A quick trip to Philadelphia

So, school starts in earnest this week (my full schedule doesn't kick in till Thursday, thankfully), so I gotta get these posts up asap! 

First off: Philadelphia! Ari and I took a mid-week trip to the city of brotherly love from August 19 - 20th. I had hotel points from a credit card I'd signed up for, so we decided to spend a night in the city that I'd only been to briefly before (I visited mainly the historical part with Michelle and Liz back in spring 2014). I wanted to see the cool parts that I'd heard about, plus I'd heard good things about the vegetarian restaurant there, called Vedge. So we booked a night at the Holiday Inn Express, which is literally a 3-minute walk from Vedge. And despite originally planning to take Amtrak there like the old-world travellers we wanted to pretend to be, we discovered that Megabus tickets were literally 1/20 of the price ($100 vs. $5!!). So we caught a Megabus at 9:30am and got to Philly by 11:30am. 

Once we got dropped off in the city center, we walked directly to Reading Terminal Market to grab some lunch. We got there during peak lunch hour, which was a little overwhelming. But we managed to get a decent veggie burger and cheesy scalloped potatoes at Hunger Burger, and find a spot to sit down among all the crowded tables. 

Waiting for our food. Notice the large amount of people. 

After that, we did a combination of two self-guided mural tours that I heard about from Hannah, my friend from high school who currently lives in Philadelphia (but who was sadly out of town when we visited). Important note: the majority of what we did in Philly was a suggestion from Hannah. Thanks, Hannah! 

The murals were pretty cool to visit because they are all over the city, thanks to an initiative started in the 80s as an anti-graffiti strategy, and continuing today as the MuralArts Program. Apparently this program has painted more than 2,000 murals all over the city since 1984. 

On the day we visited, it was a sunny 90 degrees with about 80% humidity, but we actually had a really good time exploring the city through finding these murals. Some of the murals had basically no background information, while others had a phone number you could call to hear a recorded message about the painting.

This mural was one of the wackier ones. We didn't get any background info on this one, but I liked how colorful it was. 

We had to take a break after about an hour and half of trekking in the sun, and stopped in Chinatown to get some boba tea. (The people behind Ari look warped because this is a panoramic shot.) 

This mural was painted near an animal shelter; each animal painted on this wall depicts an actual rescue animal that was adopted. To finance the mural, pet owners entered a lottery to have their pet painted into the mural. 

We came upon this adorable street (there were actually many like it, this was just the first one we saw) called Quince Street. I wanted to live in this ivy-covered house. I made myself feel better about the situation by telling myself that the house's owners probably don't have very good air conditioning in the summer. And it's probably really drafty in the winter. So yeah. Not that great. 

After walking all around the city for about 4 hours, we finally checked into our hotel (we were just carrying backpacks) and took a refreshing shower and a quick nap before going out again for a cocktail before dinner. Our reservation wasn't until 9:30pm, so we didn't have to rush. 

We also grabbed a snack at about 5pm -- we went to this awesome Israeli hummus place called Dizengoff (Ari wholeheartedly approved of their pita bread) and then we went across the street to get a grapefruit brûlée donut at Federal Donuts.  

After resting up, we walked to a pop up garden which was pretty cool, although a little heavy on the bougie-hipster vibe. The idea is that this organization turns vacant lots into beer gardens for the summer. 

I had a very sweet honey-flavored cocktail (too sweet--I couldn't finish it.). I think Ari had a mojito. You can see a beautiful, rusty tub thing behind us, as proof that this was a hip spot. 

Then we went to Vedge! Where everything tasted pretty darn good. But my favorite part HAD to be the cocktail called "Effie, Brace Yourself." For those of you that may not be up to date on your Mrs. Doubtfire trivia (I just watched it with my students last May), that is one of the funniest lines from the film. And it was indeed a very bracing cocktail! 

Ari models his awesome drink. 

My picture of the food is not very photogenic, but I'll post it anyway, just to give people an idea. We had stuffed avocado for the appetizer (not pictured), a ratatouille squash thing (in the middle), spicy grilled tofu (on the left), fingerling fries (on the right), and for dessert we had rutabaga fondue (which was DELICIOUS and obviously tasted better than it sounds).

The next day, we had to catch a bus back to NYC at 2pm, so we had to plan how we wanted to spend the majority of the morning. I'd already been to the Philadelphia Museum of Art, but it was supposed to be likely thunderstorms, so we decided to take a risk and and spend the $20 each to visit the Barnes Foundation. According to the website, it's "the greatest private collection of post-impressionist and early-modern art." I looked at that description and thought, "Well, Ari and I were just in Paris where we saw a ton of that art period at the Musee D'Orsay. Do we really need to see more of it?" Turns out, we did! The value of the experience was more in the way the art was displayed than in the art itself. Barnes (the collector) arranged all of the art according to his tastes and preferences, and he did it in a very unique and quirky way. Artists from totally different time periods and parts of the world are hung next to each other, and it is all kind of packed together, so that you walk into a fairly small room and aren't really sure which of the thirty paintings to look at first. I recommend taking a look at the website if you want to get an idea what it's like, since they don't allow any photos to be taken inside. 

After we had spent a couple hours at the museum, we had just enough time to grab lunch and then head to the bus station. As luck would have it, Pizzeria Vetri (another Hannah rec!) was literally right across the street from the Foundation. We dashed over there and ordered an eggplant and stracciatella pizza. And it did not disappoint. As Ari remarked on the bus ride home, the bread products were really the highlight of our trip to Philadelphia. 

All in all, a wonderful 36-hour (or less, actually) trip to a city that's only an hour and a half away. We left Philly thinking we should do that more often--both visit Philly and travel to destinations that are convenient and easy to explore on foot. Next on the list: maybe Hoboken? 

Hope to see you next time, little guy! 

Last day of summer school

Today was my last day teaching summer school! I finished at Columbia last week, and then had one more relaxed week of teaching Pace. My last class was this morning, from 10am-12pm (Pre-Graduate Academic Reading--sounds fancy, right?).

In honor of the last day, I made a special trip up to Penn Station to get KRISPY KREME donuts for my students. This was a really great class, so it was worth it to spend the money on them. Plus, I had a Groupon for $20 worth of Krispy Kreme donuts which I knew I couldn't spend completely on myself. 

I can practically smell the sugary sweetness just looking at this. 

Then, I got home and had to motivate myself to tally up final grades (students gave presentations today) and officially submit them. London (our current foster cat) was not helping.

Crazy eyes. 

The kind of exciting thing is that I will be teaching at not one, not two, but THREE schools come September! I was offered a reading/writing class at NYU. It's going to be a little stressful adapting to another work environment and taking on a brand new course, but I think it'll be worth it. 

But before that happens, I want to enjoy some vacation time. I'll mostly be staying in the city, although Ari and I have plans to visit Philly for a night next week, as a kind of mini-vacation (I have hotel points we can use!), and then we'll both be in Colorado at the end of August for Cammy's wedding (!!!!!!!!!). I can't wait. 

Rock rock, Rockaway Beach

Had a really nice beach morning today. Got up and out the door by 8:15am to book it to Rockaway Beach before all the crowds got there (it was still pretty crowded). I met up with my friend Jacky and her friend Caroline, and we alternated jumping in the refreshing waves and lying out in the sun. And of course avoiding sunburns! 

The boardwalk. 

Caroline and Jacky. 

View from my towel. 

Unintentionally dreamy selfie (sunscreen on the lens)

Ridiculous photo

The best part of the day? We saw dolphins! They were a good distance from the shore, but we could see them pretty clearly as they jumped out the water. They swam parallel to the shore for quite a ways before we lost sight of them.

I DID it!

Well, as some readers may have noticed, I haven't blogged for a couple of days. That was my unofficial celebration of completing my 30-day challenge! I am pretty proud of myself for only forgetting one day (dang that one day), and I even tried to make up for it by blogging an extra day. So I did 31 days almost consecutively.

Now that I've gotten back into the swing of things, I think I will attempt to blog at least a bit more frequently than I had been. Here's hoping I can keep it up without waiting another 6 months!

The next question is: what should my next 30-day challenge be??

Swingers

Have I mentioned that I have kind of gotten into swing dancing lately? It's like the early 2000s all over again!! Zoot suit riot!!!!

The story is that since I went to the Midsummer Night Swing event that I blogged about last month, I've been on a bit of a swing kick, along with my coworkers Megan and Carol. We've gone to about one swing event a week, most of which are free, and include an introductory class. It's been pretty fun, although I'd like to keep at it more seriously and actually become decent at it, versus just scratching the surface of the dance moves, like I am now.

Anyway, we went to a "hot jazz" swing event tonight which included a surprisingly useful lesson (these free lessons are definitely hit or miss!) and some of the best swing dancing I've seen in the city. Honestly, it was so good that I really preferred to watch the dancers than try to dance myself!

The only downside tonight was when I got kicked (accidentally) pretty freaking hard by one of the newbie male dancers. He kicked me in the ankle, and my ankle still hurts 4 hours later! At least I'll have a nice bruise to show for my new hobby tomorrow.

Intense discomfort is beauty

So, for whatever reason* I continue to subscribe to the magazine InStyle.  About once or twice an issue, I laugh out loud at some ridiculous recommended purchase (a $2,000 purse) or beauty procedure ($500 facial injections once every two weeks--because why not?!). 

Anyway, I was reading it last night and found one beauty procedure so hilarious that I felt the need to share it here. 

First of all, they have an article telling you how to tone your tummy, without any mention of what foods to eat or any kind of exercise. These tips are solely lotions and creams and procedures you can get done to your stomach. 

I look at the column for people in their 30s because, hey, I'm in my 30s now! Maybe I can learn something useful! 

And the magazine recommends that I DRY BRUSH MY OWN STOMACH. There's a picture of the brush at the bottom there. I am supposed to rake that thing back and forth across my stomach EVERY DAY for..what? Years????? Until I reach 40???

I'd like to say that this article pushed me to take the final step towards canceling my subscription, but...no. I mean, you wouldn't, would you? 

*I enjoy "reading" vapid fashion and beauty articles at the end of the day

Columbia in high summer

I only taught for two hours today

and I really have nothing else to report, except that I watched the film The Clouds of Sils Maria, and failed to understand it.

P.S. The movie did make me really want to visit the actual Sils Maria. It's in Switzerland and it looks like this: 

Image via

OMG

I forgot to post a blog yesterday!

And I didn't realize it for almost a whole day.

Well, in any case, I'm doing much better on this 30-day challenge than on the last!

Yesterday was really nice. Ari and I had a relaxing morning, then later in the afternoon we met our friends Jenny and Matthew for drinks at the rooftop bar of Whole Foods in Gowanus. Then, we went to dinner at Bar Corvo with a few friends and coworkers to celebrate my friend Carol's 30th birthday.

Today, I had brunch with my cousin Graham and his boyfriend Scott, at their adorable apartment in Bushwick. They made us breakfast! Then we came home and I basically napped for two hours, and Ari went to his church gig.

Then I FINISHED the LOTR SERIES! Huzzah! So Ari and I watched the final movie in the series as well. It was a good weekend.

Trials of Transportation

Like most New Yorkers, I use public transportation basically every day. And like most New Yorkers, I have a love-hate relationship with the MTA (Metropolitan Transportation Association). I LOVE not having to drive a car, but sometimes the subway system and bus system in this city really ...suck. 

Today was one of those sucky days. I left for work at Columbia two hours early. While it only takes 45 minutes to get from Brooklyn to Columbia on a good day, it will most likely take an hour to 95 minutes most days. So I take the Q at Parkside, transfer at 42nd street to the 1, and everything's going smoothly. 

At 96th street (THREE stops away from Columbia), the train sits in the station for five minutes. The conductor comes on: "Ladies and Gentlemen, this train is being held in the station. We expect to be moving shortly. We apologize for any inconvenience." This is a standard message you hear a lot - it could mean the train will actually be moving shortly, or it could mean the train will sit here for another 45 minutes. 

I was doing OK on time, so I decided to just wait and see what happened. 

Twenty minutes later, and two identical announcements later, the conductor announces: "Ladies and Gentlemen, this is the last stop on this train. Please exit the train." 

Exasperated sighs and exclamations from everyone on the train, including me. I have to walk approximately 20 minutes from 96th to get to Columbia, and I will have to hustle to make it there before my class starts in 40 minutes, because I still have some prep to do. 

So I get off the train, exit the station, and see that the m104 bus is waiting right there, which will get me to Columbia faster. Yay! I run to catch it (as do a lot of other people who got off the train with me), and we just barely make it in time. As we're pulling away from the curb, an angry white dude comes up to the side of the bus and starts yelling at the bus driver to stop, so that he can get on. She waves at him to show that no more people can get on the bus because it's too full already. He punches the window - hard - and breaks the glass on the bus window! 

SO, now the bus driver has to call in the harassment and damage to the bus, and all of the passengers of the bus have to exit, since the bus is now out of service. Hooray!!

I basically jog/walk all the way up the 20 blocks to get to Columbia. And then I spend 10 minutes posting this blog post about my morning (I still have 10 minutes left before class)! 

And that was an example of a more frustrating Friday morning commute. 

It's almost Saturday. BYE! 

Unknown subway stories

Today, on the 30-minute ride home from 34th street to Parkside Avenue, the woman sitting next to me stared at a picture on her phone of a pregnant woman. She repeatedly zoomed in and out on the same picture for the whole ride, as she cried quietly to herself.

Here's what I ate for dinner tonight!

Whenever Ari's gone for dinner, I tend to default to pasta with vegetables or rice with vegetables. Tonight I had pasta. 

And my excuse for posting a more-inane-than-usual update? I got to gchat with Cammy tonight! So she used up my precious blogging time. Muahaha! Blame Cammy. 

Return of the LOTR

I've finished taking my 3-book-long break from reading the LOTR series. During my book "vacation," I read an amusing book of essays by Nora Ephron, a series of depressing short stories (Golden Boy, Emerald Girl), and finally a best-seller from a couple of years ago, called The Love Affairs of Nathaniel P. I already quoted that last one on a previous post - I generally enjoyed the book, although the main character was surprisingly unpleasant.

So now I'm back to reading the final book in the trilogy: The Return of the King. I have to admit, even though I enjoy Tolkien's writing style and think that he is pretty darn good at creating interesting characters and worlds, I'm ready to be done with it, and I'm less than halfway through. I will probably feel sad when I finally finish it, though.

Plus, it has this sweet 1990s cover (this is the biggest image I could find):

image via

That's Aragorn wearing a "helm" with wings coming out from either side of his head. Yup.

That was a close one

Today, I had another first of living in this city: I dropped my cell phone onto the subway tracks! 

After living in New York and taking the subway for four years, I don't think I've ever dropped anything onto the tracks more valuable than a scrap of paper. But maybe it was bound to happen eventually. Then again, maybe I am just an idiot who shouldn't have been waving her phone around near the edge of the subway platform. I blame hunger! I was really hungry taking the subway home today, and was holding my Metrocard, a book, and my phone in my hand, so perhaps I dropped it due to my weakened, hungry state. Or maybe I just shouldn't have been carrying three things in one hand! 

In any case, I dropped my cell phone off the side of the platform. There was a brief moment (maybe 15 seconds) when I thought about jumping down to get it. But I looked around me, and literally two people standing next to me on the platform were shaking their heads, like "NO, that is a terrible idea." Then one of the women nearby mentioned that I should push the emergency call button, which was a few feet away. I really felt a little guilty for pushing the button (no one's life was anywhere close to endangered), but it did worked! The nice guy who answered didn't seem angry that I'd "misused" the emergency call, so I guess it was OK to consider losing a cell phone an emergency. 

I had to wait 30 minutes for them to send a guy down to fish out my phone with one of those long sticks with tongs at the end (kind of like an industrial-strength candy grabber), and he got it in about 1 minute. 

Phew! Here's hoping I don't drop my phone onto the tracks for at least another four years!

Quick photo I got of the nice man who got my phone off the tracks. Thank you, sir! 

It was 90 degrees today

So you'd think we wouldn't do much. But we went to the beach!

This is us taking the subway back, because I forgot to take a photo at the actual beach. 

After going home and showering and eating lunch, we went into the city and got delicious full-fat Haagen-Dazs ice cream! And then I went to a movie (The Third Man) at Film Forum while Ari played church. I admit I fell asleep for the first 20 minutes of the film because it felt so good to be a cool, dark, air-conditioned room after the beach. And then we came home and had dinner.

It was a good day. Supposed to be 91 tomorrow!

BTW, I wish I had more "deep thoughts" to post on this blog, but maybe this weather isn't conducive to critical thinking. Or I'm just lazy. 

So MAD

I'm not mad. I'm just MAD about MAD MEN! Hahahahahahahahah! (I'm also not drunk. I just don't feel like starting with a sane opening.) 

Today, Ari and I took the train all the way to Queens to visit the Museum of the Moving Image (MOMI, or "Mommy" as I like to pronounce it) and see the exhibit on the TV show Mad Men, which is there through September. If you talked to me in May, you knew that I was, and am, a die-hard fan of this show. It might be my favorite show ever. (I have yet to see the Sopranos, but I have given Breaking Bad and The Wire a chance. They are good, but they didn't capture my interest the same way that MM has.) 

Ari is also a fan, so we had a pretty good time looking at the notes and costumes and sets for the show. The coolest part was definitely seeing Don Draper's office. Sigh. I am so sad this show is over. 

Covert photo taken when the security guard wasn't looking

On the way back to the train, we stopped at a Venezuelan restaurant and had arepas. Or rather, Ari did. I got the "Venezuelan breakfast" which was DELICIOUS.

                           

Too tired for a full blog post

So I'll just post that YAY it's Friday and I managed to jog all the way around Prospect Park at 10pm this evening. Please note: This exercise occurred after watching Bonnie and Clyde at Film Forum, going to get a veggie burger at Bark, and then eating a slice of Candy Bar Pie (R) at Milk Bar. 

It might have been that last part that finally motivated me to put on my jogging shoes. 

The Utopia of Brooklyn

Tonight, I went with Megan and Carol to see, and dance to, some Latin music in front of the Brooklyn Central Library. I hadn't planned to go (it's been a long week of teaching since Summer C started!), but it was a beautiful evening and the humidity from the last few days finally went away. The air was crisp and a little cool and the sky was totally clear. It seemed like I couldn't waste this nice evening by just going home and watching Netflix. 

So the three of us went to the library and danced a little. 

And I realized that every city should be like Brooklyn. Where else can you see such a mix of races and social classes mixing with an equal amount of joy and abandon? 

OK, OK, the people of Brooklyn don't always mix too easily, and there are definitely still a LOT of problems in this borough. But on nights like this, it's pretty easy to convince yourself that everything's gonna be just fine. 

        

On the way home, I walked through the park and looked at fireflies.

Nick Cave is one of my favorite musicians.  I was really saddened to read that his 15-year-old son died. Shocked and sending my love to his family.

Havana good time*

So my big news that I teased two days ago and then forgot to mention yesterday is....
I'm going to CUBA!

My parents were actually the ones who brought up the idea. They travelled to China right after the country opened its borders in the '70s (I think around that time?), and were able to see people when the main mode of transportation was bicycles, and everyone was wearing Mao jackets. So they thought it would be a good time to get a jump on the tourism industry and try to visit Cuba before EVERYONE is doing it.

So we're gonna pay a little extra cash (a lot extra cash, in my opinion, but it's worth it) to take a guided tour before the country starts to truly take part in the tourism industry. Or at least, that's our reasoning. I think we're not exactly sure what we'll see, but hopefully it will be worth it! I will actually be traveling with my parents and my good friend from undergrad, Alicia (Ari can't go since it's during the school year, and Leah just doesn't have the funds right now, and Cammy just bought a house and is getting married, so...). I'm so happy I'll have a travel buddy! Alicia and I traveled to Costa Rica together back in 2009, so we already know that we get along fine in other (Spanish-speaking!) countries. This tour promises to be a lot less stressful because it's 100% guided, but here's hoping we still get to have some adventures.

I'm not going till the first week of January (January 3-8), so it's a bit of a ways away. But I'm pretty excited!

*I totally googled "Cuba puns" to find that title. 

I just read a description of myself

I just started the book The Love Affairs of Nathaniel P. (based upon a recommendation from my good friend Lena Dunham), and am enjoying the 40 pages or so I've read so far.

I also came upon a description of a girl that basically described how I see myself (and how I assume others see me?):

"And while she had a nice body, she was on the tall side and had something of the loose-limbed quality of a comic actor, goofy and self conscious, good-humored but perhaps also a bit asexual" (p. 39).

Weird. But kind of cool.

Plans are crystallizing

...for a big (money-wise) trip next year. The trip itself will be relatively short, but I think the cost will be worth it. 

I'm going to be coy about details until stuff gets finalized, hopefully tomorrow! 

So begins Summer C

Summer at Columbia University is divided into three sessions: A, B, and C. Last Friday was the last day of B (four weeks long), and Monday is the start of C. I'll be working more hours than I ever have as an adjunct: 21 hour per week. (12 hours at Columbia and 9 hours at Pace, which is divided into Summer I and II.) My maximum was 19 before; some adjuncts work more than 25 but I have no idea how they do it!

Anyway, I am preparing as best I can for a very busy Summer C. Thankfully it's only four weeks long (as opposed to the 12 weeks of fall and spring semester), so it will only be crazy for a short period of time before I get a couple weeks off for my actual summer break. Then it's back to school on August 31st for fall semester!

So proud

I just embossed a perfect unicorn. (It's craft night at Liz's on Long Island.) 

Well, that was awkward.

Today, Ari and I had a really nice date night - we saw an early showing of Inside Out (we both really liked it; I might put it in my top two Pixar films of all time, with Finding Nemo), and then went to get Asian takeout to eat in Union Square before it got dark.

Then, right across from the bench where we were eating our dinner, a drunk frat boy started peeing. Ari yelled at him and his friend who was standing nearby, something like "Dude, there's a bathroom over there!" But they pretty much ignored us and walked away. Gross. We kept eating. Then, less than five minutes later they came BACK and the other guy started peeing. Again, right across from us, where we were trying to eat dinner. With other people around, trying to enjoy the evening. We yelled at them to stop it, and they ignored us again, so I got up and threw the remains of my food at the guy who was peeing. I can't really believe that I did it, and I admit it definitely wasn't the most mature thing to do. They ended up calling me a "dick" and then called Ari and me "fags," which was pretty hilarious. Thankfully, they did not try to start any kind of fight. And maybe they'll think twice about peeing in front of people trying to eat their dinner in a public park?

Yayyyyyy I'm one step closer to being a real New Yorker. But to be honest, despite that kerfuffle, Ari and I had a really nice evening!

Caught in the rain

Tonight I went to hear my friend Lindsay play some of her own music and some covers at a bar in the Village called The Bitter End. She was the first performer of the night (she started at 7pm), so I was glad that I, and a handful of other friends, were there to show some support. It felt so nice to listen to relaxing singer/songwriter tunes sung by a friend on a warm summer evening.

Then I totally got caught in the rain coming home. But it was worth it!

You make me feel like dancing

After work today, I met up with my coworkers Megan and Carol (the same friends who I spent the 4th of July with) to attend "Midsummer Night Swing," an event that happens every summer at Lincoln Center, where they have swing dancing (and other styles of dancing, like salsa) on certain nights of the week. It's fun because they have a dance floor, a live band, and a dance class for the first half hour. The only drawback is that it's a little pricey--$20 for 3 hours, if you stay the whole time, which we didn't. 

So we all went for the first time tonight. We took the dance class and learned the Lindy Hop, and then got to wait around awkwardly for people to ask us to dance. (I wanted Ari to come and be my dance partner, but he thought the price was too steep.) Thankfully, we all ended up dancing quite a bit by the end of the night, either with each other, or with random people who invited us to dance. It was a lot of fun! We plan to come back, and just hang out outside the dance floor -- thus essentially getting the same thing for free! 

This older dude was tearing up the dance floor. 

Our exhilarated walk back to the subway at the end of the night. 

Coordinated

As I took the subway home from work this afternoon, I realized that my outfit matched my book! My first thought was: I am SO posting this on Instagram! But then I decided to put it on the blog instead. 

As soon as I came in the door, I made Ari take a picture of my fabulous, accidental coordination. I'm not sure if the picture below captures the true synchronicity of the colors. Also, there's a cat tail throwing off the vibe. 

Here's another shot I took on the subway. Yes, it was kind of awkward photographing my own lap on a crowded train. But this needed to be done! 

I now consider the significance of this event to have been sufficiently discussed and documented.

This post is brought to you by

Allagash White beer and Original Sin Cider.

 It's "Play Your Own Records Night" at Sycamore, a bar near my apartment. 

Here is Sarah displaying one of her musical selections of the night. 

Living in the Cit-ay

Well, I'm (a little) sorry to brag, but I had an amazing Fourth of July Weekend. It included basically everything I'd hoped for:

• Good friends
• Grilling outside
• Grilling vegetarian food outside
• Roasting marshmallows
• Beach (both lying on the sand AND going in the water)
• Ice cream (both from an old-fashioned, family-run ice cream parlour AND from a Mr. Softee truck)
• Fireworks
• Grass
• Patios
• 'Merican music (CCR, Sly and the Family Stone, the Beatles (OK that last one may not truly be so patriotic))

And now I'm back in the city after more than 60 hours in the "country," and let me tell you, I didn't want to come back. I still haven't planned the lesson for my 9am class tomorrow, and that's saying something.

BUT this afternoon, I was reading Nora Ephron's essay about living in her NYC apartment, the Apthorp, and as dissimilar as our experiences of living in the city have been (she essentially lived in a gated community in the Upper West Side), I really connected with her description of finding a community in whichever part of the city she ended up living in. Ari and I have lived in our little apartment here in Brooklyn for almost two years (the longest I've lived anywhere in this city!), and it definitely feels comfortable to me. I'll admit that I don't know most of my neighbors' names, but I recognize the same cashiers at the grocery store, and I see the same people walking their dogs around Prospect Park when I go jogging there. We will probably not be living in this city for much longer (1 - 2 years more at most?), but I really, really love it some days -- especially in the summer. Especially when I look at it with fresh eyes after enjoying a weekend away.

*Also -- YAY U.S. WOMEN'S NATIONAL TEAM!! I'm sad Japan didn't play a little better though; better luck next time Japan! 

It's the 4th of July!

Happy birthday, America!

(Cake made by Megan's mom.)

Love from Medford

Today we went to Cosco (a luxury for us city folk) and then went to the beach and got ice cream at McNulty's (a cute family-run parlor), followed by pizza and wine on the back patio.

Three Day Weekend!

I don't have to work tomorrow (Woo! No pay, but that's OK!), so I have a three-day weekend. The plan is to head to Long Island with a few of my coworkers from Columbia; one of my coworkers, Megan, is from there, and we're all going to stay at her mom's house and basically have a girls weekend. If the weather is nice, we'll go to the beach on Friday and have a barbecue on Sunday. It sounds so American! I can't wait.

I See London!

Our latest foster, London, from a cat's eye view (i.e. I was lying on the floor). 

Am I a geek yet?

I've been working on the Lord of the Rings books, partly as a favor to Ari (he has been asking me to read them for years) and partly because I just want to finally read them, and I figure summer is a good time to do it. I've finished book 1 and 2, and got about 60 pages into the third book before realizing that I just need a break from Tolkien.*

Despite feeling the need to take a break, I have gotten pretty involved in the story. There have been multiple points in both books where tears have been shed -- usually on the subway, which is when I get most of my reading done. I am not ashamed to cry to public! That's actually part of becoming a real New Yorker, I believe.

So this week, now that MAD MEN is done (*sob sob sob*) and we are not ready to try watching Breaking Bad again (it's gonna happen someday!), I suggested to Ari that we watch the first two LOTR movies, so that I can compare them to the books so far. I asked his permission to speak over the films and make comments about how the movies diverged from the books, and which parts I thought were done well, or poorly, and he agreed to let me talk during his precious movies. So last night and tonight we watched the first movie: The Fellowship of the Ring. And it was pretty darn good. Too many battle scenes and the orcs are really ridiculous, but otherwise, quite well done! Aragorn (Viggo Mortenson) is still my favorite. I had a crush on him in high school, and I have a crush on him now. He's pretty without being too pretty (like Legolas).

Anyway, that is my deep analysis of the movie. Once I finish the third book, I think I'll be done with fantasy for a while. Or who knows, maybe I'll give Dune a try. But first, I'm going to read something by Nora Ephron. I feel like that's about as far from Tolkien as I can get right now.

*To be completely honest, I also took a break midway through the second book to read The Girl on the Train. 

30-day challenge

Have people heard of the 30-day challenge? I heard about it from a coworker, who uses the TED talk as a jumping-off point for getting her students to set English goals for themselves (write a journal entry in English for 30 days, watch 20 minutes of an American TV show for 30 days, etc.).

Anyway, I decided to use that TED talk for my class, and also set a challenge for myself that I would try to do along with my students. Since I already speak English pretty well (most days), I decided I would try to walk 10,000 steps every day, according to the pedometer on my iPhone. Apparently that's the number doctors recommend for maximum healthiness?

That turned out to be SUCH A HARD GOAL. 10,000 steps takes me about an hour and a half of only walking, if I go at a very brisk pace. Yesterday I shopped for 4 hours in SoHo and just barely got to 10,000 steps. So...I did not succeed at my goal. I'd say I walked 10,000 steps about 70% of those 30 days. In the end, I still took more steps than I would normally!

All of this is background for my next attempt at a 30-day challenge: writing one blog post per day. Yesterday was my official start. Today is day two! I'm off to a great start! Some of the posts might be extremely short, but I hope I will have more success with this challenge than my last one.

Here goes!

These emotional times

I am an emotional person. I think I inherited this trait from my mother, who sees a front page picture of basically any disaster and gets tears in her eyes. It has been an especially emotional last couple of weeks--not only for me, but for the country.

June 17, 2015: The Charleston, SC church shooting. I actually saw this news when I was taking a 10-minute break from my reading class. I literally looked at the headline on my phone, started to tear up, and then realized that the break was over and I had to start teaching again. It took me another minute to get ahold of myself. This shooting really upset me because it seemed like proof of a combination of issues that so many Americans are unwilling to face: there is still so much racism in our country, and there is still way too little gun control. How do I, as an individual, do something about fixing those two problems? The video of Obama singing Amazing Grace at Pinckney's memorial recently broke my heart again.

June 25, 2015: The Supreme Court upheld the Affordable Care Act. I will admit, I didn't actually cry about this news. But in the days preceding the decision I was very nervous about the outcome, partly because I am enrolled in "Obamacare" myself, and partly because it just about damn time that we made insurance a little more accessible to middle class and poorer people. I am so relieved that I don't have to worry anymore about politically-motivated hindrances to the ACA.

June 26, 2015: There were several periods of tears today. First, on the subway when I checked the news on my phone on the way back from teaching my morning class. Then, when I saw everyone's joyous responses on Facebook and Instagram. So much support, from both straight and gay friends. I woke up this morning thinking how happy I was to be able to take part in this moment in American history, and looking foward to telling my children what a big deal this decision was for our generation. Hopefully, my children will view gay marriage the way that we now view interracial marriage -- as as right that is so obviously basic that it shouldn't have been an question in the first place.

So, it has been a couple weeks of emotional highs and lows. Most recently highs, thankfully, but as Buddhist philosophy holds, the only permanent thing is change. So I'll just keep on shedding my tears of sadness and joy as those changes come.

Snow Life

We are now, I think, officially in the middle of winter--winter WEATHER, as opposed to official dates. As I sadly remember from last year, winter in New York City basically lasts until mid to late April.

Since I'm not working too many hours this semester, I'm trying to keep to a reasonable workout schedule (three times a week), and when the weather is a balmy 30 degrees or higher, I can go jogging in Prospect Park, which is only a block away from our apartment.

Right now, I think the park looks really pretty. Most of the paved areas are safely cleared for bikers, joggers and walkers, but everything else is covered with snow. Here are some pictures from my jog this morning:

People playing fetch with their dog in the distance.

Birds huddled on a  lamppost near Grand Army Plaza.

Despite growing up hating the cold, I'm trying to warm up to it a little, so to speak.

Lastly, I leave you with a funny picture of our newest foster kitty, mid-grooming. His name is Papo, and we've had him since January. He is kind a jerk (he bites sometimes, and isn't very cuddly), but he's REALLY cute and entertainingly playful, so...we are allowing it, for now.

What, me, a jerk?

Oysters

One of my new year's resolutions (that I made two days ago) is to post more on this blog. As Hannah, my eternal blogging buddy said, if blogs are passé, then now's the time to write whatever we want! (Although I generally feel like I DO write whatever I want. I just want to put more of those random thoughts on the blog.)

So, in the words of those read-along tapes, Let's begin now. 

This past weekend was a milestone for me because: I tried oysters for the first time! And I got it on camera: 

I try an oyster as Sarah looks on, skeptically.

Yes, oysters are not vegetarian. I would not normally eat them. But, I figured it was something I had to try once. My friend and coworker Megan LOVES oysters, so convinced me and Sarah to join her at a local restaurant that had an oyster special just for the month of January. Sarah and I had planned to get regular meals and pass on the shell fish. But once we got there, we both figured that for $2 each (kind of pricey, but not too pricey?), we had to at least try a couple oysters.

We both ordered two: one from the West Coast and one from the East Coast. Supposedly oysters on the West taste creamier, while oysters on the East taste fishier. We definitely noticed the difference. I much preferred the mild-ish oyster from Washington, rather than the salty/fishy one from Chesapeake Bay, Virginia.

Megan and her 10 oysters. 

So now I can say I'm fancy (enough) because I have eaten oysters! They were...fine. I'm in no rush to eat them again.

In Memoriam: Frau Campbell

Yesterday I found out that my German teacher from high school, Frau Campbell, had passed away on Saturday. This news was not a great surprise, as she had been teaching at Monrovia High School for fifty years before my class had her. My class was actually her last official class before she retired; we were the last ones to have her for all four years.

What I remember most about Frau (we just called her Frau) was her energy. On the first day of class freshman year, she went up to each person's desk and shook their hand, saying "Guten Tag." We hadn't officially been taught any German yet, but we all struggled to respond "Guten Tag" back to her. I remember already feeling like this was a teacher who was personally involved with teaching each student. By the time we had her, she had developed a system for teaching every aspect of the language: how to pronounce the "ch" sound, how to remember the 16 ways to say "the," and how to recognize dative versus accusative case. Her methods were fairly traditional, but I loved the structure. Plus, we often got to sing German pop songs (from the 80s or earlier) or folk songs on Fridays. It all totally worked for me; what started out as a mostly random choice to study this language became one of my favorite classes in high school. I was secretary of the German Club in my senior year, and I went on to major in German in college and study abroad for my junior year in Goettingen.

Frau also had a very dynamic personality. As I told my friend (and our President of German Club) Vivian, I think Frau was one of the only teachers who ever yelled at me. She literally yelled at everyone at one point or another; a lot of things could set her off. I think she yelled at me because I was reading a book or distracted by something during another student's presentation. On the other hand, Frau was moved to tears about other topics, such as when we talked about the reunification of Germany. She had actually lived in Germany during WWII, because I still remember her making a joke (?) about dodging bombs in Berlin during her childhood. She was passionate about every aspect of teaching, and many of us responded to that passion by doing the best we could in her class.

Now, as a language teacher myself, I find myself thinking of Frau, reflecting on how she, for example, got a class of moody teenagers to sing German hiking songs at full volume. I'm still not sure how she did it. Nevertheless, I continue to respect and be inspired by her.

Remembering to be grateful.

Rainy Saturday afternoon

Watching the live Peter Pan special and enjoying it more than I expected to.

It's a chai-in-the-poodle-cup kind of day

I suspect this is a sign of winter coming.

Also, you can't tell in this picture, but my poodle cup is BIG. 

Morrissey helps

It's been a rough week (without going into too much detail, one of my students told me he's REALLY unhappy with my class, and that always makes a teacher feel wonderful), so I'm grateful this CD that I ordered from England (it's out of print in the US apparently?) came in on Tuesday: 

My enjoyment of this album is twofold: 

1. I first heard this album when I was visiting Leah in Paris, where she had it on record. So, fond memories. 

2. Morrissey's voice is a tonic. It SPEAKS to me! Literally and figuratively. 

I know I wear a lot of black, and I chalk it up to living in New York City, where black goes any time of the year. But today I wore one of those accidental outfits where I wore literally head-to-toe black. I looked like a cat burglar. 

How apropos.

One (kind of) sick kitty

A fairly big development in my life that has gone unmentioned on the blog is the fact that I started fostering a cat this past summer. I'm working with a cat rescue group called Anjellicle Cats, and they are amazingly organized, considering how much of a mess these groups often are, logistics-wise. They set me up with Johnny, an orange male that some of you may have seen on my Instagram now and then (I try to avoid copious cat postings for the most part): 

That picture is from the good old days, when Johnny was generally healthy, and therefore eating normally and acting friendly. However, he started to have weird allergies, which freaked me out a little (he was scratching his ears till they had no more fur) and then inflamed gums, which REALLY freaked me out (he stopped eating for several days because his mouth hurt too much). I took him to the vet to get everything treated, each time thinking that would be the last of it. But the gums issue kept coming back. By the time he had his most recent vet visit last week, he hadn't eaten for a whole week. I was force-feeding him water! 

These are all the cat meds (from about five vet visits) that I've gathered so far. 

So at the most recent visit, the vet ended up pulling out ALL of his teeth, except for three canines. Apparently he has a disease where the gums just get irritated by his teeth? So he's eating again with just his three teeth (phew!), but at this point, I'm just too stressed to deal with the possibility of a recurrence of the mouth trouble. So I made the tough decision to call the rescue center yesterday and ask to find him a new foster. It took a lot of time for me to reach this decision, because I really like Johnny and I think he's made himself at home in our apartment. But I just can't cope with the potential stress of a starving cat again, which would lead to scheduling more vet visits while still teaching a full schedule. Thankfully the people at the shelter were really understanding when I made the call, and not angry with me at all, which I was weirdly worried about beforehand. 

So, Johnny's going to stay with me until he gets his check up in early November, and then he will be "re-homed" with another volunteer. Then, after Thanksgiving, my extremely understanding boyfriend Ari has allowed me to get another foster kitty. Hopefully one without so many health problems, but I know it's never a certain thing. 

Until then, Johnny's pretty much back to his normal, cuddly, purr-y, self. He seems to have recently decided, however, that the ONLY place he will sleep is on my pillow. Whether or not my head is on it. So I wake up to this a lot, pressed up against my face: 

Poor wonky kitty. Here's hoping Johnny finds a "forever" home soon. He deserves it. 

The Hour

Yes, I am breaking a months-long silence to tell you about my favorite new TV show: The Hour! It's actually not a new show--it's not even running anymore (it lasted for two seasons, 2011-2012). It's a BBC miniseries, and from my point of view, it is an almost-perfect balance of drama and comedy. The storyline is a bit ridiculous and silly at times (Russian spies!), but the acting is seriously good, and I might have a crush on all three lead actors. 

Especially Romola Garai and Ben Wishaw. They are my favorite. 

That is all!