Winter Break Update

Wow, I haven't posted since October. I guess I've been a little busy!

Light up the lake

Now that it's winter break, I feel like I should have more time, but somehow the days are full of cooking (and eating) and reading and knitting and family fun and a million other things. Just when I thought I could hibernate.

Alright now onto the more interesting stuff:

Until this year, I didn't realize how much I love Chanukah. This is because until this year, I was home for Chanukkah. This year, Chanukkah fell during AU10 finals, so unfortunately I didn't really get to spend it with my family (except for a brief candle-lighting in my apartment with my parents and sam's parents after shugshabbat immediately before shugaschwasted). I was surprised that by the end of the 6th night I was completely disenchanted with the holiday; I didn't want to sing the blessings, I didn't want to light the candles (other than as an excuse to take pictures), I didn't want latkes or sufganiyot, no matter how delicious. I felt homesick and exhausted (wompwomp) and I just wasn't interested in celebrating the miracle of light anymore.

These smoke curls remind me of Nightmare Before Christmas

Then I finished finals, came home, and my family and I celebrated what I'm calling the 10th night of Chanukkah--we lit 20 menorahs, sang the blessings, and pretended it was the last night of the holiday. It ruled. Apparently my family was feeling the same way about Chanukkah this year, which really made me feel good--we don't necessarily celebrate the traditional story of Chanukkah, but we celebrate being together and celebrating as a family, which is totally awesome. I'm a lucky lady.

Since then it's been a lot of running around. I've been cooking up a storm, brewing excessive amounts of hot tea, and generally goofing around, which is a nice change (although not really that different from what I do during the quarter). It's been nice to catch up with friends and read for fun. I'm looking forward to whatever else winter break brings (snow days with the siblings--so far we've had 2...).

This blog should be called "i should be doing homework"

Sometimes I feel like school inconveniently gets in the way of my extracurriculars.

I'm pretty sure that's not how it's supposed to go.
But then I have days like today, that are totally scheduled from 8 am until 10 pm and only 48 minutes of that day was spent in class.

I did learn a lot today though.
I had the amazing opportunity to see Lt. Dan Choi speak in the Union about DADT and his experiences. I've been going to lectures at Ohio State (both in class and just for fun) and Lt. Choi is by far one of the most incredible speakers I have ever seen. He was personal, inspirational, and captivating. Also, his impression of his mom was one of the most hilarious of the week.

Lt. Choi's speech was largely about the experiences he has had since he came out to his family, and his discharge from the armed forces. I can't believe the hot mess that is politics regarding equality, but that's a different topic for a different day.

Today is Columbus Day, but we don't celebrate it at Ohio State, which makes sense.
NOT.
But today is also National Coming Out Day (one month before Veterans' Day), so I would just like to say happy national coming out day.
In honor of those who have come out...or anyone who loves Kathy Griffin....



Here are some other things that have been going on:

this is a tree.

these are cute friends.

this is a building at otterbein

This is Caitlin's voice recital flyer--she was awesome.

IT'S FALL.

It's the most wonderful time of the year...

BACK TO SCHOOL TIME!

I love school.

Because I'm a nerd.

So far I love all of my classes, and I'm thoroughly enjoying being back on campus. Football season rules, and getting back into the school routine is always a good thing. Also, Geoff, you should grow a beard. I'm just saying.

Here are some photos of the b-e-a-utiful fall weather we've been having here in Christopher Columbus, Ohio.

Sam and Jaclyn reppin' the shugs at the involvement fair

my super attractive football group

the numbers garden

pretty friends at the jason mraz concert

Mr. A-Z Himself <3

August 17th.

Good morning (or afternoon or evening--I'm writing in the morning, who knows when you're reading)

Today is Tuesday, August 17th, 2010.

Today's fun fact: my bat mitzvah was exactly 8 years ago. My invitations said "twenty-oh-two" because I thought it was stupid that we would say "nineteen ninety nine" (not "one thousand nine hundred ninety-nine") but "two thousand two"...anyway, 8 years is a long time and I'm starting to feel more like a grown-up.

So, one of the beautiful things of babysitting over the summer (apart from going to the pool while you're 'clocked-in' and doing art projects everyday) is that I've been able to get a lot of reading done. That, and I've been watching considerably more television. Both on tv and on netflix (what an incredible invention). I'm fully caught up on True Blood and Weeds, and I got my mom hooked on US of Tara (what a brilliant show). And I'm starting season 2 of Dexter! Also, I'm babysitting, so I've been watching some high quality tv--right now they're watching the Nanny (one of the most brutal things to watch first thing in the morning. her voice. yikes) but we also watch Phineas and Ferb and It's Me or the Dog. um...yeah.

But, as we all know, the most epic summer programming takes place during SHARK WEEK! Shark week was great this year. Because it's great every year.

Seriously, this is so epic.

What else has been going on this summer?

I saw an AMAZING concert with the Axe! We went to see Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeros at the Newport. UNBELIEVABLE! I have never before seen a group so passionate about their music and electrified by the crowd. In fact, at one point towards the end of the show, the lead singer (Alexander) came off the stage and plopped himself on the [gross, disgusting, beer-covered] ground RIGHT NEXT TO US. Incredible. He performed a song sitting on the ground right next to me.

Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeros! So great!

It was an amazing amazing show and I'm soooo glad I went.

Oh hey, Alexander. Great beard.

Also, it's that fun part of the summer where most of my friends who studied or vacationed abroad are making their ways back to America. I love to hear about their trips and look at their pictures and I'm glad they're making their ways home.

Speaking of traveling...This past weekend I flew down to hot-lanta to visit Miss Samantha! It was wonderful exploring a new city--in her neighborhood there are tons of golf carts and, for those of you who maybe don't know that I'm secretly a 5 year old, I LOVE GOLF CARTS. So, it was super fun to visit and explore and ride around on golf carts. Score! (photos to follow--I haven't uploaded them yet!)

Also, I'm REALLY psyched for Meshuganotes this year. Just a fact.

Anybody else up to anything fun? I'm about to go play my ukulele (which rules, thanks for asking) and then today we're tie-dying (yessss) which is exciting.

And here are my puppies:

Lulu found the sun on the floor. Her favorite.

Izzy is finally learning to make eye contact!

tradition

Normally, I love traditions.

I love family traditions, Jewish traditions, Buckeye traditions...they're great! They make me feel at home.

There is, however, a popular American tradition, of which I am not a fan.

That tradition: 21st birthday (barfday?) festivities.

I'll spare you the gory alcohol-laden details. But never again will I enjoy 1.5 hours of fun with the tradeoff of a day of agony and hazy dizziness.

Yikes!

But it was fun. Also this post is long overdue. I might have to do back-to-back posts.

a most magnificent rainy day

Yesterday, it finally rained.

It's about time--the humidity has been unbearable.

This summer, I've become pretty dedicated to walking the puppies. One of them, Lulu, loves going for walks. She wags her tail the entire time, keeping her hears up and smelling absolutely everything on our path. The other one, Izzy, is completely disinterested in our walks. He keeps his tail down and refuses to socialize with other dogs/people walking/Lulu. He is hilarious. Too bad for Izzy, because these walks are not optional for the puppies. I personally love our walks.

Lulu on a mission. She's about to herd those ducks.

Lately though, it's been so sticky and hot out that we have to wait until almost 9 to head outside to walk. These means that my entire family has a chance to sit down and watch Jeopardy! together, which rules, because we are all such nerds. Which, if you ask me, is a pretty great way to be.

Halfway point of our walks

Anyway, it's been so hot out that I haven't even really been enjoying being outside. Some evenings I try to take my ukulele out to play in the sunshine, which is fun and summery, but usually I've just been sticking to the (fixed, b"h) air conditioning! But, since it rained today, I convinced the kiddos I babysit to play outside. Everyday, I say, guys, let's go play outside! Or, hey kids let's go do sidewalk chalk/swim/run around/play frisbee/etc but they never really want to. So yesterday when I told them to put on their bathing suits in a torrential downpour, they thought I was being facetious.

They were wrong.

After they looked at me like I was completely and totally insane, I went and put on my bathing suit and collected beach towels to put as close to the door as possible. Rain can be quite chilly, people. I wasn't about to freeze my tuchas off after playing in the rain. Slowly but surely the kiddos decided I was serious, and then we proceeded to have what might have been the most fun hour of the summer we've had together.

look closely, and you'll see a house upside down in those rain drops.

All just by playing outside [in the rain]. It was awesome.

Plus, rain makes everything look prettier. Everyone's grass has been fried looking, and flowers have basically given up lately. So now everything is refreshed and ready for what is supposed to be a 94 degree scorcher.

In other news: it's almost my birthday =)

summertime and life is sweet

proud buckeye family on the beach

I'm the worst blogger.

It turns out, that even with all my "free time" during the summer I'm still not really cranking out blogposts like I had hoped.

Oh well, you get what you get.

So it's July (YES I LOVE JULY) and I'm babysitting all summer.

But what, pray tell, have I been doing since treacherous finals week, besides not blogging?

Thanks for asking, inquisitive readers!

First I went on an epic family vacation. I have the funniest family on the face of the planet. Thank g-d I don't get embarrassed easily and instead am part of the hilarity, because otherwise these epic vacations would be epically humiliating instead of fun.

shoot, look at that super cute family.

After we got home from vacation, I continued with my awesome summer job.

Think about all of the things you like to do. Maybe you like to read, or watch movies, or go to the pool.

Now imagine getting paid to do those things.

Ka-chiiiiiing.

So I also bought a ukulele, which has been an incredibly fun and ridiculous new thing that I've been spending time on. I've really increased my repertoire lately--so far I'm up to nine or ten great songs that I can play almost from memory! Ukuleles are so easy to play and so summery and great!

just chillin' with the new uke...nbd.

Now that the siblings' baseball and softball seasons are winding down, it's just about time for me to stop wasting time and start studying for the GRE. Womp. But really I'd rather just read...so far this summer I've read 13 books! The Sookie Stackhouse novels were first--great beach read, btw, and now I'm finishing the third of the Millennium trilogy by Stieg Larsson. Great books! Once I'm finished I'm planning on watching the Swedish versions of the movies.

What else...

OH I went to see fireworks (duh) and got some pretty cool shots with the D90. Win!

USA! USA! USA!

That's all I can think of right now but I'll try to keep this updated more regularly.

it's officially summer

Well readers, good news: it's officially SUMMER!!!

it's about time--this year flew by but this particular week dragged on miserably slowly.

I'm thrilled that it's summer! Now I can read whatever I want whenever I want! Yes!

Right now though my brain is totally fried. I just cleaned my whole apartment--the bathroom is spick and span, the kitchen is shining, and the carpets are freshly vacuumed (a real rarity around here) so everything is feeling nice and clean. What a great feeling to the end of a stressful and educational school year =)

Since everything's been so crazy this week, I don't really have photos.

Well that's not true. You see, Geoff and I are good at procrastinating together.

Luckily now I don't have to procrastinate because it's summer!!! Wahoooo!!!

The Buckeye Grove

I'm proud to be a Buckeye.

There are a lot of reasons why, but the point is, I'm proud to be a Buckeye.

Here at THE Ohio State University, we have something called "The Buckeye Grove," and it's a unique college football tradition. Every tree planted in the grove was planted to honor football players from our amazing university who have gone on to be football All-Americans.

There's something new this year on the Ohio State website (osu.edu) called "image of the day". This is really cool, because it's a place where students, staff, and alumni can upload images of their favorite spots on campus, or any cool Ohio State events...basically if it's somehow OSU-related, it can be posted.

Throughout this year, I've submitted several images, and they've been posted for the whole Buckeye community to enjoy.

Last night, I ventured to Buckeye Grove. I say ventured because it's by Ohio Stadium, which is kind of a trek. I can't believe I used to live on West Campus.

Anyway, so I was at Buckeye Grove, because I had been over at the Olentangy trying to capture some of the beautiful sunset that was happening.

One of my favorite sunset pictures from my time at the Olentangy

I never expected to get anything like this picture, but I guess I was just in the right place (Buckeye Grove) at the right time (sunset).

Buckeye Grove for the win:

Procrastination!

It's just after midnight Saturday night before finals week, and so naturally I'm not studying like I should be. Instead, I'm sitting at my kitchen table with two of my best friends, just jamming to some awesome tunes (what's up Elton John? Elephant Love Medley anyone? Maybe a little of Glee's Vogue?) and procrastinating. Tomorrow the roomsicle, Sam, is leaving for camp, which is sad. But to celebrate a pretty awesome year (and quarter and month and week and day) we made havdallah tonight. Havdallah helps us separate shabbat from the rest of the week, and tonight we kind of used it for that, and to symbolically separate the school year from summer (even though I've still got finals and such to take care of, classes are officially over, so it still counts). It was lovely! Havdallah is one of my absolutely favorite parts about being Jewish. I think it really helps to refresh me for what's coming up, and to help make what's already happened a special memory.

As I'm writing this the playlist just keeps getting better and better. Wow, the singalong is just out of control.

I've been spending a considerable amount of time at Thompson and the Ohio Union getting

work done and meeting up with people for a few more minutes of fun before we part for the summer. Sometimes, though, it's important to get off campus for a hot second. Today we visited Jeni's Splendid Ice Creams, one of my favorite favorite favorite places.

Also, despite the random storming and horrific humidity, the sky has been pretty ridiculously beautiful lately.

The other day, I got to hear an incredible story about one of my favorite people, Kasa. She's got an incredible personal history, and I feel so blessed to know her--sadly, she's

leaving after the summer to go home to Israel, but I know I'll see her soon anyway =) Here's her grandfather's bible, written in the Ethiopic language Ge'ez (SO COOL). This book is so old; it literally feels like holding a piece of ancient history. I love it. What a cool experience!

If anyone is looking for a particularly epic way to procrastinate, we watched King of Kong last night. Holy guacamole, that movie is so incredibly epic. You should watch it. Right now. No, seriously, go watch it.

In fact, to encourage you to watch that movie, that's how I'm ending this post.

Good luck on finals everyone!

May the Countdown to Summer Begin!

There's this band I used to listen to all the time called Brand New. I love their lyrics. They have this great song called "i will play my game beneath the spin light" full of great little quips, and one popped into my head this evening.

"i need the smell of summer; i need its noises in my ears"

It seems particularly appropriate. Right now, standing between me at a few months of sunshine and endless reading [for fun! the best kind] are the following notches on my to-do list:

1. turn in finalized art education paper
2. linguistics quiz and class
3. history presentation
4. linguistics final
5. hebrew final
6. history final

While it's still a lot to do, it's only six items. Lately I've been feeling like the list is 32857329821 items long, so it's nice to see that it's been condensed to six major things to do. Sure, there are other things to get done, like going away gatherings, tours to give, the apartment to clean, clothes to pack....whatever, that stuff will be fun. I can't believe it's already June first! I feel like it was just a few short weeks ago that I was getting ready to move into the apt and prepare for the high holy days...and here we are again! Almost summer!

Now, some of you might not know this (the blog is new, I haven't really actually shared much about myself just yet) but I am a HUGE Harry Potter fan. My friend sent me the link to this video earlier; it's of the stars of the movie getting a sneak peak of the theme park! I absolutely cannot wait to visit the Wizarding World of Harry Potter. Bah!!!

Quickly before I go finish up some work before bed, here are some snapshots into the last couple of days.

The Meshuganotes gathered for an end-of-the-year bbq at Jaclyn's gorgeous home

I got to see Conan O'Brien (realized I never put up pictures from that, fail)

I did some exploring of North Campus

OKAY! That's it for now! Hasta la vista.

The end of the quarter is always so crazy.

Hello!

A lot of beautiful things have happened since Wednesday when I last posted.

There was a cool double rainbow over high street, which ruled.

Hillel hosted the end of year bbq, with live music, free food, and lots of awesome people!

My sister turned 12 and had a murder mystery birthday party, which was hilarious and awesome.

Okay other than those exciting things what's been going on...

Well, right now my eye is twitching because I haven't been sleeping enough. Fail. It's super annoying (both the not sleeping and the eye twitching). Yikes okay so since it's the end of the quarter everything is piling up (tests, quizzes, homeworks, group projects, the list is never-ending) but luckily summer is quickly approaching. This means spending time with friends and family at home and other places. It also means live music, something I've seriously been missing lately. It also means lots of great opportunities to practice photog!

Something good about it being the end of the quarter is that people are realizing how many swipes they have left, which basically means I've been eating FO FREE. That's awesome.

Thanks to everyone who has been willing to share with me =) A couple of days ago we went to Woody's at the U and then we went to "espress-OH" (insert eye roll here) where you can get seriously outrageous portions of gelato for swipes. Awesome!

I hope everyone has a wonderful Memorial day weekend! Personally, I am really looking forward to the Meshuganotes bbq tomorrow =)