Monday, November 26, 2007

Tree lightings, ice skating — the holiday tourism season must be on its way

The big tree lighting in Rockefeller Plaza is set for Wednesday night. I thought, for some reason, they did it right after Thanksgiving; that weekend. But I guess it's a week later. Obviously, as I will be in Chicago, I won't have a report from the tree lighting ceremony. (I know you will all be heartbroken.) But I will try to make it down there before Christmas and give you a report on how it compares to previous years and perhaps I'll have some crappy camera phone pictures to share.

In the meantime, I give you ice skating at the plaza:



What's amazing about the skaters is that while some are you obvious tourist, many of them are regulars and some of those people are even expert level. The night we went and watched these skater, my friend and I had created a whole backstory for these expert skaters. One of them was really cracking us up because he wasn't skating so much as dancing...and it was bad 80s-style-would-have-made-Michael-Jackson-proud dancing. If you ever have free time to kill in NYC in the winter, you should spend a little time watching the skaters. It will crack you up.

Tuesday, November 20, 2007

Blog Blahs

I haven't forgotten you, Dear Blog. I've just been too depressed to write. Plus I haven't had any adventures lately, nor travels of any kind....just travails and of the boring, lonely variety. However, if you like, I'll blog all about my exciting Thanksgiving to come. It will involve Rice-A-Roni and the inability to remove myself from the futon where I will be watching the whatever-a-thon that USA has chosen to air this year. And if you think THAT'S exciting, just wait till we get to Christmas....

Oh, but wait, maybe you can help with this. I have Tuesday through Monday off of next week. I was supposed to have vacation plans. They fell through. This comes as no surprise to anyone, probably not even me, if I were being truthful. Anyway, any last minute, single girl travel suggestions?

Tuesday, November 13, 2007

Spanish Art

This week in Spanish class we had to write papers on an artist. Thus the painting to the left. I wrote about Joan Miro, who I mistakenly though was French, but who in fact is from Barcelona. At least he lived in Paris for a long while. That makes me feel a little better about it. His art amuses me. This one is called "The Birth of the World" ("el nacimiento de mundo"). I used it in my paper as my example of the work he's most famous for. It was also a nice illustration of the type of work that at first glance people (like certain Spanish instructors at community college) might a 5-year-old could do, but which has a more complicated technique (note the background looks like a mix of trees and swamps and evokes the feeling of a primordial ooze from which the world crawled out of) and also a meaning, which is not childlike at all (note the giant orange balloon/sperm that catches the eye). Anyway, that's what I've been tied up with later. We'll see what my nemesis the Spanish Teacher says when the papers come back on Thursday.

Sunday, November 11, 2007

Where do we live again?

Saw this headline on Yahoo tonight:

"US among worst in world for infant death"

What is wrong with us?! We have no excuse for this. We don't have a guerrilla war going on, we don't have a lack of doctors or access to medicine.

"The United States ranks near the bottom for infant survival rates among modernized nations. A Save the Children report last year placed the United States ahead of only Latvia, and tied with Hungary, Malta, Poland and Slovakia."

Good news, though. We're still ahead of places with famine and total abject poverty.

"A 2005 World Health Organization report found infant mortality rates as high as 144 per 1,000 births — more than 20 times the U.S. rate — in Liberia."

Saturday, November 10, 2007

Another reason to love Illinois

COLUMBUS, Ohio, Nov. 10 — The meltdown happened a few weeks earlier this season for No. 1 Ohio State.

Last season, the undefeated Buckeyes were blown away by Florida in the national title game. This season, the flop came sooner, and perhaps more spectacularly, for the again undefeated Buckeyes.

Behind a relentless defense and four touchdown passes by quarterback Isaiah Williams, unranked and enigmatic Illinois stunned the Buckeyes, 28-21, before 105,453 fans on Saturday at Ohio Stadium.

The loudest roars from this upset may have come from Eugene, Ore., as Oregon will likely leap to No. 2 in the Bowl Championship Series standings. That will mean that the Ducks, who were idle this weekend, would play Louisiana State, the likely new No. 1, in the national title game if the season were to end this weekend.


Wisconsin’s victory takes the Big Ten out of the title race, much to the relief of college football fans in the West and South, who have been skeptical of the caliber of the league all season.


I don't know. I was cheering pretty loud.

Sunday, November 04, 2007

Strike or not to strike

What I'm wondering today is: As a writer should I feel solidarity with those striking (mostly in LA and NYC) right now? And if so, why then do I feel so indifferent?

I feel a little sad, I guess, but mostly because I'll miss new episodes of Heroes and some other TV shows I'm embarrassed to admit I like.

Maybe the reason I find it so hard to sympathize or, really even care, is because of how little WE get paid. It makes the TV/Film writers seem a little whiny. Then again, maybe I'm just the one being whiny.

Saturday, November 03, 2007

Grand Central

I'm exhausted from work, so I'm just going to post a couple pictures of Grand Central Terminal. (Note: NOT station — a common mistake and one that really angers copy editors) This is my view from the floor, where I'm often forced to sit because I JUST missed the previous train home and the next one isn't for another hour or two and inevitable all the shops and Starbucks have closed so there's nothing for me to do but sit and wait. Oh the money Starbucks would make if it would just stay open all night.