HEAR : giving up the gun

Yesterday was perfect. A sunny 72 degrees Fahrenheit with a slight wind. I worked from home, which meant I could take my laptop out to the patio and type-type-type away on the grant proposal I'm currently working on. I wore a sundress and sunglasses and ate chips and drank Ale 8 One.

Today is the complete opposite. Chilly and rainy, and I'm still at work, wearing tights, a pencil skirt, and makeup that was smeared away hours ago. Pretty.

So I'm listening to fellow Columbia U graduates and wishing for warmer weather (which could come as soon as tomorrow? Oh, DC weather):

I can't believe it was almost (exactly) one year ago that I saw Vampire Weekend live. Oh, time, how you fly.

it may be the antidepressants talking, but i'm feeling somewhat optimistic about 2010.

{title via someecards.com}

2009 may not have ended well {and the five-month period I spent looking for jobs was a little rough}, but there were some definite highlights that keep me from declaring it a terrible, horrible, no good, very bad year:

• in the beginning of the year, I was living and playing in New York City;
• I received my Master's in Social Work from Columbia University;
• I got a job where I'm actually using my education and internship experience {gasp!} and moved to Washington, DC {or, more accurately, Arlington, VA}...

...okay, so that's only three things. But there are lots of little things that were great, too {indulging my inner child with regular cupcake runs, starting this blog, decorating my first real place...}, and I'm cautiously optimistic that I'll be a little more figured out by the end of this new year. {One can always hope, I guess.}

And thus:

Goals for the New Year

1. Run a 5K. My expectations are low. I don't care if it takes me 2.53 hours to finish; I just want to cross that finish line.
   Game Plan: I've begun preparations for this goal, albeit unexpectedly: I won a gift card to Famous Footwear from the lovely Anna at Around the Way Girl, and I think I'm going to be practical and purchase New Balances with it. And! I've bookmarked the Couch to 5K Running Plan! I don't care what you say; that's progress.

1. Learn a new language. I want to learn a lot of languages, actually, but as it stands now, I can speak English and Banglish {an atrocious mix of Bangla/Bengali and English, of course}, can order a taco in Spanish, and can say "un ananas ne parle pas. ce n'est pas possible!" in French. Very useful.
   Game Plan: Register for Arabic via Rosetta Stone... which is available to me at no cost via my job {how awesome is that?!}. I will go to Egypt and ride a camel yet! {Long story.}
   
   
2. Read 12 books. What did I say about low expectations? Last year I read a total of 8 non-graduate school-related books {I KNOW}, though I started {and bought} about 5x that many books. This year, I have a TV. Disaster waiting to happen.
   Game Plan: Read?
   
   
3. Take a trip to India. {Or maybe Egypt? I can use my newly-acquired Arabic skills!} I really want to see the Taj Mahal. Maybe I'll take my mom. {My dad has already been twice, the bugger.}
   Game Plan: Work like mad, don't take any vacation or sick days, and then buy a ticket {or two}!
   
   
4. Do something unexpected {for me} every once in a while. Go camping {"I hate outside!"}. Make a quiche. Take a dance class. Paint something for my room. ...Run a 5K. :)
   

happy new year, friends!
it's going to be a good one. i can feel it.

a look back, part two

So, while I was tweaking the layout of my blog this weekend {html is not my friend}, I realized I never posted the second part of this entry. How annoying. That's like the blog equivalent of not closing a parenthesis.

I split the post in two parts, I think, mainly so I could post this New York Post video {it's old; the pictures were new}:

Yeah, that's me @ the 1:04 mark! And, yeah, I know I'm pretty terrible at Bhangra.

9/28/09 ETA: I always forget that I have {and go by} a million different names. In any case, none of my names are Rayfana. Thanks for butchering the spelling of my name, NYPost!

a look back, part one

So I've not been all that productive since I've been home, much to my parents' chagrin. I caught up on SVU and Criminal Minds... and (full disclosure) Hannah Montana. Made a meal for the parents (without the prosciutto, which made the chicken somewhat bland). Painted my nails pale pink. Went to Dairy Queen (twice). And finally got my pictures developed from my Kodak Fun Saver.

These are some of the last pictures I took in New York:

Water Taxi: View from SI Ferry, NYC. 5/13/09.

Jupiter Saturn & The Sun, Rose Center, NYC. 5/22/09.

Commencement Banner, Columbia University, NYC. 5/20/09.

Enjoy The View, Upper West Side, NYC. 5/18/09.

MetroCard Bike, Hell's Kitchen, NYC. 5/12/09.

nyc bucket list update: staten island

1. Go to Staten Island. See the new South Ferry Station (is that lame?). Ride the ferry. Eat Ralph's ices.

Staten Island Ferry, NYC. 5/13/09.

I have now been to all five boroughs! Unfortunately, Lucia and I didn't make it to Ralph's, because, apparently, Staten Island is big. Trying to figure out how to get to the closest Ralph's was like trying to figure out how to use the subway map for the first time: a lot of trouble. Instead, we hung around the promenade for a bit, took pictures at the 9/11 Memorial, made fun of the Staten Island Yankees, and then took the next Ferry back to civilization.

Leaving Manhattan, On the SI Ferry, NYC. 5/13/09.

Hair Blowin' in the Wind, On the SI Ferry, NYC. 5/13/09.

Statue of Liberty: View from the SI Ferry, NYC. 5/13/09.

Lucia at the 9/11 Memorial, Staten Island, NYC. 5/13/09.

all the news that's fit for a half hour comedy show

9. Catch a taping of The Daily Show and/or The Colbert Report.

The Daily Show Studio, NYC. 5/12/09.*

So I cheated: I changed #9 on my "NYC bucket list" from eating hot dogs in Coney Island to watching a taping of The Daily Show. In my defense, I've already been to Coney Island, so it didn't make sense to include it on the list as my intention was to do and see things I haven't done before. I also didn't think it would be possible to see a taping of either show before leaving, since it takes a certain amount of foresight and persistence to reserve tickets.

Apparently, I lack foresight and persistence. Lucky for me, I have friends who don't. :)

Holding our golden tickets!

We got to the studio around 3PM -- you have to be there by 4:30PM in order to get the tickets -- and the line was already a hundred people in (no kidding: when we finally got our tickets, we were numbers 93-96 in line). But it was a nice afternoon, and we managed to keep ourselves entertained until we -- or rather, the people at the head of the line -- were finally ushered into the studio at 5:15ish PM. (We had to be screened, so they let people into the studio in stages.)

The studio is much smaller in person, as is the man behind the desk; Jon Stewart is a wee little man (okay, not exactly "wee" but definitely shorter than I expected). Before the taping began, Jon (Mr. Stewart?) took several questions from the audience. His responses were funny, and I would retell them here except I'd totally over-explain the joke and kill the humor. Tom Hanks was the guest (!), and -- I don't know how the interview seemed on TV but -- it seemed like a whirlwind of a discussion on antimatter, symbology, mugs that looked like Prince Charles, and then boom! he was gone. I know the interviews are always that short, but it seemed so much shorter in person. Tom Hanks is such a nerd. :)

At the end of the show, Jon Stewart thanked us for coming, which was nice. Save for that and the Q&A at the beginning, though, there was little interaction between the audience and the show. While it was exciting to see Jon Stewart in person (and in action) and I did have fun, it wasn't too different from watching it on TV. I love Jon Stewart, but I don't think I would wait in line again to watch his show live.

*Photos courtesy Joanna. Thanks, Jojo!

the big potato

"i don't know how people live here, dorothy.
i mean, it's all very interesting and everything in the world is here, but
it's so tall, and so crowded, and so noisy,
and so much!
i've never seen so much of everything in my whole life."

-- rose nylund, on new york city

I've begun to compile a bucket-list-of-sorts of things I want to do before I leave the city. Rose is right: everything in the world is here, and I've not really been able to explore the city as assignments and readings and bad time management got in the way. Graduation is but a mere few weeks away, and I have the apartment until May 31, so here it is:

things i want to see and do in nyc before i go:

1. Go to Staten Island. See the new South Ferry Station (is that lame?). Ride the ferry. Eat Ralph's ices.
2. Walk the Brooklyn Bridge. (How have I not done this already?) Treat myself to Grimaldi's afterward.
   
3. Visit the Brooklyn Flea: White Dove NYC. Kumquat Cupcakery. Liddabet Sweets. etc.
   
4. See 9 to 5!!! I love me some Dolly Parton! Maybe I'll take mom to see this when the parents come for graduation?
5. Eat at Chip Shop. I'm Southern. I like things fried. Like Twinkies. Mmm... Clogged arteries.
6. Sunbathe at Water Taxi Beach.
7. Stalk Liz Lemon at 30 Rock, or take in the view at Top of the Rock.
8. Gamble away the few dollars I have in Atlantic City. Walk the Boardwalk. Eat Taffy.
9. Catch a taping of The Daily Show and/or The Colbert Report.
   
10. Check out the museums at ICP and FIT. Be inspired.
    

... it's a work in progress.

hot thing

There are times when I can't wait to leave the city, like when:

1. I have to choose between paying ridiculous prices for a carton of milk or having to haul my groceries from TJ's on 14th to Morningside Heights (lazy v. cheap, my ultimate dilemma), and having to withstand the hordes of people regardless;
2. I hear that a friend of a friend is only paying $1600/month for her studio at the Newseum, across the street from the National Mall, or that a friend's mortgage payment towards her house + acreage is still less than what I'm paying for my subsidized apartment that I share with two people; or
3. I and a million of my closest friends end up sharing the same patch of green on the first sunny, warm day in forever.

...But then there are days like yesterday. The weather was perfect, and yes, Central Park was very crowded, but afterward, Brando and I hung out on Main Campus for the Bacchanal '09 concerts, featuring:

Vampire Weekend was so much fun! Definitely great live.

I might have to buy their CD.

...and...

Talib Kweli is so fantastic. The crowd was disappointing.

Days like this make it possible to endure the crowds, the smell, the dirtiness, the high cost of living, and then I'm back to square one in deciding what I want to do after graduation.