Dishwashing Etiquette

Read if you've ever lived with one or more roommates and had a problem getting dishes done.

1. Food should be scraped off dishes before washing; accidents (and forgetfulness) happen but clogged drains should be un-clogged promptly
2. Do not leave dishes in sink unwashed for more than 5 days, or for longer than it takes for flies to collect
3. Don't leave silverware at the bottom of the sink; just 'cause it's small doesn't mean it's not important
4. If you use a large pan, colander, or salad-spinner, it's nice if you can clean that up before the next person goes to use the sink -- it's very hard to refill a Brita water container with large items like that in the way
5. Just because the drying rack is full does not mean you are excused from dish duty
6. Dry knives immediately so they do not get rusty
7. If, while drying dishes by hand, your dish rag becomes saturated please throw it in the laundry so that a soppy wet rag is not placed on the counter for someone else to find
8. Thank you in advance for not playing Jenga with the drying glassware
9. Occasionally do some extra dishes even if they are not your own because at some point you probably forgot to do a cup or five before, too

Originally envisioned at the end of November 2007; revisited now.

Paint the Town Cherry Week

This post is for Temple students and alumni, or Philadelphia residents who want to know what's up with all the cherry in town.

To celebrate Temple's 125th anniversary, the university is undergoing a huge campaign to "Paint the Town Cherry" this week. By town they mean the entire city of Philadelphia!

I'm doing my part by wearing red & white nail polish during finals. Hope it brings some good Karma my way ;-)

Also look for Temple's "Cherry & White" colors around Philly all week (May 11-17) surrounding the Commencement ceremony on May 14. See if you can spot the following landmarks and buildings with Temple's colors:

• Ben Franklin Bridge
• One Liberty Place
• Two Liberty Place
• Cira Centre (look for the Temple 'T')
• Boathouse Row
• Bell Atlantic Tower
• City Hall and along Broad Street

Send your favorite cherry sightings to me or to  Temple's site and tweet them on Temple's new Twitter account if you're into that stuff.

The "I'm a Temple Owl" video contest finalists were announced today as well. Here is a stream of the finalists, the last one being the winner (Dan McKinney). My personal favorite is the third, but I'm biased being a part of the Fox School of Business myself!

Finally, for the alumni, it's Alumni Weekend at the end of the week, May 15-17. The scheduled events required registration, which closed last week so hopefully this isn't the first you're hearing about it...

Procrastination via Daft Punk

Did you ever really listen to these words? Did you ever apply them to midterms, exams, your career? Brilliant! Scary! You will be moved, and possibly motivated. Or exhausted.

Work it
Make it
Do it
Makes us

Harder
Better
Faster
Stronger

More than
Hour
Hour
Never

Ever
After
Work is
Over

Work it
Make it
Do it
Makes us

Harder
Better
Faster
Stronger

[Chorus:]
Work it harder
Make it better
Do it faster
Makes us stronger

More than ever
Hour after hour
Work is never over

[Chorus x6]

Work it harder make it
Do it faster makes us
More than ever hour
Our work is

Work it harder make it
Do it faster makes us
More than ever hour
Our work is never over

[Chorus x1]

Work it harder make it
Do it faster makes us
More than ever hour
Our work is

Work it harder make it
Do it faster makes us
More than ever hour
Our work is never over

[Chorus x1]

Work it harder
Do it faster
More than ever
Our work is never over

[Chorus x1]

Watch the original "Harder Better Faster Stronger" clip from the Interstella animated musical film for some context
Watch the "Daft Hands" interpretation or the "Daft Bodies" for some laughs

Turning Man's Trash into My Treasure

Found this little gem on the side of the curb by the AEPi House on North Broad Street. They just renovated their mini-mansion so I assume this is an artifact from that process. But it was just too charming for me to pass up.

I was walking back from class with a friend who happened to be on crutches, so I carried it halfway home and then solicited a neighbor's help the rest of the way.

My plans for this treasure go a little something like this:

1. Rescue abandoned side cabinet from the garbage collectors.
2. Clean and sandpaper the whole thing. Elbow grease!
3. Purchase the perfect shade of cranberry paint, and clear a space on backyard patio where it's okay to make a mess.
4. On a sunny afternoon, do a few coats of this lovely cranberry color.
5. Purchase knobs for the front. I'm thinking either "Celebration" in antique brass or "Native Romance Nonva" in patine.
6. Do some calligraphy on the sides i.e. Chinese or Japanese characters.
7. Fill with bottles, books, or some other useful items.
8. Love.

Some Humorous, Some Serious Unemployment Posts

• Cracking up at "Between Jobs: The Blog," written by a woman named Pam Bellemare who was recently laid off. I particularly enjoyed the "What to do with old business cards" post on March 5. Being that business cards only cost a few bucks from my favorite printing site, I'm almost tempted to get some just to cut up!
• Cracking a smile at "Unemploymentality: The definitive unemployment blog" by John Henion. Too much free time? John has a more sarcastic twist than my take in his "Four social causes endorsed by the Unemploymentality" post.
• Nodding at a March 6th post "5 Things to do when you're unemployed. Hint: It's not job hunting." by Penelope Trunk of Brazen Careerist.
• Shrugging at the kind of advice that you don't want to hear but probably need to hear more often in the "Tools for Life Blog." A post by Erika Mitchell from November 2008 entitled "Top 5 Things to Do When Unemployed" contains practical items such as "Exercise." "Learn." There now you don't have to read it.
• Sighing at a post from 2003 by a woman named Tara Alexandra Kachaturoff. A reminder that this has happened before and we'll all make it through again: "The Top 10 Things To Do When You're Unemployed."

Last Day of Class and No, I'm Not Graduating

So this is freedom for my classmates. The ones graduating on time.

There certainly are a number of us who are taking an extra summer, an extra semester, and even a few - myself included - who are taking an extra year. After transferring universities, disciplines, and majors a few times, the extension and additional student debt was inevitable. I just wish I could celebrate along with all the "last-day-of-class-forever" Facebook status messages and Tweets today.