I had to do it. I was getting a little tired of the old look and had to redecorate. Natae, I think this is a lot like yours. It's too bad that there are only a few options, but this is a nice one. And I want to be like you.
I got back from Maine this weekend, and had the most fabulous time. Dori and I stayed with Deb in Vinalhaven- a teeny tiny island off the coast near Rockland. It's about a 4 hour drive from Boston, and I'm waiting for some pictures to come in. But I would strongly recommend the trip for anyone who wants to completely get away. There was barely a gas pump on the island, and I think an ATM came to the island last year. And there were puffins everywhere. You know the birds that are the beneficiaries of the Puffin cereal that is so yummy? All over the place, flying around. We swam in a quarry, took several walks in the woods and saw amazing coastline. So pretty. Hopefully we'll be able to go back soon.
I also finished Harry Potter last weekend. I have to say that I'm relieved to know how it all ends, and can now start the process of re-reading the book so I can better understand what's been going on.
How's everything with you guys?
Tuesday, July 31
Tuesday, July 17
What can I say? The heat has been killing my inspiration
So I know it's been a couple of weeks. I'm very sorry that you three dedicated readers have been seeing the same boring blog for all that time. It's just I have had no inspiration. My muse has abandoned me, or something less poetic. I think it's the wet heat we've been having this July. This past Sunday I spent an hour sweating at the gym, came home and took a shower and didn't really dry off until I turned on the air conditioner when I went to sleep that night. I had small reprieves, like when I took the T to get my toes done- the trains have air conditioning- or when I sat in the nail parlor and got my toes done. But that was about it until 11 or so that night. I don't know how people can get anything done when they're all damp all the time. But, really, I do need to apologize for taking so long. So I'm sorry. Now I'm moving on.
This past Sunday I went on my practice date. A practice date is when you're going out with someone without any expectation of there being a love connection, but a possibility of a friend connection. My friend Deb set it up, and she also had me promise to wear a dress (uh) and actually try to enjoy myself (double uh). One thing that will come to no surprise to folks is that I hate dating. Which is why I need to practice.
It turns out the practice date (I'll call him Practice Date guy, or PD) was a perfect faux date. He was very friendly, quite engaging and empathetic (despite the fact that he enjoys himself as a litigating lawyer) and absolutely loves- I mean adores- NPR. Particularly the love of my life's show, This American Life. We must have spent at least 45 minutes talking about TAL and Wait Wait... Don't Tell Me. I think the last time I dorked out so much was when I was talking to Alex about whether Snape was truly evil, or whether Dubledore meant for Snape to kill him (three more days until we know for sure, Alex. Sorry for the spoiler to those of you who didn't know that. But I figure if you don't know this already, you don't really care about the entire series). It also turns out that he's in a quasi relationship with someone, but is really into meeting people for fun and activities (perfectly legitimate, PG-rated activities, thank you very much). He's said he'll add me to his list of activity partners, including to his very social group outling list so I can better meet some of his friends. He also said he'd be happy to help me out with being a male sounding board as I go on my little dating adventures, which is a huge relief. I think I can use all the help I can get in that regard. I mean, guys are really confusing to me. Especially these East Coast guys, who are in effect different from the Left Coast-oriented personalities.
Oh, and one more thing. Did anyone else listen to Wait Wait this weekend? There was a blurb about the "secret to a happy marriage". You'll never guess. It went like this:
The key to a happy marriage is how often the wife is what?
Guess 1. Goes out and socializes
Guess 2. How often the wife... (no the answer is not A, despite the alarming number of men out there saying "Be A! Be A!"
Guess 3. How often she agrees with him?
Answer- Exactly wrong.
Guess 4. How often he agrees with her?
Yes! How often she get her way. And she doesn't have to just get her way. The husband has to quickly, intently and enthusiastically give in to her. "Further proof that there is a god". Amen.
This past Sunday I went on my practice date. A practice date is when you're going out with someone without any expectation of there being a love connection, but a possibility of a friend connection. My friend Deb set it up, and she also had me promise to wear a dress (uh) and actually try to enjoy myself (double uh). One thing that will come to no surprise to folks is that I hate dating. Which is why I need to practice.
It turns out the practice date (I'll call him Practice Date guy, or PD) was a perfect faux date. He was very friendly, quite engaging and empathetic (despite the fact that he enjoys himself as a litigating lawyer) and absolutely loves- I mean adores- NPR. Particularly the love of my life's show, This American Life. We must have spent at least 45 minutes talking about TAL and Wait Wait... Don't Tell Me. I think the last time I dorked out so much was when I was talking to Alex about whether Snape was truly evil, or whether Dubledore meant for Snape to kill him (three more days until we know for sure, Alex. Sorry for the spoiler to those of you who didn't know that. But I figure if you don't know this already, you don't really care about the entire series). It also turns out that he's in a quasi relationship with someone, but is really into meeting people for fun and activities (perfectly legitimate, PG-rated activities, thank you very much). He's said he'll add me to his list of activity partners, including to his very social group outling list so I can better meet some of his friends. He also said he'd be happy to help me out with being a male sounding board as I go on my little dating adventures, which is a huge relief. I think I can use all the help I can get in that regard. I mean, guys are really confusing to me. Especially these East Coast guys, who are in effect different from the Left Coast-oriented personalities.
Oh, and one more thing. Did anyone else listen to Wait Wait this weekend? There was a blurb about the "secret to a happy marriage". You'll never guess. It went like this:
The key to a happy marriage is how often the wife is what?
Guess 1. Goes out and socializes
Guess 2. How often the wife... (no the answer is not A, despite the alarming number of men out there saying "Be A! Be A!"
Guess 3. How often she agrees with him?
Answer- Exactly wrong.
Guess 4. How often he agrees with her?
Yes! How often she get her way. And she doesn't have to just get her way. The husband has to quickly, intently and enthusiastically give in to her. "Further proof that there is a god". Amen.
Wednesday, July 4
playing catchup
I'm thinking I should probably catch up on the goings on before another very busy weekend comes along and I get too far behind. I know it's only Wednesday, but it's the 4th and we have the day off. And I took tomorrow and Friday off, so I'm feeling like this is another weekend.
Last week was fabulous. It was almost like work was what happened between real life happening. Usually it's the opposite. Monday was normal, but Tuesday I got to hang out with Tori and Moira and little Vincent. We were waiting for Tori's niece to get into town, so we hung out for several hours, walking along the Charles and catching up. So nice to just hang out with people and not feel like there's a time limit or an end to the festivities. We were at the Cambridgeside Galleria, so when we were almost done hanging out we perused some stores. I decided that the not-so-new style of shirts that are kind of tight on top but flowing under the waistline might actually be more comfortable that almost any other shirt I've yet seen and probably quite flattering. I decided that I should get some with my next non-rent paycheck.
Wednesday was hanging with the Brandeis ladies- always a good time (and good food!) with them. Part of the fun of the Brandeis ladies is that as a group we either love to cook or love to eat or some combination of the two. The menu at these gatherings is always interesting and yummy. Since it was so hot we had a nice big salmon salad (Tori, I know you might not like this, but it was quite good), several different kinds of drinks (two people were in charge of drinks this time) three different kinds of spreads including edamame spread (so good) and a da da version of strawberry shortcake. It looks like we might be able to go to the Boston harbor islands sometime soon, which would be fun. I haven't seen them yet.
Thursday was Tori's birthday (happy birthday, Tori!). Below is a picture of all of us celebrating her Greatness. We went out to dinner at Central Kitchen. It seems to be one of THE places to be, so we were feeling a little more cool and hip than normal.
Friday was just Friday. A day of rest.
And then on Saturday I went to Newport, RI with Tori and her niece. I guess it was a Tori-rich week, which is always a treat. We went on two mansion tours- again something I haven't done yet. We saw the Breakers, which is what everyone sees if they do a mansion tour. It was the "house" of one arm of the Vanderbilt's at the turn of the (last) century and it was amazingly large, lavish and somewhat overwhelming. We've all heard the "society stories" and saw movies and what not, but this really put it into perspective. We also saw Isaac Bell's house. It was a little more what they called Middle Class, but it was very impressive. This was more of a tour of early American architecture, but we spent over an hour in this house and I still felt like I could stay there for much longer. It was very beautiful, too, and the level of details the architect created was so amazing.
Then on Sunday, again, a day of rest. Sigh. And now after two days of work I am having a weekend. It's just perfect. I've been doing laundry, finishing some cd mixes I've been working on, and generally being a lazy bum. Except for the gym going. And the walks with Deb. They've been so wonderful. But more on that later.
Today I'm meeting Tori and some folks down at the Esplanade. Folks really do know how to celebrate the 4th here in Boston. I swear, it's like democracy was invented here or something. Something about being the home of the American Revolution. All that kind of thing.
As promised, here is a picture of Tori's bday dinner. Some folks had to leave early, so we're not really all there. No pun intended.
Last week was fabulous. It was almost like work was what happened between real life happening. Usually it's the opposite. Monday was normal, but Tuesday I got to hang out with Tori and Moira and little Vincent. We were waiting for Tori's niece to get into town, so we hung out for several hours, walking along the Charles and catching up. So nice to just hang out with people and not feel like there's a time limit or an end to the festivities. We were at the Cambridgeside Galleria, so when we were almost done hanging out we perused some stores. I decided that the not-so-new style of shirts that are kind of tight on top but flowing under the waistline might actually be more comfortable that almost any other shirt I've yet seen and probably quite flattering. I decided that I should get some with my next non-rent paycheck.
Wednesday was hanging with the Brandeis ladies- always a good time (and good food!) with them. Part of the fun of the Brandeis ladies is that as a group we either love to cook or love to eat or some combination of the two. The menu at these gatherings is always interesting and yummy. Since it was so hot we had a nice big salmon salad (Tori, I know you might not like this, but it was quite good), several different kinds of drinks (two people were in charge of drinks this time) three different kinds of spreads including edamame spread (so good) and a da da version of strawberry shortcake. It looks like we might be able to go to the Boston harbor islands sometime soon, which would be fun. I haven't seen them yet.
Thursday was Tori's birthday (happy birthday, Tori!). Below is a picture of all of us celebrating her Greatness. We went out to dinner at Central Kitchen. It seems to be one of THE places to be, so we were feeling a little more cool and hip than normal.
Friday was just Friday. A day of rest.
And then on Saturday I went to Newport, RI with Tori and her niece. I guess it was a Tori-rich week, which is always a treat. We went on two mansion tours- again something I haven't done yet. We saw the Breakers, which is what everyone sees if they do a mansion tour. It was the "house" of one arm of the Vanderbilt's at the turn of the (last) century and it was amazingly large, lavish and somewhat overwhelming. We've all heard the "society stories" and saw movies and what not, but this really put it into perspective. We also saw Isaac Bell's house. It was a little more what they called Middle Class, but it was very impressive. This was more of a tour of early American architecture, but we spent over an hour in this house and I still felt like I could stay there for much longer. It was very beautiful, too, and the level of details the architect created was so amazing.
Then on Sunday, again, a day of rest. Sigh. And now after two days of work I am having a weekend. It's just perfect. I've been doing laundry, finishing some cd mixes I've been working on, and generally being a lazy bum. Except for the gym going. And the walks with Deb. They've been so wonderful. But more on that later.
Today I'm meeting Tori and some folks down at the Esplanade. Folks really do know how to celebrate the 4th here in Boston. I swear, it's like democracy was invented here or something. Something about being the home of the American Revolution. All that kind of thing.
As promised, here is a picture of Tori's bday dinner. Some folks had to leave early, so we're not really all there. No pun intended.
Sunday, July 1
the gym and DPS
Most of you know that I try to go to the gym fairly regularly. This past week has not been the prime example of this, but I do really like going to the gym. It has all this equipment, classes, even a sauna and hot tub (but I don't really use those all that much). And today was my day back at the gym. I was feeling so tired and sluggish this morning that I knew it was past time; one thing people don't tell you is that if you get into the habit of regular exercise it's addictive and you feel the effects pretty quickly if you ever stop going.
Anyway, one of the reasons I love this gym is that it's kind of a lazy man's gym. Many of the cardio machines have these individual tv's you can watch (like on Jet Blue) so you can watch your favorite shows. They even have two movie channels, which is always a lot of fun. Often I will go to the gym at around 8 pm so I can watch the prime time line up- thursday nights are my favorite nights to just go and be on those machines. There was one time I went and they were showing Tootsie. There was this line of women lined up at the windows watching it, and we were all laughing out loud together at the same parts... It's quite fun, really.
Well one of the drawbacks to this scenario is that there are some times when what I'm watching is quite sad while huffing and puffing on the cardio machine. And I of course cry at sad parts of tv shows and movies, and then I find myself trying to breath and cry at the same time while working out. Which it turns out is not all that easy to do. There have been several times in these past months where I'm watching Grey's Anatomy and have tears streaming down my face. Or watching Billy Elliot. Or Thelma and Louise. Or that one part in Dream Girls- that one had me sobbing on the damn treadmill. God, you try to work out while sobbing. It's actually quite difficult.
So today I go to the gym, wondering what the movies are going to be. And they're showing Enemy of the State and Dead Poets Society. I had to laugh because Dead Poets Society is my original tear jerker. It's the first movie I remember crying at. I was with Becky and Christina (and I think Mandy) and riding up in the elevator to my car, crying- the hickuping kind. And I knew I was a gonner. I remember they showed this movie at the gym years ago and I popped onto the machine just after Neil had died and Mr. Keating had gotten fired and the boys had to confess that Keating was to blame for Neil's death- it was literally the last 10 minutes. Without fail just as soon as whatshisface Ethan Hawke's character stands on the desk and says "oh Captain my Captain" I started to cry. Then the other guys get up on their desks and there's that picture where you can see some of the boys on their desks and they're the ones whose lives were changed by having this class and by meeting this influential person. There was nothing for it. That's always the part that gets me- I didn't need anything else.
This time I got there and there was 50 minutes left in the show. I thought it would be worse with more time to get into the characters and become absorbed in the story, so I just figured I'd let myself go and have fun with it. It turned out, tho, that I didn't really cry. I don't know why. Maybe it's because I kept thinking about how young everyone looked (and there was that guy who played Neil who is now on House. I don't think I've seen him in all that much). Or maybe I was expecting it too much- all the other times I cried were completely unexpected. Or I'm getting older and more cynical. But only a couple of tears trickled down. Nothing much by my standards really.
Then I went and got a burrito at Anna's. As payback for going to the gym for two hours. It's the weekend- I'll be better at the healthy eating during the week.
Anyway, one of the reasons I love this gym is that it's kind of a lazy man's gym. Many of the cardio machines have these individual tv's you can watch (like on Jet Blue) so you can watch your favorite shows. They even have two movie channels, which is always a lot of fun. Often I will go to the gym at around 8 pm so I can watch the prime time line up- thursday nights are my favorite nights to just go and be on those machines. There was one time I went and they were showing Tootsie. There was this line of women lined up at the windows watching it, and we were all laughing out loud together at the same parts... It's quite fun, really.
Well one of the drawbacks to this scenario is that there are some times when what I'm watching is quite sad while huffing and puffing on the cardio machine. And I of course cry at sad parts of tv shows and movies, and then I find myself trying to breath and cry at the same time while working out. Which it turns out is not all that easy to do. There have been several times in these past months where I'm watching Grey's Anatomy and have tears streaming down my face. Or watching Billy Elliot. Or Thelma and Louise. Or that one part in Dream Girls- that one had me sobbing on the damn treadmill. God, you try to work out while sobbing. It's actually quite difficult.
So today I go to the gym, wondering what the movies are going to be. And they're showing Enemy of the State and Dead Poets Society. I had to laugh because Dead Poets Society is my original tear jerker. It's the first movie I remember crying at. I was with Becky and Christina (and I think Mandy) and riding up in the elevator to my car, crying- the hickuping kind. And I knew I was a gonner. I remember they showed this movie at the gym years ago and I popped onto the machine just after Neil had died and Mr. Keating had gotten fired and the boys had to confess that Keating was to blame for Neil's death- it was literally the last 10 minutes. Without fail just as soon as whatshisface Ethan Hawke's character stands on the desk and says "oh Captain my Captain" I started to cry. Then the other guys get up on their desks and there's that picture where you can see some of the boys on their desks and they're the ones whose lives were changed by having this class and by meeting this influential person. There was nothing for it. That's always the part that gets me- I didn't need anything else.
This time I got there and there was 50 minutes left in the show. I thought it would be worse with more time to get into the characters and become absorbed in the story, so I just figured I'd let myself go and have fun with it. It turned out, tho, that I didn't really cry. I don't know why. Maybe it's because I kept thinking about how young everyone looked (and there was that guy who played Neil who is now on House. I don't think I've seen him in all that much). Or maybe I was expecting it too much- all the other times I cried were completely unexpected. Or I'm getting older and more cynical. But only a couple of tears trickled down. Nothing much by my standards really.
Then I went and got a burrito at Anna's. As payback for going to the gym for two hours. It's the weekend- I'll be better at the healthy eating during the week.
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