Showing posts with label IF-Free Zone. Show all posts
Showing posts with label IF-Free Zone. Show all posts

September 11, 2009

Remembering 8 Years Ago Today

(This blog is dangerously beginning to teeter on normal, non-themed journaling, but indulge me as I diverge from the IF realm for a bit...)

Over the course of the morning I've been engaging with colleagues and students about their memories of Sept. 11th, 2001. The most shocking revelation was when speaking with one of my student staff, she said she was in 6th grade 8 years ago! I was a college sophomore at the time... boy, do I feel old now!

Anyway, in doing so, I've found it therapeutic, and from a history buff standpoint, quite fascinating hearing stories of a shared, collective experience such as this.

I remember the day vividly, and I'd like to share my experience as I remember it:
I was a college sophomore, at a school in central NJ. I woke up early, put on this hippie-style top I had at the time, did my hair and makeup (a rarity before a 9am class in college). It was the ONE morning I deliberately chose not to turn on the TV to CNN that morning, as I did every other morning. I had a small breakfast and headed to class. I took a midterm at 9am; our prof was a few minutes late, and a couple of students mentioned about a plane crash in NYC. He thought it was a small aircraft, and said the midterm was continuing as planned. At 10:50am, I left my class and passed a friend of mine in the hall, hysterically sobbing. She had interned at Morgan Stanley that summer. She was the first one who told me the Towers had fallen. I still hadn't seen a TV yet, and headed to my 11am midterm.

My professor was sitting at his desk, sobbing. He waited to make sure all the students had shown up, and then canceled class. I was still pretty clueless as to what was going on. I didn't have a cell phone at that point, so I had to find a payphone to call my parents in southern NJ; I used my emergency calling card I kept on me. My mom explained everything, and was hysterical b/c my dad, a photojournalist for a major newspaper, pretty much left for NYC to cover it as soon as he saw it happen live on the morning news. I walked back to my dorm, sobbing to myself.

I congregated in the lounge, with its giant big-screen TV, watching replays of the footage that morning over and over and over, most of the res life staff sitting there, shell-shocked. I remember feeling weird about going up to my room on the 9th floor of my dorm, as I lived in buildings dubbed as the Twin Towers of our college - two adjacent 10 story high-rise freshmen buildings.

I remember TVs being on everywhere, and if there wasn't a TV somewhere, projectors and screens had CNN going on in the dining halls. I called Ari at some point, and we talked about all sorts of stuff, including what would happen if there was a draft. I remember feeling like a zombie for days.

I remember the ban on air travel, and how quiet it was outside, esp. since there was a small airport with regular traffic that practically buzzed our res halls on a daily basis. It was strange to walk outside and not hear air traffic. I still remember the first plane I heard outside after the ban was lifted, and the sinking feeling in my gut.

I still remember all of this with crystal clarity, and yet it was 8 years ago, today.
I think keeping the dialogue about what we remember is important, and quite honestly, fascinating. What do you remember about 8 years today? Feel free to leave comments about your memories.

September 10, 2009

Show & Tell 3: No Reservations about Anthony Bourdain

Sushi, anyone?
This is Anthony Bourdain. I have a little bit of a celebrity crush on him.

That purple door really brings out your cigarette.

He's written a totally awesome book, Kitchen Confidential, which I finished listening to on audiobook a couple of weeks ago. In fact, it was the audiobook I listened to for the several long drives back and forth from NJ to MA the week Ari's Nan passed away. I've been a skeptic about audiobooks, but having watched No Reservations regularly, I knew Tony (yeah, we're cool like that) had a great speaking voice, and it would be an easy listen. It's a fantastic no-holds-barred look at the dirty underbelly of the restaurant biz. You will think twice about ordering fish on Mondays or brunch on, well, ever, and you'll have a new found appreciation for butter, Ecuadorian kitchen staff, women chefs and line cooks, and patient spouses. It is a highly enjoyable "read" (can I say that since I didn't actually pick up a book?) and a must for foodies.

Ari and I tune in every Monday for No Reservations (or at least we Tivo it and catch up during the week). We're getting ridiculously excited about our forthcoming two-week trip to Japan in mid-October. And yes, we've rewatched all the No Reservations Japan/Tokyo eps already :) There's a razor sharp wit and practicality, as well as a genuine sense of humbleness to Tony Bourdain that we both really love and appreciate, and it makes us think twice, or rather think intentionally, about the food we eat and the places we visit. We've decided that we both want Tony Bourdain's job - traveling the world, eating, and writing. Next on my reading list is his book about the No Reservation experience, similarly titled.

For the record, I find it kind of hysterical that I've grown up to become a foodie, when I was pickiest eater as a child ever. I will try just about anything that's not moving. I am sucking up the courage to eat kobe beef tartar when we make a day trip to Kobe. We are PUMPED about arranging a traditional kaiseki dinner in Kyoto or Tokyo. But what it comes down to it is that I love good food, good flavors, new experiences. I relate closely to that opening scene in Ratatouille, where Remy goes on about how food is just awesome, how flavors combine and collide and the resulting sensation in your mouth and there's all the corresponding fireworks and swirls... o la la!
Rats can be foodies, too.

But back to the task at hand: Tony Bourdain. The point of my Show and Tell this time around is that, well, I've got it bad for the man. And Ari is totally aware, b/c I make some inappropriate comment every time the show is on. He's suave, quite good looking for an older dude, he's well-traveled, cooks a good meal.. what more could a girl ask for?

How can you resist that boyish charm?
. . .

July 30, 2009

Show & Tell 2: Fish!


It's that time again. Be sure to see what the other kids are showing off this week!

Once again, I have a camping related S&T post. Ari and I went camping on Burton Island, off the VT coast of Lake Champlain this past weekend. We had an amazing time with lots of firsts: first time camping w/o a tent (we slept under a lean-to with just a mosquito net to cover us), first time camping on an island, first time catching fish- then cleaning and eating them! On to the pics.


This is looking out on Lake Champlain. The weather held up for the most part- rain at night, but hot and sunny during the day.

A nice view of the docks at Burton Island.

Our very sacrilicious marshmallow roasting. It rained the first night, and we REALLY wanted campfire marshmallows, so we roasted them over the tea lights we brought as Shabbos candles... and it totally worked.


We caught three fish! From the top: Sunfish (I cast, but Ari reeled in), Smallmouth Bass (I caught), Yellow Perch (Ari caught). We cleaned and ate them and they were delicious. It was important we catch dinner b/c I forgot to pack Saturday night's dinner in the cooler!


A perfect end to our weekend: driving home, we saw a kickass thunderhead form a beautiful rainbow :)

June 28, 2009

Professional development vs. The Diet

The score? Diet's winning.

Tons of walking + tote full of swag + laptop computer in a bag + 3 full 20oz bottles of water a day = making up for any poor food choices I'm about to make tonight.

In Baltimore for a conference for work, and I'm having a wonderful time. My first out-of-town professional conference - it's been recharging and energizing all at once. I worried about not being able to keep up with Weight Watchers, but yesterday I was only over by 4 points, and I've still got 10 left for today. I'm making lots of smart choices - nixing the bun, loading up on salads and veggies before attacking the proteins, and only eating proteins in moderation. It's all about portion control, tons of H2O, schlepping up and down downtown Baltimore, and the most valuable thing I've been aware of most the last 2 days: knowing my hunger cues and cycles.

Re: my above equation... I love hitting up local NFT/Yelp finds. Yesterday I sought out the Lexington Market for lunch, and what a treat. Tons of food stalls: any cuisine you could think of, seafood, produce, fresh baked goods... the works! And there was even live jazz - these are the kind of traveling experiences I crave, I seek out- I love :)

Tonight, I'm trekking out via cab to Tapas Teatro, a hip little tapas bar with a killer wine list MELI, a hip lil bistro with live jazz tonight. I've got 10 daily points, 16 weekly points, and 14 activity points to cash in on plate after plate of tapas tonight (yes, I realized that's redudant as tapas means "plate") a lot of tasty French food and desserts. I think I deserve a little splurge, especially since it's on the company dollar! :)

June 11, 2009

Show and Tell: Fort Z.

It's time for...

Show and Tell

My virgin S&T post! I don't know how frequently I'll be doing this, but this week, I feature Fort Z., the affectionate name of our ridiculously large tent for 2 people. Since we're going camping this weekend, I thought it would be appropriate.

Let's take a look at this wondrous specimen of outdoor adventure, shall we? I nabbed these pics from the Kelty website.
The Kelty website describes our tent as a "reasonably priced... roomy tent that comes outfitted with a bonus screened-in vestibule with pull down shades. If you want protection from insects and critters, this tent is an obvious choice." An obvious choice indeed, b/c, as much as I love camping, bugs and critters scare the bejesus out of me. This tent was actually on our wedding registry (we registered with BB&B and REI), and someone actually got it for us. Word.

But Miriam, you say, that tent's not so big! Allow me to put on the rainfly. *fusses with rainfly* Ta-da!
That's right, there's a vestibule. Ari and I have joked on many an occasion that one time when we're camping we'll have margaritas under the vestibule. (What actually happens when we camp is that we just leave our shoes in there. Not as exciting as cocktails with umbrellas.)

But Miriam, you say, that still doesn't look that big. Oh really? Well, our tent can hold four, yes four coffins with decapitated heads inside!
(For the record, I find this floor plan horrifying.) What actually happens is that it's just Ari and me, in a corner, on top of an air mattress in our sleeping bags. I can't fathom camping without the air mattress.

So where exactly has Fort Z been? Let's take a look at its travels:
  • Shawme-Crowell State Forest in Sandwich, MA (June 2008): The inaugural raising of Fort Z. This was only the 2nd time I'd been camping in the woods... in my life. Also, this was the emergence year for Brood XIV- the 17-year cycle of cicadas appearing en masse to the New England region, particularly the Cape. There were literally millions of cicadas at the campground. Thankfully, not in the area we were staying, but we had to walk through hundreds of cicadas divebombing our heads at one point to get to the camp store. I shit you not, I almost had a mental break. Also, it rained.
  • So-Hi Campground in Accord, NY (July 2008): We went with 2 other couples, one of whom was 7-months pregnant at the time with their first child! It was an amazing time... but solidified our need to camp at State Parks only. We had some very lovely Eastern European neighbors (read: ~50 Ukrainians from NYC spread over 2 campsites with nearly a dozen tents pitched- TOTALLY not allowed at the campground) sharing their native folk tunes with us (read: cars parked with stereos blaring non-stop techno until 3am each night). Also, it rained.
  • Acadia National Park in Bar Harbor (Bah Hahbah), ME (September 2008): This time we went with about a dozen people, all connected in interesting ways to one another. We just so happened to camp the weekend that the remnants of Hurricane Ike made landfall in Bar Harbor. In addition to hiking a 1270 ft. mountain that weekend, we also camped through a hurricane. We were lucky our tent didn't float away in the deluge.
I feel it important to note here, that these 3 trips, including the first time I went camping in October 2007, it has rained every single trip.

This weekend we're headed to Wells State Park in central MA. And what is the weather forecast? Well, have a look for yourself:


Well, if Fort Z. made it through a hurricane, than it can sure as hell make it through a couple of thunderstorms. Make sure to swing by Mel's to see what the rest of the class is showing!