Must...stop...being...productive

Sleep? What is sleep? I do not know the word.

Here's what I have done these past two weeks, instead of giving my body some rest.

-I wrote a 5,000 word feature on the Tompkins County Workers' Center for my narrative journalism, which just got picked up by The Ithacan. They printed it on the front page.

-I edited the newest issue of Buzzsaw and wrote an article about a local coffee shop's baristas forming a union.

-Someone's article in the newest issue of Buzzsaw kind of sucked, so I cut out and wrote it myself.

-I took the worst Web design test ever.

-I took a friend to the emergency room. She's OK. But we only found that out after waiting for about nine hours.

-I caught up on Glee.

-I wore a cute skirt.

-I don't remember the rest.

Thank goodness I'm Jewish...

...Because otherwise listening to The Vaseline's "Jesus Doesn't Want Me for a Sunbeam" while pulling the night shift in the chapel would seem pretty blasphemous.

A wonderfully perfect walk home

This is all so cheesy, but this is how the night just kind of felt and worked itself out.

When I got out of work, there was this really thick, strange fog just covering everything. I'd been in the office since 6pm, and the skies were clear when I arrived. I wasn't expecting the change in weather at all.

There was rain, but was more of a drizzle and it was mixed with snowflakes.

For all the complaining I've been doing about the cold and the winter (I think maybe all the complaining everyone on the east coast has been doing about the cold and the winter), it was beautiful outside. The fog diffused the glow of the street lights and public safety call boxes, making the snow shine with a blue and gold haze. All the cars and signs were cast in a dark shadow, but the buildings themselves seemed to be glowing from the inside out.

I put my ipod on shuffle as I was leaving the office, and "Drops of Jupiter" by Train came on. The fog was so thick, and there really weren't very many people out. I was able to indulge in some middle school nostalgia and sing off-key about traveling through the galaxies and sharing soy lattes without anyone on campus recognizing me (I hope). I was able to throw in a few dance moves in an empty parking lot as well. It was really tempting to swing around a lamp post (actually meandered towards a few), but didn't give in that far. This isn't "Singing in the Rain."

Today wasn't particularly special. In fact, it had some downright shitty moments. Bad memories from recent events kept popping up in my head, and I ended up just keeping myself as busy as possible to keep from having a total, cry-in-the-corner meltdown.

But for a few minutes, on this walk home, my life was a music video. And everything was okay.

Sarah Silverman's plan to end world hunger.

Take note, Amnesty International. This is how you do it.



Silverman has made a very interesting and valid point here...without having to make a poop joke. Kudos.

Roll Into My Heart, Baby

So at the beginning of the school year (only three weeks ago?!), my friends and I sat down and made a bucket list. Even though it was only August, we could feel graduation breathing down our necks and decided to make a list of everything on and off-campus that we had yet to experience. Even though we've been in Ithaca for almost four years now, there was really SO much in the area that we never did.

I blame homework and alcohol.

But ANYWAY, tonight my friends Katie, Brian and I were able to scratch one of the most important things on our bucket list: go to a roller derby match.

A very brief explanation of roller derby: two teams of women skate in a tight group around a circle, and try to keep certain players, called jammers, from breaking through the circle. Whenever the lead jammer passes through the pack, they get points for every person they pass.

Knocking people down and/or throwing them out of the ring is ok.

The teams: the Ithaca Sufferjets versus Buffalo's Devil Dollies.

The final score: 131-130, Sufferjets. The final point was earned in like, seriously, the last 20 or so seconds.

The experience: I want to find my old skates and run over bitches. It was amazing. I don't typically get pumped up for sporting events...ever...but this roller derby match had me out of my seat and screaming. I would have been cursing too, but Summer Bludgeon's mom and baby girl were sitting right behind me. I'm a respectful spectator when I want to be.

Then again, Summer Bludgeon was seriously skating the shit out of the Devil Dollies and got thrown into the penalty box at least four times. While her family kept cheering. Maybe they wouldn't have minded if I started screaming for their daughter/mother to kick people in the face with her roller skates.

After witnessing a match, I really think that roller derby is a good role model for little girls. Goodness knows, there were certainly a TON of them at the rink to watch. The roller girls show that you don't need to be a certain size or shape to play sports, and that because you're a girl you don't have to be dainty. It also really showed teamwork, with skaters in the pack working together to get their jammer through the group and in the lead.

Anyone with the balls (figuratively speaking) to run people over in roller skates can play. This is a sport where girls can get dirty, act and dress a little crazy and have a ton of fun.

Get me some skates and fishnet stockings and sign me up.

Here's some photos from the match, brought to you by Katie Venetsky. The quality isn't super great, but that could have something to do with the fact that everyone was skating in circles.


skating in a giant circle and out for blood.

Ithaca has the lead jammer!

The Ithaca Sufferjets just before the national anthem.

Weird Buenos Aires

As my time in Buenos Aires is drawing to a close (Saturday makes one week WTF), I've begun to explore all the little nooks and crannies in the city that I walk by almost every day but have never really noticed.

And they're strange nooks and crannies.

For instance, take in this beauty.


This is Floralis Generica, a GIANT metal sculpture with its own park in the Recoleta barrio. It runs on solar energy and is capable of opening and closing like a real flower. When the sun rises, the petals open. When the sun sets, the petals close up again.

Or that was the initial concept.

Unfortunately, it's constantly breaking. It's really fun to walk by just as the sun goes down and watch the tourists holding up their cameras, waiting for Floralis Generica to close and then realizing that it's not going to happen. It's like watching a bunch of kids realize that Santa Claus isn't real.

Exhibit B: Siga la Vaca.

Haha, that's the door handle of this amazing parrilla (steakhouse). A forty-five peso lunch at this Puerto Madero eatery gets you all the salad and meat you can eat (seriously. All the meat you can eat), a drink and a dessert.

But notice Siga la Vaca's logo.



That little cow's face is all over the restaurant. And the whole time I was eating, I just kept thinking of this:



Mooby the Golden Calf watched me commit the sin of gluttony. I'm waiting for Matt Damon to slay me.

And finally, the coup de grace of weird Buenos Aires (at least to me): the hair salon across the street from my school.



Notice the portrait on the left of the sign.

Yes, that is Sawyer from Lost.

No, I don't get it either.

My New Housemate

So my house brother and friend Nacho is a med student. And apparently, in Buenos Aires they let med students take home unclaimed skeletons from cemeteries to play with.



I named him Earl.

Turning 21 and other things of some importance

So people are actually reading this thing...and asking me to update it? Definitely not the type of response I was expecting, so thanks everyone for reading it and encouraging me to continue!

Not that I would stop without your support...I like to think that I´m kind of a big deal.

Fun Fact: Briana googles herself quite a lot.

Anyway, here´s a quick Argentine update.

My 21st birthday was on Sunday! And I have no pictures of my birthday party from Saturday night! I was just too lazy to take any. But anyway, it was awesome. Here is a very faithful re-creation of what occured, brought to you by Google Image search. Not appropriate for minors!

My friends down here and I went to my favorite pizza restaurant in Buenos Aires, Romario´s. It was very tasty.



During my dinner, I began my first drink as a 21-year-old. It was a chopp of Brahma Beer. It tasted very legal.


Afterwards, my friends and I took a cab to a really funky club called Tazz in Palermo.


We drank cosmopolitans...


And tried to crash a private party. We didn´t know what it was when we tried.


Anyway, around 2am some of my friends got tired and went home. We had a field trip early in the morning, so they wanted a good night´s sleep.


Me and my friends Amanda and Sarah J on the other hand, decided that sleep was not a necessary tennet of attending a field trip. We stayed at Tazz for a little while longer and danced.


On Sunday morning, we went with IES to the town of El Tigre...we were very very tired. I was happy it was my 21st birthday, but I just wanted to curl up in a little ball and sleep.


Yes, I know you guys expected my 21st birthday to look like this:


But I´m classier than that.

Sure, watching too much TV is bad for you. And breathing in too deep will make your lungs explode.

Hey, I don't know if this company exists in the United States. If it does, has anyone seen this music video? It's my life right now.



I love Argentine television a little too much. There is a television in my room here and that's something I'm definitely not used to. There's always been one in my dorm at Ithaca, but because I had a roommate that's not one that I could turn on whenever I wanted, to whatever channel I wanted. Also, I finished all the books I brought during my first week here and don't want to spend money on more.

Anyway...Argentine television. First of all, the censorship seems to be nil. Know those special "call a sexy friend" type commercials that come on after midnight in the States? Here they're on ALL the time. On every channel. That's right, Disney Playhouse. I'm looking at you. There seems to be an abundance of Christmas-themed ones lately...

And exercise products! Belly busters and other weird torture devices abound. I feel like in the United States we have transcended these products...and take lots of pills instead.

Different channels too. No NBC, ABC, CBS yada yada yada. There's some national stations, like Cronica TV and Telefe. And then there's the Universal Channel, the Warner Channel, and the Sony channel. They all have pretty decent selections, lots of familiar shows.

Sports stations? Bajillions. All soccer, of course.

Telenovelas abound. Love love love. And the music channels are glorious! Again, very little in the way of editing. Music videos that typically aren't shown after midnight in the United States, like say oh, Nine Inch Nails' "Closer" and most of the Prince catalog are shown at like 8am here.

I've always been a bit of a couch potato, but this is getting ridiculous.