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Wednesday, April 27, 2005

Procrastination

While I was pretending to research stuff for my speech, I decided to enlighten myself with some wise words...


Procrastination is the bad habit of putting of until the day after tomorrow what should have been done the day before yesterday. (Napoleon Hill)


OK, but...


One thing that's good about procrastination is that you always have something planned for tomorrow.

(Gil Stern)


There. I feel better about it now...

PS Brainyquote.com ROCKS!
Hey, gotta give credit where credit is due.

Tuesday, April 26, 2005

My Nephoos Are Here!

My nephoos (and Miriam and Meir) came in at 3am this morning. Oh are they CUTE, Bli Ayin Hara! I love having them here!

So I have a slight dilemma. As I had mentioned before (if you were paying attention), I have a research paper due on May 5. The teacher had once said that if we get a letter printed in the New York Times or a different major newspaper like the Boston Globe, then we can get an A on an assignment. I e-mailed him this morning to ask if I could get a letter printed instead of doing the research paper and he wrote back telling me that if I get a letter printed, I get an A on a regular paper, not the research paper. This means that I actually have to do it. Oh, how wonderful. Plus, I have to work on my speech. My brothers and I went to the library and I got out some humor books for my speech. Hey, it's research! Haha! I am doing a speech on "Laughter is the Best Medicine". I found some articles about how laughter is good for you. Now I have to put it all together. Oh, how fun!

I hope everyone is enjoying their vacation if they're having one. If not, NANANA BOOBOO. Just kidding of course. I would never rub anything like that in anyone's face...or would I?

Wednesday, April 20, 2005

Back in Boston

Back home again! This time, I am here for longer than three days! Woohoo! The rest of Monday was fine. I didn't have education class, so I had a nice break. After school, I walked down 34th Street trying to find a pair of brown shoes. I ended up with a funky pair of earrings. Close enough. I needed brown shoes for a cool new outfit that I got. I am sure you are wondering what I did next...HAHA! Well, I covered a pair black shoes in scotch tape and colored them with brown permanent marker! I know! BRILLIANT! I wore them today and even though they started peeling, they were still so darn cool! The only thing that wasn't so cool was the fact that when I got home, I peeled the tape off, and some of the shoe came off with it. Oh, well. The sacrifices you have to make. Not to worry, I found a pair of shoes that I am not too fond of and did the same thing to them. My mother thinks that I should send this idea to the Family Circle's "Give Us Your Idea and We'll Give You $50" contest. We'll see. When I had called her last night and told her what I was doing, she thought it was really funny. IT WAS! HAHA!

Fieldwork was a lot of fun today, as usual. I love it! I am really happy because I had told the teacher that I am not coming in for the Tuesday after vacation, but I AM! I thought that Tuesday was my last day of vacation, but it's actually my first day back at school. I'm glad that it starts on a Tuesday. One class, then fieldwork. DEVORA! THIS MEANS WE CAN HAVE OUR NIGHT! Woohooooo! By the way...you look FABulous!

The one thing I really don't like about coming home during the semester, is that every time I come home, I am always worrying about assignments. For example, I have to prepare a speech for the Wednesday after vacation. Since a lot of girls weren't ready to speak when they were supposed to be, she is making us have an extra speech period. GREAT. I also have an English research paper due the Thursday after Pesach. I have to find 5 newspapers that write about a topic then analyze how each paper handles the story. The papers have to include the Jewish Press and the New York Times. Any ideas?

Oh! Great story. My father picked me and Debra up at the bus station at around 10:15. After we dropped Debra off at her house, I asked my father who is coming for Pesach. I asked this question, because my father had called me last night and asked me if I would mind sleeping in the sunroom (den). He told me that I won't have to sleep there. Then he said, "The second days are going to be a bit more crowded." I asked him who was coming. He said he forgot. I asked, "You forgot?" He said, "Ema invited them." Then I had an instinct. I said, "It's not who I think it is, is it?" He said he couldn't read minds as well as he used to and I told him that it's okay because my mind is illiterate. He asked me who I thought it was and I said, "Miriam (my sister)?" He said, "Well, it's not just Miriam. It's Miriam, Meir, Daniel Efraim and Chaim Dov." Yup, you read right...my sister came to America for Pesach! Supposedly, she called my mother and asked her to get some diapers and Kosher for Pesach baby food. My mother said she would but she didn't know how she would get it to her. So Miriam said, "Well, I'm in Monsey." We had no idea she was coming. I AM SO EXCITED TO SQUISH MY NEPHOOS! I am not going to see them until Tuesday, but I am COUNTING DOWN THE DAYS!


PS MAZEL TOV SHOSHANA AND MOSHE!
Yes, that's right...another Afikei girl bites the dust! That's the second Apartment 8
(my apartment last year) girl in the last 3 weeks!
GO AFIKEI! :)
You can sign their onlysimchas page even if you don't know them. Tell them Hinda sent you!

Monday, April 18, 2005

Consideration, anyone?

Shabbos was really nice. We went to hear Rav Orlowek speak on Saturday night. Even though my friends and I were of the very few unmarried women there and he was speaking about parenting, I was so happy! He spoke about trust and communication. I have the tape (I got most of it, but it stopped at the questions) if anyone wants a copy, let me know. He spoke from 10 until midnight. It was awesome!

On Sunday, I took Adina and Erica out. We stopped at Dunkin Donuts first...duh. Then we went over to Adina's cousin in Boston University and ate our breakfast there. At around 12:15, my brother picked us up and dropped us off in Watertown. We went to the Arsenal Mall first and hit a few stores. Then we went across the street to the Watertown Mall and hit Payless, GAP outlet and Target. I had you in mind, SB. Let me know if you want anything. After that, my mother came to pick us up and we went back to my house to finish packing.

We got to the bus station at 5:05. Our bus was at 5:30. The guy at the door told us that we could get on the 5:00 bus. We went onto the bus, but the empty seats were all spread out, so we got off. We got onto our bus and sat in the back. Here's some advice. Don't sit in the back if you have a choice. Why? WRS. Wafting Restroom Stench. Enough said. We survived, though.

We got back to the dorm at about 11. Erica unlocked the door to our room and hesitated to go in. I saw the kitchen gate closed. I thought maybe one of the other roomates was on the phone in there. Then I realized that there was no noise coming from the room. Erica gave me the you-don't-want-to-know look. I returned her look with the don't-tell-me-what-I-think-you-are-going-to-tell-me look. The lights in the room were off and they were both sleeping.

Here's my problem with this little situation. If they were going to sleep, they should have at least called to see where we were. Why? Because when you come back from the weekend, sometimes you want to unpack. Or maybe because IT WOULD HAVE BEEN SOMETHING CONSIDERATE TO DO! I was so upset. I had to work on my speech that I am supposed to give today but now I am not giving until after vacation. I did not expect them to be going to sleep so early. ARGH! I hope you understand why this aggravates me. Not because I had just gotten of a bus that I had been on for 5 hours, but because this isn't the first time this sort of thing has happened. The only difference this time, is that it was ONLY 11 O'CLOCK! This post is not even coming close to doing justice to my aggravation! I can't wait to have my own room next year. I haven't said a word to either of them today. I am trying to control myself. Maybe Erica will say something. She's much better at this stuff. I'd just get really mad...
ARGH!
Okay, that's enough for now. If anyone has any advice as to how to approach this situation, let me know... I hope you're having a good day. Anyone looking for a roomate? :)

Wednesday, April 13, 2005

Going home (again) tomorrow!

Amy came to play today! She came at around 5 and we spent an hour in the CAF. We spent the hour putting more and more splenda and milk into our coffees. It was fun. Then we came back to my room and hung out. Then Amy went to visit someone else, but she came back! We got Chinese food from Milner's (the mini-store in the lounge) and I tried using chopsticks. Ha!

Now I am in the middle of packing. I am bringing home my big blue suitcase and duffel bag and packing a LOT of stuff. My plan is to leave the big suitcase at home and bring it back after Pesach. We'll see how that works out.

I am bringing Erica and Adina home with me. On of our Rabbis from Israel, Rav Orlowek, is going to be in Boston for the weekend. Whenever he comes, he stays at my neighbor's house around the corner. He will be speaking at someone's house on Motzei Shabbos and I hope to be able to speak to him afterwards. I need to be strengthened.

When I was in seminary, Rav Orlowek remembered me since the first day. During his first class, he had asked, "Does anyone here know Logan Airport?" I got so excited and started waving my hands in the air. I was in the back of the room since everyone had been there before me and he asked us to keep the same seats every time so he could learn our names. Sure enough, he learned them all. He is amazing. From then on, he knew me. He once told me that my having red hair helps his memory. Ha! Good to be unique! Okay, I'll stop babbling now.

I have to go finish packing so I can go to sleep. Sigh...sleep. Good night everyone!

DON'T FORGET TO MAKE ME FEEL SPECIAL! (read yesterday's post to find out how...)

Tuesday, April 12, 2005

Tuesday!

Fieldwork was so much fun today! The head teacher came over to me while the kids were working in the science room and asked me what year I was. I told her that I am a sophomore. She told me that when I am done with school, I should get in touch with her and she'll put a good word in for me. How cool is that? I've got connections in RAMAZ! I am working my way up in the world! Seriously!


During art class, I decided that I shouldn't stand around looking like I am not doing anything, because I could not help the kids. Let me rephrase that: The two art teachers want the kids to do the art on their own without my help (only my suggestions). Instead, I took a piece of white paper and colored. I ended up making a Red Sox World Champions sign. It was really cool. I made all the letters with red and black marker, then I made the Green Monster with crayon in the background. For the rest of the art period, the kids at my table and I were talking about the Red Sox. Okay, there was some talk about the Yankees. Some kids kept piping in with comments like, "You don't like the Yankees?" to which the Red Sox fans responded, "She's from Boston!" Out of the class of 19 students, 6 are Red Sox fans (one of the BoSox fans informed me of this last week). I am beginning to put some faith into this city.

Now I am sitting in Devora's office waiting for her to finish what she is doing so we could leave. Oooh! She just told me that after she "postages" the postcards she is labelling we are leaving! Oh! She just left the room! Even though we are leaving in a matter of minutes, I will still type slowly just in case you can't read fast.

I hope everyone is having a great day!

If you took the time to read this, can you please leave me a comment or two?

WHY?

BECAUSE IT MAKES ME FEEL SPECIAL! OKAY?

So, what are you going to do?

Monday, April 11, 2005

Fun in NYC

Shabbos was really nice. I spent it with Rachel, the engaged one. I am so happy for her. B"H she and her chattan (had to write it with T's since he's sfardi) are so cute together! After Shabbos, Rachel's aunt drove me to where Erica was staying because we were going back to the city together. We had a reservation at Eden Wok for 9:45, but we didn't leave Brooklyn until about 10. We were meeting up with some girls from seminary. Erica started this thing where we would get together every motzei Shabbos mevarchim. We ended up getting there at about 11, but not to worry, there were only 4 girls there. We ended up with about 12 girls. It was really nice.

Sunday was a very relaxing day. I slept in, then woke up and read. Sure, there were things I could have done, but no regrets! At about 3:30, Erica, another roomate and I trekked down to 18th Street because the two of them needed a book and I wanted to tag along. We went into a few clothing stores, then we went to Barnes and Noble. After that, we went straight to the CAF for dinner.

I'll skip to the fun part...

At 10:30, Tiff and her friend Jasmine wanted to walk to Times Square. I went along, of course! We walked around the town a little bit. We watched these 4 guys from Brooklyn having a caricaturist draw them. As we were walking out of Times Square, we passed by a few college students standing in a circle and singing acapella. Jasmine went over to them and was like, "Oh, I love you guys! Can you sing for us?" Sure enough, we sat on a ledge and they sang! They were from a community college in San Francisco and they are singing at Lincoln Center tonight at 8:30. They were really good. There were about 12 of them there, but their chamber has 36 people in it. They sang, Stand By Me, My Girl, How About You, and some others. It was so cool! After the performance, we headed back to Brookdale. Tiff ran to her room to get her books, and I ran to get Erica. Then we all headed to Baskin Robbins. I had a milkshake, and Tiff had a latte while she was studying. Erica and I left her there at 1:30.

I HAD FUN IN NEW YORK!
Don't worry, I am not letting it get to my head...

Thursday, April 07, 2005

My Favorite Song

My current favorite song is called "Henay" from the album "Brand New Day" by Emes 2. I wanted to share the lyrics to this song, because it is a great song with a powerful message:

Woke up this morning searching for a ray of light
But the sky was black and everything was as dark as night
Scared to turn on the radio might find out I'm dead
A wise man once told me something can't remember a word he said.

Slowly crawled out of bed, just another day.
Don't even care if I'm headed the right way
How'd the world come to this, where did I go wrong
Why am I sitting here singing a sad song.

Why should I keep going on
Henay lo yanum v'lo yishan
Why should I try I'm just gonna fail
Lo yanum v'lo yishan shomer Yisrael*

(speeds up)

Woke up this morning searching for a ray of light
True the skies are black but I'll put up a fight
Turned on the radio turns out I'm not quite dead
Finally found the old man, remembered what he said.

Jumped out of bed and it's a brand new day
Made sure this time I was headed the right way
The world is what it is and that's reality
But it's up to me to decide what kind of song this will be.

But there's one thing that keeps me going on
Henay lo yanum v'lo yishan
One reason that I'm not scared to fail
Lo yanum v'lo yishan shomer Yisrael

Hiney lo yanum v'lo yishan shomer Yisrael


*This verse comes from Tehillim (Psalms) 121:4. It means:
Behold the Guardian of Israel will neither slumber nor sleep.


It gets harder and harder to take these words to heart. We see what the world is like now.
H-shem hides Himself more and more. We have to work hard to find Him.


Are you up for the job?

I'm a Big Kid Now...

I got a suit today. I KNOW! Not to worry, I am not turning into a JAP...yet. I went shopping with Bloomie. Today was the first time that I went "real shopping." I have found that I am much more successful when I am not looking for anything. Bloomie wanted to go shopping and I did not really want to. Then I thought, It is so nice out. Why would I stay inside and do nothing. I'll just go along and help her. We walked down 34th Street. We went into Payless and tried on pointy heels. I felt like I was playing dress-up! Sigh. Then we went to Old Navy and I got a sweatshirt. (It's a really cool green one...I had to write that because I would hate to leave you hanging.) Then we went into Sephora. After that, we went into H&M. There is one closer to the dorm, but the one near Penn Station has much more tznius stuff. That is where I bought my suit. I am going to wear it on Pesach. I am still shocked about it. Whoa.

After speech class today, the teacher handed back the pacpers from the speeches that were already done, e.g. mine. I got a (ready for this one?) B-/C+/B-/C+. I was as confused as you are. Then someone explained that there are 4 different grades for 4 different things. The teacher made her little comments. I am really excited about my final speech which I will give in a couple of weeks. I am going to speak about humor/laughter. I am going to start off by saying, (yes, I already have an idea) "Have you ever had to get up in front of a group and speak and you felt really nervous?" Then I am going to go on and speak about how humor/laughter is powerful and can calm you down (in some way). We'll see how that goes.

By the way...IT WAS SO NICE OUT TODAY! I was shocked. I know exactly why it was nice out...BECAUSE THE RED SOX BEAT THE YANKEES 7-3! When I was coming down from speech class, I saw the security guard that it a Mets fan and he told me. He makes fun of me for being a Boston fan, but I tell him he can't because he's a Mets fan. Will they ever learn?

Wednesday, April 06, 2005

I Miss It

I miss being able to be at the Kotel...

Instead of just watching it on a webcam.

I miss being able to play with my nephews...

Instead of just thinking about how big they are getting without me.

I miss being able to travel around Yerushalayim and take in its holiness...

Instead of being where the "holy" sites are Macy's and the Empire State Building.

I miss being able to walk down Geula and be surrounded by Tzniut...

Instead of walking down the streets of NYC and cringing at every window display.

I miss being in a school with amazing teachers and incredible classes...

Instead of being in a school where certain teachers and classes are considered "iffy."

I miss being in the Land that Hashem chose for us.

I miss being in the Land where everyone reaches out to one another.

I miss being in the Land where holiness reigns and materialism does not.

I miss being in the Land that we can call HOME!

May we all be able to join in Eretz Yisrael with Moshiach Bimhaira Biyameinu,

AMEN!

The end of yet another Tuesday...

Fieldwork, as always, was awesome! Two of the kids that I have become close to gave me their e-mail addresses. One of them told me that I am the best teacher. Sigh. I love kids. Anyway, afterwards, I went down to Devora's office and stuffed a few envelopes so I would look busy. Then we left. It was SUCH a beautiful day today. We walked around for a little bit before getting on the bus to the Heights. When we finally got there, we strolled over to the grocery store, then went back and I watched Devora make dinner. Hey, supervising is a hard job, but someone's gotta do it! We hung out, then I called the shuttle at midnight. By the time I got to YU, it was 12:25 and the shuttle came 2 minutes later. Sweet. Now I'm back and can't wait to go to sleep! No, blogging is not Gezel Sheina (sleep-stealing). I'm just not too fond of catching up if I haven't written for a while. Besides, I would feel horrible leaving you in suspense for so long! Good night!

Monday, April 04, 2005

Thanks, EN!

I just want to thank EN for posting. It is nice to know that someone reads these posts and thinks they are written well. Though a blog could be seen as a waste of time, it actually helps me. I have a lot to get out of my system and even though it may not show in the blog posts which are mostly about my days here in NYC, I feel as if I do get some of it out. Please keep the comments coming. It really helps with the process in some way. Thank you again, EN. Pass this blog more often...(hint, hint to all the people I KNOW)

ARGH!

Why isn't this blogger letting me make paragraph breaks?????

MAZEL TOV!

MAZEL TOV! SPIEGEL IS ENGAGED!
My very good friend from seminary, Rachel Spiegel, got engaged to Avi Giladi of Brooklyn last night. (Pictures on onlysimchas...duh!) I had spoken to her in the morning and she told me I could go to her house for Shabbos. Then I got a call at 8 and she told me she was engaged. If I told you that I went crazy, that would be an understatement! AAAAH! As we say whenever a girl from Afikei gets engaged/married, "Another one bites the dust!" (well, originally, it was said when a girl was kicked out, but whatever) Whoa! So, at around 10, Erica, Allison and I went to Brooklyn. B"H Rachel is so happy and we are SO happy for her. She is in charge of the shtick at every wedding and it woul probably be too hard for her to do it at her own wedding. That leaves me in charge. It's a big responsibility! MAZEL TOV!
Oh, she said I could still go to her house for Shabbos! :)
Something really weird happened last night. We got back from Brooklyn at around 1:10am, and I got into bed at 1:30. Usually, when I get into bed, especially after 1am, I fall asleep very quickly. Last night, however, was a different story. I was tossing and turning for about a half hour. Then I heard my phone make it's "you have a text message" noise. I checked my phone to see if I really did get one, and I had! It was from a friend asking me to go down to her room because she needs "a crying shoulder." I went down to her and she was sitting alone in the dark and crying. I sat with her and listened for only 10 minutes, but it helped. At least I hope it did.
While I was sitting there, I realized something. Did H'shem not want me to fall asleep because He wanted me to be awake when she needed me?
There's something to think about...

Sunday, April 03, 2005

WHO ARE YOU?

Okay, I would really like to know who EN is. Any ideas?

Happy Opening Day!

GO SOX!
Shabbos was really nice. I stayed in Windsor with Dena, her apartment mate, her apartment mate's sister and her friend. It was great to be able to relax on Friday afternoon since I didn't have to rush to the train station. Sigh. We ate two meals at Stern. There was a senior Shabbaton this weekend, so there were a lot of people there and rubbed in the fact that they are leaving before me. It's all good, though.
We got back to the apartment on Shabbos day at about 12:30. Dena went to sleep and I read. They we had seuda shlishit together. It was really nice. My Friday morning trip to the caf really paid off. After that, we made Havdala and I went back to Brookdale. Dena called me later and asked if I wanted to see a movie with her. I am usually against going to see movies in theaters, because I feel like it's a complete waste of time. No, it's not because I'm flipped. I like seeing rented movies, because if you get tired of it you can stop it and continue it later. Well, I went to the theater last night. What else was there to do? We saw Melinda and Melinda. You should do your own research to find out what it was about. All I can say is that Will Ferrell is one of the funniest men alive. After the movie, I came back to the dorm and had the room to myself. NICE.
Now, I need to find something to do. I mean I could totally, like, go shopping. We'll see.
Have a great day everyone!

Friday, April 01, 2005

Visa

Tuition - 5 million billion kajillion dollars
Food for Shabbos afternoon - $24.09 on caf card
Staying in the city and not having to run around on Friday afternoon- Priceless

There are some things that money can't buy. For everything else, there's CafCard.

Okay, okay, so it's corny. Deal with it.

It's April Fool's Day! Haha!

I hope my last post didn't scare anyone. I have NOT turned into some political stand taker. Don't worry.

ANYWAY, yesterday, after class, a girl that I became close to who was in her first year of Afikei this year, came to visit me. She is in a seminary in Queens. It was so nice to see her. Seeing people that I knew or saw around in Israel is very comforting to me. It reminds me that people over there still exist even though I'm not there. Deep, huh?

Oh, want to hear about my new obsession? Okay, so this week, I had wanted to make a poster for DJ, so I wanted to blow up a picture of us. So, I walked in the pouring rain to Staples to make photocopies. I decided to get 2. However, the guy behind the counter decided to make 3 off-centered copies. I told him that I would take them all and he only charged me for 2. So, I am sure that now you are all wondering, what did Hinda do with the extra pictures? Allow me to satisfy your curiosity. I decided to have fun with one of them and trace over the picture with permanent markers. You know, red for the lips, brown or orange for the hair. As I was doing it, I turned the picture over and it had gone through to the other side. Telling you that it looked totally awesome would be an understatement!

So, due to my new hobby-finding, I went back to Staples yesterday and made copies of 6 more pictures. I already messed one up, but on the other hand, I did one that came out really really cool! Okay, moving right along.

After my shana alef girl left, I went to dinner with my roomie to meet Dena and her friend. There was some good moo-moo in the caf last night. Mmm. Then we went back to the dorm and chilled until 7:50. At that time, I went to meet Dena because we were going to a speech together. For our speech class (we have the same teacher but are not in the same class) we have to write a critique essay on a speaker for the end of the semester. We had to take notes...in other words, pay attention. The speech was amazing. The topic was "At Risk Adolescents in the Orthodox Jewish Community: Implications and Intervention for Educators." Dr. David Pelcovitz was the speaker. The speech was a part of his "inauguration" for becoming a professor at the Azrieli Graduate School of Jewish Education and Stern College. He was amazing. I have great notes (if I do say so myself) about what he said and I am planning to type them up, so if you would like a copy e-mailed to you, let me know.

I am staying in for Shabbos. I told myself that I would never do that. But, I am staying in Dena's apartment in Windsor which is a part of Stern. NICE apartments. I have to go to the caf soon to get stuff for seuda shelishit and stuff. And Dena wants me to ask a lot of questions. Oh, responsibility!

Shabbat Shalom, everyone!