Ladies and Gentlemen,

Should I ever need to attend a red-carpet event, I have found my dress:

 

Yes, Claire Danes may have beat me to the dress. And yes, I probably couldn't afford it anyway. But those are trivial issues compared to the awesomeness of this dress.  As Jessica of Go Fug Yourself described it, it's "like a groovy mosaic at the bottom of the most amazing swimming pool."

Anna or Jane?

So this week, I checked out two female-centric tomes:

• Anna Karenina from the New York Public Library
• Jane Eyre from the Brooklyn Public Library 

Will I actually read either one? I'm not sure. I don't really know why I picked them out.

Since I probably will not have the stamina to read both of them back-to-back, does anyone have a recommendation about which one I should read first? I'm leaning towards Jane Eyre, since the beautiful (and talented) Michael Fassbender is in the new film about it....

That's why we only work when we need the money

So this semester (my second to last), I am planning to take it easy. I am only taking one class (which is actually a practicum--I'm gonna be teaching in the Community English Program) which meets 8 hours a week, and two workshops, both of which meet 10-6pm for two weekends each. And I'm writing my master's paper (well, once I decide on a topic).

That sounds pretty good, right? Then I just have two more classes in the spring (one of which is supposed to be the devil--one class that gives you the workload of two), and I'll be DONE!

If everything goes as planned (which it never does, does it?), this year will be a breeze.

I kind of wish I could have done this schedule every semester since starting grad school. But then it would take me about 4 years, rather than two. But is that so terrible? New York City is pretty awesome. I'm in no hurry to leave.
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On a totally unrelated note: Ari and I went to see Godard's Band of Outsiders yesterday at Film Forum. It was so good! Apparently (I looked it up) this film is generally considered the most accessible of Godard's films. And it has some great iconic scenes: running through the Louvre, dancing to the jukebox in the cafe (which inspired the dance scene in Pulp Fiction), the "minute of silence" when there actually is a minute without any sound....

Go see it! Or if you've already seen it, tell me how much you liked it!

10 years

Today is the 10th anniversary of September 11th. All over the city there are memorials, exhibits, concerts and films happening. Yet I have to admit, I still don't feel a really strong emotional connection to the events that happened that day. I was living in California as a junior in high school when the Twin Towers fell, with no family in New York.  I felt almost as if it were a tragedy that happened in another country.

Today, reading the essays and tributes of people who lost loved ones, it is impossible for me not to shed tears. However, I am somewhat frustrated by the distance I feel from my other countrymen who were more directly impacted by the events of September 11.

Despite these feelings, tonight I plan to go out tonight and view the Tribute in Light, which is two bright beams of light that will be shining where the Twin Towers used to stand. This will be my own way of remembering our country's loss.