Life Update

It's been a busy quarter, but I have two awesome life updates to provide.

The first: my grandfather is turning 98 today. He's quite an inspiration and has done oh-so-many things with his life. Here's an article from his local newspaper that neatly describes everything he's done and continues to do:

http://www.hanfordsentinel.com/features/community/jack-schwartz-still-serving-the-community/article_7ab7d622-a3cf-11e2-994b-001a4bcf887a.html

The second, which is a bit bittersweet: One of our puppies was not being treated well by his family in Beverly Hills (I would peg them at a B-minus-list celebrity listing, where you may not have heard of them but would turn your head at an angle and think, uhhh, sure maybe I've heard of them). I think they were expecting an 8-week old puppy to arrive fully formed and fully well-behaved and not put any effort into raising it properly. What is stranger, though, is that they have an older golden retriever, so hopefully that sweetie wasn't neglected in the way ours little pup was. They had the means to hire dog walkers and trainers, that's for damn sure.

Anyways, Dad got a call from the husband that they no longer felt they had the time/energy to raise a puppy. Dad hauled his butt to L.A. and got Bentley back, the one with the green tags in the puppy pictures online. After a few weeks of Bootcamp Schwartz, the puppy is thriving and has learned how to swim!

This is related to me because I am now actively searching for a new, bigger house with fellow school psychology students that will allow for a dog to be on the lease. I could be inline for a dog when we move in September! Although this means leaving the house we've called "The Scratching Post" of the past two years (visited by Elise, Allie, and Emma), I view this as a positive, long-awaited development.

Here's a picture of Bentley with his grandmother, Saeby:

I get to visit them over the Memorial Day weekend!!! Let the bonding commence!

Well, that was a shitty week...

Just some random thoughts/questions/realizations that I had over the course of the week...

1. I am a Bostonian.  Even though I spent just 4 years on a campus about as close to Boston as Colby is to Augusta, I was incredibly shaken by the attack in part because it felt like it was "my" city that was attacked.  I tried to explain to my parents how (a small) part of the viciousness was that it took place on Patriots day.  It's a day that it uniquely Boston/Massachusetts, a day that usually coincides with the beginning of spring, a day that everyone (including usually private schools like Andover) gets off.  The closest analogy that I had to another holiday was Thanksgiving. And from now on, Patriots day will always be filled with mourning as well as celebration.  And that's a big tragedy too.

2. Media is crazy now.  I don't have any idea how media will work in the coming years, but I'm pretty darn sure it won't stay like it is now... because right now it is f-ed up.   The mad dash to let people know every detail before it's possible to know every detail can't continue.  And major media sources desire to immediately interview every who once walked on the same street as the suspects is stupid.  One of the most heartbreaking interviews I heard was CNN breaking the news to the Tsarneav brothers' uncle that Tamerlan was already dead live on national TV.  Our goal should be to minimize the number of lives that a tragedy effects and, in my opinion, the vast number of people who are roped in to giving tough interviews immediately afterword doesn't help with that.  That said, as long as there is a demand for stuff like that (and I'll admit that I listened to them all), it will keep happening; so we should really look inward instead of blaming the media.  Also, two things I read/saw that are definitely worth looking at:
http://www.vulture.com/2013/04/amy-poehlers-advice-for-coping-with-this-week.html
http://www.esquire.com/blogs/culture/lust-during-wartime?src=soc_fcbks

3. It's very interesting from a psychological perspective the differences in how people reacted to three tragedies: the Boston bombing; the West, Texas explosion; and the Newtown shooting.  I tried to find a good definition of "terrorism," but couldn't find much.  But, to (roughly) paraphrase Justice Stewart, you know it when you feel it.  The Boston bombing "felt" like terrorism, where the Newtown shooting never did.  And that meant that the Boston bombing "felt" more scary.  Also, I think as humans we "feel" more scared (and more sad) when there is a human caused tragedy than a freak accident like the West explosion.

4. For God's sake, read the guy his Miranda rights.  I'm proud that I'm an American not just because I live here, but because our ideals say that we treat even evil people with fairness and that we don't jump to conclusions.  And yet, we're moving away from that out of fear, and that (to me) means that they're winning.

The answer to the question everybody wants to know:

Jess, what's your decision?

This fall...man, this is very tough...in this fall I'm going to take my talents to Seattle, and join the University of Washington's School of Public Health in the department of Environmental & Occupational Health Sciences.

*gasps* University of Washington? That was the conclusion you woke up with this morning?

That was the conclusion I woke up with this morning.

Why?

Like I said before, I feel like its...it's going to give me the best opportunity to win, and to win for multiple years...I want to win championships and I feel like I can compete [there]...
I'm looking forward to it. To say it was always in my plans, I can't say it was always in my plans because I never though it was possible.

...How do you explain this to the people on the East Coast?

I mean, it's heartfelt for me. It's hard to explain, but at the same time my heart and the seven years that I gave  to that coast was everything...You've all seen me grow from an 18 year old kid to a 25 year old woman. I never wanted to leave the East Coast. My heart will always be around that area. But I also feel like this is the greatest challenge for me: to move on.




You can watch my full press conference here.

Thugs who like nutrition

Showed this to Emma yesterday. Realized everyone else would appreciate it.

http://thugkitchen.com

Nothing else to say. I have no words that can introduce the epic world you're about to step into.

Oh. And go Sox/Giants.