Retirement from Blogging

Lately I have had no incentive to write. It seems that whenever I am stressed or upset over some aspect of my life, the writing comes easier to me. For the past few months, life has been really good to me, thank G-d. I get annoyed and irritated over small things; if I wanted to, I could blog about my long wait at the doctors office but who wants to read that? We should all be so lucky to have that be the worst part of our week. I haven't decided whether or not I will take this blog down, if you come back in a few days and it's not up, I guess you'll know my decision.

8 Things About Me

It seems that there has been this 8 random things tag going around and this gives me a good excuse to start blogging again so...

1. I cannot start my day without a bowl of cereal, in fact I could eat cereal for breakfast, lunch, and dinner (which I have done on occasion).

2. I like mushroom sauce but dislike mushrooms, I like tomato sauce but don't like tomatoes except for the little cherry tomatoes.

3. The closest I ever came to getting a tattoo was getting a temporary henna tattoo on my hand for a Hindu wedding that I went to almost 7 years ago. It stayed on for two weeks and I got funny looks from my co-workers at the time when we came back from summer break (at that time, I worked in a school). Also, when I was in Israel last year, I got a temporary tattoo painted on my upper back. I couldn't remember what the tattoo was for the life of me. Besides the fact that in Judaism you are not allowed to get tattoos, I find them really unattractive, especially when you get older and the tattoo becomes all mottled and doesn't look anything like it did originally.

4. I have never had my ears pierced.

5. When I was 11 years old, my family drove cross-country from New Jersey to California and back in our Chevy van. The van has long since expired but the memories from that trip haven't. Whenever I come home, I still love to look at that photo album and would love to repeat that trip at some point in my life.

6. My mom and dad have degrees in science and math, respectively and all of my brothers are very intelligent in the hard sciences. On the other hand, I have always struggled with math and science in school and eked out a passing grade in pre-calculus in college and failed Bio 101.

7. I was such a bookworm as a kid and still am. The library is one of my favorite places to go to and I always make time to read. As a kid, I loved reading Agatha Christie novels (particularly the novels with Hercule Poirot, didn't really care for the novels with Miss Marple). There was a time when I loved reading novels by Stephen King, Robin Cook, and Dean Koontz. Now, I like a variety of genres, ranging from historical fiction to biographies and memoirs to chick-lit.

8. If procrastination was an Olympic event, I would have been a gold medalist. I always procrastinated on assignments in elementary school, high school, and college. There's nothing like staying up all night typing up a 15-20 page English paper. I've gotten better with it as I've gotten older.

There Is No Such Thing as a Stupid Question or Is There?

I hear that the only stupid questions is one that isn't asked but a conversation I was a part of recently might challenge that assumption. The topic for discussion was kosher establishments in New York, a friend of mine was talking about the variety of kosher places in Flatbush and was waxing poetic on how wonderful it is that there's a kosher Dunkin Donuts. Someone asks "What's it called?" My friend thinks it's a joke and responds "Krispy Kreme"..this person asks again "What's the name of the place?"

It got me thinking about other potentially stupid questions, such as

1. When did the war of 1812 happen?

2. How long was the 100-year war?

3. Who is buried in Grant's Tomb?

4. What color is the White House?

5. Where is the 47th St. Photo Shop?

Is It 5:00 Yet?

I've been asking this since 11 AM.

Guess Who's An Aunt Again?!?!

Now I have two adorable nephews...my brother and sister-in-law had a beautiful baby boy very early this morning. The baby is the cutest little peanut, words cannot describe how thrilled I am.

Rooftop Bar Tour 2007

Memorial Day weekend, I went to Sutton Place. The bar is okay, just a little too crowded and noisy for my taste. I have been wanting to go to a cool rooftop bar for a long time and my brother's birthday/end of residency party last night provided the perfect opportunity.

The party was at Me'Bar, on the top floor of the La Quinta Inn on 32nd St., right in the middle of Koreatown. The vibe there was laid back, seating was decent (benches with comfortable pillows), and drinks were good (I had a peach cosmo). The litmus test would be if you would want to go back again and I would like to go back.

Random Thoughts - Friday edition

On my walk to work, I saw a man rollerblading on the street. He was wearing wrist guards, elbow pads, and knee pads but no helmet. That strikes me as incredibly dumb. What good would all those other pads do if you hurt your head?

June is the Busiest Month

If May was the happiest month, I am proclaiming June to be the busiest month, even though we are not even a week into June.

1. My full time job has been insanely busy lately, this week even more so. A few months ago, I was handed some new responsibilities in another part of our organization and there is a ton of things to do. Just when I think I can take a breather, there are things that always come up, phone calls to be made, budgets and reports that need to be edited, emails to be sent. Previously I complained that the days go by too slowly. I don't have that problem anymore. Also, our organization has been going through some big changes of the interesting kind. I'm sorry I can't be more specific.

2. There are lots of celebrations going on in my family this month, my nephew's birthday party, my older brother's birthday/end of residency party, and my youngest brother's high school graduation.

3. For the past few months, I've renewed a friendship with one of my roommates from seminary and through her a couple of new friendships have started. I've been invited to lots of Shabbas meals lately, my parents don't have to worry about my eating habits : ) I've been to a couple interesting lectures lately, and am learning about the laws of speech over the phone with a friend everyday (or at least trying to). I am making a point of going to more lectures lately, reason being...

4. I get some time off from my part time job in the summer. It means more time for me, more time for socializing, hanging out, anything I want.

5. 2x a week, I've been taking dance classes at a cool studio very close to Fairways. No ballet classes for me, I've been taking jazz, belly dancing, even hip hop occasionally. My friend and I were talking about how we would like to be students at this dance studio full time, if only for a day.

6. My friend emailed me lists of free events in the city. This is why I love summer in the city, you can see movies, go dancing, listen to the opera for free.

Guess Who Likes Sushi After All?

One of the things that I dislike almost more than anything in the world is sushi. I rate sushi slightly above traffic jams, going to the dentist, and the music of Kenny G and Michael Bolton. I've been told that sushi is an acquired taste but I find that hard to believe. I never understood the popularity of sushi, who would voluntarily eat raw fish? Family and friends have introduced me to sushi numerous times with minimal success, until last night.

A special someone was in the mood for sushi : ) I just got out of a 90 minute dance class and I was starving. That definitely played a role in my decision; if someone handed me monkey brains, I probably would have eaten that too. We went to a restaurant in the neighborhood. Even though the service wasn't good, the food was worth the wait. I had tuna tataki (?), I enjoyed the dish immensely, especially when paired with a slice of avocado. I've had salmon rolls in the past, this time I had one and I wasn't too thrilled with it. I was content to stick with the cucumber and avocado rolls and veggie tempura. I also was introduced to what looked like scrambled eggs on top of rice, I know there is a name for that dish and I just can't seem to remember it. Overall it was a very enjoyable experience and I would willingly go out for sushi again.