now that I'm two weeks into 23, the 22 best things about 22!

Okay, so my birthday was a week ago. But I'm feeling reflective, so in no particular order, here's a list of the 22 greatest things I did when I was 22.

1. I discovered the glory of Brothers and Sisters. and when I say discovered, I mean Schutzer told me to watch it because Jonathan told him to so I did.

2. I had a record number of jobs in one year (TBE, CA, Abramson, Or Ami, Franklin Institute, and ACEEE!). Two of those were my first real full-time jobs!

3. The moment Obama got elected was definitely one of the best moments. I was on the phone with Schutz in my little loft at Bubbie Ethel's house, and they called Virginia, and then we realized that all he needed was California, and then they called California, and then we flipped out.

4. Okay, similiar to #3 - but I was in DC for inauguration and the concert and inauguration itself (even if I didn't go outside because it was freezing and I had moved here a few days before) were wonderful.

5. Got obsessed with LOST. It was Katherine's fault (as many of my TV addictions tend to be), but then I came to DC and started watching with a v fun group of people.

6. Met E.O. Wilson, one of the greatest biologists alive today, when he gave a talk at the Free Library of Philadelphia.

7. Worked at the Franklin Institute for 6 months, thus following in the footsteps of my favorite Chem teacher ever, and getting to dissect eyeballs, make paper, and run an 80-year-old train for a living.

8. I signed up for Twitter, and now follow NPR, J Street, and Obama mama. Also, I've gone through Claire McCaskill and John McCain phases, like you do.

9. I got my first apartment! I mean, I share it with other people, but it's still my first apartment, full of IKEA furniture and other wonderfulness!

10. I saw Bradley Whitford (aka Josh Lyman) TWICE - once in his great play on Broadway, Boeing Boeing, and once at an Alliance for Justice event in DC (which involved him singing If I Had a Hammer on stage with Peter of Peter Paul and Mary :) )

11. I finally went to visit Prisco at St. Bonaventure's. five years into her living there, it was time

12. I moved to a city where people come to visit. a lot. It's wonderful! Mat and Matt and Elizabeth and Missy and Sarah and Katherine and Jenna and Jonathan (well, he's from here, that doesn't count) and Elana and David and Miriam (whew!) have all come here within the past few months, and that really does make me really really happy.

13. I transitioned very well to post-Brandeis life. Minus the bumpier months when I was living at home. But looking at the whole year, I've done quite well at becoming, if not a real person, a very happy not-in-college person. There was a time when I was really worried that wouldn't happen.

14. I got a job where I'm learning and growing and using the knowledge I acquired in college (okay, not the biology, but the environmental stuff!). This is a wonderful thing.

15. I've become interested in politics in a way that I never was before. I think part of this started with the fact that I had two hours of commute to fill up when I was working in Philly, so I did a lot of reading and NPR-listening. Plus, my job intersects with politics now, which is proving to be fascinating. Who knew I liked this stuff?

16. I've gotten to read lots more than 22 books this year, all for fun! Having access to the Free Library of Philadelphia, a glorious institution, and the DC Public Library (okay, not so glorious, but still useful) has been wonderful for my brain/life.

17. Speaking of books, I have discovered the wonderfulness that is 24-hour bookstores (Kramerbooks) and daily author readings (Politics and Prose). I am clearly spoiled by this bounty of bookishness.

18. I moved to an apartment one Metro stop from my favorite sister, two Metro stops from one of my favorite people from college, and three Metro stops from another wonderful college friend. (okay, and about 45 stops away from Whitney, but I haven't actually gone to Georgia Ave that much, we usually meet in the middle)

19. purchased my first pair of skinny jeans. I know this isn't actually one of the 22 best things I did when I was 22, but it was recent and I'm still excited about it.

20. I took and survived the GRE. Got almost the exact same score as teh SAT, but switched my verbal and math . .. someone (me) did a lot of science and very little writing in college . . .

21. I saw Brian Stokes Mitchell, Stephen Schwartz, Jeanine Tesori, Liz Callaway, and Aherns and Flaherty all in the same night. No, I did not attend the Tonys, I went to a FREE concert at the Kennedy Center. Life is beautiful.

22. I belatedly became a fan of Les Miserables. Well, I've always like the book, but Walnut Street Theater's production was GAMAZING.

an oddly timely Orson Scott Card quote

"This emotion I'm feeling now, this is love, right?"
"I don't know. Is it a longing? Is it a giddy stupid happiness just because you're with me?"
"Yes," she said.
"That's influenza," said Miro. "Watch for nausea or diarrhea within a few hours."

Children of the Mind

and exists March the 2nd on the dot.

February has been a very quick, very lovely month. 

In general, work has been pretty great. I've been working on really interesting things -- lots of time on a spreadsheet on energy savings from the energy efficiency programs we're recommending, writing papers on building training and the smart grid, and lots of scheduling and (this week, anyway), lots of time on the website. I helped prepare a testimony to the Senate Energy  and Nat. Resources committee, which was stressful (you have to get them 50 copies of it 48 hours before the testimony itself, ack), and I went with my boss at the beginning of the month to get to know some of the energy staffers. Observation from that experience: Republican female staffers are intimidatingly pretty. With fabulous shoes. just saying. 

I went home the first weekend in  February just for a few days, but got to see Mom and Bubbie and did some shopping and such. AND after Alli went back to teach Sunday school, Mom and I went to the Italian market in Philly and then Dim Sum in Chinatown with Bruce and Vicki. AND it happened to be the Chinese New year's Parade, so that was basically one of the best days ever. 

The next weekend was the start of Brandeis vacation, so I got to see a lot of people I love. Max came on that Friday, and I went with him and Alli to Columbia Heights, where we met some of his very fun vegan-y friends. The next day, Matt came, and we had four days of gallumphing together around DC. Highlights included a birthday brunch for Whitney, watching Candide, Funny Girl, AND De-Lovely, a visit to the Zoo (!), my first Chipotle experience, a romp around the Portrait Gallery with Catie Sprague, a fabulous  Restaurant Week dinner with Missy and Jason at Perry's in Adams Morgan, and a day of Smithsonian-ing (American History and lunch at the American Indian museum - yum!) with Missy, her mom, and Matt. Whew. We're really good at packing a lot of ridiculous into four days. Oh, and Missy was still around for a few days, so she came to LOST that wednesday (which was at my apartment). When I made my new favorite sweet potato casserole. 

The rest of the month was also full of goodness -- I had eat-in Chinese shabbat dinner with a Gavi and Jason, and then the next day Jenna Gondelman and Jason and I went to Spike from Top Chef's amazing burger place, Good Stuff Eatery (which apparently is opening in Dupont, yay!). We then spent the afternoon walking around the Library of Congress, which may or may not be my idea of heaven. SUCH a beautiful building, with books everywhere, and with everything as a monument to learning and reason . . . uch, amazing. This week involved two happy hours (I know, I'm such a lush), one with other junior staffers at work, and one with other Brandeis alums at Tonic near GW. 

Other than that (whew), things are great. I like that I get to see Alli at least once, and sometimes more than once a week. I like my LOST group of friends. I like that I discovered this uber-cute bookstore, Politics and Prose, just a few blocks from my apartment. All in all, things are going swimmingly. OH, and it's getting warm! 

yes, our teeth and ambitions are bared

The month of January was a rock-star kind of a month, in a lot of ways. I'll try to remember them all. It started off pretty awfully, with the violence in Israel and Alli's really difficult decision to stay in the US rather than go to Beersheva for the semester, but after that it got better, and fast.

First of all, I got a new job doing Research and assistant-y things, and a new apartment in Van Ness/Forest Hills, DC, and I started work and began living in the new apartment. So far, I'm enjoying the new job, learning a lot every day. I'm not very busy yet, but I think that's just because I recently arrived, so I'm just learning the skills necessary for them to give me a lot of work. My favorite and least favorite thing (because sometimes Excel is evil) I'm working on is scoring all of the provisions we're pushing for the energy bill and stimulus bill (and if those don't work, the climate change bill).

The new apartment is great. The location isn't so happening in that there's not a lot of nightlife, etc there, but it has a Giant and a quizno's and it's right in between AU and Cleveland Park. Also, my commute to work is 25 minutes every morning, which beats the pants off the 1-1.5 hours i struggled through to and from the Franklin Institute. I live with two other Jewish women, one a law student at AU and one who works for a french nuclear company. So far,they're really sweet, and we get along great, although I'm realizing that I miss living with my best friends. That was kind of convenient for my life. The best part about the location is that I'm really close to Alli, and so far we've been able to see each other twice or more a week :)

My first weekend here was the inauguration, which was pretty ridiculously amazing. Lots of people were in town, including Schutz and Missy and others, and it was great to see them all. I went to the Newseum with Rachel Hillman and Mat, to the big concert (Beyonce! Shakira! Josh Groban! Obama!) with them and other friends, and watched the actual inauguration from my apartment with Alli and one of her friends. It was also Martin Luther King weekend, and I went to a wonderful dinner and okay service (although the speaker was gamazing) at Washington Hebrew Congregation with Jason and his friend from work. I also went with Jason and Matt Rogers and Alli to an event for the Alliance for Justice, which featured Bradley Whitford (with a very sad mustache), Peter Yarrow, and some great and inspiring speakers. Basically, I saw Josh Lyman singing "If I had a Hammer". That's amazing.

But inauguration weekend was not the only wonderfulness this month. No, siree. Rachel invited me to join her fabulous LOST group, which involves food, fun people, and one of my favorite shows ever. It turns out that my former suitemate Whitney has been living in DC, and I've hung out with her, her roommate Molly, and her bf Adam a few times.

The last time I hung out with them was last Saturday night, when I went to the Kennedy Center for a concert with influential Broadway composers and some of the stars who made their music famous. Highlights -- Stephen Schwartz explaining the process in writing the Wizard and I. Liz Callaway singing from Anastasia (did you know Aherns and Flaherty wrote that? I didn't.) Jeanine Tesori being awkward and cute and talking about Millie. Oh, and when Brian Stokes Mitchell sang Wheels of a Dream (a little weird with just him, since it's written as a duet), I cried. Basically, one of the most amazing nights of learning about and loving musical theater that I've ever encountered.

So that was my month. Whew, I'm tired just reading about it!

the winter is forbidden til December, and exits March the 2nd on the dot.

The month of December has been an in-between month, a month of transition. I’m coming out of it in a very different place than I started.

The month began with a lot of boredom at work, and a feeling like I wasn’t growing or learning so much. I resolved to solve this by applying to volunteer at the Academy of Natural Sciences in an entomology lab, after attending a wonderful lecture on the ‘superorganism’ by Bert Holldobler and E.O.Wilson, two luminaries in the bio world that I really respect and find particularly inspiring. While volunteering at the academy would have been lovely, it was not to be.
You see, earlier in the month of November I had applied for a few jobs I had seen on idealist.org, including one at ACEEE, the American Council for an Energy Efficient Economy (longest name ever, right?), doing research and program assistance for the three directors of the organization. In the second week of December, I had a lovely phone interview, and then the next week I came down for an inperson interview, and three days later, I had a new job! It all happened very quickly, and I’m quite excited about it.

This means, of course, that I’ll need to move down to DC, an exciting prospect for me as I’ve always liked DC as a city. Plus, it’s my sister’s city, and some great friends are down there. I was understandably nervous about finding my first apartment on my own, but I just returned from a weekend-long apartment-finding trip (and the first apartment I saw was a winner). I also looked at a few others after that and have some back-ups, but barring any abnormal difficulties, I’ll be moving to Van Ness in northwest DC in a few weeks! I’m going to be living with two other jewish women, both in their late 20s, and in a rather nice apartment and building.

Needless to say, I’m pretty thrilled about going to DC – the beginning of a new administration feels like a great time to move to the capitol, and I’m happy that I’ll be working for an organization doing something I’m really passionate about.

slip a sable under the tree, for me.

I really love Christmas music -- even if it has little to no relevance for my personal beliefs, it's upbeat and commercial and it makes me happy.

This month has been a good one, among the best of my months here so far. Work-wise, it's been frustrating, because we're reorganizing, and somehow in this process I ended up with not so much to do, but that'll get better soon. Anyway, it was a good month, which clearly merits a blog entry so I'll remember it.

The trip to Boston in the beginning was really wonderful -- I ended up needing a lot less of Brandeis and a lot more of my friends than I thought I would. Which is healthy and normal and wonderful, and I felt good about it. Highlights included Madagascar with Sarah, Miri, and Matt, lots of Miriam time and Shaked time, Seth's birthday party, and a fabulous day of gallumphing about the MFA and newbury street with Esti and Shaked.

I was really looking forward to shabs at Brandeis, but it was good in ways I didn't expect it to be and bad in ways I expected to be good. Namely, I was not so excited about the prospect of BaRuCH davening, but excited to see BaRuCH people, and then that ended up being fabulous all around. On the other hand, I was really looking forward to dinner, which was rather blah and small and not so good (there were a lot of other things going on -- BOO Freshmen dinners, Koach shabs, etc, but it still made it weird). Plus the board did this psuedo-educational thing, which was interesting in concept but poorly executed (rule #1 of informal ed - people don't really like being read to.)

So that was a great trip, but more because of wonderful friends than anything else. Another great part of my November was the two trips to Nueva York -- one Sunday-Monday trip, and one Saturday-Sunday trip. In the first trip, I saw David's new apartment, dinnered at a yummy vegan place with Sara and Kat, bar-ed it up with Schutz and Kat and Sara, slept over at Schutz's and then Popover Cafe-d with Jonathan, and then headed home. It was quick and fun, and just what I need that weekend (I had been a smidge frustrated with home at that point). The second trip was two weekends ago -- for some unknown reason, i didn't have to teach sunday school, so I left right after work on Saturday, went out to a fun gay bar with Mat and Arnab -- we actually got Alli's BFF from home, Zach, to come play with us, which was great. def a fun night. The next morning I visited Aunt Li for a few hours, then gallumphed about AMNH with David (SO much fun), and then dinnered at the Shake Shack with Katherine-bear and two of the cutest 4-year-olds ever (it was crowded so we shared a booth with them).

The month was capped off in lovely fashion by the visit of one Ms. Shaked Hoter, my dearest furniture and friend. She came from Wednesday to Sunday, and I got to show her the Franklin Institute, and she survived/endured multiple Gold Family dinners (including Thanksgiving, of course) without injury. It was really nice to have her here, because I definitely miss living with her all the time. We also met up with Matt (Stern) and his friend Sierra, which was great and diner-y and ridiculous.

So that was my month, which I'm definitely thankful for. Especially because it is now almost socially acceptable to blast Christmas music from my Brandeis-sticker-adorned car. Oy.

puppycam

I have a new love. No, it's not a man. No, it's not a new book, or an old book, or even a sweater.

It is a website. I am obsessed with the puppy cam. It's this website where you can watch a batch (6) of really cute puppies (not sure what breed). All day long. Most of the time, they're schluffing, or playing with each other, or schluffing.

Work will never get done again. Oh, happy day.

Check it out yourself; your day will instantly get better! http://cdn1.ustream.tv/swf/4/viewer.45.swf?cid=317016