yay, life!

On Friday, I took my midrash final. Why did I take it in November? Because we're allowed to take the final whenever we want, and I didn't want to worry about it in December, when I need to focus on the rest of my classes.

You might be thinking, "Sarah, what the hell is midrash?" That's totally cool, because I wasn't completely sure before I took the class. Midrash is interpretation of Jewish texts (like the Torah, but not limited to just the Torah) done primarily by rabbis. I feel comfortable telling you this because I got an A on the final and the teacher, who is the chair of the JTS midrash department, said that he agreed with my definition. He also said that he was pleasantly surprised by how I did on the final since I'm so quiet in class (hard to believe, right?) so he had not been sure how I would do. I got a kick out of that.

He also told me that now that he knows that I "know my stuff" that he expects me to participate a lot in class. This means he's going to call on me, so I need to have all of the Hebrew/Aramaic texts prepared for class. Oh well. He's an awesome professor, so I'm okay with that. (Side note: I'm always supposed to have the texts prepared for class, but whatever.)

This past weekend, the band went to Cornell. This meant that I got to see Scott! We hung out at his house and watched "Ocean's 11" and had a slumber party on his extremely comfortable couch. It was epic. Also, the football team won! This brings this season's number of wins to 3. This is 1 more win than last year (and one more win than the year before)! Next weekend we're playing Brown, and we don't have to wear our uniforms! I am looking forward to this...I have a potentially awesome/entertaining costume for the game!

chugging along

My "midterm season" will end on Tuesday! I have a psych exam then, and an anthro paper due tomorrow...and I just remembered that it's due tomorrow and not Tuesday, when the class is.

Shit.

So on Friday, I got a haircut. Now, I think my hair is around the length of JJ's (my brother), except for my bangs, which are longer. Now he and I will probably look even more alike, minus the fact that he is 6+ inches taller than me and I have boobs. I'm donating my hair to Locks of Love! This is my second time doing this. Currently, my hair is sitting in a bag on my printer. Maybe I will mail it in tomorrow?

Last night, Louise, Sam, Sam's friend Justin, Charline, Adam, and I went to see Rocky Horror Picture Show performed live. It was awesome! Adam and I had never seen it before, so we went up on stage and participated in a very special game...I came in second, to a 15-year-old girl who was skanked out in American Apparel. I don't mind losing to her. We bought prop bags for the show, which basically involved throwing things. During the wedding scene we threw rice...and it got stuck in everyone's hair (especially mine), clothes...it was super awesome.

I have been having a thought for awhile. I don't think this is necessarily something I am capable of doing, but it would be awesome to have. I think that there should be an interactive website for Jewish travelers. Basically, you enter the name of the place you want to go, and get message boards and links and everything, with resources (Chabbad, list of kosher restaurants, synagogues, also bitchin' places to go, both religious and secular alike), as well as a message board, to talk to other travelers (like what I did for my trip to Cairo, which I planned completely by myself). It would be so awesome and helpful!

If I could have basically any job, I'd love to do this.

This was one of my random thoughts of the day!

travel bug?

Not that I have the money to travel to awesome places ("awesome" is subjective...I think that Stew Leonard's is awesome, though that's less of an opinion and more fact), but I still want to travel!

Granted, I don't have the time at the moment to carry out said travel plans. That's actually one of the good things about marching band...even though it takes up a lot of time, I get to see a lot of the east coast...FO' FREE!

Here is my list of places to go:

1. Mount Vernon, IA

I NEED to go visit my friend Mara. We went to Camp Young Judaea Midwest together. We discovered that we share the same birthday and are basically two halves of the same person (She's the bubbly, effervescent half and I'm the cynical half.)! She goes to Cornell College and is making aliyah after she graduates...so I should visit her now, before she moves halfway across the world!

The only issue is that Cornell College is about 3 hours away from my house by car, and I'm not sure that my parents will let me borrow the car to make the trip.

2. Philadelphia, PA

I also need to visit Mike, my Facebook husband. And Philadelphia is a pretty cool place.

3. Annendale on Hudson, NY

I need to go to Bard College to visit Josh!

And beyond?

So I'm in Florida...

Florida is great! I'm visiting my grandparents right now in Cape Coral, which is in South West Florida.

As I was boarding my connecting flight from Miami International Airport to Southwest Florida International Airport, the woman scanning the tickets turned to me and said, "How old are you?" I was shocked. Do I really look like I am not old enough to fly by myself? I told her that I'm 20 (I had to pause for a second, because I haven't had to tell people of my entrance into this new decade very often), and she said, "Okay, big girl!"

It was weird. And patronizing.

Then, I went to Home Depot with my grandpa, to try to find a new mini fridge, preferably with hinges on the left side (so my left-handed grandpa has an easier time getting his beer out of the mini fridge while watching football). They didn't have what he was looking for, so the woman turned to me and said, "Go online and try to find it for him." They then had a discussion about how they can't use the internet.

It's official: I'm the youngest person here.

The weather is apparently unseasonably warm, which I love. It's in the 80s and sunny! I found a great running route, but I have no desire to wake up before the sun is in full force, so I haven't been doing quite as much running (25 minutes yesterday, 33 minutes today...okay, so maybe not THAT much less...) I don't think I'm going to get rid of my awesome farmer's tan, but I think I definitely have more freckles now than I did two days ago...win! There's also the pool, but it's not as fun by myself. When I came to Florida with my family, my siblings and I would swim together...which always devolved into fighting (I'm a mean fighter). This is my second visit to Florida by myself (I also came to Florida by myself last October), and since my schedule doesn't really line up with my family's, I'm not sure when the next time I'll be able to go on a family vacation with them (aside from when we visit my Grandma for Christmas) will be.

As for homework...I've done a little. For me, this is a big deal, so you should be happy for me! I'm writing a paper on A Clockwork Orange, about how the orchestral music relates to the violence and sexual imagery.

But now, on to the most important thing...stone crab claws. The season just began. Here's how it works: The crabs can regrow their claws! This means that the fishermen catch the crabs. If the crab has 2 claws, they take the bigger claw and put the crabs back. If the crab only has 1 claw, they aren't allowed to take anything. This means that the claws are the best in the beginning of the season, because there are more of them. The claws are hard, like porcelain. In the restaurant, they sometimes pre-crack them for you, to make it easier. You take the claw cracker and use it to whack the claw, rather than crack it. Pieces of the claw then chip off, and then you can pull the crab meat out with a little fork. It tastes absolutely incredible. My grandpa likes to use the butter sauce with the crab, but I think it's too rich for that (plus, the emulsified butter grosses me out), but I think that it actually goes best with mustard (yes, Grey Poupon).

So yeah, vacation rocks!