How has no one posted anything on their blogs in the last 3 hours?!? My google reader subscribes to more than 20 blogs! Come on people, I need help while I sit here and panic for a half hour before my Fed Tax final.

Fed Tax & Full Moons

Fed Tax final tomorrow. Filling head with useless tax junk today. Excited for the biggest-in-15-years full moon tonight. But I probably won't get to enjoy it for long (due to the aforementioned final), so if you get a chance, enjoy it for me!

Appropriate Lyrics for Today:

On Your Porch, by the Format:

"'Cause whats left to lose?
I've done enough,
And if I fail then I fail but I gave it a shot,
'Cause these last three years I know they have been hard,
But now it's time to get out of the desert and into the sun,
Even if it's alone."

Happy finals period, everyone!

Musical Entertainment for Today

Thanks, LaurenCady.

Stir Crazy

Yesterday it snowed all. day. LONG. Which, in theory, makes for a perfect time for me to try and figure out what the heck Fed Tax is all about. (T - 6 days till that nightmare of a final.) In reality, I found all sorts of things to entertain myself for at least 10 minutes of each hour I worked on Fed Tax. In no particular order...

1. National Buy a Book by a Black Author and Give It to Somebody Not Black: a snarky idea created by Carlene Brice mocking the fact that authors are still segregated by race in literature categories; "It might not be easy to actually get them [white people] to read it. Beverly mentioned that her friends were a little scared of the Ebonics they expected to find. But that's why your favorite African American authors really, really need your help. You, who they know and trust, can explain to white friends, neighbors, coworkers, classmates that there are books without Ebonics, and that books by black authors are much like any other book."

2. Brothers and Sisters: nothing says "I don't want to study!" like picking up a new TV show on DVD to watch.

3. Domestication: in the last 24 hours, I've cooked a casserole; cleaned dishes not once, not twice, but three times; went grocery shopping; and made my bed (something I only do when I have to impress a visitor or have nothing else to waste my time on)

4. (This didn't actually occur, but finally drew my attention to all the things I was doing to waste time...) Moving: this weekend, my dad and his fiancé, Sherry, are moving into their recently purchased Bed and Breakfast conveniently located about 30 miles from ND. I told my dad on no uncertain terms would I have any time to help them due to finals. And yet, around 3 o'clock yesterday, I got to thinking, I wonder if they need any help over there...

5. Blogging: in the time it took me to write this post, I wonder how much Fed Tax I might have read?

Oh, ye of little faith.

Thursday I had a meeting for the entire journal staff to basically update them on where the journal is at and what will happen next semester. We've seen a lot of successes this year:

* Issue 1 (of 3) got out in record time.
* We have more than enough pages for Issue 2, and we still have articles pouring in (literally) everyday to be considered for Issue 2.
* We started editing half of our Issue 2 articles during fall semester for the first time in at least five years.

We have also had our fair share of problems (threatened lawsuits, VERY sloppy editing that *almost* caused Christina to tell me where I could shove the journal ;>, etc.) that we had to address in the meeting. But on the whole, I think we are in very good shape. (Knock on wood.)

The good prognosis caused me to push up our spring production schedule so that we would send the third and final issue to the printers on the last day of March. When the journal's production manager caught wind of this change after the meeting, he made sure to tell me that he "feared" for "my own sanity."

Um, have you met me? Nothing else is more certain than the following: If a person (especially a male person) expresses any sort of concern for my impetuousness, all of the following three things happen:
(a) Heads roll;
(b) I dig my heels in and refuse to budge; and
(c) Heads roll.

Now this production manager and I have a bet going, with the terms still to be decided. This journal WILL be finished by March 31!!!!

My Little Corner of the World

What do you send in a care package to a person who is going to Iraq in a week? So far this is all I've got:

(Also, there WILL be cookies, Lil Hamilton, no worries. The good kind, too.)

Proposition 8

Surprised I haven't had a "offensively liberal" post about Proposition 8 yet? So am I. Well, here you go: (Jack Black plays Jesus, it doesn't get more offensively liberal.)

See more Jack Black videos at Funny or Die

My Enneagram Personality

It should surprise no one...

Enneagram Test Results Type 1 Perfectionism |||||||||||||||||| 78% Type 2 Helpfulness |||||||||||||| 54% Type 3 Image Focus |||||||||||||||| 70% Type 4 Hypersensitivity |||||| 22% Type 5 Detachment |||| 18% Type 6 Anxiety |||||||||| 38% Type 7 Adventurousness |||| 14% Type 8 Aggressiveness |||||||||||| 46% Type 9 Calmness |||||||||| 34% Your main type is 1 Your variant is social

Take Free Enneagram Personality Test

Blogger Karma

While halfway through reading about Dinkeneh's most recent vocabulary list, my Federal Income Taxation professor must have realized what I was up to on my laptop because he called on me.

Blogger Karma is catching up with me. Apparently, the blog gods agree with the law school gods that "Thou shalt not check blogs during class."

Of course, once this particular professor tortures you by calling on you and making you answer a series of questions (whether or not you have any clue what he is talking about), he rarely ever comes back to you. You're off the hook for the rest of the lecture.



Hence why I'm posting a blog entry while still in said Federal Income Taxation class.

The Great Bagel Dupe.

The back story for this post is that my sister, Big Colle, has been dating the same dude (Mr. San Francisco) for 2 years, and they have been shopping for engagement rings many times over the last several months but he is taking his sweet time in proposing. So I, of course, hassle them about getting engaged at every opportunity.

The Great Bagel Dupe
Scene: Denver International Airport
Characters: Big Colle, Mr. San Francisco, Bagel

[Bagel gets out of security. Engages in obligatory awkward hello hugs and greetings. Bagel, Big Colle, and Mr. SF walk towards baggage claim]

Big Colle: Bagel isn't there something you wanted to look for?
[Bagel looks down at Big Colle's hand, sees a flicker on a ring on the left ring finger, and proceeds to throw a fit. I mean a FIT. Stomping and waving her fists around.]
Bagel: F! Holy F it all to hell! I meant to look at that damn hand first thing when I got out of security. Stupid F'ing Luck!!! [insert string of expletives, certainly not appropriate for a public place like an airport]
Big Colle: [after controlling her fit of giggles] Okay, now do you want to take a closer look? [holds up hand that is clad not in an engagement ring, but in a giant ring that is instantly recognizable as Miss Kitty's]

[Commence "The Beating." "The Beating" is where Bagel chases Big Colle all around the airport trying to beat Big Colle over the head with Bagel's winter hat, which has an appropriately hard metal buckle.]

Mr. SF, meanwhile, stands idly by, (a) disclaiming any knowledge of Bagel and Big Colle, (b) pretending he wasn't at all to blame for the Great Bagel Dupe so that he doesn't get beat over the head with aforementioned winter hat, and (c) wondering if he actually wants to marry into this family after all.

Grrrrr.... my sisters think they're so funny.

My Little Corner of the World (Vacay Edition)

This will have to be a brief survey, because (a) I have nothing exciting to put into the world today and (b) Miss Kitty needs someone to open her "garlic-stuffed olives" jar for her.

Witness my suitcase to go home for Thanksgiving: (picture was taken yesterday, I got home last night, hence my obligatory jar-opening chores)



1. Purple eye shadow, Buxom Lips, and shoes that make my toes scream out in pain. Translation? Bagel wants her sisters to take her out! (Also, this is my routine plug for Buxom Lips - they're the best lip glosses ever. They are lip "plumpers," meaning I enjoy making people try the lip gloss who have no idea what they're getting into and watching as they respond in horror to the fact that their lips burn.)

2. My sister called me the night before I left to ask me to bring home this movie. (We own three versions of the movie between the three sisters who will be home for Thanksgiving, but I'm the only one with the extended version.) She left a voice mail, since I was trying to go to sleep and refused to answer. I listened to the message before falling asleep just to make sure nothing important was on there and I texted her in response. She texted me back, not to thank me or wish me good night, but to tell me "Why don't you answer your goddamn phone???"

I'm what you could call an attention whore. Any and all attention is good (probably why I blog ;>). So while most people might respond poorly to such a rude text message, I got super excited to come home for my sisters to swear at me and mock me. This is also the sister who originated the phrase that I love so much - "I hate you and I wish you were dead!"

3. Another plug - I have an obsession with bucket hats. This hat makes me very, very happy. If you are also in the market for bucket hats, Banana Republic always carries very cute ones.

4. This year I am thankful for two things: my friend Wendoline, who has gotten me into a monochromatic frenzy (hence the purple scarf and purple hat), and Target's microfiber fleece gloves which are so warm that my fingers sweat when I wear them.

So that's it. I'm off to help with the garlic-stuffed olives, and hopefully sometime later this weekend I can come up with a post that is a tad less materialistic.

Happy Thanksgiving, everyone!!!!

And for the non sequitur award of the day: I'm super pissed at President-elect Obama for interrupting the Beyoncé concert on the Today show. He and I are going to have to have words.

Dinkeneh, meet our Christmas tree.

Christmas tree, meet your newest enemy:

Unabashed glee at his newest discovery.


"Dare I do it with the blonde one looking?"


"To heck with them! This shiny thing is mine!!!"


"I don't know who stole your ornament, Bagel. It certainly wasn't adorable, innocent-looking me!"


Gratuitous cute kid picture.

Babysitting days are the happiest days in our apartment. :)

And I lose.

Last weekend I never got a chance to update my blog, meaning I lost on the 30 in 30 challenge.

BUT, today I have finally finished my song survey, so there's a partial victory. The back story is that when I read Kate's song survey I thought it was a really cool idea, but I failed miserably when I tried to recreate it. I was all set to admit defeat, when a couple of my ND friends had to go and finish the survey just for kicks. And well, I'm one of the most competitive people you're going to meet, so I couldn't let it rest. I have literally been working on this survey everyday for over a week. Without further ado....

Bagel's Song Survey: normal questions, harder answers. Only answer in song lyrics.

Current relationship status: "It's hard to believe that there's no one out there. It's hard to believe that I'm all alone." (Red Hot Chili Peppers; Under the Bridge)

Your first love: "I know I would apologize if I could see your eyes. 'Cause when you showed me myself, I became someone else." (Michael Stripe feat. Joseph Arthur; In the Sun)

Do you believe in love at first sight? “Read a book, read a book, read a mother-f*cking book!” (Bomani “D’mite” Armah; Read a Book)

Your most recent ex: "I'm alright. I'm just fine. And you're a tool, so, so what? I'm a rock star. I got my rock moves. And I don't want you tonight." (Pink, So What)

Your best friend: "You are one in a million, and I love you so. Let's watch the flowers grow." (Travis; Flowers in the Window)

Sex: "Catholic girls start much too late... but sooner or later it comes down to fate." (Billy Joel; Only the Good Die Young)

Marriage: "And still I dream he'll come to me, that we will live the years together." (Fantine on Les Misérables; I Dreamed a Dream)

Life: "And the best thing you've ever done for me is to help me take my life less seriously. It's only life after all." (Indigo Girls; Closer to Fine)

Death: "I feel the cold loneliness unfold, like from another world. Come what may, I won't fade away, but I know I might change." (Kate Havnevik; Grace)

Your regrets: “I used to think I was special. And only I have proved me wrong.” (Kendall Payne; Scratch)

High School: "Omaha, somewhere in middle America. Get right to the heart of matters. It's the heart that matters more." (Counting Crows; Omaha)

Your worst enemy: "It's no surprise to me I am my own worst enemy." (Lit; My Own Worst Enemy)

Authority: "Some long ago when we were taught that for whatever kind of puzzle you got, you just stick the right formula in. A solution for every fool." (Indigo Girls; Least Complicated)

Politics: "Imagine there's no countries. It isn't hard to do. Nothing to kill or die for, and no religion too. Imagine all the people living life in peace." (John Lennon; Imagine)

Your religious stand/views: "There's a fine, fine line between reality and pretend." (Kate Monster on Avenue Q; There's a Fine, Fine Line)

Monday: "We have gone through so much worse than this before. What's so different this time that you can't ignore?" (Snow Patrol; Make This Go On Forever)

Tuesday: "Hang on, Sloopy, Sloopy hang on!" (The Yardbirds; Hang On Sloopy - okay, there are NO good songs about Tuesdays, and also, Sloopy would be funny name for a daughter.)

Wednesday: "Seems like I should be getting somewhere. Somehow I'm neither here nor there." (Soul Asylum; Runaway Train)

Thursday: "Give me 'til tomorrow then I'll be okay." (Daniel Bedingfield; Gotta Get Through This)

Friday: "I've been waiting all week to feel this way, and it feels so good, so good. I'm on top of the world, the coolest kid in the neighborhood." (Paul Oakenfold; Starry Eyed Surprise)

Saturday: "Well we know I'm going away. And how I wish, I wish it weren't so. So take this wine and drink with me. Let's delay our misery. Save tonight." (Eagle Eye Cherry; Save Tonight)

Sunday: "Suddenly, I'm not half the [wo]man I used to be. There's a shadow hanging over me. Oh, yesterday came suddenly." (The Beatles; Yesterday)

Coffee: "Makes me happy, like I should be." (Spiderbait; Calypso)

Tea: "Just like a song in my heart..." (Corrinne Bailey Rae; Like a Star - this one's dedicated to Miss Kitty who makes the best iced tea ever and always tells me to have a smile on my face and a song in my heart)

Alcohol: "I love you more than I did the week before I discovered alcohol." (Barenaked Ladies; Alcohol)

Cigarettes: "I ain't got no cigarettes." (Roger Miller; King of the Road)

Lunch meat: "You just don't impress me much." (Josie & The Pussycats; 3 Small Words)

Food: "Everything it seems I like is a little bit sweeter, a little bit fatter, a little bit harmful for me." (Rufus Wainwright; Cigarettes and Chocolate Milk)

Color: "I could be purple. I could be anything you like. Gotta be green." (Mika; Grace Kelly)

Anything you'd like to add: “Everything I do is judged, and they mostly get it wrong. But oh well, 'cuz the bathroom mirror has not budged, and the woman who lives there can tell the truth from the stuff that they say. And she looks me in the eye and says would you prefer the easy way? No, well o.k. then don't cry.” (Ani Difranco; Joyful Girl)

Beware the Egg Nog.

Today was an early start, and tonight it will probably be late to bed. Tomorrow is going to be a long day full of lots of this:



So I thought I would be smart and take a nap this evening after I ate dinner. In theory, a good idea. In practice? Impossible.

The problem is that with my dinner (my favorite meal ever, by the way! Left over mac & cheese!!!), I drank a glass of egg nog. And then I laid down to go to sleep and all I could think about was Christmas. I thought about Christmas in the giddy, excited way a little kid thinks about Christmas. And I couldn't sleep. Till finally I had to call it quits, and text Lynn* the following message: "That egg nog made me feel all Christmasy inside!" Well then, she came barging into my room and jumped on me and that was the end of that nap.


*Lynn was sitting one room away when I texted her. That is the extent of laziness that we exhibit in our apartment.

The Life of Bagel, in books

This is my lifespan, to be judged by the books I read at the various points in my life. Obviously this lifespan starts roughly around age 7 when I first started reading longer chapter books. The first "big" book I ever read all the way through by myself was "Where the Sidewalk Ends" by Shel Silverstein. I like to think this book foreshadows one of the major themes of the rest of my life: my fascination with all things Judaism-related.



Once I got over the hurdle from reading "little" books to reading "big" books, I turned into a reading whore. I read anything and everything. I was also a competitive reader in this period. During the summers, my sisters and I would participate in the library-sponsored program that encourages kids to read in the summer. You got various prizes for reading X number of books. Lil Hamilton and I used to "cheat" - we would read our weight in the following books which present the same sort of literary challenge as reading a cereal box:



I quickly grew tired of the Babysitter's Club Little Sister series and then I entered what I consider to be a dark period of my life. The dark period was characterized by all of the following: my very first boyfriend (he broke up with me after two days because I was too scared to talk to him); a boy haircut that lost me significant standing in the 6th grade social hierarchy; my brilliant plan that I was going to write my own book ~ I started several books but never finished one (for the record, every book that I started had within the very first chapter a "long, passionate kiss"); and these books:


There are very few things I did during that period of my life that I am proud of. So let's move on... The next book I recall reading after my dark period remains my favorite book to this day. It also repeats the Judaism-theme:



"The Chosen" began a phase of my "coming of age" obsessions. I read a lot of "coming of age" books while I finished up junior high. Including all of the following:






I choose to end my lifespan in books here. When I went from junior high to high school, I started to fail in my reading choices. I continued to read "good" books - books that I'm not ashamed to admit I read. However, I also somehow failed to read all sorts of "classic" books I apparently should have read. Examples include: Pride & Prejudice, To Kill a Mockingbird, Catcher in the Rye, Of Mice and Men, The Lord of the Rings trilogy, A Clockwork Orange, 1984, Gone with the Wind, Crime & Punishment, One Hundred Years of Solitude, Lord of the Flies, Sense and Sensibility, and the list goes on and on.

For eight years, I had no idea how far I was getting behind in terms of literary prowess until my oldest sister showed up at my college graduation. One night, she turned a lovely shade of drunk and went around telling everyone at our graduation party: "Hi! I'm Bagel's sister. And did you know she hasn't read Catcher in the Rye?" Thanks, Big Colle, love you too.

I have wonderful ambitions of getting caught up on my ineptitude, just as soon as I finish law school. If you have any recommendations of classics I should read, leave them in the comments.

Best SATC Quote. EVER.

"We all judge. That's our hobby. Some people do arts and crafts; we judge."

-Stanford, Sex & the City-

My Little Corner of the World

Lots of the blogs I read have a regularly recurring post. I've decided to turn this old post into my own regularly recurring post.

Witness my desk drawer:


1. "Understanding Chastity" - the pamphlet no single girl should leave home without. Thanks, Emily & Lynn, for the gift that just keeps on giving and makes me feel holy and virtuous on my more "frustrated" days.

2. From my mini-pharmacy you can glean 4 things from me: (1) I live at my desk; (2) I have long hair (ponytail holders); (3) I am accident-prone and make bad shoe decisions (bandaids); (4) I stress like a champion (3 kinds of pain killers, 2 kinds of antacids, extra deodorant ~ which is actually less on account of stress and more on account of forgetfulness).

3. Not one, not two, but three different kinds of post-its in assorted shapes and sizes. Did I mention I have a problem with office supplies?

4. Thanks, Christina! One of these days I hope to conquer my finances, and learn everything I need to know before I hit the real world. (Probably on one of those days where I'm also being a rockstar at "Understanding Chastity.")

5. Did I mention I have a problem with office supplies? I like one kind of pen, and one kind of pen only, and if you are my sister and looking for a Christmas present for me, I still get excited everytime I get a new pack of these.

6. In addition to hoarding post-its, I also hoard chocolate supplies. The sad part of this is that it takes me a really long time to eat any of them. Hence the m&m's in a halloween jar, the Toblerones from Dublin, and the extra pack of almond m&m's that I bought on Sunday and have only eaten 2.

What does it say about me?

What does it say about me that I'd rather post blog entries and accuse people of stealing things they didn't steal than look around my desk to find my Obama action figure? He got knocked down behind my desk and was chilling with the computer cables:


Now he's lecturing me and telling to get back to work:

Missing!

I just realized this morning that I haven't seen my Obama action figure since early October. It took a long time for me to figure out it was missing-I get that-but still! I never took it off my desk, meaning someone else took it off my desk. Given the school I go to, it is not surprising that someone would take it or move it. Given the fact that I have an archnemesis, it is also not surprising that someone would steal it. However, I am still very upset and ready to bust some heads over this incident. Here is my current plan of action:

Step One. Interrogate the Usual Suspects.

Step Two. Put up a missing poster.

Step Three. Notify the proper authorities and get an email sent out to the entire law school. If girls who lose their eyeglasses or guys who lose their keys get mass emails, so should procrastinating journal members who lose their action figures.

Stay tuned for more updates in the Quest for the Missing Obama.

The Difference of 2 Decades

Day 9 of the 30 in 30 challenge, and I might really be stretching here... but what the hell.

When I was 4, my favorite movie was:


Now that I'm 24, my favorite movie is:


When I was 4, this gave me nightmares (totally serious):


Now that I'm 24, this gives me nightmares (totally serious):


When I was 4, this was what Lil' Hamilton and I looked like:


Now that I'm 24, this is what Lil' Hamilton and I look like:



Hi my name is Bagel, and I resist change. I still enjoy sappy movies, I still have irrational nightmares about blue things, and in 20 years I haven't been able to come up with a single new pose for pictures with my sister.

The Lows

Post-Dublin, life went crazy and it will probably stay that way until finals are over (Dec. 19 can't come soon enough!). In the first week back, I had 4 articles to edit (each of which took roughly 5-10 hours), 2 midterms, and a Read Against for my journal (basically a meeting where the whole 2L staff pours over all of our articles one last time before I send them to the authors to approve before going to press). I got half way through Monday before I was on the phone crying to my sister about the impossibility of it all. By Wednesday, I had finished everything but 2 of the articles. I took Wednesday night off, and made some bad decisions that look something like this:





What the pictures don't show is that I chose to drink like a stupid college kid Wednesday night. Rum + More Rum + Whiskey + Champagne + Vodka + Gin + More Gin = BAD IDEA. I paid the price for my stupid drinking the whole next day, and I paid the price for going out the rest of the week. Now my life is back to a somewhat normal routine: I'm trying to catchup on not doing any classwork for three weeks, I'm trying to start preparing for finals, and I'm finishing up all the loose ends of Issue 1 before it goes to the printers Monday. Translation? I lead a dull life once again.

The Last of the Highs

The last two days of Dublin involved new friends, old friends, and lots of drinking. Day 4 started with meeting Miss Caitlin Crottie, Hannah's bff from high school. She happens to be studying in Dublin too, so we toured the Book of Kells with her. The Hamiltons like libraries, so this was right up our alley.



Next stop: the Jameson factory. Most people who go to Dublin make a big deal out of going to the Guinness factory, but in my opinion, they are missing the superior factory. The Jameson Whiskey factory has a more interesting tour, and it has a fun whiskey tasting at the end. Courtney and I had heard that we should volunteer if they asked at the beginning and so we did, but they only picked one of us. The lady handed a baton to Courtney and told her that she had to pick which one of us got to go up there. This was a real - neither of us actually wanted to taste whiskey in front of other people. But in the end, I lost out and had to pretend that I could stomach whiskey. I did okay for the first two types of whiskey, but Jack Daniels killed me:



The rest of the tour tasted much better and Courtney and I discovered that once you add gingerale to Jameson, it's delicious! Also at the Jameson factory, we met our new friend Pablo. Pablo is from Spain and he'd been speaking English for all of two weeks. You can't have many deep conversations with someone who speaks that little English, but he was a cheerful guy nonetheless:



After meeting our new friend, we met up with an old friend, Shaunak, from college. Shaunak is getting a masters in Paris this year, and he spent a couple of days with us in Dublin. Those days included lots of drinking; drunk Indian food; boxties; a beach; more drinking; lots o' wind; and worst of all, a trip to the airport to go home. :(





One more thing: 1 hundred million bonus points to anyone who knows (without cheating) why I was so totally pumped by this building...

Top Five

Blogger's photo update isn't working, so part three of the highs & lows will have to wait. In the meantime, I've reached a new low. I didn't know what to blog about so I actually had to google "blog ideas." It's very sad and it's only day 6 of the 30-in-30 challenge. Yikes!

There are some really awful ideas out there. My favorite? "Write a funny post." If I could do that, I wouldn't be googling "blog ideas." Thanks.

Another idea was to post about your favorite blog posts (from your own blog). That was uninspiring to me, but I decided to post about my top five favorite posts from other people's blogs. In no particular order...

1. Peep-eye's Referral: this post was one of my favorite days since starting law school - the day we found out that Chris & Christina got a referral for Dinkeneh.

2. The Johnson-McCormick Twins: my favorite Christmas story of all time is when the J-M twins stole the baby Jesus.

3. Mama Papaya's Winged Babies: this one is a recent one and my absolute favorite quote since the election.

(At this point, you must have noticed the trend - I read a LOT of adoption blogs. They're my favorite past time.)

4. Katie's Song Lyric Survey: I tried so hard to do this on my own blog, but I was completely uncreative (the theme of the day!). So read Katie's, and on the upside, she has excellent taste in music! I've never been disappointed.

5. Solomon's Make a Wish: "I wish, I wish to see Buzz Lightyear!"

Where were you when you found out?

Last night a reporter spoke of Obama's win as one of those events that will be blazed into the memory of each American forever - they will always be able to tell you where they were and what they were doing when they found out America elected its first African American president. I don't know about every other American, but this is a scene I'm not likely to forget anytime soon:

Granted the camera work isn't the best, but I still get goosebumps watching it.

My friends and I were extremely lucky ladies last night. We were in Grant Park, Chicago when CNN announced that Obama won. The place was unbelievable and full of so much energy. We didn't have tickets to see Obama's speech, but even so, I felt like we witnessed history up close and personal.

Happy Election Day!

May the curse of the last eight years be ended today. While I don't normally blog about such personal matters, since Bush became president, both my parents have been unemployed for more than 6 months (one of them for almost 4 years); one of my parents has known homelessness; my sister's boyfriend has been deployed to Iraq; my other sister has struggled with countless health problems and no insurance; still another sister has struggled to get an education as a scientist with fewer and fewer federal funds being invested in science; my rights as a woman to do what I want with my body have been seriously compromised; and my country has seen new lows. Don't try to tell me that presidential elections don't matter. Senator Obama, please do everything you pledged to do and bring the change that you are promising will save this country.

And in case you are keeping score...

...everyone wins with such delicious food: NDK - 2, Bagel - 2.

Highs & Lows, Part II

Day 3 of Dublin involved a trip to the Guinness factory. Lil Hamilton says I am a nerd for how I carry backpacks. So I put her backpack on and refused to give it back, just to spite her. What do you think: nerd, much?



The most exciting part of the Guinness factory is that our free pint had a shamrock etched in the foam on top. We didn't actually drink the pints. See the second picture? That's all that we ever drank of those pints.




Instead of drinking our pints, we went to the delicious Queen of Tarts. We had a better track record there. The first picture below is what we started with. The second picture below is what we ended with.

See the delicious-looking red berries on the middle plate? They look like berries which I know are poisonous in the States but thought - hey! maybe they aren't poisonous in Ireland! I was wrong. One little lick of the berry juice and my tongue was literally stinging.

Day 3 was definitely a food day. After going to Lil Hamilton's night class, we ended the day by going back to O'Neills for dinner. One meal for two people was MUCH more than enough. Check out the carb overload they brought to us:

Highs, Lows, & Everything in Between

The last two weeks have been bipolar, if weeks can be bipolar. Two weeks ago, I was just arriving in Dublin to visit Lil Hamilton:



I must admit, on Day 1 I didn't have the best of attitudes. When all I wanted to do was sleep off the jetlag, Lil Hamilton and her ND kids dragged me to Newgrange. What's Newgrange, you ask? Excellent question! I asked that question myself, and the only response I got was: "It's older than the pyramids and Stone Henge!" time and time again. I really began to worry when I stole Courtney's guidebook and its best description of Newgrange was: "grassy mounds." Grassy mounds v. sleep time for the girl who just took an overnight flight? I think you can imagine what I wanted to do. Nevertheless, I have to give it to the ND kids, Newgrange was a pretty cool, super old burial site. (NDK - 1, Bagel - 0)







Day 2 involved my first trip to school with the ND kids. These kids are quite crazy - they walk an hour to school everyday (one way), to avoid paying roughly 2 dollars to take the bus. While they were in classes, I was doing work (yes, I had to take journal work on my international vacation - ick!) in the campus library. The rest of the day was time for fun. We visited Dublin Castle and then after the ND kids' night class, we went to a pub called O'Neill's. By this point in the trip, I had come to realize what living abroad on a broke college kid's salary feels like, and I wasn't a fan (despite being a broke law student). So I insisted on buying at least three rounds of drinks... the last two rounds probably because I was too intoxicated to care. "Hi, my name is Bagel, and I like to buy my friends." (NDK - 1, Bagel - 1)

This one's for Lynn. Lil Hamilton taught the ND Kids the concussion/inebriated test!

The rest of my Dublin trip to come tomorrow, and the ickiness of the week after Dublin to come the day after tomorrow. I need to stretch this thing out to meet my 30 in 30! Teasers: whiskey taste testing, a new Spanish friend named Pablo, Shaunak comes to visit, and Bagel comes home to a week full of good ole law school panic attacks.