Halloween and Winter Fun

Halloween is coming up!  But so is Winter... lol  The cold is slowly but surely creeping in. 
I thought that I was going to dress up for this Halloween but I recently decided ( about two seconds ago) to not dress up for Halloween.  It'll be okay... lol

I wanted to be a jester like the female jesters in Batman ( the ones that hang around the Joker) but I was unable to find "the" custom... Fine, I didn't even try (at all) to look for it.  lol

But going back to the snow/Winter topic!  This winter seems that it's going to be quite cold.  Denver got 12 inches yesterday and Boston started its winter relatively early (just yesterday as well)... This means Philly is not far in line to get its share of snow.  Oh gosh...

Anticipating not being able to go out of my apartment for anything but classes once the snow starts, I am going Salsa Dancing today :)!  I am thrilled!  lol  I have to finish an essay and a problem set as well as attend two meetings before I can go out dancing. 

Dancing will be the ULTIMATE reward for this week and for the upcoming week. :D

So here I go!  Friday, here I come!  Wuuu!!!


This is a piece that I wanted to share in my blog.  Let me know what you think.  :)  And just a small disclaimer:  These are my views not the college's nor the University's. 

http://www.colbertnation.com/the-colbert-report-videos/400778/october-26-2011/alabama-s-migrant-workers

Occupy Philly

Protestors are not just occupying Wall Street to protest corporate greed; they are occupying Philly as well.  It’s been going on for weeks now and through the rain and piles of criticism, the protestors don’t seem to be going anywhere, anytime soon.

These protestors have been criticized for having no clear goals and hence no end in sight for their increasingly costly occupation.   Though, to a certain degree, I do agree with the criticism above I do sympathize with their underlining cause.  There are many things to protest about our country’s current situation from our foreign involvement to the lack of accountability that our “representatives” display. 

As a person who has done her share of protesting, I believe that there should always be different components to a protest.  The visible component (occupying Philly) is always useful but other steps need to also be taken in conjunction to this occupation in order to make the occupation effective.  Where are the law suits?  Where are the civil pressures on the elected officials in the form of votes, letters, and phone calls?  Where is the proposed legislation that might improve the situation that protestors are protesting?  Though, some of these “added” components to the protest might be happening as I write, there has not been any press about them.  What should people like me do in order to support?  Etc.  Not much outside of the actual occupation seems to be happening…  It seems to be going nowhere…

Nonetheless, though this protest highlights a lot of negative aspects about our country, it does highlight one key aspect of it: our democracy.  This peaceful public display of discontent with our country’s current situation shows off the strength of our democracy.  Think about it, in how many countries around the world are people able to do this without being beaten/killed or in some other way silenced?  Though there have been arrests, there are no deaths.   Aren’t we in some way blessed? 

Harris Casino!

Last week was my third time going to Harris Casino.  I am not a gambler.  So I didn’t gamble much the first two times that I went but this third time, well, I took my chances…  I won all of my money back and 40 cents! Lol 

Though I was proud of my humble winnings they still have not left me with the “gambler high” or “need” to gamble even more money, which is great!  I am always afraid of picking up vices.  I don’t know if I am going to be the type of people that have a weakness for a certain vice but I try not to push my luck.  Maybe I’m too cautious… but as a graduate student cautious is the best attitude towards gambling and other possible vices.

Nonetheless!  I have gone there three times for their horse races.  I love, slash that, I adore horses.  To me horses and dogs are the best!  These are some pictures from the races:

First Hell Week!

I am thrilled to announce that I just survived my first hell week as a GSE student!  It was back to back to back madness!  I had papers, problem sets, and group projects IN ADDITION to my normal five course work load.  (Note: that I am not complaining but simply celebrating :D)

I am content with the quality of the work that I turned in and am very happy and proud to have done it all without doing a single all- nighter.  It is very rewarding to see that I am learning so much.  I am happy that the amount of work that I put in my studies pays off and doesn’t just end in frustrating book sessions.

The aspect that did suffer from this week was definitely my lifestyle/health.  But it is important to note that even though I was much unhealthier than I usually am I am still not one of those people that has caught a cold: D!  Yeaaahhh!  I try to at least do 40 minutes on the stationary bike or go for at least a half hour jog every day.  This past week I did none of this.  I also usually take care of what I eat.  For example, I try to avoid starchy or deep fried foods (you know… the usual no nos).  This week, my intake of food was basically whatever different events at Upenn brought for their attendees.  This meant a lot of pizza… which was delicious!  But probably not the healthiest choice…

I do not drink coffee and I do not do well with all-nighters and I’m glad that I was able to stay away from both.  Three things that I think helped me get through this week were: that I always got a good night’s sleep, I drank a mix of natural carrot and natural orange juice, drank a lot of tea and looked down upon procrastinating habits like YouTube and Facebook.  I think that on my next hell week, I will try to keep my work out sessions.  To me, this hell week was a success… Let’s see how the next one goes! 

At the end of all of this, in order to do something relaxing for myself: I bumped my favorite music while I curled my stubbornly straight hair, put on light make up and dressed up nicely J.  It was a good way to end the week. 

Mummies of the World Exhibition at the Franklin Institute

Today I will talk about the current “Mummies of the World Exhibition” in the Franklin Institute.  Aside from what the institute permanently houses, this exhibit is just one more reason to visit the institute.  It is there now until October the 23^rd.  So if you’re in the area and have a chance to do so then “get thee to the Mummies exhibition”!

It is the largest exhibition of mummies ever put together and it is visiting several cities in the United States.  The mummies are organized in the exhibit based on the region of the world that they were found in.  There are mummies of animals and humans alike: monkeys, hares, rats, babies, children, women, men and even fetuses.  The experience had many dimensions to it.  It was educational, entertaining and a bit eerie at its moments.  I will first explain the eerie aspect of it.  This feeling was promoted by the exhibit’s background music, the hiked up air conditioner, and the dark mantles covering the walls (aside from the actual dead beings on display). 

Aside from the usual informative paragraph next to each mummy on display this exhibition had different stations that explained “How bodies decompose?” “If a body was naturally mummified how would it have occurred depending on the region of the world?” “How does a mummy’s skin and hair feel depending on how it was mummified?”  One of the most interesting facts that I learned from the exhibit was that a mummy’s race could be determined by the shape of their teeth.

Several mummies caught my attention.  One was a mother who was mummified in an almost fetal position.  The captivating detail of this mummy was that she had a baby against her chest and another child resting by her stomach.  The researchers’ ability to create the story behind this woman was limited to her diet, her settings and her possible age.   No one knows what happened to this woman and her children.  How did each die?  Why did they die together?  It’s a mystery.  The mummies of fetuses also grabbed my attention.  I was amazed to see how small and fragile they looked.  It was a bit moving to see how quiet and inert they looked when compared to live children.    

In all I was very impressed with the level of dignity that the exhibit let the mummies have.  I feel that a lot more could have been learned from them if the mummies would have been furthered examined but this could possibly have meant damaging their bones, clothes or skin.  I think that by “restricting” themselves from touching the mummies, beyond scanning, the researchers acknowledge them as beings, whose remains must be respected kept intact.

I highly recommend this exhibition :D!

http://www2.fi.edu/