I’ve lost my only talent

I can’t juggle.

I can’t balance plates on my chin, I can’t play four musical
instruments at once, and I can’t burp the ABCs. (I can hula hoop while
spinning a basketball on my finger, but that’s beside the point.)

I used to have one talent:

I could fall asleep on command.

It was brilliant. I could fall asleep at any time of day–nighttime, naptime, post-breakfast, during class.

The nighttime sleeping talent was especially useful. I’ve heard about
people that need to count sheep to fall asleep, or take sleeping
pills, or drink warm milk, or stare at the wall. I’ve had to use none
of these. I just fell asleep when I wanted to.

Now, however, that talent is slowly fading away. The past few nights,
I’ve made a concerted effort to go to sleep relatively early (around
1:30 a.m.), because, really, it’s Reading Week, and I have nothing
better to do.

And what happens? The first few hours I spend yawning excessively,
which prevents me from falling asleep. Yes, body, I realize that I’m
tired, that’s why you’re making me yawn, but I’m doing the best I can.
I’m in bed with the lights off and my eyes closed. The yawning is a
little unnecessary at this point.

Then, I stop yawning, but I still can’t sleep! I don’t know why. I
don’t even realize that I haven’t been sleeping until I look at the
clock and it’s 3:30 a.m. 4:45 a.m. 5:50 a.m. I think I remember looking
at the clock this morning at 9 a.m. I just don’t understand it.

I am very good, however, at just beginning to fall asleep a few minutes
before I’m supposed to wake up. “Alright, Lia,” my body tells me, “Your
alarm is set for 10:15 a.m., so I’ll let you sleep soundly right about now,
9:30. Sweet dreams!”

I’m great with naps. I woke up from a two-hour nap just now. But the
reason I was so tired and had to take this nap was because I only got
three hours of real sleep last night (I let myself sleep until
12:30…I figured I shouldn’t sleep through breakfast and lunch), when I was doing everything I could to get a good night’s rest.

I don’t know what to do. I can’t afford to be tired. (Especially these
next few nights, when it’s Radiothon, the 48-hour philanthropy radio
marathon from my dorm; and then finals [okay, Sociology is my only
final, but I still need to read 300+ pages of it].)

The word on the street is that drugs are bad, so that’s out. How about
the sheep from that mattress commercial? Maybe I could arrange for one
of my teachers to come in and lecture?

Maybe I’ll just arrange for my suitemates to tuck me in with milk and cookies and a bedtime story.

The moment you’ve all been waiting for…

Mozart, you’ve got nothing on me.

I’ve been working on my composition for a long time–my final project
for my music theory class. I came up with the melody one day walking
back from Tech, and I just went with it.

Special shoutout to Michael and Dad for helping me greatly with the piece.

I called my piece “Afternoon Rain,” since parts of it sort of sound
like light rain, and then other parts are darker and more like thunder.

Now, here it is. Enjoy! (click here)

Go ‘Cats, beat the Illini!

What a weekend!

I went to U of I with a bunch of my CRC friends (namely Eri, Kaitlyn, Patrick, Jason, Nomaan, Emily, Mindy, Quinton, and Hillary) to see the Northwestern/Illinois football game Saturday morning. Here’s the summary:

Friday:
Leave CRC: 4:00 p.m.
Arrive at Woodfield to get bus: 6:00 p.m.
Bus’s scheduled departure time: 6:00 p.m.
Bus’s actual departure time: 7:25 p.m.
Amount of time standing in the cold: 1 hour and 25 minutes (we huddled up under my blanket, took turns sitting in mothers’ cars, and ate Subway in Lasalle Bank until they kicked us out)
Arrive at Hillary’s house in Champaign, IL: around 11:00 p.m.
Dinner, relaxing, and board games (Guesstures and Taboo!) until 3:00 a.m.
Lia goes to sleep: 3:00 a.m.
Everyone else goes to sleep: 5:00 a.m.

Saturday:
Wake up: 8:15 a.m.
French-braid Emily and Eri’s hair: 8:35 a.m.
Breakfast: 9:00 a.m.
Take this picture: 9:10 a.m.

(Hillary’s friend Kinzie from U of I is the odd one out here.)
Arrive at tailgate: 9:20 a.m.
See this image: 9:21 a.m.

Find our assigned seats in the stadium: 10:50 a.m.
Meet up with Reuben: 10:51 a.m.
Move to massive Northwestern section by the band: 10:53 a.m.
Kickoff: 11:00 a.m.
The game starts getting good: 11:10 a.m.
Michael performs in halftime show with marching band: 12:30 p.m.
NORTHWESTERN WINS!!!!!!!!!: 2:45 p.m.
Back to Hillary’s house for paddleboating: 3:45 p.m.
Field trip to Target: 5:30 p.m.
Back to Hillary’s for dinner, TV, paddleboating, s’mores, and storytelling: 7:00 p.m.
Bed: 1:00 a.m.

Sunday:
Wake up: 11:00 a.m.
Brunch: 12:00 p.m.
KARAOKE!!!!!: 1:30 p.m.
Bus back to Woodfield: 2:45 p.m.
Arrive back at Northwestern: 7:00 p.m.

I had such a great time, and the 11 of us got really close. And it’s always fun to see the marching band perform, and the Wildcats win!!

Do I smell a potential trip to a bowl game?

For more pictures, see my Yahoo Photos page at http://pg.photos.yahoo.com/ph/lialehrer/album?.dir=cc30&.src=ph&store=&prodid=&.done=http%3a//pg.photos.yahoo.com/ph/lialehrer/my_photos

Health update

Just as an update…

My cold and I are no longer on speaking terms. It was kind of an awkward breakup.

I do have someone new in my life, however. His name is Claritin. I think we’ll be together for a long time.

Though I have gotten rid of my cold, I have not gotten rid of THE cold. It is FREEEEEEEEEEEEEZING outside today. This is the time of year when I’m jealous of my Houston friends.

It’s funny, though, because people think that since I’m from Chicago, I should be used to the weather.

Lia: “Brrrrrrrrrr!”
Non-Chicago friend: “But Lia, aren’t you FROM Chicago?”
Lia: “But that doesn’t mean I don’t have FEELINGS!!!”

I’m going to buy a down jacket tonight.

An open letter to my cold

I’d like to take this opportunity to wish a happy two-week anniversary (yeah, I know anniversary means a year, sue me) to my cold. I can’t believe we’ve been together for that long! I dedicate this entry to you, my cold.

Cold, it’s been such a pleasure getting to know you for the last two weeks. You know my weak spots more than my best friends, and you attach yourself to me more than any boyfriend ever has.

Together, we’ve gone through four boxes of Kleenex, and you’ve even convinced me to heartlessly steal some of my roommate’s tissues as well. We’ve cleaned out 100% of my Tylenol Cold Nighttime pills, and 66% of my Tylenol Cold Daytime pills.

I’ve stayed in with you instead of going out with friends. You keep me company always, never leaving me lonely. When not enough people are looking at me, you draw their attention towards the two of us by encouraging me to cough loudly or sneeze awkwardly.

You keep me from being too rich by begging me to spend my own money–the money I worked hard for all summer by stuffing envelopes–on cough drops and tea.

Tea! You wanted me to experience the wonderful goodness that is flavored hot water. Mmmm. I don’t like tea.

When you’re with me, it’s hard to concentrate on anything else. I think about you all the time. I can’t sleep when I need to (because I’m thinking about you), yet when I shouldn’t sleep (like in music theory class), you cause my eyes to droop.

With you, I didn’t need a special Halloween costume. You made my nose red and my voice sound funny–I was able to be a clown without even dressing up!

When I’m with you, I don’t want to be with anyone else. I don’t want them to have you, too. You must be mine, all mine.

You take my breath away.

Well, cold, it’s been quite a ride. I hope you stick around a little longer. Really, I would love your company for another two weeks. Come hang out with some of my friends, too. I can give you their room numbers if you need.

Thanks for everything. It’s been fun getting to know you. Unfortunately, however, I’m going to have to break up with you. This relationship has meant a lot to me, really. It’s not you; it’s me.

Maybe we can still be friends.

My new friend

Readers, this is Creative Zen Micro. Creative Zen Micro, these are my readers.

It’s my new mp3 player (sort of like an iPod, but supposedly better). I
haven’t owned a portable music player since my Discman, which I rarely
used, and then before that, my Walkman (remember cassettes?).

This was a birthday present from my family, in addition to the ruby
slippers you can see in the picture by my head. Yay for birthdays!!

The Zen has a capacity for 6 GB, about 3,000 songs. Right now, I have
970 songs. Who has songs they want to send me / let me steal?

Though it can hold a lot of music, it is small in size: it is smaller
than the palm of my hand, and when I have pockets, it can fit inside of
them.

Many thanks to the Lehrer family for giving me this new toy.

Taste the soup!

What happens when you cross a very sick girl with very worrysome parents who live too close?

Chicken soup. But not real chicken soup. Chicken soup from a cube that the parents bring to the sick girl’s dorm room.

I had never heard of bouillon before, but that’s what it is. Feeling
sick (sore throat, coughing, and sneezing–the fun stuff), I decided to
make myself some nice chicken soup for lunch on my birthday, and then
the next day, too.

The first time I made the soup, I just had plain broth. It was good.
The next day, however, I decided to get creative. And here’s how.

Step 1:

Obtain soup cube. I got Telma Chicken Consomme, which is cool because
it’s kosher. It can be purchased at such locations as the Kosher Jewel
on Howard (I know…I went there tonight).

Step 2:

Fill up a big cup with hot water from the coffee/tea station of your local dining hall.

Step 3: (not pictured)
Obtain a bowl from the cereal section of your local dining hall.

Step 4:

Pour hot water into bowl. Crumble soup cube into hot water; stir. Let simmer for five minutes.

Step 5:

Now, the fun part. Obtain celery stick from the salad bar and cut into
small pieces. Obtain noodles from noodle area, and carrot slivers from
the salad bar. Add celery pieces, carrot slivers, and noodles to soup.
Let sit for a few minutes for the soup to absorb the flavor.

Step 6:
Eat, and enjoy!

KW

Kanye West is coming to Northwestern, $15 a ticket. If only I cared.

1031!!!!

I’m 19.

The details of the birthday festivities follow.

1. A few birthday phone calls on Sunday. Sunday was a great day, as I
forgot about Daylight Savings Time, so I got an extra, unexpected hour
of sleep.
2. Sunday night, my parents brought birthday cake for my dorm to meet at our meeting. Yummm…
3. Stroke of midnight: ring ring, more calls!
4. Monday morning: Memoir class (what a great way to start off my birthday…discussing the Holocaust) and Hebrew
5. This was a cool birthday because the Hebrew calendar runs in 19-year
cycles, so this year my Hebrew birthday and my secular birthday landed
on the same date (October 31 = 28th of Tishrei): the first time since
1986, I believe.
6. Lunch; I’ll write more about the cool food item I ate later (it’s an entry in itself)
7. Harmony, then run-run-run to Sociology
8. This is one of the best parts of the day. Pay attention.

I open my notebook
and prepare for an informative sociological lecture (Jessi calls the
class “Fun with Stereotypes”). Don’t forget, this is a class of 650
kids, taught by a famous professor. “Hello, everyone,” he says.
“Today’s lecture is about the American Character. Oh, and I’d like to
wish a happy birthday to Lia Lehrer.”

I was shocked.
WOAH!! People cheered for me!! (I actually know quite a few people in
that class.) I was semi-embarrassed, semi-…woahhh. I soon found out
that Jessi and Lauren asked the professor to announce that. WOW. That
was insane. Thanks, guys.

9. Chilling in the room, then my suitemates awkwardly line up my room
to sing to me and present me with a card and a “coupon” for a ticket to
Wicked!!! I love you guys.
then dinner at Wolfgang Puck with Lauren!
10. It was raining. It always rains on Halloween/Lia’s birthday.
11. A few minutes of the Hillel Halloween Party (boring), then back to the dorm
12. A visit from Michael and Eric–earrings from Michael and Rachel S!
13. It’s been fun getting phone calls, IMs, e-mails, Facebook messages,
etc. from everyone!! I’m a really big loser and I actually kept track
of everyone who called, e-mailed, whatever, so I can thank them: and,
wow, when I look at it like that, I have come in contact with almost
100 different people in the last 26 or so hours (really, I counted).
WOW. I love people.
14. But wait! Do the birthday celebrations stop after today? No, no;
never fear. This weekend will complete the celebration with a dinner
with friends Saturday night (NU CRC people: sign up on my door if
you’re coming!) and with my family Sunday night.
15. The end.