Skirts and Cream Puffs

Hey, everyone!

The semester is just about over. Monday will be my last day of class, in which I have to hand in my final English paper of the semester. Then, I just have one final exam on Friday (for my Jewish history class). Woo hoo.

Last weekend was fairly busy. I took my mom to the doctor on Saturday in the pouring rain in Brooklyn. Then, afterwards, we picked up some presents for people.

On Sunday, we went to the mall, and I finally got myself a pair of tall black boots! And two new skirts. It's funny that this time last year, I owned only 2 skirts. In the last year, I've given away those 2 skirts (because of poor fit or because it wore out) and have bought 6 new ones. I also asked my mom to turn one of my dresses into a skirt so technically, I have 7. You might be wondering why I'm telling you all this, but I'll explain. haha. Skirts and I have a up and down history.

I owned a few skirts (that relatives had given to me) when I was in elementary school, and I would wear them in the summer time. I liked them, but I honestly don't know how good they looked on me. haha. Then, in middle school, I outgrew all of them.

When I was in 7th grade, we went shopping for a skirt to wear to an event, I tried one on that my mom said made me look like funny haha. It just wasn't the right style for me, but from then on, I kind of wrote off all skirts and told myself that I just didn't look good in them. I bought another skirt when I was a senior in high school and another one when I was a sophomore in college. But neither of them looked exactly "right" on me.

My skirt "revolution" came this past spring when I bought a black floral skirt that looked awesome on me. That made me realize that I could wear skirts so I started buying more in that style. I feel great in them, and I always get compliments when I wear them. So what I'm saying is that you shouldn't be so quick to write off something as "not for you." There are so many designs and cuts and colors out there. Find something that works for your body. Work with what you have. :)

The skirt that started it all (along with a matching top).

Ok. Style lesson over. haha.

I've been suffering from headaches all week long. I think it's a combination of the rain that we got earlier this week, school-related stress, and personal stuff. But I feel better today, thankfully. The best thing to do is to sleep it off if you can. Also, drink some tea, and listen to soft music. And definitely pop a pain reliever if your headache isn't getting any better and/or you need quicker results.

Lastly, I want to mention this bakery called Beard Papa's, which is known for its yummy cream puffs. Their NY location is just a few blocks from Macaulay headquarters on the UWS so if you're ever in the area, definitely check it out. I haven't been there in 2 years. Must get myself one of those creamy wonders soon...

S.

Quote of the Week

“I tell my students, 'When you get these jobs that you have been so brilliantly trained for, just remember that your real job is that if you are free, you need to free somebody else. If you have some power, then your job is to empower somebody else. This is not just a grab-bag candy game.” 

~ Toni Morrison

Birches

Hey everyone!

It's finals time, and I'm freezing. I'm always freezing during the winter and I don't know why. It's more than just normal cold. It's freezing. I'm convinced my body is half a degree colder than everyone else's body. I walked outside yesterday in the snow for 5-10 minutes max, and once I got home I couldn't feel my feet. So I try to avoid being outside during the winter for this very reason.

Nevertheless, I really like Christmas/holiday-time. Technically, I'm Jewish, but I just love Christmas. I love the lit-up trees, the snow that falls in beautiful little flurry flakes, soft and magical (this is obviously before it turns into that gross, brown slush on the street). I love presents and Christmas music (although I can only stand it for about 2 weeks before I go a little crazy). I feel like the holidays are meant to break up the awful monotony that can grip us during the winter season. It ushers students out of the fall semester and into winter break. I can't help but feel jolly, even as I struggle to complete all my papers and exams in the next two weeks. *sob*

The other day I went to the Guggenheim for the ZERO exhibit. It's a really cool postmodern exhibit focusing on experimental European art of the 50's and 60's. I went on a Friday night when it was raining, an hour before the museum closed. With my Cultural Passport, I got free admission (saved like $22). It was a quiet and rainy night, dark and beautiful in the park adjacent to the museum. It's a truly introspective experience to see this exhibit. It encompasses the whole museum, and as you spiral up the walkway, you experience a progression of thematic expression by the movement, culminating in this beautiful mechanical light show that is just ethereal. It's haunting but really calming at the same time. I would recommend this exhibit for anyone who just wants a relaxing break from finals; it kind of helped me relax enough to confront all the jumbled tasks I had stored in my mind that week.

As I left the museum, it was raining and dark, very quiet on 5th avenue along the park. The UES is really quiet at night, especially when it's raining, since there's not much to attract foot traffic.The winter is a difficult time to take long, slow walks. I inherently rush everywhere just to get out of the cold. I walked slow and took some time to think. I don't really do this enough, but it was quiet and still enough in the city for me to slow down and take everything in. I walked parallel to the park for awhile.

Last night when it snowed, I walked a bit as well. I saw the trees lined in snow and just absorbed the beauty of that for awhile. This time of year reminds me a lot of Robert Frost's poems "Birches" and "Stopping By the Woods on a Snowy Evening" (which is a personal favorite; fun fact: I memorized and recited it in second grade). Frost's poetry had stayed with me since I first encountered it when I was 7, and again in my senior year of high school. It is quiet and nuanced in its attention to nature's details. I really appreciate this type of poetry, as a break from the inherently political tone of most poems. Recently I've been reading Citizen by Claudia Rankine; the book is well-timed, what with Ferguson and the Garner case, but the weight of that narrative is heavy and painful. Sometimes I need to take a step back and read some poetry that talks about the beauty of the world and our place in it. Just looking at the snow on the trees can be curative. Being at home gives me this feeling; in comparison to the crazy energy of the city, it's quiet and there's a beauty in all of the small time pockets that exist there. Time is different at home than in the city. But I think it's important to find a curative place everywhere you go. Taking walks never seemed like my thing, but I think I'm getting the hang of it.

I'll leave you with "Birches" by Robert Frost, in the hopes that just reading it will give you the feeling I experienced when I looked at the bare trees coated with white snow.

When I see birches bend to left and right
Across the lines of straighter darker trees,
I like to think some boy’s been swinging them.
But swinging doesn’t bend them down to stay 
As ice-storms do.  Often you must have seen them
Loaded with ice a sunny winter morning
After a rain.  They click upon themselves
As the breeze rises, and turn many-colored
As the stir cracks and crazes their enamel.
Soon the sun’s warmth makes them shed crystal shells
Shattering and avalanching on the snow-crust--
Such heaps of broken glass to sweep away
You’d think the inner dome of heaven had fallen.
They are dragged to the withered bracken by the load,
And they seem not to break; though once they are bowed
So low for long, they never right themselves:
You may see their trunks arching in the woods
Years afterwards, trailing their leaves on the ground
Like girls on hands and knees that throw their hair
Before them over their heads to dry in the sun.
But I was going to say when Truth broke in
With all her matter-of-fact about the ice-storm
I should prefer to have some boy bend them
As he went out and in to fetch the cows--
Some boy too far from town to learn baseball,
Whose only play was what he found himself,
Summer or winter, and could play alone.
One by one he subdued his father’s trees
By riding them down over and over again
Until he took the stiffness out of them,
And not one but hung limp, not one was left
For him to conquer.  He learned all there was
To learn about not launching out too soon
And so not carrying the tree away
Clear to the ground.  He always kept his poise
To the top branches, climbing carefully
With the same pains you use to fill a cup
Up to the brim, and even above the brim.
Then he flung outward, feet first, with a swish,
Kicking his way down through the air to the ground.
So was I once myself a swinger of birches.
And so I dream of going back to be.
It’s when I’m weary of considerations,
And life is too much like a pathless wood
Where your face burns and tickles with the cobwebs
Broken across it, and one eye is weeping
From a twig’s having lashed across it open.
I’d like to get away from earth awhile
And then come back to it and begin over.
May no fate willfully misunderstand me
And half grant what I wish and snatch me away
Not to return.  Earth’s the right place for love:
I don’t know where it’s likely to go better.
I’d like to go by climbing a birch tree,
And climb black branches up a snow-white trunk
Toward heaven, till the tree could bear no more,
But dipped its top and set me down again.
That would be good both going and coming back.
One could do worse than be a swinger of birches.

Getting into the Holiday Spirit

From about December 28th-ish to December 18th mid-day, I am probably the worst person to try to spread the holiday spirit to. Especially in the first half of December. I celebrate Christmas, but I emphatically believe that seasonal products and entertainment should stay within the confines of their season. Plus, my birthday is the week before Christmas, and anyone who is in a similar situation knows my pain; however, I am here to talk about a few things that do, in fact, get me into the holiday spirit... Even when it's not yet Christmastime!!!!

Number One: Advent calendars! I love advent calendars. For those of you that don't know what these are, they are December 1-24 (sometimes 25th) specific calendars. Every day leading up to Christmas in December, you open the "door," or in the fancier ones perhaps a small present box, and you get a little treat. For me, advent calendars always mean chocolate, but one day I'd really love to treat myself to a nail polish one or a mini candles one. My mum usually buys my and my brother's advent calendars, or a relative sends money for her to buy them in their stead. Top tip: Trader Joe's always have really cute ones. 

Number Two: Making a Christmas/Birthday wish list. I don't usually make a super formal one, but I like to write down a few things that I would like. Mostly for my own entertainment, and so that after the holidays I remember what I wanted to use any Christmas money to buy, but I usually also let my parents in on one or two things that I would really like. Presents always make me happy, so this is kind of a given I suppose. 

Number Three: Twinkly lights! I hate early Christmas trees. Growing up, I always made my parents wait until after my birthday to put up the Christmas tree (wow, that makes me sound really quite bratty..). But (the point is) if I'm walking around the city, twinkly lights in the trees do actually make me feel pretty festive. Or at least, more willing to be. Further up 23rd, around where the Home Depot are, there are a bunch of trees with lights on and I was over there on Sunday evening, and it looked really sweet. 

Number Four: Hot chocolate. I mean, come on, do I have to write a paragraph.

With all that said, as the semester is winding down, I do wish you all the best of luck with your final exams and papers and presentations. You have earned a good relaxing few weeks, or closer to two months if you aren't taking any winter classes or working at all. And, if you have a little trouble getting into the holiday spirit - Christmas or other December/January holiday - maybe just stir up some hot chocolate and put on a fireplace ~mood background on your computer.

Ps. I tried to keep this as holiday-neutral as possible, but it's also personal and I celebrate Christmas, so of course that will show through. But, whatever you celebrate or don't celebrate, I do wish you all the best for finals, and for the New Year.