Here is my thought process at 6:30am the third day in a row of waking up that early:
This isn't worth the money. My body is confused and it's pitch black and I don't know why I willingly chose to do this. Was I insane?!
WAIT. I am never sleeping again.
Actually.
For some illogical reason involving Christmas and Fairleigh's coming to Boston on Monday, I can't sleep in this weekend.
And I am working this break.
And then I will go back to school and start doing work and have customs and I won't sleep.
And that will continue until graduation.
And then I'll become a part of the real world and have a 9-5 job and I'll have to get up this early EVERY DAY UNTIL RETIREMENT AND I WILL NEVER GET SLEEP EVER AGAIN.
And then somewhere between turning off my alarm and brushing my teeth I realized that was completely 100% ridiculous, and also false.
In other news, Hyperbole and a Half completely owns my soul. I dare you to read it without laughing. Seriously. It's amazing.
Thursday, December 23, 2010
Wednesday, December 8, 2010
Also,
I recently came across this website. I think I have an unhealthy obsession with names. Potential names for my own future child/children, yes, but also just names in general. Much procrastination has occurred and will continue to occur, despite my deactivation of facebook until I get my finals done.
(Yes, I do have a "Procrastination" folder in my bookmarks. Between that and StumbleUpon, I don't think deactivating facebook really has all that much of an effect.)
(Yes, I do have a "Procrastination" folder in my bookmarks. Between that and StumbleUpon, I don't think deactivating facebook really has all that much of an effect.)
Ramble on Morality and the Global Economy
In advance, I'm really sorry that this is super not-uplifting. I think it's legit though.
For today's Quaker class, we read this Pendle Hill pamphlet by David Morse called "John Woolman on Today's Global Economy." Basically, John Woolman was this Quaker dude in the 1700s who wasn't a fan of slavery, and he boycotted slave-made products and traveled around telling other people why slavery was bad. That was super radical for his time. In the pamphlet, Morse uses Woolman's life as a point of comparison to today's world and all the injustices that go on - how would Woolman have responded? (WWWD?)
The clothes you're wearing, unless you got them all from American Apparel or another sweat-free source, were probably made by slave labor or children or under other horrible working conditions in some other country. Seriously. Check the tag. Does it say "Made in the USA"? Didn't think so. My sweatshirt says "Made in Lesotho." I've never even heard of Lesotho and I as a consumer am probably exploiting people there. (It's this one, for the record, one of the ones that's landlocked in the middle of South Africa.) My t-shirt was made in Pakistan, my jeans in China, and my leggings in Latvia. Children weave carpets in Nepal who sleep next to their looms, get no education or medical care, don't eat enough, end up with horrible ailments, and will probably be sexually abused in their lifetime. Where do those carpets end up? In the homes of people who live in the wealtheir parts of the world. (For the sake of academic integrity, I tried to paraphrase but really I just plagiarized a lot of that wording. Page 9, if you're wondering.) Oh, and bananas? Banana pickers in Ecuador are exposed to pesticides, and their union leaders are beaten or they "disappear." So what IS safe for the moral consumer to buy?
Well that's the kicker - we're left in the dark. It's nearly impossible for our "actions [to be] consonant with [our] beliefs" (10). Clearly Morse's words describe this way better: "Today we are invited to sit blindfolded within the box, to feel overwhelmed by the complexity of the world, to experience a paradoxical choicelessness before the glut of information and goods that bombards us daily. How can we restore our own field of moral choice" (19) when everyone is out to make a profit rather instead of paying attention to human rights and fair treatment and sustainability and honesty? The media doesn't report on it, the government doesn't regulate it, and the companies don't tell us what really goes on behind it.
So then he goes on about how we often praise the work of John Woolman or Gandhi or MLK, but we view ourselves as insufficient for that "depth of moral conviction" and "content [ourselves] with lesser goals and lesser degrees of passion." Maybe I could be the next Woolman. In fact I could be if I wanted to be. But realistically I probably won't be, since I'm not about to devote my life to attaining that level of goals and passion. I still plan on functioning within the confines of my society, quite frankly, even if it means not reaching my full moral potential. The question is, what CAN I do? What can I do today or tomorrow, small or big? Morse suggests things like working for non-profits and networking and talking to people, and he says something about "finding God in the supermarket," but I don't get that because he had already said we're denied information about the products we buy. Of course, that left me incredibly frustrated, because I got all worked up and then didn't get any real solutions or answers to my questions.
Here's another good one (last one, I swear): "When we are systematically denied a basis for making moral choices, we are forced to make amoral choices; this knowledge of our own complicity in turn reinforces our apathy, and thus we deny ourselves the possibility of a moral choice" (24). I fear that I fall into this category. I'll probably forget about this pamphlet within a month, even though I hope I don't. I'm so overwhelmed by my desire to end sweatshop labor and profit-focused greed and implement organic-ness and sustainability everywhere.
So then, our homework assignment was to come up with and do, in the next 48 hours, something to improve our moral choices. Something small, since we only have 48 hours. No leading a campus-wide fruit boycott or something drastic. So I cleaned out the brita pitcher in which the water has literally been gathering dust in my fridge (it tasted funny so I left it there to rot), so now I can stop gathering plastic water bottles. I also looked up American Apparel and sweatshop-free products on Google. I was surprised by how much is out there, but EVERYTHING IS SO FREAKING EXPENSIVE! Which it would be, since the whole point of exploiting people is to create cheap enough products to compete in the global marketplace. Which leads me to the conclusion that living a moral lifestyle within the context of the global economy is impossible unless you're privileged enough to be able to regularly afford $250 jackets and $40 leggings and $50 t-shirts. Which leaves me even MORE bitter and helpless-feeling. Why is it so hard?!
On a slightly more hopeful note though, John Woolman never saw slavery get abolished. He definitely didn't do all that work for nothing - he just unfortunately never got to see his efforts come to fruition. And for Thursday we have to skim through everything and find our favorite quotes from everything we read in the class, and one of the ones I found from another Pendle Hill pamphlet by Daniel O. Snyder was: "Together we learn to discern the contours of hope, for although we yearn to see and to celebrate the visible results of our work, we dare not anchor hope in the visible results of our work, for we are working toward a future that may be many generation in the making, a future that we may not see in our lifetime, indeed a future that may never exist. We learned that the work itself is our sign of hope ("Quaker Witness as Sacrament" 30). So I guess that's kind of pessimistic and optimistic at the same time - despite the fact that I'm still not entirely sure what I can do, in terms of being overwhelmed by trying to end all evils in the world ASAP, it's just not going to happen in my lifetime and I need to accept that. That doesn't mean I can't or shouldn't work towards improvement so that it might happen in generations to come.
For today's Quaker class, we read this Pendle Hill pamphlet by David Morse called "John Woolman on Today's Global Economy." Basically, John Woolman was this Quaker dude in the 1700s who wasn't a fan of slavery, and he boycotted slave-made products and traveled around telling other people why slavery was bad. That was super radical for his time. In the pamphlet, Morse uses Woolman's life as a point of comparison to today's world and all the injustices that go on - how would Woolman have responded? (WWWD?)
The clothes you're wearing, unless you got them all from American Apparel or another sweat-free source, were probably made by slave labor or children or under other horrible working conditions in some other country. Seriously. Check the tag. Does it say "Made in the USA"? Didn't think so. My sweatshirt says "Made in Lesotho." I've never even heard of Lesotho and I as a consumer am probably exploiting people there. (It's this one, for the record, one of the ones that's landlocked in the middle of South Africa.) My t-shirt was made in Pakistan, my jeans in China, and my leggings in Latvia. Children weave carpets in Nepal who sleep next to their looms, get no education or medical care, don't eat enough, end up with horrible ailments, and will probably be sexually abused in their lifetime. Where do those carpets end up? In the homes of people who live in the wealtheir parts of the world. (For the sake of academic integrity, I tried to paraphrase but really I just plagiarized a lot of that wording. Page 9, if you're wondering.) Oh, and bananas? Banana pickers in Ecuador are exposed to pesticides, and their union leaders are beaten or they "disappear." So what IS safe for the moral consumer to buy?
Well that's the kicker - we're left in the dark. It's nearly impossible for our "actions [to be] consonant with [our] beliefs" (10). Clearly Morse's words describe this way better: "Today we are invited to sit blindfolded within the box, to feel overwhelmed by the complexity of the world, to experience a paradoxical choicelessness before the glut of information and goods that bombards us daily. How can we restore our own field of moral choice" (19) when everyone is out to make a profit rather instead of paying attention to human rights and fair treatment and sustainability and honesty? The media doesn't report on it, the government doesn't regulate it, and the companies don't tell us what really goes on behind it.
So then he goes on about how we often praise the work of John Woolman or Gandhi or MLK, but we view ourselves as insufficient for that "depth of moral conviction" and "content [ourselves] with lesser goals and lesser degrees of passion." Maybe I could be the next Woolman. In fact I could be if I wanted to be. But realistically I probably won't be, since I'm not about to devote my life to attaining that level of goals and passion. I still plan on functioning within the confines of my society, quite frankly, even if it means not reaching my full moral potential. The question is, what CAN I do? What can I do today or tomorrow, small or big? Morse suggests things like working for non-profits and networking and talking to people, and he says something about "finding God in the supermarket," but I don't get that because he had already said we're denied information about the products we buy. Of course, that left me incredibly frustrated, because I got all worked up and then didn't get any real solutions or answers to my questions.
Here's another good one (last one, I swear): "When we are systematically denied a basis for making moral choices, we are forced to make amoral choices; this knowledge of our own complicity in turn reinforces our apathy, and thus we deny ourselves the possibility of a moral choice" (24). I fear that I fall into this category. I'll probably forget about this pamphlet within a month, even though I hope I don't. I'm so overwhelmed by my desire to end sweatshop labor and profit-focused greed and implement organic-ness and sustainability everywhere.
So then, our homework assignment was to come up with and do, in the next 48 hours, something to improve our moral choices. Something small, since we only have 48 hours. No leading a campus-wide fruit boycott or something drastic. So I cleaned out the brita pitcher in which the water has literally been gathering dust in my fridge (it tasted funny so I left it there to rot), so now I can stop gathering plastic water bottles. I also looked up American Apparel and sweatshop-free products on Google. I was surprised by how much is out there, but EVERYTHING IS SO FREAKING EXPENSIVE! Which it would be, since the whole point of exploiting people is to create cheap enough products to compete in the global marketplace. Which leads me to the conclusion that living a moral lifestyle within the context of the global economy is impossible unless you're privileged enough to be able to regularly afford $250 jackets and $40 leggings and $50 t-shirts. Which leaves me even MORE bitter and helpless-feeling. Why is it so hard?!
the margin of page 21
On a slightly more hopeful note though, John Woolman never saw slavery get abolished. He definitely didn't do all that work for nothing - he just unfortunately never got to see his efforts come to fruition. And for Thursday we have to skim through everything and find our favorite quotes from everything we read in the class, and one of the ones I found from another Pendle Hill pamphlet by Daniel O. Snyder was: "Together we learn to discern the contours of hope, for although we yearn to see and to celebrate the visible results of our work, we dare not anchor hope in the visible results of our work, for we are working toward a future that may be many generation in the making, a future that we may not see in our lifetime, indeed a future that may never exist. We learned that the work itself is our sign of hope ("Quaker Witness as Sacrament" 30). So I guess that's kind of pessimistic and optimistic at the same time - despite the fact that I'm still not entirely sure what I can do, in terms of being overwhelmed by trying to end all evils in the world ASAP, it's just not going to happen in my lifetime and I need to accept that. That doesn't mean I can't or shouldn't work towards improvement so that it might happen in generations to come.
Monday, December 6, 2010
Winter Break and Kona Coffee Swirls
Seeing as I am a haver-holic (phrase shamelessly stolen from Sam Shain), leaving here for extended periods of time is always kind of bittersweet for me. I'm change averse, and I miss this place, and my friends, and my routine terribly. Plus since I live here, there are always things at home that I seem to be missing or left here or can't find. However, in the spirit of being positive (and also copying Jessi's facebook note), here is a list of reasons why I'm looking forward to break:
(if you go to Haverford and are reading this come by and get some cause they're delicious!)
- No more work! For a whole month!
- Which means no procrastination, and no feeling guilty for being social because I should be doing something else right now
- Sleeping in my own bed, which is not three feet off the ground
- Showering without shoes on
- Driving around Needham late at night
- Indian food
- Adventures in Boston
- Seeing my wifey, Neelima, and spending all too much time together while she's home
- Same for Charly and Sarah - maybe some pool? movies? food-eating? Friendly's-ing for sure.
- And of course Jessi (speaking of adventures in Boston...also watching movies!)
- And probably Moder and Leah and Peter and Deb and.........
- Work, which leads to paychecks
- Fairleigh is coming to visit!
- And then we are going to Vermont to see Maia for New Years!
- Maybe sleeping in a few times
- Seeing my parents and my puppy (and by "puppy" I mean 12-year-old beardie Delilah who is currently in adorable little diapers)
- Playing in the snow
- Christmas, and hopefully seeing family in CT, which means stories and warmth and a fire and a Christmas tree and delicious beef wellington
- Non-DC food for a whole month
- Not having to remember to water my plant
- Not having to do my own dishes...having a dishwasher at hand is highly underrated
- Boston in winter, in general
- Did I mention paychecks?
- Or seeing friends?!
- Or food??!?!?!
- You get the picture...
Tuesday, November 30, 2010
Bad Dreams
What does it mean if I've had dreams two nights in a row that I was almost certainly going to die? Two nights ago it was blood poisoning; last night it was rabies. I think I really need winter break...
^The rabid cat from my dream that was going to bite me and had already bitten a girl who bit her boyfriend who lived on my hall and was at some point sure to bite me, if the cat didn't get to me first (except it had red eyes and was foaming at the mouth and was a lot scarier and was in the hallway outside my bedroom)
Note: when I woke up this morning I immediately realized that there is a rabies vaccine, so even if the rabid cat / hallmate had bitten me, I probably wouldn't have died. Also when I woke up my neck was a little stiff and since I have a cold I was convinced I had meningitis and was going to die...then I watched this funny movie trailer and felt better.
Note: when I woke up this morning I immediately realized that there is a rabies vaccine, so even if the rabid cat / hallmate had bitten me, I probably wouldn't have died. Also when I woke up my neck was a little stiff and since I have a cold I was convinced I had meningitis and was going to die...then I watched this funny movie trailer and felt better.
Thursday, November 25, 2010
Things I Am Thankful For This Thanksgiving
Well, there are a lot of things, but here's a brief and incomplete list in the spirit of Thanksgiving!
Happy Thanksgiving!
- My friends - and you in particular, dear blog reader!
- Being home for Thanksgiving
- Being here with Josh!
- Getting to see some of my family today
- That my cousins, whom I would normally see today but won't, seem to be having a good time in San Diego
- My health, and the health of everyone close to me
- Being at Haverford! And the community in general...I feel so lucky to be a part of it (awwww)
- That my classes aren't completely killing me, even if I am a little miffed about all the work I have to do this weekend
- My lovely freshmen and my kick-ass customs team!
- Hopefully getting to see a lot of home friends tomorrow morning, and already having seen Sarah and Pargol
- That this year has been pretty incredible so far overall
- That certain people have been there for me when I really needed it
- The support of my friends, in general, and the support of my community
- Everything I'm learning, in classes and in life
- An awesome Customs Committee!
- GSpot's being generally awesome/successful
- The new friends I've made this year, and my old friends too! ♥
- My parents and all their support
- The fact that all of my high school friends have for the most part managed to keep in touch
- The fact that my freshman hall is for the most part still close
- Everything I have, in general
- That I got to see some teachers (and baby Mina!) yesterday at NHS
- That Boston is just as beautiful as ever
- That my bedroom is big enough to harbor an air bed and pretend to be a comfortable double for 4 nights
- And a lot more...
Happy Thanksgiving!
Tuesday, November 23, 2010
Parts 7 to 11
Part 07 - Quote one of the nicest messages you have ever recieved on ask/formspring.
"I love you. I think it's rare that people make that declaration without expectation but with sincerity. But look. I just did. <3"
Part 08 - List the people you have slept with by their initials.
No. And those aren't initials.
Part 09 - A song that has lyrics you’d consider getting tattooed.
I don't think there are any. The only words I'd currently consider getting tattooed are "If you're going through hell, keep going." And that's only if I ever have a reason.
Part 10 - A photo from the last social event you went to.
I can't find any pictures of me at any recent social events, actually. I guess no one was taking pictures - I swear I leave my dorm room on occasion. Here's one of me, Emily, and Josh from before Halloween.
Part 11 - What would I find in your bag?
phone, ipod, wallet/onecard holder, chapstick, lip gloss, chamsa charm, worry stone that says "listen to your heart," little mirror, gum/mints, pencil, keys, camera
"I love you. I think it's rare that people make that declaration without expectation but with sincerity. But look. I just did. <3"
Part 08 - List the people you have slept with by their initials.
No. And those aren't initials.
Part 09 - A song that has lyrics you’d consider getting tattooed.
I don't think there are any. The only words I'd currently consider getting tattooed are "If you're going through hell, keep going." And that's only if I ever have a reason.
Part 10 - A photo from the last social event you went to.
I can't find any pictures of me at any recent social events, actually. I guess no one was taking pictures - I swear I leave my dorm room on occasion. Here's one of me, Emily, and Josh from before Halloween.
Part 11 - What would I find in your bag?
phone, ipod, wallet/onecard holder, chapstick, lip gloss, chamsa charm, worry stone that says "listen to your heart," little mirror, gum/mints, pencil, keys, camera
Sunday, November 21, 2010
Parts 2 through 6 (why am I doing this again?)
Part 02 - Write a letter to someone who has hurt you recently.
(wow, way to start this off on a depressing note.)
Dear _____,
What needs to happen for you to realize that the world doesn't revolve around you?
-Liza
Part 03 - A photo of you in a drunken state.
I really don't think one exists, but I'll go through facebook...
Technically this picture was taken post-pregame, so I think it's the best I can do.
(3/3 ♥)
Part 04 - The best concert/gig you have been to.
Well, when I saw Nsync in 4th grade it was the BEST THING EVER. I mean there were lasers and shit, and at one point they launched themselves at this velcro wall and danced on it. But I really loved the Indigo Girls concert I went to summer before senior year, cause we got up close and met them after (see the picture below). I also saw some English teachers from my high school there and it was mad awkward. Also everyone was middle-aged and really gay (except for those high school English teachers, incidentally), so it was kinda weird for us.
Me, Emily, and Eva with Emily (top) and Amy (bottom)
Part 05 - A photo of yourself, not taken by you.
Well neither one of those photos was taken by me, but here's another random one.
What? I said it would be random. This is me in the trunk of a car. We were on the highway on the way to Cape Cod this past summer, but obviously there was a ton of traffic cause it was a Friday afternoon. When this photo was taken we were moving, but very slowly, and I had discovered that climbing into the trunk backwards was possible if I put half the seat down and pulled all the shit out of the trunk (orange shovel?!). I think this photo was taken by Neelima from the passenger seat, and Sarah was driving, cause we were on our way to visit Charly in Wellfleet. Oh yeah, that was the time Charly's family met Jacob Horn on the Cape and then we invited him to s'mores but he had already left! Good times.
Part 06 - What you did today- in detail.
Woo! So I woke up at 11:30, texted Aubree that no I would not be going to brunch at 11:15 but thanks for the text, and showered. Then, I once again found that I had not left myself enough time to eat in my room before the Customs Committee meeting, so I went over to the DC and grabbed coffee and some cereal/milk in a cup, and headed to the DC basement for our meeting. That lasted until 4 (SUCH AN AWESOME GROUP OF PEOPLE!), and I stayed in the Customs room until 5:30 editing my Spanish paper. Then I went up and ate dinner with Fairleigh and Gina, and then I went back down and Aubree and I recorded this thingy for the Listening Project. So basically we talked to each other (but really a tape recorder) for a bit about Haverford. Then I drafted my Quaker interview reflection paper. It still needs a lot of work, but I've actually been productive today. Then I walked back to Gummere, checked Facebook etc., and now I'm updating my blog. What I should be doing is my Spanish reading, but the night is young...
(wow, way to start this off on a depressing note.)
Dear _____,
What needs to happen for you to realize that the world doesn't revolve around you?
-Liza
Part 03 - A photo of you in a drunken state.
I really don't think one exists, but I'll go through facebook...
Technically this picture was taken post-pregame, so I think it's the best I can do.
(3/3 ♥)
Part 04 - The best concert/gig you have been to.
Well, when I saw Nsync in 4th grade it was the BEST THING EVER. I mean there were lasers and shit, and at one point they launched themselves at this velcro wall and danced on it. But I really loved the Indigo Girls concert I went to summer before senior year, cause we got up close and met them after (see the picture below). I also saw some English teachers from my high school there and it was mad awkward. Also everyone was middle-aged and really gay (except for those high school English teachers, incidentally), so it was kinda weird for us.
Part 05 - A photo of yourself, not taken by you.
Well neither one of those photos was taken by me, but here's another random one.
What? I said it would be random. This is me in the trunk of a car. We were on the highway on the way to Cape Cod this past summer, but obviously there was a ton of traffic cause it was a Friday afternoon. When this photo was taken we were moving, but very slowly, and I had discovered that climbing into the trunk backwards was possible if I put half the seat down and pulled all the shit out of the trunk (orange shovel?!). I think this photo was taken by Neelima from the passenger seat, and Sarah was driving, cause we were on our way to visit Charly in Wellfleet. Oh yeah, that was the time Charly's family met Jacob Horn on the Cape and then we invited him to s'mores but he had already left! Good times.
Part 06 - What you did today- in detail.
Woo! So I woke up at 11:30, texted Aubree that no I would not be going to brunch at 11:15 but thanks for the text, and showered. Then, I once again found that I had not left myself enough time to eat in my room before the Customs Committee meeting, so I went over to the DC and grabbed coffee and some cereal/milk in a cup, and headed to the DC basement for our meeting. That lasted until 4 (SUCH AN AWESOME GROUP OF PEOPLE!), and I stayed in the Customs room until 5:30 editing my Spanish paper. Then I went up and ate dinner with Fairleigh and Gina, and then I went back down and Aubree and I recorded this thingy for the Listening Project. So basically we talked to each other (but really a tape recorder) for a bit about Haverford. Then I drafted my Quaker interview reflection paper. It still needs a lot of work, but I've actually been productive today. Then I walked back to Gummere, checked Facebook etc., and now I'm updating my blog. What I should be doing is my Spanish reading, but the night is young...
Thursday, November 18, 2010
Part 1
The celebrity you’d do unthinkable, illegal things to, male and female.
I feel like this is implying sex, but all it sounds like to me is serial killing.
And I'm not the biggest celebrity person anyway, so I'm trying to decide which way I want to go with this...well I'd rather do naughty things with someone than kill them, but these "things" probably wouldn't be unthinkable or illegal.
Can I just take Brangelina out of Mr. and Mrs. Smith? Technically that's characters, not celebs, but I'm okay with that.
I feel like this is implying sex, but all it sounds like to me is serial killing.
And I'm not the biggest celebrity person anyway, so I'm trying to decide which way I want to go with this...well I'd rather do naughty things with someone than kill them, but these "things" probably wouldn't be unthinkable or illegal.
Can I just take Brangelina out of Mr. and Mrs. Smith? Technically that's characters, not celebs, but I'm okay with that.
They just can't wrap their head around all the naughty/illegal/unspeakable things I want to do to them, apparently...
Tuesday, November 16, 2010
Ramble on Grammatical Correctness
I realize that by posting this, the world might come to an end, so I apologize in advance if it does.
I just watched this video, and now I'm rethinking my pickiness when it comes to grammatical correctness. Yes, it makes me cringe when people mix up "you're" and "your." I don't see myself losing that anytime soon. But maybe I like grammar so much because I like rules. Grammar organizes the complex, and it creates consistency in language. So does my grammar-stickler-ness just show how I'm an uptight sheep that follows the rules because they tell me to? Maybe. But this guy says that we should take more time to really appreciate the beauty of language, and to stop bitching about apostrophes in the wrong places. Plus, when someone says "your" when they mean "you're," or "whose" for "who's," or even apostraphes for plurals, I know what they mean. I can't pretend I don't. So maybe I don't have a right to be so snobby about my being well-educated and concrete and pretentious and whatever else causes me to bitch about who vs. whom. I'm not advocating for the decline of usage and grammar, probably for the same reasons I'm not an anarchist despite the fact that certain laws suck. And it's also not like I'm going to start deliberately messing up stuff that makes me cringe in my own speaking and writing either. But maybe this guy has a point - maybe it's not worth being so uptight about.
(Note that I just ended that sentence with a preposition.)
I just watched this video, and now I'm rethinking my pickiness when it comes to grammatical correctness. Yes, it makes me cringe when people mix up "you're" and "your." I don't see myself losing that anytime soon. But maybe I like grammar so much because I like rules. Grammar organizes the complex, and it creates consistency in language. So does my grammar-stickler-ness just show how I'm an uptight sheep that follows the rules because they tell me to? Maybe. But this guy says that we should take more time to really appreciate the beauty of language, and to stop bitching about apostrophes in the wrong places. Plus, when someone says "your" when they mean "you're," or "whose" for "who's," or even apostraphes for plurals, I know what they mean. I can't pretend I don't. So maybe I don't have a right to be so snobby about my being well-educated and concrete and pretentious and whatever else causes me to bitch about who vs. whom. I'm not advocating for the decline of usage and grammar, probably for the same reasons I'm not an anarchist despite the fact that certain laws suck. And it's also not like I'm going to start deliberately messing up stuff that makes me cringe in my own speaking and writing either. But maybe this guy has a point - maybe it's not worth being so uptight about.
(Note that I just ended that sentence with a preposition.)
Monday, November 15, 2010
OMG, not another one
oh wait, yes it is:
Part 01- The celebrity you’d do unthinkable, illegal things to, male and female.
Part 02 - Write a letter to someone who has hurt you recently.
Part 03 - A photo of you in a drunken state.
Part 04 - The best concert/gig you have been to.
Part 05 - A photo of yourself, not taken by you.
Part 06 - What you did today- in detail.
Part 07 - Quote one of the nicest messages you have ever recieved on ask/formspring.
Part 08 - List the people you have slept with by their initials.
Part 09 - A song that has lyrics you’d consider getting tattooed.
Part 10 - A photo from the last social event you went to.
Part 11 - What would I find in your bag?
Part 12 - Someone/something you don’t like.
Part 13 - What you want more than anything right now.
Part 14 - A letter to someone. Anyone.
Part 15 - Something you regret.
Part 16 - A list of songs that make you emotional.
Part 17 - A picture of you last year and how you have changed since then.
Part 18 - What you think about your friends.
Part 19 - A picture of you and your family.
Part 20 - A habit you wish you didn’t have.
Part 21 - Another celebrity you’d like in your bed.
Part 22 - Song lyrics you can really relate to at the moment.
Part 23 - The next plan you have coming up that you’re really excited for.
Part 24 - The last photo taken of you and someone else.
Part 25 - A photo of someone you fancy at the moment.
Part 26 - A secret.
Part 27 - A photo of someone who has had a big impact on you.
Part 28 - A photo of anything.
Part 29 - Plans/dreams/goals you have.
Part 30 - What have you learned in the past 30 days
not that i don't like rambling about random stuff that pops into my head, but i feel like this blog can get kind of deep and serious, and sometimes when i'm bored i just want to post random things. so i guess i'll try to go in order, but other than that im not taking this one too seriously. it's just something for inspiration when i'm bored and don't really have anything to ramble about.
Part 01- The celebrity you’d do unthinkable, illegal things to, male and female.
Part 02 - Write a letter to someone who has hurt you recently.
Part 03 - A photo of you in a drunken state.
Part 04 - The best concert/gig you have been to.
Part 05 - A photo of yourself, not taken by you.
Part 06 - What you did today- in detail.
Part 07 - Quote one of the nicest messages you have ever recieved on ask/formspring.
Part 08 - List the people you have slept with by their initials.
Part 09 - A song that has lyrics you’d consider getting tattooed.
Part 10 - A photo from the last social event you went to.
Part 11 - What would I find in your bag?
Part 12 - Someone/something you don’t like.
Part 13 - What you want more than anything right now.
Part 14 - A letter to someone. Anyone.
Part 15 - Something you regret.
Part 16 - A list of songs that make you emotional.
Part 17 - A picture of you last year and how you have changed since then.
Part 18 - What you think about your friends.
Part 19 - A picture of you and your family.
Part 20 - A habit you wish you didn’t have.
Part 21 - Another celebrity you’d like in your bed.
Part 22 - Song lyrics you can really relate to at the moment.
Part 23 - The next plan you have coming up that you’re really excited for.
Part 24 - The last photo taken of you and someone else.
Part 25 - A photo of someone you fancy at the moment.
Part 26 - A secret.
Part 27 - A photo of someone who has had a big impact on you.
Part 28 - A photo of anything.
Part 29 - Plans/dreams/goals you have.
Part 30 - What have you learned in the past 30 days
not that i don't like rambling about random stuff that pops into my head, but i feel like this blog can get kind of deep and serious, and sometimes when i'm bored i just want to post random things. so i guess i'll try to go in order, but other than that im not taking this one too seriously. it's just something for inspiration when i'm bored and don't really have anything to ramble about.
Sunday, November 7, 2010
Ramble Inspired by Quaker Meeting
Just a heads up: this one is mostly for me to sort out my thoughts. I just feel like posting it online in case someone else is interested or feels like commenting on anything I'm saying, which is always welcome. It's going to be a long and convoluted ramble about Judaism, Quakerism, and agnosticism, and it's going to be mostly about myself.
So this morning I went to Quaker Meeting with Josh and Olivia. Olivia goes every week, and Josh and I were going because we have an assignment for Quaker Social Witness class to attend a Quaker event and then reflect on it. I really like that class - it's giving me a whole new insight into a really cool religion, and beyond that the set of beliefs and ideals that have led my school to run the way it does.
The thing is, I feel like I'm kind of on this spiritual journey. Gag me, that sounds so cliché. But I feel like a lot of people hit this around college; you've been brought up one way, and all of a sudden the whole world is open to you and you're not sure what you believe in anymore. Not that I've always believed in the Judeo-Christian God, or in Adonai, or whatever you want to call him/her/it. I have a really hard time with the concept of faith in something that you can't prove is there, but something that a book said did thus-and-such thousands of years ago. I'm not okay with ruling out the presence of (a) higher power(s), because hell, life exists and that's crazy. But I don't think that whatever power or powers that exist are within the realm of human understanding. And anthropologically, it makes sense that people create religion for themselves, and Christianity happens to be the one that's dominant in this country, and Judaism happens to be the one I was brought up in, and Quakerism happens to be the one I have started experiencing more of this year.
That said, I do want some sort of spirituality in my life. It doesn't have to be related to God with a capital G, nor does it have to be related to Light or Truth with a capital L and T. I am ridiculously small, and I am part of things greater than myself. And anyway, religion isn't just about God; it's about values and morals and how a person should live his or her life.
So during this class, I've been entertaining the thought of Quakerism in my mind. The main testimonies of Quakerism are the SPICES - Simplicity, Peace, Integrity, Community, Equality, and Stewardship. In other words: not living too lavishly, living peacefully and not supporting war/violence/conflict, being honest in words and actions, valuing the communities of which we are apart and collective opinion, understanding that all humans are equal and that there is the Light of God in everyone, and concern for the environment. These are all things that I agree with, and things that I want to work on in my life. Plus, a lot of Quakers have come to Quakerism from other faiths, although most of them are from other divisions of Protestantism. I mean, Quakerism is a sect of Christianity. Quakers are Christian. That's kind of a problem for me I think. And at first I just thought it was about guilt, the amazing Jewish value. But I think it's more than guilt and a sense of obligation. I still want to raise my kids Jewish, and stay a part of the community, because the community is ridiculously important to me and has played a pretty big role in my life. However, there's also this voice in my head saying that sending said kids to a Quaker school would be a really awesome environment for them (hypothetically), and that those are values that I'd want them to be strongly exposed to, and that I like the ideas of silence and an individual relationship with whatever it is you want to believe in.
Also, going to Meeting today made me see a lot of the differences between Quaker worship and Reform Jewish worship. First of all, I really like the silence. I like that everyone can have their own personal relationship with whatever it is they believe in - God, Truth, Light, the Inner Guide, themselves, the community, whathaveyou. Also, I like the idea of being moved by said force(s) to speak out of the silence and share a message with the community. Plus, I like how decisions are made in the Quaker community - consensus, because everyone is equal and every voice counts. But it's missing so much of what I was brought up in. Music, for one. Emotion. The silence is very calming, but the prayers I'm familiar with are joyous, sad, exciting, solemnly reflective. They have a lot in them that one doesn't get from silence, even if I don't find that everything in every Jewish prayers resonates with me. In fact, there is a lot in them that doesn't resonate with me at all, particularly about God, because I don't think that's the God I believe in, so why should I pray like that? But at the same time, I have no real desire to leave Judaism. I'm okay with being connected mostly to the community and the traditions of it. (And hello, the FOOD.)
So I guess that leaves me with answers, but at the same time not really at all. But I shouldn't have answers at this point in my life. I think I want to keep going to Meeting. In the future, like way in the future, I wouldn't mind going to Meeting, but I don't know if I want to be a member (there's a difference between member and attender) because I'm not Christian. And I don't think I want to give up Judaism for Quakerism, or give up Judaism in general. I think that if I'm doing Quakerism, I'm doing both. I don't know if that makes sense or can be done, but when I think about it, it's perfectly okay to like both or to be somewhere in between. And who's to say that I can't send my kids to a Quaker school (if I have that kind of money...) and take them to Meeting but also to Temple too so that they're part of that community? Although I guess that gets kind of confusing after awhile, since what do you do about First Day School vs. Hebrew School? But thinking about this now is honestly kind of silly, and probably unrealistic, since whoever I end up with will obviously weigh in a lot, like 50%. But Meeting got me thinking, and I hadn't really told anyone that all this was on my mind. So here you go: my ramble for today.
So this morning I went to Quaker Meeting with Josh and Olivia. Olivia goes every week, and Josh and I were going because we have an assignment for Quaker Social Witness class to attend a Quaker event and then reflect on it. I really like that class - it's giving me a whole new insight into a really cool religion, and beyond that the set of beliefs and ideals that have led my school to run the way it does.
The thing is, I feel like I'm kind of on this spiritual journey. Gag me, that sounds so cliché. But I feel like a lot of people hit this around college; you've been brought up one way, and all of a sudden the whole world is open to you and you're not sure what you believe in anymore. Not that I've always believed in the Judeo-Christian God, or in Adonai, or whatever you want to call him/her/it. I have a really hard time with the concept of faith in something that you can't prove is there, but something that a book said did thus-and-such thousands of years ago. I'm not okay with ruling out the presence of (a) higher power(s), because hell, life exists and that's crazy. But I don't think that whatever power or powers that exist are within the realm of human understanding. And anthropologically, it makes sense that people create religion for themselves, and Christianity happens to be the one that's dominant in this country, and Judaism happens to be the one I was brought up in, and Quakerism happens to be the one I have started experiencing more of this year.
That said, I do want some sort of spirituality in my life. It doesn't have to be related to God with a capital G, nor does it have to be related to Light or Truth with a capital L and T. I am ridiculously small, and I am part of things greater than myself. And anyway, religion isn't just about God; it's about values and morals and how a person should live his or her life.
So during this class, I've been entertaining the thought of Quakerism in my mind. The main testimonies of Quakerism are the SPICES - Simplicity, Peace, Integrity, Community, Equality, and Stewardship. In other words: not living too lavishly, living peacefully and not supporting war/violence/conflict, being honest in words and actions, valuing the communities of which we are apart and collective opinion, understanding that all humans are equal and that there is the Light of God in everyone, and concern for the environment. These are all things that I agree with, and things that I want to work on in my life. Plus, a lot of Quakers have come to Quakerism from other faiths, although most of them are from other divisions of Protestantism. I mean, Quakerism is a sect of Christianity. Quakers are Christian. That's kind of a problem for me I think. And at first I just thought it was about guilt, the amazing Jewish value. But I think it's more than guilt and a sense of obligation. I still want to raise my kids Jewish, and stay a part of the community, because the community is ridiculously important to me and has played a pretty big role in my life. However, there's also this voice in my head saying that sending said kids to a Quaker school would be a really awesome environment for them (hypothetically), and that those are values that I'd want them to be strongly exposed to, and that I like the ideas of silence and an individual relationship with whatever it is you want to believe in.
Also, going to Meeting today made me see a lot of the differences between Quaker worship and Reform Jewish worship. First of all, I really like the silence. I like that everyone can have their own personal relationship with whatever it is they believe in - God, Truth, Light, the Inner Guide, themselves, the community, whathaveyou. Also, I like the idea of being moved by said force(s) to speak out of the silence and share a message with the community. Plus, I like how decisions are made in the Quaker community - consensus, because everyone is equal and every voice counts. But it's missing so much of what I was brought up in. Music, for one. Emotion. The silence is very calming, but the prayers I'm familiar with are joyous, sad, exciting, solemnly reflective. They have a lot in them that one doesn't get from silence, even if I don't find that everything in every Jewish prayers resonates with me. In fact, there is a lot in them that doesn't resonate with me at all, particularly about God, because I don't think that's the God I believe in, so why should I pray like that? But at the same time, I have no real desire to leave Judaism. I'm okay with being connected mostly to the community and the traditions of it. (And hello, the FOOD.)
So I guess that leaves me with answers, but at the same time not really at all. But I shouldn't have answers at this point in my life. I think I want to keep going to Meeting. In the future, like way in the future, I wouldn't mind going to Meeting, but I don't know if I want to be a member (there's a difference between member and attender) because I'm not Christian. And I don't think I want to give up Judaism for Quakerism, or give up Judaism in general. I think that if I'm doing Quakerism, I'm doing both. I don't know if that makes sense or can be done, but when I think about it, it's perfectly okay to like both or to be somewhere in between. And who's to say that I can't send my kids to a Quaker school (if I have that kind of money...) and take them to Meeting but also to Temple too so that they're part of that community? Although I guess that gets kind of confusing after awhile, since what do you do about First Day School vs. Hebrew School? But thinking about this now is honestly kind of silly, and probably unrealistic, since whoever I end up with will obviously weigh in a lot, like 50%. But Meeting got me thinking, and I hadn't really told anyone that all this was on my mind. So here you go: my ramble for today.
Monday, November 1, 2010
Stuck in my head...
On occasion, I get Hebrew prayers stuck in my head for no reason. I guess something about a tune and a string of syllables I know by heart but don't understand is conducive to popping into my head at random times. Anyway, my ramble on prayer is a whole 'nuther issue, but right now I have the Mi Shebeirach stuck in my head (the prayer for healing), specifically the version by Debbie Friedman, which is part in Hebrew and part in English. There are a couple English lines in there that are resonating with me right now:
May the source of strength who blessed the ones before us
Help us find the courage to make our lives a blessing
And let us say, Amen
I feel like it's a lot of what I'm feeling in Quaker Social Witness right now, of not knowing what I believe in (whether this source of strength is a "who" or not, for example), but knowing that I want to make a difference and live a good life. So may whatever has motivated and strengthened all those who came before me, give me the strength and courage to make my life a blessing as well.
May the source of strength who blessed the ones before us
Help us find the courage to make our lives a blessing
And let us say, Amen
I feel like it's a lot of what I'm feeling in Quaker Social Witness right now, of not knowing what I believe in (whether this source of strength is a "who" or not, for example), but knowing that I want to make a difference and live a good life. So may whatever has motivated and strengthened all those who came before me, give me the strength and courage to make my life a blessing as well.
Monday, October 25, 2010
Nocturno Preso
Normally I don't like poetry analysis even in English much less of avant-garde Spanish poetry, but I really like this one we have to read for class, so I'm posting it.
Nocturno Preso
Prisionero de mi frente
el sueño quiere escapar
y fuera de mà probar
a todos que es inocente.
Oigo su voz impaciente,
miro su gesto y su estado
amenazador, airado.
No sabe que soy el sueño
de otro: si fuera su dueño
ya lo habrÃa libertado.
My translation (although the original one rhymes):
Nocturnal Prisoner
Prisoner of my forehead
the dream wants to escape
and outside of me prove
to all that it's innocent.
I hear its impatient voice
I see its gesture and its state:
threatening, angry.
It doesn't know that I'm the dream
of another: if I were its owner
I already would've freed it.
Nocturno Preso
Prisionero de mi frente
el sueño quiere escapar
y fuera de mà probar
a todos que es inocente.
Oigo su voz impaciente,
miro su gesto y su estado
amenazador, airado.
No sabe que soy el sueño
de otro: si fuera su dueño
ya lo habrÃa libertado.
My translation (although the original one rhymes):
Nocturnal Prisoner
Prisoner of my forehead
the dream wants to escape
and outside of me prove
to all that it's innocent.
I hear its impatient voice
I see its gesture and its state:
threatening, angry.
It doesn't know that I'm the dream
of another: if I were its owner
I already would've freed it.
Monday, October 11, 2010
More Pictures
Two new posts? WHAT?!
Basically these pictures make me happy, so I'm posting them. I took them in New Hampshire yesterday and today.
Basically these pictures make me happy, so I'm posting them. I took them in New Hampshire yesterday and today.
Ramble on How Technology Makes Us Antisocial
Yes, that's right. Facebook makes you antisocial. I mean, not within facebook, obviously. It's a social networking site. What I mean is, it makes you antisocial in real life. Not completely, obviously. Most of us have friends in real life too. And I know I'm a really big hypocrite, but I feel like rambling about it anyway.
My dad just got a crackberry. That thing can get internet all the time. You know all those things you do to procrastinate doing your homework because the internet has endless possibilities? Well now you can take that anywhere. So we were in a shoe store, and he was watching ESPN.com refreshing the baseball game play-by-play. We were standing in a restaurant entrance waiting for my mom, and instead of talking to me, he was checking his email. Antisocial. And I really want one, too, which just makes it even worse. I don't claim immunity from all this. The temptation to retreat into our world of screens and computers and updates is everywhere.
But you know what's not included in screens and computers and updates? Real live people, who you can actually get to know. As much as I love to facebook stalk, you can never really know what someone's like just by looking at their facebook profile. The only thing you can say for sure about them is what they chose to put on their facebook profile. Even now, there are people who I stalked on facebook before getting to know them, and now it almost seems like their facebook persona and their real life persona are two different people. But it's natural to think you can really know someone that way, since there's so much information on there. Plus there's the whole communication thing; people don't say the same things online that they'd say in person. Sure, who doesn't like it when people like their statuses and comment on them? I like dialogues online, and feedback on my pictures. It's awesome to get 500,000 wall posts on your birthday, but you know what? That's cheating. You wouldn't have known it was my birthday if facebook hadn't told you, unless you're one of the handful of people who actually know my birthday. (It's May 20th, by the way.) Sure, sometimes facebook is an extension of my IRL social life. Maybe I was talking to someone about something in the DC and then left a link about it on their wall. And sometimes it's just a really convenient way to get in touch with that random kid from Spanish class to ask about homework, or to stay in touch with friends who don't live near me who I don't get to see that often. But it can never replace actual friendships, actual late-night secret sharing and hugs and adventures.
My dad and I were also talking once about having TVs in restaurants. It's just another example of technology being everywhere, grabbing your attention away from the people right in front of you. When I'm sitting across from my parents at a table, and some random hockey game is going on above their heads, I'm going to watch the hockey game just because it's moving. I don't have the slightest interest in watching hockey. But it makes me antisocial, and I know I'm not the only one who does it.
I mean, come on...right now I'm in the car with my parents, driving home from New Hampshire. And you know what I'm doing? I'm typing on my laptop, headphones in ears, multitasking between this, editing photos, and texting a friend. It's borderline irritating when my parents want to talk to me because I have to make the music go away and break my focus from the illuminated screen in front of me.
Technology. Progressing the entire world to new levels of awesomeness, and also making us that much more antisocial.
Wednesday, September 29, 2010
Random Picture
I just came across this photo in my miscellaneous pictures folder. I found it somewhere random online, probably through stumbleupon, and unfortunately I never wrote down who took it. But it's pretty sick.
Monday, September 27, 2010
Ramble on Internet Wiretapping
Take a look at this article, which was in the subject line of my NY Times email this morning.
The gist is, terrorists used to communicate via means that the government could easily tap - mainly the telephone - but now there are ways of communication that the government doesn't have the technological ability intercept. For example, encrypted emails (such as those trasmitted by BlackBerries), Facebook, and Skype. So now, the Obama administration is planning to submit a bill to Congress that would basically require such means of communication to be interceptable.
According to the article, new requirements would be:
I can't decide how I feel about this. Of course, my gut reaction is "Hey government, get off my Facebook and get out of my inbox!" I mean no one wants the government to be able to hack into their Skype conversations or arrest them because they wrote "Obama sucks" on someone else's Facebook wall. Plus, it's reminding me of post-9/11 Bush all over again (although to be fair, most of the information I have on the whole arresting-innocent-people thing comes from Farenheit 911). But still, I thought we were maybe moving away from the Patriot Act and back towards privacy except with a warrant.
Then again, maybe it's not such a bad thing. Why should there be such a loophole, such a gap in our security where terrorists can easily communicate? Before the technologies developed away from it, the government could always intercept communications. And really, the main purpose of the FBI and the CIA is to keep us safe. This supposed bill wouldn't even give them more power per se, it would just maintain the investigative powers the government already has, and anyway, no one says that they're going to be banging down doors and torturing people for three days just because of an "Obama sucks" comment. So it's fine, as long as they don't abuse this power. Right? Or should they not be able to tap private communications in the first place? When is it Big Brother, and when is it protecting the well-being of American citizens?
For example, the Times Square bombing that failed in May might've been prevented completely if the government had been able to intercept the terrorists' communications. Investigations into things like drug cartels would be possible. It seems like it's in our best interests for our governmental intelligence agencies not to be hindered in working to stop terrorists. What they do makes all of us safer. So where's the line where those of us who have nothing to fear sacrifice some personal privacy in order to increase national security? But then again, how can we really trust that the government will use that power well if it's granted? Based on the fact that technologies have moved away from being interceptable by the government, is it really fair to require the creators of such technologies to put time, money, and effort into altering their systems just so that the government can hack in?
Mmkay, I think this ramble is long enough. We'll see if this plan even goes anywhere. But it surprised me when I read about it this morning, and then I talked about it with some people at lunch, and I figured it'd be a good topic to ramble about.
The gist is, terrorists used to communicate via means that the government could easily tap - mainly the telephone - but now there are ways of communication that the government doesn't have the technological ability intercept. For example, encrypted emails (such as those trasmitted by BlackBerries), Facebook, and Skype. So now, the Obama administration is planning to submit a bill to Congress that would basically require such means of communication to be interceptable.
According to the article, new requirements would be:
- Communications services that encrypt messages must have a way to unscramble them.
- Foreign-based providers that do business inside the United States must install a domestic office capable of performing intercepts.
- Developers of software that enables peer-to-peer communication must redesign their service to allow interception.
I can't decide how I feel about this. Of course, my gut reaction is "Hey government, get off my Facebook and get out of my inbox!" I mean no one wants the government to be able to hack into their Skype conversations or arrest them because they wrote "Obama sucks" on someone else's Facebook wall. Plus, it's reminding me of post-9/11 Bush all over again (although to be fair, most of the information I have on the whole arresting-innocent-people thing comes from Farenheit 911). But still, I thought we were maybe moving away from the Patriot Act and back towards privacy except with a warrant.
Then again, maybe it's not such a bad thing. Why should there be such a loophole, such a gap in our security where terrorists can easily communicate? Before the technologies developed away from it, the government could always intercept communications. And really, the main purpose of the FBI and the CIA is to keep us safe. This supposed bill wouldn't even give them more power per se, it would just maintain the investigative powers the government already has, and anyway, no one says that they're going to be banging down doors and torturing people for three days just because of an "Obama sucks" comment. So it's fine, as long as they don't abuse this power. Right? Or should they not be able to tap private communications in the first place? When is it Big Brother, and when is it protecting the well-being of American citizens?
For example, the Times Square bombing that failed in May might've been prevented completely if the government had been able to intercept the terrorists' communications. Investigations into things like drug cartels would be possible. It seems like it's in our best interests for our governmental intelligence agencies not to be hindered in working to stop terrorists. What they do makes all of us safer. So where's the line where those of us who have nothing to fear sacrifice some personal privacy in order to increase national security? But then again, how can we really trust that the government will use that power well if it's granted? Based on the fact that technologies have moved away from being interceptable by the government, is it really fair to require the creators of such technologies to put time, money, and effort into altering their systems just so that the government can hack in?
Mmkay, I think this ramble is long enough. We'll see if this plan even goes anywhere. But it surprised me when I read about it this morning, and then I talked about it with some people at lunch, and I figured it'd be a good topic to ramble about.
Thursday, September 23, 2010
Friday, September 17, 2010
Dude, this blows my mind.
Watch this video.
I'm now having one of those, Holy-Crap-We-Are-SO-SMALL moments. How is it that we even exist?! How is it that everything exists? So much exists! And it's SO FAR AWAY!
Clearly this video has removed my ability to articulate just about anything. So fair warning.
Okay, so some scientists decide to do a little experiment, and we point our strongest telescope at so-called nothing, blackness. And what do we see? Three thousand galaxies. Oh, cool, so what we thought was empty space is actually 3000 galaxies moving away from us in some cases faster than the speed of light. And each one of those galaxies has hundreds of billions of stars. And some of those stars have planets and goodness even knows what else. And those are just the ones we saw at that moment with the limited capabilities of one telescope.
And we are just one little planet in one little galaxy, and for heaven's sake (no pun intended) we think we are the center of it all. We think the Sun is cool?! We think the Earth is special? SPACE IS SO BIG! Just think what's out there!!! And these light specs, these photons, have been just chilling, flying through space, for billions of years. That's so long!
Omg. It doesn't even look real. I don't know what to do with myself. My brain can't even comprehend. And probably about 30 seconds after I post this I won't really care that much anymore. But seriously, how cool is this?!
Ok I'm gonna go do something with my life now besides blog on a Friday night...
I'm now having one of those, Holy-Crap-We-Are-SO-SMALL moments. How is it that we even exist?! How is it that everything exists? So much exists! And it's SO FAR AWAY!
Clearly this video has removed my ability to articulate just about anything. So fair warning.
Okay, so some scientists decide to do a little experiment, and we point our strongest telescope at so-called nothing, blackness. And what do we see? Three thousand galaxies. Oh, cool, so what we thought was empty space is actually 3000 galaxies moving away from us in some cases faster than the speed of light. And each one of those galaxies has hundreds of billions of stars. And some of those stars have planets and goodness even knows what else. And those are just the ones we saw at that moment with the limited capabilities of one telescope.
And we are just one little planet in one little galaxy, and for heaven's sake (no pun intended) we think we are the center of it all. We think the Sun is cool?! We think the Earth is special? SPACE IS SO BIG! Just think what's out there!!! And these light specs, these photons, have been just chilling, flying through space, for billions of years. That's so long!
Omg. It doesn't even look real. I don't know what to do with myself. My brain can't even comprehend. And probably about 30 seconds after I post this I won't really care that much anymore. But seriously, how cool is this?!
Ok I'm gonna go do something with my life now besides blog on a Friday night...
Saturday, September 11, 2010
Ramble on September 11th, Etc.
First of all, Burn a Quran Day?! What the fuck. September 11th was once a day that brought Americans together, united the nation, reminded us of the ideals on which our country was founded. One of those is freedom of religion. How did this day, for some, turn into a day for hating all people of a certain faith?
I feel like I'm preaching to the choir. I'm pretty sure anyone reading this would agree with me that Islam is not a hateful, terrorism-happy religion. But how can we change the people behind Burn a Quran Day, behind the opposition to the mosque being built at Ground Zero? How can we stop people from thinking that Islam is an evil religion that has no place on American soil, much less near the site of an attack that was supposedly carried out by Islam as a whole?
And anyway, do I really have a right to claim that my preachings of love, tolerance, and so-called open-mindedness are any more legit than their unwavering belief that anyone who doesn't believe in Jesus as the savior/almighty/son of God is evil? Freedom of religion and speech, right? I mean, that's a bit extreme, but more generally, who am I to legitimately claim that my liberal beliefs are more legitimate than conservative beliefs, just because more people I know agree with me?
We have freedom of speech in this country. We have elections, so that the masses can have a voice and change the government if they want to. But sometimes I feel like the masses are getting dumber and dumber. Obviously that's a giant overstatement. It's not actually that many people; they're just disproportionately covered in the media. It's really not the masses at all. It's just that it gets me so angry.
So on a completely different note: May all those who passed away on September 11, 2001 rest in peace; may their families and friends find comfort; and may this country continue to move forward in strength and love.
I feel like I'm preaching to the choir. I'm pretty sure anyone reading this would agree with me that Islam is not a hateful, terrorism-happy religion. But how can we change the people behind Burn a Quran Day, behind the opposition to the mosque being built at Ground Zero? How can we stop people from thinking that Islam is an evil religion that has no place on American soil, much less near the site of an attack that was supposedly carried out by Islam as a whole?
And anyway, do I really have a right to claim that my preachings of love, tolerance, and so-called open-mindedness are any more legit than their unwavering belief that anyone who doesn't believe in Jesus as the savior/almighty/son of God is evil? Freedom of religion and speech, right? I mean, that's a bit extreme, but more generally, who am I to legitimately claim that my liberal beliefs are more legitimate than conservative beliefs, just because more people I know agree with me?
We have freedom of speech in this country. We have elections, so that the masses can have a voice and change the government if they want to. But sometimes I feel like the masses are getting dumber and dumber. Obviously that's a giant overstatement. It's not actually that many people; they're just disproportionately covered in the media. It's really not the masses at all. It's just that it gets me so angry.
So on a completely different note: May all those who passed away on September 11, 2001 rest in peace; may their families and friends find comfort; and may this country continue to move forward in strength and love.
Saturday, August 28, 2010
Ramble on Multiculturalism
Wow, what a Haverfordian topic to ramble about. But of course, our discussions yesterday made me think, and when I think it's a good excuse to blog.
So if you go to Haverford, what I'm saying might be familiar, just because I feel like we talk about this so much. Or maybe just cause we talked about it yesterday. But my main pet peeve with how we tend to use the word "multicultural" on campus and even in society at large is that it tends to mean either "not white" or "including large number of races/ethnicities." So a multicultural student might be a student who isn't white, or if a high school adopts a multicultural standpoint (I know there's a better word but I'm sleep deprived and can't think of it), it embraces all the cultures - meaning races and immigrant ethnicities - of the students who go there, rather than trying to Americanize all of them or something.
But culture is a way broader word than that. It's not just about your skin color and where you're from. Culture can mean the food you eat, or the diversity of where you live, or your class, or the general socioeconomic status of the people where you live, or the traditions, or the commonly accepted values. So sure, ethnicity and race can cover a lot of those things, because people of one ethnicity might eat similar foods or hold the same general values. But although I feel like I'm not considered a multicultural student at Haverford because I'm white, I consider myself to be multicultural mainly because I'm Jewish and because I identify as LGBT and am so much a part of that community and those two cultures. (Or, well, I'm starting to have a problem with that acronym because the LGBT community tends to turn its back on its T members so often, but that's another ramble.) So while I and so many other white students here could bring a diverse perspective to things like Honor Council trials, we aren't considered to be "multicultural" members of a jury because we're white and thus not considered "multicultural." I feel like when we talk about multiculturalism here, we're talking about race, maybe country of origin or family origin. Who gets invited to Spectrum and Multicultural Weekend? Mostly specs of color. (Haha, that sounds like I took paint and flung it at a wall and then there were specs of color. Spec = Prospective student. Need sleep.) Then again, we aren't really asked to identify our sexuality or our religion on college applications, so how should they know? But there are other ways, I think. Like I put down youth group, temple committees, and GSA on my app. I just feel that race and nationality/ethnicity are not the only kinds of culture that should be included in the term "multiculturalism," especially at Haverford where we have a fairly diverse student body in so many aspects of life.
So if you go to Haverford, what I'm saying might be familiar, just because I feel like we talk about this so much. Or maybe just cause we talked about it yesterday. But my main pet peeve with how we tend to use the word "multicultural" on campus and even in society at large is that it tends to mean either "not white" or "including large number of races/ethnicities." So a multicultural student might be a student who isn't white, or if a high school adopts a multicultural standpoint (I know there's a better word but I'm sleep deprived and can't think of it), it embraces all the cultures - meaning races and immigrant ethnicities - of the students who go there, rather than trying to Americanize all of them or something.
But culture is a way broader word than that. It's not just about your skin color and where you're from. Culture can mean the food you eat, or the diversity of where you live, or your class, or the general socioeconomic status of the people where you live, or the traditions, or the commonly accepted values. So sure, ethnicity and race can cover a lot of those things, because people of one ethnicity might eat similar foods or hold the same general values. But although I feel like I'm not considered a multicultural student at Haverford because I'm white, I consider myself to be multicultural mainly because I'm Jewish and because I identify as LGBT and am so much a part of that community and those two cultures. (Or, well, I'm starting to have a problem with that acronym because the LGBT community tends to turn its back on its T members so often, but that's another ramble.) So while I and so many other white students here could bring a diverse perspective to things like Honor Council trials, we aren't considered to be "multicultural" members of a jury because we're white and thus not considered "multicultural." I feel like when we talk about multiculturalism here, we're talking about race, maybe country of origin or family origin. Who gets invited to Spectrum and Multicultural Weekend? Mostly specs of color. (Haha, that sounds like I took paint and flung it at a wall and then there were specs of color. Spec = Prospective student. Need sleep.) Then again, we aren't really asked to identify our sexuality or our religion on college applications, so how should they know? But there are other ways, I think. Like I put down youth group, temple committees, and GSA on my app. I just feel that race and nationality/ethnicity are not the only kinds of culture that should be included in the term "multiculturalism," especially at Haverford where we have a fairly diverse student body in so many aspects of life.
Thursday, August 19, 2010
Ramble About Nothing
Yes, it is such a riveting topic. Actually, I don't know why you're bothering to read this. But whoever you are, I love you for it anyway.
So I am a freak when it comes to packing. I think I accidentally never unpacked, cause I live my life out of plastic drawers. Plus I've been in denial all summer that I was actually home, and had to wait to go back. So then on Sunday I was like okay I'll spend this week packing! Ready, go! *20 minutes later* Wait, what else needs to go in? Oh, just my clothes and toiletries...no I'm not allowed to do that til Friday. *waits*
Seriously though, thank goodness for my mom's van. I know I made fun of it because it's red, but it's been a lifesaver in terms of how much crap I have. And shout out to my dad for driving 6 hours with me on Saturday and 6 hours back on Sunday after I move in. Yeah, he's pretty awesome like that.
So now I'm just bored. I keep losing track of what day it is - since Sunday I've thought it was Friday. I accidentally referred to when I was leaving as "tomorrow" earlier today and scared the crap out of Charly. Whoops.
Also I'm not allowed to go to bed before midnight. I need to get off grandmother time, especially since I have to stay up til 4:30ish am whatever night that is. And I generally need to get back onto college time. It's 12:28, so I guess I'm technically allowed to go to bed, but I'm not really tired. Which is the goal. But I'm still bored. And sick of the internet. So why not blog if I'm sick of the internet, right? Yeah, that makes sense.
Or I can just facbook stalk my freshmen more. Always fun.
God I hope theyre not reading this.
It's out of love, I swear!
You'll understand when you meet me.
Or maybe you'll just think I'm weird. (More likely.)
Or maybe you'll understand if any of you someday have freshmen of your own.
Yeah, you'll understand eventually.
Hopefully.
Man, I should not have license to blabber like this online after a certain time of night. It just shouldn't be allowed because people will assume I'm on drugs, or drunk (I'm not, I pinky swear), and later I'll be embarrassed about it. (It's also way too early for me to be hitting the point of delirium. But hey, at least I'm awake - one step at a time.)
Oh well. Bonus points if you read this before I take it down.
Good night!
So I am a freak when it comes to packing. I think I accidentally never unpacked, cause I live my life out of plastic drawers. Plus I've been in denial all summer that I was actually home, and had to wait to go back. So then on Sunday I was like okay I'll spend this week packing! Ready, go! *20 minutes later* Wait, what else needs to go in? Oh, just my clothes and toiletries...no I'm not allowed to do that til Friday. *waits*
Seriously though, thank goodness for my mom's van. I know I made fun of it because it's red, but it's been a lifesaver in terms of how much crap I have. And shout out to my dad for driving 6 hours with me on Saturday and 6 hours back on Sunday after I move in. Yeah, he's pretty awesome like that.
So now I'm just bored. I keep losing track of what day it is - since Sunday I've thought it was Friday. I accidentally referred to when I was leaving as "tomorrow" earlier today and scared the crap out of Charly. Whoops.
Also I'm not allowed to go to bed before midnight. I need to get off grandmother time, especially since I have to stay up til 4:30ish am whatever night that is. And I generally need to get back onto college time. It's 12:28, so I guess I'm technically allowed to go to bed, but I'm not really tired. Which is the goal. But I'm still bored. And sick of the internet. So why not blog if I'm sick of the internet, right? Yeah, that makes sense.
Or I can just facbook stalk my freshmen more. Always fun.
God I hope theyre not reading this.
It's out of love, I swear!
You'll understand when you meet me.
Or maybe you'll just think I'm weird. (More likely.)
Or maybe you'll understand if any of you someday have freshmen of your own.
Yeah, you'll understand eventually.
Hopefully.
Man, I should not have license to blabber like this online after a certain time of night. It just shouldn't be allowed because people will assume I'm on drugs, or drunk (I'm not, I pinky swear), and later I'll be embarrassed about it. (It's also way too early for me to be hitting the point of delirium. But hey, at least I'm awake - one step at a time.)
Oh well. Bonus points if you read this before I take it down.
Good night!
Saturday, August 14, 2010
More Excitedness! :D
Things I am excited about:
- I GO BACK TO SCHOOL IN ONE WEEK!!!
- seeing everyone i miss like crazy!
- Bath and Body Works has new smells. I am way more excited about this than i should be, but hey, an obsession's an obsession.
- I'm currently on the cape with some of my best friends and we're gonna go to the beach
- I can smell breakfast cooking downstairs and it smells delicious
- I'm done with work! FREEDOM!!!
- I'm actually excited to pack for school. Yes, packing makes me excited.
- Everything I just added to the list of hopes/plans/dreams for next year.
Thursday, August 12, 2010
Short Feminist Vent
Today, a male coworker, probably in his late 60's, referred to me as a "cutiepie." Hello. I am 19 years old. I am not a child. I'm sure he was very well intentioned, and on the spectrum of sketchy things this was very much not that bad. But seriously.
Today, and every day, the men in the elevator let me off first. To the point of awkwardness. One of them today (the one who wasn't my dad) was actually between me and the door, but he moved aside and gestured for me to exit first.
I don't want to have to exit the elevator first. I don't want to feel weird holding the door for my dad rather than the other way around, because I'm a woman and he's being chivalrous. "Ladies first." I hold the door for everyone. People hold doors for each other.
I'm not sure really why this is pissing me off. But I don't want to receive special treatment because I'm female. I consider myself to be people's equals, but I feel like I'm not being taken seriously as an equal when I'm being let off the elevator first, or referred to as a "cutiepie" by an older male coworker.
*sigh*
Today, and every day, the men in the elevator let me off first. To the point of awkwardness. One of them today (the one who wasn't my dad) was actually between me and the door, but he moved aside and gestured for me to exit first.
I don't want to have to exit the elevator first. I don't want to feel weird holding the door for my dad rather than the other way around, because I'm a woman and he's being chivalrous. "Ladies first." I hold the door for everyone. People hold doors for each other.
I'm not sure really why this is pissing me off. But I don't want to receive special treatment because I'm female. I consider myself to be people's equals, but I feel like I'm not being taken seriously as an equal when I'm being let off the elevator first, or referred to as a "cutiepie" by an older male coworker.
*sigh*
The Match Story, Part 2
http://www.thematchstory.com/
Boston Med
ABC, tonight at 10/9c
Joseph Helfgot's story
For anyone who wants to watch...
Edit: In the Boston area, it's airing on Channel 5, WCVB TV.
Boston Med
ABC, tonight at 10/9c
Joseph Helfgot's story
For anyone who wants to watch...
Edit: In the Boston area, it's airing on Channel 5, WCVB TV.
Tuesday, August 10, 2010
Songs on Repeat
There are two songs I'm currently obsessing over: King of Anything by Sara Bareilles and Blue Lips by Regina Spektor. Since I've had them stuck in my head for around three days straight, I figured I'd post the lyrics. I'm doing them from memory as best I can because 1. I'm really bored and 2. maybe it'll help get them out of my head.
King of Anything by Sara Bareilles
Keep drinking coffee stare me down across the table
As I look outside
So many things I'd say if only I were able
But I just keep quiet and count the cars that pass by
You've got opinions, man
We're all entitled to them
But I never asked
So I thank you for your time
And try not to waste any more of mine
Get out of here fast
I hate to break it to you babe
But I'm not drowning
There's no one here to save
Who cares if you disagree?
You are not me
Who made you king of anything?
So you dare tell me how to be
Who died and made you king of anything?
You sound so innocent
All full of good intent
Swear you know best
But you expect me to
Jump up on board with you
Ride off into your delusional sunset
I'm not the one who's lost
With no direction, oh
But you'll never see
You're so busy making maps
With my name on them in all caps
You've got the talking down
But not the listening
Who cares if you disagree?
You are not me
Who made you king of anything?
So you dare tell me who to be
Who died and made you king of anything?
All my life, I've tried to make everybody happy while I
Just hurt, and hide
Waiting for someone to tell me it's my turn to decide
Who cares if you disagree?
You are not me
Who made you king of anything?
So you dare tell me who to be
Who died and made you king of anything?
Let me hold your crown babe
Blue Lips by Regina Spektor
He stumbled into faith and thought,
God this is all there is
The pictures in his mind arose
And began to breathe
And all the gods and all the worlds
Began colliding on a backdrop of blue
Blue lips, blue veins
He took a step but then felt tired
He said I'll rest a little while
But when he tried to walk again
He wasn't a child
And all the people hurried past, real fast
And no one ever smiled
Blue lips, blue veins
Blue, the color of our planet from far far away
Blue lips, blue veins
Blue, the color of our planet from far far away
He stumbled into faith and thought,
God this is all there is
The pictures in his mind arose
And began to breathe
And no one saw and no one heard
They just followed lead
The pictures in his mind awoke
And began to breed
They started out beneath the knowledge tree
Then they chopped it down to make white picket fences
And they marched along the railroad tracks
They smiled real wide for the camera lenses
They made it past the enemy lines
Just to become enslaved in the assembly lines
Blue lips, blue veins
Blue, the color of our planet from far far away
Blue lips, blue veins
Blue, the color of our planet from far far away
Blue, the most human color...
King of Anything by Sara Bareilles
Keep drinking coffee stare me down across the table
As I look outside
So many things I'd say if only I were able
But I just keep quiet and count the cars that pass by
You've got opinions, man
We're all entitled to them
But I never asked
So I thank you for your time
And try not to waste any more of mine
Get out of here fast
I hate to break it to you babe
But I'm not drowning
There's no one here to save
Who cares if you disagree?
You are not me
Who made you king of anything?
So you dare tell me how to be
Who died and made you king of anything?
You sound so innocent
All full of good intent
Swear you know best
But you expect me to
Jump up on board with you
Ride off into your delusional sunset
I'm not the one who's lost
With no direction, oh
But you'll never see
You're so busy making maps
With my name on them in all caps
You've got the talking down
But not the listening
Who cares if you disagree?
You are not me
Who made you king of anything?
So you dare tell me who to be
Who died and made you king of anything?
All my life, I've tried to make everybody happy while I
Just hurt, and hide
Waiting for someone to tell me it's my turn to decide
Who cares if you disagree?
You are not me
Who made you king of anything?
So you dare tell me who to be
Who died and made you king of anything?
Let me hold your crown babe
Blue Lips by Regina Spektor
He stumbled into faith and thought,
God this is all there is
The pictures in his mind arose
And began to breathe
And all the gods and all the worlds
Began colliding on a backdrop of blue
Blue lips, blue veins
He took a step but then felt tired
He said I'll rest a little while
But when he tried to walk again
He wasn't a child
And all the people hurried past, real fast
And no one ever smiled
Blue lips, blue veins
Blue, the color of our planet from far far away
Blue lips, blue veins
Blue, the color of our planet from far far away
He stumbled into faith and thought,
God this is all there is
The pictures in his mind arose
And began to breathe
And no one saw and no one heard
They just followed lead
The pictures in his mind awoke
And began to breed
They started out beneath the knowledge tree
Then they chopped it down to make white picket fences
And they marched along the railroad tracks
They smiled real wide for the camera lenses
They made it past the enemy lines
Just to become enslaved in the assembly lines
Blue lips, blue veins
Blue, the color of our planet from far far away
Blue lips, blue veins
Blue, the color of our planet from far far away
Blue, the most human color...
Sunday, August 8, 2010
Day 30 - Whatever Tickles Your Fancy
Warning: This post is kind of depressing, but not completely.
I know the woman who wrote this book. I knew her husband, and I'm friends with her older son Ben. I've known their family since before I can remember - we all vacationed together at Purity Spring Resort in New Hampshire the same week every summer since Ben and I were toddlers. "Same time, same place, every August." So I sort of have a personal connection to their lives and their story.
Joseph, Susan's husband and Ben and Jake's dad, had always had heart issues. I remember when we'd hike down this hill to Swift River every year to go tubing in the mini-rapids, he'd have some trouble getting back up. My mom would go with him a little early, before we all left, so he could take his time climbing up the hill. I knew something was wrong with his heart, but I think I was around 7 the first time I remember this happening, so I didn't think much of it. He seemed generally fine.
It got to the point where he really needed a heart transplant - actually, for maybe a year or so he was basically surviving from this mechanical heart...I don't really understand the medical aspects of it, to be honest. They finally found a match for him, but after the transplant he didn't wake up. He'd had a stroke or something. I think this was early my senior year, and I remember crying while I was driving to school that morning. He wasn't gone yet, but we'd gotten a call from another Purity family telling us what was going on, that he was on life support and they were waiting for his older children from a previous marriage to fly in before letting him go.
Ever since Joseph's problems had started and it had been clear that he'd need to be an organ donation recipient, or maybe before that, his family had always been really big supporters of organ donation. At Jake's bar mitzvah, they'd given out lime green Donate Life wrist bands to everyone. And when Joseph passed away, not only was he able to re-donate his new heart (which is rare), but the doctors came to Susan and asked if she'd give consent for him to donate his face to a recipient who'd had some sort of accident. Maybe you heard about it on the news - I think it might've been the first face donation in the U.S. or something. That was Joseph.
Now Susan is semi-famous. There was a write-up about her and Joseph's story in the Boston Globe when they did Bostonians of the Year, and then she wrote a book and started the Joseph Helfgot Foundation, and now his story is being covered on Boston Med, which is this TV show on ABC. She's creating so much life from their loss. She's amazing.
It makes me sad that Joseph's not around to see it. It makes me feel weird that all of this has happened kind of in the name of his death, without his knowing about it. I think he'd be proud though. It also makes me wonder about this belief I've always had, and I remember being taught it at temple once but I don't remember ever really being taught it after that, which is that when you do good things, you shouldn't expect recognition. But I don't think that means recognition has to be bad, when you can use that recognition for further selfless purposes, for example to spread your message of life and hope and show other people how important organ donations can be.
Anyway, I felt like rambling on that right now because we just got the news about her book's coming out and the beginning of the Joseph Helfgot Foundation. Not exactly a pick-me-up, but important to talk and think about nonetheless.
I know the woman who wrote this book. I knew her husband, and I'm friends with her older son Ben. I've known their family since before I can remember - we all vacationed together at Purity Spring Resort in New Hampshire the same week every summer since Ben and I were toddlers. "Same time, same place, every August." So I sort of have a personal connection to their lives and their story.
Joseph, Susan's husband and Ben and Jake's dad, had always had heart issues. I remember when we'd hike down this hill to Swift River every year to go tubing in the mini-rapids, he'd have some trouble getting back up. My mom would go with him a little early, before we all left, so he could take his time climbing up the hill. I knew something was wrong with his heart, but I think I was around 7 the first time I remember this happening, so I didn't think much of it. He seemed generally fine.
It got to the point where he really needed a heart transplant - actually, for maybe a year or so he was basically surviving from this mechanical heart...I don't really understand the medical aspects of it, to be honest. They finally found a match for him, but after the transplant he didn't wake up. He'd had a stroke or something. I think this was early my senior year, and I remember crying while I was driving to school that morning. He wasn't gone yet, but we'd gotten a call from another Purity family telling us what was going on, that he was on life support and they were waiting for his older children from a previous marriage to fly in before letting him go.
Ever since Joseph's problems had started and it had been clear that he'd need to be an organ donation recipient, or maybe before that, his family had always been really big supporters of organ donation. At Jake's bar mitzvah, they'd given out lime green Donate Life wrist bands to everyone. And when Joseph passed away, not only was he able to re-donate his new heart (which is rare), but the doctors came to Susan and asked if she'd give consent for him to donate his face to a recipient who'd had some sort of accident. Maybe you heard about it on the news - I think it might've been the first face donation in the U.S. or something. That was Joseph.
Now Susan is semi-famous. There was a write-up about her and Joseph's story in the Boston Globe when they did Bostonians of the Year, and then she wrote a book and started the Joseph Helfgot Foundation, and now his story is being covered on Boston Med, which is this TV show on ABC. She's creating so much life from their loss. She's amazing.
It makes me sad that Joseph's not around to see it. It makes me feel weird that all of this has happened kind of in the name of his death, without his knowing about it. I think he'd be proud though. It also makes me wonder about this belief I've always had, and I remember being taught it at temple once but I don't remember ever really being taught it after that, which is that when you do good things, you shouldn't expect recognition. But I don't think that means recognition has to be bad, when you can use that recognition for further selfless purposes, for example to spread your message of life and hope and show other people how important organ donations can be.
Anyway, I felt like rambling on that right now because we just got the news about her book's coming out and the beginning of the Joseph Helfgot Foundation. Not exactly a pick-me-up, but important to talk and think about nonetheless.
Friday, August 6, 2010
Day 29 - Hopes, Dreams and Plans for the Next 365 Days
So close to the end of this thing! I like how it's taken me the whole summer to do it, not just 30 days. Oh well.
So hopes, dreams, and plans. Hmmm. I hope/dream/plan to:
Edit: inspired by Aubree's facebook note, i'm adding some fun, more Haver-specific things to this list. i think i was in a serious mood when i wrote what's above. (and anyway, copying is the highest form of flattery, right? :P) so here are some more:
omg i smell bacon cooking downstairs...gotta run! :P i'll add more as i think of them.
So hopes, dreams, and plans. Hmmm. I hope/dream/plan to:
- Make new friends at school, especially freshmen, but also remain just as close to my friends from last year.
- Also stay close to my high school friends, as we have this year.
- Travel! Road trips, plane rides, whatever. See new places.
- Have an awesome Customs experience the second time around. Be a good CP, avoid horrible conflicts/issues or at least deal with them reasonably well, be a good mentor and supporter to my freshmen while also being friends with them and having a fairly close, fun hall, learn from my freshmen and Customs experience and hopefully they'll learn from me too, have awesome discussions during PAFs etc, maintain a close customs team with good communication and teamwork.
- Something in the dating/relationship realm? Maybe? Just sayin'...
- Improve the whole home situation, or at least maintain the improvements from this past year.
- Finalize my major/minor (Psych/Spanish?) and study abroad plans (Argentina!!!), and be happy with my decision.
- Figure out my summer plans.
- Take interesting classes that I enjoy, learn a ton, share my knowledge, not get too stressed out, gain a clearer idea of what my interests are, fulfill more requirements, get grades I'm happy with.
- Have Bryn Mawr lunches MWF first semester with Fairleigh, Alex, and Josh!
- Finish up my PE requirement.
- Go to the gym more. For real. This needs to happen.
- Find more things to ramble about so I can keep this blog going.
- Maintain balance in my life between academics, customs, friends, all my other activities, maybe a job, and general free time; keep a firm grip on my sanity and not let my stress levels get too high.
- Avoid too much drama.
- Not spend too much money.
- Do everything in moderation.
- Be just as happy with myself and my life at the end of it as I am now, if not more so.
- Do fun things over breaks, including visiting people at school and something else that's fun or at least relaxing over spring break.
- Visit Sarah at Hamilton at some point during the year.
- Get a job during the year.
- Work with the CDO to figure out winter break/June internships or jobs in a field I'm actually interested in - psychology or non-profits, or something else I/we come up with.
- Continue to be there for my friends.
- Do lots of things that make me happy.
- Do lots of things that make others happy.
- Have an awsome year!
Edit: inspired by Aubree's facebook note, i'm adding some fun, more Haver-specific things to this list. i think i was in a serious mood when i wrote what's above. (and anyway, copying is the highest form of flattery, right? :P) so here are some more:
- Lots of stargazing, with everyone. also the daytime equivalent which is laying out on Gummere and Founders greens
- Taking more sunset pictures with Hannah
- Run a kick-ass group with Abby! (step 1...become a real club. *cough Jason McGraw answer my email cough*)
- Late-night trips to Wawa; pints of ice cream may be consumed
- eating too many fries at the Coop
- Adventures in Philly! more eating at Sansom Kabob
- 3/2, 3rd section, and customs cousin adventures! which will hopefully involve philly, food, and fun
- Run away to cook/bake/do work in Alex, Jake, and Alec's apartment. home-made confections are a must.
- Movie nights with Fairleigh and Emily and Alex and Josh anyone else who wants to join
- watching more 30 Rock and The Office and Fringe late at night with Fairleigh and Alex
- avoiding getting the stomach flu and/or swine flu
- creating more delicious DC concoctions
- baking pie at Swat with Hilary and Erica
- lots of tri-co visiting in general
- eating at Panera and that diner, which are driving distance but too far to walk
- other adventures with my car! (who's up for road trips? driving to the beach? anything along similar lines?)
- founders dances!!! which will inevitably include some crazy outfits
omg i smell bacon cooking downstairs...gotta run! :P i'll add more as i think of them.
Wednesday, August 4, 2010
Happiness in Website Form
http://dailysquee.com/
If you've never seen this website, go look at it. In fact, if you have seen this website, go look at it. It will make you happier. :D
If you've never seen this website, go look at it. In fact, if you have seen this website, go look at it. It will make you happier. :D
Tuesday, August 3, 2010
Monday, August 2, 2010
Ramble on That Thing Called Love
This is one that always eludes me. What the hell is love anyway? When I say love, I mean "I Love You" kind of love, with capital letters, as in being in love with someone. How can you define that???
Whatever it is, it calls for a ramble. (A really, really long ramble, apparently. This might actually be the rambliest ramble I've ever written. Whoops.) So here goes.
In my philosophy class first semester, we talked about how reason separates humans from animals, but I think emotion does too. I don't think love is just an instinct – I don't think animals can feel this kind of love. I think it's more of a deep emotional connection that is a distinctively human phenomenon. And I think it takes time to create this connection, which is why I don't believe in love at first sight. I believe in lust at first sight, and really awesome chemistry at first sight, but I don't think you can love someone without knowing him or her incredibly well. But at the same time, I'm not sure if you can really put a time frame on how long that takes either. I mean, I know of many times when people have said "I Love You" too soon, before they really meant it. That's bad. But can you ever really advise those people, "You need to wait at least a month," or something like that? How fast can love happen? How fast can you really get to know a person? Or do you really have to get to know them all that well before you feel that thing that you identify as being Love? I feel like it’s a gradual thing; it's not just a black and white, I'm in love or I'm not. Even though we make it black and white because when someone says it, there's this moment when it's established. But how else would we express it for sure, than that moment when we say it out loud? There's always the "I'm falling for you" line - that shows how it's gradual - but how do you really know (other than "you just know") when you've fallen for someone?
Which of course brings up the issue of how to know you're actually in love, and don't just have a super big crush, or just feel really comfortable, or it's just been long enough that you're sick of not having said it. I'd like to believe that it's more complicated than [time + really big crush + feeling comfortable + chemistry = Love]. I've heard, as I mentioned, that "You Just Know," which I'm putting in capital letters because it's intimidating and scary (at least to me). What if you just think you know, and you really believe you know, and then you realize you were wrong? Saying "I Love You" and not meaning it, or having to take it back later, is basically one of the worst things ever. It's something you never want to hear taken back.
But what if you thought you loved someone, and then it turned out that they weren't the person you thought they were? I think that all we can ever really understand of anyone is the concept of that person we have in our own mind, which will always be flawed and limited. So can we ever really love another person, or can we only really love our concept of that person and who we think they are? That's kind of depressing. Or maybe it isn't. All we can know about even ourselves is our self-concept, which can be just as twisted and wrong as our concept of someone else. It's just how the mind works. (Thank you, Social Cognition term paper.)
Going back to when to say "I Love You," I once read a quote that was something like, "Don’t make decisions when angry, and don’t make promises when happy." I knew the first part, but I hadn't really thought about the second. It makes sense, though. Just like you can be overly mean and unfair when you're all upset and riled up, you can be unrealistically optimistic when you're in a really good mood. And to say "I Love You" is kind of like a promise. It's like a promise that you mean it, and all of the things that go along with that. So maybe people shouldn't say I Love You when really, really happy at the moment, just like we shouldn't send nasty, unfair emails or texts when we're mad; we need to wait until we're emotionally balanced again to make sure we're saying what we really mean.
And off on another tangent, is anyone else really annoyed by how difficult it is to say "I love you" to a significant other without its meaning that you're in love with that person? I feel like when you're flirting, or you're first start something with someone, or even if you've been in it for awhile but aren't ready to proclaim that you're in love with them, the natural reaction so often is to say I love you, but then you don't because that phrase is off limits or something. It's reserved for something bigger. But you can love someone without being in love with them. There are so many different kinds of love. So why do we censor ourselves and find something else to say when we want to say I love you, but not to mean that we're in love? It's silly. I think we should be able to say it, and then when we mean to say that we're in love with someone we should just say that, I'm In Love With You.
Ok, I think that’s enough rambling on this topic, seeing as I could probably ramble about it forever and ever, and I basically already have. :P
Wow, that was long...
Thursday, July 29, 2010
Ramble on Judaism and Christianity
For some reason, I keep thinking about this.
The Christian Bible includes both the Old and New Testaments, so why is it that Christians don't keep kosher or celebrate Hanukkah?
Disclaimers:
1. For the intents of this ramble, I am treating both testaments as true. This ramble isn't about my personal beliefs – it's about the relationships between the two religions and their texts, in a very basic and general sense.
2. I haven't read the whole bible. I've read all of Genesis and Exodus, all of Matthew, and various other stories, all only once through, plus whatever excerpts I've read at Hebrew School, Torah Study, or camp.
3. I'm honestly not that familiar with the history of Christianity in terms of what happened hundreds of years after Jesus' lifetime and the formation of the religion, so that might account for a good chunk of what I'm missing.
So. Why is it that Christians aren't Jews, plus? Why don't Christians celebrate all the Jewish holidays and observe the Jewish customs, plus the ones centered around Jesus' life and teachings? If Jesus was supposedly Jewish, and furthermore the son of the God that made all the rules of Judaism, why wouldn't he preach his new teachings in addition to those rules? It seems like he kind of let his new followers off the hook for all the old Jewish stuff, in favor of the new things he was teaching them.
I was talking to Erica about this, and she said that the way she's had it explained to her, Judaism was sort of an elite religion. To be truly observant you basically had to sit around studying Torah all day, and only the rich could really afford to do that. So along comes Jesus, who says that no, you don't have to sit around studying all day – all you really have to do is be good people to be good in the eyes of God, and here's how to be good people. All of a sudden, pleasing God was something that was accessible to the masses.
But if Jesus is the son of God, and God is perfect, and God made those rules laid out in the Old Testament, how could Jesus have had the authority to go to the people and tell them the rules had changed? If God told him to, did that mean that the original rules weren't perfect? If God didn't tell him to…well that would be really bad, wouldn't it? Or are the father and the son supposed to be equals in the trinity? Even if they are equals, why would one deity say to the people that they don't really have to observe the Sabbath, even if the other deity told them to? That would mean a weird competition for power over dictating the rules that just doesn't seem right in this context. Plus, (and here's the kicker,) if the rules did change so that all you had to do was be a good person and not follow all of the 613 commandments in the Torah, why does the Christian Bible still include the Old Testament?
I have no idea. Maybe I'm wrong about some of these details or interpretations. Maybe I'm vastly over generalizing. Maybe it has to do with the history of the formation of the religion. Maybe I'm completely way off and just don't know my stuff that well. But these are things I wonder about, and it'd be cool to understand more about these questions and their answers.
The Christian Bible includes both the Old and New Testaments, so why is it that Christians don't keep kosher or celebrate Hanukkah?
Disclaimers:
1. For the intents of this ramble, I am treating both testaments as true. This ramble isn't about my personal beliefs – it's about the relationships between the two religions and their texts, in a very basic and general sense.
2. I haven't read the whole bible. I've read all of Genesis and Exodus, all of Matthew, and various other stories, all only once through, plus whatever excerpts I've read at Hebrew School, Torah Study, or camp.
3. I'm honestly not that familiar with the history of Christianity in terms of what happened hundreds of years after Jesus' lifetime and the formation of the religion, so that might account for a good chunk of what I'm missing.
So. Why is it that Christians aren't Jews, plus? Why don't Christians celebrate all the Jewish holidays and observe the Jewish customs, plus the ones centered around Jesus' life and teachings? If Jesus was supposedly Jewish, and furthermore the son of the God that made all the rules of Judaism, why wouldn't he preach his new teachings in addition to those rules? It seems like he kind of let his new followers off the hook for all the old Jewish stuff, in favor of the new things he was teaching them.
I was talking to Erica about this, and she said that the way she's had it explained to her, Judaism was sort of an elite religion. To be truly observant you basically had to sit around studying Torah all day, and only the rich could really afford to do that. So along comes Jesus, who says that no, you don't have to sit around studying all day – all you really have to do is be good people to be good in the eyes of God, and here's how to be good people. All of a sudden, pleasing God was something that was accessible to the masses.
But if Jesus is the son of God, and God is perfect, and God made those rules laid out in the Old Testament, how could Jesus have had the authority to go to the people and tell them the rules had changed? If God told him to, did that mean that the original rules weren't perfect? If God didn't tell him to…well that would be really bad, wouldn't it? Or are the father and the son supposed to be equals in the trinity? Even if they are equals, why would one deity say to the people that they don't really have to observe the Sabbath, even if the other deity told them to? That would mean a weird competition for power over dictating the rules that just doesn't seem right in this context. Plus, (and here's the kicker,) if the rules did change so that all you had to do was be a good person and not follow all of the 613 commandments in the Torah, why does the Christian Bible still include the Old Testament?
I have no idea. Maybe I'm wrong about some of these details or interpretations. Maybe I'm vastly over generalizing. Maybe it has to do with the history of the formation of the religion. Maybe I'm completely way off and just don't know my stuff that well. But these are things I wonder about, and it'd be cool to understand more about these questions and their answers.
Excitement!!!
I have a ramble on Judaism and Christianity basically set to post, but I'm too excited about customs to talk about anything else!
My hall is SO COOL. Like...aaaahhh! It's such a good mix of people, from what information I've gathered from stalking them for the past two days. Yes, I'm creepy. Yes, it's loving. Yes, I basically have everyone's names, rooms, and home states memorized. And really, was anyone expecting anything else?
So since I wanted to post something, and this is basically all that's on my mind right now, I felt the need to come on here and freak out to the internet at large.
CUSTOMS X IS GOING TO BE AWESOME!!!
♥
My hall is SO COOL. Like...aaaahhh! It's such a good mix of people, from what information I've gathered from stalking them for the past two days. Yes, I'm creepy. Yes, it's loving. Yes, I basically have everyone's names, rooms, and home states memorized. And really, was anyone expecting anything else?
So since I wanted to post something, and this is basically all that's on my mind right now, I felt the need to come on here and freak out to the internet at large.
CUSTOMS X IS GOING TO BE AWESOME!!!
♥
Tuesday, July 27, 2010
Day 28 - Your Year In Great Detail
No one actually has to read this. In fact, I don't really feel like writing it. But I'm on day 28 out of 30, and I'm not stopping now...
I'll do this by categories, cause going by month seems kind of ridiculous.
Adjusting to College
I'm starting with this one because it seems to be the most defining aspect of this year. A year ago I was still working, incidentally in the same office I'm working in now, preparing for school. I knew who my customs group was, and I'd probably been college shopping. It's so weird to think back on that now, not even knowing what Maia looked like or how big my room was.
I guess I knew but didn't realize how much of an adjustment it would be. Academically, it was fine. It's just that all of a sudden I didn't know anyone, and I had no really close friends like I had at home. But as time went on, that changed. It's funny because around April or so, I found something I'd written at the beginning of classes about how I felt about all of it, and how I didn't feel at home yet and didn't know when I would. So I wrote something new, about how I did fall into things with time, and how I wouldn't want to be anywhere else, how much I love Haverford and the community and feel a part of it, how I felt like I could tell my closest friends at school anything. I wish I could show those two side by side to incoming freshmen, to say "It's really going to be okay," but I won't. They need to go through it for themselves.
Friends
This reminds me of a song we used to sing in girl scouts: "Make new friends, but keep the old, one is silver and the other's gold." That's basically what I did, and that's definitely true. I was nervous about its being weird to go home to my Needham friends once we'd all established ourselves elsewhere and made new friends, but it was so easy to fall back into things whenever we were home for breaks. And it goes without saying that I've made tons of awesome friends at Haverford! My hall was amazing, and so was my customs team as a whole. I can't fail to mention customs week - Primal Scream, Pluralism, getting-to-know-you games, endless meetings in Marshall... Also, hanging out in Alex's room and the common room, playing board games, pregaming and partying and going to dances, attempting to tunnel, atticking in Marshall and Gummere, sneaking in the the faculty pool after Haverfest, movie nights with Fairleigh and Emily, watching TV shows with Fairleigh and Alex, that awesome fort we built, going to Chipotle and Wawa, eating breakfasts with Maia in the common room on Mondays and Wednesdays, actually eating every meal with Maia second semester, hall dinners, etc. We all had a great time, and I'll especially miss 3/3 so much next year when we're all living different places around the school.
Family
My parents learned to live without me this year, and I think the distance has been good for all of us. I talked to my parents once a week while I was at school, and breaks went pretty smoothly, and summer has too so far. We lost Samson around Memorial Day, which was sad, and other than that this year has been uneventful. We did thanksgiving with my dad's side and Christmas with my mom's, and we just went down to CT to see my aunt and uncle (mom's brother and his wife) again this summer, which was cool. Also, for spring break Neelima and I flew out to LA to stay with my aunt and uncle (mom's sister and her husband), which was a blast. I hadn't been out there since I was 7 - usually they come to RI where my uncle's dad lives - so it was fun to see all the sights again once I'd actually remember them. It was also fun to travel out there without my parents - it had been a plan since I was 8 or so for me to go out there with a friend. And getting dirt on my family from my aunt was pretty fun too. :P
Academics
First semester I took Intro Psych, Happiness Virtue and the Good Life (Philosophy), Exploring Critical Issues through Writing (Spanish), and Intro Computing (at Bryn Mawr). Spanish drove me crazy, and I loved the philosophy class. I also found CS fun in this kind of twisted way, but mostly it was something different, fun times playing with robots, and time spent with Josh and Abby. And Bryn Mawr lunches were a plus. :) Second semester I took Perspectives on Immigration and Education in the US (Writing Sem), Logic (Philosophy), Social Problems (Soc), and Social Cognition (Psych). Soc was the biggest headache ever; Writing sem was my favorite class this year hands down. Barbara Hall is amazing, and I'm basically devastated that she's leaving. And Ralph Barnes is just crazy, although it took me two semesters to realize this, but he's gone now too because he was a visiting prof. Thank goodness I had Maia in both of my obnoxious classes this year, because we just bitched together. Oh, and I think I wrote over 50 pages between the last week of class and finals weeks second semester. Ridiculous.
Hobbies/Activities
Chorale, Photo for the Bi-Co, SAGA, QDG, Stitch-n-Bitch (once), Quaker Bouncing (twice), and a ton of emails from clubs I never did. And Massage Therapy, Bowling, and Intro Fitness. Oh, and starting GSpot with Abby at the end of the year! yay!
Misc.
Going to Purity over Fall Break and then visiting friends at schools near home, working in my dad's office this summer and over winter break, Plenary failing, a New Years resolution to work out three times a week (which lasted two weeks), getting the stomach flu after spring break, my now-infamous facebook note to my hall, the two snow days in a row when I had Social Problems anyway, playing/traying/tabling in the snow, getting Customs with Josh, buying out all of Bath and Body Works and banning myself from the store, trips into philly, hall sweatshirts, a summer of friends and beaches and boredom (and office monsters)...and well, here I am.
I'll do this by categories, cause going by month seems kind of ridiculous.
Adjusting to College
I'm starting with this one because it seems to be the most defining aspect of this year. A year ago I was still working, incidentally in the same office I'm working in now, preparing for school. I knew who my customs group was, and I'd probably been college shopping. It's so weird to think back on that now, not even knowing what Maia looked like or how big my room was.
I guess I knew but didn't realize how much of an adjustment it would be. Academically, it was fine. It's just that all of a sudden I didn't know anyone, and I had no really close friends like I had at home. But as time went on, that changed. It's funny because around April or so, I found something I'd written at the beginning of classes about how I felt about all of it, and how I didn't feel at home yet and didn't know when I would. So I wrote something new, about how I did fall into things with time, and how I wouldn't want to be anywhere else, how much I love Haverford and the community and feel a part of it, how I felt like I could tell my closest friends at school anything. I wish I could show those two side by side to incoming freshmen, to say "It's really going to be okay," but I won't. They need to go through it for themselves.
Friends
This reminds me of a song we used to sing in girl scouts: "Make new friends, but keep the old, one is silver and the other's gold." That's basically what I did, and that's definitely true. I was nervous about its being weird to go home to my Needham friends once we'd all established ourselves elsewhere and made new friends, but it was so easy to fall back into things whenever we were home for breaks. And it goes without saying that I've made tons of awesome friends at Haverford! My hall was amazing, and so was my customs team as a whole. I can't fail to mention customs week - Primal Scream, Pluralism, getting-to-know-you games, endless meetings in Marshall... Also, hanging out in Alex's room and the common room, playing board games, pregaming and partying and going to dances, attempting to tunnel, atticking in Marshall and Gummere, sneaking in the the faculty pool after Haverfest, movie nights with Fairleigh and Emily, watching TV shows with Fairleigh and Alex, that awesome fort we built, going to Chipotle and Wawa, eating breakfasts with Maia in the common room on Mondays and Wednesdays, actually eating every meal with Maia second semester, hall dinners, etc. We all had a great time, and I'll especially miss 3/3 so much next year when we're all living different places around the school.
Family
My parents learned to live without me this year, and I think the distance has been good for all of us. I talked to my parents once a week while I was at school, and breaks went pretty smoothly, and summer has too so far. We lost Samson around Memorial Day, which was sad, and other than that this year has been uneventful. We did thanksgiving with my dad's side and Christmas with my mom's, and we just went down to CT to see my aunt and uncle (mom's brother and his wife) again this summer, which was cool. Also, for spring break Neelima and I flew out to LA to stay with my aunt and uncle (mom's sister and her husband), which was a blast. I hadn't been out there since I was 7 - usually they come to RI where my uncle's dad lives - so it was fun to see all the sights again once I'd actually remember them. It was also fun to travel out there without my parents - it had been a plan since I was 8 or so for me to go out there with a friend. And getting dirt on my family from my aunt was pretty fun too. :P
Academics
First semester I took Intro Psych, Happiness Virtue and the Good Life (Philosophy), Exploring Critical Issues through Writing (Spanish), and Intro Computing (at Bryn Mawr). Spanish drove me crazy, and I loved the philosophy class. I also found CS fun in this kind of twisted way, but mostly it was something different, fun times playing with robots, and time spent with Josh and Abby. And Bryn Mawr lunches were a plus. :) Second semester I took Perspectives on Immigration and Education in the US (Writing Sem), Logic (Philosophy), Social Problems (Soc), and Social Cognition (Psych). Soc was the biggest headache ever; Writing sem was my favorite class this year hands down. Barbara Hall is amazing, and I'm basically devastated that she's leaving. And Ralph Barnes is just crazy, although it took me two semesters to realize this, but he's gone now too because he was a visiting prof. Thank goodness I had Maia in both of my obnoxious classes this year, because we just bitched together. Oh, and I think I wrote over 50 pages between the last week of class and finals weeks second semester. Ridiculous.
Hobbies/Activities
Chorale, Photo for the Bi-Co, SAGA, QDG, Stitch-n-Bitch (once), Quaker Bouncing (twice), and a ton of emails from clubs I never did. And Massage Therapy, Bowling, and Intro Fitness. Oh, and starting GSpot with Abby at the end of the year! yay!
Misc.
Going to Purity over Fall Break and then visiting friends at schools near home, working in my dad's office this summer and over winter break, Plenary failing, a New Years resolution to work out three times a week (which lasted two weeks), getting the stomach flu after spring break, my now-infamous facebook note to my hall, the two snow days in a row when I had Social Problems anyway, playing/traying/tabling in the snow, getting Customs with Josh, buying out all of Bath and Body Works and banning myself from the store, trips into philly, hall sweatshirts, a summer of friends and beaches and boredom (and office monsters)...and well, here I am.
Oh, and also...
This Article.
I read it on the way to work, and it's pretty legit. I don't really feel much like rambling about it at the moment but I think it speaks for itself.
(Except that it doesn't mention solutions! Gahhh pet peeve...)
I read it on the way to work, and it's pretty legit. I don't really feel much like rambling about it at the moment but I think it speaks for itself.
(Except that it doesn't mention solutions! Gahhh pet peeve...)
Day 27 - Your Month In Great Detail
Wow, it's almost like this 30 day thing wants me to ramble. :P
Honestly, I think I've already mentioned most things worth mentioning that have happened this month. July 1 was the office outing to Thompson Island where I hung out with office people and office people's kids, and played volleyball and lawn games and ate delicious seafood. I saw Leah S-G, which was fun because I hadn't seen her in awhile, and we walked around Africa. (Africa is a nickname for Cutler Park, for anyone who might be confused.) I went to fireworks and the flea market, swam in the Natick Pond, got an ear infection, got a cold, hung out with people a lot in various locations such as people's houses and cars, friendly's, camilla's, panera, and lizzy's ice cream. We went to the Vineyard, where we swam and hung out and shopped and ate and relaxed. I also took my trip around to visit school people, which I think I already covered in more-than-sufficient detail. I'm still waiting to hear on freshmen, and I'm still super excited for customs. I've also IMed/skyped with people a lot, which involved helping two people figure out their fall schedules and convinving Alex to take 2 classes and PE with me. (I'm doing Fencing and I'm so pumped!) Other than that I've mostly been at work. Which actually takes up the majority of the time I'm not sleeping.
So that's my July in a nutshell. 4 more days til August!
Honestly, I think I've already mentioned most things worth mentioning that have happened this month. July 1 was the office outing to Thompson Island where I hung out with office people and office people's kids, and played volleyball and lawn games and ate delicious seafood. I saw Leah S-G, which was fun because I hadn't seen her in awhile, and we walked around Africa. (Africa is a nickname for Cutler Park, for anyone who might be confused.) I went to fireworks and the flea market, swam in the Natick Pond, got an ear infection, got a cold, hung out with people a lot in various locations such as people's houses and cars, friendly's, camilla's, panera, and lizzy's ice cream. We went to the Vineyard, where we swam and hung out and shopped and ate and relaxed. I also took my trip around to visit school people, which I think I already covered in more-than-sufficient detail. I'm still waiting to hear on freshmen, and I'm still super excited for customs. I've also IMed/skyped with people a lot, which involved helping two people figure out their fall schedules and convinving Alex to take 2 classes and PE with me. (I'm doing Fencing and I'm so pumped!) Other than that I've mostly been at work. Which actually takes up the majority of the time I'm not sleeping.
So that's my July in a nutshell. 4 more days til August!
Monday, July 26, 2010
Ramble on Numbers as Identity
This one's really, really random, but it's just a thought I had. I have better rambles on the way, I promise.
In Logic class last semester, we learned how in ancient Greece, there was no concept of 0. If something didn't exist, why quantify it? Even 1 wasn't a number – it was a unit. The numbers started with 2, and they represented quantities. They quantified people or objects, such as a merchant's stock. That's why roman numerals were so easy. People weren't doing math with them; they were just recording that they had XXXIV of something, and the next day they only had XXVII left.
When did numbers start being used in ways that didn't quantify anything? When did they start representing places and people? We are all labeled by so many numbers, quietly nestled away in various systems based on these strings of digits that identify us. (And if they're just randomized strings of digits, can they even be called numbers?) Social Security numbers, student ID numbers, bank account and credit card numbers, College Board and AP numbers, even telephone numbers, street addresses, and zip codes all somehow identify us and where we're from. Yet they don't really quantify anything - they didn't start at 0. They're just impersonal and efficient ways to keep large quantities of people organized within systems.
So when, historically, did that happen? When did numbers stop being used just for quantities and start being used as labels?
That's my random thought for the day.
In Logic class last semester, we learned how in ancient Greece, there was no concept of 0. If something didn't exist, why quantify it? Even 1 wasn't a number – it was a unit. The numbers started with 2, and they represented quantities. They quantified people or objects, such as a merchant's stock. That's why roman numerals were so easy. People weren't doing math with them; they were just recording that they had XXXIV of something, and the next day they only had XXVII left.
When did numbers start being used in ways that didn't quantify anything? When did they start representing places and people? We are all labeled by so many numbers, quietly nestled away in various systems based on these strings of digits that identify us. (And if they're just randomized strings of digits, can they even be called numbers?) Social Security numbers, student ID numbers, bank account and credit card numbers, College Board and AP numbers, even telephone numbers, street addresses, and zip codes all somehow identify us and where we're from. Yet they don't really quantify anything - they didn't start at 0. They're just impersonal and efficient ways to keep large quantities of people organized within systems.
So when, historically, did that happen? When did numbers stop being used just for quantities and start being used as labels?
That's my random thought for the day.
Saturday, July 24, 2010
Day 26 - Your Week In Great Detail
Basically, this week has been awesome. Awesome enough, I think, that I almost don't mind working for three more weeks because I'll be back at school so soon. I've seen friends I missed, and I've been to so many cities in such a short amount of time that when I saw a guy wearing a Yankees hat in Philadelphia it actually took me a panicked second to figure out where the hell I was. So I'll go by cities.
City 1: Boston
Last Saturday morning, Neelima picked me up and we got bagles at Cafe Fresh before she drove me to the bus at South Station. I guess Boston doesn't really count much as a city except for that drive to the Megabus.
City 2: New York
My bus arrived at around 3, and Erica was there to meet me. Fairleigh's bus was wicked late, so we stood around with Dan, Alisha, Erin, and Chris. Apparently Dan and Alisha live in the city, and Erin and Chris were visiting. They were all very couple-y and me and Erica were just excited to see each other. Fairleigh's bus finally got there and we went back to Erica's apartment, ate Thai food with all the above people, then Fairleigh, Erica, and I had the most amazing girls night ever. It involved cookie dough, three flavors of ice cream including sangria sorbet which is incredible, fancy cheese and crackers, Sex and the City, and Amelie. We also chilled on the roof of Erica's dad's building and sat on some rocks down by the Hudson and talked.
Sunday, Fairleigh and I chilled most of the day while Erica slept from 11am until 4pm (it's a long story involving her dad and a triathlon). I finished up Sarah's friendship bracelet, which is awesome. Then we went to Shake Shack in Madison Square, walked through Union Square and went to The Strand, which is a bookstore. Then we stayed up later than necessary doing nothing.
Monday, Fairleigh and I chilled in the morning while Erica was at her improv class, and then we…I have no idea what we did on Monday. Oh, we went to Ricky's I think, and I got awesome green fishnets for Dorm Olympics, and some tights for my Halloween costume. And we must've walked around, but I forget where we went. That night Erica babysat and Fairleigh and I got ourselves to Chinatown all by ourselves and wandered around there. Then we stayed up til 3 skyping with Josh.
Tuesday, Erica had improv again so Fairleigh and I went to Columbus Circle and wandered, then Erica met us and we ate, walked through a little bit of Central Park, and went to a chocolate shop. Then Fairleigh and I got our stuff and barely made the Megabus in time.
City 3: Baltimore
Tuesday night we got ice cream at TCBY with Fairleigh's mom and sister. Wednesday morning Fairleigh and I made berry pancakes and went to Starbucks. She showed me this hippy-esque store called Something Else, and we also went into a consignment shop. Then we met Fairleigh's mom for lunch at the Paper Moon Diner, which is this awesome place where all the waiters share tables and it's all decorated with random crap all over the walls and ceiling in odd positions (I posted pics on facebook). Then we wandered and shopped on The Avenue in Hampdon, where I bought awesome yarn to make Fairleigh a scarf and we got Alex shotglasses with mustaches on them. I napped back at Fairleigh's, and then she took me on a driving tour of downtown, and then we ate dinner at her grandparents' house with her dad, sister, uncle, and cousin.
Thursday morning Fairleigh and I left at 8 to pick up her friend from high school, Celia, and we hit the road on our way to Haverford. I drove her car, which we named Mildred (Millie for short) because it drives like a grandmother and completely refuses to accelerate.
City 4: Philadelphia
We arrived at Haverford at around 11:30, when Alex was at work and Josh was about to leave for work, so we said hi and then drove to Swat to hang out with Hilary, who is Fairleigh and Celia's high school friend. We got lunch in the town of Swarthmore with Abby, who drove over to meet us. We went back and sat around in Josh and Alex's apartment, and then Fairleigh, Celia, Hilary, Alex, Josh, Marta, and I met Kelley in Philly and we all got dinner at Sansom Kabob. Then we wandered around Chinatown and got gelato, and I saw that guy with the NY hat and got really confused. Then we all hung out with Ryan in back at the apartment, and Josh and I wrote out postcards to our future freshmen whose names we still don't know.
Friday, we walked around Suburban Square and Ardmore while Alex worked, as Josh had left for Pittsburg early that morning. Then when Alex got off we chilled in the coop (literally) because the campus center has a/c, and then we met up with Kelley and Ori and we all went to Panera before we left to go back to Baltimore.
Back to Baltimore
We arrived back in Baltimore last night, and this morning Fairleigh and I went to Starbucks and this grocery store where they were giving out free samples of Hagen-daas ice cream, complete with a brownie chunk and hot fudge. Then we watched Gilmore Girls and her mom drove me to the airport.
Back to Boston
I flew into Boston, my parents picked me up, and we got dinner in Boston at this place called Durgin Park. It's in Quincy Market, and they have excellent steamers and strawberry shortcake. Then we walked back through the marketplace on the way back to the car. Now I'm finally home (although off to Connecticut in the morning!).
And that's the end of my busy week and awesome trip! :D
Tuesday, July 20, 2010
Ramble on Taste
I sometimes have incredibly random thoughts that I thought I'd share just in case anyone's interested. So this might become a sort of series, if I keep coming up with these random thoughts.
Also the next day topic in the 30-day thing is Your Week in Great Detail, and I'm saving that for the end of this trip.
So taste. I'm currently sitting on the Megabus to Baltimore, and I'm listening to Regina Spektor's new CD on repeat. It's kick-ass. It's funny, because I remember that I was first introduced to Regina Spektor the summer after 9th grade when Pargol sent me a mix CD of Regina's music while I was at camp. Back then I was very much in the throes of my relatively-obscure-music phase. I refused to listen to top 40, opting instead for Ani DiFranco, Ben Folds, Tori Amos, Joni Mitchell, Alanis Morrisette, and Regina Spektor (okay, and some Kelly Clarkson. But I never would've admitted it.) And that was honestly what I liked. I didn't like top 40, even though just the year before that had been all I'd listened to. But I've always found that my taste shifts towards what my friends like, because we all introduce each other to new things. Before I was friends with the people I became closer to in 8th and 9th grade, I'd never even heard of any of the singers in the above list. But my friends burned me CDs, and my music taste changed, and my life was changing.
Around junior year of high school, I had two friends who listened to a lot of poppy hip hop songs. I had sworn off hip hop because I was picky and pretentious and it wasn't artsy enough. But no matter how much I complained, they kept playing it whenever we drove anywhere, and after awhile I came to really like a lot of it. My taste changed. And I stopped listening to Tori and Joni and Alanis, and I listen to Ani way less, but I still love love love Regina Spektor. And I like a lot of top 40 again, but I still listen to the Indigo Girls all the time because I really like folksy music. I came to like TSwift just because I kept hearing her songs over and over again. I'm not a huge fan of Miley Cyrus, but I'm sure if you played me enough of her stuff I'd like her too. Debatable about the Jonas Brothers though.
So why is that? What makes our taste in music, movies, books, food, art, TV shows, etc. what it is? Certain things bring out certain emotions, which we may or may not want to feel. We can relate to some lyrics or plot lines better than others, and different songs and movies and activities have different energy levels. Horror movies and loud drums and watching sports can give us adrenaline rushes, and some people thrive on that. Plus watching certain sports teams or listening to certain genres of music can show our loyalties and project an image, and we can talk about those things with others. When we listen to things over and over, they become familiar, and maybe that makes us like them more. When our friends like things, we want to like them too so we can relate to our friends, and we trust their taste.
But sometimes after we stop hearing things over and over, or when our friends change, or when our friends' tastes change, we stop liking those things. Does that mean we never really liked them in the first place? Or were we just in a different place then and our taste changes as our lives change? How much of our so-called "taste" depends on the image we want to project? In 9th grade I really, really wanted to be artsy and original, and the music I liked was artsy and original. Now that I've leveled off a little, I listen to a mix of top 40, artsy music, dance music, and super obscure things that I get from friends and around the internet. (First Aid Kit = LOVE.) But I don't watch Red Sox games not because I don't want to be a part of Red Sox Nation and show my love and pride for Boston; it's because I find watching most sports to be boring as hell. (Exceptions include gynmastics, figure skating, volleyball, and synchronized diving.)
Which brings us to the most important question of all: If Neelima tries hard enough, will she ever be able to get me to enjoy watching sports?
So anyway, that's pointless ramble #1. Upcoming rambles may or may not include such topics as love and how we are all reduced to numbers that label us but don't actually quantify anything.
Also the next day topic in the 30-day thing is Your Week in Great Detail, and I'm saving that for the end of this trip.
So taste. I'm currently sitting on the Megabus to Baltimore, and I'm listening to Regina Spektor's new CD on repeat. It's kick-ass. It's funny, because I remember that I was first introduced to Regina Spektor the summer after 9th grade when Pargol sent me a mix CD of Regina's music while I was at camp. Back then I was very much in the throes of my relatively-obscure-music phase. I refused to listen to top 40, opting instead for Ani DiFranco, Ben Folds, Tori Amos, Joni Mitchell, Alanis Morrisette, and Regina Spektor (okay, and some Kelly Clarkson. But I never would've admitted it.) And that was honestly what I liked. I didn't like top 40, even though just the year before that had been all I'd listened to. But I've always found that my taste shifts towards what my friends like, because we all introduce each other to new things. Before I was friends with the people I became closer to in 8th and 9th grade, I'd never even heard of any of the singers in the above list. But my friends burned me CDs, and my music taste changed, and my life was changing.
Around junior year of high school, I had two friends who listened to a lot of poppy hip hop songs. I had sworn off hip hop because I was picky and pretentious and it wasn't artsy enough. But no matter how much I complained, they kept playing it whenever we drove anywhere, and after awhile I came to really like a lot of it. My taste changed. And I stopped listening to Tori and Joni and Alanis, and I listen to Ani way less, but I still love love love Regina Spektor. And I like a lot of top 40 again, but I still listen to the Indigo Girls all the time because I really like folksy music. I came to like TSwift just because I kept hearing her songs over and over again. I'm not a huge fan of Miley Cyrus, but I'm sure if you played me enough of her stuff I'd like her too. Debatable about the Jonas Brothers though.
So why is that? What makes our taste in music, movies, books, food, art, TV shows, etc. what it is? Certain things bring out certain emotions, which we may or may not want to feel. We can relate to some lyrics or plot lines better than others, and different songs and movies and activities have different energy levels. Horror movies and loud drums and watching sports can give us adrenaline rushes, and some people thrive on that. Plus watching certain sports teams or listening to certain genres of music can show our loyalties and project an image, and we can talk about those things with others. When we listen to things over and over, they become familiar, and maybe that makes us like them more. When our friends like things, we want to like them too so we can relate to our friends, and we trust their taste.
But sometimes after we stop hearing things over and over, or when our friends change, or when our friends' tastes change, we stop liking those things. Does that mean we never really liked them in the first place? Or were we just in a different place then and our taste changes as our lives change? How much of our so-called "taste" depends on the image we want to project? In 9th grade I really, really wanted to be artsy and original, and the music I liked was artsy and original. Now that I've leveled off a little, I listen to a mix of top 40, artsy music, dance music, and super obscure things that I get from friends and around the internet. (First Aid Kit = LOVE.) But I don't watch Red Sox games not because I don't want to be a part of Red Sox Nation and show my love and pride for Boston; it's because I find watching most sports to be boring as hell. (Exceptions include gynmastics, figure skating, volleyball, and synchronized diving.)
Which brings us to the most important question of all: If Neelima tries hard enough, will she ever be able to get me to enjoy watching sports?
So anyway, that's pointless ramble #1. Upcoming rambles may or may not include such topics as love and how we are all reduced to numbers that label us but don't actually quantify anything.