Sunday, February 15, 2004

Valentine's Day

So, the usual, cynical entry by a single adolescent on Valentine's Day would be something along the lines of "Valentine's Day is so over-rated, blah, blah, blah." However, I wholeheartedly disagree with this, for the following 3 reasons:

1) Valentine's Day is not a poor excuse by Hallmark and Godiva to capitalize on America's consumer culture. In fact, I find Valentine's Day to be a beautiful reminder that we should take some time out to appreciate those we love. Just like we are supposed to take a day to especially remember our secretaries, our moms, our dads, or the birth of our saviors, we should also take some time out to cherish those we hold most dear in our lives. Though we "should" cherish our loved ones every day, our lives are hectic, and we can often forget the little things. I am not saying that this is okay, nor am I saying that this is reprehensible, but sometimes we all just need a little reminder to take some time out and spend some quality time with our significant others.

2) One does not have to have a "date" or "significant other" to truly enjoy Valentine's Day. For instance, this evening Stef and I enjoyed back to back screenings of "When Harry Met Sally" and "The Thomas Crown Affair" (the new one). "When you realize you want to spend the rest of your life with somebody, you want the rest of your life to start as soon as possible."~WHMS. We had sushi and ice cream, and thoroughly enjoyed ourselves. There is nothing second-rate about spending Valentine's Day with friends, since we do love our friends, at least in a Platonic sense.

3)If you are single, and feel the need to have some sort of "date" on Valentine's Day, just go down to your local bar/hang out place/library. There will be plenty of males/females who feel exactly the same way you do, and would do anything (even hook-up with you!) to get the pleasure of sexiling their roommate. As for me, I have the room to myself this weekend, and thus there would be no one to sexile, and thus no need to go out of my way to pick up a girl.

And so, Happy Valentine's Day!

Tuesday, February 10, 2004

JOURNALy type thing

Oh, one thing I forgot to mention. I learned the term "cuddling out," kind of like making out, but just with cuddling. I thought that was a really cool term, and I think it is imperative that everyone incorporate it into their vernacular.


JOURNALy type stuff:
Friday was rainy and disgusting, and at 12:15 I remembered that I had a meeting at 12:00 at the JCC, down on 76th & Amsterdam. So, I hopped in a cab, and I went to an orientation for an Everybody Wins! type of Orientation, because I'll be doing a program to read with 2nd graders who are grossly below their reading level. I'm really looking forward to it, partially because I get to read those books that we all loved, but have forgotten about. A few that were on the list in the Orientation packet:

Goodnight Moon
Amelia Bedelia
If You Give a Mouse a Cookie (I have this entire book memorized; if you’d like a recitation of it, come find me.)

On Friday Newman came down from BU. Why, you ask? Because Jordan is a master of giving cheap, but "meaningful" birthday gifts. For instance, 3 or 4 years ago Jordan gave his Mom tickets to the Daily Show. Not only are they free, but Jordan probably wanted to see it more than his mom. It was okay though, because I got to go with them.

So his “gift” to his mom this year was “him being home for a weekend.” Obviously it wasn’t to see all of his friends on Friday night, or to see his GIRLFRIEND at TCNJ on Saturday night. No, I’m sure that had nothing to do with it. It was all just Jordan being his generous self.

Anyway, we went down to NYU to see a hilarious play called “Sex: AKA Weiners and Boobs.” Matt Sadewitz (a friend from HS) was in it, and it was a lot of fun. “It was as clear as a pumpkin pie on a crisp autumn summer.”

Afterwards we chilled in Aaron’s room (**which it turns out was Sam’s (from Birthright) room last year…weird). Anyway, it was fun, and I also got to see some of Aaron’s artwork (graffiti) not only on some buildings, but in his room as well. Very interesting, but beautiful too.

Headed back up to Columbia around midnight and went to Erin’s room for a while. We just chilled and talked for an hour or so, and it was good to catch up with her.

It was the first time I've left Columbia for a Shabbat, and to be honest, even though I had a great time down at NYU, I really missed the whole Shabbat environment. It'll be nice to be here this weekend.

Israel...Finally

First, I would just like to clear up something...my first kiss did NOT occur December 26, 2003. It occured in the summer of 1999, at Long Lake Camp for the Performing and Fine Arts, on the last night of the first session. If you want more details, inquire within.

http://www.snapfish.com/thumbnailshare/AlbumID=10904786/t_=8766096
There it is, my Israel Pics! Enter my email address: ang2108@columbia.edu, and the password is "israel."

Ok, so I started typing a whole long thing about Israel, but I realized that it was way too long. So, here are some highlights:

The Negev: I've never been to a dessert before, and just being out there, in the middle of nothing, hearing nothing but the sound of the wind on the sand was truly amazing, even, religious.

The Kotel: Very cool to actually be at the Western Wall, where it all started, and getting to spend a Shabbat there was amazing too. I alos saw Avie Pinkser there. He's a rabbi who taught Hebrew High and he and I became really good friends....he even wrote me a reccommendation for Columbia/JTS.

Camel & Donkey Rides: Camels were fun, but I HATE the donkeys. After Dave fell off of his, I was laughing so hard that I fell off of mine, which made Sam get off of hers.

The Dead Sea: We covered ourselves in mud and went into the somewhat-frigid water. It was really cool just floating there. Plus, it's good for your skin.

Our tourguide: Her name was Morge, and she had a hat with a little alligator on top of it. But she was really cool, and had really good insights into Israel. She also provided us with a "fair and balanced" view of Israel, and made us appreciate just how complex the conflict is. She also had really inspiring stories.

I'm sure that I'm forgetting something, but oh well. That was pretty much Israel...well, a lot more than that, obviously, but it was amazing.

I know that I want to spend at least a semester there, and possibly take a year there.