Those who can, sleep. Those who cannot, blog.

It is past midnight and I have a prelim in Human Biology and Evolution tomorrow (what up lactase promoter sequence mutations) but there is just oh so much excitement in my life that I cannot sleep!

What is all this excitement, you ask? Wellllllll

1. I might appear on MTV across from sex columnist Dan Savage

2. Kappa Delta just announced that I have TWO WEEKS to find THREE GIRLS attractive Jewish dates for date night

3. I changed my profile picture today (thanks Rachies!) and I've been refreshing my facebook frequently in the hopes of receiving positive feedback

4. I have 5 classes tomorrow, including a lab, and an E-Board meeting for Hillel, and lab makes me nervous

5. When I say lab makes me nervous, I actually mean that my blood pressure remains in the "heavy workout zone" for approximately an hour after the chemistry has been completed and cleaned up

6. I am simply not ready for it to be October

7. I need to learn my Torah portion for Rosh Hashanah!

8. I've selected my wedding song (but not the person I'm wedding)...hope my groom likes Rascal Flatts

9. I went to see "Midnight in Paris" with Adina on Saturday and we sat in the couple's seat in the non-profit indie movie theater

10. I've attended so many meetings in the last week my head is going to explode--enough with the opinions, people! If you feel strongly about things and have many opinions, do what I do. Get a blog and shove the link in everyone's face LATER, don't talk your face off at a meeting when everyone's got shit to do

11. I attended Sammy Date Night last night (thanks for taking me, Andrew!) and it was exciting because....I ATE SALMON AND I DIDN'T HATE IT! I even put salmon on the fork with mashed potatoes all at the same time and it was BETTER than each of those things on their own! Wow!!

Eleven seems like a pretty solid number so I'm going to end it here and hope that my cyber rant has alleviated my mind from the burden of trying to sort out all of the excitement in my life.

Laila tov

Riding the Struggle Bus

This morning I woke up with a start at 7:35am, which appeared in my mind as 8:35am. I got dressed in a huff, checked my email before I ran out the door, and noticed that my morning alarm had just started to beep. At this point, I was not an hour late, but an hour early.

I attempted to go back to sleep for a half hour and failed, probably due to trying to maintain my hair and make up, which I'd already done. Now I have an extra half hour in my day so I decided to blog about my other struggles.

First of all, let me say that this whole 9am class thing is not ideal. I did it last semester too, and said I never would again. I am just bad at waking up. The good news is that my first class is physics and the professor is beyond adorable and has a great Swedish accent, so that's okay.

Second of all, I do not really understand the electron orbital stuff we're doing in chem right now and I need Juhi to teach me. This girl literally stands at the Struggle Bus Stop every day and picks me up after school. What would I do without her!

Third of all, I have about 80,000 emails I need to send for my responsibilities as an RA, on Hillel board, and trying to find a research position. Sending one email is nothing, but the daunting task of sending 80,000 just seems like it will take forever and I am putting it off. BUT NOT TONIGHT! Tonight, I message!

Fourth, my ear is still plugged. I don't know if this is something I am just going to have to learn to live with or not, but it is a little annoying to always have your left ear popping in and out and then returning to a plugged state. Hmph.

Fifth, the Palestinian Authority is unilaterally declaring statehood at the UN tomorrow. We'll see how that goes. I just want peace.

Sixth, I dreamt about my kitties last night and I MISS them ever so much. I know it isn't realistic for me to think that I could care for animals while at college, but I so wish that I could keep some kitties in my room. (Now that I think of it, I also dreamt that I went to a tzniut dress shop and a video rental store, I visited my mom's old dorm at UB, and the elevator flipped onto its side halfway through the ride and began to go sideways as part of its route. Hmmmmm)

Seventh, I forgot to stock up and now I am left without a hun-cal Chewy bar for my breakfast.

Sit with me on the Sruggle Bus?

WE'RE BAAAAAAAACK

Title of this post dedicated to Adina II because she likes to make fun of people who make "WE'RE BAAAAAAAAACK" the title of their back-to-college facebook albums.

Here are some fun things going on:

1. I am taking physics, chemistry, human biology & evolution, and statistics

2. I am tutoring a biology supplementary class--the same one I took last semester and LOVED

3. I am eating my dinners at Kappa Delta and enjoying sorority life greatly (Chef Wendy is an angel in disguise)

4. I went to an Episcopalian service yesterday evening and I recognized several items on the agenda: a) Joyful Joyful from Sister Act, b) "Sing a new song to the Lord, for He has worked wonders" from Kabbalat Shabbat (mizmor shiru la'shem shir chadash), c) We read a portion from Exodus! I really appreciated what was going on during the service and I liked the organ. It was a cool vibe. The Reverend gave a sermon on the part of Exodus where God kills all of the Egyptian first borns. He said, most of the time I just skip over this passage because it is hard to understand, but today I will attempt to grapple with it. He gave a few different perspectives of fellow Christian leaders and it seemed like it was a rare thing for him to question a word of God. This made me really fall in love with Judaism again for a few reasons. First, it is the entire POINT of Judaism to question the word of God. Second, we have such a long tradition of commentary that there is no letter in the Tanach without a second and third meaning. I wanted to raise my hand and say, well, Reverend, did you check out what Rashi has to say about that line? Or any number of other commentators? Third, I really appreciated that my Jewish upbringing has included youth group and college services, which both include STUDENTS giving dvrei torah (sermons) to STUDENTS. It means so much more to me now that there aren't rabbis calling the pages at our services or giving us speeches on what THEY think the Torah means. It's awesome that it all comes from other students.

5. I'm working with the Women's Organization At Hillel to plan amazing Rosh Chodesh programming this semester!! Including leading a session at the Women of Color Conference at Cornell in November!

6. Kappa Delta mixed with Sigma Alpha Mu last night and it was epic.

7. All I want to do is listen to country music all day erry day.

8. Being an RA in Risley is A-MAZANG. I love it. I love this building, I love the people, I love the art shop, I love living in a single, I love my residents, I love making bulletin boards, I love everything. Except getting called to do a lock-out.

9. Human Biology and Evolution is a sick class. We are learning about HIV and lactose tolerance and creationism and all kinds of really relevant topics!

10. My position on Risley RA staff is faculty fellow coordinator, so lately I've been dining and meeting with some of the most fantastic/bizarre/cultured people on campus. Did I mention I love my job? Oh yeah, also my boss, Barnaby, is super duper funny.

11. Meeting freshmen is great. I feel like I have such a grip on my life when I explain to them how I got involved in stuff and what I'm doing now. There are so many little Jewish gap-year girls that I am getting close to! I feel like I have a special connection with them, but also other freshmen. In general, I really like the new students that I've met!!

12. My best friends from freshmen year have scattered, but the good news is: we still see each other, we still love each other. The long distance is hard (Rachel and I used to be about 20 rooms away on the same floor and Adina was just below us), but we are figuring it out. And using cars!

13. Babysitting for L- again is great! She teaches me so much about life.

14. Went "swimming" at Treman State Park with Adina, Julia, Maddy, and Sam, and last week I walked up a waterfall with L-, also there is a gorge behind Risley where we ate lunch once!

15. Highlights from Risley: Soul Power Dance Party, Bro Night

16. Currently crocheting a kippah, soon I will start crocheting gold wire!

Basically, everything feels really under control right now and I'm having a lot of fun. I have many problem sets and lots to read, but it's okay because I still have enough time to see my friends and frat it up. Conveniently, those activities often occur in the same place at the same time. Life is good, Ithaca is gorges, my friends are the best, Cornell is perfect.