so we're having a blizzard in nyc. a real blizzard - no hyperbolic exaggerations. by noon today there were 23 inches in central park, and that was four hours ago; it's been snowing the whole time since then. this is the second largest snowstorm to hit new york ever. and of course new yorkers are so g-d tough, it's not at all a given that we'll be out of school tomorrow. in fact, it seems more likely that we will be there. there is zero chance i will be able to dig my car out by tomorrow, so chances are, i have a nice mile-and-a-half snowy hike to look forward to in the morning. man, i miss VA where the mere prospect of snow would at least get a delayed opening.

it's gotten so bad that gus can't even really get into my yard. the snow comes up to his shoulders and he does not really seem fond of acting like a plow to get through it. i did get this picture earlier before it was too horrible:

and this was my street earlier this morning, when the plows had just come through:

the white blob with the hints of red in the bottom right hand corner is my car. when i went out a few hours after i took the picture, i had to scratch away the snow until i saw red to know it was actually mingo.

guess who still has to go to school tomorrow despite 28 inches of snow on the ground?

it is simply too goddamn cold.

as i left for work this morning, weatherbug informed me it was seventeen degrees out. seventeen! 10 hours later it's 5 degrees "warmer", but i really find the use of that term quite relative. it's the kind of cold that leaves you chilled for an hour after you've come inside and i am unhappy not having a lovely bathtub in which to thaw out. i feel guilty just letting gus out into my yard so i am still trying to give him some exercise in the form of brisk, abbreviated walks. we were just out for 25 minutes and i hope to be warmed up by, i don't know, maybe tomorrow. i have also added dog boots to my amazon wishlist and placed them at high priority.

a transit strike is looming in NY, and everybody is freaking out. i drive to work now (the mile and a half is theoretically walkable but i haven't trekked it yet, the subway and bus trips would take an hour) so i'm not too worried about that, but i can't imagine the stress the carless are under now trying to figure out wtf to do if the strike happens. all public schools would give the kids a 2 hour late opening in oder to afford them more time to get there, but i really don't see that as any kind of solution. if you don't have transportation, you're not gonna come, no matter how much extra time you are given, you know? dismissal time would remain the same though, which has me kind of psyched for the idea of a shorter day.

very selfishly, i am glad that the strike would be slated to begin friday, as i do not want to be hindered from getting to the gwen stefani show tomorrow night at madison square. woohoo!

you know how in "a league of their own," tom hanks intones repeatedly that there is no crying in baseball? apparently there are no snow days in new york.

it is 8.28am on friday and i am at school. the snow is falling heavily outside, adding to the 4 inches already on the ground. forecasters predict that the snow will continue for about 6 more hours, and then turn to freezing rain. and school is not cancelled. what's wrong with this picture? in weather-related times i do miss VA dearly, even with its overzealous snow hysteria. if there was a prediction of 6 inches of snow in richmond i feel as though school would be cancelled.

but alas, mayor bloomberg is not a nutty virginian, and his hard-assed take on snow days means i am sitting in my empty classroom, one of a combined dozen staff and students who have trekked through the mess to be here today.

tonight i am supposed to make my virgin trek to the hipster mecca of williamsburg to see sara perform in a crazy holiday comedy show at what seems like an incredibly cool space. but the big phrase-o-the-day is weather-permitting, so i'll have to wait and see what actually pans out.

it's past noon now and incredibly, blindingly sunny. how weird. some kids did make it to school after all, but not many, which has made for a pretty chill day and a nice friday.

a few weeks ago i bought a pair of baggy cargo pants in corduroy. this is an amalgamation of 3 styles i don't really wear, and somehow creates my new most favorite pants ever. so comfortable! it makes me yearn for the days of baggy jeans. ah, 90s, where have you gone?

i want to rent movies this weekend. i honestly can't remember the last time i have headed to blockbuster. definitely not since moving, and not a long time before that in VA, either. so weird for me. i remember esp in the days of lindaTripp we were at good ole video update like three times a week. what has replaced that time in my life, i wonder? hm. maybe an actual life? (no disprespect intended.)

in her last post, andrea mentioned that the average american woman uses 12 beauty products per day. unless things like soap and deodorant count*, i am no american woman. on an average day i think i use one beauty product – mascara. although my line of work – mostly 18 year olds and not one desirable male to be seen at my school – doesn't exactly inspire a lot of primping, either. not that i get dolled up only for other people though. hm. how to explain. i get makeuppy when i feel like it, but that's not usually for work. esp when i am out the do' by 7am. so thus my more makeuppy times are reserved for going out. when i think about the majority of my girlfriends, i guess i am on the lower end of the product usage spectrum. although i am no none-makeup-wearing little troll either. but twelve! that just seems like a lot of work stuff to me. when fully decked, i think maybe i use four. five? am i doing something wrong?

i certainly own 12 beauty items. more like 112, actually. but that's 'cause i get bored with things so damn easily. the only real staple i have in my makeup drawer is my beloved maybelline volum' express ultra-thick mascara in very black, which i feel naked without. do some women really feel naked without using all 12 products?

* for an english teacher, i am a bad reader sometimes. rereading andrea's post she clearly states that things like lotion and toothpaste are included. which may make my whole spiel about not using beauty products null void. oh well. them's the breaks.

i woke up this morning to 4 inches of snow! it was very exciting in a crazy little kid way. the first snow of the season! my first snow in nyc! hurrah!

how did i ever miss the red carpet moment in which hulk hogan swept lizzie grubman off her feet for a picture and you could see her coochie?! (link is SFW; click the blurred out region for NSFW version.)

my recent gift-giving discussions with my sister have given me the ephiphany that not everyone is a crazy gift-picker-outer like i am, and that some people would rather pick gifts off a list and get them. this is a terribly foreign idea to me, but in the interest of going with the flow, i created an amazon wishlist. and now i am addicted to it. i am apparently quite grubbily materialistic and want a lot of things.

i'm not usually a huge cheerleader for zima. back when it came out i was in high school and my boyfriend and i used to make fun of the jock-type sillies whose older brothers slipped them a few bottles of the stuff while we chugged ridiculous quantities of paint-stripping thick red wine. however, at my local grocery store yesterday *cases* of zima were on sale for $4.99. i think i may develop a taste for the stuff.

i can't believe it's raining again. i don't like to throw around variants of the word depression, but man. this is rough, dude.

one of my former students has made the finals for the upcoming season of the real world. i rub my hands gleefully at the notion.

since the last time i wrote, about 24 hours ago, it has rained. today we had the day off for yom kippur, and i have not left my apartment once. it is safe to say that i am going stir ——- crazy. i have slept and playd video games excessively, and just feel yucky and bleh and gross. tripp might be able to stay indoors for days at a time, but i feel like i am losing it.

rain in NY seems different thatn VA somehow. i guess 'cause you walk everywhere, not just duck into car from work to home. and the rain here for the past few days has been harsh, and driving, and windy. it's worse for gus though. my back door is open and he just lays in the doorway with his chin on the ridge, looking forlornly outside.

the rain, the rain, the rain. i adore storms, but five days of constant drizzle and downpour become a little wearying. (is that a word?) i decided not to attend my gilda's meeting for the first time since i have been here. i feel a bit guilty but need to get over it. between the rain and the beginning of yom kippur tonight i don't think there will be much of a turnout anyway…

i read the new york post almost every day now and it's a wonderfully terrible thing. every day i shake my head at the fact that the fact that what is probably NY's most widely-read daily is so close to…a tabloid. i've found spelling and mechanical errors in their stories nearly every day. yet i can't help but pick it up on my way to my classroom each morning. i never would have pegged a newspaper (or is it "newspaper"?) as an addition to my increasingly lengthy list of guilty pleasures.

today the post ran a little blurb about the uniting painting, this amazing piece that is supposed to open in november. the painting will begin at the UN building and snake its way around parts of the city, even jumping the river at one point. the pictures look incredible, like this one:

i really dig the fact that it will be street in some places, carpet in others, then on walls, etc. i couldn't help but wish it had some kind of better (less obvious?) name, though… but i can't wait to see it in person.

i knew there was a reason i hadn't bought an iPod yet…and it's pink!

yesterday's boy woes are better today. i'm admittedly less moony and starry-eyed than last week, which is probably good for me. somehow, though, a little part of me still glows, thinking maybe this thing might actually turn out right.

need a giggle? discover camel toads. ahahahaha.