Back 2 School

 "Test analysis is another essential part of test administration. Just as the unexamined life may not be worth living, the unanalyzed test may not be worth administering."

--Favorite quote (so far) from my assessment class reading

If ya gotta read about how to write a test, ya gotta to be grateful for the rare bits of humor, am I right? 

Beyond Vietnam

Today I tried to do my own commemoration of MLK Jr. by listening to his "I Have a Dream" speech, and his "Beyond Vietnam" speech. Notice my choice of the verb tried. I actually did not have the stamina to get through all of this second speech (King's quite harsh (and fairly unpopular at the time) critique of the Vietnam War), even though it was interesting and eloquent (of course) and still relevant today. It also happens to be about an hour long, so I only made it through about half. Sigh.

Did anyone else do anything relevant to the holiday this weekend?

Since I'm still putting off actual work,

I will now post some pictures from my trip to California that were not posted on Instagram. (I joined Instagram through Ari's phone, since I don't have a smartphone myself.)

These were some of the fun times:

 We went to Little Tokyo and I bought some mochi balls covered in goo which were quite delicious (and which Ari didn't like as much as me; I suppose it's an acquired taste). 

 We celebrated the eighth night of Hanukkah by frying up homemade latkes and forcing Ari to sing Hanukkah songs for us in Hebrew. 

 After going to see a really fun Pink Martini show at the Walt Disney Concert Hall with my parents, we took blurry New Year's kisses at the Thirsty Crow in Silver Lake. (Hey, if you can't be a hipster in Brooklyn, you gotta find the hipsters somewhere.)

 Leah was there too, back from a year-and-a-half abroad in France and Spain! 

Last but certainly not least, we got to spend hours upon hours playing and cuddling with Cosmo.

It was a fun-filled nine days home, and I'm looking forward to seeing my parents again in May, at GRADUATION (if it comes to that).

Bizarre Pizza

Ari and I finally had a chance to head over to the new pizza joint a few blocks south of our place on Classon, PeteZaaz. (Weird name, I know -- apparently one of the owners is called Pete.) I was intrigued by their "General Tso's Tofu" pizza, which actually has General Tso's tofu on it. I LOVE General Tso's tofu. No really. Ari can tell you that I get it approximately once a week at some Chinese takeout place or another.

Anyway, we ordered it:

And it was kind of ridiculous. Grated carrots, broccoli, cottage cheese, basil...and spicy tofu on top. We each had about two slices and then decided it was too much, and took it home. I'm pretty sure we'll finish it eventually, but it was a little too weird. I'm disappointed, because the restaurant itself is cute, with vintage pinball games on the wall, and antique light bulbs hanging from the ceiling. Ah well. Pizza, you were worth a try.

Secrets of a Wannabe Brooklynite Living in 20-Degree Weather

I have found the secret to surviving winter when the laundromat is 4 long blocks away: have a never-ending supply of underwear.

You can always wash it in the sink if you need a fresh pair! And you don't sweat nearly as much as in the summer, so you really don't need to watch your clothes very frequently!

Sorry if that was too personal, but I'm quite happy to have made such a valuable discovery.

Frohes Neues Jahr!

So, here I am at the TC library, ostensibly writing my master's paper. But after working on it for the past 4.5 hours (and adding a whole page to it, no less), I have gotten distracted by Google Reader and realized that it's been a while since I updated. Time for a somewhat belated post about the new year (2012, in case you weren't sure)!

Here are my rather brief thoughts about 2012: A pretty great year for me personally, a pretty bad year for the world.

Me: Continued to live in NYC and live it UP (well, at least not work on grad school stuff all day every day), move in with Ari in Brooklyn, finish my first year at TC, and have a great summer going to the Adirondacks, the Hamptons, and back home to spend quality time with the 'rents and Cammy. I spent time with good friends who luckily moved out to the East the same time as me. AND I finally got to see Leah at Christmas after her return home from Espana and la France.

The World: Protests all over the Middle East (which seemed wonderful at the time, but apparently have not led to a lot of wonderful changes, but my fingers of course are still crossed), ending most disturbingly with Ghaddafi's death. Occupy Wall Street (which is also great, but...I'm just not sure how much it achieved) followed by peaceful students at my alma mater, UC Davis, getting pepper-sprayed by campus police. And then of course this whole presidential election coming up just scares me half to death. The nominees that are considered credible--I just don't get it.

That last part turned into something of a rant. But I can't help feeling somewhat distressed at the prospects for this coming November.

In other news, I survived a whole year being (mostly) vegan! Hooray! This year, I plan to continue being vegan as much as possible, but probably not as strictly as last year (exceptions may be made for cookies and cheese pizza when absolutely necessary).

Now, here's to a better year for the world in 2012. No ending, World, OK? Not yet! I know the Mayans predicted it and all, but I don't think they'd mind if you existed a little longer.

OK. Now I shall head home in the 20+ degree weather.

Movies and Books

So now that I have finished reading Jane Eyre (I finished it in record time, for me--2 weeks! For 400+ pages!), I have commenced with viewing as many film versions of it as I can get my hands on.

Today, I watched the 1943 Joan Fontaine/Orson Welles version (I think the first version?) at Film Forum. Quite heavy handed and melodramatic, as one might expect from an early adaptation of the book. I mean, the book is quite melodramatic as well! But I LOVED the book. I did not love this adaptation. Joan Fontaine was too pretty and too old to play Jane. And Orson Welles was actually pretty good for a Rochester type. But I don't think the film made it clear why they'd be attracted to each other. But of course it's hard for a plot development such as people slowly falling in love to be portrayed in a film with the same clarity as the book.

Anyway, I'm kind of rambling. I shall now sign off. (I just wanted to post this to show that I haven't totally given up on blogging!)

P.S.-I also go to see Citizen Kane for the first time (it was part of a double feature with Jane Eyre), and enjoyed it more than I expected to. Not as boring as people said it would be (although not mind blowing, either).

It's really fall now

I wore the first tights of the season today. Black tights with a navy skirt. Yes, my students probably all think I'm color blind now, but oh well. I don't have any navy tights (yet).

Happy fall weather! When it's not raining here (as it has been for the last 3 days), it's gorgeous!