My friends and fellow blogowers (blog followers), tis that time of the year when we remove ourselves from delicious leavened foods, sit around a table, drink bad wine (I am of course talking about the slightly sweetened and slightly alcoholic, Manischewitz Wine--Keeping it classy), and leave Egypt. Although this trend of leaving Egypt happens every year, I can't really say I have actually gone to Egypt. Hopefully I will make it there some day so I can leave the land of the sphinxes and the Great Pyramids in Giza to wander in the desert for forty years, walk through the Red Sea (then known as the Sea of Reeds), receive the Torah, and finally wander into the Land of Israel. Can't wait... In any event, it is Passover.
We gather here today, and sit around a table for four hours eating the longest dinner of the year. Eat bread now, or forever hold your peace (peace = hunger (ask Pestine for further information on hunger), forever = eight days.) Now, if you think I am being somewhat hostile towards the whole Passover experience, you my friend, are sadly mistaken. Passover is one of my favorite holidays. Yes, we do take a break from bourbon, briyani, and ban mian for eight days (shoutout to ZRichards for the "B" alliteration idea that was divinely(?) inspired by his blog), but that makes all these delicious (and ethnic) foods so much better after the completion of the holiday. This year, unlike many previous years, we are having the Seders at our house. As we leave Egypt, we have brought many bottles of wine (not Manischewitz) to accompany us on this voyage, which, in turn, should hopefully make the trip a little shorter--and if not shorter, at least more fun.
Unlike many other universities (and apparently unlike many friends) I am very happy the great University of Wisconsin gives us spring break over Passover. Well, at least 6/8 days. Many of my friends are making the long trek to go home for the seders, which I don't have to considering I'm already home.
Happy Passover.
SO to them Jews (and Alyssa).
Sunday, March 28, 2010
Wednesday, March 24, 2010
Moment of Zazen (From Previous Post)
Louis Gohmert is a Republican Representative in the House from Texas. He has been in the news recently for talking against health care reform. Funny thing about Louis Gohmert: I met him. A little more than a year ago, I was a part of a joint student delegation between several Jewy Chicago Agencies (all affiliated with the JUF) which included many college level and graduate students, as well as six high school students from Write On for Israel--the Israel advocacy program I did throughout the last two years of high school. My group lobbied several House Representatives from the Illinois area including Rep. Jesse Jackson Jr. and Rep. Danny Davis, as well as Senator Durbin. As we were wandering around the House of Representatives, we wanted to watch in on the session and all of the sudden, Louis Gohmert--a very nice, southern, somewhat elder man from Texas--comes out of the woodwork and gets us into the viewing area of the House.
I was watching Rachel Maddow and Rep. Gohmert was screaming on the House floor holding the Health Care Bill and saying how people should ingest it the bill itself. How were you elected? Why did I have to meet you?
I was watching Rachel Maddow and Rep. Gohmert was screaming on the House floor holding the Health Care Bill and saying how people should ingest it the bill itself. How were you elected? Why did I have to meet you?
Tuesday, March 23, 2010
The F Bomb
...Or the F- Word. For those of you who are too stupid to figure it out by now (not that the readers of this blog are stupid per se...there may be some random people trolling the dark, dangerous waters of The Daily Monoblogue who might be stupid), I am talking about the word, "fuck." Although completely appropriate in casual conversation between college students, friends, and that regular who sits next to you at the bar; when dropped, the F Bomb, much like the A Bomb, causes a major controversy. This post on the F Bomb is not completely random...
Today, President Obama signed the Health Care Bill using twenty pens. This day will go down in the American History books. There are two things I would like to point out:
1) Really Obama? Twenty pens? What the fuck?
2) Vice President Joseph Robinette Biden Jr. (Robinette = girl's name?) dropped the F Bomb after introducing the President! WHOA!!! FUCK ME!!! OH NO HE DIDN'T!!! Well, oh yes he did. Check out the video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KRsUqUAqQXA
Yes, Biden said, "This is a big fucking deal." And let me say, yes, this is a big fucking deal. Biden hit the nail right on the head. It probably was not too smart of him to say that in front of rolling television cameras and a room full of reporters; however, he was not in the wrong. Health Care Reform has been legislation actively sought by democrats since the Clinton administration. Now that our country has finally achieved health care reform, Vice President Biden has the fucking right and a fucking good reason to say, "This is a big fucking deal." The word "fuck" adds a much needed emphasis, just ask Rahm Emanuel. I applaud you Mr. Vice President.
Your moment of zazen is yet to come after I'm done studying for my midterm in my Gender Issues in Rabbinic Judaism (shoutout to them Jews) class. Wish me luck. I'll need it.
Today, President Obama signed the Health Care Bill using twenty pens. This day will go down in the American History books. There are two things I would like to point out:
1) Really Obama? Twenty pens? What the fuck?
2) Vice President Joseph Robinette Biden Jr. (Robinette = girl's name?) dropped the F Bomb after introducing the President! WHOA!!! FUCK ME!!! OH NO HE DIDN'T!!! Well, oh yes he did. Check out the video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KRsUqUAqQXA
Yes, Biden said, "This is a big fucking deal." And let me say, yes, this is a big fucking deal. Biden hit the nail right on the head. It probably was not too smart of him to say that in front of rolling television cameras and a room full of reporters; however, he was not in the wrong. Health Care Reform has been legislation actively sought by democrats since the Clinton administration. Now that our country has finally achieved health care reform, Vice President Biden has the fucking right and a fucking good reason to say, "This is a big fucking deal." The word "fuck" adds a much needed emphasis, just ask Rahm Emanuel. I applaud you Mr. Vice President.
Your moment of zazen is yet to come after I'm done studying for my midterm in my Gender Issues in Rabbinic Judaism (shoutout to them Jews) class. Wish me luck. I'll need it.
Sunday, March 14, 2010
Ping Pongopoly
I wrote this post a while ago and for some strange/odd/weird/confusing/unclear reason, I didn't post it. I have no idea what compelled me to say, "Ehh. I can post it later..." Just never got around to it. So here it is. Finally. Enjoy!
(Please note that at the time of posting, I did not just wake up from a two and a half hour nap. All these events happened roughly a week and a half ago.)
I just woke up from an accidental two and a half hour nap. Again, did not feel like P Diddy. Last semester, I had a ping pong date with a friend every week. She plays tennis, I somehow picked up ping pong somewhere. Just like mono. Still trying to figure both those out... Anyway, since we have yet to play pong (ping pong, not beer pong- just saying) this semester, I suggested we play a little later tonight. have been on her ass about this game for a week. It needs to just happen. I kept on telling her that Thursday would be perfect, but she has a midterm mañana. As a side note, all day I have been feeling exhasuted--I definitely did not get sufficient sleep last night. So I texted her earlier saying I was tired and I might go to bed early, thus postponing our pong game one more day. She said that we'll just find another time to play. At this point, I took the accidental nap, and here is the rest of the post nap textual conversation:
Me: Just text me if you want to play. Took a really long nap. Oops
Her: Haha nice... Slash not good if you actually need to get sleep tonight. But yes, I shall text you if I can play
Me: I will. I'm still tired.
Her: Suppose that's one of the perks of mono lol
Me: Fuck you! I don't have mono anymore!
Her: Oh please I'm just telling you want you already know but choose to selectively deny... Particularly on weekends haha
Me: Exactly.
I would just like to clear up some dirty/smoggy/foggy/unclear/cloudy air. I am pretty sure that I am done with mono. It has definitely been longer than 30 days from when I started feeling symptoms (mid/late January, and it's already March) and I feel fine. I would like to make one thing clear, tiredness is a side effect of mono, but--as we learned in psychology--correlation does not mean causation: just because someone is tired doesn't necessarily mean they have mono.
Your moment of zazen.
I have had many heated debates with my younger brother, David, about many things. The most recent has been Leno v. Conan, where he sides for the former and I side with the latter. Having been a stern Conan fan for many years and proudly owning a "Late Night with Conan O'Brien" T-Shirt, I argued that this was his next big step moving to The Tonight Show, a place where Leno's comedy died. Sorry Leno, your chin gets in the way of shit, and Coco has the hair you wish you had. Anyway, I recently stumbled on a very interesting Twitter account.
Conan O'Brien has found his inner Twitter. His daily (and sometimes bi or even tri-daily twittering/tweets/tweeting/tweeterings are absolutely hilarious. I urge you to check it out ASAP: www.twitter.com/conanobrien
As today as 3/14, happy Pi day! For those that are confused, Pi=3.14159265...
Also, tomorrow is 3/15, better known as the Ides of March. As Brutus and someone else (blanking on the name) warns Julius Caesar to "beware the ides of march" in Shakespeare's play "Julius Caesar." I have two midterms tomorrow...on March 15, which is the ides of march. Shit.
(Please note that at the time of posting, I did not just wake up from a two and a half hour nap. All these events happened roughly a week and a half ago.)
I just woke up from an accidental two and a half hour nap. Again, did not feel like P Diddy. Last semester, I had a ping pong date with a friend every week. She plays tennis, I somehow picked up ping pong somewhere. Just like mono. Still trying to figure both those out... Anyway, since we have yet to play pong (ping pong, not beer pong- just saying) this semester, I suggested we play a little later tonight. have been on her ass about this game for a week. It needs to just happen. I kept on telling her that Thursday would be perfect, but she has a midterm mañana. As a side note, all day I have been feeling exhasuted--I definitely did not get sufficient sleep last night. So I texted her earlier saying I was tired and I might go to bed early, thus postponing our pong game one more day. She said that we'll just find another time to play. At this point, I took the accidental nap, and here is the rest of the post nap textual conversation:
Me: Just text me if you want to play. Took a really long nap. Oops
Her: Haha nice... Slash not good if you actually need to get sleep tonight. But yes, I shall text you if I can play
Me: I will. I'm still tired.
Her: Suppose that's one of the perks of mono lol
Me: Fuck you! I don't have mono anymore!
Her: Oh please I'm just telling you want you already know but choose to selectively deny... Particularly on weekends haha
Me: Exactly.
I would just like to clear up some dirty/smoggy/foggy/unclear/cloudy air. I am pretty sure that I am done with mono. It has definitely been longer than 30 days from when I started feeling symptoms (mid/late January, and it's already March) and I feel fine. I would like to make one thing clear, tiredness is a side effect of mono, but--as we learned in psychology--correlation does not mean causation: just because someone is tired doesn't necessarily mean they have mono.
Your moment of zazen.
I have had many heated debates with my younger brother, David, about many things. The most recent has been Leno v. Conan, where he sides for the former and I side with the latter. Having been a stern Conan fan for many years and proudly owning a "Late Night with Conan O'Brien" T-Shirt, I argued that this was his next big step moving to The Tonight Show, a place where Leno's comedy died. Sorry Leno, your chin gets in the way of shit, and Coco has the hair you wish you had. Anyway, I recently stumbled on a very interesting Twitter account.
Conan O'Brien has found his inner Twitter. His daily (and sometimes bi or even tri-daily twittering/tweets/tweeting/tweeterings are absolutely hilarious. I urge you to check it out ASAP: www.twitter.com/conanobrien
As today as 3/14, happy Pi day! For those that are confused, Pi=3.14159265...
Also, tomorrow is 3/15, better known as the Ides of March. As Brutus and someone else (blanking on the name) warns Julius Caesar to "beware the ides of march" in Shakespeare's play "Julius Caesar." I have two midterms tomorrow...on March 15, which is the ides of march. Shit.
Thursday, March 11, 2010
Sitting in the Library
I am currently sitting in the Historical Society's Library analyzing the seventh stanza of John Keats' "Ode to a Nightingale" when all of the sudden, a girl whom I know walks in and over to me. Now, the Historical Society's Library is the best kept secret in Madison when it comes to study stuff.
Anyway, Alicia Gold-fine walks in. WTF? Apparently my friends all forgot to invite me to their study date here. Bitches.
Anyway, Alicia Gold-fine walks in. WTF? Apparently my friends all forgot to invite me to their study date here. Bitches.
Wednesday, March 10, 2010
I was a Subject
I don't like being a subject. I guess it's better than an object... But actually, they were subjectifying (made up word) us as objects. So I guess we were objects. Bastards. So here is what happened:
My name was called--along with Jessica and Mohammed--by a tall guy with crutches wearing an Atari shirt. My first thought: shit, Mohammed and I are gonna butt heads. I am glad to report that no head butting took place. Mohammed was actually a pretty chill guy. We were lead into a room with three commercial, walk-in refrigerator things. Next thought: I'm kind of warm, I could use a good chill.
The guy who was subjecting us (Mr. Atari Crutch), told us that the experiment was to see if we could identify a sound that was repeated in front of different background noises. Then either that sound or another would be repeated without any background noises. If it was the sound behind the background noise, we were told to push the "Sure Yes" button on our little pad, and if it was a different sound other than the sound behind the background noise, we were told to push "Sure No." If we weren't sure, we could push "Yes" or "No," and after we all entered our answer, one of the lights would show us which answer it was.
After the directions were explained, I signed a waiver saying that if I was uncomfortable at all I could back out of the experiment at any time and also that the University of Wisconsin Psychology Research Department (UWPRD--that is not a correct acronym) was not responsible for any injury and/or death during the experiment, I was locked into my telephone booth sized soundproof container and put on the headphones. The booths felt like the holding cells straight out of 1984. They had one chair, our answer buttons, a little black box, and a pair of headphones. Big Brother. Someone call the NSA, these handicapped psychology researchers are watching me. I guess the NSA is too... Next thought: If there were to be a nuclear threat, can it be now? I don't know when the next time I will be completely concealed in a tiny thick, steel, sound proof, airtight booth that can protect me. Thought immediately following: Shit, a small, airtight booth has a limited oxygen supply. "Excuse me, Mr. Atari Crutch? Can I get a small plant?"
Experiment starts. We hear different configurations of static, quarter second clips of bombs going off/buildings being destroyed, and sheets of metal being bent. It was weird. Listening to that for an hour was rough. I got out of my booth and heard the guy talk. It. Was. AWESOME. I've never been that excited about hearing someone talk in the longest time. At least I got my 1.5 extra credit points. Whoopee.
Till the next psych test (which is tomorrow), lahitraot. For those of you are Hebrelliterate (Hebrew Illiterate), that means, see you later.
My name was called--along with Jessica and Mohammed--by a tall guy with crutches wearing an Atari shirt. My first thought: shit, Mohammed and I are gonna butt heads. I am glad to report that no head butting took place. Mohammed was actually a pretty chill guy. We were lead into a room with three commercial, walk-in refrigerator things. Next thought: I'm kind of warm, I could use a good chill.
The guy who was subjecting us (Mr. Atari Crutch), told us that the experiment was to see if we could identify a sound that was repeated in front of different background noises. Then either that sound or another would be repeated without any background noises. If it was the sound behind the background noise, we were told to push the "Sure Yes" button on our little pad, and if it was a different sound other than the sound behind the background noise, we were told to push "Sure No." If we weren't sure, we could push "Yes" or "No," and after we all entered our answer, one of the lights would show us which answer it was.
After the directions were explained, I signed a waiver saying that if I was uncomfortable at all I could back out of the experiment at any time and also that the University of Wisconsin Psychology Research Department (UWPRD--that is not a correct acronym) was not responsible for any injury and/or death during the experiment, I was locked into my telephone booth sized soundproof container and put on the headphones. The booths felt like the holding cells straight out of 1984. They had one chair, our answer buttons, a little black box, and a pair of headphones. Big Brother. Someone call the NSA, these handicapped psychology researchers are watching me. I guess the NSA is too... Next thought: If there were to be a nuclear threat, can it be now? I don't know when the next time I will be completely concealed in a tiny thick, steel, sound proof, airtight booth that can protect me. Thought immediately following: Shit, a small, airtight booth has a limited oxygen supply. "Excuse me, Mr. Atari Crutch? Can I get a small plant?"
Experiment starts. We hear different configurations of static, quarter second clips of bombs going off/buildings being destroyed, and sheets of metal being bent. It was weird. Listening to that for an hour was rough. I got out of my booth and heard the guy talk. It. Was. AWESOME. I've never been that excited about hearing someone talk in the longest time. At least I got my 1.5 extra credit points. Whoopee.
Till the next psych test (which is tomorrow), lahitraot. For those of you are Hebrelliterate (Hebrew Illiterate), that means, see you later.
I am a Subject
Right now, as I am typing this, I am currently waiting in room 251, better known as the "Subject Waiting Room" in the Psychology building. I am taking Psych 202 (for all those non-UW people, that is Intro to Psychology) and the only way I can receive extra credit points is by having the people do studies on me. I'm prepared for anything, prodding, poking, questions, questionnaires, millionaires, sleep, whatever. I can do it all. They have me from 10-11 this lovely morning (and a lovely morning it is, no jacket today) and at 11, I'm gonna peace and hopefully write another blog post and let you know what happened. Another girl just walked in the room. Five girls and me. Not a bad ratio... Just out of curiosity, why aren't there more guys here? Does extra credit only impel women to take advantage of it? Now six girls. I hope this isn't a female study. Just sayin. Aright, just called cya all later.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)