Just Blame it on the Economy..

So my defense for why I went completely and utterly MIA on this blog is this country's failing economy. Allow me to explain.

Since my last entry I was plagued with many hardships at once. My soon to be ex-college's bursar was pantsing me weekly to try and get the rest of my tuition for my last semester there... so that was a problem. My job literally started to throw manilla folders at me chock full of detailed case reports that needed to be inputted by uhm.. 5 weeks ago in my lap everyday. Little did I know as soon as I finished all my data input they were letting me and a very close co-worker of mine go because of what you say? The ECONOMY. Yes, cutbacks tightening of the belt, trimming the fat, cooking the goose whatever you want to call it. On top of this orgy of fantasticness I severely hurt my knee dancing... and finally got up the nerve to go to the doctor to get it checked out. Come to find out I need physical therapy only to further find out my father lost his job that very next morning (which sucks on a pretty much infinite number of levels). SooooOo, no job->no insurance->no physical therapy. Sorry Vanessa play again some other time. My father got "layed off" as well because of what? Oh yes, the ECONOMY.

So after much ado I finally (last week) started working back at the place I used to work except at a whole different position making a whole lot more money. I'm hoping, wishing, praying, crossing everything possibly to cross that this position is untouchable but in this "economy" nothing really is.

If I had a nickel for everytime I had to hear in a day "well you know with this economy". aahhh it's sickening. I'm not turning a blind eye to the nation's strife just a bleeding ear. What I truly want to know is how many of you guys out their in cyberland actually have a good credit score? I know mine just gets worse and worse with time going on and money not going in my pocket (that's soon to change). I mean with this literal economic crisis... banks, loan brokers whoEVER are going to be faced with a whole general in debt with terrible "credit score" ratings... and then what? Credit scores disgust me, as does the MTA but i truly think that's a whole other blog.

So ya know aht blog community i'm done letting the economy run my life and I shall try my very bestest to run my own life and not be a slave to the machine. In closing I would like to say it's definitely, definitely not possible for me to be any more psyched about Obama's inauguration in this upcoming week. It's just euphoric.

Bank Robbery on the Upper East Side? NiCe!

So I was made late to work because of some cowboy who apparently decided to rob a bank (there are about 50 million by Hunter) and run down into the train and run onto the tracks heading uptown. He even stripped off some clothes before doing it! FANtastic. Heyy.. these are hard times man and personally I feel if you're going to rob someone- rob someone who will get the money back from insurance and won't feel the difference. Hey maybe i'm an anarchist but personally I was rooting for the bad guy when I saw a whole gaggle of cops booking down the platform. I wasn't even that angry when I had to hoof it to 59th street to catch the N or W. Odd.

Anyways- great news! I've been moved up to "interview" status by the NYC teaching fellowship!!! So one hurdle done with- and phew! I was really surprised because even when I called them they told me they wouldn't be reviewing applications until midoctober and I got asked for an interview on the 2nd! I'm not questioning it I'm just very, very, very happy.

Continuing in the good news- my brother got married over the weekend and it went so very well. Beautiful weather, beautiful couple, not a hiccup in the whole thing. The day absolutely flewww by unfortunately. But there will be gorgeous pictures to follow! That is all for now, enough excitement for one entry! ha . ciao.

Can we Build it?! YES WE CAN!

I am super-calla-fragilistic-expialla-excited! And I'll tell you why! I just received an email from the "Degree Audit Team" at Hunter College saying I am all set to graduate contingent upon completing the semester's coursework! Wooooo Hooo! What a great way to get up on a Saturday morning, fan-freakin-tastic.

As amazing and orgasmic as this is... it only serves as a push for me to look ahead. I really really really want to get into the Teaching Fellows and start in June 2009. So as a way to waste time online instead of checking the website five thousand times trying to see if they haev offered me an interview yet I decided to google around (by the by happy 10th birthday google, lol you're almost a tween) about teaching fellows and the program and all that good stuff. I came to learn apparently that the mid-year program has been cancelled for 2008-2009. This is both good and bad. Good, because I didn't apply to it and had I and it was cancelled I would have been insanely angry. Bad, because that means that whoever was indeed accepted to that program will be taking up already limited spots in the June 2009 program which I did apply for.

Furthermore, much to my chagrin a lot of the fellows from the last summer program had a very difficult time finding jobs. Even Math Fellows! -Gasp- Not only do I really want to teach Math I thought that it would possibly give me a small edge over other candidates going for much more common subjects like English and Social Studies. I read that the DOE made had some huge budget cutbacks and a lot of full time teachers who already had jobs got cut and so they get first dibs on other jobs. Yikes.

Now I have to keep in mind all of this information is viral and not exactly 100% reliable. Regardless, it still puts a funny little twitter in my stomach. So I mean... I guess I could go the old fashioned way and my plan B would be to just get my graduate degree at Hunter, where I've been for the last foreverrr and teach that way. But but but.. I love the whole idea of the fellowship. I love the idea of building a comraderie with a whole cohort of teachers doing the same thing I am.

So I guess all that's left to do is wait and hope I get in. If and when I do I will start my job search right away. Where there's a will there's a way right? -sigh- I did the best I could so far. The rest is out of my hands, at least for now.

To sum up: Guess who will definitely have a cap and gown on on Janury 22nd- that's me!

Gotta concentrate on the good stuff.

Oh! I forgot, Last weekend me and my very good friend Tim checked out a crew's jam session uptown last Sunday and I've been meaning to post about it. The smallest member of the crew named kr3ts (Keep Rising To The Top) is Noah who is now five years old. If you google kr3ts you'll get their website where you can see a picture of Noah at age 2 doing a handstand flip. Now at the tender age of 5 he can go in a cypher and make any grown up blush. Below is a video just to give you a little taste and this is by far their youngest member so you can imagine how great the rest of them are. Sorry I tried to embed it here but the computer is being a jerk. So follow the link guys it's sure to put a smile on your face.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XW4LcFKm5lg

Jazzy Phizzle!!! Your girl dun lost her dmn mind.

OKaaayyy sooo- i know two posts in one day, it's either feast or famine with me but I just HAD to post on what I've been reading today...

So I got my newest issue of Vibe today and Ciara lost her damn mind. Apparently Ciara is on the brink of releasing her new album titled "Fantasy Ride" and her old mantra of keeping her goodies locked away is out the window. Now I just have to say- I love Ciara. (Or maybe loved.. as in past tense.) She poses in this month's issue completely nude, and I do mean completely. On the front cover she is squatting and you can juuusstt almost see her whole hoo-ha. Granted Ciara's body is bangin on all cylinders, but we could tell that when she was poppin' and lockin' in her b-boy sweatpants. -sigh- This mess disappoints me greatly. I loved her track 'Like a Boy' as did pretty much all of us women and look... here she goes posin' like a cheap centerfold (well, not LIKE one of the pictures seen above is literally a centerfold) sellin' out like all ladies in the industry eventually do. What's nexy Alica sprawled out in her birthday suit across a piano?? Commeee onnn ladies. They even refer to her in one sentence verbatim as "She's not the type to leave a lover wanting, but she's not a cocktease either." Seriously vibe? oy.

The Prriinncesss , recently estranged from Jazzy Phe, is being produced by Christopher "Tricky" Stewart. Somehow I think Bow Wow is happy he's not with this girl who has so clearly lost some marbles just posting her goodies in three ridiculousy raunchy pictures that leave pretty much a few minor details to the imagination. I just had to snap a pic with my phone to show you all this atrocity. I mean I don't know maybe I'm overreacting but I feel like i'm not haha. I mean it's like Pee Wee Herman was caught doin lewd things in a lewd place, it was like come onnn the word of the day is not pervert Pee Wee, jeeeez. Don't get me wrong i'm still going to buy her new CD hoping that it has just as many catchy beats as the last, (although i'm skeptical because I am a BIG fan of the Phizzle.) , just like i'm still going to watch Pee Wee's Big Adventure, but it doesn't make it right! Okay, rant over.

Please oh prettttyyy Please!

Helloooo my small but dedicated faction of readers. Ahh, school is in full swing and with it comes a flurry of activity! I have been extremely, extremely busy with a million and one things going on, but i'll get to that later. My most recent BIG news is I finally bit the bullet and put in my application (exactly 5 days ago) to the NYC Teaching Fellowship.

So for those who don't already know, this is a program put in place not too long ago by the NYC Board of Education to try and attract people from all backgrounds to teaching to fill the desperate positions in high-need subject areas and neighborhoods. Fellows can generally expect to teach somewhere in the Bronx or Brooklyn. The subject areas include Math, Science, Special Education, Bilingual Education and ELA. In exchange for you teaching in a high-need subject and area they pay for your subsidized Master's Degree in Education. (you can learn more about the program here... http://www.nycteachingfellows.org/) Guess where I found out about this program? That's right, on the walls of the 7 train. But anyway, I digress. I am verrryyy nervous about finding out if I will be granted an interview or not. The essay was long, not that tedious but definitely taxing, including lots of information, two essays and a resume. I was looking up the statistics about the group who got accepted to this years June program and something like 19,000 applied and only 3,000 were invited into the program. That's about 15%. Thats a scary ratio. I was reading through the testimonials and articles about special teaching fellows and oh boy, I want this soo bad I can taste it. All I really want is to at least get granted an interview, which by the by is no joke. The interviews are a multi-tiered approach having you interviewed in all different settings. Some of the high points include teaching a lesson plan to your peers, drafting a letter to concerned parents about an issue given to you on the spot, and an interview in front of a panel. Oddly enough, this is not the part that worries me. I just want the interview... I want a chance to really shine and represent what I can do. It may sound conceited but I feel like if you have the experience of letting me teach you something, there will be absolutely no doubt as to how well I can teach. And oh! Did I mention? I want to teach high school level Mathematics! It's what I love to teach and tutor in and I have helped a whole bunch of people passed College level exams to get into all sorts of specialized programs. Uggh.. the suspense is literally killing me!

So they say you will find out within 2-4 weeks if you have been selected to come from an interview. Naturally I check the website about 5 thousand times a day to see what the status of my application is. So if you happen to passing by just make a little wish, say a little prayer or simply send some positive energy my way because this is really... everything to me.

In other news, I launched a group through facebook for the club I have become heavily involved in this semester. It's the West African Dance Club (Hunter College Chapter). I was asked to be Vice President by a very good friend of mine Tim, and my other best friend Chris is the Treasurer. We all truly love the culture, the tradition, the energy and experience of the dance and this semester we're kicking it up a whole bunch of notches. Student government is trying to choke us with this paltry budget but we're working through it. There will be a whole bunch of fundraisers to come- so i'll keep you all posted. In the meantime, if you're on facebook look us up. It's just started now, but soon i'll post videos of past performances and bios on the officers so you can see what we're really about. A few of our events this year include visiting a women's shelter as part of a women's empowerment program, and granting a wish as part of the make a wish foundation! It's going to be awessomee so check us out peoples! And don't forget to send me your wishes!

I'm sorry, i'm an adult now... am i really going to have to beg?

Sometimes I really believe that all the City University of New York wants to do is KEEP YOU. This semester I am supposed to be graduating and the only piece of the puzzle I have left is my Degree Audit. (Basically the mother of all forms in which I have to fill out all the classes I used to fulfill my requirements yada yada snore snore.) This beast of a document HAS to be signed off on by the advisor for your major department, mine is Sociology. Let me tell you this crusty old man has given me such damn trouble gaining audience with him. All of his "advising hours" are at ridiculous times, all of which I am working during, and he REFUSES to even look at your paper let alone sign it during his "free" time.

So I ask you.. what does this man gain from making me wait another two weeks, potentially pushing back me finding out that I can DEFINITELY graduate or not??? NOTHING the answer is NOTHING. So guess what I finally cancel an engagement to be there during his "hours for advising" and HE DOESN'T SHOW. He's going to be sorry when the 5 foot pissed off Italian girl comes in with a flame thrower and toasts his office. GRRRRRrrr.

I just want to graduate -sobs- why oh why must it be so hard.

How do!

Welcome to apartment 13V. Let me just first start by saying how long I agonized over the title of this blog. I even read blogs giving advice on how to name a blog. Redundant huh? They advise you to think of what your blog will be about and then sort of use that to kickstart your ideas and brainstorm from there on a name. This proved to be a problem seeing as there are so many things I want to incorporate in this blog that I have floating around in my head on any given day.

So let me serve up the meat and potatoes of me. I am a 21 year old student at Hunter College who will be receiving her Bachelor's Degree in Sociology very soon. My passions can pretty much all fall under the title of 'creating'. I love to "create", as vague as that may be I mean I love to take components and make them into something incredible, in every facet of my life. To this end I love to bake, cook, crochet, knit, quilt and all the other pasttimes that have fallen by the way side. Also, I love music all kinds. I really do not understand people who only like one genre of music it's narrowminded and uneducated really. But I'll go into that in another post some day. I love to dance. I'm not what you would call a classical dancer meaning I wasn't in tap shoes or a tutu from a tender age. I've always loved dance intrinsically but it wasn't until college that I mustered the courage to dive into it regardless of my inexperience. Consequently, I have dabbled in contemporary dance, ballet, and hip hop. I also love West African dance and all of its offshoots- including but not limited to Carribean, Afro-Carribean, and Haitian styles. I am an extremely sarcastic person and while I may not be able to make a decision quickly to save my life, (you can chalk that up to my Libra blood), I have found myself now, finally, in a position to mold who I really am.

So- why apartment 13V? Well, my lucky number is 13, it is the day on which I was born, it is the imprint on a piece of jewelry left to me by my grandmother I never got to meet (also born on the thirteenth), and just generally I feel my good luck charm. V is for Vanessa, and it's as simple as that. But I guess the name as a whole could mean a lot of things, like for instance many apartment buildings, hotels, and structures of all kinds won't have a 13th floor because they believe its bad luck, so take it to mean I reside where most do not. This blog, apartment 13V, is where you'll find the inner workings of my mind, not always coherent and almost always scattered in many directions, but I hope you'll enjoy them none the less.

What will you find here?

-Political Musings

-My every day b.s.

-Recipes

-Patterns

-My advice

-The little scraps of uniqueness I find in New York

-Underground music

..to name a few.

What I really want?

-Suggestions, advice, music you know about it, or really... anything at all.

So I will end this tremendous post, and hope that this is successful. =0) Thanks for reading... you can go take a nap now... as will I after this exhausting post. haha