I Can't Not Blog About This: Michael Jackson

I can't believe Michael Jackson is dead. Possibly because he seemed so surreal, larger-than-life, and possibly immortal. If he wasn't a regular human, then how could he die?
Anyway, he was THE BIGGEST star during my childhood, so in memorial, I'm recounting all my Michael Jackson memories:

• I know everyone considers "Off the Wall" and, to a slightly lesser extent, "Thriller" to be his best albums, but I have a special fondness for "Bad."
• Remember "Nick Rocks"? (It was a music video program on Nickelodeon in the 1980s.) When I was a kid, we had cable, and I watched it almost every evening. I saw the music videos for "Bad" and "Smooth Criminal" on it. Sometimes, I would dance along.
  
• I particularly liked the video for "Smooth Criminal" because it had a 1930s mobster-theme, and I was totally obsessed with mobsters then.
  
• In 4th grade, for St. Patrick's day, my teacher let us have a party in the afternoon, and my classmate brought in his copy of "Moonwalker." So we spent the afternoon eating treats and watching "Moonwalker." I remember really enjoying it, but I think we had to fast-forward (yeah! VHS!) through some parts of it, because, hey, we were little kids.
• We watched "The Wiz" in music class in elementary school.
  
• At my middle school, the gym was divided in two with a curtain, so two classes could go on simultaneously (it was a crappy school). In 6th grade, while I had P.E., the other side of the gym was occupied by a dance class, and they would frequently play "Billie Jean" and "Thriller."
  
• Laughed and laughed at the Buffalax(??) parody of "Thriller" on YouTube a couple of years ago. Watch the one with subtitles.
  
• Last summer, in Paris, the apartment my friend and I had rented had a large collection of 1980s music. Bruno and I selected Michael Jackson to get downnnnnn to. Yeah! Dancing in a Paris apartment!

There's probably more, but those are the highlights. It's shocking and sad that Michael Jackson is gone.

Pygmy Jerboa=Strangest Little Creature

I saw this on my friend John's Facebook page a month or so ago, and this strange little animal continues to fascinate/weird me out.

Little Bits

Above are a couple of pretty photos I snapped with my phone last week near work. See? The Pearl isn't all concrete. I thought the butterfly one was particularly amazing. I mean, how often do you see butterflies? And, when you do see them, how often are they perfectly posed on a bright flower just in time for you to take a picture? That's what I thought. Not very often.

In other garden news, my orchid is poised to bloom again, which is always exciting, and tonight I planted a tomato plant and basil in my yard. Well, not MY yard, but my landlords' yard, which is just as good for my purposes. In fact, they have those cool slow-drip systems set up, so I won't have to go out and water each plant individually.

I've seen trainers twice now, and the first time was especially exhausting--but in a good way. I ought to be in MUCH better shape by the end of the summer. Maybe I'll even stand up straight once in a while.

My latest social endeavor is going pretty well, knock on wood. Round 4 is forthcoming.

Goodnight. I'm going to post a discussion of travel food on my other blog right now. Really, I swear.

Seriously Now

I'm rejoining the gym.

I turned into a tub of lard over the school year, due to sitting all day at work, and then sitting all evening at school. Bad news. Feel gross. I had so many nice clothes before, but now one of my favorite pairs of jeans doesn't fit, and I don't look any good in the clothes that do still fit. I saw photos of myself from my recent vacation, and it wasn't good (that's why most of the photos I posted don't have me in them). What a waste!

So I want to lose 23 pounds. I want to fit in my old clothes again. I want to take care of this before it turns into a huge (literally) problem. I eat well, much better than most people, so the issue is exercise. Fat aside, I know I'm WAY out of shape. I've got an appointment this afternoon to re-register. Since I quit the same gym less than a year ago, hopefully they'll still have my info on hand, and I won't have to pay a registration fee. That would be nice. I'll even get a trainer or something. Something needs to be done. The membership guy seemed to think I could get rid of the weight in 2 months or so. That would be awesome!

Wish me luck.

No Lost Shoes

I'm waiting for the other shoe to drop. As in: took one off, and it felt good and comfortable. But as has been seemingly inevitable the last 5 years, once the other one comes off it gets lost somewhere, never to be found again, and then all that's left is just one lonely shoe, jammed under the bed until its mate can be found, but the truth is, it won't be, because the dog ate it.

But then again, who knows? Maybe we've got a good, reliable pair of Danksos here. Easy on, easy off, always comfortable, always dependable, and goes great with nearly everything. That would be awesome. Yeah, I think I've got some Danskos. Just got to break them in a bit.

I am Pretending to Jump Up and Down (But I'm at Work, So I Can't Actually)

All of my grades are in! I did fine! I really am a law student. I can put the sticker back on my car, which I had taken down out of superstition. I can buy a sweatshirt and wear it proudly, because I am for real now. I have successfully completed a year of law school.
You have no idea how relieved I am.

Return to Status Quo

The first week I was back I kept on falling asleep early, and then waking up REALLY early, sometimes 5:00 a.m. The plus side was that I was on time to work every day. Sometimes, I was even the first person there.
But I'm back to my normal self. I went to bed late all weekend, and this morning I didn't wake up until my alarm went off, and then pressed snooze twice. I was ten minutes late to work (normally, I'm 20 minutes late). So I'm getting back on track! Maybe tomorrow I'll be 20 minutes late.

I really am a bit inept in certain social situations, hence "just call me Liz Lemon." But then, maybe everyone is, they just hide it better, or fidget less as a result of it.

I really thought I had more to write about, but this post turned out boring. Life is actually kind of exciting these days, but I can't discuss it right now. Oh well. Sorry.

Istanbul: European with Middle Eastern Overtones

The photo above is a street near our hotel. Super lively area: great, high(ish) end shopping, lots of restaurants, cafes, and bars.
Below: the Blue Mosque
Inside the Blue Mosque.

This made me laugh. It's such a monumental building, but has such ordinary cleaning methods.
The underground cistern. Amazing, beautiful, and built by the Byzantine Emperor I.Justinianus. At one end, there's a little cafe with a stage for concerts. I would have loved to have gone to one there.
Medusa was there, supposedly in three spots (I only saw two). She is there to bring luck, but only when positioned upside down or sideways. If you look at her rightside up, you'll turn to stone.


I just thought this was funny.

Our neighborhood at night, on the "Flower Street": one narrow little street that originally housed florists, but now is a restaurant row.
Istiklal Street.
A photo from our cruise on the Bosphorus.
Obviously, he was waiting for an important call.
I pet this cat. She was friendly, but felt kind of dusty.
Jellyfish.
The New Mosque.
In the Spice Bazaar. They call dates Turkish Viagra.
"Fatih" means conqueror in Turkish, and this sign was posted on all the garbage cans, so I thought maybe it means "conquer garbage." Unfortunately, "Fatih" was just the name of the district, so it wasn't nearly as funny.
The "Flower Street" during the day.
I liked all the creepy faces at the archeological museum.




Inside Hagia Sofia. It was originally, a church, but then was turned into a mosque. Now, it's preserved as a museum, and no services are performed there.
My dad at the wishing spot inside the Hagia Sofia. I made a wish there too. It seems to actually work. ;)





Lots and lots of kitties. This was further down Istiklal street, on our way to Galata Tower, where it was turning into a mix of tourists and locals, instead of just tourists. Definitely a cool, interesting neighborhood.
Galata Tower.
Street near the Tower.
Fat, lazy dogs everywhere. They appeared to be strays, but their ears were tagged, as though the city was keeping track of them or something.

View from the top of Galata Tower.



Back down to the neighborhood surrounding it.

Hagia Sofia again.


Topkapi Palace.





Istiklal Street, early evening.