Monday = FUNday!

It's barely been five hours since my last post but it has been an unusually satisfying evening about which I must briefly post:

1.) I got my eyebrows done at Douglas J. Who knew a little well-timed hair removal would go such a long way in terms of my self confidence. Those of you who know me well know how much time and energy I commit to my brows but after that pre-India threading nightmare, I've shied away from my usual eyebrow maintenance zealousness. They look good, it cost $10.00, and the stylist said I have "beautiful, beautiful eyebrows." Finally, somebody noticed ;)

2.) Josh and another young and robust stranger/passerby helped push an elderly couple's stuck car out of a rut. It's certainly cliche, but it's always nice to see a little random act of kindness.

3.) I saw two firetrucks "parked" along North University and thought there must have been an accident, much to my chagrin. It wasn't until I turned right onto State Street that I saw six firefighters walking nonchalantly into Ben & Jerry's for a scoop. *swoon* Needless to say, there was a five alarm fire in my heart when I saw those sweet-toothed heroes.

Three cheers for tonight! It's very possible that Ed McMahon will show up on my doorstep later this evening with a giant check made out to me for $1 million. I'll keep you updated.

xoxox

I had the perfect compromise of a weekend: a little wine, a little work, a few movies, a good run. All in all, this is the best I've felt coming out of the weekend in a while.

Friday night I decided to buy some new running shoes. Lately, I've practically been forced into wearing my loose-fitting clogs the day after running because my feet hurt so much. I convinced myself it was due to my misshapen "tweet tweet birdy feet" (I have my thoughtful older sister to thank for that insult that has stuck now for 15 years). However, the helpful staff at Lady Foot Locker delicately informed me that I was neither a 6 nor a 6.5 as I had thought but rather a whopping 7. Seven?! I'm supposed to have cute, petite feet...not average ol' 7. *sigh* Either way, my shoes fit brilliantly and it's so fun to run now that I can spread my toes out! Who would have known? After shoe shopping I had a fun, low-key night hanging out with Josh and his roommates in their basement/game room and at the Heidelberg. Good times.

Saturday I (dun, dun, duuuuuun) worked on my FAFSA and actually felt like I was in pretty good control of it. It's weird being a seasoned tax veteran now; I can honestly say that "Adjusted Gross Income" no longer intimidates me. Saturday night I watched About Schmidt (good, not great) and Annie Hall (I LOVE Woody Allen -- this film is brilliant). Sunday I spent a good amount of time cleaning the apartment from top to bottom. We're talking mopping, wood polishing...the works. I went for a solid run, did a little grocery shopping, made dinner, and watched a little bit of the Oscars. Three cheers for Million Dollar Baby, an absolutely breathtaking film. One critic wrote that it was Clint Eastwood's "autumnal masterpiece." I agree.

Well...Monday is winding down, which means only 4 more days until I leave for Florida with the Wantons. I'm really looking forward to having a break from work and a little sun. I'll let those thoughts carry me through this week. Have a good one.

xoxox

TGIF

*yawn* Good morning. I've been up since quarter after 6 this morning and I'm listening to music and sipping on a Starbucks almond latte in a meager attempt to stave off my inclination to hop back into bed. I got a grande as opposed to my usual, overpriced tall for just this reason. I MUST put away my laundry and wash some dishes before I head up to the lab.

Anyhow, this week has flown by. Perhaps it's because my supervisor has been out all week and it's been almost relaxing to be at work. Or maybe just thoughts of my upcoming mini-vacay are finally starting to excite me. Either way, I'm glad we're moving out of February; for the shortest month of the year, this one sure has seemed long. Although March is arguably the most turbulent month in terms of weather in Michigan, it just sounds much more springy than February. Anyways, I digress.

I've also been doing a lot of running these past few weeks, this one being the most intense. I'm feeling really pumped up and ready to commit now, so I've consistently been having good runs. Now that I'm going for time as opposed to distance and worrying less about my stride per Runner's World advice, I feel great on the track. I'll probably check out some new running shoes after work today--I think I've outgrown my old ones. Maybe some cute (but tough) pink ones? We'll see :)

Well, this has been quite the rambling post. Forgive me...my brain doesn't completely turn on until after 7:30 am. Have a fabulous weekend and TGIF. To all of my U of M buddies: have a great (and safe!) Spring Break and bring some sunshine back to Michigan for us.

All my love.

xoxox

Would you like to kill my neighbor?

The guys upstairs in apartment 302 have another thing coming. After numerous polite attempts to communicate to them that we don't exactly appreciate their bass rattling our light fixtures at 11pm on week nights, we finally resorted to sending them a mature and thoughtful note last week. We acknowledged that of course it's okay to listen to music but graciously asked them to remove their sub from the floor above our bedrooms and to try to keep it down to a dull roar on weeknights. Since then, it seems that they haven't even tried to be accomodating or respectful.

It would be one thing if they were blasting hip or funky music, but Julia and I have definitely noted the repetition of 1.) Seal's Kiss From a Rose, 2.) Ace of Base, and 3.) Dido anything. Who are these people? All I have to say is that I've got one finger on my speed dial to ring up the fuzz the next time this happens. I'm no prude, but this must stop. Noise violation, what?

American Red Crock

This week seems to be heading seriously downhill since yesterday. I'm feeling so down for a number of reasons. Navigate away from this page now if you're not in the mood to read an itemized list of my woes:

1.) I'm tired of working. I couldn't possibly be more thankful for my new, regular position, but I'm ready to go back to being a student. Of course I enjoy the free time but I feel so...I don't know...unproductive. At least you're constantly busy in school so when a break comes, you can truly enjoy it with other on-break student friends. *sigh* Which leads me to...

2.) I'm so sick of watching TV. I've never been a TV-watcher and I get antsy and a headache after watching more than an hour. It's just that I feel so exhausted after work, the easiest thing to do is flip on the boob tube and take to the couch. It doesn't help that there isn't much to do during wintertime in Ann Arbor that doesn't require money (of which I am in short supply). I have barely done any of the things I wanted to accomplish during my year off like bettering my Spanish, volunteering, or readreadreading. My goal for this weekend is to find a new place to volunteer at least one evening a week (the Humane Society's hours just didn't mesh with mine) and/or plan out more activities to do in lieu of watching TV. Josh and I have become mindless drones that find ourselves watching wretched programming like "The Ashlee Simpson Show." Uck.

3.) I really miss hanging out with my family on a regular basis. We're approaching the halfway point of my sister's stay abroad (5 months down, 5 to go) and although I saw her in December, I'm missing her more now than ever. My mom is still in India taking care of our house and my dad is always traveling and/or working so I don't get to see him very often. We all do a great job of keeping in touch via email, but I just feel kind of lonely lately. My dad was in Mexico this week and pointed out again how we'd become a 4-country family (Dad = south of the border, Me = home of the brave, Mom = the subcontinent, Tanya = vacay in Bangkok, Thailand). That thought makes me a little more sad than giggly these days.

4.) Cash-money sure is in short supply right now and I can't stop worrying about my FAFSA. I'm trying my hardest to pay down all of my bills before dental school starts and I must hand it to myself for being quite disciplined and making good headway on my finances. It'll sure be nice when my paycheck starts fattening up in a few short weeks and hopefully Josh can give me a FAFSA mini-workshop. I've never done one before...!

5.) Finally, I was deferred from donating blood to the American Red Cross yesterday...for the FOURTH TIME! I've never met someone as willing to give blood as myself that is so undesirable as a donor. I swear, I was turned down the first time for being too young, the second time for having low blood sugar, the third time for having gotten a tattoo within the year, and yesterday for having gone to India and Mexico, both "malaria regions," within the year. Despite having received all of the necessary immunizations and malaria pill sequence, I was still ineligible. I respect that they want to keep the blood supply uncontaminated, but imagine how it makes me feel that I can't even give my blood away! Needless to say, I politely declined the "I TRIED" sticker. This sucker is never trying again...that's for sure.

Hmph. Now that I've worked myself up into a tizzy, perhaps I'll try to listen to some music to lift my spirits. It'll be hard to shake this mood (a trip to Old Navy didn't even do the trick yesterday), but I have to remind myself that the weekend is on the horizon.

xoxox

post-Valen-wine's Day

It's the day after Valentine's Day and although I utterly disdain the idea of a commercialized, completely fabricated "holiday" on which I'm supposed to show (read: BUY) my partner how much I truly love him (shouldn't I do this every day?), Josh and I always swap little valentines and I love you's. The surprise box of Godiva from my darling didn't hurt either but keep that one under your hat. Ah hem...at any rate, Josh and I spent a nice evening together making dinner (eggplant parmesan -- yum!) and making plans to catch a 9:20 showing of Sideways. Two and a half glasses of wine later, however, that plan was completely foiled and I ended up going to sleep at 10:30. Damn you, weekday drinking...you always seem like a great idea at the time. Well, at least it was better than Josh's suggestion of "romantically watching the Pistons game."

Speaking of weekday drinking, I could use a stiff one right now looking at the weather report for the rest of the week. This wretched rainstorm is supposed to turn into a snow storm continuing through Friday night with a significant accumulation by the weekend. Foolish me...I somehow managed to convince myself yet again that spring *might* come early this year after those 40-ish weekends we've been having. Crap. Fortunately, I'm leaving for Florida on a mini, mini vacation with Josh's family two weeks from Friday. Although I have to cut my part of the trip short due to nonsufficient vacation time funds, a little sun will definitely do me good. I'm so pale and yellow-ish, I look like a butternut squash. I can't wait.

Finally, I've volunteered to donate blood tomorrow for the Annual School of Dentistry Blood Drive. A few weeks ago, a dental school staff member's young son died from leukemia. About a month prior, I had seen posters asking dental school students, faculty, and staff to have their bone marrow tested for a match and although I seriously considered doing it, I punked out at the last second. I'm still a little nervous about donating blood tomorrow since I have low blood sugar and I've thrice before been turned away, but it's the least I can do in Nathan's memory. Here's hoping it goes well.

That's all for tonight. I'm feeling very lethargic after my heavy Mexican dinner with Tony. I think I'll do some reading and then hit the hay. Those 8:30 mornings sure feel early.

xoxox

Friday Night Insights

I thought I'd check in and jot down a few thoughts before I hit the hay:

1.) Freddy and Kendra, the engaged models, won the Amazing Race this past Tuesday instead of my favorite team of Kris and Jon. Is there no justice in this world? The snobs who used words like "disgusting" and "squalor" to describe countries like Senegal and Ethiopia walk away with a cool mil? *sigh* Of course I cried...just like at the end of every other episode since I've been watching the show. One day Josh and I are going to win the Amazing Race and we'll be wearing t-shirts with "KRIS" and "JON" on the back of them as we collect our prize money.

2.) As a little circa-Valentine's date, Josh and I went out to a fancy dinner tonight at Zanzibar and then saw the School of Music's production of Romeo and Juliet. I can't express how much I adore Shakespeare and although made famous by 10th grade English classes the world over, some of the couplets from the play were just as moving to hear the 80th time as they were the first.

3.) Today was my last day working in the Tissue Core at the UM Cancer Center. 'Nough said.

4.) Damn that catchy Kelly Clarkson and her cookie-cutter pop songs. I want to hate her music so much because I can't stand the idea of supporting an "artist" who was literally molded into an "artist" before our very eyes. That said, I can't get that "Since You've Been Gone" nonsense song out of my head.

5.) Beloved and world-renowned playwright Arthur Miller passed away this morning much to my dismay. I first read The Crucible and saw Death of a Salesman with my Daddy at the GR Civic Theatre when I was in high school and even then I think I understood how brilliant he truly was. We Wolverines can take pride in the fact that he was a U of M alum. I'll sign off tonight with this great quote from Arthur Miller on his experiences here:

"But political facts were not all I learned. I learned that under certain atmospheric conditions you could ice-skate up and down all the streets in Ann Arbor at night. I learned that toward June you could swim in a certain place without a suit on and that the Arboretum, a tract of land where the botanists studied plants and trees, was also good for anatomical studies, particularly in spring under a moon. I had come to school believing that professors were objective repositories of factual knowledge; I found that they were not only fallible but some of them were damn fools and enough of them seekers and questioners to make talking with them a long-lasting memory."

Sweet dreams.

xoxox

Pooper Bowl XXXIX

Here's the deal: I have always openly admired the discipline and skill required of athletes, but I just can't seem to shake my unadulterated hatred for the culture behind professional (and even college) sports these days. Don't get me wrong; I grew up watching, playing, and cheering for football and basketball and many an evening you can find me on the couch cheering on my Pistons. It's just that I feel guilty for supporting an industry--because that's essentially what it has become--that encourages kids to strive not to become well-educated, socially-cognizant, compassionate people but rather impossibly young phenoms like LeBron James and Freddy Adu...both great athletes, but anomalies nonetheless. Why in the world would a poor kid in the Bronx work hard to ace his exams, get accepted to and somehow pay for a good college and go on to accomplish great things in the world of academia? Why not just spend 2 hours every night on the court sinking threes so he can make $90 million by the time he turns 18? The choice, if one can even call it that, is obvious.

Also, I've had it with the cocky, self-congratulatory ugliness that is the face of pro sports these days. Case in point: last night's MVP of Super Bowl XXXIX, Deion Branch, was not only recognized as the most valuable player of the evening with an applause and hearty congratulations but was also given "any Cadillac of [his] choosing." Excuse me? Not only are we rewarding this talented man for doing his job (for which he is paid handsomely), but we hand him a car that is undoubtedly worth more than the GDP of some small South Asian countries? Of all people in the world to receive a free car, couldn't we have chosen someone whose salary over the next five years isn't approximately 5 million dollars? I am outraged -- I would love to see, just once, a player requesting that his or her "award" be a donation to a worthy charity instead of to his or her 20 car garage. It's not like millions of people aren't suffering right now in the aftermath of the tsunami disaster or that hundreds of thousands of people aren't dying of starvation and poverty every day. Having just come back from one of the poorest countries in the world, I can't help but be ashamed of this unabashed display of American pompousness and excessiveness parading around as fun and good sportsmanship. Hmph.

That said, I would like to move on to more optimistic thoughts by sharing the phenomenal sandwich experience--no, enlightenment--I had tonight. You see, as a vegetarian by choice for over three years now, it's been a while since I've had a really good sandwich. Cold cuts are obviously out and I generally don't eat anything with the word wheat in its name (I'm serious). Having grown up on incredible sandwiches in my lunch handmade by my mom until I graduated high school (just ask my pal Adrienne Ardis), my mid-day meals just haven't been the same since I became a veggie. Tonight, however, my sandwich sense was awakened and I actually bought a loaf of 7-grain, thickly sliced wheat bread (!!!) and a package of vegetarian ham lunch meat and salivated the entire ride home. Accompanied by crisp lettuce, freshly sliced tomato, and a touch of mayonnaise and mustard, that bad boy was the best sandwich I have had in years. I actually sat and admired the second half in all of its glory after happily ingesting the first. Although the paper plate and crumby background certainly don't do justice to its flavorful intensity, here is a picture of said veggie ham sandwich:


Oh, how I love you, little sandwich!

Ahhh. I'm still thinking about that bedtime snack. I feel much better now. Anyhow, I should sign off -- I have an early doc appointment, but I'll leave with two cute pictures from the Brown Jug this weekend. Have a great night!


Josh, AJ, and Hal ham it up


AJ, me, and Francine were smokin'

xoxox

So it's midnight on Thursday and I'm sitting here all alone in my apartment with an overwhelming urge to dump off some of my emotional baggage. I just got back from seeing Hotel Rwanda with Steph and my heart is still racing. The film is an unapologetic and terrifying look at the Rwandan massacre of 1994 (about which I self-admittedly and shamefully know very little) and one man's desperate attempt to save both Hutu and Tutsi refugees in his four star hotel. Not being one to stomach violence very well, I think I'll have a hell of a time falling asleep tonight. I am, however, very glad I saw the movie and feel even more compelled to educate myself on the brutal genocide that occurred in Rwanda in 1994 and continues to insidiously manifest itself today around the world. *sigh* Sometimes I feel so helpless.

Eureka! What an appropriate segue into my brief thoughts on the State of the Union address last night. I did not watch the actual address because I decided that I couldn't possibly take 2 hours of Bush congratulating himself and his administration and then figuratively revising our country's Constitution as if it were magnetic poetry--rather, I opted for reading the highlights this morning. In response to Dubya's (read: some one else's) genious idea to privatize social security, lets just say that I've devised a plan to determine which of my future patients voted for Bush, give their children bad tooth-brushing/flossing/anti-pop instructions, fill every one of their cavities at an exorbitant rate, and privatize my own social security if you catch my drift. Ha!

In other news, my pal Carrie's gorgeous mug made the front page of the Michigan Daily for her thoughtful and interesting quotes on why fewer students are studying abroad these days. Carrie spent last winter term in Cape Town, South Africa and came back to the States a more worldly and culturally appreciative person. Cheers, Carrie, for making a trek few can and for having a really cute picture on the front of the Daily!


I think I'll try to get some sleep now. It certainly won't be easy with a thousand thoughts racing through my head. Perhaps some Ravi Shankar will help.

Sweet dreams tonight. I hope.

xoxox

Comeback Post 2005

Perhaps the best way to deal with this post is to briefly acknowledge my one month's hiatus from blogging (oops!) and to quickly bring you all up to speed in list format..."you all" naturally referring to Josh after I tell him to read my weblog and perhaps one or two of you straggling friends of mine who knew I'd come back to my blog in the end. Thanks for hanging on -- this post is dedicated to you.


1.) India was wonderful. I got to spend a great deal of time with my mom, sister, and extended family, sort of practice my Bengali, eat some serious mishti (sweets), and revel in the overwhelming but endearing chaos that is Calcutta. I'm really looking forward to going back and staying longer, perhaps travelling around India a little next time.

2.) After months of complaining, I am thrilled to be starting a full time research position at the dental school where I currently only spend half of my day. Three cheers for a raise, a NORMAL 8-5 schedule, and making some serious professional connections. Who knows...perhaps I'll consider doing my PhD after dental school. Then I'd be a doctor doctor. Ha ha ha! Yeah, right.

3.) This no-Spring-Break business is really throwing me for a loop. While my friends are diligently planning their respective trips to the Bahamas, Boston, and Florida for the end of this month, I'm stuck thinking about how my next break isn't until Memorial Day...at the end of May. I think I'll be homicidal by then so don't be surprised if a warm-weathered trip *pops* up before then.

4.) I love love and Valentine's Day is only 12 days away. I think this holiday was made up for me and me alone -- an excuse to wear pink and eat chocolate? Yay!

5.) It is time once again for me to slowly begin panicking about where and with whom I am going to live next year. If you'll be in the Ann Arbor area this fall and need a roomie, let me know.

6.) A new year has begun (wow...I really haven't written in a while) and while I've resolved yet again to "get back into shape," I mean it this time. I also resolve to slowly cut dairy out of my diet, live as ecologically as possible within my means, send more snail mail, and to spend less of my time being angry or impatient.

7.) That blasted Punxsutawney Phil saw his shadow today which supposedly means another 6 weeks of winter. Oh you non-Michigander winter amateurs -- only 6 more weeks of winter would put us at a mid-March spring, a sure treat for folks from the mitten state. If history counts for anything, I'll be rocking my long johns until the third week of April at least...groundhog shadow or no groundhog shadow.

Well, it's not an exhaustive list and seven short, numbered blurbs certainly don't do justice to the major events of the past month, but they'll have to do. Here's my promise for a more blog-consistent 2005. Starting today.

xoxox