i bought my first e-reader!

I bought a Kindle Paperwhite!

Wifi only, with ads. For $119 (no special pricing).

BUT I’M SO EXCITED!!! I’ve started referring to it as my new best friend. As in, “I can’t wait for my new best friend to get here.” I got free 2-day shipping (my sister is a student!) but they take 2 days longer to actually ship … so I have to wait for Christmas Eve. But maybe, just maybe it'll get here sooner. I've always been a big reader and I've actually been asked by EVERYONE why I don't own an e-reader already. I'm actually not one of those early adopter people (camping out for the 1st iPhone or whatnot). I like to wait and see if something will stick around, wait for the necessary upgrades and kinks to be worked out. And THEN, after reading copious amounts of reviews and other people's real life testimonials, I'll look into getting THE COOL NEW THING.

I've been considering the Kindle for almost a month now. I realized my work/commute bag was too heavy as is and that's what was keeping me from lugging around my commute-reading. So I re-started reading ebooks from the NYPL on my iPhone. But the glare was tiring out my eyes and making them noticeably drier (I wear contact lenses). So, I bit the bullet. YAYYY FOR MY NEW E-READER!!!

Big research going on now: Do I need a cover? And if so, what kind/which? 

I get excited about kids killing kids!!!

(Okay, so the title of this post is clearly not true.  But after writing the post, I realized some/all of my favorite books are really about kids killing kids (Ender's Game, The Hunger Games, the Harry Potter books). But you can't blame me for these books being so epic!)

SALKSFS EXCITEDMENT 

That was actually the first draft of this post.  I thought I'd let some of you enjoy or at least try to imagine how excited I was when I sat down to write this.

Anyway, The Hunger Games premieres this weekend and actually I'm sure there will be throngs of people at the midnight showings tonight.  But after my midnight premiere experience of the last Harry Potter movie, I think I'll sit that one out and let the young'ns have their fun.

Despite the less-than-enthusiastic NYTimes review, which actually confirms a lot of my own concerns after seeing the preview (that Jennifer Lawrence wasn't skinny enough for the character - she's supposed to be close to starvation, that Haymitch was too "pretty/clean," that the movie would be "cleaned up/made too PG" compared to the content of the book, etc.) I'm pretty excited to see a film version.

And despite everything else they didn't keep "true to form" (albeit based on my own reading and imagination), how PERFECT/SPOT-ON was the casting of Josh Hutcherson as Peeta the baker's son?  Seriously, A+++ for that one, Debra Zane.

AND OMGOMGOMGOMGOMG, so this is kindof completely unrelated but as I was reading that article I linked to (about Debra Zane) I clicked on some of the actor/actress names because I didn't know who they were, like Hailee Steinfeld.  And even though it doesn't look like she ended up in The Hunger Games SHE'S SLOTTED AS PETRA ARKANIAN FROM ENDER'S GAME!!! OMG OMGOMG OMG OMG OMG!!!!!  One of my actual favorite books of ALL TIME!!!  It's GONNA BE A MOVIE!!! AAAAAAAAAAGGGGGGGGHHHHHHHH!!!!!! : AAF#R#RIFSD:KGJNB:SDLF:RGUIO:RGBVF:GR:GR:HOGWER~~~~~~~~~@@@!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

My life is awesome.  They better get it right.  (I approve of their casting much more than I do the casting of The Hunger Games' characters based on IMDB.com - although I never pictured Major Anderson as a woman, I guess they never used pronouns for him/her).  (AAAAAAAAAND I just finished reading Ender's Shadow, the Bean parallax to Ender's Game, had to keep myself from sobbing on the bus for that one).

Another dream ghost.

Role reversal, though.

But this time I was the ghost.

As I've been mentioning, I've been having a larger than usual occurrence of rather negative and terrifying dreams.  About a week ago, I dreamt that one of my goddaughters had died.  This was tragic for so many reasons.  But as her mother told me how my goddaughter had felt about me I just felt this empty wrenching hole in my stomach.  It was this intense tightening of the stomach - I'm not sure I'm explaining this well but that's how it felt.  Like a black hole of ridiculous gravity-power was in the middle of my torso and wrenching everything I could feel into it.

A few nights ago I had another dream.  This time I was the one who died.  Not only did I die, but I was a ghost, and able to interact with the world I'd left behind.  I have no idea how I died or how much time had passed (but not too much) between my death and my realizing I was a ghost in my dream-world.  But I had a significant other (SO).  I've heard/read that the human brain can NOT create faces, so clearly the face was someone I'd encountered somewhere, but I didn't recognize him then, and I don't recollect it now.  I was an invisible ghost trying to tell this significant other that I was still here, that I could still see him, that I could still hear him. 

This sounds creepy now, but since I started, I might as well finish.  So, in my dream world (in which, nothing else was different from our real world), if a ghost concentrated super hard and focused super intensely, we could take some physical form and affect things in the real world.  So for me, I had to focus really hard on holding a pen and writing (really, it was scrawling because it was so difficult) "I'm here" on a piece of paper in the same room as the SO.

I had been trying to reach out to him already, and maybe this is something I picked up from Casper (the movie with Devon Sawa) or perhaps Harry Potter, but if I came into "contact" with a human they felt a chill.  Not everywhere, but just where the contact was.  So I had been trying to touch him, hold his hand, his shoulder, and he just kept looking for an open window or other source of the chill.  After he saw the "I'm here" he froze.  And somehow he knew.  He knew that the chills had been me trying to touch him and let him know I was here.

And I knew he was waiting for me now.  So I took both his hands - and by "took" I mean somehow my hands were going THROUGH his but in the same space so he felt a chill there.  And then we kissed.  And by "kissed" I mean his lips felt a chill from mine being there. 

HAHAHAHAHAHAHA.  This is so embarrassing to share.  It's like a ridiculous Nicholas Sparks novel but usually/slash/ALWAYS the girl is the SO (because let's face it, this is a story/movie that only works and that we could only enjoy if the girl were left behind and grieving and the GUY were a ghost who was staying behind to comfort her) and Gerard Butler or some other B-list actor with soulful eyes were the ghost-lover.

Anyway, the POINT is that I felt that same feeling again.  That same black hole of gravity in my stomach feeling.  Like missing and wanting something so badly that I've missed out on and can never have again.

I have had a rather stress-inducing past 3 weeks, in a very passive sense, waiting to hear on something.  And perhaps these dreams have only occurred in that span of time.  I wasn't paying close enough attention to be sure.  But hopefully this is just a symptom of that feeling, of being powerless and just waiting for an outcome that is, at this point, wholly out of my control.

I sure hope so.

Deathly fears.

 

In the spirit of sharing things about me you may not have known: I have a death-fear of snorkeling.  Ok, maybe death-fear is a bit strong. But I really really really don't like snorkeling. Something about fish touching me FREAKS me out!!!

There IS an explanation.  The first time I went snorkeling was in high school.  We went on a family trip with another family right after school got out in 2001.  The kind guide who wanted to attract fish so that I would have more to see just threw the fish bait/food/bread right on top of me so that fish were swimming all around me. Fish swarmed all around me, inevitable a few touched me and I started screaming bloody murder. My mom thought a shark had attacked me so they actually pulled everyone back into the boat and then when they got me on board and realized I wasn't physically harmed they asked me what happened. Blubbering, I could barely get out, "A fish touched me."

At which everyone was very annoyed and just got back in the water. Needless to say, I did not. I very much enjoy swimming/floating on top of the water and looking down at nothing. I do NOT like snorkeling when there are fish nearby. The last time I was forced into snorkeling (winter 2008) I actually swam away from the group just to look at the empty clear water. Then I somehow thought about how huge the ocean is and how tiny I am and how quickly a whale, or shark, or giant current could pull me away from EVERYTHING. And then I freaked out and climbed back on the boat as quickly as I could...

Ghost "towns."

I meant to share this earlier and it got lost.  I thought this would be an interesting question to discuss especially around New Year's when people make such grandiose claims and declare their hopes and wishes for the coming year: What are the consequences of dreaming "too big"?  

This article takes a look at 6 modern ghost "towns" and it means towns in terms of projects.  Man-made projects that have ended up... empty.

I have a bag of new yarn and a halfway to halfway finished blanket.  This summer I picked up knitting, thought I was going to do it forever and started to knit one of my goddaughters a blanket.  Here I am 6 months later, past Christmas and her birthday and the blanket is still sitting in my "knitting bag."

My sister has a 5000 piece jigsaw puzzle she bought and started before Christmas. My mom has 2 empty except for 2 pages scrapbooks she started making when I went off to college. We are all sometimes a bit more ambitious than might be productive. It's not necessarily a bad thing but where exactly do we draw the line to balance resources and investment?

So that leads to my question: What's your "ghost"?

If Sherlock Holmes were a bit racist.

So, I've had a long week and made plans to meet my family at our Korean sauna after work. I've taken the bus to the sauna before when I was still living in the city. So, no big deal right?

Wrong. Now that I'm a commuter, I have a monthly NJTransit bus pass and it turns out the bus I need to take is a Rockland Coach line bus. Meaning they won't honor my monthly pass and I have to buy a new ticket. No way. I'm not paying for another ticket when I'm already entitled to a ride into NJ from NJTransit.

From my own keen memory I remember that in all my time spent on Broad Avenue (2 blocks from my destination) I've consistently seen 166 line buses. Score. I now know which line to take. But which gate???

Luckily for me, my own usual bus gate is in the farthest remotest corner of the terminal. This means I've passed lines of people at nearly all the other gates. I've also noticed that there are an unusually disproportionately high percentage of Asian folks in the lines at the cluster of Gates 208 through 214.

Aha!!! All those Asians must mean at least one thing!!! Not only is that where the Bergen County bus lines are but it's also where the Bergen County bus lines that go to super-Asian places are. Like my own destination!!!

Having thus narrowed down which bus to take and where I need to be to take it i walked towards that cluster and start looking at the tables next to each gate for the right line.

Yes. There it is. Line 166 with service to Palisades Park departing from Gate 211 Door 2. Don't mind if I do. I feel so accomplished. :)

Can you tell I really used to love Nancy Drew and that I really currently love Sherlock Holmes?

Source: http://www.telesalesmagic.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/11/F0K3VBKFBVHECHB.MEDIUM.gif

Little victories. And making peace.

Saw this on friend's gchat status:

"I have a week left at this place, and I'm going to steal all the fucking Splenda before I go" - my secretary

And it reminded me, sometimes life is about the little victories. By little victories, I don't necessarily mean the battles we (actually) win or lose.  What I mean is what we consider to be victories and how we make peace with the situations and circumstances we find ourselves in.

For example, let me illuminate with the concept of "Aldrin justice."  This was introduced to me via How I Met Your Mother (HIMYM) and it has to do with how the character of Lily Aldrin doles out "justice."  She was previously a kindergarten teacher and believes in punishing bad behavior by taking away something from the perpetrator.  For example, someone at The Gap was mean to Robin and Lily took a pair of khakis (not stealing because she is doling out Aldrin justice).

Aldrin Justice

Lily, as a kindergarten teacher, thought that taking away a "toy" from someone to punish their meanness was fair, i.e. an appropriate response.

My friend's secretary thought that taking all the Splenda from a firm (that probably sucked out her soul and leeched off her blood/sweat/tears for its profits) was fair as well.

As for me?  What is my little victory?  Where do I find my own small justice?  It's maybe super-lame and even a bit of a cop-out, but I'm a huge believer in karma.  So, rather than partaking in my own form of vigilante justice, I make peace with what I perceive as inequities or little rudenesses by reminding myself that karma is indeed a B-word and that other person will get theirs (in the end).

It's a small way out - but it works for me.  One more strategy I use, it's not really a strategy so much as a perspective but it helps me get through the day.  I used to get very frustrated and annoyed at employees in the service industry - particularly restaurant workers: when they forget my order or request, when they were slow in getting me water, and cashiers: when they are SUPER-slow at their job, when they forget to remove the security tag, when they mess up ringing you up/giving you change.

One day (actually, probably many times), my dad would see me get annoyed and verbalize some version of "[This job] is NOT that difficult!" and he told me, "If they were as smart as you, do you think they would be doing this job?"  He meant this as a compassionate comment - that I should have mercy on these folks doing the best they could with what they were genetically/societally given and be more understanding of their shortcomings.  However, I've found you can stretch that into what can amount to small victories (by comparing myself to people who are rude or mean to me).

For example, I had a series of "misunderstandings" with a "friend," where basically I felt I was being used (this friend would only call/text/want to hang out under the pretext of "catching up" when she needed me to do something for her) and would conveniently be busy whenever I initiated contact/spending time together (because, you know, I thought we were friends).  I was upset and a bit angry at first, but then the more I thought about it - I saw there were things missing from her life, her insecurities, her flaws.  I saw that although she had a group of outwardly fabulous friends, she couldn't count on them to support her or be there for her in her times of need.  I realized I was indeed lucky in having great friends I could rely on - friends who were not merely fairweather friends.  And although it's not really "justice" - I realized that I'm lucky in a way that she's not.

I guess, this could be a "victory" if I thought about it as, "Well, you may be using me but ultimately I have true friends and you don't."  But that seems petty and small (but ok, I maybe think that way sometimes - when I am especially upset by how someone has treated me).  But really, I want to be the kind of person my dad is: someone who views the other person's mistreatment of me as a manifestation of their own flaws and then is able to act compassionately in response to understanding that flaw/shortcoming (instead of the way I sometimes see it, which is, as previously mentioned, "Haha, I'm smarter than you and not a McDonald's cashier and so I won't let it bother me when you give me attitude").

So, as per usual, this turned into a bit of a rambling-on about how I make peace with (little) things that annoy me in the world, but here's your USEFUL TUESDAY TAKEAWAY:

Find your own (non-violent) way to make peace with (what happens to you in) the world.

And stick with it.  It'll lower your blood pressure.  You'll produce less cortisol and gain less weight.  You'll be able to let things go instead of letting old grudges fester inside you.  You'll be a happier person.  Eventually.  Maybe.  Then you'll smile more.  And your future spouse will fall in with your smile.  See how I just helped you find the soulmate of your life and future parent of your kids???  Haha =D  Just try it.  Thank me later by serving ice cream cake at your wedding.  ^^

Overheard in the Museum of the City of New York.

"It's amazing that you guys can be so cool like that.  I mean after he tried to kiss you and everything.  But you're still friends with a guy you were sleeping with but not dating, so."

- Two girls in line for The Greatest Grid exhibit.

Still trying to figure out if that was a compliment.

Beautiful libraries.

If you remember from an earlier post, I TOTALLY LOVE LIBRARIES!!! Like, head-over-heels LOVE LOVE LURRRV libraries.  I think they are so beautiful and I love walking through them and reading in them.

So when I saw a facebook friend link to one of the articles below, I just had to share.

First, the publication's choice of the 25 most beautiful college libraries in the world.  And then they knew I couldn't get enough and published a reader's choice of 20 more beautiful college libraries from around the world.

I'm not even sure where I collected all these pictures, but I do in fact just hoard pictures I find on the internet of BEAUTIFUL libraries and now I'm sharing a few:

My first favorite/dream library

Look at the spiral staircase!

In case you couldn't tell

HILARIOUS.

So beautiful

Books up to the sky!

Doesn't this look a lot like the 3rd floor of Butler?

Biblioteca do Palacio e Convento de Mafra I

Biblioteca Geral da Universidade de Coimbra IV

Queen's College Library, Oxford

Beautiful ceilings

Skyscrapers of books!

Le DROOL!!! Seriously, I would fall madly in love with any guy who took me on a tour of libraries.  (I did have a wonderful date going through the Morgan Library once). I would be ECSTATIC if I could go on a tour of beautiful libraries for my honeymoon... ~~SWOON~~

I've been so lucky lately.

Source

Lately I've been trying this new thought experiment. Anytime I get annoyed or start to get annoyed by someone or something I try to turn it into a "how lucky am I?" situation.

For example, a few weeks ago this handicapped wheelchair guy was slowing down my bus and making me late to my orthodontist appointment. In NYC, the buses have this foldout ramp that lifts the wheelchair onto the bus and then the driver has to strap the wheelchair into the designated seat area.

Anyway, even though it makes me sound horrible, the truth is that I was annoyed by this process slowing down my bus. Then I DECIDED to think about how lucky I was for being able to walk and for being mobile and independent and how I shouldn't take that for granted.

I say "decided" because it's truly a conscious choice I need to make to feel that way. If you know me at all I'm truly not the world's most patient person and annoyance is probably my most frequent negative emotion.

One more example: I get really annoyed by tourists both on my commute and just actually in NYC. But this morning I saw the sun shining on the NYC skyline and I couldn't help but smile. I get to come to this, the greatest city in the world, one of the top must see tourist destinations in the world. I get to come here everyday. I used to actually live here for three years.

It's a rather small change in my thinking - but it's been making a world of difference.  Try it: "I'm so lucky."  (Best done with a smile and a slight exhale/sigh hehe).

Honest to God, I don't know if this is why, but I've seriously been a MUCH happier person in the past few weeks.  I'm hoping it's this and sticking with it =D

Grinch-tastic nails.

So, I don't think I've written about this yet, but a few months ago I joined Birchbox, a monthly subscription service that sends a personalized (based on your input) box of makeup samples to your door.  I heard about it over at Capital Hill Style and decided to try it out for myself.  So far, I'm pretty pleased with the service.

You can set your preferences as to what types of goodies you receive and such.  One of the settings says I like nailpolish.  This is true - I like nailpolish. A lot.  And Birchbox has been great about sending me seasonal and trendy nailpolish.

I think the problem is that I'm not a "seasonal and trendy" person.  The grey is an example of a trendy fall/winter color (for the past two years now) and the green is festive and Christmas/wintergreen-y I suppose.  However, on me, I just look like I'm trying too hard (to be cool? to be young? to be... anyone but me?).

I've done the grey alone and it's passable.  But the green is much harder for me to digest.  And not just because I'm a lawyer.  I think there's something about me that just isn't a glittery emerald nail-rockin' kinda gal.  And it's not that I don't do awesome colors - I'm rocking the glittery fuschia and purple combo below RIGHT NOW.

I think it's that - the pink and purple is still a little girly and perhaps sassy in a cute, cheeky "girl power" way.  The green is just a tinge more bad*ss.  It's like how I'd feel in a micromini and cleavage-baring top (not even).  It's how uncomfortable I'd feel in a shoulder-revealing top.  It's like I'm advertising myself as someone that I'm not.

Strange, that a nailcolor can make me feel (and think) so much!

Art, after all.

After all the hullabaloo and hearing/reading/discussing "the Walmart museum" in law school for 3 years, it's finally happened.


Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art.

Wonder if I'll ever make it down to Arkansas to see it?

What is wrong with these men?

Image source

So a guy friend brought this to my attention a few years ago: the two voicemails left by "Dmitri" for Olga.

But this other crazy guy via the Internet is new to me (via intern in my office): i-banker's email about being led on.

Seriously, where do these guys come from?  What is their deal?

Their neuroses are not actually what I have a problem with.  To be honest, it sounds exactly like the post-incident super-analysis a (normal) girl would do.  WITH HER GIRLFRIENDS.  IN PRIVATE.  WITHOUT EVER SHARING THESE THOUGHTS WITH THE GUY.

The truly notable thing about these two incidents, other than the fact that they were made public and viral via the Interweb, is the amount of time and energy that the guy put into their response (to the girl's in/action).  Most guys are either "into" a girl or not.  And when a girl dismisses a guy she's NOT into, it usually gets brushed off.

You don't see a whole film genre or subset of TV shows revolving around men getting together and discussing/analyzing their love lives (HIMYM might seem like an exception but it's about one guy telling his kids about his dating life - not sitting around with his guy friends at brunch dishing about his weekend escapades a la Sex and the City).  Although I'll admit I'm seeing a lot more of "sensitive guy dealing with girl issues" in the past few years, it's usually just one part of the guy's character - the show or movie itself is not about the sensitive guy sitting around over-analyzing his girl problems with his bro-sephs (movies like "(500) Days of Summer" - albeit still at the rate of perhaps 1 or 2 films a year).

I'm not gonna get all sexist and generalize and say that men shouldn't have feelings or thoughts.  But you see things like the voicemails and email above and you just wanna say, YOU'RE A GUY.  SHE'S JUST NOT THAT INTO YOU.  GET OVER IT.

So, here's my PSA: Dudes everywhere, please don't be a creepster.  I'm not gonna lie, sometimes ladies can be confusing: some girls are shy and we're told to deflect attention or play hard-to-get.  So if you must, then please push GENTLY, ask her out once again BUT NICELY.  If she still says NO, or nothing at all, let it go.  You are not going to convince me/us/her to date you with your horribly offensive overanalysis of my mental state and childhood experiences based on our chance encounter in the street (in the case of Dmitri) or your crazy overanalysis of our one dinner date (iBanker).  Trust me, there's enough of that overanalysis going on over here from the lady's POV.

Edit: This latter example of a "crazy guy" in the form of a "JPMorgan Don Juan" was just brought to my attention - although I must say this is a quite different context, it still merits a mention (the 1st two being overcritical "Why don't you like me?" pleas after an initial contact that resulted in no followup and this JPMorgan guy being someone who is taking a breakup UBER-badly - in a lying crazy stalker way).

December???

Looked at a calendar.  WHAT THE WHAAAT?!?!?!!!!  How is it December already?  Remember when it was New Year's?  Then my birthday?  Then graduation?  Then the summer?  Then the bar exam?  Then work?

OMG.  Time seriously flies.  Can't believe it's December.  I feel so unprepared - like, emotionally for the end of the year.

Well, at least I have all my Christmas traditions to look forward to.  I love them.  Already saw my goddaughter in The Nutcracker (this past Saturday) CHECK!  Next?  Gotta watch Elf (one of my favorite movies of all time).

Seriously - trying to make the most of each day left in this (less than) last month of the year.

I could ask what you'd hoped to achieved this year (y'kno, like what was your new year's resolution) but it's probably much less depressing to ask, What Christmas traditions do you look forward to?

I like: Sarcastic Op-Eds.

I know she's neither running nor mentioned - but she's an image search top hit for "silly republicans" for a reason, right?

Gail Collins starts off her Thanksgiving column thusly:

This year I am giving thanks for the Republican presidential debates.

And goes on to explain why (article here).  I love SNARK.  Teehee.

GAH - I just tried to pick a few choice quotes to include here and I couldn't choose any one ... just go and read it. 

I love that she finds them so entertaining - but I'm a little worried we ("latte liberals") don't take these folks as seriously as we should.  As in, we shouldn't assume other voters find them as amusing and perhaps as harmless as they actually SHOULD be, y'know, if everyone USED their brain... and so we let things slide instead of jumping on how dumb/politically incorrect/obtuse/incorrect/uninformed these candidates are and pointing it out to the voting populace.

Luxury.

Page I tore out of The New Yorker as a goal and reminder.

I think luxury is relative. Walking out of the Boston MFA a few hours ago, a friend asked me how I felt about the day I'd just had. And I could only think of how LUCKY I am.

I'd spent the night with a good friend near Harvard. Had a lovely catchup brunch at IHOP with another friend. Then got to see the Degas exhibit that I'd been looking forward to since i'd read about it in The New Yorker a few weeks ago.

I feel so lucky. It's a luxury to travel and see friends and enjoy art. After reading (other) New Yorker articles about life under Qaddafi and girls who commit so-called "honor suicides" in the middle east caucasus region, I felt so lucky. To have had access to a world-class education. To be ALLOWED to have an education. To freely travel. To wear whatever clothes I want to. To be able to see whatever art without the filter of a government censor.

Some ppl might think I'm satisfied with too little. But I'm just grateful for the amazing situation I've been born into and the life I'm able to lead. It amazes me how being born a female in today's world can still mean a lifetime of second-class citizenship in some places.

And regardless of gender, there are still countries where something as taken for granted as travel or freedom of speech of artists is still elusive. And even in the US, there are ppl who don't have the financial means or freedom of physical movement and independence to travel as they'd like.

So on so many levels, I feel lucky to lead such a luxurious life. The luxury of travel. To luxury to see friends. The luxury to appreciate art.

You can't say "bomb" on a plane.

Source.

Or in a building full of the Attorney General's state government employees.

I heard a few ppl rushing past my office just now followed by, "Grab your things! There's a bomb threat!"

I was going to ignore it until an official announcement was made (our building has great security) but then all the staff workers were rushing by in their coats with their bags.

So I peeked into the hallway and our Bureau Chief was out there - explaining that there's a bomb threat a block away between Liberty and Maiden Lane.  And although we don't have an official building announcement yet they were advised to move anyone with Broadway-facing windows into the interior of the building.

I'm way in the back by Nassau so I'm in the "safe" zone.  Now we're just waiting for more "official" news.

Also, my trip to the bank (front-facing on Broadway inside my building) is momentarily postponed.  Oh, dear.

Content.

A good night spent with friends. Who all passed the bar. And I still get to sleep my usual 6 hours. Win!

From our friends at PSEG/PSE&G.

Since losing our power on Saturday evening, I have pretty much been stalking the PSEG outage map and Twitter feed via my iPhone and now at work on the Internet.

In the past 5 minutes the outage map has gone down and so I started clicking on some of the other links.

Here's a helpful hint:

In the event that a wire comes down on a vehicle with passengers, our advice is to stay in the vehicle until professional help arrives to safely remove you from the vehicle. If you MUST get out of the vehicle because of fire or other life-threatening hazards, jump clear of the vehicle so that you do not touch any part of the car and the ground at the same time. Jump as far as possible away from the vehicle with both feet landing on the ground at the same time.
Once you clear the vehicle, shuffle away, with both feet on the ground, or hop away, with both feet landing on the ground at the same time. Do not run away from the vehicle as the electricity forms rings of different voltages. Running may cause your legs to "bridge" current from a higher ring to a lower voltage ring. This could result in a shock. Get a safe distance away.

Emphasis added by ME.  SHUFFLE AWAY - with BOTH FEET ON THE GROUND or HOP.  I know it's probably sound advice and following it probably saves lives - but it's just hard to imagine and amusing to picture.

Because my first instinct in leaving a car that is on FIRE is to RUN. AS. FAST. AS. I. CAN.

Of kidnappings and ransoms.

Source.

I read a case (a few days ago) about a fund that was created to pay out rewards for information following an upstate NY girl's kidnapping.  This led to a 40-minute Google search down the rabbit hole about well-publicized kidnappings and abductions and changes to American law (ie. AMBER alert).

Now I have a weird question about policy/ethics regarding a reward/ransom.

A few weeks ago I read a NY Times Magazine article about an older English couple who was kidnapped by pirates and held captive for over a year.  (True Confession: I actually started reading this rather lengthy article because I thought it was a fiction piece with all the fun and fanfare of Pirates of the Caribbean franchise.)  It took their family that much time to come up with the money and also other liaisons to set up an exchange.  The thing is the British government policy is NEVER to pay ransom.

Contrast this with one of the cases I read on Wikipedia about Arjan Erkel who was kidnapped doing work for Doctors Without Borderrs and then released 20 months later when the Dutch government paid a ransom of €1,000,000. 

What are the incentives put in place by a country's ransom policy?  What is the conduct that we are encouraging or discouraging?

Disregarding the fact that the Dutch guy was actually imprisoned/kidnapped for a longer time, has the Dutch government focused a kidnappers' target on their citizens?  Will pirates and other evildoers focus on Dutch citizens because Holland pays ransom whereas England does not?  Or are the countries helping to spare the lives of their citizens?  Will a pirate kill his English victim upon finding out the victim is not wealthy and that his country will not pay a ransom for his return?  According to the Times Magazine article, keeping a hostage is very expensive.  If you have little chance at reaping a ransom, isn't it cheaper to "dispose" of your hostage?

Very difficult questions, indeed.  Today is one of those days I'm glad I'm not one of those key policy-decisionmakers.