It's Tee-Shirt Time

Season three of Jersey Shore is five days away.

Today is the first day I have ever seen an episode. I am home, deathly ill, and MTV is showing the entirety of the second season. I'm currently on episode 23 and I am at the point where I need blog about it.

I was definitely against watching this show. The Situation made $10 million last year for being on the show, I knew several people who were Snooki's poof for Halloween and it's about friends living in one house with screaming. It seems overrated.

That was before I watched the show. Now that I am half way into the second season, I find myself laughing and screaming at the TV too. And for the record, I really enjoy Situation's commentary. Yes, he can be a bit dirty when he is at the clubs or in the Smush Room, but he's pretty insightful, despite the washboard abs.

What I find most interesting, as someone who is attracted to both guys and girls, no one on the show is that attractive. Like, really! They are orange, for one. And the add on the loud voices, tacky outfits and sunglasses-at-night look, it's unflattering. The show barely has any dialogue since every other word is a cuss word and is bleeped out.

All in all, this is what is comes down to.

Sick weekend and medicated + Jersey Shore = A Guilty Pleasure.

 or, make life simple and cheap ---> 


If Jersey Shore has made it onto my blog, What's Next?

Home At Last

Get ready everybody-- this is going to be a long-ish blog.

It's crazy to think that I am coming up on being home (in California) for two years now. I landed at LAX on December 26, 2008. I remember feeling so happy to be in a familiar place and yet, at the same time, I began to have that uh-oh feeling in my tummy. Who am I going to be friends with? What friends from high school are still in town? Did I make the right choice?

The day after I landed I registered for classes at a local community college where my best friend, Anna, from high school was going. Thank goodness! I had at least one person in my life where I knew I wouldn't have to be alone. Now, before you start to think that of me as that girl who is clingy or needy, let me explain...

I have always been a social butterfly. In fact, I was the person in school who had friends in every clique and got along great with everyone. I was loud and fun, perky and silly, and grounded and friendly. But something changed when Year Course ended. I had been waiting my whole life for that year to come and it was over so fast. I lived in a beautiful country where I was making a difference and having the time of my life with my best friends. Subconsciously, I made a choice that no other experience in college would compare. Thus, my attitude and confidence changed.

Anyways, like I was saying, thank goodness for Anna. She began to bring me back to life. We went out and danced, had regular sushi dates and put back the pieces of our friendship since I had been gone. So many things had changed over the year and half we were apart, but we got right back on track immediately.

Now, one of our hot spots for a night out was at the Canyon Club. It's a rather large venue located in Agoura Hills that caters to every age group: Bar Mitzavah parties, 80s night and a cover band for every type of music. Hopefully you can guess that Anna and I hit up the 80s night every Thursday. It's a 21 and up event but we had connections.  Remember I told you I had two friends that kept me strong when I was at McDaniel? Well, one of them worked there. She also is one of my best friends from high school.  

This charade went on for nearly three months;  dancing on the stage, a Sex on the Beach in our hands and endless flirting. Spring Break came so fast. A good friend of mine came into town to visit for break.  During the week it was Talya, Brit and me spending our time shopping, dancing and eating at yummy restaurants.

Well, one day it was just Talya and me. Brit had a busy day and wasn't able to join us. The second Talya was in my car and we began to drive, the first thing she said to me was, "Syd? Are you and Brit hooking up?"

I KNOW! What a shock! I didn't know what to say. We weren't hooking up and I had only ever been with guys before, but for some reason, I started to blush. Turns out that I had been crushing on her for a while.

Come April 4, 2009 I had my first kiss with Brit. It was such an incredible night. It was everything I had wanted. I had never felt so comfortable with someone before. It felt right. A week later she asked me to be her girlfriend. We have been dating ever since.

*SIDE NOTE: Prior to the two of us hooking up, Brit had made a bet with some friends. The bet was that Brit had to go two months without drinking or touching a girl (holding hands is okay-- but that's it! Literally!). Clearly this was silly. What good would that do her? So we all called her two months of good behavior, 60 Days of Bullshit. Anyway, long story short, Brit broke her 60 day mark one week early with me!

More to come later about the scholastic part of my life. For now you are all caught up with my love life, which is relatively important considering that is where half of my venting will come from.

Merry Christmas! By the way, I am Jewish but I love this time of year and the merriment of it all. Today it's Chinese food and movies with my friends!





Ta ta for now!

The Beginning

What is this blog about and why is it important? Who is going to want to read this and who will it affect?

What's Next? has been created for several reasons. On a selfish note, it's so I can maintain my sanity. By writing, I can freely express myself without any interruptions. On a sharing note, I hope my struggles, obstacles and discoveries can serve as an inspiration to any and every one.

To start, perhaps an introduction and a little background on who I am would be preferable. I am 21 years old and a student earning a degree in journalism. I have been a reporter and an editor on my school's paper and will be next semesters Managing Editor. I love writing. It's a way to be fully self-expressed and unstoppable without judgement.

I won't start at the beginning of my life. Not only would that not be interesting to you, I can't possibly remember it all. Instead, I'll start in August of 2007. I am packing up my clothes, toiletries, a journal and my camera. I am getting ready to start my first year of college...in Israel.

Young Judaea Year Course was the name of the program. I have been a Young Judaean since I was nine and since my dad had participated in all YJ events, I knew that Year Course was a must. That year was probably one of the best years I have ever experienced. The year was broken into trimesters; three months in Akko, three in Holon and three in Jerusalem.

There were 18 of us in all in Akko. We were a part of a Navy boarding school where we became basic licensed sailors. We had classes in knot tying, Hebrew, ninjutsu and ships. It wan an intensive crash course and it was incredible.

In Holon, I volunteered at a magnet arts school where I taught children in 2nd to 7th grade. It forced me to pick up Hebrew quickly in order to better communicate with the children. My primary job was to improve the students vocabulary and spelling. Thus, "ish ta'a'luey" or Hangman, became the game of choice where I would pick song lyrics the students knew that contained that weeks vocabulary words.

Jerusalem was my final destination. There, I studied-- 22 units to be exact where I also received a 3.9 GPA on my completion certificate. I took courses about the Holocaust, minorities in Israel, Hebrew, Art and Judaism and Kabbalah.

Granted the experience was educational and rewarding, there was a fun aspect. I was 18, meaning that I was the legal age to drink and the night life in Tel Aviv never died down. I drank regularly, danced with friends and had dozens of hook-ups (and that does not mean sex). It was great. Being in Israel was the epitome of what I thought college should be like: dating tons of guys, partying and being with friends. Well, that isn't necessarily wrong but it is'nt the truth.

Anyways, that's where we will start on you having a better idea of where I am coming from and me becoming closer to figuring out What's Next?