and the winner is...

What did I say about Kris Allen winning Idol?! Oh yeah! The thing with Adam being runner-up is that the dude is a superstar already. He doesn't need the show. The underdog definitely deserved to win here :-) I thought it was a great finale. Between Norman's psuedo performance, the return of I-cry-at-everything-Tatiana, all the Idol/celebrity duets and the Bikini Girl/Kara faceoff, it was entertaining from start to finish.






I passed my Art History final with a B-! (And that's my overall grade). Considering I failed this class at Queens College, this is nothing short of a miracle. To say I crammed when it came to memorizing the miniscule details is putting it lightly. I am happy to say it paid off. The problem with the other Art History course was the professor over at QC was so...how do I put this. I think he thought he was the god of Art History. He took himself so seriously and made everything complicated. My professor at QCC really broke it down and made it easy.




I also scored a B in my Critical Issues in Health class. I'll probably get something similar to this in my Sociology class (exam was today, just finished) because my last two exams I received a B. *keeps fingers crossed*




And that is the last I'll talk about school, and happily so, for the next few months because... summer vacation has officially started!!!




Oh...and I already have 4th of July plans. Some things are good to know ahead of time. BBQ in the Bronx. Hopefully Chris stays away from firecrackers this year....mwhahahaha. Let's just say last year he pulled a Jackass stunt.



And on a parting note, I leave you with a new drink I discovered and absolutely love. It's close enough to the real thing. Can't ya smell that Caribbean breeze from here?!

the coldest story ever told.

Random Thoughts:

1. I'm convinced Kris Allen is going to take the Idol crown tomorrow night. Not because I read in EW that no East or West Coaster has ever won the show (Kris is from Arkansas, Adam hails from San Diego) but because I think the novelty that is Adam Lambert is wearing off on people. I like the guy, don't get me wrong. But something about him just doesn't satisfy my Idol craving. And two words for Kris: Heartless & Apologize. Wowie. But who knows, Glambert's got enough fans to feed a small country. I still say Allison should have been in the final 2 but 4th place isn't so bad.

2. One month to the day until Orlando! Can you believe it? Last month it was just a tiny seed of an idea in Jonathan's head. And now it's rapidly approaching!

3. I just finished my Art History final today and...you know what? I think I passed!! *keeps fingers crossed*

4. Please keep an old classmate's baby son in your thoughts and prayers. William's in ICU and what with a 16 month old baby dying from the swine flu just recently in Queens, you never know what could happen. (I hate to bring up those two words but it is a possibility here.)

5. I was at Zanzibar on Friday night and really enjoyed that place! DJ was great, bartender was really cool. I suggested he make me whatever drink he wanted since I wanted something new. Don't know the name of what I was drinking but man, it tasted yummy. I'm thinking another Friday night out is in order this weekend. Last week of school, c'mon! If that's not a reason to celebrate, idk what is.

the bell jar

I had heard of Sylvia Plath of course, and knew of The Bell Jar, and her tragic story but never bothered to read the book. I made the mistake of judging a book, not by it's cover but by an assumption I had. That because she was depressed, the book was to be a long, sad, winding tale. Couldn't be farther from the truth! My sister is reading a bunch of Sylvia Plath books for her Psychology class and I got curious one day last week and started reading. Esther Greenwood, the protagonist, is someone you can sympathize with. Even if you don't feel like killing yourself, everyone knows what it's like to worry about the future. The Bell Jar follows Esther Greenwood through her descent into insanity, or something like that. She constantly felt like she was looking at the world as if through a bell jar.

The Bell Jar is supposed to be semi autobiographical. I believe this, because I was reading some of her diary entries in The Journals of Sylvia Plath and both women went through similar experiences. Even little details for Esther were things I read about in her private journal. She was 18 at the time she wrote them -- her ability to tell a story, to draw you in and her use of words are astounding. To know that she doubted herself...man! It sounds funny to me that I say I can relate to Sylvia Plath, yet I have no desire to kill myself. I feel like those thoughts consumed her. She saw it as an out, as the means to end her pain. I don't believe in easy way outs. God doesn't give us anything we can't handle. It's a shame that her life ended at such a young age because she had so much potential; I would have loved to read more from her. I didn't read much of Plath's poetry because I am not a poem person, really. (I remember dreading Poetry 101 a few years ago).

An example of one of her poems that caught my eye:

To a Jilted Lover

Cold on my narrow cot I lie
and in sorrow look
through my window-square of black:
figured in the midnight sky,a mosaic of stars
diagrams the falling years,
while from the moon, my lover's eye
chills me to death
with radiance of his frozen faith.
Once I wounded him with so
small a thorn
I never thought his flesh would burn
or that the heat within would grow
until he stood
incandescent as a god;
now there is nowhere I can go
to hide from him:moon and sun reflect his flame.
In the morning all shall be
the same again:stars pale before the angry dawn;
the gilded cock will turn for me
the rack of time
until the peak of noon has come
and by that glare, my love will see
how I am still
blazing in my golden hell.

Kinda morbid but hey, she did die by sticking her head in an oven. I give her credit for her dry wit. I found the book to be kind of comical at times.

celebrities love queens

Recently, a friend of mine met Lady GaGa at Stop 'n Shop. I don't know which one it was but I know it was in Queens.
So that got me thinking. How many other celebrities come from Queens? Let's start with Woodside.

1. Ed Burns
2. Rachael Ray. I'm pretty sure I read before that she got pistol whipped while living in Woodside. Yikes...

Other parts of Queens:
3. John McEnroe (Douglaston)
4. Nancy Reagan (Flushing)
5. Al Roker (St. Albans)
6. Lucy Liu (Jackson Heights)
7. Ethel Merman (Astoria)
8. Christopher Walken (Astoria)
9. Donald Trump (Jamaica Estates)
10. Nas (Queensbridge)
11. 50 Cent
12. Hank Azaria
13. Ray Romano
14. Jon Favreau
15. Ryan Gosling (?!!? I had no idea)
16. Debi Mazar
17. Jason Patric
18. Ja Rule
19. Martin Scorsese
20. Drea de Matteo

Although Susan Sarandon is not from Queens, she is from the NYC area and ironically enough, I saw her today standing on the corner of 14th & 6th. I was chatting on the phone with Tiffany, about to walk into Starbucks. As I grew closer I said to myself, that woman looks an awful lot like Susan Sarandon. Whaddya know...it was. It was funny because I paused mid-sentence and kept repeating "Oh my God!" and finally Tiff said "Did you see someone?" Haha...she knows me well! The woman looks great for her age! (63). Hot diggity damn! I am a sucker for celebrity sightings.

To make this post not completely superficial, I can't believe it's been a week since Grandma Esther's passing (late Sunday/early Monday). It just seems unreal. I guess that's how it goes with any loss of a loved one.

to the women who bore us for 9 months...

Happy Mother's Day to all the mamas and mother-to-bes! Hopefully you all treated your mothers right today...and if you have children, they spoiled you a bit :-) I stopped by my parents' today to see the madre & Oma. Seems like that Mother's Day scratch off was a hot commodity. I got one for my mom and Oma, my mom got one for herself and Oma. And then Oma won $5 from the one I gave her and went and got another one. I think we're all going out to eat on Tuesday instead of tonight since Alex (my aunt) is not here this weekend. Bummer.




So yesterday Jonathan, his parents and myself went to Brooklyn to visit Erica, John & Johnny. It's so funny (in a good way) how excited people get around babies. The second we arrived it was all "Johnny!!" Haha...I love it. Here are some pictures from yesterday evening.

You can just see how much Johnny's grandparents adore him!

and so it goes.

These past few days have passed in a whirlwind. Ever since Grandma Esther's passing on Sunday, the days just kinda blended together. She had an astounding turnout at the wake, especially the night shift. The funeral itself was tough, as it's the 'final goodbye.' I liked meeting so many of Jonathan's family members because his father's side reminds me of my father's side. Just replace all those Italian looking people with Irish and you've got the Corrigans. =P I hope Grandma Esther could see all those people there celebrating her life and to know she was loved unconditionally. There really is no greater gift than the one of family. Whether they are a pain in the butt or not, we are lucky to have them.

I'm kinda stressing out about Mother's Day. I really wanted to get my mom tickets to see Hair which even my dad would like to see. If storks can bring babies, why can't they bring down bags of money?! Haha...that'd be nice though. I just wanted to spoil her for a little bit, since she spent 23 and a half years spoiling me! Although she'll tell you differently ;)

I'm working on this health paper for the final Health class, which is tomorrow. As much as I like my professor and the discussions, thank the Lord it's almost over! No one should have to go to school on a Saturday. Not even my worst enemy. I did find a lot of interesting facts about Woodside though (the assignment asks us to assess our communities health data.) Apparently West Queens has the highest amount of uninsured people compared to all of New York City.

This paper is sucking the life out of me.

PS it's BS that Allison is no longer on Idol. On the flip side, I didn't mind Adam Lambert so much when he was doing the duet with her. In fact, I hear they are doing it on the Idol tour. Although I think the closest it's coming to here is Atlantic City. On my brother's birthday (in August). Don't think that's his cup of tea though. I wonder who would want to go with me...any takers?

love can touch us one time and last for a lifetime...

On Sunday night, Grandma Esther passed away. Those words are really strange to write, because she was a woman who was so full of life, even if she appeared frail. I had first met her last July, on the way to Lauren (Jonathan's cousin) & Chris' wedding. She always made me feel like I was a part of the family. And she always made sure to tell me she loved me. That is just amazing to me. For such a small woman, she had a big personality. And an even bigger heart. Last night, when we originally found out, I was having a hard time believing it. It's still hard to believe but reality is sinking in. I do know though, she is at Home with God. He was calling her and she had to answer. Rest in Peace, Esther!

February 25, 1923 - May 3, 2009

My favorite Grandma Esther moment has to be when she misheard Jonathan one night. Instead of hearing, "Grandma, Nicole thinks I'm corny" she heard "Nicole thinks I'm horny." We must have laughed for hours about that. Sigh.

The wake is tomorrow and the funeral, Wednesday. Jonathan's doing the eulogy and I am really looking forward to hearing it. Kleenex may be required!