School and Vacation

Happy news to report - I got an A in everything except Calculus, which I'm not surprised about. But I passed Calc 2 and sine I don't need to take Calc 3, I 'm not overly worried. Huzzah!

I had a bit of a scare when I looked at my grades and saw my Incomplete from last semester was an F. That was 2 out of the 3 papers I had to write last week. I logically assured myself that all Incompletes are changed to an F once the evaluation period is over and that Dr. G just hadn't gotten my grades in yet, but I emailed her anyway. I then proceeded to wake up at 3 in the morning having nightmares about my life falling apart because of an F. Thankfully, she emailed me the next day and assured me it was just the grade change being slow and that I had an A. Whew! She also complimented my writing, which made me happy.

So now I'm in Florida for the weekend enjoying the hospitality of two of our favorite people. We went to a nice dinner last night and there was definitely a moment of "It's so nice to be surrounded by grownups!" I wish they lived closer, but I'm doomed to like people who don't live near me.

Things are good. My externship begins after the holiday and I'm looking forward to starting (and completing) that. There will be two papers in the process, but one is due August 1st and the other not until Fall starts. I've got a house remodel and a move-in/decorate process to handle, but otherwise it will be a low key summer.

And I couldn't be happier.

And I'm Done!

I'm exhausted, wiped out and nearly delirious with a lack of sleep. But school is officially done for the semester! In the last week I have taken 2 tests (one of which I killed, thank you) and written about 40 pages of researched material. I'm shocked I can actually form sentences right now. Though you should see my typos pre-editing.

Tonight I'm going to pack (ever tried to pack for a month?) and get the house as tidy as possible since the house will have an inhabitant. Then an early bedtime (so needed) and off in the morning for a lovely month away.

Random Compliments

I was at Walgreen's buying spumante to get me through the evening, which is going to be long and exhausting. Sometimes, you need something sweet and bubbly. Anyway, the cashier had to see my ID because they card everyone, and she commented that I don't look my age. I thanked her and joked a little about the preventative cost of wrinkle creams, and moved on with my evening. A few weeks ago a man approached me in the grocery store and told me I was beautiful, before shyly returning to his shopping without another word.

Compliments are awesome. Compliments from a stranger are doubly awesome. They don't stand to gain anything out of it. My boyfriend is very good about the compliments and I know they're utterly sincere. He does them very well (one of his favorites is to call me a rocket scientist, which is the best because being pretty is fine, but knowing he thinks I'm brilliant is the best). But they are part of the fabric of our relationship - reminding each other that we think the other is smart/funny/attractive etc is just good relationship habits.

Strangers don't have that. I didn't compliment her and thus she was returning it. Nope, she just said it. I try really hard to give compliments to people when I believe them. I tell women I don't know when I like their hair/shoes/bag all the time. As a gender, we've been told that it's normal to look at every other woman as competition. I don't believe that and have been on the receiving end of such treatment and can tell you that it's no fun. But as nice as a compliment from a man is, a compliment from another woman will make your whole day better. Add a spring in your step. If women could stop looking at each other as competition, imagine how much more civil a world we would live in. Then we could turn out competitive sights where they belong - to men, who still make 20 cents on the dollar more than we do.

Random compliments to strangers today => pay raises in the future.

How can dogs tell when we're sad?

The question came up while I was watching last night's Glee, during which I cried. It was sad!

Anyway, Indy got very involved in the tears. He nuzzled me. He licked the tears. He sat in my lap. He curled up in the smallest space next to me possible and put his head on my lap. All puppy talk for "Mama don't cry!"

So how do dogs know that we're sad? They don't cry, so it can't be that they recognize tears as sadness from their own experience. Research seems sparse, but anecdotal evidence is clear...dogs can feel your emotions. Indy definitely knows when I'm sad or angry (especially if he's done whatever I'm angry about) and is a good mimic when I'm excited or happy. And there's no doubt he knows when I'm in pain - he'll even put his head on the parts that hurt. Scientists say that dogs can't sense secondary emotions (anything past rage/aggression or other basic emotions) because they don't have them themselves, but dog owners will tell you otherwise. Usually loudly.

Finals Week Meltdown

Usually I'm very good under pressure, especially in immediate emergency situations. I'm the person you want around when a window falls in on your employees (totally happened) - I am always calm, quick and decisive in those situations.

I'd kill for a falling window.

I am utterly swamped by paper writing and just had my first official finals week meltdown. I'm currently functioning on just shy of 2 hours of sleep. I sat down to work and realized the enormous amount of writing in front of me and the very small window of time I have to do it in. I lost it.

Thankfully, Kyle wasn't in court that moment and talked me off the figurative ledge. He assured me that I could get it done, that it will not keep my from grad school, that undergrad professors are not as detailed as I think they are, etc. He gave what I usually give others in this situation - clear direction and a calm, confident tone. I can't take his direction exactly because of variables he didn't know about, but I feel better. I'm going to jump in the shower and get dressed, then finish the stuff I absolutely have to do here, gather my materials and head to school. I can work from the library and prep for my last test (at 1), which is thankfully mostly studied for.

Cross your fingers. I might be able to finish this.

Visiting the Mosque

Today, my Golden Age of Islam class met at the Islamic Center of Long Island. Of course, I wore Eva Khurshid. Black dress, black tights, red shoes and red and black head scarf (women are asked to cover their hair in the Center and Mosque). We met with a lady from the community and discussed several issues, the first being Osama bin Laden. She spoke of how relieved the community was. In her words, he "hijacked [her] religion" and put a terrible face on their religion and culture.

One thing she said that really struck me was her saying how the US has changed in the 30 years she's been here. She said the country has become less tolerant and that she used to be able to say she was proud to be an American...that's not the case anymore. It was sad to hear.

Another thing we talked about as a group was the way people are celebrating the news of Osama bin Laden's death. We talked about the joyous celebrations happening around the country and how they mostly consisted of young people who grew up being taught that bin Laden was the worst kind of villain the way we were taught about Hitler. It was an interesting conversation.

The mosque itself is simple, bare and rather striking. The back section of the room can be sectioned off for those women who want to place themselves behind a screen (which is a point of contention in the community) while allowing those who want to see the imam to do so. Lessons were being held as some students were studying the Quran and other learning Arabic. There are no chairs, of course.

Overall it was a very enjoyable visit. The woman, whose name I fail to remember, spoke about how she is from India and it's part of the reason she doesn't cover her hair - it's not culturally common. She covers when she's in the mosque or community center but not in the world. She was really lovely and it was a great conversation.

Osama bin Laden is Dead

Kind of hard to imagine I'm typing those words. As I read the live blogs and the NY Times articles about it last night and heard the President's words, I could not believe that after 10 years, we can finally say those words.

Osama bin Laden is dead.

I felt relief, of course. Andrew Sullivan, who was live blogging the progression of events, included a pretty shocking video of the towers falling, to remind people of why this matters, of what this man did to our country. I watched the video and was moved by it all over again.

Osama bin Laden is dead.

I'm not one of those who is overjoyed by it. I would have preferred him to be tried and found guilty, not just for the attacked on September 11, but also for the attacks around the world that were orchestrated and carried out under his orders. I would like him to be tried by sharia law, the only law he and his followers recognize. Standing in a square in Saudi Arabia with an executioner at his side, while a judge asks his gather victims if they can forgive the man. If any of them can not, he is executed and buried in an unmarked grave, per Islamic tradition. That is how I wanted Osama bin Laden to die. But he didn't.

He was killed in a carefully planned and executed mission by the US. A beautifully handled mission that shows both dedicated and discretion (not our greatest pairing of skills as of late). The goal was to take him alive, but there was no way that was going to happen. A man like Osama bin Laden doesn't live in the culture he does and do the things he had done only to be taken away quietly. Of course he fought. Even if he had been captured, he would have tried to escape again and again. His followers might have chosen to kidnap Americans in retaliation or struck out in attempts to get him back.

So last night a breathed a sigh of relief and shed some tears for all those who have died in the process. And this morning, I woke up thinking...

Now what?