Bucket List: Binghamton Style

As I begin my two week countdown to my departure from Binghamton, I have come to realize all the things that I had wanted to do while here that I never got the chance to do. Last night I came up with a list of all the places I went, things I saw, and people I met while here and I must say that Binghamton has been pretty good to me. Not only was I able to get a sweet education and study abroad in Australia, but I was able to get a sense of what living on my own will be like next year. I live off campus in a house with five of my good friends, so I have gotten used to cooking for myself, and sending in my rent checks. It has also allowed me to become a lot more independent, able to go where I want when I want and not feel like I need to be constantly surrounded by people.

As I made a aforementioned list, I realized that Binghamton has some pretty great things to offer. It has a plethora of awesome restaurants, everything from sushi to american to thai food. Some of my favorites here include Whole in the Wall a place that is all natural and positively scrumptious.

Whole in the Wall

For sushi I go to Sake Tumi a cute place whose owner doubles as a waiter creating an overall comfortable atmosphere.

Sake Tumi

For a great place to eat and drink with friends that is relatively cheap I like to go to Tullys. A restaurant with tvs all over the place broadcasting every sports game imaginable.

Tullys

If you couldn't already tell, I love to eat. If you are ever in Binghamton check out my favorite places. I guarantee you won't be disappointed.

As for me, I must start my final paper, the one thing standing between me and graduation this Sunday. Yikes!

As always stay lazy and don't worry, summer is right around the corner!!

Tattoos: Not as Taboo as They Once Were

From the time I was in high school I had always wanted a tattoo. Not only did they look incredibly badass, but I thought they were a great form of self-expression. A way to show your style and ideals, as well as remember an important experience. My parents knew of my desire to get one and were, unsurprisingly, against the idea. They thought tattoos were trashy and against the Jewish religion and not something they wanted their youngest child to get. That paired with the fact that I am terrified of needles seemed to be all the reason I needed to not get one. After six months of studying abroad in Australia and being on my own, I decided I wanted something permanent that would serve as a constant reminder of the great times I had had and the independence I had gained. And so, the day before I left Australia to come home I decided it was finally time that I got my tattoo. I went with my two best friends that I had been traveling with during my stay in Australia. We all got something that would remind us of our wonderful times in Oz and so I decided to get a lizard. As I have said in previous posts, I love nature and so I wanted something from the natural world that represented Australia. Hence, I have a lizard on the inside of my right ankle.


My parents' reactions were varied but they both seemed to wonder how I expected to be a professional with a tattoo that could not so easily be hidden in my work attire. After giving much thought to this question I realized that they were too old to understand. Times they are a changin, having a tattoo or a piercing isn't such a huge deal anymore. It is no longer just the punk rockers or criminals who have them. Celebrities such as Angelina Jolie have multiple tattoos and have no qualms about showing them off.

Professionals too are sporting tattoos. I recently went on an interview for Pace Law School ( I got in by the way) and the lady interviewing me had a tattoo on her foot. She was not a secretary or an associate, but she was a partner. She was brilliant and kind and was very knowledgeable. It's about time that people understand that body art is a form of expression just like poetry or journaling and that it does not mean that a person is not smart or qualified for a good job.




Keep up the good work staying lazy.

Parade Day

First off sorry this post is a bit later that they usually are. I have no good excuse, but I do have a sweet topic this week and some great pictures so you can re-live the excitement.

Parade Day. The first Saturday in March each year Binghamton devotes the day to drinking and dancing in the streetswhile everyone wears green. It is our annual St. Patrick's Day celebration, just two weeks early. Why celebrate so early you might ask? I too thought this was an odd phenomena until I experienced the festivities. Apparently we celebrate early here because the NYC bagpipers use this parade as practice for the one in NYC that takes place on the real St. Patty's Day. This year the parade was better than previous years however because therre was not just one band of bagpipe(rs?) but two!





I was actaully suprised at how successful the parade was. It had a great turnout of both college students and community members as well. It was a gorgeous day, the first Binghamton has seen since the end of October. I was impressed with how far people traveled to be a part of the parade, the NYPD and NYFD had a great showing that included people from as far away as New York City. They were all in good spirit and seemed to be enjoying themselves.



I wish I could pick out a favorite part of the day but there are two things that stick out in my mind. The first was that all the floats in the parade were being pulled by John Deere tractors. I thought that nowhere but upstate New York could this be a normal part of a parade. Where I grew up I didn't see many tractors let alone as part of a celebration. They just looked weird and out of place to me.



Another great part of the parade was the green trolley cart titled "Sweet Carry Line." This car immediately brought to mind the song Sweet Caroline and put me into the spirit of the day.



As usual stay lazy and keep up the procrastination.

SUnNY BINGHAMpTON

I go to school in Binghamton New York. It is a place where the sun shines for the first week of classes in August and the last week of classes in May. For the rest of the year the skies are a shade of gray accompanied by either rain or snow depending on the temperature. While this weather may depress some, I find odd comfort in the fact that I never have to check the weather because I always know what the appropriate attire is. It also helps that my car is a beast and can handle whatever the weather gods throw at me.

Last Wednesday Bing got hit by a pretty bad snow storm that continued into Thursday and most of Friday. According to the local police department the roads weren't bad enough to cancel classes prior to 1pm either of these days but they were in bad enough condition to cancel the off campus community transport buses. The roads were also bad enough to issue community wide warnings about not traveling later that night. Incidentally, these blue buses provide a large percentage of students living off campus with rides to and from school. It amazes me that the geniuses running this institution of higher learning still held classes even though more than half the student population could not get to campus either because they take the bus or because they couldn't get their cars out from behind the snow drifts. Thankfully, I drive a 2004 Subaru Forrester, and as I said before my car is a beast so I was able to power through the snow and make it to my aerobics class where only five out of thirty of us showed up.

My housemates with their inferior cars were not even able to get out of the driveway and much to their dismay had to miss all of their classes. Luckily I had no classes friday and so I was able to hang out with my housemates and join the rotation of shoveling the sidewalk in front of our house even though it proved to be a fruitless venture. I would shovel the walkway only to come back 15 minutes later and have the path completely covered again. While frustrating shoveling did prove to be a great workout leaving by arms, shoulders, and back sore for most of the weekend.

As always in Binghamton there is more work to be done. My driveway still has three feet of snow the entire length of it that needs to be removed before anyone else can get in or out. I am afraid that I am much too lazy however and so the cars will remain there until the snow melts, or my housemates shovel out their cars.

As per usual readers, stay lazy and enjoy your Monday.