Myspace Re-Post #15: Getting Caught Up, Part 2

Note: Re-posted from my now-defunct Myspace blog, where it was originally posted on July 30th, 2007.

Ok, I wasn't so happy with the strictly chronological approach I took in my last post - it was tedious to create, and I don't think it reads very well. So I'll pick up where I left off last time, but I'll use a more standard narrative stream...

Pesach was a major milestone, because it coincided very closely with the completion of my thesis and the emergence of a greater level of freedom in my life. However, there were still a fair number of things in the air when I got back to Cambridge after the first nights (at aproximately 3 AM, incidentally). To begin with, the thesis process wasn't technically finished. A mandatory poster session worth 20% of my grade was scheduled for later in the month. I also had to get back to class work that I had been neglecting for about a month - since the appendicitis, likely. In fact, I had a paper due almost immediately, although in the end it turned out that my TA was more than willing to give me an open-ended extension on that. Finally, I still needed to find a job, and in fact had already scheduled a job interview.

Meanwhile, events in the real world weren't slowing down so I could catch up. My friend Avi intimated that he was very close to proposing to his girlfriend Shifra. This event, which occured shortly, was to have a far more significant impact on my life over the next few months than I ever stopped to realize.

So things unfolded like this: When I got back to school, I first had to work on writing a paper - I technically had like 3 days to do this. I also set about planning a trip to Washington, D.C.

One of my prospective employers was the NIH - well, not exactly, but they have a centralized program that allows you to apply to multiple NIH labs simultaneously. However, I had to arrange interviews with each different lab simultaneously. For the next two weeks, I was constantly juggling several different gmail "conversations" to try to work out who would meet with me and when. I decided to fly down for a Thursday and Friday, spend Shabbos with my recently-married friends Ari and Miki in Dupont Circle, and then take the train (don't ask) back to Boston on Sunday. Also, the poster session mentioned above would happen that Tuesday, meaning that most likely I would have to work on it while visiting in D.C. Sounds like a good plan, right? That is, until you stop to think about it and realize how totally stupid it is. sigh. whatever...

In the midst of all the school work and elaborate planning, Avi and Shifra announced their engagement on April 15th. He proposed to her on their plane flight back from Oklahoma (that's where her parents live). At like 7 in the morning. I guess he couldn't wait. I had the profoud honor of being the first to greet the newly engaged at the airport, whence I served as their chauffeur for a short while.

Now the announcement was sure to make a splash for the following reason: Avi was the "Campus Rabbi" of Harvard Hillel. And he had kept his relationship with Shifra a secret from almost everyone on campus. So you can imagine...one day, the Rabbi suddenly announces that he's engaged, with absolutely no prolouge! He also announced, in the same message (or one sent shortly thereafter? I don't recall), that he would step down at the end of the school year. hilarity ensues.

The engagement party was on a Sunday night. The next day, I took an Acela express to the heartland of New Jersey, to interview for a position with Daniel Kahneman at Princeton. Instead of putting me up in a hotel, the people at the lab offered to have me stay with Carey. Carey was my contact at Princeton - he'd receive his PhD from Harvard the previous year, and had once TA'd a course that I was in. This ended up being a really cool experience - we went out for drinks with his girlfriend (or maybe they weren't dating yet? hard for me to remember...) and later we watched the Daily Show. Had to turn in - interviews were bright and early the next day!

Those interviews went well enough, and I got a tour of Princeton. It's amazing how similar and yet how different two places can be! Princeton is very Ivy League, in many of the ways that Harvard is. And yet, there's all this, like, space, and, like, fresh air. Who knew? on the down side, there's also very little to do...

After my interview and tour, I packed up and took an Acela back to Boston. The next day, I flew out to D.C.

The D.C. experience was pretty cool. It'd been years since I was last there - briefly in senior year of high school for the bit Israel rally, and only once for a real tourist extravaganza, with my class in eighth grade. It was fun to stay with Ari and Miki...I'd get up in the morning and spend all day wandering around the NIH (enormous campus), interviewing and meeting people and all that, and then I would go back to their place and relax. Shabbos was nice but relatively uneventful. We went out for both meals, and ran into a couple of Harvard people, almost at random. I even got some work done on my poster, though as it turned out, not quite enough...

On the train back to Boston, I really felt the effects of not owning a laptop (I still use a desktop, and trust me, there are many advantages), as I could have been working on my poster, but instead I mostly just wasted time. The session was on Tuesday, and after calling around, I determined that I really needed to get the poster in to Kinko's 48 hours before I wanted the poster. After getting back to my room, I worked on the stupid thing for something like five hours, and then took it down to Kinko's. See, in Cambridge (are you listening, Princeton Township?), Kinko's is actually open all night! And the guy working there was really cool, and set it up so that I would be able to pick up my poster as early as two hours before I needed to present.

Nerve-racking though it was, the whole poster production thing ended up working out quite well (once again, I get by on the skin of my teeth...). My poster was well received, and I got fairly tipsy at the post-poster thesis party, the highlight of which was the opportunity to go out on the balcony of the fifteenth floor of William James Hall.

Actually, I delivered my actual defense the next day, at 10:00 A.M., but that went fine as well, and I was given my grade - magna - on the spot. And what did I do after my defense? Why, of course I hit up the first day of a three-day sale of all of the Psych library's books. Then I had class, and then a meeting with my advisor, Wendy.

Thursday, I had a meeting with another prospective employer, but she no-showed. She forgot the date of our meeting - whoops! I then went back to the book sale, and hung out with Austin - the rest of the day was a relaxing bit of nothingness.

Friday, April 27th, I spoke with Talya, one of my prospective employers at Princeton. She had some last minute questions, and apparently I gave the right answers, because later that day she offered me the job, and I almost immediately accepted.

That's pretty much it for April - every bit as eventful a month as March. May, I can't really remember much of what happened...I did have finals at the end of the month, and the random senior events started happening. I played some Hillel softball...I do know that by this point Avi had pretty much dropped off the face of the earth. Of course, I hadn't noticed at first, because of how busy I was, but in May, I had lots of free time...and the conspicuous absence of one of my best friends in the Boston area was, well, conspicuous. Fancy that.

There were still a few things for me to worry about: I needed to find a place to live in Princeton, and I needed to start a-packin. As it turned out, I did a pretty poor job on both points. But hey, life is for learning! Isn't it?

And so instead of getting into the saga that is June, I think I'll hold things here for the time being. Oh, and FYI, I assure you I'll return to more random and interesting posts, with less blah-blah autobiographical details, after my next post or two. Once you're all caught up, you know...that is, if you're still reading this. Soldier on!

SSB

Myspace Re-Post #14: Let's Get Everybody Caught Up, Cool?

Note: Re-posted from my now-defunct Myspace blog, where it was originally posted on July 20th, 2007 (this date corresponds to my 23rd birthday).

First things first: By the time I finish this post, it will be my birthday (started at 11:53 in P.M...). So there's that...Not a big birthday person, but if you've been desparate for a reason to give me a call, here's your chance, you lucky kid!

Now then, I begin as always with a cliche excuse about being busy and blah blah and therefore I haven't blogged in months. But it is true, I've been more busy this past year than at any other time in my life, and it's been sustained and unrelenting! However, this is apropos to my post, as I have decided that I will simply list all of the major events and minor points of interest that have transpired over the past four and a half months. I'll be skimping on the details, but if you're just dying to know, hit me up with a comment or something. I always cave to popular demand...

I begin my saga on the 4th of March. Why? I have some notes about it. Also, it was erev Purim. Before getting into all of this, however, we must set the scene:

It was the second semester of my senior year in college, but I was not partying as the cliche goes. Why not? Well first of all, there was the senior thesis I was working on. Important to keep this in mind: the thesis due date was March 22. Further, it seems I've become something of a careerist - instead of using my spare time to chill &c., I continued to help out in my psych lab, apply for jobs and network with grad students and faculty. Ok, enough background! Here's the chronology:

March 4th (Sat) - Purim eve, heard megillah and then proceeded to get steadily drunker and drunker throughout the evening. Ended up not going to sleep until something ridiculous like 5 A.M.

March 5th (Sun) - woke up around noon and walked over to R. Avi's, where there was a seudah that gradually degenerated into a party - ended up staying there until night time.

March 6th (Mon) - got up at the god-forsaken hour of 8:30 A.M. to work as mashgiach at Hillel. I didn't feel well, but who does on such little sleep? Did I mention that I'd been running on a nifty prescription I picked up at the beginning of the year? I can say no more...

    Around noon I went back to my room, giving up on an optional class because I felt kinda crappy. Also I had a phone interview for a possible job lined up for the afternoon. When I got to my room, I went to sleep for a couple of hours...

    Woke up around 3 P.M., still feeling crappy. Decided to go to UHS (University Health Services) after my interview. Interview went fine, then I went down to UHS and waited around for like 45 minutes to be seen.

    After describing my symptoms, the Doc poked me in the abdomen and my eyes bulged out like bugs bunny or something - she sent me packing to the hospital. I spent about six hours in the emergency room, mostly bored off my ass, plus I was a little scared, and in a fair measure of disbelief.

    Well they decided I had appendicitis, I had an operation, etc. etc. There's another post about that (see if you can figure it out by the title...heh heh...), so I won't go into it here.

March 8th (Wed) - Didn't have to go to school. Sweet! But seriously, isn't my thesis due in three weeks? oh shit...My dad flew in and stayed with me for a few days, which was nice, but as you might expect, also somewhat awkward. Also, they gave me percocet, which was cool...

March 9th (Thu) - again, no school, but I did take care of some business. Most notably, I responded to some correspondence from a prospective employer. The position was as R.A. for Daniel Kahneman. More on that later...

March 10th (Fri) - Went to dinner at Danny & Lindsey Shoag's - they are awesome people and Lindsey is a terrific cook, even though I may be spelling her first name incorrectly. Also, they were happy to have my Dad as well. Which was interesting...

March 12th (Sun) - For the first time since Tuesday, I went back to Hillel. A man's got to work...Basically I was feeling better really quickly, but it took everyone else a while to catch up, so I was still getting sympathy comments and stupid bs for another month. sigh...

March 17th (Fri) - Under doctor's orders not to walk very much, so I decided to spend Shabbat at R. Avi's. Turns out a few other people had the same idea...One of his room mates, Shuey, wasn't in, so I got to sleep in a bed (the appendicitis plea worked like a charm here...). But his other room mate was over. Also, one of Avi's good friends was visiting from NY, and this other guy who was visiting the grad school, and Dave - well, Dave was just always there, no particular reason for it...So that made a total of six people staying in a three-bedroom. Not unusual for Avi's, although it sucked that we didn't get any girls to come over for dinner and whatnot.

    And then it started snowing, all day Friday and on into the night. I believe it was the only actual blizzard Boston had all winter! and remember, this is mid-March. So I barely left the building, and neither did most of the others, although at least they were allowed to walk some distances...

    Well there was plenty of idiotic bickering and tension. But in retrospect, it was practically the last time I got to hang out with Avi and Dave. Time was running out on us, though only one of us really knew it...

March 22nd (Thu) - Did I mention I got a week's extension on my thesis? Otherwise it wouldn't been due on this day. No matter, I still had a stats final! This was also the last official day before spring break. By this point, the stress is really getting to me, plus the random appendectomy from out of the blue really threw off my rhythm. Fortunately, Austin was staying around that weekend. This was because we had made plans to go on a journey to the centre of our minds that weekend - well that had to be called off, which sucked for both of us, but especially for him. I wasn't going home at all - I needed to friggin work!

March 26th (Mon) - I pulled an all-nighter to finish the first draft of my thesis and send it to my grad-student advisor. I got it in around 8 or 9 A.M., I think. Then I slept until 3 or 4 P.M.

March 27th (Tue) - Second straight all-nighter to implement my advisor's recommendations so that I could send the thesis on to my faculty advisor. Another 9 A.M. to 3 P.M. night of sleep...

March 28th (Wed) - Received a whole bunch of revisions from my faculty advisor, most of which I simply could not implement within 24 hours (though I did waste plenty of time trying). Note that I was barely leaving my room at this point, and anyways no one was around. They were all having "spring break" or something...

March 29th (Thu) - Submitted my thesis, a full 1/2 hour early! Proceeded to indulge myself in food, drink and a movie (The Namesake - which I quite enjoyed!).

March 30th (Fri) - I was scheduled to go down to NYC for the weekend to stay with my friend Ben for Shabbat and a few days until Pesach. But first, I had to meet someone who I had applied to work with! And I was late for this, had to take a cab, with all my luggage, but she was really nice, and I got a good feeling about the situation from her. Then I took a loooong train ride to NYC. I crashed over at the Bayit, a co-op for Jews at Columbia (I know, I know, isn't that all co-ops at Columbia?). I had spent numerous Shabbatot there during my four years of college. This was to be my last, and it was an enjoyable weekend, overall.

April 1st (Sun) - My sleep schedule was still out of whack, and I aggravated the situation by sleeping until 6 P.M. I know, I know...the sun was setting when I arose. I met up with Ivan for a drink and made plans to meet with Yossi early-ish the next morning. Basically, the plan was to not sleep.

April 2nd (Mon) - That up-all-night thing happened, and I met up with Yossi all freaked out on the no-sleep thing. I tell you man, nothing blows you out of your mind like not sleeping for 24 hours + . Then I got out to Monsey (I actually don't remember how this happened) and managed to nap a bit before sundown and seder night.

    and I spent about an hour at the local library frantically arranging my trip to Princeton for a job interview with the Kahneman lab...

    About the Seder thing, that was as crazy as ever, with my Charedi uncle leading, both of my sisters there, and the whole extended Mishpacha...However, given my condition, I actually kind of enjoyed the scene. Plus, did I mention I was done with my thesis?

Oh yeah, and it was Opening Day in baseball land...

**Whew! I didn't realize how long this would take me...well I apologize if it's as boring to read as it is to hear Al Gore speak, but I'm glad that I'm getting this down, so I will pick up the chronology right here sometime soon. Good night!**

Myspace Re-Post #13: Updates - I had Appendicitis!

Note: Re-posted from my now-defunct Myspace blog, where it was originally posted on March 15th, 2007.

Hey people. I know it's been a time. Whatever, I've got a lot of other stuff to waste my time with. but a comment by Yoel...er, Eight Days and Scared..., jolted me from my langorous inertia.

So I had Appendicitis last week. True story, I was there. Not a lot to tell, and what there is, I've already told fifteen million times, but basically I wasn't feeling good, so I went to the doc, and she poked me in this one spot. They have a name for it, but I forget. Anyways, my eyes bulged out of their sockets like Bugs Bunny being slammed by a mallet, and she sent me packing for the hospital.

Where I waited. For about five hours, all told. First the nurse checked me out. Then the resident did the same exact procedure. Then a surgeon. Then they made me wait a while to have some pictures taken. Then finally they were like, ok, we'll operate in five hours. Why don't you get some sleep?

Good question. But I didn't/don't. Sleep, that is. I was up all night, they needed to freakin anesthetize me to put me out, and then I woke up two hours later!

Here's the kicker to the whole thing, though: approximately eight days after surgery (that is, now), I feel basically normal. Cept I have this incision in my lower right abdomen and it's got some bruises around it. And they won't let me walk more than like half a mile at a time, and who knows when I'll exercise again...Seriously, I'm totally fine now, although I realize those of you reading this will probably feel that they have to say something about getting better anyways. Truth is, ""I've got to admit I'm getting better, a little better all the time...""

Nuff said about that, except that it interrupted my job hunt for next year, and pushed back my thesis due date. Good deal, right? Not really. My thesis was due the day before spring break. Now it's due in the middle of spring break. Whoopee!

But seriously, I'm pretty happy and well adjusted these days, my sarcasm aside.

And if I could figure out how to stop wasting so much time at 3:25 in the A.M., maybe I'd even get a little work done.

And maybe when this thesis is over, I'll attempt to post some sophisticated blogs. No promises. But ya never know...

Peace!

Myspace Re-Post #12: Sacramento Street

Note: Re-posted from my now-defunct Myspace blog, where it was originally posted on September 5th, 2006.

Saturday afternoon is a languorous time in West Rogers Park,
my home neighborhood,
being the Sabbath to the Orthodox Jews,
a substantial portion of the areas inhabitants.
After the traditional Sabbath-afternoon meal
(the second of three traditional mealswe love to eat!)
many of the locals of all ages and sizes,
bedecked in their Sabbath finery,
make their way to the promenade,
the road by the park, Sacramento Street.
The hidden backbone of religious enclave,
Sacramento is Jewish from Rosemont to Howard Street,
A stretch of over a mile and a half.
The residential street passes two popular parks,
The two the Jews love to flock to the most,
And on Saturday afternoon,
The residents are in evidence.

Now my sometime routine is
to traverse this boulevard
en route to a hideout above the thickness of the shtetl
where semi-religious twenty-somethings
convene and cavort.

But ah the promenade is half the fun.
For I stride in a step that is nearly a strut
Forcefully forward, though I'm in no rush,
Scrutinizing the passersby for familiar faces
Or someone interesting for other reasons.
Indeed, while flirtation can be awkward at times,
Due to the strict mores of the populace,
The body language says it all, as young things,
Coming into the primes of their vitality,
Preen and display as they stroll casually by,
For a glance and a look and then maybe another.
All the while parents, the elderly and newlyweds
Pushing the stroller of their first or second child
Stare sternly and observe,
Mouths ready at the gab,
To let everyone know what mischief is going on.

I arrive at my destination,
Find the key in the mailbox,
And at the top of the stairs
I remove my shoes.
Inside is the cool of the air conditioning
And couches and easy chairs beckon softly to me.
After all, Saturday is our day of rest
A varied crowd is strewn across the living room,
Sipping drinks of the alcoholic or non variety
And idly gossiping about friends and acquaintances.

We hide here from the glare of the outside community
Whose suffocating closeness and scrutiny often stifle
The fledgling spirits of our youthful years.
No eyes to see
Or ears to hear
Save our own.
We desperately claw for a few hours of freedom.

And later, as the sun nears its going down
I return to the promenade
though its tenor has quieted down.
Now young men and old rush for their shuls
To daven the final prayers of the Sabbath
And to eat the holy day's final meal
While somberly singing the melancholy songs
That accompany the Sabbath's departure.
Soon I will reach home and begin making plans
For my Saturday evening out on the town.
But for only a moment I savor the feeling
Of the years in this neighborhood
And the Sabbaths I have known.

Myspace Re-Post #11: The Summer of 2006

Note: Re-posted from my now-defunct Myspace blog, where it was originally posted on July 30th, 2006.

The summer of 2006 has been a summer of bikes and cars and prodigious sweat.

It has been a summer of frequent trips to Brookline for kosher meat and excitement. A summer of Saturday-night ice-cream escapades and midnight birthday celebrations. and constantly missing turns onto mislabeled streets and poring over maps in the middle of traffic.

This was the summer I spent fifteen minutes in Maine and several hours in New Hampshire. The road was clear though the sky was cloudy, and with only my thoughts for company, I covered ground on backgrounds along the ocean's front.

The summer of 2006 is a summer of long hours in a lab on the fourteenth floor of a tall white building that stands stark against the sky, where machinations take place behind closed office doors and summer interns joke and play pranks in the central control room.

This has been the summer when my spring romance ended. Much hope and talk and late-night obsession ended in a two-hour phone call across continents. And a summer when new possibilities arose, when a talkative girl with intricate curls drew my interest in spite of the mockery of my friends.

On sunny days I occasionally undertook bike missions - once to a storied arboretum and a necklace of parks. other times I sat in my apartment and labored at getting myself to work.

Somedays I rose at nine, other days at twelve. A few days I rose later. I distinctly doubt that I ever rose earlier.

This summer the Shabboses are long and mostly lazy. They begin with a frenetic Friday night, a brightly-lit communal meal at one or another of the region's apartments. The day stretches on into eternity and the reading only puts me to sleep.

This has been the summer of my first trip to suburban Long Island. The visit became an impromptu shabbaton when one of my chicago friends was stuck in new york due to cancelled flights. and the beach was the scene of unexpected sunshine and nerf-football and the ever-present waves.

This summer I have learned to keep thoughts unspoken, and to resent room mates with poor hygenic habits. The apartment politics became too involved at times to articulate, but at the end of the day, in truth, the war was one.

The summer of 2006 has been better than the summer of 2005 and other summers past. Take no offense, fair Chicago, but it was certainly time for a change. and the future stretches out, with one more month, before the end of the final summer of my college years.

Myspace Re-Post #10: Grey Day

Note: Re-posted from my now-defunct Myspace blog, where it was originally posted on June 30th, 2006.

There was an oppressive dome closing me into a narrow space today. All day.

The sky refused to rain, but I was forced to drive around and take car of my business with a perpetual cloud over my head (not the metaphorical kind).

I go through periods of disillusionment and boredom sometimes. Often. I'm in this routine where I get up, watch some TV, go to lab for a few hours, drive around aimlessly for a few hours, spend some money to make me feel productive, and then go home and spend hours watching TV.

I did finally finish a rather moving movie today. I don't suppose any of you have seen it, it's a double threat: it's old and it's in another language. Oh wait, and its a musical too. Triple threat. Nevertheless, I liked ""The Umbrellas of Cherbourg"" for its depiction of a French town in garish pastels, for the beauty of the lead actress, and for the devastating conclusion to it's central love story. Let's just say it wasn't a happy ending.

Oh, and I spend like a half hour or so at this guitar shop near my place. This guy who was working there by himself is kind of goofy, but he knows more than I do about guitars, so I asked him a bunch of questions and displayed my chops a little bit.

Will music get me through my malaise? It better, cuz I don't know what else will.

 

Myspace Re-Post #9: Guilt

Note: Re-posted from my now-defunct Myspace blog, where it was originally posted on June 26th, 2006.

Hey everyone,

Guilt is the subject of today's post. This is because I haven't posted in three months or something (too lazy to actually check...).

First I was busy with term papers and finals and getting things settled for summer. and my brother was around for a few days, &c. so my side street of the internet was closed to thru traffic.

and then, you know, momentum just kind of takes over and I'm in a not-posting rhythm and it's just a tough habit to kick, you know?

Anyways. The tumultuous semester ended - one in which I was responsible for publishing a psychology journal (came out really well), took classes that were too hard for me, finalized plans to work on an honors thesis over the summer, and spent a lot of time chasing after a girl (or thinking about doing so).

About that, I mentioned her in my last blog (yes, nearly three months ago). We went on a couple of dates, which were fun, and chatted on the phone a bunch, but she's in Israel now for the summer, so that's all on hiatus. and it's not an exclusive relationship or the like, so I'm still on the lookout (new prospect sighted this weekend!).

As of right now, I (with a small running crew of two) am caretaking the Hillel Rabbi's pad while he parties hearty in Israel. Pretty sweet deal, since I'm not paying rent really, just upkeep and maybe a small donation at the end of the summer. I'm also taking care of his car...

The main focus of my time is getting some thesis research off the ground. I work in a psych lab that's really expensive and complex, and there's like thirty people around this summer (I swear, it's busier than during the school year!). My primary contribution to the study I'm working with is to be a few scales (questionnaires to assess personality traits or attitudes, etc.), and the professor in charge keeps rejecting my submissions, so that's frustrating.

But I shall overcome.

and working on some new music, finally. because when I'm not in lab, or running back and forth to different Harvard libraries tracking down obscure journal articles and publications, I really don't have that much to do.

So anyways, maybe I'll muse about something in a day or two, to keep my rhythm down and the like. cuz I would like to have a nice, productive little blog. nothing too fancy, just my two cents (only if you put aside two cents a day, it can add up to four cents, or so I've been told...).

Hey, let me know how you're doing, if there's anyone out there (myspace claims there is, but I'm not so sure...). and...have a great day!

S