(More) John Green Novels, Registration, and Christmastime!

Hey guys!

So I literally just finished a book. A novel. A masterpiece by one of my favorite authors: John Green. The book was co-written with another fantastic author, David Levithan, who I'm now going to read more of. Now, I'm an English major. I therefore read all sorts of amazing novels, plays, and poetry. I enjoy Fitzgerald, I idolize Hemmingway, I wish I was Oscar Wilde. Yet there's nothing like sitting down for a good teenage novel like Will Grayson, Will Grayson. Only to discover that maybe it's a bit deeper than you thought?

Now this was the book I would read between classes, on the subway to and from school, before I went to bed. I'm a big book person and I feel the need to read constantly. I'm also a list person. It helps me organize and stop stressing about everything I have to do. Seriously, if you're ever freaking out about work, just write down a list of everything and you'll feel better just looking at it. That piece of paper isn't as bad as the jumble of stuff going on in your head. Anyway, I have lists and lists of books that have yet to be read, from Dante's Divine Comedy to Life of Pi. This was (supposed to be) a lighter read for me.

I should warn you, don't walk into a John Green novel with these expectations that it will be a walk in the park. His novels are funny, adorable, and heart-wrenching. They will break your heart. I had just read (see also: recovered emotionally from) The Fault In Our Stars and I thought I knew this, but I went for it anyway. Now, the story is about this kid named Will Grayson who ends up, through some pretty weird circumstances, to meet another kid named Will Grayson. They swap stories, they're sufficiently weirded out, their lives become entangled in the most absurd ways. And the book is about love; friendship love, romantic love, familial love. All types of love. It's a book about appreciating the people in your life. And it hit me really hard. Coming right after Thanksgiving and right before the holidays, this is just what I needed. I appreciate the people in my life and you should too. Yeah, pretty gooey and sentimental but I teared a bit at the end. Not to give anything away, but it involves one absurdly long car drive, a lot of phonebooks, and a reliance on the kindness of strangers.

I scheduled my classes for the spring yesterday and it was the most exhilarating and terrifying experience of my life. I made about 15 alternate schedules in all my freaking out. I actually ended up with my perfect schedule, so I don't know why I freaked out so much. I'm just happy it's over with and I can live my life in peace for awhile. Or until the next semester's registration appointment (oh god save me now).

My friends and I are doing Secret Santa this year. I'm super excited because I love the mystery of it all. My friend made little slips of paper with all our names on them and folded them so they were ridiculously difficult to open. We're all sworn to secrecy about who we got under a death threat from said friend but I'm just itching to go out and buy my person a gift this weekend!

Lastly, although two out of three of us in my dorm room are Jewish, we all decided to have a Christmas tree for our room. It's fake of course, but we had a lot of fun listening to the Christmas music playlist on Pandora while decorating it with ornaments. I'm really, really starting to love my roommates.

I just love this time of the year. It's so cozy and the lights make the city so much more beautiful despite how cold it is. Christmas music is so happy. I know it'll eventually get on my nerves, but for now it's amazing. Happy (soon-to-be) holidays everyone! Don't get too stressed out about finals week (quickly approaching gahhhh!!!)

Bye!

thanksgiving and registration!

Hey guys,

I hope you had a great Thanksgiving!  I know I did; some of my family members who usually don't come came for dinner this year!  Andd I made some great dishes.  My mom does an amazing Thanksgiving every year, but since I learned I'm gluten intolerant about two years ago, it's been a little tricky.  You see, I was a vegetarian a few years ago, and it wasn't too difficult.  You either just leave out the turkey (and gravy!) or substitute a Tofurky for it.  But when you can't eat gluten, you can't have the stuffing, gravy, prepared foods with sauce (unless you know for sure it's okay), pies, or cookies.

By now I'm pretty well adjusted though:  I made a cornbread and whole wheat bread gluten-free stuffing, and my mom set aside some gravy thickened with cornstarch.  I also made a pumpkin custard (basically, it's the pumpkin without the crust), and my mom found gluten-free amaretto cookies!  It's still a little awkward, because people sometimes still have questions.  But I was so proud of my grandma--one relative asked why more people can't eat gluten all of a sudden, and my grandma replied "because people didn't know about it before".  She'll still offer me cookies sometimes, but I was so proud that she remembered a part of my often lengthy, probably annoying, explanations of "why I can't eat that". =]

On another note, today is priority registration!  It's an amazing perk of being an Honors student, but it doesn't take all the stress out of registering.  You still have worry about getting into the seminar or honors courses that you want!  I've had pretty good luck in past semesters, even though I always end up making last minute changes.  >_<

I'll let you know how it goes!  Enjoy the rest of your week!

G.

Learning things the hard way.

Don't ever forget your umbrellas kiddies.
Looking like a drowned rat isn't cute.
And rain comes down very suddenly in the city.
Create a nice little nest for your umbrella in your backpack and just let it live there.
Don't take it out, otherwise it will be on your desk at home.
And you'll be soaking wet and cranky in Manhattan.
Soaking wet, cranky, and not cute. Not exactly how you want to look in college.

On top of that, if you don't have an umbrella, your backpack gets wet.
And what do you keep in your backpack?
Your notes from your lecture that are now wet.
Your journal that is now wet.
Your textbook that is now wet.
And your lovely Macbook Pro, which, by some miracle, didn't get wet.
But the case did, so it's too close for comfort.

And when your mommy calls you asking how you are, and you respond
"Alright, but I got soaked!"
You won't be given sympathy.
You'll be told to use your head for something other than a hatrack.
Which is another thing you need to remember, because if you had a hat, at least then your head would be drier than it is.

Bottom line? Check the weather before you leave. If the weatherman says that their might be a single wisp of a cloud, bring your umbrella.

Why Life Began To Crumble

Life began to crumble at approximately 12:26 pm today, on November 27th, 2012, as the lady in the USG office confidently told me that there was, in fact, no hot water for hot chocolate or tea left. Not   even   in   the    back   room. (The magical back room. Where they have an abundance of magical things. Like tea bags, or their endless supply of hot chocolate. And now, their ending supply of hot water.)
Why Life Began To Crumble:
-This Sunday I spent the day outside, walking around Jamaica Estates, and Hillside, for our seminar project (on food accessibility. It is pretty interesting, and we got to make a short video on bananas. Totally not bad at all.) All of this would have been quite fine, except that it was so cold that it felt like death. I felt like death. The cold WAS death. You get the point.
-Today, it was supposed to snow, and it's also cold. And as I miserably left the USG room a blast of freezing wind hit me. It was all very sad.
-One of my best friends just read the first line of this entry and yelled at me saying that I did not have enough of a life for it to crumble yet. She is a very good person and one of the best friends I could ask for. And she was totally right, but I'm going to add this to my list of Why Life Began To Crumble.
-I HAVE TO APPLY FOR THIS STUDENT VISA TO GO TO INDIA AND IT'S FREAKING ME OUT BECAUSE IT'S REALLY ANNOYING TO DO. Ok, it's not THAT difficult, but I've never done it before and I HATE PAPERWORK LIKE THIS YOU HAVE TO MAKE SO MANY COPIES AND FAX SO MANY THINGS AND I HATE FAXING THINGS
-I hope not everyone reading this blog thinks I am a very chirpy, shallow, ungrateful person...maybe just some days. Or maybe just on the days I write this blog.
-I have to do studying and work that I'm stressed about. I suppose that is the underlying reason for my said crumbling life.

On the other hand, reasons Why Life Hasn't Totally Crumbled Yet Today
-I bought 2 bananas for breakfast for 50 cents, and it was the best breakfast I've had all week! And I normally don't even like bananas!
-I am now the proud owner of maroon pants.
-I really like my maroon pants.
-I am **if everything works out cross your fingers** going to study abroad in India during winter break!
-There's a new The Mindy Project episode on hulu.
-Being a drama queen on this blog has helped me de-stress about general work (that I shall neglect to mention, because it would simply be a long drone of a list, and everyone has just as much if not more, because it's post-thanksgiving and the world is going to be a stressed place until the end of finals).
You'd think I'd talk more about study abroad...since it's related to college and all...but all I can say is that I'm really excited to go and so thankful that Macaulay has an opportunities fund!

Amirah
PS Ok. My life is not really crumbling, it's fine, I'm just being dramatic and stressed. Sigh.

GUYS I WENT TO MAMOUN'S!!!

Guys! I went to Mamoun’s!

My friend Sam and I went down there before we went to the dorm’s a few days ago, to pick up more clothes and necessities.

The falafel was different. I was a little heartbroken. It was still the best falafel ever, but it wasn’t the usual Mamoun’s falafel.

Sam’s explanation was the best: “Maybe the flooding made them clean everything, and this is what clean falafel tastes like? Maybe we’ve just never had clean falafel before.”

Gross, but probably very accurate.

This was the first time I’d been back to St. Marks’ after the storm. And my first reaction was: wow, this place is clean!

Once again, Sam has a gift with one-liners: “Well yeah. The streets basically got a powerwashing.”

I don’t think I’ve talked at length about St. Marks yet.  Which is really weird, since the vast majority of the time I spend out and about in the city is done there. So, St. Marks is a lovely little area in the Lower East side. The main attraction is all the crazy stores and all the food. It is a little bit sketchy- but the good kind of sketchy.

Plus, the people watching is really excellent. There are plenty of people panhandling on the streets. Rather than just begging, these guys attempted to convince me that because they’re keeping the neighborhood shady, my rent is lower. Seemed like a good reason to give them a dollar.

The really cool part is the history of St. Marks. It’s almost bittersweet, because there are all these cute little shops – that are in places that even cuter little shops and bars used to be.

Best example is of the St. Mark’s Market. It’s a grocery store in the basement level of the building that spans #19-24. It’s a grocery store, and a Red Mango in the basement, the first floor is a Chipotle, a Chinese food place, and a Supercuts. Above that are apartments. (When I looked up the numbers for the building, I found out the rent of the penthouse apartment – $17,000. A MONTH. For anyone who doesn’t believe me: http://evgrieve.com/2010/01/live-on-st-marks-place-for-only-17000.html)

This building used to have bars in its basement, just like most buildings on St. Marks. But this building is special because it used to hold the Electric Circus. The Electric Circus is famous as the location where the Velvet Underground played. And why is the Velvet Underground famous?? Because ANDY WARHOL MANAGED THEM. He and a friend owned the Electric Circus, and he organized a multimedia show that was based on their music.

My life is amazing. I hang out where Andy Warhol did.

Sleep, Othello, Vacation

Hey everyone!!

- I hope you all had a peaceful and joyful Thanksgiving. Mine was pretty good. We just had a nice family dinner and watched the parade in the morning.

- I've been enjoying sleeping in the past couple of days. This semester has been super intense, and I still have a month of intensity left. Ayyy...Gotta keep the faith. 

- Recently, my mom has been complaining that we haven't had a "girls' day" in the longest time, which is true. I'm looking forward to the time after finals when we can actually hang out and have "mommy and me" time. haha.

- I started reading "Othello" this week. My mom read it when she was in college so I've known about the tragic plot since I was a kid. But it's cool to be able to read it on my own and experience the beauty of the language. The play touches on so many issues that are still relevant today. Ideas of power, language, social class, race, gender... everything is seen in this play.

Sleep, do homework, hang with a friend, laugh, eat, be merry. (not necessarily in that order)

S.

Quote of the Week:

“Do not spoil what you have by desiring what you have not; remember that what you now have was once among the things you only hoped for.” 
~ Epicurus

Asian Thanksgiving or American? Why Not Both

I hope everyone's had a wonder Thanksgiving and had their fill of turkey and mashed potato for the year to come (or the next month if it's not the end of the world). I definitely had my fill, from eating at my friend's house to having a family dinner at home.

This was not the normal Thanksgiving for me. It was the first time I had Thanksgiving dinner anywhere else but home. I wouldn't have eaten dinner at her house if it weren't for her parents insisting. This was also the first time I had a fusion of Asian-American Thanksgiving dinner. Even though I'm purely Chinese, my family cooks all Italian and American this time every year. At my friend's house, we had Peking turkey. We ate it exactly how we would eat Peking duck, with the white buns and seafood sauce, except it was a turkey. It was so delicious! It wasn't as bad as I thought because it was their first time making it too.

After that dinner, I rushed home for mine but I was already too late. I thought I would get a scolding but thankfully I was able to shove down a few spoonfuls of eggplant parm to cool my grandma's temper. I literally went into a food coma after that because it was only around 8 when I knocked out. Good thing there's plenty of leftovers for me to eat since I didn't get my to taste most of my family's and my hard work.

Dorm Coming To

The first day RezLife let us back, I made it my #1 priority to go grab my things. When I walked in, I was attacked by a huge wave of odor similar to that of musty water. The auditorium was pitch black, with only the light coming from the open doors. It was the same in the hallways; you could only see the window at the very end of the hallway. 

This was the perfect school-horror movie scene where the crazy psycho killer charges out from the shadows with a knife. But thank the lord that didn't happen.

I went again the weekend they let us clean out out fridges and let me tell you, there is huge progress going on. Construction workers were already on the move renovating the basement. Even though it's going to take some time (probably till mid-December), I'm glad Brookdale put all their resources on getting the dorms back up. I can't wait to see all the life at Brookdale again!

Tonight, Tonight... What comes next?

Hi everyone, it's been awhile and I hope that everyone's lives are slowly starting to normal-out again after the hurricane. I know it's still tough for a lot of people; I don't quite qualify for emergency housing, and even if I did I know there are people much worse off than me, so I've been grinning and bearing it and commuting from Westchester for the past two and a half weeks. Living at home is worse than I remember, so I just hope that the dorms open back up soon. However, not everything in the past few weeks has been awful.
Today, for instance, was pretty good! I stayed overnight in the city with a friend, which made the commute this morning much less difficult. I had my Macaulay Seminar at 10:10 this morning, however it was on the west side in the Macaulay building because we watched West Side Story. The little movie theatre room is really cute, and a good place for a small class screening of a movie. I have seen West Side Story, I don't know how many times, but it was a real eye-opener to rewatch it now. I didn't remember it being so hokey, but it was and it kind of still was amazing. I actually love the music from the show, so me and a friend were singing Tonight for the rest of the day. However, we couldn't remember any other lyrics for a good part of the afternoon (only after some digging in my brain could I remember maybe two full verses). Still, it was an enjoyable day before a four day weekend.
After class, my friends and I had our own "Friendsgiving" lunch at Ellen's Stardust Diner. I love this place! I don't remember how I found it, but when I was younger I went with my parent's a bunch of times. Once, I even got serenaded by one of the waiters. That's the greatest part: the waiters and waitresses are all aspiring Broadway actors and so most of the time that you're sitting in there, they're singing. It's great! It's cheesy, and the place is mismatched and decorated not-so beautifully, but it all adds to the place's charm. Just, if you go there, do remember it's just off of Times Square (it's on 51st and Broadway) and so the food is pretty expensive. However, their milkshakes are really good and definitely filling, so if you just want to fill yourself up and listen to some showtunes/top 40 then have a milkshake for lunch (not everyday, of course) and you'll be fine.
None of us got serenaded this time, but the meal was fun and some of us were singing along with every song which was great! Now I've got this four day weekend to look forward to and, trust me, I don't think anyone deserves a break more than those of us living in New York City when Sandy hit. I have quite a bit of work to do, but at least I don't have to attend a single class until Monday and I will get to see all of my friends who have been away.

Happy Thanksgiving!

central park and the macaulay building!

Hey guys!

I hope everyone's almost back to normal after the storm(s) and doing well =]  I hope no one else got caught in that snowstorm like I did!  Freezing cold weather + snow + waiting for buses and trains + delayed service = Numb fingers and toes and a horrible evening.  It freaked me out because all of a sudden, it was winter!  (And I don't really like the snow too much.)  Luckily, the weather's calmed down a bit since then; it's been pretty nice =]

So in the meantime, I've been trying to keep up with my work and I feel I've been doing a pretty good job with it.  I can't believe it's only a month until the end of the semester!  But I feel like I have a pretty good handle on my current assignments and I feel I'm organized so that none of the final papers can sneak up on me!  I've even gone to the Macaulay building twice in the past week to study.

Last year, although I loved the building, I only really went there for the Common Events.  I felt like it was out of the way--I might as well study at home or at Hunter.  But lately, Hunter has been wayyy overcrowded (which means, more crowded than the usual crowded) because all Brookdale classes had to be relocated there.  So one morning, when my first class had been canceled, I decided to try to get some work done there.  And it worked out!  There were some other students there for class, but when they left, the lounge was quiet.  There were a few events going on as well--I don't realize how much they do there sometimes.  Plus, I got to walk through Central Park on my way there!  It was a little after 10, so the Park was quiet, I wasn't in a rush, and it was so beautiful.  I think I fulfilled my obligatory cool air, crunchy leaves, Fall walk =P  I highly recommend it.

I went back to the Macaulay building again today and again, got a nice amount of my work accomplished!  Annnd I found a nice route directly from Hunter to Macaulay, and it only takes 20 minutes.  So hopefully, I will be using that space more often in the future.  I definitely credit it with helping me to get all my work done this week!

Now, if only I could figure out what to do about registration…

but that's for my next post!

The AM had a parade map cover on Monday and I saw the bleachers set up on Central Park West today!  That really put me in a holiday mood…I can't wait!  So with that, I wish you all a happy and healthy Thanksgiving! =]

G.

I know it's been a while, but these past few weeks have been PACKED. Not only am I living as a permanent guest at the City College Towers, but midterms have finished and projects for finals are starting to kick in. But even more importantly, the Northeastern Quidditch Regionals took place this past weekend on the 17th and 18th!

After the 3 and a half hour car ride on Friday packed in the back of a van with four people, we arrived at our Holiday Inn in Rhode Island only to be promptly kicked out because someone (on a different team) thought it would be funny to pull the fire alarm. We decided to take shelter in a nearby Chili's, then slept early in preparation for the big day ahead.

Waking up at 5:45, we raided the free breakfast and headed out to Fort Adams. It took us embarrassingly long to get there, considering it was only twenty minutes away and on the same island, as we hit three dead ends, went on the wrong island, and crossed a bridge only to immediately turn around and cross it again; all while a car from RIT was following us.

After missing the Referee meeting by 45 minutes, we pitched our tent and started warming up only to be interrupted by a long (and very very cold) opening ceremony that consisted of us walking a circle around a fort then listening to a team (possibly Harvard but I'm not so sure) sing the Star Spangled Banner.

Our first game, as always, didn't fare so well. While we beat Hofstra many times at their own college, they seemed to go all out today. The score was 170 - 40 when our seeker Andre Zagelbaum made an excellent diving snitch grab, but landed on his shoulder bumping the score up to 170 - 70. Our team was immediately on the scene as he was helped up and the medic was brought to the pitch. Fearing a broken collarbone, we has sent to the medic tent where he rested. This was a great loss for our team, as our best seeker was unable to play for our most important tournament to date.

After a few games that I've been reffing in between without break, I was told to warm up then move to the pitch on my left. Our next game against Geneseo, a team known for playing questionably rough, was too close. We were leading 60 - 40 when one of our chaser dropped an F bomb and was given a red card. This rule was new for all of us, especially since we were given no warning when this normally back-to-hoops offense became one capable of a red card. We took the card respectfully however, and Genseo took the advantage to catch the snitch bringing the score up to 70 - 60 in their favor.

Some more games to ref (mostly Harvard) and we're up against the Rhode Island Ridgebacks. While this team is from Rhode Island and probably well rested, we were able to beat them 160 - 0 with no problems.

This easy victory brought us back on track and gave us confidence for our next game against University of Vermont, which also has a reputation of playing dirty. Once again, we were able to beat them without a hitch: having a final score of 140 - 30.

The U of V game was our last of the day, and set out place in the brackets for the next day. Because we won 2/4, we were placed against RIT for the first game the next day. It is this game that determined whether we were going to World Cup VI or not.

We all headed back to the hotel, had a meeting discussing our problems that day and the game ahead, then slept around 10:00 as we were all pooped. We were able to wake up slightly later the next day, then checked out and headed to Fort Adams for the last day of regionals and our determining game.

Because our seeker Andrew was out of commission, Shenuque and him briefed me on techniques and gave me the yellow headband. Our game started, and I ran to the sidelines to meet the opposing seeker. After the seeker floor was over, we were released and started searching for the snitch. We immediately checked the tents, then went around the outside of the fort. Because I was thrust into the seeker position, I didn't know the snitch boundaries. Unfortunately, the RIT seeker didn't either and we ran too far out. We headed back and I could hear my team screaming my name. Unfortunately the other seeker was a long distance runner and wore me out on the way. I quickly subbed with Shenuque and he caught the snitch within 5 minutes. Four whistle blows, the team ran up to him screaming, the score was 80 - 30, we won.

We couldn't relax just yet though, we still had more games ahead of us. We prepared to face one of the toughest teams there is, Boston University. It was a very tough game and I ended up getting my first yellow card for tackling a chaser over some chairs resulting in making a previous injury worse and breaking her knee (but swearing gives you a red card??). We grabbed the snitch bringing us up to 40 against BU's 160. After the game I worked things out with the injured chaser, and we sat back to watch BU fight its way all the way to the finals, claiming the title of best team in the Northeast.

We have a lot of work cut out for us for the World Cup in Florida, but practices will get tougher, we'll train harder, and by the time April rolls around I'm sure we'll be ready to take on the toughest of teams.

The Perks of Being Displaced from Brookdale?

It's been so crazy lately! I was displaced from the dorms because of the storm and I've been living at various generous relatives' and friends' apartments. I think I need to send about five Edible Arrangements to all my friends' parents and my relatives who have put me up in the last three weeks. I'm finally moved into the emergency housing at 97th street and everything is going back to semi-normal status at least. I made my (hopefully) final trip to Brookdale today to get some stuff. I hope this is the last time I have to walk through the city with bags of stuff like a nomad. I finally have my own bedspread and pillows and space. Kind of makes you appreciate the little things.

Anyway, with things being in this state of flux I've had a hard time finding time to blog. Even with all this craziness, I've forced myself to find time for my friends. I've spent so much time in the library and the bridges just sitting, doing work, hanging out with friends, and charging electronics. We used to all just congregate in the common room. I didn't realize how difficult keeping up a friendship was until we all lived so far away from each other. I have my master creeper list of everyone's schedules which makes it a bit easier, but I have to make a concerted effort to see them. What's great is that everyone lives in different places so I've gotten to explore the city a bit. I went to this great ramen noodle restaurant near Washington Square Park on Friday. The best vegetable fried dumplings EVER. I also tried pad thai for the first time at a Thai restaurant in Brooklyn. If you've never had pad thai, go. Right now. Please. It's just noodles with some sauce and chicken, possibly some egg, but it's the greatest thing you will ever eat. I know, I know. I talk about food a lot, but I'm a college student. My life basically revolves around food and sleep. Sometimes work....sometimes being the key word here.

I've just been spending this beautiful Saturday getting used to my new home, sitting in bed, working on essays, and watching How I Met Your Mother. I've been catching up with it for awhile now and I'm finally on the 8th season. Spoiler alert: I love love love Barney and Robin. Best. Couple. Ever. Did I mention I obsess over TV shows? I feel the need to watch them all in a week and my friends think I'm insane.

If you haven't gone to see Perks of Being a Wallflower, go right now. It's amazing. I went last weekend with my friends and it was one long feels-fest. I read the book in high school and the movie is just as good. Plus, I love all the actors in the movie. Especially Ezra Miller.

I'm super excited to be going home next weekend for Thanksgiving. Living in the city, a lot of my friends don't drive. I think that's the greatest thing about going home: driving. Living on Long Island, I have to drive to get anywhere. And I love it. So going home means driving, seeing my cats, and sleeping in my own bed. Oh, and also an entire day dedicated to eating food. And I get to collapse into my own bed in a food coma. God, I love Thanksgiving.

This week in English class, we read one of my favorite poems by T.S. Eliot called "The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock". My English teacher spent all class analyzing it and saying how it's one of her favorite poems. It's nice to know she's just as big a nerd about poetry as I am. My dad and I recite this poem to each other. Whenever we leave a place he just starts with "Let us go then you and I" and I complete it. So, being and English major and all nerdy about words and poetry, I'm gonna leave you with the first verse of said poem:

Let us go then, you and I
When the evening is spread out against the sky
Like a patient etherized upon a table;
Let us go, through certain half-deserted streets,
The muttering retreats
Of restless nights in one-night cheap hotels
And sawdust restaurants with oyster-shells:
Streets that follow like a tedious argument
Of insidious intent
To lead you to an overwhelming question...
Oh, do not ask, "What is it?"
Let us go and make our visit.

T.S. Eliot, 1920

Walks and Pushkin

Hello everyone!!

I can't believe it's already mid-November. It's crazy how fast time goes by in college.
Thanksgiving is next week, and I'm super excited. This has been a tough semester, and I'm looking forward to just being with my family. I'm super thankful for their constant support and love.

I love taking walks during my breaks between classes, but the past few weeks have been so busy that I've been cooped up in the library studying or on one of bridges catching up on some reading. Today, after orgo, I decided to take a short walk during my one hour break. It was so nice to be outside. It can feel so constricting to be inside all day and stare at a book or computer trying to focus and learn all of the material I have to know. It was good to just walk down Park Avenue and breathe in the crisp fall air. I have another weekend full of papers and studying ahead of me. ugh. But I'll get through it. I keep telling myself to focus and not fall behind.

(I love this poem by Pushkin. It talks about how short life is and the continuity of life.)

S.

Poem of the Week

Wandering the noisy streets,
Entering the crowded church,
Sitting among wild young men,
I am lost in my thoughts.

I say to myself: the years will fly,
And however many are here, we shall all
Go down under the eternal vaults.
Someone's hour is already at hand.

Gazing at a solitary oak,
I think: this patriarch
Will outlive my forgotten age
As it outlived the age of my fathers.

When I caress a dear child,
I'm already thinking: goodbye!
I yield my place to you: it's time
For me to decay and you to blossom.

I say goodbye to each day,
Trying to guess
Which among them will be
The anniversary of my death.

And how and where shall I die?
Fighting, travelling, in the waves?
Or will the neighbouring valley
Receive my cold dust?

And though it's all the same
To the feelingless body,
I should like to rest
Closer to the places I love.

And at the grave's entrance
Let young life play,
And the beauty of indifferent nature
Never cease to shine.

Alexander Pushkin, 1829 

I love Falafel.

I am surprised I haven't posted much about food yet. I like good food, and Manhattan has a lot of it. But I am also a college student - therefore, I like CHEAP food. Hence, my love affair with falafel.
For those of you who aren't familiar with falafel, it is basically fried balls of ground up chickpeas or fava beans, normally put into a pita with lettuce and other vegetables. You can get tahini sauce and hot sauce on them, if you want. The really cool thing is when you look at they outside they're brown, but they're bright green on the inside.

So I really really love this place on St Mark's Place in between Cooper Square and Astor Place, called Mamoun's. For about $5.00 I get a super falafel sandwich and a drink. They have mango juice here that is the absolute best. I don't even like mangos all that much and I love it. Everything's so fresh and delicious there. It's a tiny little place, so you may have to wait for a table, but its utterly worth it, even if you eat outside. My only word of advice is to watch out for the hot sauce. I can handle most hot sauces, but even I cower in fear of this one. Imagine hot coals being massaged into your tongue, and you've got Mamoun's sauce. It's delicious though.

But I haven't been able to get down to St. Mark's lately. Not living in the city means that I have very little time to gallivant with my friends. Which makes me very very sad.  So I have begun a quest - a quest for another really excellent falafel place. This is the first place that was worth making a post over.

The other day my friends and I went to Lincoln Center and saw a food cart there, called the Casbah. This place is incredibly convenient - just hop on the M66 Westbound bus and get off when the bus leaves the park. You can take the same bus in the opposite direction to get back to Hunter. Or, you can walk it - that's always nice, provided you don't get lost in the park. (It's happened to me a couple of times.)

The falafel there is good - not exactly Mamoun's, but better than any other place I've had. It is directly across the street from the ABC studios, and a block from Lincoln Center's famous fountain. So you get food, watch the news live, and then go sit on a fancy fountain and watch the people streaming into the opera. Or, if it's cold, its half a block to the Macaulay building. You can sit on the really comfortable couches and eat it there. They're super friendly there and really relaxed about you coming and going.

The falafel is fresh and delicious, about the same price as Mamoun's. What really threw me for a loop is they put chickpeas in the pita for some reason. It doesn't make sense, but it's yummy. This place is my current falafel fix. If anyone knows of anywhere really excellent, do comment on this post and give a fellow falafel fanatic a hand.

The worst part of this post? I'm writing it from home, and now I'm hungry.
There are no falafel places in my hometown.

Mindy Kaling is My Hero, Rom Coms, HIMYM, and The Importance Going To Office Hours

Hey!
Hope everyone is ok after the hurricane. In some boroughs like the Bronx, we only felt tremors, meanwhile in other areas trees became evil and broke houses. I'm writing that lightly, but my sympathies for everyone affected by the hurricane, especially those in bad areas of New Jersey, Staten Island and lower Manhattan. New York City is such a delicate, complex place that it's hard to get back up on our feet after a storm like that (imagine if it were higher than a category 1? Or imagine if it were even more devastating, like tsunamis in Indonesia, for example? Thank goodness). But as the city that never sleeps, we are surviving!
As we all know, Brookdale is in lower Manhattan, so it was damaged by the storm. I think every Macaulay or non-Macaulay student that dorms there appreciates that building, and not just because we don't currently live there anymore. It's rare to score a single room for free in Manhattan! Despite it being not state of the art, I love Brookdale, and even those who might complain about it miss it. In a way, we've lost a home (again, saying this lightly. Some have actually lost their homes- we've just lost our dorms.) and a lot of students are displaced. The only trouble with Brookdale is that we don't really have any idea as to when we'll be back. Next semester, or in a week? Don't know. I'm going to assume that since we only have a month left before (cue eerie music) ~~FINALS TIME ~~ that we won't be back until the semester's end.
Luckily, commuting is no stranger to anyone, I guess. In a school of about 14,000 only 600 students or so dormed. We were lucky anyway.
Moving on from Sandy! (Except, wait, just kidding: one more thing. I found it funny that during our entire week off, it seemed like absolutely NO ONE did any work. Some people couldn't, without power and hurricane damages, but others with power didn't do any either. Judging from facebook those with power watched a lot of TV.)

In other news: I watched Legally Blonde the other day. I think I am going to have an annual-Watch Legally Blonde Day. That, or a Watch Sandra Bullock & Other Assorted Rom Coms That I Totally Miss Day. Speaking of rom coms, do you know who loves rom coms as much as I do? Answer: MINDY KALING! Aka one of my favorite tv writers/authors/actresses/general celeb ever. She's cool to all brown girls out there, because there aren't a ton of popular, well-known of-South-Asian-descent (aka brown) actresses out there. AND she's just super awesome! And funny! Her book "Is Everyone Hanging Out Without Me? And Other Concerns" was an enjoyable, laugh-out-loud read about her life until now. I love that she acts like a ditz (for example, as Kelly on The Office and even in her new show ***which I highly recommend watching on hulu*** The Mindy Project) but in real life, she went to Dartmouth. And she's a brilliant TV writer. Go Mindy! (And her TV character loves following celebrity news and I LOVE FOLLOWING CELEBRITY NEWS!!!!!!! Sorry for the over enthusiasm. BUT REALLY!)
Also her voice is good for animated characters (good call, Wreck It Ralph casting crew!).
On her blog, she dedicated a whole post to sour candies.
I LOVE sour candies.
You see why she's awesome.

Alright, Mindy & Hurricane discussion over....logically, HOW I MET YOUR MOTHER would come next!
How I Met Your Mother:
I was late in watching this show. I saw most of all the episodes this summer and watched all of season 7 in one weekend. I discovered that season 7 is either extremely emotional (I think it's that, to be honest) or that I tend to cry easily around 2 AM while watching TV alone. But I'm sure if you're reading this, you're an HIMYM fan anyway, so I don't have to go on about it. Definitely a good anti-stressor (is that a term?). I wish I were best friends with the entire cast.
Sigh.

One more thing before I end off- this time, I'm sorry, it's not about pop culture in any way- (if you want to stop reading, go ahead, how could anything non-pop-culture related be interesting? (I'm totally just kidding, you celeb-life-pop-culture haters, and yes I used double parenthesis, score!)) a tip a professor of mine gave me today: Go to your office hours! At least once or twice.
All professors encourage this. If you do it, it promotes your student-professor relationship that is needed in the future (recommendation letters/general life-school advice!). If you're a science related major, this can be difficult, because it's likely your classes will have 600 kids. Or even just 100- it's definitely NOT a personalized small class. Utilize those office hours! Even I don't, but it never hurts and you can always pretend that the professors are lonely and are glad for a visit (even if they're not.)

Last random side note: if bored, emailing friends is fun sometimes! A refreshing change from facebook.
And you can play fun email games, like my personal favorite : the "Important Life Questions" game. (Hmm. I just considered how loser-ish I sound in this blog, and how loser-ish I sound right now especially. But the moment is over, for if I thought like that all the time I would probably just never talk.) You can come up with a bunch of random questions, ranging from silly (Zain Malik or Zac Efron?) to obscurely weird (What is the color of your soul?) or to slightly deep life questions (Where do you think you'll be in 10 years? Or, What do you think is the best way to fall in love?)
I dunno people, make it up!
But if you email the same set of questions to your closest friends, the responses are always interesting, and it's fun to do.
At least for me. I must sound lame, dear freshmen reading this, but I promise I'm not AS lame as I sound.
If people actually do read this and you somehow recognize me when you come to Macaulay, please say hi!!!! That would be cool.
Anyway, definitely ending this post right now to go study anatomy!! (New tactic of the week: everytime I clap someone on their shoulder or something, I shout, "DELTOID!"Or whatever part of their arm I see. Is it helping me cram for the muscles exam in a week? No, not really, but it's kind of fun.)

Amirah!
(I wish I had thought to sign off as "A." or something cool. Doesn't just "A." sound mature and mysterious? Sigh. I'll just be "Amirah!" for now.)

Life after the Storm

I sincerely hope that everyone is up and dandy by now since it's been a couple weeks after the storm. If not, my deepest regards.

Well, there were no catastrophes in my neighborhood, though we lost power for a week. For a few days during that week, it was a problem getting some hot foods or drinks (as you can see in the picture), but other than that everything was fine.

For the remainder of the week, I moved to my aunt's house so I can actually get some work done and have some hot food. However, when school started again, it was a hassle getting to Hunter. 

I don't live in a place that was hit as hard as Staten Island, but it was still a pain getting to Hunter. It took me nearly two hours the first day. I endured this for another two days before I took up my friend's offer. Her dad let a few of us stay at an apartment in the city. I was like WOW! This is awesome. It's just like college life.

But that changed by the time I got there. Don't get me wrong. It was still pretty amazing having an apartment to ourselves but no one has lived there for so long it needs a whole scrub down. I'm currently sharing the biggest room with one friend, and if you think I'm OCD clean, she is triple times cleaner than me. We had to strip the beds of the dusty bed sheets and since I was the only one with bed sheets, we're sharing the bed. That was fine except my bed sheets don't fit and we're sharing half a bed T_T. That was only the first thing. The bathroom was, let's just say, not that eye-appealing. Both my friend and I were afraid to touch anything.

On top of all this, my fellow roommates (apart from my OCD friend) added on to the pile of cleaning. My friend and I were nice enough to cook dinner for them the first night since they weren't home yet and it was blizzarding outside. They ended up leaving a sinkful of dishes and pots, which I cleaned most of it. The next day, they were going home after school so they left first. When my friend and I got back to the apartment, we found another sinkful of dishes bigger than the first one -_- My friend cleaned it all but "never again" she says, "never again".

I already know that anything good that comes usually is followed with a little bad. This just reinforces it. I am grateful for the later mornings and shorter travel to school and I do understand I am better off than a lot of people. But I am longing to go back to my clean, dustless home with a whole bed.

Dorm Woes :(

I haven't posted in a while and school is to blame! I've been so swamped with bio and chem that I can barely find a moment to myself, and even then I'm mentally running through the translation process of proteins or antibonding within atoms!

I hope everyone is safe and well after the crazy weather that's been happening here. I'm still trying to find time to get involved in relief efforts, but it has become exponentially harder to do so when most of my free time is now spent on a bus or train or ferry!

I (and everyone else) really miss the dorms. Besides the crazy commute from home (2 hours+), I've been doing alright, but it is completely different now. Studying, which has become a group effort, has once again returned to a single affair. Simple things such as cooking and laundry have become foreign chores, relinquished to my mom as soon as I walked through the door on that fateful weekend before the storm. I dramatized this immensely, but I really really really miss living with my friends the most. Hanging out was such a simple thing. Now plans actually have to be made. I didn't realize how different all our schedules really were until we had to put in an effort to see each other around school.

I have to hand it to commuter students who end up with tons of friends, this isn't some easy task. I really can't wait for the dorms to come back, even with their moldy showers and scary elevators.

Election, Exams, and Stress

Hey everyone!

It's the middle of the semester, and things are getting really stressful and overwhelming. Taking 5 classes is proving to be an incredible challenge. There are exams, essays, reading assignments, and lab reports. It's a lot. I'm just trying to keep up with it all at the moment. 

The election was this Tuesday, and I voted for the first time! It was exciting, and I'm glad that Barack Obama won. I just hope that we make some progress in the next four years.

Good luck to you all on your midterms!

Stay calm, focused, and determined. 

S.

Quote of the week:

“Rivers know this: there is no hurry. We shall get there some day.” 
― A.A. Milne, Winnie-the-Pooh

I thought I would be more productive.

The amount of time I spend at school has now dramatically increased. (Thanks, Sandy.) I thought that this would mean that I got all my reading done early, did all my papers, and became and incredibly productive member of this college. I was excited because I thought that I would get so much done, and still be able to sleep and have something that resembles a social life.

What really happened is I spend more time on Tumblr, Facebook, and AddictingGames than I ever have before. And my papers are still getting written in the dead of night, the reading is still done on the way to class, and I don’t even get to sit around with my friends in our giant seven hour procrastination sessions anymore. 

I'm commuting into the school from either Brooklyn or Babylon, depending on the day. So I spend anywhere between one to three hours getting to school. I have four hour breaks between my classes, some portions of which match the gaps my friends have so we can hang out.

But mostly, I just sit around on my laptop.

I have a new enormous respect for the kids who commute to school year- round. Hunter is considered a mainly commuter school. There is something close to 15,000 students, and only about 700 live in the dorms. So if you talk to a student, odds are they spent some ridiculous amount of time on the train that morning, and are planning to spend just as long to get back.

What  a gift those dorms are. You never really appreciate what you have until you loose it, I guess.

hope everyone is okay!

Hey guys,

I hope all my fellow bloggers and readers are safe and sound after the storm!  For those of you who aren't, know that the whole city of New York is behind you as you get back on your feet.
I honestly did not expect that the storm would get as bad as it did…I was so shocked to see places like Breezy Point, Staten Island, and the Jersey Shore.  Walking around my neighborhood, I've seen some pretty bad destruction after Sandy--a house without a roof, houses that have been crushed by massive trees, and fallen trees that pulled up sections of the sidewalk.  But the news coverage continuously reminds me that there is so much worse.

Fallen trees that pulled up a section of the curb.

The mass transit shutdown is definitely something I never expected to see in my lifetime… The current subway map is crazy.  And tunnels, still flooded?  Wow.  Personally, I think the mayor and governor did a pretty good job preparing the city; unfortunately so much of this was just unexpected.  We'll have to see if they continue to deliver in their response.
And has anyone else heard about this storm that's supposed to hit on or around Election Day?? That is the last thing we need right now…it might even impact the elections.  No matter what guys, make sure to get out and vote!  I know it's not everyone's first priority, but it's still important.
So with that, I hope everyone stays safe and healthy this weekend, on the road to recovery.  =]

G.

Thoughts on a Surreal Week

Hello everyone.

I hope that you are all well after this powerful storm.
Many parts of NY and NJ have been severely impacted. Watching the devastated people on television with no power, damage to their homes, or without homes at all has made me feel incredibly grateful for what I have. Last Friday, I was anticipating a week filled with frantic studying for the orgo exam that I was supposed to take today. That week never came to be. Instead, we've just all completed a week of much destruction and sadness. But people have hope. They will rebuild their lives and the wounds will heal. We are all Americans, and we have to be there for them.
As you know, CUNY decided to hold classes today, to everyone's great annoyance. But I honestly couldn't sit there and complain. There are kids who can't even go to school because they live in places that have been completely destroyed. I got up extra early to take two trains and the shuttle bus to get into Manhattan. The line was very long and the bus was crowded, but it was very organized. So it wasn't too bad.
Hopefully, next week will be a little brighter for everyone.
We will all get through this.

S.

Quote of the week:
“Love can rebuild the world, they say, so everything's possible when it comes to love.” 
― Haruki Murakami