when they're hot...

the pistons burn the house down. amazing game 5, forcing a game 6 in miami... tayshaun prince comes out to play once again, leading the scoreboard. he is so underrated! ben wallace with some key defense, once again; and even cleanly blocked shaq. we're seeing a lot more movement on the court, which means that the mojo is back. game 6, friends. show up with your jersey.

god, i love this game.

om.

i revisited my summer fitness goals this week and found that, with the exception of rock climbing and touching my toes, i was well on my way to accomplishing all of them (don't forget to mention how fine my delts are looking these days). unfortunately, finding an affordable climbing wall in the city may be a problem this summer, but i have no excuse for not being able to touch my toes. i'm a good 9 inches away. during one of my many trips to my local cupcake joint, i passed a sign for a yoga studio and absently picked up a flyer, which has been sitting on my couch for the last two weeks. this morning i woke up with resolve that i would finally take a look at the schedule and march myself past the bakery to the studio for a class with catherine. i felt so amazing for an hour and a half that as soon as class was over, i promptly signed up for ten more sessions; i mean, who doesn't enjoy an activity in which you don't have to stretch before or after, and it ends with a short little nap in the dark?

let the blogging begin!

the highly anticipated adil's world has finally launched, with its debut posting "goodbye new york...," a recap of adil's final week in the city of fine dining, great dancing, and amazing friends. (thanks for the trackbacks, by the way!) ah, i can't even imagine what my last week in new york would be like, suffice to say that i probably wouldn't be able to pull off a weekend with green fairies. in any case, i'm looking forward to tales from tajikistan which will soon follow, with vivid descriptions and pictures of food, mountains, villages, and a view from a pimped out helicopter. and, of course, some discourse on micofinance from across the world! in exchange, i'll provide some tips on the gmats (which i'm taking on july 8th--eep) and juicy dish on the debauchery that unfolds in nyc. that way, we're never more than a blog posting apart. xoxo, adil.

not mitch albom.

but i'll do my best. dear pistons... tonight was a little too intense, too close for comfort, particularly the last 9.2 seconds of the game. i had flashbacks to last year, when the spurs took game 5 in overtime, with a three-pointer in the final nine seconds of the game. remember that? (shudder) ah! thankfully, chauncey was on top of his free throws, which put the game just out of reach. (clutch). mvp of the evening? tayshaun, who really hustled under the basket, and was the high scorer, with 24 on the board. big ben wallace had some money rebounds, of course. what was with his hair, though? wasn't wild 'n out as it usually is for the home games. but, he had his mojo, and i guess that's what matters. overall, though, the pistons don't seem to have their usual ferocity... the team scored in fits and spurts, with the only real offensive consistency coming from prince. something is off, they aren't as loose. i agree with rip, the pistons need to start enjoying themselves out there, because when they get into that rhythm with each other, that's when they are really unstoppable. i hope they get it back while on the road in miami.

i'm a nervous wreck during post-season. oy. i'm glad i didn't go running today; watching the game was enough cardio for the day.

halftime.

on my floor right now is a copy of ode magazine, the cover of which reads: "you do what you eat: diet determines behaviour--and fights crime." well, i don't know about crime, but this statement was certainly true this evening when, at 9:35pm, i had a sudden craving for cupcakes. my cravings are unstoppable and insatiable; i need instantaneous gratification. not having any cupcakes on hand, i crossed my fingers, put on some pants, and wandered over to the new bakery on the uws. while not my favorite (the cake part is a little dry, but the creamcheese icing is delightful), i was heartbroken to find out that i was 45 minutes too late. now, a normal person would probably have thrown up his hands and gone home, but i didn't. i believe i physically can't. if i had a less discriminating palate, i would be horrifically hooked on some very hard drugs. thankfully, my addictive personality only applies to black-and-white cookies, mini-marshmellows, and, lately, frosted cupcakes. so, after plaintively tapping on the window of the bakery, with the pathetic hope that the storeowner would come rescue me, i embarked on my great hunt, which ended somewhat triumphantly, at a starbucks on broadway. the vanilla sunshine cupcake i ordered was decent enough to satisfy my craving, and on top of that, the salesperson gave me a cute little rendition of "you are my sunshine." she told me she doesn't do that for everybody. i told her that i was touched. all in all, a happy ending.

a recommendation.

something to add to the list. according to ly: "not an ordinary pizza joint":

slice is a wonderful invention. it is one of the greatest inventions of all time. it is the perfect food. the perfect food is much better than the perfect painting because you can eat the perfect food, and it tastes good. the perfect painting never tastes good. the perfect painting tastes like canvas and oil, which tastes horrible.

slice, the perfect food, is something like pizza. if you look at it, it appears to be a pizza. as you eat it, it sits on your tongue much as a pizza would sit, but in fact, the perfect food is vastly superior to pizza, so enjoy!

i'm intrigued. there's something very magritte about this description.

the wild nights are calling.

last night was a reunion of sorts, when ethan and i met up to see ofer perform classic rock hits at the back fence in the west village. the bar, incidentally, was elie's old stomping ground in college, and was described as the kind of place i would fall in love with: sawdust, peanuts, cheap drinks? what more could a girl want? anyways, ofer puts on a kind of performance that makes women want to throw their panties at his feet, evidenced by the swooning australians seated to my left who actually booed the next guy, "we don't want another guy; we want him [ofer]!" it's been a long while since i've heard ofer sing (three years to the week, i think... the last time was right before that weekend at rebecca's in 2003), and i have to say that he has really grown as a performer. i was really impressed! and i'm not just saying that because ofer confessed to me last night that he has read my blog from cover to cover. his voice seems richer, he has great stage presence and connection, and i'm totally floored by the fact that he can play the guitar and the harmonica and sing all at the same time. the next performance is june 19th, so i highly recommend that y'all who are planning a visit schedule your trip around then. bravo ofer!

***

after the performance, ethan and i walked up to 14th street and along the way stopped at a late-night falafel joint. while ethan chatted it up with the guy behind the counter, i found myself talking to a man (allegedly a former olympian) who swims a mile up and down the hudson river a couple of times a week. i can't decide whether his story is believable or not, especially the "i was an olympic champion swimmer" part. but he was certainly one of those eccentric characters that wander the west village.

fung wah!

i'm heading down to dc this weekend for the first of my many summer trips. thursday thru sunday. holla.

overheard.

tonight, elie, rami, and i were on st. mark's place. we pass a guy who has picked up a shoe from the street and sniffed it:

random guy: "omigod. this shoe really smells!"
elie, to us: "and that, kids, is why we don't do hard drugs."

pistons ball.

i admit that, of late, my busy schedule and my lack of tivo has made it difficult to catch pistons ball. studying for the gmats will be in full force, though, effective this week, so many nights will be spent at home procrastinating by watching games and reading everything pistons-related that i can get my hands on. i'm pretty evenly split between the suns or the spurs taking the western conference. it would be nice for the spurs and the pistons to face off because 1) retribution and redemption is sweet, 2) i really respect the spurs and they have a similar work ethic as the pistons, and 3) my mom loves tim duncan and it's always fun to trash talk with her. then again, my entire family out west roots for the suns, so that would be a good match-up, too.

i was surprised to read on marginal revolution that the pistons are not favored to take the eastern conference... "Hardly anyone is picking them and they are running only seven to eight percent in www.tradesports.com." i took a peek at the site, which i had never visited before, and it appears to be some kind of prediction market for sports... bo will have to confirm once he reads this post. anyways, the point is, "what?!?!" seven to eight percent for a team that had the best record in the nba in the regular season, homecourt advantage in the playoffs, and beat miami 3-1 in regular season play??? granted, the pistons have been known to be a little unpredictable, and i'm not saying they are going to sweep the heat in four games, but they certainly deserve more than a seven to eight percent vote of confidence. my brow is furrowed.

and i especially don't agree with this guy. i don't find pistons ball to be boring at all, but apparently they lack the zing of teams with flashier moves. *shrug* well, mr. ellis, according to tyler cowen, on marginal revolution, "In the NBA, team wins attract crowds more than does star power." so there. the pistons' teamwork is what makes the game exciting for me; you never really know who's going to step up and be mvp for the evening. everyone is selfless and they give the ball to whoever happens to be on fire. i like their heart and the fact they really love to play with each other, and it shows. lastly, and unrelated to the team's prowess is the fact that ben wallace is the sexiest man alive. homina homina.

end of an era.

it is absolutely fitting that i dedicate my 100th post to adil, who leaves today for tajikistan. (i miss you already!!!)

over the last seven months, adil has been single-handedly responsible for organizing lse's most debaucherous evenings, starting with the infamous catholic school detention halloween party, and ending, on friday, with a bottle of absinthe. whatever the occasion, he brings people together and entertains with fervor. i'm sure everyone who knows him can attest to his genuineness, his love of life's pleasures, and his hearty laugh... which makes him wonderful company whether it be at a local brewpub, a swanky club, or an evening watching the superbowl. the bottom line is that he knows how to have a good time, and it's infectious.

it is widely accepted that, starting tomorrow, new york is not going to be the same. but, in a month or two, tajikistan will be a lot more fun. lucky bastards. safe travels, adil, and i can't wait to read all about it in your forthcoming blog! xoxo, baby, and hurry back. lse fo' eva. fo' eva eva.

bright lights, small city.

now that i've detoxed, one of the details i remember from last night was that i found out i am randomly connected to this guy named rob, one of adil's friends, via at least three people. first, i know him through adil. second, it turns out, that i work with his best friend at innovest. third, i happen to be a part of a group at tc, of which his other very good friend was president. these coincidences blow my mind. especially since this particular coincidence nips at the heels of another bizarre incident. i was walking home through central park a couple of days ago when i came upon a procession of people in suits. when something as dramatic as that is occuring, my curiousity gets the best of me and a joined them, like a lemming. it occurred to me, as i marched with everyone else that 1) i was the only one not in a suit and 2) i might be egregiously disrespectful if this happened to be a funeral procession or something. i turned to the woman next to me and politely asked what was going on. i don't even remember her response because as she told me, i was struck by the fact that i knew her. so i said: "i know you from somewhere. have we met before?" as these words left my lips, my mind yelped, "good lord, it sounds like you are picking her up!" which is exactly the thought i saw cross her mind, as she furrowed her brow, quickly said "no, i don't know you," and shifted ever so slightly away from me. (god, i felt a great sympathy for men at that very moment). i can't blame her. as normal as i looked, there are plenty of crazies disguised as regular people in new york city.

but, i had to know! my brain began to itch as i frantically searched through my life. michigan? do i know you from michigan? no, i've never been to michigan. she was getting really weirded out, i could tell. she was also pregnant, so i'm sure she was thinking: "i have to protect my unborn child from this psycho!" so, i said, frustrated but resigned, "okay, well, got to go." i crossed to the other side of the street, and stood there thinking about where i would have met this woman. i closed my eyes, and tried to envision her very distinct and succinct voice. then i remembered... and looked back over to the other side of the street. i could still catch up with her! dodging traffic, petty cabs, and runners, i sprinted back to the procession, saw her brief look of fear, before i panted: "we took a class together at tc with patrick and greg! organizational psychology" whew... even she looked relieved. we reminisced briefly about class, confirmed that i was not crazy, and then went our separate ways.

as i once wrote in an email, milan kundera once said: "chance and chance alone has a message for us." i'm not sure what that message is, but i bet there's a big man in the sky saying, "man, i'm just messin' with you!"

green fairies.

allegedly, absinthe is illegal in the u.s. of a. that does not stop adil from acquiring a bottle for his penultimate evening in new york city. pictures of before and after shots of me drinking absinthe will be posted on as soon as i acquire them from kima. i am wrecked. i gave my number to a random boy at ludo. i will go pass out now. g'night.

close call.

in new york this past week, sunshine has been pretty fleeting, and you got to get it while you can. yesterday, i slaved away on a couple of spreadsheets and wistfully gazed outside. the moment i left work, the sky clouded over, and halfway home, the heavens opened up and it began to pour. during rush hour, there are no cabs to be had, which is a moot point anyways, since i've resolved to walk home everyday, no matter what the weather. the trip took me about 2.5 hours, but included me ducking into borders for refuge and a quick stop at whole foods for goat cheese.

when i left for my run today, the weather was tenuously balanced between sun and rain clouds. the reservoir track was practically flooded; i ran about a quarter mile like an obstacle course, jumping over/around/through puddles. so, for the first time, i took the bridle path. unlike the track, which is flat, the path actually has terrain: hills, valleys, rivulets... thus, it's a harder run, but much more serene. there are moments, when the skyline is hidden in the trees, that i feel as if i'm not in the city. for those of you who've spent some time in ann arbor, it 's like the trails in the arb. i hit an amazing, effortless stride; my breathing was easy and regular; and i ended up running a good 4+ miles. at the end of my last lap, i considered doing one more, but with a spreadsheet waiting to be populated at home, i thought better of it. good thing, too, because mere moments after i walked through my door, i heard a thunderclap.

i always have a brief moment of triumph during a successful run, thinking about a future cardioloist appointment. i will walk in and, when asked if i exercise, smugly announce: "i run every day. three miles." the last time i did that, the cardiologist double-checked my charts, no doubt re-reading a notation he had written a year previously advising against strenuous activity: "you're body won't be able to handle it." he had said. i left that day with a different prescription: "only aerobic activity. don't lift weights." soon after, i purchased 8 lb free weights. it's not that i don't trust doctors, or that i don't think they are qualified to give me medical advice. but i feel like i know my own body and i'm smart enough to know my limits. when i'm tired, i rest; when i'm hungry, i eat. and when i know i can go one more mile, i do. booyakasha.

god bless steve jobs.

on the day i went to pick up my ibook, i remember calling paulix and, in a trembling voice, ask: "what am i going to do without a right-click button?" lucky for me, paulix calmed my fears of converting from a pc to a mac, talked me out of buying another dell ("dude, you are not getting a dell!") and i came home that day with a 12-inch bundle of joy. i haven't looked back since, and i've joined the ranks of other evangelistic mac users out there, growing apple's market share one pc user at a time (only 97 percent to go!). and i haven't missed the right-click one bit.

as if i couldn't be more excited about apple, steve jobs had to go and do this. apple service in new york city, 24/7? and in midtown to boot? the only other thing this girl could ask for is if he'd allow me to trade in my ibook for one of those uber-sexy macbooks i covet. *sigh*

celeste v. bianca

elie and i have our favorite italian place in the city, celeste, conveniently located two blocks from my apartment. now, granted, new york has a glut of italian restaurants, as well as entire district devoted to the cuisine, but i stand by celeste. the owner apparently makes his own cheeses and compotes, which are absolutely delicious (and i never thought to combine cheese and honey). my favorite is the paccheri vesuviana, a homemade ribbon pasta which is always perfectly al dente, and the ricotta sauce is rich and flavorful without being greasy. during finals, i ordered take out from there almost every night. and i never tired of it; it's that good.

so, understandably, i was a wee bit of a skeptic when adil invited us to one of his favorite italian places in the city, bianca on bleeker at bowery. i was impressed, though; bianca definitely gives celeste a run for her money. the ambiance is similar: unassuming on the outside, cozy and romantic on the inside. and since i'm plagued by the tyranny of choice, i liked that the menu was short, simple, and to the point (only i would make a comment about the overabundance of items on a menu). i ordered the raviolo di ricotta con burro e salvia, which, though a little buttery, was pretty darn tasty. the star of the evening was adil's gnocchi con formaggio, hands down the best gnocchi i've had in my life, cheesy and pungent and garlicky, oh my! where bianca definitely edges out celeste is in desserts; we ordered the tiramisu and the flan. the flan was especially good, we couldn't stop raving about its perfect texture (firm, almost to the point of being chewy, which i like). again, on my best of my life list. i'm definitely making another visit down there soon. superb.

central park goes wireless

yay! since i now work remotely on mondays, i'm so psyched that wireless will be coming to central park... how many times have i looked out my window and debated between working on a spreadsheet/paper/research or being outside? (8 times out of 10 being outside wins). now, i don't have to make those difficult choices. my life just got a little bit simpler:

"We believe that free Internet is an amenity and should be provided to all New Yorkers just as grass, trees and benches are," said Dana Spiegel, executive director of NYCwireless, a nonprofit organization that has worked with business groups and park boosters to set up wireless Internet access in several parks and open spaces.

amen.

stay of execution.

dental work has been postponed until insurance approves the thousands of dollars i will be spending on my broken tooth. between the braces (twice), my gold fillings, and the root canal, i estimate that my mouth has cost my parents as much as a luxury german automobile.

***

the irony of reading a book called white teeth while waiting to get a root canal did not escape me.

***

i suggested to my dentist that he employ the laughing gas. he waffled a bit, saying that it probably wasn't necessary for my procedure. i will take this as an invitation to push a little harder for it next time.

infomercial time.

i am always trying to figure out how people find new music, because i am always the last to know about everything cool. now i have an edge. with pandora, i can create my own radio stations by choosing artists or songs i love. when i'm at work, i just put on my headphones, sit back, and let pandora take me on a musical ride for the afternoon. if i like a new song, i can add it to my favorites, which my readers can see via a blog plug-in. then i can purchase the song off itunes. check out what i'm listening to these days (below). and get yourself to pandora.com today!

flummoxed.

just check out the video and article on the most recent bbc debacle. you won't regret it. if it doesn't make your life, it'll at least make your day. the guy's face is priceless.

a man, a plan, a (root) canal...

don't ask me how, but i broke a tooth on a fresh h&h bagel. way in the back, my last molar. i grind my teeth at night, but i'm too stubborn to get a bite guard (actually, too prudent, since i know i'll probably not wear it anyways). if someone had told me that i would be getting a root canal as a result, i might have acquiesced. anyways, i broke it too close to the nerve for them to repair it, so today is the first of at least three dental surguries which entails 1) gum lengthening to get to the entire tooth 2) the root canal itself 3) filling and capping the tooth. last week, when i went in to get it checked out, the dentist brightly told me that they could save it (yay! i thought.) then, they clicked on a fancy computer and showed me a fun video that was supposed to educate and calm me about the procedure. i'm not usually skittish about dental work, but i could have lived without the video showing drills and nerve endings and the different layers of enamel and dentin. i would have rather not known. afterwards i asked: "can't you just pull it out?" the dentist looked at me like i was nuts and explained to me why it was better to just have the surgery. "again, i ask. can't you just pull it out?"

so i went home and called my mommy, who's had a root canal, and she told me that it was the greatest pain that she had known next to childbirth. but, then again, she had some sort of abcess or something, which i don't have. "call your brother," she said, "i think he had a root canal once." i called mark, who, it turns out, did not have a root canal, but decided to be helpful by looking stuff up on the internet. "wow... this looks really painful. you probably won't eat for a week." which, actually, is probably a false presumption. the day i got my wisdom teeth taken out, i was issued a similar edict: "only ice cream and jello." six hours later, i was at the dinner table bypassing the prescribed food groups and gnawing on a steak. anyone who knows me knows i don't take kindly to medical advice, especially if it involves curtailing food and exercise. but, just in case, i'm purchasing a blender on my way home. i hear the drugs are pretty fun, at least.

conquer the white space

just as i expected, i've been feeling really tense about posting on this blog... self-inflicted pressure to write something truly inspired, i guess. so, i'm employing a mantra i once used in high school to get over my writer's block/blogging anxiety: "conquer the white space." my english professor advised me to start my papers with this statement in big, bold, block letters to remind me to "just get over it." and also to preemptively mar the pristine white screen which i, myself, was afraid of desecrating with my potentially imperfect sentences. "if its not perfect to start out with," she reasoned, "you don't have to worry about being imperfect."

(since i've moved to blogger, i've admitted my geekiness, my anal-retentiveness, and my writer's block. god knows what i'm going to spill next... hopefully it'll be juicier than "i like to play with html.")

the best week(s) ever

If I lay here
If I just lay here
Would you lie with me and just forget the world?
-snow patrol

i am the newest fan of snow patrol (thanks kim!) and i was so psyched that "chasing cars" was the last song on grey's anatomy tonight. i would also recommend their song "hands open." i have these two on repeat during my runs.

***

not only did we get three hours of grey's anatomy this week, but america's next top model and top chef both have finales this wednesday! then, next week, the lost finale, which means i need to fit in a marathon catch-up session this weekend, and then the week after that the hills premieres!!! i am so excited to indulge in tv right now.

***

t-minus 52 days until the gmats

allez cuisine!

one of my most dismal days in the fall semester was when i first moved into my apartment on the uws. back then, my schedule was from 9am-11pm, and i was all over the city, rushing from my internship at times square, to classes uptown, and then ohdcc meetings afterwards. at the end of one of those hectic days, i came home to my barren apartment, with everything still packed up in boxes, and realized that i had forgotten to fit in dinner. it was cold out so i didn't want to wander my new, strange neighborhood looking for a 24-hour place. i had no internet so i couldn't look anything up on menupages.com. i had nothing in the fridge, i didn't have plates or silverware, and none of the take-out menus that had been left on my stoop delivered past 11:30. so, i sat glum and miserable on my bed crunching on pez candy, the only source of sustenance in my apt, and i thought about how much being a grad student sucks.

since those bleak days in the fall, things have gotten better. translation: it takes me less than five minutes to figure out where i want to order from on any given night. it wasn't until recently that i've actually had the luxury of time to make anything other than hot tea in my kitchen. by recently, i mean yesterday and today. let me tell you, its been kind of rough getting back in the saddle. grocery shopping was an absolute disaster, because i basically had to rebuild my kitchen from scratch; when you haven't cooked in awhile, you lack the basic necessities: olive oil, salt, etc. last night, i made a safe-but-slightly overcooked helping of mama wolk's couscous, and a bland, blackened cajun salmon. this afternoon (i'm working remotely on mondays-yay!), i thought apples and sweet potatoes were an inspired idea, but the end product was not quite so amazing. the problem is, i've been watching top chef and iron chef america, and i have delusions that i can just throw in some spices that "sound like they would work." and i also think i can wield a knife with expertise, which almost ended in tragedy today.

anyways, after a couple of false starts, i ended up making something quite edible for dinner! an old throwback to the days i was domesticated: walnut crusted salmon served with asian green beans.

walnut crusted salmon
1. preheat oven to 400 degrees
2. in one dish, prepare a mixture of honey mustard and butter (enough to coat both sides of the fish)
3. in another dish, mix in breadcrumbs, dried parsley, and crushed walnuts (originally pecans, but i looked all over my neighborhood and couldn't find any. oh well)
4. skin the fish filet (yes, i actually did this myself, for all you nonbelievers)
5. dip the fish in the honey mustard mixture and coat both sides, then dip into breadcrumb mixture and do the same, salt and pepper to taste
6. place fish in a baking tin, add a couple of slices of lemon on top and bake for 12-15 minutes or until flaky

asian green beans
1. i use french green beans, they are skinnier, and i like the way they taste a lot better
2. chop up fresh ginger and garlic and sautee in a pan with canola or olive oil
3. throw in green beans with stems removed
4. cover and allow to steam cook for awhile
5. add soy-ginger sauce and sesame seeds
6. throw in a handful of shitake mushrooms

enjoy!

***

coming up this week, my secret ingredients are two chicken breast filets and one piece of tilapia. i'm not an iron chef yet. but i'm getting there.

foiled!

my plan to seclude myself in my apartment for the weekend to catch up on some work was completely derailed when the sun came out early this afternoon. not having seen the sun at all this past week (its been rather poopy here in the city), i immediately threw on my running shoes and jogged over to the reservoir for a couple of laps. there is an old man with an oxygen tank who walks the reservoir in the reverse direction that everyone is running. and we must have the same schedule because i see him there everytime i go. what's curious about him is that he wears around his neck a photo of a man wearing a racing number (from a marathon, perhaps?). i imagine this to be picture of his former self, and that he walks laps to live vacariously through the people sprinting by him. rain or shine, he always gives a small wave and says, without fail: "isn't it a wonderful day? beautiful day for a run." i make sure, as we approach each other, to turn off my ipod so i can reply: "yes, it is. it's perfect weather." i look forward to this genuinely warm exchange, and it invariably gives me an extra spring in my step for the rest of my run.

after my run, i walked around central park for a little bit, then head home. fortunately, as i was getting ready to bunker down to a spreadsheet, moo-moo called and i took the opportunity to walk to riverside park, since "i don't have great cell phone reception in my apartment." really, who can expect to be productive on a day like today? riverside park is great... more like a boardwalk than a park. it overlooks the hudson river, so even though it's adjacent to the noisy westside highway, it's still pretty serene. i might have to add it to my running repertoire, though i would miss my reservoir friend. moo and i haven't spoken since the middle of april, so there was a lot of catching up to be done. in a month, she's moving to san antonio, tx, for grad school. as we talked about her apartment search, she told me that a two bedroom house--a house--in san antonio costs $700/mo to rent. $700. i'll allow that to sink in for a moment. when i compare that to what i pay to live in a studio apartment on the ground floor on the uws in manhattan, i wonder for a fleeting moment if it's worth it. but only for a moment, because at the end of the day, especially a day like today, i can't put a price on living in new york city.

google reader

on the sidebar to the right, if you scroll down a ways, you'll see my new favorite toy, the google reader, which is an amazing piece of blogging machinery introduced to me by bo dirty. on separate site, if i understand this correctly, i have a reader which collects posts from a variety of feeds i have chosen, then aggregates them so i simply have to log-in and scroll through a bunch of links tailored to my interests. when i read one i like, i star it and--voila!--it gets sent to my blog so that i can share what i've been reading with friends. so poke your head down there every now and then, and check out my online literatura.

labour of love

after over six hours of feverish, painstaking grunt work, i birthed a brand-spanking new blog. here it is. as you scroll down, admiring the clean layout and the fancy amazon.com thumbnails, yes, your eyes do not deceive you... i have indeed transferred all of my postings, appropriately timestamped, from xanga to blogger. this, my friends, is love in its rarest, most obsessive-compulsive form. and... i actually like it. in fact, i think that i'm really infatuated with it.

so... this has all happened so fast, and i want to thank a few people who've been so supportive over the last 24 hours.

***

first, to my beloved twiggy plants man, paul. thank you for being honest and constructive in your criticism. please, though, don't be too honest about the color scheme (i know what you're going to say: "muddy," but let's agree to call it "safari")

thank you aja, for affirming that xanga does, indeed, suck, and giving me that one last nudge i needed to move to blogger. you'll note the strong influence middletownexpat has had on the new and improved cheeky monkey. and, thanks for joining me in being trivial on the internet.

bo introduced me to the blogosphere four years ago and held my hand today when i made the big move. he walked me through linking my recently purchased domain-name to my recently-created blog. gave me tips on stat counters and search engines. and, he even said that being featured on my blog was cooler than being interviewed for the new york times. which was really sweet. thank you!

lastly, thank you xanga for sending me a sign today when you were unavailable for 12 hours, leaving me no recourse but to procrastinate by plotting my move, purchasing my domain name, and discussing with my co-conspirators. oh well. its been real.

***

ta-da! my new blog... enjoy!

*disclaimer: group relations post

okay, i'm well aware that group relations theory sounds like some sort of a cult. subconscious processes? projective identification? kool-aid and new nikes? j.k. anyways, not to worry you even more, but pre-pinback i went to an open house at the william alanson white institute, which offers a certificate course in organizational dynamics. it sounds a lot like the program i'm already in, no? the major difference is its focus on psychodynamics and socio-cultural theory. one of my t.a.'s, leila, recommended i explore this option to supplement my coursework at tc, which is actually something she's doing right now. the major problem, though, is that it's a two-year program, and i'm just not at a point in my life where i can plan my wednesday evenings two years in advance.

the program sounds amazing though... more reading and mulling must be done.

***

i really liked what the director of the institute had to say: "therapy helps you talk. group relations gives you something to talk about."

the thing is, group relations theory is a tool (consultants are obsessed with their toolboxes and what's in 'em)... and not necessarily something you build a career around. to be more precise, you don't usually consult on group process alone; it can be, but isn't always, part of a larger organizational consultation. however, it's extremely helpful to be aware of group dynamics, particularly in a conflict. using the concepts of boundaries, authority, role, and task can make criticism less personal and more constructive. for example, instead of saying: "i think you are a bad boss," a richer discussion would be to talk about "how you taking up authority in a certain way conflicts with my role and the tasks i need to accomplish." talking about the person-in-role, rather than the person is less of an attack, and creates a productive discussion for change.

btw, the only core class i have left to take is "fundamentals in conflict resolution," which i'm hoping i love love love. thus far, i've not been too crazy about the human resources track and lukewarm on the change management program. given my predilection for group dynamics, though, i have a strong feeling that the conflict resolution sequence is my game. *fingers crossed*

***

since my entire life is lived online (clearly), i've been thinking of actually throwing my annotated bibliography that i will be working on this summer onto a wikispace. mainly, i like this idea because my mentor, john l., who lives down in dc, will have access to it on a regular basis. once i get going on that, i will post a link.

***

i'm bloody doogie howser with this blog. good grief.

hurley

the title of this post is the one song that i really wanted pinback to play this evening and not just because it is the name of my favorite lost character. hurley was the one song on the cd that alexis gave me that i really liked and actually knew well enough to identify if played. they didn't, unfortunately, even though i yelped "hurrlllleyyyy!" between songs, while everyone else screamed "peneloooppppeeeee!" i didn't win that battle. anyways, they played a surprisingly long set - almost an hour and a half, i think. while pinback is not really my style, i actually enjoyed a lot of their songs. the problem is, there wasn't some sort of marquee above the stage displaying the name of the song that was being played at the moment--this was a ridiculous idea i came up with after turning to alexis for umpteenth time to ask "what is this one called?" so, i'll have to rummage through someone's pinback collection (paul?) to get the songs i really like, which apparently aren't on the first cd.

***

the question on deck tuesday night: music you love but you're embarrassed to admit you love.

i won't incriminate anyone but julio iglesias (especially his song, "hero"), kelly clarkson (in general), and michael bolton ("how can we be lovers") made the cut.

for me, admitting that the first cd i every purchased was garth brooks' the chase always gets a few heckles. there you have it!

*gasp*

on gtalk:

Paul: i have a confession
you might not like it
me: uh oh
Paul: i HATE xanga

***

my worst fear realized. well, no. as i've mentioned in another post, this is an issue i revisit quite often: where is the best place for the trivial details of my life? i just logged on to my blogger account from yesteryear to check out the many false starts i've had there. i do like that i have ownership of a number of choice blog names:

mooshings.blogspot.com
ciaoboo.blogspot.com
meemo.blogspot.com

and now: atetintin.blogspot.com (had to snatch it up to make sure no one else did).

paul's suggestion is to buy www.atetintin.com and set up a site using iWeb, which he is generously providing to me next time i'm down in dc.

***

i will have to think about this, but since i am all about customer satisfaction (and since paul is currently my #1 customer), i guess it will have to be addressed. my one hesitation is moving my motherlode of postings over the last month to another site... i guess i could always keep this site around, though i hate to have my already scattered thoughts all over the www. *sigh*

also, for some reason, i feel intense pressure to be cerebral on blogger--like i should post something newsworthy, and not just something mentionable, but trivial. xanga just feels casual and unpretentious.

alright, paul, we'll work this out.

overheard.

cameron, after being accused of being a pathological liar:

"sometimes, reality is boring, so you just have to embellish a little. most of the stories i tell, though, are true; i just change the names, dates, and events."

***

later, jenny describes someone boring:

"... she is steeped in reality..."

social calendar. (this is for me, mainly)

may 11: red sox v. yankees?
may 17: caroline's "internship is over" party
may 19: adil's second (third?) farewell party
june 8: dreamy todd's birthday (schiller's?)
june 13/14: radiohead (allegedly, elie is getting us tickets)

the carduelis carduelis and the quercus rubra

Golden finch, alight in your loft,
Where you have learned and, oh, you have taught.
The red oak tree will carry your loss,
When you alone can't carry that cross.
-t.leo and the pharmacists

(it should be noted that paul loves this song. hence, this post is dedicated to him...)

oh no.

this does not bode well for me, mark, and kaye. both our parents snore like dying walruses. the only cute thing about it is they have, over the years, managed to synchronize their snoring so it actually sounds like a symphony of badly played tubas. which one can hear, through closed doors, from the other side of the house.

furthermore, all three of us have pretty bad allergies, though i have to say that, this year for some reason, i have not had to take anything, except for the occasional nasal spray. very strange, especially considering how close i live to the park. i believe that my recent infatuation with raspberry-apple vitamin water may have something to do with this. i have absolutely nothing scientific to back that up.

small wins.

i'm a prolific list-maker, and i derive immense pleasure from crossing things off. will be updated regularly through april.

semester deliverables:

psych aspects: annotated bibliography, 10-page paper on semco
org dynamics: 15-20 page paper on accenture, final exam
group dynamics: 8-page paper on intergroup dynamics, 5-7 page paper on projective identification, conference, 3-page paper on conference
adv functions: business plan, powerpoint, business law exam, stock portfolio
startingbloc: memo, conference
critical thinking/critical theory: 5-page paper

(shout out to kotter)

***
update: it really steams my clams that i am about 80% done with the paper on intergroup dynamics, 95% done with the annotated bibliography, and 60% done with the paper on semco and all i want to do is get that shizz crossed off my list.

its going to happen this weekend. if not tonight.

***
update: school is officially over for the semester!

reprieve

wow, i am exhausted... i guess i kinda went gangbusters on fun this weekend, and i was so feeling the effects all day today. i was painfully dreading heading down to pianos on the lower east side after class, but fortunately jenny and i are of one mind, and we simultaneously double-flaked. it was perfectly-timed. plus, i have to plan "carl's crawl" for tomorrow, a task which entails making dinner reservations and planning which bars we are going to hit on st. mark's place. (i think every other storefront is a bar with a neon guinness sign, so i don't think there will be much heavy-lifting on my part.)

while i am excited that the social calendar is filling up quite effortlessly, i do need to make sure that i set aside a couple of days a week to spend with myself. i am a creature who enjoys/relishes/craves quiet evenings alone with my current book or my reality-tv-show du jour. on the mbti, i am an introvert to the extreme, which doesn't necessarily mean i'm quiet (i get a lot of raised eyebrows about that), but it does mean that i draw my energy from being with myself. i need that time to recharge and reboot. it is what it is.

***

i love how i left my house this morning having thrown into my timbuk2 my "essentials" for the day: moleskine (check), pen (check), passport (check--you never know when you have to flee the country), book (check), ipod (check). i walked down to 52nd and 6th to grab lunch at global kitchen, where i used to eat every workday for four months, and only then, after having walked 2 miles through central park, did it occur to me that i forgot my wallet. good thing i happened to have $20 in my pocket. unfortunately, i had to schlep all the way uptown, then head back down to go to the edvard munch exhibit. for a second i considered just junking the idea, heading home and passing out for a couple of hours before class, but i'm glad i didn't because 1) today was the last day of the exhibit and 2) it was really wonderful!

now, i am by no means an art history major, but i do like edvard munch's aesthetic very much. the style is very similar to the impressionists, with the flattening of forms, visible brush strokes, and use of light, but instead of "depicting what the eye sees," munch paints what he feels in the moment, which gives his paintings the quality of a memory--sharp, focused subjects that fade into dark haziness. i also liked his series entitled "the frieze of life" which explores four inevitable phases of human existence: love, fear, death, and anxiety. his analysis of love, particularly in "the kiss," seemed to come straight out of our group dynamics text: "while the fusion of man and woman represents the ideal of unity, it also signifies the loss of individuality and one's existence and identity--it hints of death itself" (he's a little dark; moribund). munch sees love as a "battle" between men and women, and he portrays women as slightly dangerous in their sexuality.

***

archie jones is in his car, attempting to kill himself. mo marches up and pounds on his window: "We're not licensed for suicides around here. This place halal. Kosher, understand? If you're going to die round here, my friend, I'm afraid you've got to be thoroughly bled first."

it was after this line in white teeth that i decided that i was going to love this book, even if i hated it.

if you were a liquor, what liquor would you be?

a question posed by elie last night.

leena is a gin/tequila.
elie is a scotch/sambuca.
todd is hennessy.

and i am "the best beer you ever had." why? because i'm perfect for lazy afternoons, vegging in front of the tv, yet i'm versatile enough for a wild night on the town or a chill evening hanging out in a pub.

(i would like to confess that these days, i'm drinking raspberry cosmos... mainly because raspberries are in season, not because i imagine myself to be carrie bradshaw or anything)

***

finished dry this morning after lunch. reading burroughs has made it painfully clear how crappy a million little pieces was/is. i'm sorry oprah, but frey's stream of consciousness ramblings were melodramatic and trite and pretentious. burroughs can write in complete and coherent sentences and evoke regret/laughter/shame/desire with his acerbic wit and brutal honesty. he makes his addiction relatable and accessible to his readers. frey's account was unbelievable, even before i found out it was bullsh*t. (sorry, i'm bitter i spent two weeks trying to get through this book over christmas break).

***
as per priya's recommendation, i am now reading white teeth, though, i have to say, fiction is not on my palate right now. i'll give it a couple of chapters.

weekend update.

if i had my druthers, i would be posting under "too hot to print." alas, while this weekend was a good time, there is nothing scandalous to report.

***

last night was the first of adil's farewell parties. in a few weeks, he's leaving nyc for an internship in microfinance in tajikistan. no, i'm not making that up--he really is an international p-i-m-p. the man is going to have a veritable entourage when he hits the ground... chauffeur, translator, lady-in-waiting (j.k). anyways, classy adil likes to roll-out in style, so of course, we hit the uber-swanky, fancy-pants hudson hotel, designed by ian schrager. stark white interior lit up by neon green lights. alice-in-wonderland open air terrace complete with trees and a giant watering can. the dining room is purportedly reminiscent of "ivy league dining halls" with exposed brick and long farmhouse-style wooden tables. the cuisine is "gourmet comfort food:" peking duck pizza, mushroom ravioli, macaroni and cheese... i ordered the kobe beef*, which was succulent, though not comparable to the y grill in indonesia. wine. champagne. and then, of course, afterwards we headed over to the les to drink brews on todd's roofdeck. that's how we roll, yo.

***

i joined ethan and his mom for a circle line boat tour of new york city today. a sobering reminder of how much of this city still needs to be experienced... it was cool to see the woolworth building, where the group relations conference was held, from afar... i had no idea i was in such a historic place, though, i doubt i would have been able to appreciate it at the moment.

the tour guide talked at some length about the world trade center, which he referred to fondly as new york city's "twins": "on september 10, 2001, the twins used to frame the woolworth building perfectly from this angle." i admired his ability be both factual and compassionate, evocative yet not inciteful in his remarks. it's a delicate space to manuveur, and i sometimes feel as if we would rather not talk about it as something in the present, despite the fact that the event has colored our personal interactions in broad, indelible strokes. here in new york, i often feel uncomfortable when 9/11 comes up in conversation, as if i don't want to pick at a wound that is healing. on some level there is a fear of what emotions may be provoked. if we believe that, in their one-on-one, day-to-day existence, people play out the dynamic of the systems in which they are embedded... how does September 11th affect the way we see ourselves in relation to others? are we more guarded now? more fearful of confrontation? nervously anticipating violence to break out at any moment? this was a major discussion of our group relations conference (i knew i couldn't go a week without talking about it). anyways, i digress... the tour was fun.

***

m:i:3: after a delectable home-cooked meal of calamari and fresh fingerling potatoes at casa de ethan (incidentally, squid was the surprise ingredient in iron chef america this week), we headed over to catch the film and i thoroughly enjoyed it. if i recall, m:i:2 was a whole lotta action and not enough of the substance that made m:i:1 so damn fun... in the latest installment, we get plenty of both. phillip seymour hoffman is, as always, a treat. oh, and i have a new infatuation for jonathan rhys-meyers; i decided today that he is dreamy. i was not so crazy about him after match point, but i dig him now.

speaking of dreamy, i have a raging hard-on for x3: the last stand.

i cannot wait to see it.

is it weird that the woman who plays ethan hunt's fiancee/wife resembles katie holmes? i think so.

***

*fun fact: kobe beef comes from cows raised in kobe, japan, who live the sweetest cow lives imaginable. to ensure that the meat is tender and fatty, the cows are massaged daily and served beer and sake.

i love mtv.

i'm so excited i could wet myself! saw my first "the hills" preview two seconds ago, and damn, it looks so delicious. go lauren. down with jason. this summer is getting better by the minute!

aja, are we all up ons or what?

cinco de mayo.

i just returned from a five hour jaunt around manhattan, and i'm pretty beat. i am currently obsessed with finding an appropriate walking sandal... something that doesn't look too orthopedic, but is comfortable and functional for the many miles i trek everyday. alas, my search has proven futile, and i've resorted to wearing converse allstars that i bought yesterday, which make me feel kind of clownish. sigh. i hate shopping.

***

i got my haircut, finally. while i was waffling for awhile about getting something dramatic, i chickened out at the last minute and settled for more layers and a two-inch trim. you will probably not even notice, but be sure to complement it anyways, next time we see each other.

***

last night, i hung out with ethan at his father's gallery opening. met some wonderful ladies from michigan.

***
i'm reading augusten burroughs "dry" right now, inspired by a conversation i had with blobel when he was visiting. i had actually given up memoirs for awhile, since trudging through "a million little pieces" in december and absolutely hating it (even before he turned out to be a fraud), but blobel is such an burroughs enthusiast that i picked it up and have been enjoying it, though i think it will have to be the last "recovery" book i read for awhile.

priya, i picked up white teeth at the strand yesterday, and i promise, its next on my list.

summer has arrived.

it's an incredible feeling, after about three weeks of studying and sobriety, to bunker down on my couch and enjoy the hefeweisen and the y.b. that i've been saving for the occasion that i no longer have to stress out. although, i have to admit, with the exception of my group paper (and who could not be stressed out writing a group paper?) i did a good job of managing my workload. and, i totally rocked the final yesterday. coruzzi's exams are open book, but you pretty much need to be able to write the exam closed book because there are so many questions, and no time to be flipping through the text/notes/slides. i love how i always figure out how to study for a class right around the last exam. anyways, for all intents and purposes, i'm pretty much done with the semester, and i'll be guiltlessly lazing about for the next few days!

***

my motto for the summer is to accept any and all invitations to hang out, to make up for my anti-social behavior over the last month. so, i've got an awesome week lined up:

tonight: hanging at the orley gallery with etan.
friday: drinks with kim and callum/les with caroline and matt (this is the night i'm "the single friend" hah.)
saturday: dinner/drinks/debauchery with the lse crew
sunday: tbd.
monday: concert with jenny?
tuesday: happy birthday carl!
wednesday: pinback concert with cameron/kim/jenny/alexis (alexis just sent me their album so i can become a number one fan in one week)

waka waka

omigod. this video is hilarious! and it makes me nostaligic for finals at michigan... those all-nighters in the fishbowl? can't be beat!

just my luck.

ooh. i love lindsay lohan and i'm not ashamed to say it.

rolling stone

the 1000th issue hits newsstands on friday.

(had to give a shout out to my former employer)

a list of fun things i will do once exams are over.

1. get a desperately needed haircut
2. get a massage
3. go for a long ass run
4. have a few brews with friends i haven't seen in a month
5. call a few friends i haven't chatted with for weeks
6. send a few emails i've been meaning to write
7. buy myself something nice, cotton, and sleeveless
8. buy myself something in denim.
9. watch myself a whole lotta ow-brow reality television
10. catch up on the good tv i missed this semester (lost, 24, grey's)
11. go to the moma to see the munch exhibit (note to self: pronounded "munk" not "munCH")
12. go climbing
13. go to central park and lie in the grass with a book and a beer
14. go to the american museum of natural history and check out darwin's exhibit and the butterflies
15. start reading fun things again (dry, the wind-up bird chronicle, the packet of info on group relations)
16. finish decorating/cleaning/unpacking my apartment
17. go grocery shopping
18. cook myself some rainbow trout with dill-yogurt sauce
19. make my famous chocolate chip cookies
20. sleep in

(and that's just the first week)

summer project.

god, i love group dynamics. you know when material just makes sense, like it taps into a latent philosophy you never knew you believed in? and suddenly, the stars are aligned, and your whole existance has meaning? there are things you do in life because you feel like you need to, and you go through the motions, and finishing gives you a sense of accomplishment and a gold star. but then there are other things that you do and you don't care if there's no diploma, or ribbon, or amazing salary at the end of line. when people find these things do they take it and run with it? a tiny part of me wants to shrug and say: "oh well." and just think of it fondly as a weekend i spent learning about group dynamics. but, as you can see from my monstrosity of a posting about the conference, doing so would require a lot of denial and acting on my part. i am in love with it. but i think the scary thing, for me, is what do i do with it? where do i go? how do i apply it? what does that mean for me in terms of work and livelihood and career? what would it take to be good at it? i mean, you take the gmats and you do well, you go to business school. you take the lsats and you do well, off you go to law school. what do you do if you rock a group relations conference? what does that even mean? *deep breath* i keep reminding myself: babysteps. you've still got a whole year to figure it out.

anyways, i received a packet from john l. today that has a lot of group relations material that i will happily peruse once finals are over. i decided that my summer project will be to compile an annotated bibliography on group dynamics research and critical theory, and the asian experience in groups. i found an interesting article on filipino identity and how it relates to our experience as an occupied nation. very interesting stuff.

***

adil just im'd me. north carolina has been postponed until may 14-17, 2006. but its still happening. wahoo!

study break.

is it weird that i know the name of all the vizlas in my neighborhood? yogi, tallulah, and madison. and by the way, paul, i found out today that tyler is a pointer mix, who happens to look like a black vizla.

***

i know my devoted readership (paul) has been fiending some serious dish. cheekiness has been put on hold for now, but going forward after wednesday's exam might provide some great material for this blog. slo-mo will be in town for her brother's engagement (wow!) so we'll be hitting the town on wednesday evening, thursday i've got a soiree to attend at mr. orley's gallery in chelsea (how fancy does that sound?), and friday, caroline's boyfriend's birthday in the les (and she's back in the game!). yes, folks, things are looking up.

***

so, in thinking about all this cheekiness that i have planned for the summer, i decided to set up exclusive and protected postings for all those who want to be privy to the juicy details of my life. of course, this is all wishful thinking that my shizz will be too hot to print. haha. god, i'm funny. in any case, holla if you want to be included... there are only ten spots... and you have to have a xanga name. (paul, alex, and slo-mo, you're on it already). details to follow.