The light at the end of the tunnel.

It is getting brighter every day.

And, it hasn't rained for a few days.

A break

I had to go to the post office today. It was a welcomed break. Especially 'cause I got to see Terry again.

=SUM(A1:A25)

4/28/2010

I always knew that you could put a formula into an Excel spreadsheet and it would calculate different boxes automatically. What I didn't know was how to do it. Until today.

Naturally, I refused to ask for help. I pulled up an old document and looked at it for a few minutes until it hit me. Now I'm really enjoying filling out Excel spreadsheets.

Oh, and I'm currently addicted to Pretzels.

Resume

My resume states that I work well under pressure.

It's a lie.

Just ask Brittany.

A Battle with the Post Office

I'm having a battle with the Post Office. We have received a piece of mail, a bill to be exact, at work that is for someone who doesn't work for us. When I noticed, I simply wrote on the envelope "Recipient not at this address" and mailed it again in hopes that it would be returned to the sender. It wasn't. The next time we received it I wrote, in addition to the already previous note, "Please return to sender." I was shocked when today we received it yet again. So, I blocked out the entire address with a black sharpie.

If it returns back to us it will just be freaky.

Blogging

4/25/2010

Here's my blog for the day.

I'm a film major. Don't hold it against me.

4/24/2010

I may have watched three films today. They may have been in two separate states as well.

Farewell Tim Burton

4/23/2010

The Tim Burton exhibit ended this week. In saying good-bye we stopped by once last time.

Glad to know she is still working hard.



Incidentally, across the street from the MoMA is this apartment building.



It is called the "Il Gattopardo" which, in English, means "The Leopard." I am currently writing a paper on a film called The Leopard by Luchino Visconti. I was hoping to forget about my paper while visiting the museum.

Classes are almost done...

4/22/2010

Tonight was the last official class as next week we are watching our final film. I expected an intense lecture covering anything that was missed. But we got out early. Three hours early. I was very excited. So excited that I celebrated with frozen yogurt. It was good.

Going against my instincts

I'm use to turning a computer off and then on if the computer starts to freeze or not work. Sometimes this happens with lights, stoves, microwaves and other electronics. But never, in a million years, did I think to turn off the water in the shower and then back on. And I especially didn't think that it would work. Really, when the water completely ran out my thought was to keep it on just in case the water would start running again. But, I went against my instincts and turned the water off. And then on.

And it worked.

The Resurrection

I keep thinking about some talks that were given on Sunday. They were on the Resurrection. Please note that I'm very grateful for it. But I have just one issue with it.

Alma 11:44

Now, this restoration shall come to all, both old and young, both bond and free, both male and female, both the wicked and the righteous; and even there shall not so much as a hair of their heads be lost; but every thing shall be restored to its perfect frame, as it is now, or in the body, and shall be brought and be arraigned before the bar of Christ the Son, and God the Father, and the Holy Spirit, which is one Eternal God, to be judged according to their works, whether they be good or whether they be evil.

I pay good money to have those hairs removed and to stay removed.

Disclaimer

4/19/2010

Finals are due the first week of May. And, seeing that I haven't technically started any of them, my blogging may be slowed.

But, blogging will resume again following May 9th. Well, blogging will continue but it might contain lots of rants about grad school.

I hope you are ready.

Brittany, that means you.

I looked out the window and what did I see...?

Misplaced Guidette

I wouldn't imagine seeing a Guidette in Bed, Bath and Beyond. Maybe at Wal-Mart in Jersey, but not in Manhattan. So I was surprised to see a Snookie-esc, puff-porting teenager with layers of makeup saying phrases like, "I hate looking at Vinny's face."



I'm glad Vinny wasn't there. I may have had to ask for an autograph if he was.

Tourist for a day always includes tourist traps

4/16/2010

A friend came into town for six hours so I decided to be a tourist with her. This included brunch at Cafe Lalo, nuts from the street vendors and splitting a Crumb's Cupcake. It also included going to Times Square, Washington Square Park, Union Square and ending in Central Park.

Central Park is known for "tourist traps". I learned of one. For those familiar with the city, there are people who dress up as the Statue of Liberty. I figured you had to tip the person if you take a picture with him (or in our case, her) but little did I know that there is an actual set price: $3.00.

$3.00 for a picture that isn't even professional! Good thing it was Renae in the picture and not me.

Commuting

4/15/2010

My schedule for today:

8:45 am: Allergy shot at NYU Health Center
10:00 am: Work on 19th Street
1:45 pm: Meet with an NYU professor to go over my Fall 2010 class schedule
2:15 pm: Be back at work on 19th Street
6:00 pm: Class at NYU
10:30 pm: Home

Needless to say, going to campus three times today really helped me stay awake from yesterday's late night.

Growing Up

4/14/2010

Birthdays. Such a bitter/sweet event. I have mixed feelings about birthdays. The actual meaning of what a birthday is I'm kind of neutral about. Another year, another day, another minute... Eh, life happens so whatever.

I have stronger feelings towards the actual celebration, however. Don't get me wrong, I love attending other's parties and celebrating their expulsion from their mother's uterus. But there is an attention that I find awkward when it is my birthday. This may be because I'm not use to celebrating my birthday on my own. Who knows.

So, this year I was hesitant to do something. I really was. And it wasn't until others pushed for it that I gave in. But then I had to decide where to go, at what time, blah blah blah. And then to tell people to drop everything and focus on me for a night... ya, I had issues with that. So, what did I do?

I celebrated Brittany's instead.

The text invite included the address of the restaurant and the time to meet. But more importantly it contained the words, "Come celebrate my twin sister's birthday tonight!" A good crowd showed up to the restaurant. Brittany didn't.

Naturally, because it was in celebration of her birth, I sent Brittany the same mass text that the others got. She showed it to my dad. This was his her response to the interaction:

Dad said that with how shy and timid we were we are quick and witty. I think he thought we were going to be stupid.

A cinematic spectator

Today in class we watched a four hour film. It was officially the longest film I have seen in a class. Ever.

I had been dreading this class for weeks. The past few weeks I have gone into class asking if today was the day. Today was the day. I thought I was going to die.

The guy in the film died in the end. But it wasn't because the movie was four hours.

Lots of liquids

4/12/2010

I woke up feeling a little bit under the weather. It is hard to determine if it is allergy related or an actual illness. Either way, the suggestion for getting better: lots of liquids.

While at work I downed three cups of chamomile tea and several liters of water.

I'm not sure if it has helped. But, I am glad that my boss wasn't at work. I'm sure she would have caught on that I was sick thanks to all the bathroom breaks...

Central Park: Thru My Eyes

What does one do after Stake Conference on a gorgeous day? Just maybe go to central park? Ya, that sounds pretty good.

My view from central park





This one looked like a dragon or a horse or something coming out of the clouds.



Right after this cloud passed I heard the ice cream truck and had the urge to chase after it.

Do I feel safe?

The guy in this picture is looking at a knife magazine. Should I feel unsafe being on the Subway with him? Or safe that if someone pulled a gun on the subway car he would defend us?

Modern Technology

4/9/2010

What do you do when you go shopping by yourself and you need a second opinion? You take a picture of yourself and email it from your your phone for a second opinion.



Too bad Brittany didn't check her email and respond when I texted her to...

What was that?

4/8/2010

Occasionally I'll walk home from school. Tonight was such a beautiful night that I thought, "why not?!" It was gorgeous. I had my iPod on while walking down Park Avenue. People were out with their friends or in open aired restaurants. It was perfect. Until something literally stopped me in my tracks.

It was as if someone stepped on the back of my shoes. I turned around but no one was behind me. I was caught on something. But I couldn't see anything. Until I looked closer.

There, very hard to see, was a nail. A nail in the pavement. A nail in the middle of the pavement. A nail that was so rusty that it probably hasn't had a purpose in decades. In the middle of the pavement. Seriously.

Whatever. I bought myself some frozen yogurt and got over it.

Fingerstache

4/7/2010

A friend sent me this website. Come to find out there is a whole community of fingerstachers out there (fingerstache.com).

Selected quotes from the article (http://stuffwhitepeoplelike.com/2009/02/10/121-funny-or-ironic-tattoos/):

White people can only get tattoos of the only thing that they are guaranteed to like in five years, and needless to say it’s a short list. But two things will never go out of style with white people: humor and irony.

An ironic/funny tat can come in many forms: a piece of bacon, old Nintendo characters, mustaches on the inside of their finger, or Asian Characters that say something funny and self-aware like “dim sum,”"chicken fried rice,” or “I can’t read Chinese.”

The Chinese or Japanese character is an interesting case study about the dangers of getting a tattoo with a personal meaning. You see, about fifteen years ago these were considered to be acceptable. Then the wrong kind of white people started getting sentences like “trust no one” or words like “beauty,” “truth,” or “endurance.” To make a more modern analogy, it would be like The Arcade Fire being featured on a Jock Jams CD.

White people learned their lesson.

A white person with the right kind of tattoo is generally very popular within the white community since they have shown a demonstrated commitment to irony, humor, and in some cases, self-deprecation.

If you find yourself competing socially with one of these people, there are a few things you can do in order to defeat them.

Your saving grace is the fact that white people not only enjoy getting funny/ironic tattoos, but they really enjoy talking about them too! Therefore, it is essential that you already have 2-3 clever tattoo ideas ready to drop into a conversation.

Your conversation partner will likely then tell you about the clever tattoos that they have been thinking of and before you know it they have forgotten all about your competition.

Checking up: A Facebook Game

4/6/2010

Sometimes when I'm on the phone with Brittany, I get bored. Not 'cause of her but because we run out of things to say but neither one of us wants to hang up. So, the conversation usually turns to facebook. We may check up on a person here or there or write random comments on each others wall. It really just depends.

Our favorite game, however, involves looking at random friend's facebook walls with the help of choosing random numbers. It usually goes something like this:

Ashley: Choose a number between 1 and 7.

Brittany: 1.

Ashley: K, now choose a number between 1 and 100.

Brittany: 96.

The name of the person will then be read aloud and "getting caught up" will ensue.

Now, let me explain the meaning behind each number. There are various "pages" of friends. As we know, friends are listed alphabetically. So, the number one ends up being the page with the names that start with A-Br. The next number is the precise location found on that page. In this instance, 96 is a Brittany Pacini. Sounds familiar...

We only play it about five times and then get bored, which usually ends up in hanging up the phone anyway. But today's five included two friends from Italy, two friends from BYU, and a spouse of a friend. Glad to see you are all doing well.

I ended up winning.

4/5/2010

But the stamp put up a VERY good fight.




Pictures taken after an attempt of washing the hands with soap and water.

Sunday Sessions

4/4/2010

What to do in New York between sessions? Go to the roof and go on a walk! And look for really cool road barriers...


(Good thing I left my limo at home.)





I hope everyone had a great conference weekend, especially if you are Australian.

Conference Weekend

4/3/2010

Saturdays at the gym can be boring. There isn't much to watch. No Today Show, Kathie Lee a& Hoda or even Rachael Ray. And today I forgot to take my iPod so I was a bit nervous due to the lack of entertainment.

But today was different. I started surfing through the channels, one after another. At one point I had to go back a station; I couldn't believe it! Here I was at the gym and of all the things I could be watching, they were showing this?! I loved it! It's hard to describe but just watching gave me a new found freedom and energy to not only get me through the workout, but the day as well.

I was so glad ESPN2 had the Manchester United vs. Chelsea game. Chelsea pulled through, 2-1.

MoMA

4/2/2010

I went to the MoMA today to see the Tim Burton's exhibit. Here is the proof that I went:

This hotel was across the street from where I was sitting. I wonder who knows the significant of the name?


Lines circulating the block


The Light Bulb Thingy


Different angles of a modern art work. Yes, they are real people.










And the last stop was to visit Van Gogh. And the person is proof that I actually took the picture.

Thursday, that one day that is different from all the rest.

I have a bitter/sweet relationship with Thursdays. Sweet because my weekend starts at 10 pm but bitter because it tends to be a long day, especially since I don't have as much to do at work. I actually didn't think I'd make it through but I did. But it involved a count down to Brittany letting her know that I had six hours left, then four, then two, then an hour and a half, then an hour, then forty-five minutes, then twenty minutes, then....

To make it even more of a drawn out day, I was walking to the subway to get to class when at one point a woman ran right in front of me, almost knocking me down. Her head was down but she definitely had an agenda: get to the black SUV on the curb with blacked-out windows.

Seriously, Glenn Close, you could have at least said "excuse me".

Sunshine

3/31/2010

It has been very wet the past week. But today there was a brief pause where the sun came out so I decided to walk to institute. And I decided to walk on the side of the street that I normally do not walk on. At one moment I turned around and this is what I saw. (The picture can't give what I actually saw justice but at least here is an idea.)



I walk by this church all the time but it wasn't until I crossed the street that I was able to get this view. (Wait, I cold totally use that in a church lesson...)

New York Diner

3/30/2010



Quintessential moment at a New York Diner. It's late and the elderly owners are closing up for the night.