The Coffeehouse

Why sometimes crowdsourcing doesn't work...

My sister had a midterm exam this morning and she decided to go out with friends last night and not come back till late and be tired and be too sleepy to study. So she did what I usually do when I really can't and don't have the time to nap, but I need to anyway so that I have energy to stay up and study: she napped on my bed while I had the music going and was trying to clean-up my room. It's a psychological thing. You're so tired that you'll sleep through anything, bright lights and rock music, but the environment will keep you from going into deep REM. At 2:20 am (my sleeping pattern is still very messed up from the holidays), she flops on my bed with no instructions as to when to wake her up or if I'll be getting my bed back. I manage to get some mumbled answers from her and fix up the alarm clock next to my bed for 5 am so that she can get some rest but wake up and have a couple of hours to study before her test. I get her cell phone from her room and set the alarm on that for 5 am as well. I would have slept on her bed until she woke up, but she had notes and books scattered everywhere and I didn't wanna mess it up, also I needed to make sure she woke up and studied! (I swear, sometimes I feel like I'm her mother, I even set my cellphone alarm to 5 am, we had 3 alarm clocks in one room!). I've been wanting an excuse to sleep in my sleeping bag again. This is the sleeping bag that I bought and used for my Palestine trip and it holds a very special place in my heart. So I spread it out on the floor of my room and remembered the good times...

The summer program N and I were going to attend had rented a boy's secondary school and we'd be sleeping in classrooms, so a sleeping bag was needed. On our second attempt at entering the West Bank, we spent most of the day in a room where bag searches were being done. Just watching the soldiers open up each bag, search every sleeve, pocket and leg of shirts and pants, take samples from shampoos and toothpastes and pass empty bags through x-ray machines, then watch the owners of the bags refold and repack. Finally, it was my turn to watch the soldier mess up my clothes and belongings that I had so meticulously organized and packed. She got to my sleeping bag, took it out of its casing, unzipped it, padded it down, and sent it through the x-ray machine. She gave me a questioning, confused look. I had stuffed a flashlight into the casing as well.

"Why do you need a sleeping bag and a flashlight?" We told them we were going to be staying at the Novotel Hotel in Jerusalem, tourists that we are.

N and I had come up with every possible answer to every possible question that we could've been asked, and non of it was truthful. We forgot about the sleeping bags, and the flashlight. Luckily, I had just pored over a tourist guide to "Israel" the night before. Tourist.

"We're planning on visiting Soloman's pillars, camping out in the Negev desert. Y'know sleep under the stars, watch the night sky."

"You're crazy, you're gonna get eaten by mosquitos." Skeptic.

"That's okay, it'll be fun."

She was right about them mosquitos, everyone would joke that they were Israeli mosquitos, sucking the blood out of us. They call it "el hiss-hiss", although some say "el hiss-hiss" is another blood sucking insect, still Israeli. Every morning, I'd wake up with 2 or three bites on my lips, several on the rest of my face, and even more on my hands. The bites would be so bad, that I'd wake up from the pain they caused. Without any type of alarm clock except throbbing pain in my hands, I'd wake up at about 7 am every morning. On the bright-side, I always beat the morning rush to the bathroom. I'd almost suffocate during the night, zipping up my sleeping bag over my head, trying to keep out the hiss-hiss. And when I peek my head out to get some fresh air, they attack. You can hear them coming in groups...hisss, hisss.....

Last night we had our first real snow. Forget those last pictures I took, that was amateur winter stuff, it hasn't really snowed until you've got at least 4 inches of the white stuff on the ground and everyone is driving in slow-mo.

I love snow, it was so refreshing to wake up this morning and see nothing but endless white outside my window. It's like our bodies are in-tune with the seasons, just like any other biological being, your mentally and physically programmed to expect certain temperatures and sights at specific times of the year. Since December, I have woken up fully expecting a winter wonderland, and it just seems wrong when I see trees budding and green grass instead. It's surprising, and frankly, very annoying! So today, I was a happy caffeine-and-snow-loving gal. A happy caffeine-and-snow-loving gal who had to walk through miles of yucky dirty slush to get to the bus stop. Ok, a quarter of a mile, but still, SLUSH. I loved it!

I got The Da Vinci Code from the public library on Saturday and I'm halfway through it. I was extremely bored over the weekend, and since I haven't gotten any of my class texts, I had nothing to read. Usually, I don't do any non-academic reading when classes are going on because I have no self-discipline and I would gladly use up most of my study time to read the non-academic stuff. No self-discipline right? I haven't been able to put down the stupid book because it's so good! Not as good as Angels & Demons, but there were times while reading this book where I literally gasped out of shock and surprise. The one thing I hate about this book is its cover. It's got that "NOW A MAJOR MOTION PICTURE" text on it. I'll be honest with you, I judge a book by it's cover. I was actually debating whether to get the book or not, but I couldn't find any other cover for it, and I finally gave in. I also borrowed White Oleander, and the only copy of it I found was one that had the movie poster as the cover, grrr. If the text in the book is good, the cover should reflect it, not make reference to its movie, which could potentially suck. Sometimes though, I've picked out books with gorgeous covers only to stop reading the novel after the 5th page. So, I agree, you can never tell what's inside by the cover, but still, they've got to be pretty!

Sophie and Langdon are at the Zurich bank and have gotten hold of the Rosewood box with some liquid thingy inside!
 

EDIT: I forgot to mention, my sister, who goes to a different university, got to stay at home today since her university cancelled all classes due to the snow! My university NEVER closes down due to weather. She's first year, I'm fourth, you'd think I should be getting the break!

Sometimes I get what I call "Email Indifference and Detachment Syndrome" (EIDS, ie. a holiday from my email :p) and I don't check my mail. I do sign in, check my Junk Mail, empty the Trash folder, and skim the subjects and senders of new emails for important, non-expected, non-listserv emails. I've had EIDS for a while, and I've accumulated so far 43 emails that are not really junk, and I would like to take a peek at them sometime in the future, just not now. Some of the nonread emails date back to December 19th!

Anyhoo, so I just checked an email from my friend dated December 31st, and I hadn't read it earlier because of the subject - "FW: Did you know?" You may know by now that I abso-fudging-lutely hate forwards and chain letters, but I didn't automatically delete this because my friend doesn't usually send me forwards unless they really are interesting. And I thought I'd pass it along some of it's cooler tidbits but I don't know how accurate some of the facts are...

In the 1400's a law was set forth in England that a man was allowed to beat his wife with a stick no thicker than his thumb. Hence we have "the rule of thumb"
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Many years ago in Scotland , a new game was invented. It was ruled "Gentlemen Only...Ladies Forbidden"...and thus the word GOLF entered into the English language.
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The first couple to be shown in bed together on prime time TV were Fred and Wilma Flintstone.
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Every day more money is printed for Monopoly than the U.S. Treasury.
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Men can read smaller print than women can; women can hear better.
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Coca-Cola was originally green.
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It is impossible to lick your elbow.
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The State with the highest percentage of people who walk to work: Alaska
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The cost of raising a medium-size dog to the age of eleven: $ 16,400
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The average number of people airborne over the U.S. in any given hour: 61,000
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Intelligent people have more zinc and copper in their hair.
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The first novel ever written on a typewriter: Tom Sawyer.
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The San Francisco Cable cars are the only mobile National Monuments.
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Each king in a deck of playing cards represents a great king from history:
Spades - King David
Hearts - Charlemagne
Clubs -Alexander, the Great
Diamonds - Julius Caesar
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111,111,111 x 111,111,111 = 12,345,678,987,654,321
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If a statue in the park of a person on a horse has both front legs in the air, the person died in battle. If the horse has one front leg in the air the person died as a result of wounds received in battle. If the horse has all four legs on the ground, the person died of natural causes.
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Q. If you were to spell out numbers, how far would you have to go until you would find the letter "A"?
A. One thousand
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Q. What do bulletproof vests, fire escapes, windshield wipers, and laser printers all have in common?
A. All were invented by women.
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Q. What is the only food that doesn't spoil?
A. Honey
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Q. Which day are there more collect calls than any other day of the year?
A. Father's Day
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In Shakespeare's time, mattresses were secured on bed frames by ropes. When you pulled on the ropes the mattress tightened, making the bed firmer to sleep on. Hence the phrase......... "goodnight, sleep tight."
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It was the accepted practice in Babylon 4,000 years ago that for a month after the wedding, the bride's father would supply his son-in-law with all the mead he could drink. Mead is a honey beer and because their calendar was lunar based, this period was called the honey month, which we know today as the honeymoon.
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~~~~~~~~~~~AND FINALLY~~~~~~~~~~~~
At least 75% of people who read this will try to lick their elbow!
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I tried to lick my elbow :( 

Maybe the world has gone nuts, maybe I've become crazy, we don't know. There are too many variables to control and isolate to be able to find out just what the situation is. It could be a co-evolutionary type of crazy development, but nonetheless, I call for an end to the madness!

Courtship and Mating. Not-so-scientifically speaking...

These are "good" things, generally speaking, unless you're an idiot/idiotte like George Dubya (too late) or Paris Hilton and should not be allowed procreate. Mating makes the world go round. But's let's just stop obsessing about it, for the sake of my sanity. It seems like everywhere I look, there is some kind of technology or advice to help you with your search for the perfect mate, the perfect love, and the perfect romance. Maybe it's just because I'm at that age where people are looking for mates that I'm noticing this more? Or has our society's priorities really shifted towards this trend?

And there is pressure. Lots and lots of pressure, and somehow I feel that my mom is being peer pressured into pressuring me. We have some family friends who have gotten married/engaged over the past year, and my mom has friends who have sons "mate-searching" and I think she feels left out of the whole shabang. I kind of understand, who wants to be left behind when your friends are moving on to their next stage of life? And I feel guilty, but what's the rush? I don't think I want to settle down/get married for while...

That being said, allow me to take this opportunity to inform you how much it sucks being single at engagement parties or weddings. Everyone just gawks at the bachelors and bachelorettes and attempt to matchmake guys and gals with their eyes. Also, to those who claim to be single and happy, LIES! Being single is the lesser of the two evils, people may not be ready to commit to any serious or long-term relationships, but that doesn't mean singles lose the need for companionship. Being single is only great! fun! and happy-joy! when you are promiscuous or are involved in some pseudo-courtship. There's too much pressure out there to not be single to enjoy singledom. LIES I tell ya...

There are a lot of Arabic phrases that are difficult to translate into, or even equate with, English phrases. This includes the infamous " 'obalik" said on joyous occasions such as engagements and weddings (graduations too) to those who have yet to acheive what the celebrated person(s) have acheived, kind of like "can't wait to celebrate your acheivements". When said from one friend to another, it often takes on a teasing form as in "Haha, you're next, you can run but you can't hide" or the more desparate "I need YOU to find someone, so that he/she could hook ME up with a cute friend". When said to you from parents, it means "Hurry up, why are you still single, stop being an embarrasement." When said to you by other elders it means "My son/daughter is single too" (wink, wink). In response, you tell your friend to shut up, you humour your parents and apologize, and you smile and pretend you don't know what the elders mean, holding up ten fingers indicating " 'obalik" is not likely to occur for the next ten years thank-you-very-much.

Down with social pressures!