National Anthem Singing Contest in Vietnam: My Students!

Nobel Peace Prize Goes To...Obama?

True, President Barry Obama didn't deserve such admirable recognition. He even states in his acceptance speech of this highly commendable and much-sought-after peace prize that there were other men and women who were "far more deserving of this honor than I." But even if the man was falsely praised for acts of peace that he hasn't even had the chance to promote, let alone successfully execute these acts with non-aggression tactics, he should at least be noted in the history books as one of the greatest orators of our time: I watched and read his speech for the first time today (I'm not very good at keeping up with current events, especially when I'm out of the country - ahem, Vietnam) and I was highly moved by his words:

"For if we lose faith - if we dismiss it as silly or naive, if we divorce it from the decisions that we make on issues of war and peace - then we lose what is best about humanity. We lose our sense of possibility. We lose our moral compass.

Like generations have before us, we must reject that future. As Dr. King said at this occasion so many years ago, "I refuse to accept despair as the final response for the ambiguities of history. I refuse to accept the idea that 'isness' of man's present nature makes him morally incapable of reaching up for the eternal 'oughtness' that forever confronts him."

So let us reach for the world that ought to be - that spark of the divine that still stirs within each of our souls. Somewhere today, in the here and now, a soldier sees he's outgunned but stands firm to keep the peace. Somewhere today, in this world, a young professor awaits the brutality of her government, but has the courage to march on. Somewhere today, a mother facing punishing poverty still takes the time to teach her child, who believes that a cruel world still has a place for his dreams."

::Cue the tears::

Kelly Gets Historical

In the novel John Adams, I learned two things about college in the 18th century: for one, the food at Harvard was awful. Guess the universal rule of "All Food At College Must Suck" was applicable back in Johnny's day too. The second, that Mr. Adams, as well as all of his buddies, were quite the advocates of hard cider.

"Indeed, for the rest of his life, a morning "gill" of hard cider was to be John Adam's preferred drink before breakfast." - pg. 36

Damn. Cider - an antecedent breakfast drink?! And I thought I was bad ass one day for having a pint of it at lunch...

Where A Kid Can't Be A Kid

Fact: over 40% of America's children are overweight and inching uncomfortably close to the borderline of morbid obesity.

Fact: More kids nowadays would rather sit inside with a pack of Oreos and play Call of Duty for four hours straight than shoot some hoops with friends on their driveway.

Fact: Technology is advancing faster than these little tykes even have time to fathom what it's turning them into: video game loving, aerobic activity despising anti-social weirdos who squint at the first site of sun in summertime because they haven't SEEN it in so God damn long.

Still, I don't think we should carry restrictions of pleasure over to vending machines in middle school cafeterias. I was totally horrified today when I meandered up to one such vending machine at my little sister's winter concert and found VEGGIE STIX as one of my options. Veggie Stix?! Really, guys?!

There was not a single solitary snack encased in that pathetic excuse for a "vending machine" that contained anything I like - more specifically, no chocolate, no peanut buttter and no high content of saturated fat. It felt so wrong just to peer inside.

This goes out to all parents and teachers and nutritional educators of the world: cookies and cakes have been around for centuries - video games have not. So, conclusion: take the physical health of your OWN obese child into your OWN hands and sign them up for intramural volleyball. Cuz guess what? That varsity athlete who runs 6 miles a day and has abs of steel deserves that pack of Oreo's after practice which SHOULD be waiting for him in his high school's vending machine - and you health freaks have no right to take it away from him!

Edumacating Myself

America. My capricious yet complaisant corn-and-cattle filled country. This land of wide open space, whose foundation is more esoteric to me than it rightly should be, is my more hostile than humble Holy Land. Yet I'll quietly and reluctantly admit to the unfortunate fact that I know so little concerning the history of Her foundation. Shame on me.

But no more. I plan on changing my ignorant ways this winter. With the enlightenment of David McCullough's excellent prose and story-telling style, I am in for a nerdy adventure with John Adams, one of this historian's most highly revered fictional novels about the political and personal life of our second president.

It feels nicer than ever to be submerged in the English language again. Feels even nicer knowing that this book was turned into a seven-part mini series on HBO, which will only make finishing this author's most impressive work to date that much more exciting. Hooray for the Big Screen!

So This Is Christmas...

Justifying a visit to Rockefeller Center on any dissonant day in December is like trying to exculpate Michael Jackson for his sleepovers with young boys: you just can't do it.

Crowds distend in every direction. Nikon D5000's are endemic to all and every tourist in Times Square, most of whom harbor no hesitation when it comes to shoving their $500 camera lens in your face, arbitrary in their approach to capture the PEREFECT PICTURE of The Tree. Garrulous club promoters with posters hung around their necks bombard you at every street corner. Food vendors who possess no morals jack up their prices to twice their average amount. Everywhere you go, it's congested, cacophonous and overpriced.

But will any of those paltry excuses ever deter me from joining along with the hustle and bustle of New York City at Christmas time? Absolutely NOT! My feelings of resentment for the perennial tourists and the recreant hot dog merchants are ephemeral: I get over them quickly if I'm in good company. And this weekend, I was :-)

Too Many Dudes On The Dumbbell Floor

I often wonder what kind of shape my physical health would be in if I lived in a time period/place where it wasn't deemed "acceptable" for women to work out. I take for granted that I have a place to go and let off some steam every day. True, I might not look so attractive in the process of bulkin' up. BUT THE ENDS JUSTIFY THE MEANS!

I made the mistake today of heading to Planet Fitness (the judgment FREE zone - questionable propaganda, though) during their busiest time block (5pm-8pm.) I also made the mistake of trying my luck with the dumbbells.

In the mornings, it's usually just me and some old geezer at the dummbell station. We both normally put the ten pound weights to use. I'm sure at one point in his outstretched lifetime this elderly man could have handled more - but now he's on my level. And I don't exactly put up an impressive amount of ponderosity.

Today, though, there was a dizzying amount of young lads hovering over the free weights like vultures. Taking up every inch of mirror space from one end of the thirty-foot-long speculum to the other, they glared at me, wondering where my audacity had come from, infiltrating this apparently implied Boys Only Club as I had.

I grabbed the double set of tens, squished in between a short Mexican man and an intensely juiced-up high school athlete, and proceeded to go to town on my biceps. I normally stare straight ahead whilst working out. But when I finally let my eyes wander, I felt like I was back in Vietnam. Every single ocular was focused on me.

Lesson learned: stick to the morning gym session.

Home Sweet Home

So, I've been home for a little over a week. Had my not-so-abstemious Thanksgiving meal with the folks and spent an awesome weekend in Albany.

Reasons why it's good to be home:

1) BREAD. More specifically - bagels, pizza and doughnuts. Mmm.

2) My car. Driving around at your own leisure may not be economically feasible in these hard times, but just having your own wheels makes a HUGE difference in life. And bicycle wheels are NOT the same thing.

3) The mall. Never would I have realized how much fun it is to walk around and peep in expensive store windows, drooling over products that I don't have enough money to purchase, until I couldn't do it anymore. Used to not be so much fun. Now it is, simply because I can do it again!

4) Regularity. No longer am I the biggest girl in town. No longer am I the whitest girl in town. No longer am I the center of attention and all of this is AWESOME. I'm back to being lil ole me. I blend in once more. Hallelujah!