Know Thy Fortune

A compendium of fortunes from tonight's Chinese dinner:

-Finish your works on hand. Don't be greedy.

-Attend to business today. Leave that street-side flower alone.

-Life is like a dogsled team. If you aren't the lead dog, the scenery never changes.

I especially enjoyed the last one. I've always wondered if their comicality stems from bad translations or just really random (and seemingly unconnected) thoughts that one would seem to have when high.

Oh, and btw, my fortune was the second one. So guess I have to watch that street-side flower :)

Wishful

Today I saw a man and a woman in their 60s or 70s walking hand-in-hand through Princeton's campus. It made me smile.

Also made me think that it would be nice to have that when I grow old.

The Justification

I’ve been watching you, he said.
And I simply sat in silence.
To disagree would be too much,
To agree would prove my weakness.

Accusations – so easily molded
Prove hard to grasp and disentagle.
They fly past and I ignore them,
Breathing deeply, looking boldly.

Doubts cannot come in, I think.
Cannot let neat arguments move me.
Focus, be brave, take the step!
Yet I'm paralyzed; I'm speechless.

One more day, one more night
Certain one day, swayed another
Conference of voices in my head
Some prevailing, others quiet.

I'm still watching you, he said.
And I turned and made my exit.
Did a tear roll down my face?
Or was that merely what I wished for?

The Fall, the Rain & Midterms

It is dark, gloomy, and cold out.
It is mid-term exams' week.
I have not socialized much with anyone in the past few days, given that I have been cooped up in the library for most of the week.
But, overall, it doesn't feel bad or depressing (something I probably never would have said while in college if faced with the same situation). It feels fine. And actually feels good to just sit down on your a*& and be productive. So, did I just grow up, calm down, and learn not to take things so seriously? Maybe. Or maybe I am simply in denial.

The Gumboot

As the weather has turned rainy, I have noticed the appearance of the gumboot (or Wellington boot) all over campus. Worn only by women (as far as I can tell), gumboots seem to have made a comeback among the young adult population, which I find pretty intriguing given that I last remember wearing them when I was very very young. I remember them mostly being plain colored - yellow, red, pink. Nowadays, it seems that shoe designers are really taking this to the next level: I have seen gumboots of all possible colors, with various designs. I noticed the beginning of this gumboot-wearing trend a year or two ago, but then I would only occasionally see someone wearing them. And even if they did wear them, the person would be pretty casually dressed, so that the gumboots sort of fit the ensemble. Today, I think at least 30-40% of women I saw on campus were wearing them, and some of these women were pretty fashionably dressed otherwise. But then again, who am I to judge gumboots as unfashionable? Maybe that just goes to show how unfashionable I am :)

Curiosities in New York City

I escaped the clutches of the Princeton world this weekend, which feels good. Despite the fact that I really love Princeton, getting away every once in a while is a healthy thing to do. It makes me (re-)realize that there is a world outside of academics/public policy where people care about other things and where many of my friends still reside :).

Quite a few things made me smile today... in a way that I think only things in NYC can make you smile. It all began when I was walking with a friend and I was engrossed in sharing a funny story. When all of a sudden I was stopped mid-sentence by a "curious" sight heading towards us. A woman - in her 60s or 70s - was hobbling slowly on the sidewalk towards us and she was pushing a stroller. You may be imagining a cute baby right now, but I will have to disappoint you. Happily sitting in the stroller and observing the scenery was a.... toy dog! It took me a few seconds to realize that this was for real, after which I barely stifled my laughter until she had passed us. My only regret is that I did not have a camera on me to snap a picture. It would have been truly priceless.

New York fashion is also something that can impress or amuse you. A young woman in Central Park today was sporting the following outfit: black, pretty revealing tank top, black synthetic sweatpants, and... black Crocs. Sometimes I really have to wonder whether people look in the mirror before they make their appearance in public. Obviously, you can wear whatever you want, but some things just cannot be mixed together in the same "outfit", I think. (On a related note, another fashion "favorite" is the evening dress with black flip flops during the summer... why oh why?)

If you have seen anything amusing lately (or even less recently), please share. I want to continue smiling.

Recent Happenings

This is more of an update post, for those who try to keep up with what's going on in my life. For those who are bored in reading this, I apologize.

1. We are forming a Bulgarian organization on campus. I was surprised that one didn't exist already. It will be called the Bulgarian Cultural Center, and I may end up being its Vice-President, which is pretty amusing to me :)

2. The weather is still unbelievably hot and humid for this time of year. I am fearing winter may come with a vengeance.

3. We have exams next week (urgh!) but they will be followed by 5 days in Puerto Rico, which I am very excited about!

4. I bought my ticket for winter break - should be in BG Dec 27-Jan 6 (yay!)

5. I am taking Argentine tango lessons, and although it's pretty hard, I love it!

Spicing It Up in Class

So, I love all of my classes. All except one. I won't got into my schedule and syllabi here, but instead try to illustrate what I mean by an anecdote (or several). All first-year students in my program have to take this class; so we are all in it together so to speak. Well, people are so bored in the lectures that we have resorted to all sorts of "measures" to spice things up a bit.

1) Buzzword bingo - people prepare their bingo grids before class, listing words that are likely to come up during the lecture. As a "buzzword" is mentioned by the professor or other students, you cross it off your grid, and this goes on until you get five in a row/column/diagonally. Most of you probably know the deal.

2) Variation of the above - again using the bingo grid, this time though listing the names of classmates you think will raise their hand in class to ask a question or make a comment. Once you get a "bingo" you have to let others who are playing know by raising your hand and asking a question (or making a comment) that incorporates the word "bingo."

3) Word of the week - people come up with a random word that you would probably never use in that class. Whoever manages to incorporate the word into a question or comment they are making, gets points. If you use the word in an even less likely "phrase" (which is also determined ahead of time), you get extra points. The word changes every week. This past week the word was "crunchy", the phrase was "gratuitously crunchy", and the topic of the lecture was electoral systems... and one classmate actually managed to use both the word and the phrase.

Yes, we are that desperate for boredom relief.

Bulgarians at Princeton

So, there are apparently around 40 Bulgarians at Princeton (both grad and undergrad). Although I am used to the fact that we are all over the place, I was still surprised by that fact. I met some of them last Saturday for lunch (at the Bulgarian restaurant in Princeton, of course). They are a pretty diverse bunch, which includes one guy who is half-Bulgarian, half-Namibian. It is pretty endearing to hear someone speak Bulgarian, whom, just from looking at him, you would never assume spoke Bulgarian. But I digress... What I actually wanted to share was that even within this community, in small Princeton, central New Jersey, there are divisions and cliques. I quickly learned that the group I had met didn't really get along or hang out much with another group of Bulgarians....You don't really see that in other immigrant communities, do you? Or at least not to this extent. (I am thinking of Greeks, Turks, Poles, for example.) So why is it that we always find reasons to divide ourselves, rather than unite?

Life Longevity Correlated with Failed Marriages?

I saw an interesting argument being made on TV today: that because life expectancy for both men and women has gone up over time, if you marry in your 20s, you now most likely have a much longer time to spend with your spouse than before when life expectancy was lower. This apparently might contribute to the higher number of failed marriages. Hmmm..... I had never really thought about it in those terms. It does make sense to some degree, but at the same time I am not sure I really buy that argument. After all, I think most marriages end (if they do indeed end at all) 5-15 years into marriage, not at age 50 when you realize "Oh my God, I still have probably another 20 years to spend with this person at least." That's my take on it. But I'd be curious to hear what you think. Do you think there is something to that argument that higher life expectancy might be contributing to a higher number of failed marriages?

Challenges on the Job

At library this afternoon.

Me: "The scanner doesn't seem to be working."
Girl behind front desk (looking confused): "We have a scanner here?"

Needless to say she could not help me with getting the scanner to work.