(Line) dance to the music!!

It’s been a year since one of the greatest weekends of my life and nostalgia is, as it should be, hitting hard. Last February I was a dancer in a 46-hour no-sitting, no-sleeping dance marathon to raise money for Hershey Medical Center and pediatric cancer research. THON, as it’s known at Penn State, is one of the biggest weekends of the year in Happy Valley–and that says a lot in a drinking town with a football problem. So what am I doing this weekend? Boo and I are heading home!

That’s right kids, we’re abandoning the real world for a weekend and going back to school. We’ll be in the stands (and hopefully on the floor) during this amazing weekend, supporting our friends and supporting the cause. We’ll be doing the line dance every hour. We’ll be blowing bubbles with the kids and dodging beach balls. We’ll be rubbing feet, backs and necks. We’ll be coloring and playing travel checkers. And we won’t be the only ones. THON is the largest student-run philanthropy in the world and it involves nearly 15,000 Penn State students each year.

So why am I blogging about this? Why am I taking a turn from my normal wit and humor and talking about something serious? Because this serious cause will be the best weekend in the lives of these dancers and these kids. Because this weekend is probably the coolest thing you’ll see–college students giving up a weekend (after months of preparation) to give of themselves. It’s pretty amazing. So if you want to know just what makes this weekend so rockin, check out http://www.thon.org. And if you still don’t believe what a blast the weekend can be, check out these videos. Oh, and brace yourselves….after a few of these, you’ll wish you were on the couch with the Kleenex guy.

95th street in the snow: a live blog experience

I’ve never done a live-blog and it seemed like tonight, given the snowy extremes, that I would have the opportunity.

7:13 p.m.: I return home from errands (a trip to Gristedes where they were disappointingly out of Kix…not even a spot on the shelf for them), shake the snow out of my hood and call my mom back. Walk to the window and take a look at 95th street. The ground is covered with snow.

7:15 p.m.: A guy in a black car is hanging out on 95th street (between 3rd and Lex for those who were wondering). He seems to have given up on the slight incline. Actually, he might be parking.

7:17 p.m.: The parker gets out of his car and locks it (the lights flashed, that’s how I could tell). He’s about 2 feet from the curb.

7:18 p.m.: A DHL van pulls onto 95th. A cab follows.

7:19 p.m.: The parker gets back into his car, rolls about 4 feet from his initial spot and stops. Another cab pulls onto 95th.

7:20 p.m.: The DHL van is stuck. Cabbie #2 tries to push the DHL van. He is unsuccessful. No one is surprised.

7:24 p.m.: Someone took pity on the parker and is now waving him out of the “spot” and onto 3rd Avenue. Success.

7:27 p.m.: Cabbie #2 backs down 95th onto 3rd. He manages not to hit a Jeep, despite swerving towards it.

7:29 p.m.: The DHL van is still stuck. An SUV pulls up behind the cab (whose flashers are on) and apparently decides not to wait for the situation to resolve itself. SUV pulls onto the sidewalk and continues to use it as a lane of traffic. My entire New York existence has just been validated. Pedestrians duck out of the way. SUV pulls onto Lex…but not before I managed to get a picture of it.

7:33 p.m.: A delivery guy on a bike gets my sympathy. He also gets my praise–he managed to bike up 95th (past the cab and the still stuck DHL van).

7:35 p.m.: A Porsche races onto 95th but is stopped by the DHL van and cab (which I’ll admit, I kind of hoped it would hit…calm down, it didn’t). DHL and Cabbie #1 decide to back it down, forcing the Porsche down as well. Cab chooses to follow the SUV’s tracks and pulls up next to the van–half sidewalk/half street. DHL/cab pass is complete.

7:36 p.m.: The Porsche manages to back into a driveway to let the DHL van pass. DHL lucks out with a red light and backs onto 3rd. Cab makes it onto Lex.

7:37 p.m.: Porsche finally makes it to Lex but hits a red light. Light changes and Porsche guns it through the intersection, gets slowed slightly about halfway between Lex and Park, finally makes it to Park.

I may just spend the rest of my night staring out the window. I’d go outside and enjoy the snow, but the SUV clearly illustrated the danger in that plan.

*note: pictures are on the way for this blog…small and a little blurry, but they should still be worth the wait.*

Insert joke setup *here*

You know, sometimes it’s hard to find things to write about. I can only comment on the stuff that I see happening around me (okay, it’s not that I can only comment, it’s just that I do only comment…geeze) and if I don’t leave the apartment, it’s hard for me to gather material (okay, yes, I did just write 2 posts about the guy singing in my shower…fine…point taken).

Anyway, during my last trip to Connecticut, I saw perhaps the best blog-worthy sight in the world. As a writer, you really hope things like this will happen to you, but they never do. Then, lo and behold, there it was. Right in front of me, at the window seat in the Dunkin Donuts across from Boo’s house: a cop. Really? Cop in a donut shop? Come on, that’s pretty good. Oh but wait, loyal readers, it gets even better.

The cop was sitting at a table with a woman and he was holding a notebook in front of him. So, while I waited for my bacon, egg and cheese bagel, I eavesdropped. And what did I hear? The cop was asking this woman a series of questions. Interrogation? Nope. He was interviewing her for a job. Oh. My. God. Really? A cop interviewing a potential cop in a donut shop? You’ve got to be kidding me.

Cops? In a donut shop? Insert joke here…I’m too happy to have witnessed this perfect setup that I can’t conjure anything more puntastic than simply writing what I saw.

The Sunday Update: February 10, 2008

2 videos this week because apparently I’m just too lazy to read.

Also, too lazy to face either of these athletes in a gym class. Way to ruin the curve guys:

Yeah….this guy too.

How to survive the stomach flu

I just recently survived the stomach flu. Since I’m massively vomit-phobic, I’ve spent the last 13 years avoiding the stomach flu and I did a damn good job. But all streaks must come to an end and sadly, this streak was no exception. Luckily for all of you, I’ve decided to share a few of my tips for surviving the flu.

1. Ginger-ale. Drink ginger-ale and plenty of it. Like the old saying goes, it’s better to burp and bear the shame then not to burp and bear the pain. And I’ve gotta tell you…nothing feels better than a really good belch when it feels like your stomach is in a vice.

2. Jell-o. It’s true. There really is always room for Jell-o. Especially if that’s all you manage to eat in the course of 5 days.

3. Sitcom DVDs. Daytime TV can only take you so far. And if daytime is bad, the 3:30-7:30 a.m. block is even more sparse. Movies are an acceptable substitute.

4. Pillows. Have as many as you can in a variety of shapes and sizes. Trust me, you’ll appreciate them around day 3 when your ass goes numb.

5. Interesting book. This one comes in handy when you decide you’ve had it with your bed (and the fact that you’ve been awake for 21 hours straight) and decide on a nice relaxing bath. Yes, I realize that sounds like a contradiction–interesting book/relaxing bath–but when you’re home alone and sick as a dog, the last thing you want is to fall asleep in the tub.

6. Mindless Internet tasks. This step isn’t until later in the illness. Day 3 or 4 maybe. You have enough energy to hold up your laptop but not enough to leave your apartment. Need suggestions? Think useless Facebook applications, complete with quizzes, or your favorite blog, with easy, one-dose reads.

7. Spectacular boyfriend. This tip actually only applies if you already have the boyfriend. Otherwise, trying to acquire one while you can’t even stand is going to be a little tricky. None-the-less, having your own personal knight in shining armor to make sure you drink liquids, take your meds, and, you know, don’t die, is pretty sweet.

So there you have it. My methods for surviving the flu. Granted, I hope that none of you come down with this because I have to say, it was pretty hellish. But if you do, at least you have a few tips to help you through it. Or, at least something to read while you work on tip #6.

That’s it Shower Singer…it’s time we had a talk

At 11:15 last night Shower Singer started going at it. What used to be a pleasant part of my living arrangement took a turn toward the annoying. This man must lack either sense of time or sense of volume because he was belting out the jams like there was no tomorrow. It started to occur to me that perhaps this guy was foreign and still living in his old time zone. Granted only one of his songs wasn’t in English and the time difference would have made it like…3:00 a.m. in Europe. Really though…dude…some people have to get up early and go to work. At the moment I’m not one of them, but that doesn’t mean that some people in the building aren’t trying to sleep. Plus, sir, you are LOUD. You need to change your methods. Either wise up to the time and start singing me some lullabies or try a different approach and start taking requests. I wouldn’t be quite so angry with you if you were singing me some Snow Patrol (it is late after all and they’re pretty mellow guys) or if you went crooner on me with a little Sinatra or Buble.