still sick... bog people

About 2 weekends ago Alex and I went to see the Bog People exhibit at the Carnegie Museum of Natural History. It was ok... not as great as all the reviews proclaimed. I always expect too much from museum exhibits. I want a sophisticated exhibit aimed at adults, and instead I always encounter a basic exhibit aimed at a visiting 4th grade class. This is especially true of "natural history" museums. The "evolution of man" exhibit at the American Museum of Natural History (NYC) is particularly disappointing.

On the other hand, art museums tend to focus more on the art connoisseur patron, and if you're not one, you don't really get much out of going to such exhibits. The only visit I ever trully enjoyed to the Met was right before my AP Art History exam, after a year of intensive art history class. There has to be a happy medium somewhere.

One thing in particular was interesting and a bit depressing about the Bog People exhibit was seeing the coins they found in the bogs. There were two thousand year-old Roman and Germanic coins, which look very much like the modern coins still in use today. C'mon people! It's been 2k+ years and we still use metal coins as currency! Made me realize we're really not as advanced as we think. Sure we've made progress with checks and credit cards, but coins shouldn't exist anymore, in my opinion... or cash of any form. I hate cash.

In other news, I'm still sick, although I'm getting better. Still got a sore throat, and sleeping still involves a lot of tossing and turning.

Link: Boy, 8, shoots girl, 7, at day-care center

Boy, 8, shoots girl, 7, at day-care center - Crime & Punishment - MSNBC.com

Absolutely absurd!!!

The parents of this child should be charged with child neglect, endangering a minor, and some other criminal violations.

the sickness: day 3

It started Sunday morning when I awoke with a really bad sore throad. Although I guess it's possible that I actually got sick about a week ago, but been incubating for all that time (a week before Sunday I woke up with a terrible tickle in my nose indicating my sinuses were beginning to fill up).

It's just a head cold... slightly muffled hearing, runny nose, sore throat, but that makes for a terrible way to sleep. Sunday night I tossed and turned and got about 3 discouninuous hours of sleep, eventhough I took a melatonin. Everytime I lay down I got very nauseous. Last night stared out even worse until I remembered that I have a few Dramamine left... it's primary purpose is to relieve symptoms of motion sickness (including nausea) so I figured I'd give it a shot - and it worked beautifully.

NyQuil = BAD (makes me very delirious)
Dramamine = GOOD (not nauseous and sleepy!)

Now if only my ears stopped crackling.

exhausted.

must go to sleep - 9pm!

7am meeting tomorrow.

zzzzzzzzzzzz

To do, updated

So I've decided to not take Intro Psych this semester... it was just too "intro" for my taste. I went to the first class and heard everything I needed to. I forgot how the focus of such classes is always to convince the student that "psychology is a science" that uses "observation" and "testable hypotheses" to prove its points. Eh. We also spent 15 minutes discussing different types of psychologists "clinical, academic, applied" blah blah... I suppose it wouldn't be too boring, but it's not worth 1.8K. Alex came up with a good solution: I will buy the textbook and learn the material on my own, just in case the admissions people ask me why I didn't take intro psych.

To update my previous "to do" list:

• finish writing paper for Angela (due last month) draft 1 sent out last week
  
• get books for Psych (by next Monday) sometime next month, to be read by April
  
• get Pitt transcript (I have to physically pick it up)
• apply to genetic counseling program (due Feb 1) (gotta do that essay!)
  
• send out reminders to my recommendation-writers (done, need to do again! since 2/3 didn't reply)
  
• move in, clean up, all that good stuff! (working on it! my stuff is now neatly stacked in storage bins and the living room is cleared and ready for move in!)
  
• finish making up classes for Womansplace (due 2 months ago)
  
• finish volunteer training at Womansplace (due 2 months ago)

I guess I haven't made as much progress as I thought... hmm...

Link: Dating: Positive Thinking

Dating: Positive Thinking - Newsweek Periscope - MSNBC.com

Just say "Yes!"

David Hasselhoff Files for Divorce

David Hasselhoff Files for Divorce

That's very sad, but the funniest part of the article is when it says:

Hasselhoff played lifeguard Mitch Buchannon on the syndicated "sun-and-surf" series from 1989 to 2000. He also starred in the 1980s TV series Knight Rider, in which his character, Michael Knight, teamed with a talking Pontiac Trans Am sports car to fight crime.

(the bold is my addition)

Couldn't they say: "a secret advanced prototype of an intelligent car" or something? I must admit to having watched that show religiously at one point. I suppose when you say "talking Pontiac Trans Am sports car," it reminds one of just how silly the concept really was.

Did Bay Watch (AKA "sun-and-surf") really run through 2000?? That's crazy!

turn the lights down loooow, baby

If my relationship with Alex could be summarized in poetry and put to music, sung by 3 nerdy guys, it would sound like this (watch the whole thing).

It's not always like that of course, but it's amazing how accurate this portrayal could be at times! Of course I'm not alone, considering there are entire songs being written on the topic.

Hail the Tripods!

procrastinate and learn!

**my appologies in advance, many terms and concepts in this blog may be strange and hard to understand**

In the last few days I’ve discovered a whole new world of blogging – the Jewish blog community! It started with the message boards at Hashkafah (Hebrew for “perspective”), and this led me to GodolHador’s blog (interesting and humorous!), which is one guy’s musings on Torah and Science (evolution in particular), and this led me to the discovery of “the ban!”

An Israeli Rabbi, Nosson Slifkin (his website), has been writing books about Torah and Science for a while now, and a lot of great Jewish leaders (Rabbis) have supported him and written recommendations for his books. Last year, one “great leader” in Israel decided that the books of Rabbi Slifkin are nearly heresy, and called for the books to be banned. I haven’t read the books, but from my understanding, Slifkin writes (with textual support from ancient Jewish scholars) how the first book of the Torah, Breishis, is really a mythological story, not to be taken literally, and that the Chazal (a group of ancient scholars who wrote down the Talmud) had an inaccurate understanding of science.

The assumption of Orthodox Judaism is that the Torah was written by Moses, with the direct instruction from G-d, and that the stories in it are to be taken literally. Apparently, to assume that the Chazal had any shortcoming in their understanding of science is unthinkable, because if they could be wrong in their science, G-d forbid they may also be wrong in their understanding of Jewish law and the Torah. So you can't question anything they said, lest the whole of Judaism tumble down. Rabbi Shapiro's outcry led others to join in, and now Slifkin’s books have been banned by the more extremist religious groups, his books have been removed from the shelves of Jewish book stores, the letters of recommendation have been retracted, and all his lecturing appearances have been canceled.

Reading the above ban poster, and the article from Dei'ah ve Dibur is like reading something from the Middle Ages. "Pox upon the house that has this book!" is pretty much what they're saying. A non-fundamentalist article discussing the issue can be found here.

Now, the religious leaders have no means to enforce this "ban" but their followers are such that the opinions of their Rabbis are sufficient. Individual curiosity would never bring someone to read the book and judge for themselves. If the Rabbis say the books corrupt, no one will touch them with a 10-foot pole.

Basically, the fundamentalist philosophy is such:

It is forbidden to say that:

(a)Theworld is older than 5765 years.
(b) That dinosaurs existed before 5765 years
(c) The theory of evolution has any truth in any form

I honestly haven't throught about the Torah/Science controversy too much because the Torah isn't such a big part of my life (in a practical sense). But I have heard the "literal word of the Lord" argument, and it's a little "out there."

So far I've been mostly sticking to the blogs and message boards on this issue, but I think I'll read some of the articles Rabbi Slifkin links to from his site.

Very interesting!

rewind: home alone (Dec 16-23)

Alex left to Colorado a week before me, and being alone in a large, mostly empty apartment is scary! There are all these random noises. And our floor is the only one in the whole building with a very large balcony-like ledge going all the way around.

Every night, as I was trying to fall asleep, I would work myself into a frenzy imagining someone breaking in through the window, and what I could do to defend myself. I even imagined that they would come from the building next to ours. It's very close to the ledge, and they could easily get here by putting down a plank and getting across. (Like a pirate ship.)

And then my heart would beat too fast, and I couldn't sleep anymore. So as a joke, Alex suggested I put a hammer next to me.

He may have been joking, but it made me feel (very slightly) better. I still imagined someone breaking in, but now I could reach under the pillow and hit them with a hammer.

Link: NYC grocery store wars

Speaking of food and grocery stores... this is a really fascinating article!

I always loved the incredible selection and great appearance of Uptown Fairway, and I loved the convenience of FreshDirect. And I always wondered why Fairway had anti-FreshDirect signs all over.

Wholefoods always struck me as a cult rather than a grocery store.

Enjoy: New York City grocery competitors - FreshDirect - Fairway - Whole Foods

Link: The fittest and fattest cities

I always thought NYC was one of the healthier cities... I guess it depends on what the criteria are.

The fittest and fattest cities - Diet & Fitness - MSNBC.com

power to the people (maybe?)

For the last 4 months I've been in a silent battle with the Tasty Eagle over their Kosher meat section. There are 2 problems: 1) availability - usually, the meat just isn't there. They get deliveries Weds and Fri, but these usually miss important meat products such as chicken breast, which appeared yesterday for the first time in months; and 2) the quality of the meat, especially ground beef, which usually has a grayish/glassy appearance (ack!) on the day it is delivered.

I know I’ve been spoiled by living in NYC where the Kosher ground beef was always fresh and pink (but honestly, even Fairway had a supply problem – half the time there wasn’t any ground beef at all). So I’ve grumbled, stocked up (the few times good meat was available, Alex and I would grab 5 packages and freeze them), and even called in to complain. I got the assistant manager who had no idea what I was talking about and said to call back when the manager was around. This Wednesday, I stopped by the meat counter and told the guy there about the grayish meat sitting out and he said “well, you’re the first person to complain.” Does that make the meat any less rancid?

Most people here who care for Kosher meat buy it across the street from the Tasty Eagle at the Kosher grocery store. Unfortunately, that store closes at 6pm every day (3pm Fridays) so I can never get there. Plus, that store isn’t big on lean meats, and their supply of regular groceries is minimal. I also prefer to do all my shopping in one stop.

Fueled by my craving for tacos and a "Hot Metal Day" mood yesterday, I wrote what I thought was a nasty email to Tasty Eagle’s customer service about their Kosher meat. Well, today I got a voice mail from the Tasty Eagle manager, Jeff. At first I was hesitant to call back… I thought he was going to lecture me about ground beef and how glassy meat is good for me, or G-d forbid, tell me that all Kosher meat looks like that, and I was gearing up to defend myself and my disappointment… but the call was quite pleasant!

He thanked me for my comments and agreed with them. He admitted that they have a long way to go, but they are working on it. "The customer is important to us," and all that good stuff. He even took my name off the email and gave my comments out to people at the meat department and they had a meeting about it. He asked me to call back and give him progress reports on how they’re doing. I feel much better, although I’m sure the change won’t be instantaneous. It’s just nice to be heard.

first bad day of 2006

"Hot Metal Boulevard,” it’s a sentiment that Alex and I use to describe Pittsburgh. It started out when we were going to the office party of Maya and had to cross the Hot Metal Bridge, and park in the Hot Metal Parking garage. “Hot Metal X” just captures the essence of any Pittsburgh location. Everything here looks like it’s made of hot metal in that kind of dark, rusty, run-down, oppressive-industrial kind of way.

movies I want to see

My IMDB list of movies I want to see:

http://www.imdb.com/mymovies/list?l=5616490

...not so hideous

Thanks to some powerful topical steroids (prescription!) the splotches are fading. I can still see them, but hopefully in another day or two I should be back to my usual pasty self.

I finally did something I've been meaning to do for months - send a letter to close my old M&T checking account. When I called them, they said I have to send them a notarized request to close the account, but I just couldn't deal with the pain of getting something notarized, so I haven't done anything about it. Until now.

It's a new year, a fresh start, time to tie all loose ends from 2005, so I did it. Turns out the obscure credit union in my apartment building has a few people qualified as notaries, so I stopped by this morning, and 5 minutes and $3 later, my letter is off to Ithaca (the original branch where I opened the account). Yay! No more M&T! M&T was a step up from Tompkins County Trust Co (TCTC) since it had a few branches in NYC, but I've outgrown it as well. Now I suppose I'll have to call them to make sure they got my request, and actually close my account... but one thing at a time.

I've also sent out my GRE score request to ETS, requested transcripts from Cornell and Columbia, and decided to not bother with my CSI transcript.

Ok.. so that leaves my To Do list at:

• finish writing paper for Angela (due last month)
  
• get books for Psych (by next Monday)
• get Pitt transcript (I have to physically pick it up)
• apply to genetic counseling program (due Feb 1)
• send out reminders to my recommendation-writers
  
• move in, clean up, all that good stuff!
  
• finish making up classes for Womansplace (due 2 months ago)
  
• finish volunteer training at Womansplace (due 2 months ago)

This is also going to be a very busy month at work.

Where does the time go? Vacationing in Loveland was great, but I wish I could take a week off just to run errands.

avert your eyes from this hideous beast!!

…and by “hideous beast” I mean me.

I have the worst breakout of eczema in a long time. I’m so splotchy, I can’t even look at myself in the mirror. I sort of look like this baby, only not so evenly covered... much more spotted.

Today is a heavy makeup day – I started with multiple layers of moisturizer, followed by foundation and blush, but you can still tell, very clearly, where all the dry, gross, splotches are.

I’ve been so careful! I even bought a fancy heavy night cream to keep my face moisturized (after using Vaseline for a week or so). But then I had to ruin it by using a white towel on my face. That’s right, a white towel – which was probably bleached.

Ok, so now my list is amended: no Tide, no bleach.