Hooray for T-Day!

Ari and I had a 6-day break for Thanksgiving this year! Wednesday - Monday. Here are a few pictures of how we spent it. (Not pictured: Intense shopping at DSW [I think the four of us bought 7 pairs of shoes?!])

First, we took an Amtrak train from NYC to Pittsburgh. It was cheaper than flying, and I managed to convince Ari it'd be easier, since we only had to take one train to get to the Amtrak station, and then his parents would pick us up in Pittsburgh. 

But then a freight train stalled in Lancaster, so we had to get off the train in Harrisburg and hang out for three hours while they organized buses to take us farther down the track to re-board a new train. Blerg. 

Once we finally got on the buses, they took us to the train and had us enter the train directly from the tracks. Exciting! And also pretty frustrating that the process took so long. It was supposed to be a 9-hour trip, but ended up taking 12 hours. In the end, though, we didn't get too upset about it. I mean, we had enough time to watch Kill Bill vol. 1 AND vol. 2 on my laptop! (I liked Vol. 2 significantly better than Vol. 1, but it's definitely not in my top 20 favorite movies or anything.)

Boarding the train from the tracks. 

We sent this text to Ari's parents to let them know we were back on the train, finally!

On Thanksgiving morning, we walked around Mill Creek Park (essentially Ari's parents' backyard) with some family and friends. 

We went to a delicious Thanksgiving dinner at Ari's uncle's house, and came back to the house to find the power shut off on the whole street. We enjoyed lighting all the candles and hanging out in the soft glow for about an hour before the power came back on. 

Friday, we went to downtown Youngstown to take the little kids to Oh Wow, a kids museum. It was actually pretty cool for adults too... 

Walking around downtown. Ari was very popular with the young'uns. 

On Saturday morning, the kids (and their parents) had to leave, but not without covering Ari with stickers and climbing all over him. 

We went out for Chinese food and I got annoyed at the poor grammar on the fortune cookie fortunes. 

We introduced Ellyanna's boyfriend, Adam (Far right) to the famous Handel's ice cream (a Youngstown institution).

On the last full day in town (Sunday), we drove to the botanical gardens, which were...not so botanical. They were mostly brown. But we got a pretty new of Glacier Lake.

And today we flew home (only a 1-hour flight) with no delays or problems. Back to work tomorrow. But only for two weeks before I fly to California for Christmas! 

Katniss 4-Ever

"The success of 'The Hunger Games' series has been itself, in its bottom-line fashion, a rejoinder to another intolerant regime, that of a movie industry that continues to treat women on and off the screen as a distraction, an afterthought and a problem. A few months into its run, the second installment, “Catching Fire,” became the first movie with a lone female lead to top the annual domestic box office in four decades. That’s astonishing because it reveals the historical depths of the industry’s inequities even while it speaks to the audience’s embrace of this series. There are all sorts of reasons that viewers have flocked to these movies, including the studio hard sell, but I like to think the numbers prove that, in rallying to Katniss’s side, they’re also backing the other liberation struggle she has come to represent." -- Manohla Dargis's review of The Hunger Games: Mockingjay Part 2 in The New York Times

I actually didn't fall in love with the Hunger Games books. The films are also flawed, but Jennifer Lawrence is truly great in them.  She elevates the material and makes me care about Katniss's character more than I expected I could. Here's hoping her role in these films pushes even more movie studios to cast strong female leads.

Going to see Hunger Games this weekend, because it's sometimes worth it to take part in these cultural touchstones as they are happening. (Paying a whole $17!)

That moment when...

...you sigh, because you realize (but are not surprised) that your wonderful students are evil conservative nincompoops. 

No, I don't really think that about my students. But it can sometimes be frustrating to find out their opinions when it comes to politics. 

We read an excerpt from a book by Jonathan Kozol about the de facto inequality that exists in public schools due to government funding. My students had to write a letter to Kozol saying whether they agree or disagree with his argument that schools in poor areas should receive more government funding than those in richer neighborhoods, in order to create true educational equality. Keep in mind, most of my students come from quite wealthy families; that's how they're able to afford tuition at NYU, a private university. 

Here are some troubling samples of what the majority (not all, thankfully!) of my students wrote: 

("Good" grammar, not good point of view!)

These students are intermediate level, so it's important for me to remember that their rationales are a bit crudely expressed. Still, it can be frustrating to have students write these kinds of things after I've done my best to explain how logical (from my point of view) Kozol's argument is. 

Maybe some of them will eventually change their mind a wee bit? 

5k in Prospect Park yesterday

Ran it with my coworkers, Megan, Natalie, and Michele.

Awkward action shot as we started the race. I love Megan's face here! 

Aaand action shot as we finished the race! (Natalie is behind us in this shot.)

271st, baby! Out of about 350! (We DID jog the whole time--just slowly.) Yay!

The Pirate (1948)

One of my favorite genres of film is the cheesy (feel-good, if you will) classic Hollywood musical, especially the type made in the 40s and 50s.

The latest one I just watched was called The Pirate, and featured Judy Garland and Gene Kelly -- two of my favorites!

But this one was delightfully ridiculous. I'm not even going to get into the story here. I will let these pictures I took during my viewing of the DVD speak (mostly) for themselves.

This is the opening scene. That is Judy Garland's hat. She is not supposed to be a chef. 

Garland looks better here, but look at Gene Kelly's rather large and curly bangs! And that 'stache! 

And my favorite part - Gene Kelly dancing in very short shorts! My 12-year-old self would have died. 

One more for good measure. There was fire involved! 

And that is all. I hope you feel about these pictures the same way that I felt about the movie (read: I found it entertaining but rather bizarre)!

Staten Island

I've officially been to all five boroughs -- we finally made a special trip to Staten Island last Friday to see what all the buzz was about (there was/is no buzz; I don't really know why I wanted to visit Staten Island).

First, we took the free ferry from downtown Manhattan to the Island, hopped on an SIR (Staten Island Railroad) train, and walked to the Alice Austen House, which was recommended by my friend Sarah because of its cool subject (Alice Austen was one of the first "prolific" female photographers) and the location of the house. Pretty great views of the Hudson and Manhattan. 

Then, we walked 20 minutes through not-so-amazing suburbs to a Sri Lankan neighborhood.

Most of the area we walked through looked like this.

We went to this restaurant Ari had read about the NY Times a couple of years ago, called Lakruwana. It was really good! But the decor was a little over the top (I don't think my photos quite capture it); it felt almost like I was eating lunch at a themed restaurant at Disneyland.

The house special: rice cooked with turmeric (?) eggplant, caramelized onions, a fried egg, tempeh (?) cubes, and cashews. And then a noodle dish with curry you could pour over it.

After eating lunch, we made the mistake of thinking that the 20-minute walk to Flagship Brewery would be enough time to make space in our stomachs for some beer. It wasn't enough time.

We ordered two tasting flights, which were really fun to sip, but we...just couldn't get close to finishing the beers. We were too stuffed. But it was a cool brewery!

After giving up on the beer, we waddled back to the Ferry Terminal and took the ferry home. And I took an obligatory picture of the Statue of Liberty. I couldn't resist! 

Thanks, Staten Island. You were...ok, I guess. I don't feel like we need to hang out together again anytime soon. No hard feelings!

Announcing....

our new cat that we officially adopted on October 29th (National Cat Day, coincidentally)!

I spent an embarrassingly long time on my phone to create that beautiful image.

Yes, we adopted our foster kitty, the cat formerly known as London. And we renamed him Seymour--the name works for us for several reasons, which I will now explain: 

1. It reminds me of one of my favorite (albeit depressing) stories from Salinger,  "A Perfect Day for Bananafish." 
2. It reminds Ari of a character from the Simpsons (because of course it does).
3. It's somewhat connected to Little Shop of the Horrors and the plant that says "FEED ME!" much like Seymour does on a regular basis. 
4. We think it sounds just formal enough to fit his personality. 

I am pretty excited to have my very own cat, for the first time in my life. This is a milestone, guys. And Ari and I both think he's pretty great!