I got a huge dose of * responsibility reminder * two days ago from this email, written to me by one of my RYSE students.

"Dear Ms. Quinnie"

Hello Ms Quinnie,
                          How are you? I
That's ok. I have only one thing is going wrong for me. I just have a friend who is dead for no reason. Somebody shot him when he came back from ( Read more... )

I can feel it seeping into me slowly but surely, even in this period following intense personal struggles, gutting uncertainty and economic upheavals. Despite my reservations, the purpose and inspiration of my freshman year self have embraced me again. More on this later :) 

The Charles River ducks are a constant source of conversation for students on dates and walks. Poor ducks. Their awkward waddling in the snow provided laughter for my friend and her significant/not so significant other while they talked about where their relationship was going. Duck poop, in its ability to blend in and stand out in the wet grass, ( Read more... )

(to be written after I turn in my 25 pager)

Suddenly in a gray mood after being blindsided by (what I thought was) an unfair accusation from a good friend, I had another phone conversation with Ada, who was in a similar mood (linked to the book "Fight Club"). We decided that our motto for 2009 is not to let things we can't control get to us too much and instead work on things that have ( Read more... )

I spent a really happy New Year's Eve with the original high school crew last night. Frankie, Cindy, Leeny, Norman, Bruce and Q. I was deliriously happy. Some things never change and our Boston Latin School crew happens to be one of them. It's hard to believe that we are now all seniors in college...eight years after we all met and officially ( Read more... )

I often find that I have the worst nightmares when I get too much sleep, something that has happened consistently over the last semester. Sleep is my way of dealing with depression, fears, procrastination...all my little ghosts. I tend to deal with nightmares the same way - by trying to sleep them off and thus perpetuating the cycle of even more ( Read more... )

Having met my roommate Andrea's relatively normal 16 year old brother Tyler (who is studying to be an electrician, works at a Footlocker and has at least thirty pairs of sneakers), I wondered (for one whole second) whether I would prefer a less precocious Ada. Well, of course I wouldn't,  but the other day, she said something that both moved and ( Read more... )

"This Marriage"
May these vows and this marriage be blessed.
May it be sweet milk,
this marriage, like wine and halvah.
May this marriage offer fruit and shade
like the date palm.
May this marriage be full of laughter,
our every ( Read more... )

This is what I've been doing lately when I'm feeling down or blank :) In no particular order, to be continued...
-Traveling to Ireland and Tibet with Eoghan, Rachel and the rest of the Panda Family
- Skydiving
- Graduation
- Living abroad and traveling Europe with Rike
(12.06.08. Q is stressed)
- a date at Sandrine's (so I can finally stop looking ( Read more... )