We're not really here anymore. Where are we?

Hello, friends. Many of you have given up, while others among you have figured this out. I have been writing a new blog chronicling my time in London. Please check it out. It's oodles of fun. But my type of fun, not yours.

London - in England!

I GOT ACCEPTED TO THE UNIVERSITY COLLEGE OF LONDON! IN LONDON! ENGLAND! THE UNITED KINGDOM! EUROPE! THE WORLD! THE SOLAR SYSTEM! THE MILKY WAY! THE WHOLE UNIVERSE!

Today, while at work, my mom came to visit me and tell me that I had mail waiting at her house. It was a thick envelope which she assumed was from London. After hours of eager anticipation, I made it to her house and opened the envelope whereby I read my first graduate school acceptance letter. I've already received two rejections (from the University of Michigan and the University of Texas). So I wasn't overly positive about my chances of getting into any other schools. I had this Michigan State thing going and was genuinely excited because I was happy to be able to go to grad school and it was a great-looking program. But it wasn't a public policy program in London f-ing England. So here I am, a giddy school girl, possibly heading off to London in the fall.

Wow, man.

In other news, I spent a fantastic week in Miami, where I met the former Miss Mexico and got my hair cut alongside Some Guy who plays for the Philadelphia Eagles. In addition, I made my way to Jupiter to visit the Marine Life Center of Juno Beach for some turtle museuming, did a lot of shopping, ate amazing food, laid in the sun at the beach, saw a freaking amazing Chihuly exhibit at the Fairchild Tropical Gardens where we also saw giant iquanas and other living things. We had a great seder, with matzo ball soup, brisket (of which I did not partake), spinach grautin, cucumber salad, kasha vernishkes, and for dessert Danny made the richest chocolate pots (like mousse only thicker and richer) and there were macaroons from epicure, the fancy gourmet grocery store. I got my nails done, saw a Marilyn Monroe exhibit at the Bass, visited the Wolfsonian and saw their Political Propaganda exhibit (both exhibits were way cool), and had a false Matthew Perry sighting. The Miami Beach Gaineses have a new dog, a weimeraner (that could be totally spelled wrong) named Casper who is very cute and very stupid. Maybe he'll learn. Roxy, their pug, is still a great dog, one of the few I like a lot. We get along really well. I think she still remembers me from when she was a very tiny puppy and she broke her leg and I carried her around everywhere. The only downside to my trip was that everyone, in succession, was sick. Danny was sick for the first few days, then Jon got sick, and by the end Karen was ill as well. I haven't gotten sick so far, which is truly a passover miracle.

Amen.

My Bootlegging Days Are Over

Remember that bootlegged internet connection? The one that was such a wonderful and pleasant surprise? It's totally gone now. Totally. I think the people up and moved or something.

But, good news is in the making. The kind and lovely people at Michigan State University's Health Communication MA program have been kind (and lovely) enough to allow me to apply, even though the deadline was February 1. I have it on good authority that they are enthusiastic for my application. I'm not saying I'm in or anything (I'd hate to jump the gun), but I am pretty confident that next Fall will see me re-enrolled at MSU.

This Saturday, it's off to sunny Miami. Last time, for the bar mitzvah, I could only stay for the weekend. It's my turn for a vacation and my only plans include being warm and reading. I'm also assuming there will be good food involved. Oh, and Passover.

Things You Didn't Know (Roman Numeral) I

And now, the country you've never heard of and even if you had heard of it, you'd never have known just where it was located.

For all my friends in Brazil, Northern Africa, Greece, Turkey, and Central Asia, I hope you're enjoying your fancy eclipse. We don't get enough sun in Michigan, so you can keep your impressive celestial anomalies.

(It's not really an anomaly, is it? Oohhh...)

Ragarding my memory and a proper pick-up line

Dear Haters,

For the past several weeks, I have had difficulty signing on to blogger because (I assume) my internet connection is soooo bootlegged and, therefore, not entirely reliable. Meaning that every time I attempted to post, I would wait for three years for the page to load. And I've had better things to do.

I try to go to the gym regularly, same days, same times. So now I'm getting to know some of the people at the gym. In other words, I'm one of those people. The lady who checks my card knows my name, and I have a gym friend (Herb), and I'm included in everyone's conversations about the weather. I never thought this would happen to me.

As for the gym friend, Herb. We talk about basketball and working out (it's thrilling). The other day, as I was leaving, I told him I'd let him get back to his 8 million mile work out. He explained that his work out was only 30 miles. I explained that I was bad at math and that 8 million and thrity were, more or less, the same in my mind. He took me literally. And explained that 8 million was about 260,000 times more than 30 (he was close; it's 266,666.67 times more than 30, but kudos for getting that close. I couldn't have done it).

Work continues to be a great source of entertainment (as well as frustration). We get to play our own cd's in the store and the other day Not Retarded Kara brought music for us. Which means that I have listened to a Yanni album in its entirety. I stoped it at Inspirational Classics and put on the Flaming Lips, which N.R. Kara loved and asked me to burn for her. What a weird cd collection that will be.

This has come up in conversation several times recently. I thought I'd expound a bit. I never forget a face and I don't often forget names. I can see someone I went to pre-school with and will remember them. While it may sound sort of impressive, it's always a little odd for me to go up to someone and ask them if they went to Fairview Elementary for kindergarten and if so did they have that evil woman of a teacher (whose name, in an odd coincidence, I can't remember). It also turns out that saying "Don't I know you from somewhere" is a pick up line. Which explains why I was trepidatious to mention that I could have sworn I knew one of my regular customers (who also happens to be a relatively good-looking, tall, blonde, young man). I think I actually blushed when I mentioned that I thought I knew him from somewhere. But, honestly, if I was going to use a pick up line on someone, it would be way crazier. A personal favorite: I'm ketchup, you're ketchup, let's be gay ketchup together. (C/o a friend of a friend). Of course, most of the times I've picked guys up, I wasn't even aware that I was doing it. Those kinds of things just sort of pop out at you, I guess.

That trusted brand, Crayola

Yesterday, in the break room at work, I found this ultra yellow-colored Crayola crayon. So I took it and kept it in my back pocket all day. I tried to convince people to sign their credit card receipts with it. However, I was informed by Mom Iha that a legally binding signature is done only in blue or black ink.


Today, I found half of this 10 rose pink crayon (clearly no Crayola). I can't wait to see what tomorrow brings.


Delaware is the Blue Hen state and I like the smell of gas. This, from Missouri Tim.

An idea for the future

I've got a few ideas about how to start using this blog a bit more effectively. For example, I got a good copy of the Divine Comedy today and am thinking about turning this into a forum for discussing my reading of it (could I possibly make this anymore boring?).

Just an idea.

Ginger Chews

Are there, in fact, loads of things that have been floated to Mars? A dishwasher, for example? And if there's a dishwasher, is there then a sink? And if these things have, in fact, been floated up to Mars, then how did they get there?

Interesting Word Fact
Vampyrarchy: Derisive description from the 1820s for a parasitic group of politicians. Vampire entered the English language in the 1730s from such Slavonic words as the Bulgarian vampir. Myths about vampires were abundant in Europe, especially its eastern regions. In earlier times, pronouncing someone dead was so often the result of guesswork that a device called a Bateson's Belfry was sometimes installed in coffins; it could be rung from six feet under if the deceased awoke unexpectedly after premature burial.
From Jeffrey Kacirk

And, from Ginger Strand in the February '06 issue of "The Believer:"
"During Michigan's timber boom, big lumber outfits hired freelance 'timber cruisers' to scout out the best stands of white pine, which were usually mixed in with less desirable hardwoods. The cruiser would take note of the exact location with a compass, then scurry back to the nearest land office and buy the deed. These lone rangers of the timber industry were said to be able to find their way to a stand of choice pines by listening - in a light wind the upper branches of the white pine rustle in a soft but completely distinctive way that an expert can hear from miles off."