A Quirky Thanksgiving

So I turned 25 this past week. I still remember thinking during my teen years how people who were 25 were so old. In a sense, I still feel that way, but I don't. If that makes any sense.

One of the great things about this Thanksgiving break is that two cousins, Faris (18) and Nadia (16), came to visit from Houston. I remember when these two kids were born. They were both born in NY, and moved away about 14 or 15 years ago to Houston. Still have wonderful memories of them when they were little. But neither my sister nor myself had the opportunity to spend much time with them over the past several years. So this Thanksgiving break was really special having them around.

One thing that I noticed is that when my sister was talking to either Faris or Nadia, she would slow down her voice as if talking to a little child. I think part of it is that she and I both still see Faris and Nadia as little kids. Most of our memories of these kids are along these lines:




and:


So it's no wonder that my sister and I have it in our heads that they're still small children. But today, they look like this:

So all in all, had a wonderful week. Of course since my family is really quirky, it was not the typical American family thanksgiving involving turkey and football. Because nobody in my family particularly cares for an oven cooked turkey on Thanksgiving, we instead went and got a bunch of steaks and grilled them... a dinner that all of us enjoyed far more than we would have enjoyed turkey. I have to say, that steak was pretty damn good.

In addition, my family loves buying random stuff from Costco and experimenting with it. The latest addition to our gadget collection is this thing called the vitamixer or something like that. It's a blender, plain and simply. But it's more than a blender, it's a hard core blender. Apparantly this thing can be used to make all sorts of funky fruit juices, hummus, whipped cream, smoothies, etc. So, this weekend, we made all sorts of funky fruit juices, hummus, whipped cream, smoothies, etc. Some things came out better than others. Most of the fruit and vegetable juices were awful. And the hummus tasted like a foot. But the whipped cream was really good (especially since we ate it with strawberries), and some smoothies weren't all that bad. This pretty much sums up the attitude about the vitamixer at our house:

So while Faris and Nadia were in town, my sister and I took them to the city to hang around and enjoy the wonders of New York. At least as much as you can get in on a freezing day downtown. So Sophia and Nadia got a decent amount of shopping done in the Soho boutiques, while Faris and I grumbled and joked around. Got my fix of Lombardi's pizza, which I have to say is amongst the best pizzas in NY. Lombardis is the oldest Pizzeria in America, located on Spring St. and Mott in Little Italy. Great pizza. Here is all of us at Lombardis:

After Lombardis, we had to go get some good Italian pastries and dessert. We went over to Ferraras, also in Little Italy. Great little cafe with some really great desserts. Of course, we went slightly camera crazy, and in one odd shot, my sister got a picture of me looking like a sex offender and/or serial killer. I have no idea where that smile came from, all I was thinking about was the cake in front of me. It does look appetizing doesn't it?

And believe me, that cake did taste as good as it looked. See:

Yes, the chocolate tooth is staged. I'm not really turning into a pure southerner.

Jump the Shark

For those of you who don't know the term "Jump the shark," it refers to when a show officially turns crappy. The term is derived from "Happy Days," particularly from an episode where Fonzy decides to jump over a shark tank with his motorcycle. Term generally came about meaning that when a show has to resort to such an idiotic ploy has officially run out of ideas.

Normally, one of my favorites shows has been "That 70's Show." It was always fun catching these clever episodes of a bunch of bozo teens growing up in the 70's. It had to be some of the best and most cleverly written comedy I'd come across in a long time. Although I'd seen a bunch of reruns on syndication, I hadn't actually caught a new episode in a quite a while. That changed tonight when I caught the first episode of this new season. Very saddening to see that this show has also officially jumped the shark. Not quite sure when it did, but the show is just not what it once was.

I felt that this show jumped the shark when I noticed the laugh tracks. For some reason, when show is genuinely funny, you actually laugh at the jokes, so you don't notice the fake laughter on the show itself. Today, every time there was a stupid unfunny joke delivered half heartedly, the laughter sounded exactly the same as the laughter that played 10 seconds earlier. Pathetic.

What's worse is that the show had the other hallmarks of a show that's completely run of out ideas. These include the departure of a main character, that being Eric Foreman, played by Topher Grace. They made references to him and even had a phone conversation with him on the show (obviously one sided, so you don't hear the voice of the nonexistent actor). You have the character Hyde married to some random new character. Have some other random new character making wisecracks in an attempt to fill the void of various departed characters. And worst of all, you no longer have subtle humor. When humor turns over the top and seems like it's doing anything for a laugh, you know it's not worth watching anymore.

Unfortunate.

Turkey

What is it about Thanksgiving and turkey? Everyone feels the need and compulsion to eat turkey on thanksgiving, regardless of whether you actually like turkey. Personally, I'm a big fan of turkey sandwiches. But on the carving board, turkey's kind of bland and tasteless. So on thanksgiving, if there is turkey, I only have a nominal helping.

One thing about my family is that we don't put much effort into the ritualistic observance of holidays. The American holidays are not actually celebrated in my household, but rather just used as days off so we can spend time with one another. Most holidays I can remember have been spent being very lazy around the house. The best parts are when all of us climb onto the bed in my parents room and watch old movies together for hours on end. In my mind, those are the absolute best holidays.

My family never does the thanksgiving turkey either. None of us are particularly fond of carving board turkey, and my mom doesn't feel the need to learn how to spend countless hours cooking food that none of us are particularly fond of. So instead of wasting on the bird, we actually eat food we like.

So over the past few years, the thanksgiving norm in our house has become going to dinner with Dr. Zahir and his crew of doctors and friends. Dr. Zahir is an old friend of my father who has become the host of the annual thanksgiving shindig. It was at his house for a while, then last year, it was at an Indian restaurant. I have to say it's a pretty interesting dinner every year. Several years back, my sister, myself, and some other kids a little younger than us were at Dr. Zahir's house for thanksgiving, when some kid found Dr. Zahir's video collection next to the tv. Most of the movies and tapes were normal, but the hidden gem was, "The Art of the Erotic Massage" video hidden amongst them. That was really classic. Never had a thanksgiving laugh like that before.

Right now, I can't wait to go home for thanksgiving. Who knows where we'll wind up having dinner this year. So long as I get the change to spend a lot of downtime with my folks, it'll be a truly wonderful holiday. Only two weeks left and counting until my trip home.

Heaven

What is heaven? Is it a state of mind? Is it the feeling of butterflies in your stomach when you meet someone interesting? Is it the feeling you have when you have a really nice dream, picturing the place you want to spend eternity? Is it true love? Good question. It's all of the above.

I've been through heaven and hell. I traveled to both last year. Sometimes simulteanously.

Tonight I came across another potential entrance to heaven.

Race to the finish

Mondays are strange days. I only have one class on Mondays, that's Islamic law from 8:30 until 10:00 am. So I usually have the rest of the day to work, or attempt to work. So after class, I went over to the Einstein Bagel at the Business School to have my usual bagel and coffee and get some reading done. Walking back to the law school afterwards, I ran into a classmate who mentioned that it's strange that we're already hitting "crunch time." "Crunch time." It's very cliche, but accurate. Where the hell did this semester go? It feels like only a few weeks ago the semester started. Thinking about it, finals aren't too far away. It's already November, and I'm starting to feel stressed.

I felt like I havn't done much work this semester. Yet, for some reason, I feel like I understand the material far better than I did in any class last year. So it's going to be interesting to see how I do at the end of this term. What's even more strange is that after this semester, law school will be half way over. That's a scarry thought. People this year have been more stressed, and everyone seems to be off doing their own thing. I'm no different.

This has been a very strange semester. People are different this year. I'm different this year. I've felt very anti-social in certain senses. I've hated going to the library and have found more comfort studying at home. I've actually been watching a decent amount of TV (unlike last year, where I completely stopped watching all together). So, all in all, my life is just as aimless and directionless as it was last year. Woo hoo!

One of the big problems is that the pre-registration guide for classes next semester has come out. All the classes offered next semester seem to suck and be uninteresting. For what it's worth, I actually enjoyed my classes this term. International Law has been amazing, Real Estate hasnt' been bad, and Islamic law was totally cool. The only class I was ambivalent towards was Evidence, but that also wasn't too harsh. Next semester will be far less interesting than what I had this term.

I can't wait to go home for thanksgiving. I need to get out of here.