van morrison, "full force gale":
excellent music to listen to while writing a paper! i might be dancing a little in my chair as i type...
van morrison is from northern ireland, which i learned when i visited belfast a couple years ago. i had no idea! the northern irish are very proud.
Tuesday, February 26, 2013
“I wanted you to see something about her – I wanted you to see what real courage is, instead of getting the idea that courage is a man with a gun in his hand. It’s when you know you’re licked before you begin but you begin anyway and you see it through no matter what. You rarely win, but sometimes you do.”
--Atticus Finch, To Kill a Mockingbird
--Atticus Finch, To Kill a Mockingbird
Monday, February 25, 2013
More "only in New York" moments...my NPR station is having its spring fundraiser and it has a donation match program this morning - for every $2 you donate, some rich person out there has agreed to donate $1. In Atlanta, I had never heard of whichever rich person would do this on a given day. Here they have just announced that the rich person is Tom Hanks and Rita Wilson. OMG.
Sunday, February 24, 2013
Saturday, February 23, 2013
a photo a day
on my walk home from brunch this afternoon...
please note the two little boys in the second story window who are OUT OF THEIR MIND with excitement at a real live fire truck outside their building.
please note the two little boys in the second story window who are OUT OF THEIR MIND with excitement at a real live fire truck outside their building.
Friday, February 22, 2013
little luxuries in the life of a grad student
1. buying a book that isn't required for grad school.
2. reading that book. it feels illegal, frankly...it's such a luxury. i just downloaded the light between oceans onto my kindle and have been reading it before bed and on the subway. move over, group dynamics reading - i've got something more interesting to read.
3. trader joe's coconut body butter. dominique introduced this to me and i'm completely addicted. it smells AMAZING and isn't greasy like a lot of hand creams can be (huge pet peeve of mine). i put it on about 5 times a day and my hands are very happy.
4. i have succumbed to buying the gloves that it seems everyone in new york city has: fingerless gloves with a mitten that comes over the top. the mitten part keeps your hands so warm, but when you want to text or look up directions on your iphone, you can do that without taking off your gloves (hands in gloves do not work on the iphone screen). i love these and am so pleased with my purchase.
5. a bloody mary. any time it is appropriate...so: any time i go out to brunch. i have brunch plans tomorrow and i can't WAIT.
2. reading that book. it feels illegal, frankly...it's such a luxury. i just downloaded the light between oceans onto my kindle and have been reading it before bed and on the subway. move over, group dynamics reading - i've got something more interesting to read.
3. trader joe's coconut body butter. dominique introduced this to me and i'm completely addicted. it smells AMAZING and isn't greasy like a lot of hand creams can be (huge pet peeve of mine). i put it on about 5 times a day and my hands are very happy.
4. i have succumbed to buying the gloves that it seems everyone in new york city has: fingerless gloves with a mitten that comes over the top. the mitten part keeps your hands so warm, but when you want to text or look up directions on your iphone, you can do that without taking off your gloves (hands in gloves do not work on the iphone screen). i love these and am so pleased with my purchase.
5. a bloody mary. any time it is appropriate...so: any time i go out to brunch. i have brunch plans tomorrow and i can't WAIT.
Tuesday, February 19, 2013
“A mature person is one who does not think only in absolutes, who is able to be objective even when deeply stirred emotionally, who has learned that there is both good and bad in all people and in all things, and who walks humbly and deals charitably with the circumstances of life, knowing that in this world no one is all-knowing and therefore all of us need both love and charity.”
--Eleanor Roosevelt
--Eleanor Roosevelt
Monday, February 18, 2013
sunday puzzle
no, it's not sunday, and yes, this aired in december...but i'm just now getting around to listening to it. i look forward to it every year and somehow was lazy this year.
will shortz's annual "new names in the news" quiz - the actual quiz starts around minute 2. i recommend pausing after each name to give yourself time to think. i got all but 1! can anyone get a perfect score?
will shortz's annual "new names in the news" quiz - the actual quiz starts around minute 2. i recommend pausing after each name to give yourself time to think. i got all but 1! can anyone get a perfect score?
Sunday, February 17, 2013
be impressed that i made it all the way to february 17th
today is the day: i'm officially so tired of winter. 22 degrees and a fierce wind as i walked down broadway? NOT AMUSED ANY MORE.
Saturday, February 16, 2013
a photo a day
Um, that's right: I got breakfast in bed. I am never leaving my friends in Boston with treatment like this!
Thursday, February 14, 2013
a photo a day
A week post-blizzard, and the snow is disgusting. At least most of it has melted, so walking around no longer includes slipping and sliding and accidentally stepping in icy puddles!
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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