une visite de mon amie

I love visitors because I am forced to get into 'tourist' mode, instead of relaxed (or tired) Brooklyn mode. My friend Sarah, an old roommate from college, visited last weekend. We took a tour of the Tenement Museum on the Lower East Side. We walked the Brooklyn Bridge and got ice cream at the Brooklyn Ice Cream Factory. We ate pizza at Lombardi's in SoHo. We saw A Moon for the Misbegotten, the play that just closed and starred Kevin Spacey. It was really good. We also saw the musical, The Drowsy Chaperone, which was incredibly hilarious! What else...we hung out in Prospect Park. We ate out a lot (and exhausted my 'eating out' budget for the month!) and spent our hard-earned money at every Starbucks we saw (they have air conditioning and bathrooms). It was a wonderful visit. Who's next???

Stranger than Fiction

I watched this movie last night, instead of going to grad school. I feel I made the right decision.

I can't describe why but I really enjoyed this movie. It was a cleverly unique plot and ridiculously funny at parts. I think this is my favorite of Will Ferrell's movies, but that's not saying much since I don't really like any others.

The movie has a very talented cast and I personally enjoy Maggie Gylenhall's performance. My favorite part is when Will's characters brings Maggie's character a box of flours (instead of flowers), since she's a baker. It was really cute.

missing something

This happens to me enough that I can remember it when I take a nap. I'll wake up and feel somewhat melancholy, like I'm missing something but I don't know what. It's like I've lost something or am missing a person that I have no recollection of knowing or missing. It's a weird feeling but it's hard to shake. I described this to a friend and asked, "You know? Doesn't that happen to you?" She said no. I am all alone in my nap-time melancholy. Strangely enough, writing this silly little blog that my two (maybe three) blog friends will read has helped.

yo habla espanol

i wish i spoke spanish.

why do i do the things i do

it's 11:04 p.m. i fly out at 8:00 a.m. tomorrow morning for seattle, which means i should leave by around 5:30 to get on the train to the airport where i will get on a plane for a 6 hour flight. i am still awake, though i am already exhausted. i am wasting time blogging and 'cleaning out my inbox' when i should be packed and sleeping.

but my middle-sized suitcase broke the last time i used it and i only remembered tonight. all i have are two little bags. so, packing will require much forethought. and i will have to remember to check the bag carrying my toiletries because of the stupid flight regulations on liquids.

so, with all of that looming over me, i am making a choice each minute as i sit on my rear end and decide not to pack but to play on the internet and listen to my classic rock radio station.

i am sleepy. i am going to turn up the radio and get my packing groove on...

On Being Sunburned.

Do people think that a person who is sunburned is completely oblivious to reality? Yes, I should have worn a little more sunblock. No, I didn't really think about the fact that I was probably getting a little too much sun. No, my skin is not blistering nor do I really look like a lobster. But, yes, I do realize that I am not my 'normal' color.

And yet, I find it highly annoying when people point these things out to me as if I didn't already know them. I mean, does the fact that I have a little sunburn make me a complete moron who, because of overexposure to the sun, cannot really grasp the current state of her skin?

If I had time, I'd show you a picture of my mild sunburn. But, alas, I must go prepare for tomorrow's day of teaching where students will most certainly ask me again, "Ms. Prahl, what happened to your skin?" (have they never seen a sunburn? or, do they not realize that I'm a human?)

Lovely Samantha...

This picture was sent to me by my sister, with the sole purpose of Blog publishing. This is my neice (yes, her again) in her front yard in Florida. I just adore her.

my younger neice...

little hannah with rosy cheeks...at 3 months.

my wonderful neice

I still believe that my neice Samantha is the most adorable, beautiful, smart and sassy little girl that I have ever known (her little sister Hannah is currently still drooling and learning how to roll over...)

narcissism

how much of blogging is just plain narcissism? i am having trouble finding reason to blog, as if i need to advertise some part of me to the world, but only a part that i actually want them to see.

been a long time...

It's been a while since I've blogged and this is mainly a test to see if Kathy still checks my blog to look for new additions. This is a picture of me along the riverside in Boston checking out the icy ground...trying not to fall on my, well, just trying not to fall.

grammys

i'm watching the grammy awards and wondering why rascal flats is doing 'hotel california'. there are some songs that should be left alone by the country singers. well, maybe there are a lot of songs. leave the eagles alone please, and everyone else for that matter. write your own stuff. maybe that's only my opinion.

another (boring) New Year's Eve

Last year, I spent my New Year's Eve in a hotel room with two friends watching VH-1's "I love the 80's" for a few hours. I was driving up in my little Budget truck on my way to my new life in the Big Apple. I guess that isn't so boring. And it's been one year, which is hard to believe.

I spent the day with my family, having breakfast with parents and taking my 3 year old neice on a date to the park, the mall and the bookstore. Here's a picture from the date. I am excited to get back to the city, but I will miss this adorable sassy girl, along with many others!

Christmas in Florida

So, the day started out with rain, a tornado warning and some more rain. Yay Florida. But, I don't mind it when I'm not walking around on the street in it. And, I hardly think of it when I'm playing with my crazy little 3 year old neice...

doesn't she look like Hulk Hogan here? I just love it.

Merry Christmas!

Amelie

So, I've just recently got around to watching this beautifully creative and interesting movie. I loved it. Thanks to my only friend who ever reads my blog, Kathy! I've watched it twice already...in all my 'free' time that I should have spent working. It's such a great movie.

another uploaded picture

Ok, in the interest of artistic-ness, I am uploading this picture. It is probably my favorite from the ones I took while abroad last Fall. The backdrop is Westminster Abbey in London.

a weird picture, i know. i'm just trying out this awesomely simple 'upload photo' option on blogger. the things you can do these days! makes me want to take a gazillion pictures so i can blog them.

i guess i better tell people to read my blog first so i am actually blogging for a reason, other than to read my own words myself.

juicy

my dad would be so proud. while playing Scrabble, i got 66 points on "juicy" while my unfortunate opponent cringed. triple letter on the 8 point "j" and my "y" landed on the Double Word. victory, victory.

why blog?

This is Jane 2 again. I'm not sure how committed Jane 1 is to this blogging ordeal.

But nonetheless, I feel the need to write something.

I'm wondering, though, why I feel like I have to sound smart as I write this stupid blog. Nobody has even read my blog yet. Hardly anybody knows about it and I'm not sure who would read it if they knew.

Which makes me wonder, in general, why do people blog? And, when did 'blog' become a verb? When did it become a noun for that matter?

autumnal

my favorite word of the week: autumnal.

though the original plan was for both 'brilliant janes' to be involved in the blogging process, i think i may start writing for my own reflection. this is officially my first personal blog entry ever. i will call myself Jane 2.

i spent a weekend with people from my church and listened to four teachings on the book of Ruth. the first lesson especially sticks in my mind and troubles my heart. or, should i say, God is stirring my heart because of the words i heard. naomi, a woman stricken with grief and loss after the death of her husband and two sons, is left with two daughters in law. in those times, i think that meant she was left with hardly anything and nobody to carry on her inheritance.

she says some poignant statements about her life, some brutally honest statements. yet, one thing pointed out was that she never said she was bitter; but simply, her life was bitter. most people see her as a woman who has succumb to her own sadness and is calling others to pity her. the perspective i received of her this weekend, however, was quite different.

she was honest. she was bringing her complaints before God not because she wanted to deny Him, but because she knew that His promises were supposed to mean something. God is supposed to be good; He is supposed to take care of us; He is supposed to never leave us. naomi's complaints and statements were grounded in her faith of God's character. she knew what He was supposed to be doing, what He is supposed to be like so she was simply expressing her confusion and sorrow over the way things were and how the two realities did not match up.

my coffee shop is closing. good night.