i LOVE the poems in the subway cars.
and here he is reading it:
Wednesday, February 13, 2013
a photo a day
my favorite poet - billy collins - in a subway car!
i LOVE the poems in the subway cars.
and here he is reading it:
i LOVE the poems in the subway cars.
and here he is reading it:
Tuesday, February 12, 2013
Monday, February 11, 2013
how to get ready for a phone interview, by miss claire
some insight into my life as a person who is job-hunting. perhaps (probably?) more than you wanted to know.
1 day before the phone interview: do research on the school, make a list of reasons they should hire you, make a list of questions to ask, do other responsible things.
10 minutes before: listen to a song to pump yourself up while assuming a power stance. this is something i've done this year after watching a TED talk video that a friend in my program told me about. the video's 20 minutes long and is SO WORTH WATCHING. fascinating to learn how body language can shape how people perceive you even if they can't see you. and the take away for me when interviewing: in a research study, people with identical resumes were split into two groups. one did nothing special before a phone interview, and the other assumed a powerful stance for 2 minutes - legs apart, arms in the air in a V, for example. the interviewers didn't know that the groups had done different things at all, yet rated the people who had assumed the power stance as ones they would be more interested in hiring. seriously, watch this video.
8 minutes before: start to be nervous.
1 minute before: convince yourself the person actually isn't going to call because why would they want to hire you when there are so many people out there who are awesome candidates?
30 seconds before: remind yourself of the power stance and calm yourself down.
0 seconds before (these people never call right on time): think about checking to make sure you phone has a dial tone. maybe it's broken! remind yourself that this is ridiculous and checking for a dial tone will only give the person calling a busy signal and we can't have THAT.
3 minutes after: they finally call. you are (hopefully) fabulous.
1 day before the phone interview: do research on the school, make a list of reasons they should hire you, make a list of questions to ask, do other responsible things.
10 minutes before: listen to a song to pump yourself up while assuming a power stance. this is something i've done this year after watching a TED talk video that a friend in my program told me about. the video's 20 minutes long and is SO WORTH WATCHING. fascinating to learn how body language can shape how people perceive you even if they can't see you. and the take away for me when interviewing: in a research study, people with identical resumes were split into two groups. one did nothing special before a phone interview, and the other assumed a powerful stance for 2 minutes - legs apart, arms in the air in a V, for example. the interviewers didn't know that the groups had done different things at all, yet rated the people who had assumed the power stance as ones they would be more interested in hiring. seriously, watch this video.
8 minutes before: start to be nervous.
1 minute before: convince yourself the person actually isn't going to call because why would they want to hire you when there are so many people out there who are awesome candidates?
30 seconds before: remind yourself of the power stance and calm yourself down.
0 seconds before (these people never call right on time): think about checking to make sure you phone has a dial tone. maybe it's broken! remind yourself that this is ridiculous and checking for a dial tone will only give the person calling a busy signal and we can't have THAT.
3 minutes after: they finally call. you are (hopefully) fabulous.
Sunday, February 10, 2013
great article from the new york times about jason (fine, i'll learn to call him jay) williams. and yes, i got teary while reading it. duke won a national championship when i was a freshman, and as a lifelong duke fan it was an incredible experience to be a student when that happened. over the four years i was at duke i went to almost every home game - certainly 95% of them. jason williams and i overlapped for 2 years and it was amazing to watch him play.
end of the those-were-the-good-old-days rant. just read the article.
end of the those-were-the-good-old-days rant. just read the article.
Saturday, February 9, 2013
a photo a day
miss claire's post-blizzard update: the snow stopped overnight. this morning my friends and i went to central park to play in the snow! we definitely got more than a foot, and central park was gorgeous - there were patches of untouched snow. it was very grey at 10am when we were there, so the photos are a little dark...
kiddie hill for babies to sled on:
dominique is queen of the hill!
this dog (like many dogs we saw) was wearing snow booties:
after an hour of playing, we warmed up in ben's apartment and went down to times square to try to get tickets to see book of mormon (they do a lottery every day for twenty-two $30 front row tickets)...after failing at that (sigh), we ate lunch and got manicures. SUCH a fun new york day with my friends!
now i'm warm in my bed and trying to do some reading for school before heading out tonight with talia - the fun continues!!
(mom, the smartwool socks you gave me for my birthday were CRUCIAL to warm feet and today's happiness. thanks!)
kiddie hill for babies to sled on:
dominique is queen of the hill!
this dog (like many dogs we saw) was wearing snow booties:
after an hour of playing, we warmed up in ben's apartment and went down to times square to try to get tickets to see book of mormon (they do a lottery every day for twenty-two $30 front row tickets)...after failing at that (sigh), we ate lunch and got manicures. SUCH a fun new york day with my friends!
now i'm warm in my bed and trying to do some reading for school before heading out tonight with talia - the fun continues!!
(mom, the smartwool socks you gave me for my birthday were CRUCIAL to warm feet and today's happiness. thanks!)
Friday, February 8, 2013
miss claire's 9:30pm blizzard update: still snowing, though not as hard. the roads are relatively clear (i saw a bus creeping its way down the street) and someone is coming through to shovel the sidewalks occasionally. (the photo below is on a side street.) not much more accumulation...we'll see how it looks in the morning! there are central park sledding plans in my future...
a photo a day
Miss Claire's 6pm blizzard update: it's been snowing for a while now and the roads are yucky, even on the Amsterdam, which is a main road. There's maybe 2 inches on the ground. Exciting!
a screenshot a day
that's right: this exists. i can check online to see when my street was last plowed. the internet is magical.
miss claire's 10:30am blizzard update: the weather did not stop the trash truck from making its morning trip outside my window this morning. a rain/snow mix is coming out of the sky, and the sidewalks are slick. plows are coming by pretty regularly, though, so hopefully the roads won't get too dangerous. the library at teachers college is closed because the college is closed, so i'm in the (apparently unheated right now) dining hall with a couple other students, trying to get some work done before i get together with friends this afternoon. with the amount of work we've been given this week it can keep myself entertained for a long long time if the snow keeps up...
Thursday, February 7, 2013
INCREDIBLE - "bones under parking lot belonged to richard III" - all history nerds are required to read this article (dad, i'm looking at you).
i require the history channel to make a tv special about this so i can learn more.
i require the history channel to make a tv special about this so i can learn more.
a screenshot a day
File this under "things I did not see coming." I thought it was just a couple inches of snow?
Wednesday, February 6, 2013
my sleep cycle
when i was in atlanta in january willis told me about a new iphone app that he'd purchased that monitors your sleep. you tell the app that you're going to sleep, then put the phone on your bed for the night. when you turn over or move, the app registers that and thinks you are either (a) in a less deep sleep than before, or (b) awake, based on the amount of movement. after he used it the first night and we pored over the results, i obviously had to buy it. 99 cents! fun information about yourself!
the app rates your sleep from 0% to 100% based on...i don't know what, because sometimes it is wrong. i'll wake up thinking i had been tossing and turning, but the app doesn't care and rates my sleep as very good. who knows. i love it anyway. i think it must have something to do with how long you are in "deep sleep" and how often you wake up...
this is my best night of sleep, according to the app:
it clearly took me like 45 minutes to fall asleep, but somehow that didn't matter...
and this is my worst night of sleep so far:
i didn't get into the deep sleep very much at all, so apparently it was not pleased.
also, let's note that i am kind of the luckiest person ever, because i consistently get at least 8 hours of sleep a night. the reason for this: i never have class before 9am. i'm going to enjoy this life while i can.
you can also tell the app if you worked out or drank caffeine or whatever (you add the options) and then it will tell you if you sleep better or worse after doing these things. the app says i sleep 5% better when i work out and negligibly better if i drink caffeine with dinner, but both are based on just a couple data points, so could presumably change over time.
and that, friends, is probably more than you ever wanted to know about my sleep.
the app rates your sleep from 0% to 100% based on...i don't know what, because sometimes it is wrong. i'll wake up thinking i had been tossing and turning, but the app doesn't care and rates my sleep as very good. who knows. i love it anyway. i think it must have something to do with how long you are in "deep sleep" and how often you wake up...
this is my best night of sleep, according to the app:
it clearly took me like 45 minutes to fall asleep, but somehow that didn't matter...
and this is my worst night of sleep so far:
i didn't get into the deep sleep very much at all, so apparently it was not pleased.
also, let's note that i am kind of the luckiest person ever, because i consistently get at least 8 hours of sleep a night. the reason for this: i never have class before 9am. i'm going to enjoy this life while i can.
you can also tell the app if you worked out or drank caffeine or whatever (you add the options) and then it will tell you if you sleep better or worse after doing these things. the app says i sleep 5% better when i work out and negligibly better if i drink caffeine with dinner, but both are based on just a couple data points, so could presumably change over time.
and that, friends, is probably more than you ever wanted to know about my sleep.
Tuesday, February 5, 2013
Monday, February 4, 2013
Sunday, February 3, 2013
a photo a day
when i was in baltimore on friday the whole town was decked out in purple to support the home team. the administrative assistant of the head of school we interviewed gave dominique and i each a bag of pro-ravens m&ms. this was before she drove us the bus station (did i mention that she is awesome?).
done. i will be cheering for the ravens tonight!
done. i will be cheering for the ravens tonight!
Saturday, February 2, 2013
the end of 30 rock
goodbye, liz lemon. what an incredible show, and thankfully one that is just as good in reruns - maybe better, because the jokes are so smart that sometimes i can't fully appreciate them in the moment.
i love this list of the 30 best liz lemon quotes, and i'm especially pleased that their number 1 is also my number 1. i have such good taste.
i love this list of the 30 best liz lemon quotes, and i'm especially pleased that their number 1 is also my number 1. i have such good taste.
a photo a day
on my way back from baltimore on friday afternoon, dominique and i waited 33 minutes (yes, we counted) for a bus alongside lots of other cold bus passenger. ugh. this is definitely something to put in the "con" column for bus travel.
i was wearing impractical shoes, and by "impractical shoes," i really mean "i wasn't wearing socks." i hadn't even BROUGHT socks. i know, i know.
after about 20 minutes of waiting in 27 degree temperatures, i put my gloves on my feet. i still have all my toes, so i guess we can say that it worked.
i was wearing impractical shoes, and by "impractical shoes," i really mean "i wasn't wearing socks." i hadn't even BROUGHT socks. i know, i know.
after about 20 minutes of waiting in 27 degree temperatures, i put my gloves on my feet. i still have all my toes, so i guess we can say that it worked.
Friday, February 1, 2013
january: 1, 2 & 3
a new year, and three confusing new books!
cat's cradle, by kurt vonnegut (while i loved the first vonnegut book i read (slaughterhouse five), this book confused me A LOT. maybe that was the point? and if not - what WAS the point? apocalypse is imminent? something about colonialism in the caribbean? people smarter than me can probably offer some actual analysis. i will defer to them. put this on your "do not read" list.)
everything is illuminated, by jonathan safran foer (again, i thought his other book (extremely loud & incredibly close) was quite good, but this one was...confusing. haha - that seems to be the theme this month. am i dumber than i thought?!? i wasn't really drawn in by the characters or the plot, and just found it an okay read.)
breakfast of champions, by kurt vonnegut (i know you're saying to yourself, "miss claire, why are you reading another vonnegut book so soon after disliking that last one you read?" well, readers, book club waits for no (wo)man. when i moved to new york an acquaintance invited me to join his book club and i was so honored i said yes...and then only read one book in like four months. oops. i did enjoy the one meeting i went to, so i wanted to get back into it, and this was the january book. i liked this one better than cat's cradle, but was still ready for it to end. there's a weird author-becomes-character part at the end that seemed bizarre. i can't wait to see what the other book club members think of this one - maybe that will help me appreciate it more. it's safe to say i'm off vonnegut books for a while now, though.)
please oh please let next month bring better books...
cat's cradle, by kurt vonnegut (while i loved the first vonnegut book i read (slaughterhouse five), this book confused me A LOT. maybe that was the point? and if not - what WAS the point? apocalypse is imminent? something about colonialism in the caribbean? people smarter than me can probably offer some actual analysis. i will defer to them. put this on your "do not read" list.)
everything is illuminated, by jonathan safran foer (again, i thought his other book (extremely loud & incredibly close) was quite good, but this one was...confusing. haha - that seems to be the theme this month. am i dumber than i thought?!? i wasn't really drawn in by the characters or the plot, and just found it an okay read.)
breakfast of champions, by kurt vonnegut (i know you're saying to yourself, "miss claire, why are you reading another vonnegut book so soon after disliking that last one you read?" well, readers, book club waits for no (wo)man. when i moved to new york an acquaintance invited me to join his book club and i was so honored i said yes...and then only read one book in like four months. oops. i did enjoy the one meeting i went to, so i wanted to get back into it, and this was the january book. i liked this one better than cat's cradle, but was still ready for it to end. there's a weird author-becomes-character part at the end that seemed bizarre. i can't wait to see what the other book club members think of this one - maybe that will help me appreciate it more. it's safe to say i'm off vonnegut books for a while now, though.)
please oh please let next month bring better books...
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