Dating (Procrastination) Efforts

As the semester nears its end and the holiday season grows closer many of us find ourselves yearning for companionship, or perhaps looking for new and creative ways to put off our obscene amounts of work for the last two weeks of the semester.

The other night I went speed dating for the first time. I went with zero expectations which was smart because it was a hot mess. While the room where it was being held was full, the general population was severely lacking in Y chromosomes. I ended up going on a few "dates" with close friends and classmates who did not identify with the gender that I was hoping to meet. I also met some really weird guys. There was one guy who I thought was kind of attractive and we had a fairly normal conversation (as normal as two people can have in a loud, cramped space, with a two minute time limit). I would definitely go on a date with him but won't find out if he was also interested until I receive an email with the contact information of people who I approved and approved me (which I know I will get because my friends and I all checked each other).

I also met a pretty cool kid, not interested in dating him, but interested in being his friend. A fellow foodie from the area, into being active, and knowledge of good food in the area.

And tonight I created an online dating profile with a dating website for college students. I actually filled out my profile this time and put a picture where I'm not wearing my sunglasses.

We'll see if either of these actions go anywhere, but for the meantime they have/had a great humor factor. And if anything were to happen it would have to wait until I return to school for the spring semester because I have so much work to do in the next two weeks!!!!!!!!!

Any good speed dating or online dating stories or profiles to share? I'll leave you all with a nerdy pickup line I read on someone's profile: What's your sine? It must be pi/2 because you're the one. <-- math humor

We Give Thanks for H-Rod

This week as my sister and I dressed for Thanksgiving dinner with somewhat distant relatives (2nd cousins, with a possible removal), NPR in the background, we gave thanks for H-Rod, or rather Hillary Rodham Clinton. She was mentioned in all of the articles, and announcements we heard about the ceasefire on the Gaza strip and surrounding area and showed up in many photos on the agreement.

At 3PM we gathered around a long thanksgiving table, positioned on the diagonal to accommodate for the numerous distant family members gathered at my father's cousin's house. We enjoyed the return of the green beans and pomegranate seeds, as well as the traditional turkey and a few other goodies.

That evening we gave thanks for Ben Affleck as we joined other happy families and friends at the local movie theatre for a viewing of Argo. In addition to prolonged periods of intensity (i.e. most of the movie) and a creative escape from a volatile political situation, there was some great 1979 facial hair in that film.

Happy Sunday!

Election Map: Can't Handle the Excitement

Here's the map I'm currently watching. It automatically refreshes every 30 seconds. I actually can't handle the excitement: http://elections.huffingtonpost.com/2012/results

Maybe I would be able to handle it better if I wasn't trying to study for a physics exam and write a genetics lab paper... My professors obviously don't think I should be aware of the goings on in our country. Or maybe they thought I would already be done with my work...

Exercise your right to vote!

I wasn't planning on posting about the election but when this showed up as an ad on Pandora, I couldn't resist.

But actually, please vote! Only a few more hours left!

Sartorialist Favorites

Just a few seconds ago, as I was snuggled under the flannel sheets of my TwinXL holed up in my cozy little dorm room  in anticipation of the arrival of hurricane Sandy, I stumbled upon one of my favorite Sartorialist photographs and figured it was about time I posted about The Sartorialist.

For those of you who are unfamiliar with Scott Schuman's blog, The Sartorialist, you can read his biography here. All you really need to know is that he obviously has a nice camera, and takes pictures of cool people in exciting places.

When I originally downloaded this image on my computer, I labeled it as"sparkles, different textures, braids and ballerina skirt."

In more detail, here's what I love about the her outfit:
I love her textured crew-neck sweater because it's, like, really interesting texture, you know? Zig-zags, stripes, other patterns that I'm sure a knitter would better be able to define. I'm also a huge fan of dance clothes in and outside the studio so I love the pairing with this tulle skirt; the length of it helps make it more day-to-day wearable (as opposed to a teensy short tutu).  The white (and pink? is her skirt pinkish?)color scheme really allows her to standout among the grey and black background of the car and motorcycle. Those sunglasses just make her look really cool and that messy french-braid adds an air of "This cool look is so natural for me" as well as adding an interesting complexity to her hair, like the patterns in her sweater. Her blue bracelet provides a nice pop of color, as do her lips (is that weird that I think that?). Do you think she's wearing a tinted lip-balm, gloss, or lipstick of some sort?

I think the rhinestones on her shoes are cool but the rest of her look is more exciting to me. 

Thoughts? Anyone love her look as much as I do?

Here's a link to the original post where you can read other people's comments on the outfit, and procrastinate the work that you should really be doing by looking through the archives or "Random Posts."

Stay safe, Frankenstorm is on the prowl!

P.S. I'm still sitting in my bed.

Hypocrisy and War

Forgive me if I'm mistaken, but I've recently started to see war and violence as a bit archaic.

A few weeks ago I read about soldier Henry Fleming's battle with fear in Stephen Crane's The Red Badge of Courage and couldn't help but think how unfortunate and hypocritical war is. But actually, how often do parents and teachers tell children to "Use your words?" Growing up children are taught that violence is not the answer yet it's something adults turn to as a solution, I guess, when people won't listen.

It seems like the message they're sending is that when people won't listen, we should hit them.

Any thoughts on the effectiveness of war in conflict-resolution? Or a utilitarian reasoning of the costs and benefits of war or a specific war?


Until my next postworthy thought.

Musical Ban Lifted

Hello friends!

Due to some health problems, more than a year ago I was banned from playing my beautiful clarinet. However I am happy to report that, as of yesterday, the ban has been lifted!

Tonight I stuck a reed in my mouth, pieced my Buffet R13 back together, and played 5 minutes of long-tones. While my clarinet could use a little cork grease, my embouchure many more minutes (hours) of long-tones, and my fingers some cleaner transitions between octaves, it felt nice to place again and a little more than mildly invigorating. So after my long-tones I dug out a good old Hite study, put a fresh battery in my metronome, and stumbled through the study stopping nearly ever 2 measures because my embouchure was gushing air.

I was impressed at my ability to blow a few throat tone As with really nice tone quality and a few nice Es just over the break. Last week when I wasn't sure if I would play again I thought about how I would really miss that E and I was happy to start to re-acquaint myself with it tonight, even if only for a fraction of a second.

 I ended my session by skimming a few pages of the Bonade book I bought right before I stopped playing. I skimmed a few pages but paused and more thoroughly read the section on reed adjustments. Like most clarinetists, I've always been very picky about reeds and often struggle with warping, reed irregularity and inconsistency. Bonade recommends a reed rush for scraping reeds as opposed to razor blades, knives, or sandpaper (though he mentions the proper use for a sandpaper file later). Now I'm considering investing in a reed rush. They seem pretty reasonably priced and might be fun to play around with.

Any recommendations on reed rushes?











                                                                        

image from: http://www.runyonproducts.com/reed.rush.html