post.)
Right now there isn't another one scheduled in the city. Maybe one day I can make it to the Mecca of fandom. Perhaps I'll even elope there. (j/k)
news @ nature.com�-�Paralysed man sends e-mail by thought breaking science news headlines
science fiction? no, science fact!
where's my flying car??
*originally from LJ
So I've decided to try Blogger. It just looks better and offers more free features. The problem is... what to do with my old posts. Right now Blogger doesn't support importing posts.
Also, blogger looks more professional, so i feel weird bitching and moaning on there. There's also no "private" option (at least i haven't descovered one) so i have to be more selective in what i post for the "world" to see (the 3-4 people that actually read my blog).
i'll keep you posted on my final decision.
Web access coming to electrical outlets - Oct. 15, 2004
Woohoo! Maybe I won't have to deal with stupid Columbia ACIS.
I can't resist a new toy. It would be a shame to not use my new blog (every 10 minutes). I don't know if this suits my style. It looks so proper and professional, I don't think I'd feel comfortable complaining and ranting on here. My friend uses her blogger to keep in touch with her family in the US as she spends the year in Israel. She and her boyfriend write entire newsletters which they post, in addition to their pictures.
Alex should get a blog because all sorts of amazing things happen to him. In the last year he's been to Norway, Finland and Austria. He's met Chris Matthews, Howard Fineman, and Joe Trippi and most of the hopefuls for the Democratic nomination for president. He's been to the Google and Microsoft parties in Vienna, and given a talk to NASA.
So in conclusion, my life is boring and not worthy of this good looking blog.
p.s. I'm glad open-toe shoe season is over. I don't have to do my toe nails for a long time! (That's exactly the kind of thing that shouldn't go in a post.)
p.p.s. I'm so confused.
Here I am in lab, making a new blog. I do have an experiment running at the moment, so I guess that makes me not a complete slacker. I'm curious about this particular blog service so I'm giving it a shot. If it wins my love, I will switch from LiveJournal. Although what would I do with all my old posts? Maybe I can export them onto my computer. It'd be sad to lose them, they have sort of been my journal for the last few years.
Let's not rush this relationship just yet... :)
*originally from LJ
I forgot to mention that last friday I went to a "party" thrown by Columbia for Richard Axel, one of the winners of this year's Nobel prize in Physiology and Medicine. Richard is a professor in the Biochemistry department, and was one of the less skilled teachers in last year's biochem class.
There were 7 speakers who talked about Richard - his background, his work, his personality, their interactions with him, etc... those were very interesting. Then Axel himself got up and talked for about 15 minutes. He talked about how he found out about the prize, how much he loved Columbia (he'd been there all of his career, and went to Columbia College for undergrad). Amazingly enough, he actually thanked all this students throughout the years and said that he accepts the prize in trust for them all. That part was surprising considering Axel's reputation as an arrogant bastard (they made fun of that in the speeches too).
Columbia was giving out buttons that said "Congratulations Axel" (with Columbia's crown emblem on it) and "Axel wins Nobel." They even went all out and had blue and white balloons (Columbia colors) that had the same statements on them. Then there were finger foods and champagne for everyone (unfortunately I had to get back to finish an experiment so I had to miss out on the actual fun).
Supposedly, there are several more people up here at the Medical Center who are possible contenders for the prize in future years.
ok, back to science (currently: preparing samples for a microarray)
*originally from LJ
my room smells soooo good:
"the perfect autumn - Apple" scented candle by the White Barn Candle Co (acquired at Bath and Body Works)
...wicked expensive, but worthit!
*originally from LJ
Blue Man Group (in Boston) was FANTASTIC! It was one of the most fun and amazing shows I've ever seen. Definately recommended.
Alex also took me to the Lord of the Rings Motion Picture Trilogy - the Exhibition which is at the Boston Museum of Science till the 24th. It was really cool to see the sketches, maquettes and costumes.
I also spent a few hours with Steve and Yugaku rehearsing some of Steve's songs. Hopefully we'll get to perform sometime in the near future.
Of course there are a million things to do in lab and for class. Starting on Sunday evening and all day yesterday I felt extremely overwhelmed for no particular reason. I just felt like the world was crumbling around me. Not a good feeling. Today was better.
*originally from LJ
So I have a cousin who is about 10 years older than me and has 2 kids (7 and 6 yrs old). I get a call today on my cell phone around 5:30pm from someone not in my phone book. I fumbled with the phone and actually dropped it causing the top to flip open and connect. I finally picked the phone up and said "hello" when I heard:
"Hi Anna. Do you know what yesterday was? You missed my daughter's birthday. We're not some distant relations you can just forget about. You really have no conscience if you don't call a little girl to wish her a happy birthday. What you're doing is horrible. I'm going to give her the phone right now and you tell her 'happy birthdy!'"
...then I hear her try to give the phone to her daughter who didn't want to take it, followed by: "she doesn't even remember you! See how horrible you are? You should really treat your family better. I expect you to call us more often and come to visit from now on." - hang up.
notice I didn't say a single word since "hello." Also, she spoke in Russian so that was a loose translation of her ramblings.
She called me last year and did the same thing around her son's birthday. You know what, I can't keep track of birthdays of my cousin's children. Especially since I never knew them to begin with.
At some point this summer she begged me to come visit her kids because "my chldren really miss you, you don't have to stay long, just an hour or so, it would mean so much to them, etc." So I agreed to visit them in brooklyn since I needed to see my grandmother anyway. I said I'd be there noon-ish. I ended up leaving the city 30 mins late, so I showed up like 40 minutes late. As soon as she opens the door for me she says: "You were supposed to be here an hour ago. I've been waiting for you because I need to do grocery shopping. So stay here with the kids. Their lunch is on the stove, heat it up a bit and make sure they eat a decent amount. I'll be back as soon as I can." And she walks out the door. WTF???
WITCH!!! I really can't stand her. I've programmed her new phone # in to my cell and I'm never picking it up again when she calls. Additionally, from now on I'm not picking up for any unknown caller. I feel sorry for her kids. They're actually very cute and sweet and are just innocent victims of their mother's craziness.
Just thinking about her makes my blood boil.
*originally from LJ
About an hour ago I was about to get in to the shower when I noticed a
HUGE cockroach on the bathroom wall. We're not talking about a large
American cockroach, but one of those HUGE >1inch exotic roaches. There
it was, sitting on the wall, calm and haughty. I took a swing at it
with my slipper but the bastard eluded me. I then screamed for my
roommate Katie to come and get it.
We armed her with a Swifer and sent her into the trenches. After some prodding, she dislodged the fiend from the corner and had it running for its life. Of course she was too scared to actually crunch it so she kind of kept sweeping it back into the bathroom. In an attempt to save its life the Spawn of Evil latched on to the Swifer. But this time Katie was too quick for it! She put the Swifer over the toilet and shook the monster off, I quickly jumped in and flushed. The beast
struggled but couldn't fight the current.
Many questions remain:
how did that monstrosity make it into our apartment??
Are there more??
How could I possibly live in NY and not own a bottle of RAID?
Now i'm itchy all over. I'm seeing phantom bugs everywhere. If I had found it in my room, I'd be packing right now.
I hope everyone is having sweet dreams and I twist and turn all night with horrible visions of hideous monsters.
*originally from LJ
http://www.giantmicrobes.com/
A lady from Marligen (lab supply company) gave us the "beer and bread" microbe (yeast) today. I want to collect them all!!! The "Mono" and "flesh eating" bugs are the funniest. HIV and Hepatitis are also cool. That sounds horrible, I know.
I want my children to play with these (until they're old enough to figure out what these are, then they'll probably hate me).
MWAHAHAHAHA
*originally from LJ
Every once in a while I come to a realization about myself. I've recently realized a character trait of mine. I feel uncomfortable going somewhere without being explicitly invited. For example, if there's a house party somewhere and a friend is going and says "would you like to come along?" I will likely say no because I myself wasn't invited. As another example, my roommate was having dinner with a friend of hers (who I also know) at our apartment tonight. She asked me if I wanted to join them so she'd make enough food, but since I originally wasn't included in the dinner plans I felt uncomfortable hanging around. So I made my own dinner but then I hung out and talked with them in the kitchen, although inside I felt I shouldn't be there.
It's especially worse when there are only 2 people involved. If they're going to lunch and one of them invites me to join them last minute, I won't go because I haven't received confirmation of the invitation from the other person. Is that weird?
I don't know where this comes from. I guess I feel that if someone wanted me somewhere, they'd go to the effort of asking me there, and if I'm not invited, I must've been overlooked, or worse, not actually wanted there. And I don't want to be where I'm not wanted.
I don't know if I'm just being paranoid. Should I just get over it? How? arg. Sometimes my weirdness surprises even myself.
*originally from LJ
Another 2 months since my last update, so here's a bunch of randomness.
I've always wanted long hair and I've even tried to grow it out a few times. It never got particularly long before I got frustrated and cut it off again. When I cut my hair before grad school (last August) I devised a new plan to keep my hair away from the scizzors - I'll donate it! Since you need at least 10 inches to donate, I was guaranteed to get my hair at least that long. Well, the scheme worked, barely. My hair was almost down to my waist :) Of course then I got the itch to cut it again. Luckily, I had just 10", so off it went! Of course now my hair is the shortest it's been since I was 7.
I ended my summer rotation at the earliest possible moment - August 13. Then I took a 3 week vacation. Then I was in NY for a week (which included the Genetics department retreat), and then I went on vacation for another week. Well, not quite... During the 3 weeks I spent about a week in Florida. My parents moved there in July. Two days after I left, my mother had a heart attack and ended up getting a triple bypass. I needed to go to the department retreat, but I left for Florida right after we got back. My mom was actually released from the hospital the day I arrived, so I didn't miss much. I was in NY during her surgery and I was having really bad chest pains the whole day (they radiated up and down my back and it was actually painful to breathe). Everyone said they were sympathy pains, but they hurt like hell.
She turned 45 a month before the heart attack. I know that certainly doesn't mean I'll have the same problems but it just freaked me out a little. She's been obese for the last 20 years and I'm pretty sure that particular ailment runs in her family. So first, I'm freaked out about becoming obese, and then about the associated heart problems. And not only am I freaked out about myself, because I more or less have control over what I do, but I'm just concerned for everyone who is overweight/obese.
I was watching some moring news show a few months ago and they were interviewing a medical professional about obesity in America. This is sort of what he said (paraphrasing): "You're in a group of people and one of them takes out a cigarette and starts smoking, and someone else in the group turns to that person and says 'Stop that! don't you know you're killing yourself?' Now imagine you're in a group of people and one happens to be obese, it's not exactly appropriate to turn to them and say 'don't you know you're killing yourself? do something about it!'." It's true. Making fun of overweight people or even drawing attention to them is insensitive and hurts their feelings, but how do you approach them seriously and tell them that they are slowly dying every day?
Taking care of yourself is not something you do when you have time. There's never enough time for everything you may want to do. You have to make the time, and that's hard. I'm still working on that. I try to do cardio a few times a week but I know I could be doing more. My roommate runs something like 4-5 miles every morning. I wish I had that kind of discipline. But like most people I think - "well, I don't really have a problem yet, there's no rush." People also say the longer you live an unhealthy lifestyle, the harder it is to break out of it, and the longer you have the extra weight, the harder it is to get it off. I'm not really overweight but I'm extremely out of shape. I can't even run a mile, i have to speed walk at least a third of it.
I started this entry not really knowing where it was headed and now that I'm here I'm getting depressed about my life. So I think I'll stop now. poop.
*originally from LJ
If you consider last month and this month, I will have seen more medical professionals than I've ever before seen in a 2 month period: optometrist, dentist, oral surgeon, and general surgeon. I'm falling apart!
Modern medicine is great and all.. I mean it's amazing that they can save teeth as horrible as mine, and that people don't have to suffer with their useless impacted third molars and that cysts can be removed without really much risk or adverse effects, and that the world doesn't look blurry for many people... but wouldn't it be 100 times better if our bodies just didn't need a million tiny repairs all the time?? (I pulled my achilles tendon exercising causing me to limp for the last 2 weeks... that doesn't really cost anything but
it's really really annoying.)
I say we need to ditch these organic vessels for more stable, bionic bodies. Maybe ones with nanites that fix themselves.
Otherwise, everything is just dandy. Heading off to Bahstahn for the weekend.
*originally from LJ
Much Ado About Nothing has been running in The Public Theater in Central Park for the past month and had only 1 week left, so we decided to go see it on Sunday. The box office opens at 1pm, which means if you want good tickets, you need to start lining up at 7am. Katie, Maggie and I got there at 8am and had pretty good spots. It was disgustingly humid and pouring, but that didn't deter us! Maggie had a thin plastic tarp we could use for cover. We were sitting against one of the fences so at first we tied the tarp to the fence and held it over our heads. But after about 30 minutes our arms got too tired to keep holing it so we decided to turn around. We made this sort of tunnel by tying the top of the tarp to the fence and swinging it around the other way so that we were facing the fence and had the tarp go around our backs and down onto the pavement. That worked a lot better but was a tad more cramped. We experienced mild cabin fever, but we were the envy of everyone in the line. We had our towels to sit on, food, cards, yatzee. We didn't have to hold umbrellas or sit on wet newspapers. We were (mostly) dry and relatively happy.
We got pretty good seats and luckily, the sky cleard up by the evening because there are no raincheks, if the show rained out, we would've wasted 5 hours waiting for the tickets.
The wait was definately worth it. The show was great. The cast was great, with lots of famous actors (Jimmy Smitts, Kristen Johnston, Sam Waterston, etc). The weather was perfect, the sound was good, and everything was pretty much perfect. Great day.
*originally from LJ
i just wrote an angry post, and before putting it up i wanted to check the posting options, and STUPID livejournal opens the "?" in the same window and when i go back, MY POST IS GONE
ANGRY!!!!
*originally from LJ
I've been on a destructive shopping spree!! Alex keeps an Xbox at my apartment, so I decided to buy DDR and Tetris, but of course I also needed the DDR pad, and Xbox Live so we can play together. And then I wanted a vacuum since the dustbunnies are about to stage a coup if I don't get rid of them all. I also bought more contacts, but fortunately, my perscription has expired so that order got canceled. I also bought some martini glasses to go with my martini shaker which I bought last month (and have never used).
I'm sure I'm expecting something else to be delievered I just don't remember what. I've lost track of all my purchases. That's a bad sign.
So tonight's activities include: cleaning my room with my new vacuum, exercising with my DDR, and having a shaken drink to celebrate. Yep.
*originally from LJ
My parents are packing up and leaving for that place where all parents eventually go, the Mecca of New York's aging population - Florida. Not that my parents are aging. They are both in their mid-40s. It really doesn't make a whole lot of sense, but I've learned long ago that there is no method to their madness, you just have to go with the flow. Sorry for all the cliches.
My mother called me yesterday to tell me that while cleaning the bathroom cabinet, she found my retainer. I got my braces off sometime around freshman year of high school and was supposed to wear that thing at nights which I gave up about a month after getting it. I had to go back to the orthodontist about every month for a checkup and well after I'd stopped wearing it he would glowingly say "you're doing great! keep it up!"
Eventually, the container with my retainer got toseed somewhere. I had always wondered where it went. I told my mom to throw it out but now I'm wondering if I should've kept it for sentimental reasons. I'm kind of curious to try it on and see just how much my teeth have moved in the last 8 years. It would probably hurt a lot.
In other news, I'm almost ready to pick my thesis lab. In fact, I've sort of picked it and now I'm just sitting on the decision to see how it feels. I'll let you in on a little secret: I'm afraid of commitment.
I'm going to the Whitney today with Katie, followed by watching some Olympic trials: Katie's obsession - track and field, and swimming. I wish I had a great talent that everyone acknowledged.
Oh, and I now join the elite, the chosen few, in having a Gmail account :) teehee
*originally from LJ
i was just re-reading some of my old posts... man, most of the time i sound annoying and dumb!!!! <--first of all, I use exclamation points too often. Second of all, I have to stop using the word "'cause" it just sounds juvenile. I kinda hate abnoxiously bubbly people, and that's exactly the kind of personality that came through as i was reading my blog.
sorry.
In other news, I just saw Spiderman 2. I liked it. I thought it was a very entertaining film. Are those muscles really Tobey Maguire's? In one of the last scenes, his costume has a very opportune rip along the thigh with his leg muscles bulging through it - was that real? Looking at his head, I just can't imagine him having a well scuplted muscular body.
My copy of Tetris for the Xbox arrived today. This makes it the first video game I've bought for myself. DDR will be the second. Does this make me a tom-boy? hehe
*originally from LJ
I just opened an IRA, and put in orders to invest the money. So scary!!! Good thing I have many years of investing left, so I can let myself make one or two mistakes early on. I'm going to try and not check my portfolio till the end of the year. It's all about long-term investment. Right.
*originally from LJ
I'm excited!! This is the first election I'm actually following rather closely. Mostly because it's the most important election in a long time, and also because it's my first as a US citizen.
woohoo!
*originally from LJ
George Bush shouldn't just lose the upcoming election, he should be impeached.
*originally from LJ
how is it that bunching up a cord (headphones, necklace, etc) somehow results in 5+ knots? This phenomenon really annoys and fascinates me. Sometimes, I want to experiment with this: bunch it up slowly and watch the knotting in action, but it's probably one of those things that cannot be observed with the human eye.
*originally from LJ
The 1.5 weeks in Loveland were the most relaxing days so far this year. There was lots of sleeping, eating, vegging, mindless entertainment, and of course, Daniel Radcliffe. Unfortunately, around day 4 I got a serious sunburn on my shoulders which still hasn’t healed (1 week later). I put sunblock on my face, but I figured since I’d be in the pool the entire time, I didn’t really need to put sunblock anywhere else… but 1 hour later, I was fried. It went through several stages of blistering and peeling. This was probably the worst sunburn I’ve ever had in my life. Oh well… live and learn.
I saw Cats at a dinner theater with Alex’s mom. That was interesting… both the show and the dinner theater aspect of it. It was definitely a “local production,” but it was fun to have the actors also be waiters.
This morning was my brother’s high school graduation. It’s really weird sitting in the stands at someone else’s graduation. All the parents are so impatient (mine included), always muttering “c’mon” and “get on with it” during the speeches and award presentations. My brother became bratty after the ceremony, refusing to take pictures, or smile, or look at the camera. Then we went to King Buffet (Chinese buffet on SI) and I ate way too much, which didn’t stop me from being hungry at dinner time. I need to exercise more if I want to continue eating the way I do.
A lot of people I know now have gmail accounts :( I’m not cool.
*originally from LJ
I was at the NBC 4th of July special a few nights ago! When you peons finally get to the future, tune your tube to NBC at night for the Sheryl Crow clip, maybe you'll see me :)
Earlier this week, Alex popped in from JFK instead of flying back to Boston on his way back from Finland, so a few of us went out to dinner at a nice Italian restaurant which only took cash. I hate cash, so of course I had none on me. And Alex only had Euros. So I had to leave the restaurant to find an ATM. I checked my account online yesterday and here's what I see: after my withdrawal, I had exactly $1.01, and then of course I get hit with the "you didn't use our ATM fine" and I'm down to -0.76. Fantastic. Now I'll get charged another $30 for being under. I hate checking accounts too.
I'm jetting off to Loveland for 10 days tonight. I hate packing. There's always a nagging fear that I forgot something important. Although I suppose in the US that doesn't really matter cause you can buy whatever you need anywhere. Except that I have negative funds.
*originally from LJ
I saw Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban last night at the IMAX near Lincoln Center. I won’t say what I thought of the movie here, because I’ll be seeing it again with Alex in Colorado, and I have to make it a clean slate – as if I’m watching it for the first time.
I was in line at the bathroom in the theater before the movie. I was talking to Katie when I hear “YOU!” behind me. Katie motions for me to turn around, and there, standing in the bathroom, her arms out in front, with the most surprised look on her face, is a girl from my first high school (who I haven’t seen in 7 years). She repeats “YOU!” at least 3 times. So I say “You!” back at her, although I actually remembered her name. Then she says “Are you here now?” (meaning in NYC), so I said “yes” but then another stall opened up so I said “gotta go!” I saw her again as I was walking out of the bathroom. She was walking towards the escalator with a group of friends. I could’ve stopped her, said hi properly, maybe exchanged phone numbers or email addresses, but I didn’t.
For some reason that little encounter got me thinking about something: friendship. What is a friend? What is an acquaintance? When does someone switch between the two titles? Is there such a thing as too many friends and acquaintances?
I guess “friendship” has always been fleeting for me. I grew up with lots of friends on my block, but then my family left the Ukraine, and I never spoke to any of them again. In Brooklyn, I befriended some girls who lived in the same building as I did, but that too, was transient. As all apartment buildings go, they moved on to different apartments in different parts of town, and although I kept up with them a bit longer, they too vanished from my life. I never spent more than 2 years in the same school until Cornell, and every time I switched schools, I moved on from the friends I’d made. I keep in touch with exactly 1 person from my second junior high school, but she’s married with a child now, so I think we’re going our separate ways. There’s also 1 person from my first high school, a few from my second high school, and a few from college. But how long will all that last? What does it take to be a friend rather than an acquaintance? People I was once very close to, used to speak to every day, tell each other everything, are now part of the “So how’s it been going lately? Anything new?” crowd. How often do you have to see someone or talk to someone to consider them a friend? A close friend? A best friend? An acquaintance? A stranger?
Some friendships are not meant to last. How do you recognize that, and how do you end it? Is it better to phase the person out? Retreat until they are merely an acquaintance? Or is it better to be upfront, tell them “it’s been great, but I’m moving on?” I recently did the latter. I ended a friendship with someone who was once very important to me. I still don’t know whether it was the right decision. Maybe I should have tried harder to regain what we once had. Maybe I should’ve just kept him as an acquaintance. But I went all the way. I said good-bye. And I suppose I have to stand by that decision.
I like running in to people I haven’t seen in a long time. I’m curious about what they’re doing with their lives. But maybe that’s just ego. Maybe the only reason I like meeting old friends and hearing how they’ve been is because I know I’ve done pretty well – good college, good graduate school, good relationship. Maybe I’m just waiting for them to ask me how I’ve been so I can wow them with my success. I hope not, but I really don’t know.
A chance run-in is different from an acquaintance. I don’t really like acquaintances. Does someone you talk to once every 6 months really care what you’re up to? “So last I heard you were dating, X, how’s that going?” That can get awkward. A lot can happen in six months. Who really wants to do 6 months of catching up in 6 minutes? It’s unfair to have to condense your life like that to someone who may not really care but is just performing their duty as your acquaintance. But again, what do you do? When they say “so, tell me everything I’ve missed!” do you say “listen, this isn’t really working out for me…” or do you comply just to keep them around?
I don’t know if my lack of effort on the friendship front has something to do with being in a relationship. Alex is my best friend. I talk to him everyday. I tell him everything. Who needs friends when you have a significant other?
I’ve always hated people like that, but a little while ago I realized I was one of them. But what does that mean? Is it so wrong? Maybe that’s just how things go. Eventually, there will be a husband, and kids. Family comes first. Does that mean I’ll be left with a bunch of acquaintances? What happens to all the people who’ve shared (closely) certain periods of my life? I guess they get to take whatever secrets we shared at the time with them. They get to take a little part of me. I suppose the good part is that life goes on, and there’s always more to share and give away. And I’d say almost all the people I’ve been friends with, and am currently friends with, are good, trustworthy people who I know will keep those parts of me to themselves… whether that’s out of respect for me and our friendship, or because my life really isn’t all that interesting.
I’m sure there’s lots more to say on the topic, but I’ve exhausted my vocabulary for the evening. I don’t know how coherent any of that was, but at least it’ll be entertaining. Maybe I’ll look at some more pictures of Dan before bed cause this train of thought is really bumming me out.
Good night New York, I love you.
*originally from LJ
I love Daniel Radcliffe. I just spent the evening mixing drinks and surfing his fan sites for pictures with a friend. We know it's wrong, but we can't help it. He's on the brink of total hotness. He just needs to get some sun and bulk up a bit. Oh Daniel...
*originally from LJ
BTW, there are lots of movies out/coming out that I wouldn't mind seeing, let me know if you're interested:
In no particular order:
Shrek 2
Chronicles of Riddick
Day After Tomorrow
Spiderman 2
Saved
*originally from LJ
Today was a beautiful day, a little colder and windier than it looked from inside, but beautiful nevertheless. In the morning, Maggie invited me to go rollerblading in Riverside Park. I had bought my rollerblades a few weeks ago because a lot of my friends rollerblade here so I thought i'd join the crowd.
The last time I put on rollerblades was about 10-11 years ago. I couldn't do it then, so I gave them to my brother. I just don't like the feeling of having no control - which is how I feel when I'm on rollerblades (or rollerskates, or ice skates...), and I'm afraid of falling. But I decided to give it a try anyways. I want to conquer this fear.
The park is very nice. It's right on the water, lots of benches, people sitting out on the grass, fishing (in the Hudson?), playing tennis, riding bikes, etc... The few moments when I felt in control were great. Of course I fell flat on my ass twice. The first time I was starting to lose my balance, so I was resigned to fall and I chose the manner in which to do it. But the second time, it caught me by surprise and I smacked on my lower back pretty badly. Maggie heard it from several feet away. Now my left ass cheek hurts everytime I walk, sit, and bend. I can't say it makes me want to do it again, but I understand that I can't get it right on the first try. I must persevere!
Later in the day I went to see "Supersize Me," a documentary about a guy eating McDonald's for 30 days. It was very interesting, educational, and disturbing. I still don't think it's so bad if you have fast food once or twice a month, but it made me feel horrible about my lifestyle overall. I need to eat better in general, as well as exersize more.
I also got a ticket for the opening night of Harry Potter: and the Prisoner of Azkaban, at the IMAX! hehehe I'm so giddy! (sorry Alex :( )
*originally from LJ
Anyone out there?
Sometimes I'm tempted to start writing again, but then I figure - what for? No one ever reads these things (although I regularly read other people's hehe). I'm not deep and retrospective or witty, and who really cares about reading a mundane list of my daily tasks?
If you care... let me know.
*originally from LJ
EmPIr3 22: ultima hey
ultima##: hi
EmPIr3 22: what grade r u in?
ultima##: do i know you?
EmPIr3 22: nope
EmPIr3 22: im only in
EmPIr3 22: and used to be in mm
EmPIr3 22: lol
ultima##: that doesnt really mean anything to me...
EmPIr3 22: oh
EmPIr3 22: so u dont know who i am?
ultima##: can't say that i do
EmPIr3 22: UlTiMa!
EmPIr3 22: look at my name
EmPIr3 22: [I|<]-EmPIr3- |22|
ultima##: yeah... its very clever...
EmPIr3 22: smart ass
ultima##: i think you have me mistaken for someone else
EmPIr3 22: ultima quit screwing with me
ultima##: if you dont know my real name then i certainly don't know you
EmPIr3 22: ok kevin
ultima##: that is certainly not my name
EmPIr3 22: LIAR
ultima##: the second letter of this screen name can either be an L or an i
ultima##: i think you want to try again using an i
EmPIr3 22: no its ultima i know its with an l
ultima##: sorry, can't help you.
ultima##: anyways, friend, i have things to do. have a pleasant evening.
EmPIr3 22: lol
EmPIr3 22: kevin quit screwing with me
[--enters Katie--]
ultima##: ok, fine, it's me
EmPIr3 22: ok
ultima##: you know, i've always had a secret crush on you
EmPIr3 22: ............
ultima##: now is not the time to act coyly
EmPIr3 22: coyly?
ultima##: i can't tell you in person, so i told myself the next time we talked online i would make myself tell you
ultima##: real nice... make fun of my vocabulary when i am exposing my emotions
EmPIr3 22: lol, im not making fun of u i dont know waht ur saying
ultima##: let me say it again...
ultima##: i like you, and not as a friend
EmPIr3 22: ur ....fun...ny........ult....ima
ultima##: hey there killer, ultima has three syllables, not two
ultima##: you know what, i don't know if i can like
ultima##: someone who doesn't have a firm grasp of the english language
ultima##: maybe someday if i learned to love you, i could look past it, but for now, i am going to have to see a will to improve on your part
EmPIr3 22: ur messed up
EmPIr3 22: where did the convo go?
ultima##: i told you it wasn't your damn friend kevin twenty minutes ago!
ultima##: leave me alone please
ultima##: is this a boy or a girl?
ultima##: how old are you?
ultima##: if it's an old man, you better really leave me alone
EmPIr3 22: im a 17 year old girl and i live in canada
ultima##: i'm sorry, it really isn't your friend kevin
ultima##: i don't know anyone in canada
ultima##: i was just messing with you
EmPIr3 22: and i dont like liars
ultima##: hey buddy, i told you at least five times it wasn't kevin
EmPIr3 22: ok kevin
EmPIr3 22: lol
ultima##: are you ok?
EmPIr3 22: no
ultima##: well, i'm sure they have people in
ultima##: it's not me
EmPIr3 22: ouch
ultima##: i have other things to be doing
ultima##: bye
EmPIr3 22: bye kevin
ultima##: bye EmPIr3 22
EmPIr3 22: bye kevin
EmPIr3 22 signed off at 9:03:08 PM.
*originally from LJ
I'm back from my Pilgrimage to the Holy Land! j/k During this time of year, Israel is full of Jewish-American students, and Nigerian Pilgrims. Wherever we went, the Nigerians were right behind (or sometimes in front) of us. They were at our hotel on the Kineret (Sea of Galilee), then at the Dead Sea (where they enjoyed taking pictures of American girls swimming/floating), and they were at Yad Vashem (Holocaust Memorial), not to mention at the Kotel (Western Wall) on Shabbos morning.
I've renewed my committment to Shabbos. I'm going to start with the smaller things this time, and hopefully once I have those conquered, I can build on them. So I think I'm going to really try to light Shabbos candles every friday night and make a Kiddush with my new beautiful glass Kiddush cup that I got in Jerusalem. And I'm also going to try and make Havdallah on Saturday evenings using the new Havdallah candle I got in Tzfat from the Safed Candle Co, and of course, using my new Kiddush cup. hehe.
I'm moving this weekend! Getting out of my Ghetto depressing apartment and moving in with Katie in tower 2. It's a much better apartment and better room (eventhough it's not the one I originally wanted). It'll still be a very big step up.
There's too much floating through my head right now to get a thorough post (which would be way too long anyways), so I'll just write random snippets over the next few days.
Happy belated birthday to everyone who's birthdays I missed. And good luck with new semesters and all that!
*originally from LJ
