Holla!

I bought a t-shirt a few weeks ago:

Here’s the image up close:

I thought it was hilarious. I still think it is.

But I may want to return it, just because I’ve seen / heard of about a million other people who have it. Why would I want a shirt that everybody else has?

Should I keep it? Should I return it? Your thoughts are welcome.

When I told my parents that I bought this shirt, here’s how the conversation went.

Lia: “I bought a really funny shirt today.”
Parents: “Oh yeah, what does it say?”
Lia: “It has a picture of a challah on it and it says ‘Holla!’”
Parents: “It says what?”
Lia: “Holla.”
Parents: “Holla?”
Lia: “Yeah, holla.”
Parents: “What does ‘holla’ mean?”
Lia: “You know, just like, holla.”
Parents: “Use it in a sentence.”
Lia: “…holla!”

My current life plan

I had a long conversation with my dad last night, and I came to the following conclusion:

I now have a life plan.

It’s probably not definite and I’ll change my mind a million times.

But as of today, here’s the plan:

Summer plan: work for my dad’s PR agency + tutor at synagogue (as opposed to being a camp counselor)
College major: Journalism
College minor: Hebrew Studies (it’s a new potential minor different from Jewish Studies in that there’s more of a focus on language and literature and less on history and religion)
Life career: something in PR, perhaps? Maybe PR for a Jewish organization?

From what I’ve seen of PR, it seems like journalism with a purpose + creativity. That sounds a lot like me.

I won’t make any transferring decisions (into the journalism school) until at least next year, since it’s a big decision and I want to make sure it’s the right one.

But it feels good to have at least a preliminary idea of my potential future.

How to wake up.

It’s a common scenario for me: I’m sleeping late.

All of a sudden, the phone rings. Reluctantly, I get out of bed to answer it.

“Hello?”

“Hi, Lia, it’s so-and-so. I’m sorry, did I wake you up?”

Yes, you did wake me up. I was sleeping so comfortably. Maybe I was even dreaming. And your call–important or not–woke me up.

But do I tell them this? Or say, “No, of course not, I’ve been up for a while.”

I guess it depends on who calls. If it’s my best friend or my mom, I might say that they disturbed my slumber and I will kindly call them back at an hour when I am more alert. If it’s the queen of England, I might leave it to myself.

Moral of the story: Don’t call me too early.
Moral of the story #2: I should just turn off my phone at night.

“How to Wake Up”

I played in my first musical pit this past weekend for a new, student-written show called “How to Wake Up.”

I was definitely nervous at first–I was originally recruited because I play bass clarinet, but then I was told that I would only be playing Bb clarinet. I practiced a lot, and we had rehearsals every night for the past week. And I think it worked out okay.

The play was really cute. I know, because I’ve seen it approximately 7-8 times (five shows plus a few full-length rehearsals). And it’s great because I laughed at the funny parts each time I saw the show. Each audience was a little different–they all laughed at different parts, so that was entertaining. The actors even ad-libbed some parts, so the pit members were even hearing new material sometimes.

Thanks to my “fan club” (the ‘rents, Mike, Rachel, Matt, and Shari) for coming to see me!

This was definitely the most exposed I’ve ever been in a performance–there were only six members of the pit (clarinet, flute, harp, piano, cello, and percussion), so it wasn’t like my typical band concert where I’m one of a hundred. And the six of us got relatively close and had a lot of fun together, so that was pretty cool.

I’m not sure if I’ll play in another pit any time soon, but it was definitely an interesting experience.

Favorite lines from the show:

Deborah: “But where would I go?”
Winnie: “Why not America?”
Deborah: “America! That’s too far away!”
Winnie: “Yes, but don’t they have excellent health care in America?”

Deborah: “I made this for our last supper, Clive.”
Clive: “And which one of us do you suppose is Jesus?”

The end.

Why is this holiday different from all other holidays?

I’ve heard from numerous sources and surveys that among Jews, Passover is the most observed holiday. From the super-religious to the once-a-year Jews, most of them celebrate Passover. More than Chanukkah, more than Purim, more than the 10th of Tevet (can you believe they don’t pick the 10th of Tevet??).

At the seder we ask four questions. Here, I ask just one:

WHY?

Why pick the holiday where not only are you forbidden from eating anything leavened, but you are required to eat bitter herbs and salt water? Why pick the holiday where you must clean the house for weeks only to have it dirtied by those silly matzah crumbs after a few hours? The best of the Jewish holidays are the ones that deal with eating. Why pick the one that limits you?

Alright, alright. Passover isn’t that bad. Maybe it’s the carb-fanatic in me that yearns to eat pizza, grilled cheese sandwiches, pasta, and cake this week. I guess I can live on matzah pizza, matzah and cheese, matzah lasagna, and matzah meal cake for a few days.

But if I were to pick just one holiday to observe, I wouldn’t pick Passover. I’d probably go with Shavuot. I really like cheesecake. =)

A new “Contributing Writer” for The Daily Northwestern: ME!

I wrote my first article for The Daily Northwestern! It was published in today’s paper.

You can read it on page four of the paper, or online here.

Enjoy!

We’re right; you’re left behind

I’m not quite sure how I feel about lefties.

Part of me wants to look at them as a separate race. Why are they different from the rest of us? Why can’t they just conform? Do they feel that they are so special that they deserve their own desks and their own scissors?

The other part of me wants to pity them. Aww, you poor guys. Everyone is so mean to you. You never did anything wrong. It must be your parents’ fault. Yes…we’ll blame it on your parents.

When did these lefties discover that they, in fact, were different? Is it the kind of thing where you’re uncomfortable using the right hand and you feel so much better with the left, but you’re afraid to tell anyone, fearing their reactions—like homosexuality? Did their parents stick a pencil in their right hand, and they switched it to their left instinctively?

And yet another part of me wants to hate them. Okay, hate is a strong word. Sometimes, lefties, you anger me. Like when the last pair of scissors is a lefty pair. Or the only desk available is a lefty desk.

Ahh, the lefty desk. Many of the desks in high school were ambidextrous (the chair wasn’t attached to the desk part, so you could swing either way), so it wasn’t until college that I discovered how annoying these lefty desks are. Lefties, I’m sorry that you have to sit at the one desk on the far left of each row. It’s sad, I know. But to make your friends sit at the desks right next to you, so far away from everyone? That’s asking a bit much. I’M the normal one. YOU should conform to me.

I hope I didn’t offend the lefties out there too much. You’re all just very special.

Spring Quarter ‘06

I’ve finished my first week of my third quarter of college, and already I have lots of work. Here are my classes for this quarter.

Hebrew II
Monday/Wednesday/Friday, 11:00-11:50 a.m.
The third Hebrew class of the second-year series. Yofi!

Introduction to Macroeconomics
Monday/Wednesday/Friday, 2:00-2:50 p.m.
Discussion section: Friday, 4:00-4:50 p.m.
I’m not exactly sure why I’m taking this class, but hopefully I’ll learn something from it. I have a feeling it might get very difficult very soon, so we’ll see how I do. Of the 200ish people in the class, I think I know about 80 of them. It’s great.

The Nascent State of Israel
Tuesday/Thursday, 2:00-3:20 p.m.
A look at the State of Israel from its start in 1948. It’s taught by a professor who teaches one quarter per year at Northwestern, and the rest of the year at Tel Aviv University. I’m excited for this one.

History and Issues of Journalism
Tuesday/Thursday, 3:30-5:30 p.m.
So far, I have not been impressed with this class, to say the least. In a two-hour class of 196 people, we have assigned seats. Fun.

Concert Band
Monday/Wednesday, 4:20-6:00 p.m.
Yay for playing bass clarinet!

So, on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays, I don’t have class until 11:00 a.m., and on Tuesdays and Thursdays not until 2:00 p.m. It’s pretty nice.