Whenever I go back to teaching, I'd like to try to find a way to use this video. Maybe have the students make their own "cover" videos. :-)
Tuesday, April 29, 2008
Sunday, April 27, 2008
Hugs and tipping
A friend told me today that a person should hug at least 8 times a day. That seemed like a lot to me- a person living in New York in a long distance relationship. I doubt I get that many hugs in a month. I checked it out online and found an organization that advocates:
4 Hugs for Survival
8 Hugs for Maintenance
12 Hugs for Growth
So, I think I'm going to start hugging my friends more. I hugged my roommate tonight, and I took her a bit by surprise. It may have been the first time we ever hugged. I guess I need to work on my hugging etiquette. There's a guideline on the website for that too :-) Maybe if we all start hugging more, the world will be a better place. Like this:
My other realization today was in regards to paying for meals in groups. A frequent frustration is that people put in their cash often feeling like they're contributing more than they should and yet the group still ends up short of what they need. In general, this problem can arise from bad math, forgetting to include something you ordered (like a drink), rounding down, or just simply not realizing how much to account for tax and tip. What people need to realize is that if they simply add 30% to the price of their meal, it should sufficiently cover their portion of tax and tip. For example, if you order a $2.00 soda and a $10.00 entree (it was probably $9.65, but you should always round up), then your total is $12.00. To find 30%, simply move the decimal to the left one place ($1.20) and multiply by 3. Here, this gives you $3.60. Add that to the original $12.00 to get $15.60. If you have exact change, great! If not, always round up, never down in groups, and leave $16.00. If the group ends up with too much in the end, maybe you'll get a buck back, or maybe you'll make the server's day. And serving groups is never easy, so leaving a nice tip makes their job a little better.
Happy hugging and happy tipping!
4 Hugs for Survival
8 Hugs for Maintenance
12 Hugs for Growth
So, I think I'm going to start hugging my friends more. I hugged my roommate tonight, and I took her a bit by surprise. It may have been the first time we ever hugged. I guess I need to work on my hugging etiquette. There's a guideline on the website for that too :-) Maybe if we all start hugging more, the world will be a better place. Like this:
My other realization today was in regards to paying for meals in groups. A frequent frustration is that people put in their cash often feeling like they're contributing more than they should and yet the group still ends up short of what they need. In general, this problem can arise from bad math, forgetting to include something you ordered (like a drink), rounding down, or just simply not realizing how much to account for tax and tip. What people need to realize is that if they simply add 30% to the price of their meal, it should sufficiently cover their portion of tax and tip. For example, if you order a $2.00 soda and a $10.00 entree (it was probably $9.65, but you should always round up), then your total is $12.00. To find 30%, simply move the decimal to the left one place ($1.20) and multiply by 3. Here, this gives you $3.60. Add that to the original $12.00 to get $15.60. If you have exact change, great! If not, always round up, never down in groups, and leave $16.00. If the group ends up with too much in the end, maybe you'll get a buck back, or maybe you'll make the server's day. And serving groups is never easy, so leaving a nice tip makes their job a little better.
Happy hugging and happy tipping!
Thursday, April 24, 2008
Apartment Hunting
Finding a place to live in New York City is no easy task. I have to move out of the dorms by May 16th, so the girls I plan to live with (Celia and Laura) and I started searching Craigslist and others about six weeks ago. We viewed nine apartments over the course of three weeks and almost signed on two of them. Unfortunately, we kept running into the same problem: financing. Most NY apts. require that your annual salary is 40x the monthly rent to qualify, and the average rent per person is $1000. Since Celia and I don't have jobs yet, we depend on student loans but those don't count as income for these housing companies. We could get a guarantor (aka mom or dad) to sign with us, but guarantors are required to make 80x the rent. Ouch! After much frustrating searching and viewing tiny expensive apartments in run down buildings, I found a listing on the NYU off-campus housing network for a house in Brooklyn for six people. I called for fun and found out I was the first person to call about the listing in three weeks. That night, I went with several friends to see the place. It was awesome!
The house has six bedrooms, two kitchens, two living rooms, two bathrooms, a basement, and a backyard :-) It's owned by a couple who live in Long Island and their son and his friends live there now (NYU undergrads). The house was redecorated in the 70's so it has all kinds of crazy paint work and lighting.
One of the kitchens has a red light that runs above the cupboards! We fell in love with it, applied and were approved. Yay! Because the house is owned by this friendly couple instead of a big New York real estate company, the paperwork was much easier. Also, since it's so big, Celia, Laura and I asked some friends to fill in the extra bedrooms. Three of our friends from the publishing program (Dustin, Mark and Sharn) decided to move in with us. They're taking the first floor, and we're taking the second floor.
The living room upstairs has this funky mirror wall. We're excited about embracing the 70's theme and making the house as fabulous looking as we can.
I felt so frustrated after our first attempts at getting a place. I tried to remember that God would provide something for me, and that He had something planned. It was difficult having to pass up on the first apartments we thought were so great, but waiting and trusting God proved to be a greater blessing in the end, as it always does. I'm so excited about this great house, and the fun neighborhood it's in, and the great deal that it is, and the friends I'll get to live with. And, did I mention the backyard!! Truly, this is an awesome blessing and answer to prayer.
Tuesday, April 15, 2008
best cat jump ever
I love animals. But when my teacher showed us this video in class tonight, I couldn't help but laugh out loud. The cat's okay.
Saturday, April 5, 2008
Boat Cruise
Last Friday night, I went on a boat cruise. The NYU School of Continuing and Professional Studies (SCPS), of which Publishing is a branch, hosted the event. We left from the pier at 41st St. on a World Yacht around 7pm. 
It was a semi-formal event, so we all got to get dressed up. Even though the walk from the subway to the pier was long and windy, we showed up looking snazzy as we boarded the ship- at least Dustin and Alden did.
After the ship set sail, we went through the buffet line to get our yummy food: vegetables, potatoes, pasta, chicken marsala, beef stew, salad. There was an open bar too, but I opted for diet Coke. Sharn, Celia, and Rebecca look like they're enjoying their meal.
Mark couldn't decide, so he went for beer and coffee.
Don't we look beautiful in our dresses?
Am I doing an ad for Sure? No, I'm dancing.
The whole evening was a success. The music was crazy but fun. Everyone got into the dancing, and though the chicken was a little tough, the rest of the food was delicious, especially the dessert. Mmmm.... cheesecake and fruit tart! Like I said it before, it was a good thing I had to run 7 miles the next day.
It was a semi-formal event, so we all got to get dressed up. Even though the walk from the subway to the pier was long and windy, we showed up looking snazzy as we boarded the ship- at least Dustin and Alden did.
After the ship set sail, we went through the buffet line to get our yummy food: vegetables, potatoes, pasta, chicken marsala, beef stew, salad. There was an open bar too, but I opted for diet Coke. Sharn, Celia, and Rebecca look like they're enjoying their meal.
Mark couldn't decide, so he went for beer and coffee.
Don't we look beautiful in our dresses?
Am I doing an ad for Sure? No, I'm dancing.
The whole evening was a success. The music was crazy but fun. Everyone got into the dancing, and though the chicken was a little tough, the rest of the food was delicious, especially the dessert. Mmmm.... cheesecake and fruit tart! Like I said it before, it was a good thing I had to run 7 miles the next day.
Luna Bar inspiration
According to my training schedule, I was supposed to run 7 miles today. After the buffet on the boat cruise last night (dessert included), I knew I could use the run to burn off all those extra calories, but I lacked motivation. I woke up late, lounged around in comfy clothes while applying for jobs online, then watched several Friends episodes. All I really wanted was to stay on the bed (we don't have a couch) and watch more. Then I got a craving for something yummy and thought of the Luna bars in my locker at the gym. I knew if I didn't run today I would have to do it tomorrow, and if I did it today I could satisfy my craving. I decided to plot a course online that would take me 7 miles to reach the gym. I could get my Luna bar and take the subway home.View Larger Map
I went for it. My run took me over the Brooklyn Bridge, across Manhattan to the Hudson River Park (where I hear celebrities frequently run, though I didn't see any), up the park to 14th St., past the meat-packing district, through Union Square, to the gym at 14th and 4th. I only had two incidents along the way: I accidentally knocked a kid down and I got whacked across the chest. The first one was on a sidewalk with scaffolding that reduced the space. I was coming up on a woman walking with her son who seemed to be about three or four. I tried to squeeze by, but at the same time as I came by, the kid kicked his leg up, and I tripped over it, knocking him down. I felt so bad, but he was fine. The mom wasn't upset at all. The second incident was on 17th st. I tried to pass a man on a cell phone just as he made a big gesture swinging his arm out- right into me. He didn't even pause, and I continued on. The city is a busy, crowded place to try to run, but the Hudson park was nice. There's a bike/walk path that stretches for miles along the river, almost like a boardwalk. In the end, I got my Luna bar and successfully completed my longest run yet- more than half the distance of a half-marathon! Good thing I had those Luna bars to inspire me :-)
Tuesday, April 1, 2008
I could go to Mars
So, I took the test and found out I could go to Mars, but Google doesn't recommend it. Here is their verdict:
"Well, you're distressingly normal and could conceivably adjust to life as a deep space pioneer, though we recommend instead that you leave the Mars missions to the serious whack jobs who scored over 130 and instead finish year 3 of law school, tuck your toddler into bed, design Web 2.0 applications, run for Congress or do whatever other normal, healthy, middle-of-the-road thing you're currently doing with your normal, healthy, middle-of-the-road life."
If you're interested in taking the test to see if you could join Google and Virgin in their trip to Mars to start a new civilization in 2014, just click on the title of this blog.
"Well, you're distressingly normal and could conceivably adjust to life as a deep space pioneer, though we recommend instead that you leave the Mars missions to the serious whack jobs who scored over 130 and instead finish year 3 of law school, tuck your toddler into bed, design Web 2.0 applications, run for Congress or do whatever other normal, healthy, middle-of-the-road thing you're currently doing with your normal, healthy, middle-of-the-road life."
If you're interested in taking the test to see if you could join Google and Virgin in their trip to Mars to start a new civilization in 2014, just click on the title of this blog.
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