BKO

Just wanted to post quickly about the upcoming Boston Knit Out that is going to take place this Sunday, October 2, on the Common (rain or shine). Dan & I (I roped him in for a few hours of labor) are going to be doing set-up, but I plan to stop back later on in the day to check it out. Nothing is actually for sale at the event (save for promotional t-shirts and tote bags); it is meant as a chance for people who have always had an interest (or just developed one!) in learning to knit or crochet to get a chance to take a stab at it and see how they like it (there will be group lessons available on-site for varying ages & abilities - I believe that they are all free to the public). There will be booths from many yarn vendors on site, and they will be displaying the wares that their stores have for sale so that people can visit them and pick up something they saw and liked, later on. I really like the idea that it's all about supporting the local yarn shops and other such ventures, which (while knitting and crocheting are really gaining a new popularity these days) still probably don't get as much business as they could use. I hate to see a struggling local yarn shop go under, especially a good one! If you are a knittier/crocheter/curious person, definitely stop by if you get a chance! Sunday, 12-4pm. See you there! xoxo

Currently Reading:

TITLE: Evasion
AUTHOR:



TITLE: The Divine Right of Capital: Dethroning the Corporate Aristocracy
AUTHOR: Marjorie Kelly



Recently read:
TITLE: Monkey Business
AUTHOR: Sarah Mlynowski

protesting & open studios

Well, I am supposed to be posting about our trip down to DC for the anti-war protest this past Saturday, but I keep putting it off because I really don't know how much I have to say about it...it wasn't one of the better protests I've been to, although it was neat because there were tons of people, everywhere! The bus trip itself down to Washington was really long; the buses left Roxbury Community college around 10:30pm on Friday night, and we arrived in the nation's capital around 7 the following morning! Cramped & exhausted, we climbed out of the bus and were pointed in the direction of the gathering-places. Dan and I wandered off while they were still grouping people together, because Dan kind of had his own agenda in mind. We happened first across Cindy Sheehan's Camp Casey setup, where early that morning people had set up thousands of crosses and empty boots to represent the soldiers already slain in the Iraq war. We kept walking, past the Washington Monument (that thing always creeps me out; not only because it's such a Masonic symbol, but also because the two blinking red "eyes" at the top make the whole thing seem like a huge flatworm, I think) and into the ANSWER gathering, where a huge stage and many booths had been set up - I hadn't realized it was so big of a thing, and so planned! I guess I hadn't known what to expect; other than buying the tickets to go down there, I hadn't had much of a chance to read up on what was being planned for the weekend's events.

We wandered through the maze of people and posterboard and pamphlets a few times, trying to find the anarchist group that was rumored to be gathering "under a black flag". Dan did a bit of research on his phone and found out that they were actually camped out pretty far from the main action, all the way in Dupont Circle! Along with the World Bank/IMF protesters, perhaps because that seems to be their usual gathering place. So, after being rerouted again & again (we ended up having to backtrack all the way to Cindy Sheehan's camp in order to get on a road that wasn't barricaded off), we found our way and hiked up to Dupont Circle, where a small group was already gathered. Not much was happening there, so we hung around for a bit, and watched more & more groups of people arrive until it looked to me just like the A16/WB/IMF protests back in April (yay, Sarah)! The crowd was thickening, and consequently also the police force, so when we saw the convoy of cops headed towards the park, we decided we'd make a quiet exit and go check out the action back at the main grounds.

When we got to Pennsylvania Avenue (in front of the White House), the crowds were thickening, and we found ourselves walking in the same direction as lots of other protestors as we headed back to 15th St. But when we got there, chaos! There were people walking down the street in both directions, as if the march had already started or people thought it had, we weren't sure what! Eventually we found a large enough group walking in the correct direction for the march and fell into step with them. But things were still a disorganized mess - it felt like we walked maybe two blocks all together before we were back where we started from, and everyone had gathered in a big crowd in the middle of a street crossroads. Dan and I went to see what was going on up the street a ways, because it appeared that a large part of the march was still going on (with most people around us oblivious to that), but when we got close enough, we saw that the police weren't letting people down where we were off of the parade path!! So we decided to turn around before they shuffled us into the crowd, too - we figured they were trying to keep us all divided & thus under control, and we were having none of that.

We managed to find another route to join up with those still marching, though, and Dan located the anarchists, so we kinda joined up with them for a while. From there (I think this is where I really started getting tired), the day is pretty much a blur of marching and stopping to sit on the curb and anarchists holding a vote to decide which way to go and eating hot dogs and egg rolls from street vendors and meeting a woman named Nancy who we stuck with for a quite a while - she was a vetern of the Vietnam protests, and a very interesting woman to talk with.

At some point, everyone started gathering back at the ANSWER space for the start of the concert and speeches and etc., and a short time later, Dan & I had to head back to our bus. So we found a metro stop, waited in line there for a good 15 minutes, and managed to make our trains & connections with just about perfect timing! We wandered around a parking lot full of buses looking for ours for a while until Dan located it in the back of the lot, and we stumbled aboard, exhausted & very happy to be able to sit (although we certainly weren't looking forward to another 8 hours trying to sleep in cramped, upright positions!). The bus got us home at about 3:30 in the morning, we grabbed a cab back to the North End, showered, and collapsed into bed. Whew, what a long 28 hours!! I'm glad I got to go & participate in the march, but I don't feel like it was all that effective, despite the estimated 300,000 people who showed up to make their voices heard. Hell, Bush wasn't even in town! Oh, well. One of the great things about the entire day was just seeing so many like-minded people who I could connect with on a mutual anti-war stance, at the very least.

Perhaps I'll have more to say about the march & how I felt about it as I mull it over a bit more, but for now, that's my story.

Sunday, we went to see my sister's Open Studio in JP, which was really great - her and her studio-mate's work is fantastic, and apprently they got a lot of compliments & did really well! I managed to wrangle a Christmas present of one of Sarah's prints out of Bethany (although I'll have to wait to get it until December, sad!), and I bought a t-shirt

and an elephant print

from my sister. She's such a wonderful artist & designer. I really hope she finds a job she can really enjoy, soon. I know she's feeling stifled at her current one.

Well, speaking of jobs, I have to get going; work calls! xoxo

p.s. I bought the new Family Guy DVD at Newbury Comics yesterday. I can't wait to watch it!

Currently Reading:

TITLE: Evasion
AUTHOR:


TITLE: The Divine Right of Capital: Dethroning the Corporate Aristocracy
AUTHOR: Marjorie Kelly

wow

Well, after reading this article about facial transplants, I've got the Suicide Machines' "No Face" stuck in my head. Eck, it's all a little bit too Les Yeux Sans Visage for me...

my dad's website

Recently, I helped my father write (and learn) the code for his new website, which is full of some of his most beautiful photography (I wish I had gotten those genes!). I highly recommend checking it out.

quick test

Found on Viv's Xanga site:

Your Personality Profile

You are dependable, popular, and observant. Deep and thoughtful, you are prone to moodiness. In fact, your emotions tend to influence everything you do. You are unique, creative, and expressive. You don't mind waving your freak flag every once and a while. And lucky for you, most people find your weird ways charming!

The World's Shortest Personality Test

Currently Reading:

TITLE: Evasion
AUTHOR:


TITLE: The Divine Right of Capital: Dethroning the Corporate Aristocracy
AUTHOR: Marjorie Kelly

what a weird day...

Well today started off normal enough, riding the T in with Danny to get him a 12-ride pass, but then it just went odd on me. The morning was fine, but around 1 I had to leave to go to an appointment with my orthopedic surgeon all the way out at the Longwood stop on the green line. So I left myself an hour and a half to get there, and was doing just fine...until I got to the Government Center T stop to hop aboard, and found out that it was closed! No trains were running there. So they sent us upstairs to take some mysterious shuttle buses that I swear I didn't see hide nor hair of, but I did see a large group of people gathered around an MBTA official, who was directing people as to what they should do. A guy before me asked where he should go to get a train to Coolidge Corner, and the MBTA guy told him to walk down to Boylston. Reassured that the T was running somewhere (there was no way I was going to be able to walk to Longwood, and I didn't want to have to spend $ on a cab!), and seeing that the stranded guy looked kind of confused as to where to go, I beckoned him to follow me and we fell into step. We introduced ourselves and talked about where we were from (since he had a strong accent - he is from Italy) and chatted about general things. Carlo and I had a pleasant walk together down to Boylston...where we found out that THAT train wasn't running, either! So we had to continue walking down to Arlington, where to our relief we found a working T station. He gave me my card so that we can have coffee maybe next time he is in the North End (he goes there to get his hair cut). (And, don't worry Danny, it wasn't like that. He's very nice - if I ever see him again hopefully you will meet him, too.)

Anyway, the exercise was nice, but because of the unexpected delay, I was running wicked late to my appointment. I hopped on an E-line train and managed to make it to the hospital pretty much on time only after speed-walking down Longwood Ave. But thankfully I didn't have to get x-rays done today, so I was told to sit and wait...and wait...and wait... For over an hour! Apparently my doctor was running behind as usual, but normally it's not this bad - he told me he had to see a ton of pateints today, so that all his "old girlfriends" like me had to wait, haha. Oh, well - good thing I had a book! And that my very, very impatient father wasn't with me!

While I was waiting, I got a phone call from our landlord, who told me he had received the rent check I wrote for him...but that on the line where one is supposed to spell out the amount, I had written thousand instead of hundred!! Oops! So he said he would rip the check up, and I told him I'd mail him the new one tomorrow.

My appointment itself went fine, and was over very quickly. My doctor said I was doing well, and that he thinks I'm walking better than I ever have, yay!

Then on my walk back to the T stop, I glanced across the street, and happened to see...Erica, from high school?!?! Yay! She's awesome. So we met up and hugged and chatted for a bit, but she was headed home to get some med school applications done, so we didn't linger for long. I hope to make plans with her sometime in October, though, when she is done with all that!

Thankfully, the train ran all the way into Government Center on the way back, though, whew. Since then, nothing all that odd has happened, but ... the day's not over, yet! Heh.

I have to write again sometime soon about last weekend (particularly stupid McDonald's), but for now this is long enough. Ciao! xoxo

Currently Reading:

TITLE: Evasion
AUTHOR:


TITLE: The Divine Right of Capital: Dethroning the Corporate Aristocracy
AUTHOR: Marjorie Kelly

Frank vs. Timothy

In the past week, I have seen two entirely different movies - The Transporter 2 and Grizzly Man. And I don't think the heros of either one could be further apart on the spectrum than these two men are, either. One is like a well-oiled machine, honed for getting by in this tough adult world,and one is, well,...not.

Transporter 2 was a very fun movie, full of good action sequences - but there's not much to say about it, beyond that. Grizzly Man was quite a different animal altogether (pun not intended, but I like it, so I'm going to leave it). The story of Timothy Treadwell, friend to the grizzlies, was unbelievable...the way that man lived with the bears as if they were his close friends, and then died at their hands...it was so intense and odd and interesting. He truly believed in what he was doing, and his hammed-up personality in front of the screen was just who he was. He was passionate about his cause and unfailingly loyal to his "friends" (the bears and foxes), but so unbelievably childlike in so many ways, even though he must have been in his late 30s/early 40s when he died. My father and I left the theater just boggled by the documentary & what it told us about Timothy's life. I don't know if I'd recommend the movie to all, but it is quite an intriuging and off-beat story, if you are in the mood for something like that. Definitely not what I expected, but then again, what exactly does one expect when they go to see the story of a man who lived & died with Alaskan grizzly bears?

Currently Reading:

TITLE: V for Vendetta
AUTHOR: Alan Moore & David Lloyd


TITLE: Evasion
AUTHOR:

where's george?

Recently I rediscovered this site, when I found a dollar bill with "WWW.WHERESGEORGE.COM" scrawled on it. It's a fun site, kind of like BookCrossing, where you can track where your money has been and where it goes after it passes from your hands (since it inevitably does, ugh). I signed up for it last year sometime (before that there was no login or bill tracking, you could only see where your bills had been before you), and although I haven't heard about most of my bills, it's still wicked fun. At least, I think so. But then, I'm a dork.

i thought i was the only one

So, I finished reading Queen Bees & Wannabees yesterday night, and started reading a book called Milkrun, which is a really silly girl book - I kind of needed a little break from the more serious stuff I've been reading recently. Anyway, the main character is a copyeditor (what I want to do, I think!), and on a slow Monday, she says "It's just so hard to focus. I've started to see commas in my sleep, like when you play too much Tetris and start to mentally insert your pencil holder into that space between your bulletin board and the wall." Aaahhh! I SO remember the days when I used to do that, back when we had our little Apple IIGs. My dad and I were pretty crazy competitors, and we would pretty much sit down and play until we had beaten each others' scores. I had forgotten all about that little competition (and the resulting "mental Tetris" I found myself playing almost constantly when I wasn't in front of the screen - mostly I would try to fit pieces in between words or letters in a book I was reading) until I read that. Aww. Brings back good memories...

Anyway, back to Queen Bees, THAT was an interesting book! It is written for parents of teenage girls, particularly mothers, so yes I know, it doesn't really apply to me. But I was interested to read it because, of course, I was once a teenage girl, too. The book actually took me much longer to read than it otherwise might have, because I spent so much time putting the book down to pause and flashback to what high school was like for me, and how it was the same as or different from what Wiseman describes. In many, many ways, she was spot-on, though. A lot of the issues she says girls deal with as they mature really do happen, and it was interesting also to see how the girls that she worked with dealt with their problems in different ways, some of which I didn't necessarily agree with. But it's all part of growing up - you learn what is best for you. For girls, that can take quite a while to figure out, but I think it happens, mostly. We're always learning more about ourselves, though, I think - no matter at what age.

The other weird thing is that there was a girl named Chandra in the book, which is the name of one of my best friends from high school, and there was a couple named "Anna" and "Derek" in one of Wiseman's scenarios - I know the names are not THAT uncommon, but that was one of the Big Couples in our school for a few years. So while the book in general was making me think of my awkward adolescent years, those little coincidences really struck me and put me mentally back there even more! Whew - glad I'm done with that book, as interesting as it was. I certainly don't want to relive high school.

More later. xoxo

Currently Reading:

TITLE: V for Vendetta
AUTHOR: Alan Moore & David Lloyd


TITLE: Milkrun
AUTHOR: Sarah Mlynowski

my so-called life

Well, I suppose I owe y'all an update, huh? Sorry for the lapse there, but things have been busy! I don't really feel like I've had a real moment to sit down & read for quite a while, unfortunately. But oh well, not that I'm complaining! I had a really nice weekend with my sisters and our boys...I don't even remember when the last time I posted here was, so I won't try to fill in everything that's happened since then, but I am actually back in CT once again, for about a week. How did I get here, you ask? Well, Saturday morning Bethany & I got together to bake a cake for Sarah, as her birthday (28!) is the 14th. She & Liam were going to visit Boston for the weekend, so we figured we'd have a little celebration, as well. We decided to make the cake from scratch, which while a lot of work was really fun! And worth it - the cake turned out very good! But it took longer than I expected (I guess because I'm used to throwing a mix, eggs, water, and oil into a bowl when I usually make cakes, heh), so I rushed home as soon as I could, since I had promised Dan I'd go to the main library with him. We had a pleasant walk over and managed our way through locating things in the library well enough. As we were leaving, we stopped to pick up some free cake that they were handing out on the library steps, in celebration of Boston's 375th anniversary (I think it was something like that?).

Next we ran some errands, to Borders & Staples at Downtown Crossing, still on our way back home. When we were picking up tomatoes at Haymarket, we got a call from Bethany telling us that Sarah & Liam were already in Boston! So Dan & I rushed back home, got ready in record time, and rushed out the door. After a missed-train mishap, Kevin came to pick us all up, and we drove out to see his new house in the 'burbs...I hadn't seen it yet, it's pretty nice (but definitely not where I want to be living when I am 27...I don't know when, if ever, I'll feel ready to settle down somewhere like that!). So, well, we all ate cake and played some Trivial Pursuit before heading out to have dinner & a movie at the premium theater in Framingham. The theater itself was really nice - big, soft leather seats with double armrests (so no one has to share!), trays in front of each seat for your food, and all-you-can-eat popcorn and soda included in the price - but the movie we had to see (there was only one option! grr) was not so great: The Exorcism of Emily Rose. Well, I take that back - the story itself I found really interesting, but I am NOT a fan of scary movies! Thank goodness I had worn a hooded sweatshirt that night, so I could shield my eyes from any terrifying scenes. I still had trouble getting to sleep that night, but it wasn't nearly as bad as it could have been...

Sunday, we didn't mean to but we slept in, and then I rushed around packing my things after Sarah called to let us know she & Liam were headed into the city (they had stayed at Kevin's) to see our new place! It wasn't very clean, but they seemed to like it anyway. :) We all headed out to see the Ahts Festival (I swear, that's how it's spelled!) out near Fanueil Hall, stopped at a few stores, and then Sarah, Liam, and I hopped in the car to drive back to CT! I had to say goodbye to Danny which wasn't fun, but I will see him on Saturday just in time to go to Ian's wedding over in Poughkeepsie, yay!

For now, I'm kicking around at my parents' house. Tomorrow I am going into the office for work, Thursday I have a doctor appointment, Saturday I have the wedding at the Vassar chapel, and Sunday is Dan's family's race in upstate MA! So, should be a pretty busy second half of the week, at least...


Currently Reading:

TITLE: V for Vendetta
AUTHOR: Alan Moore & David Lloyd


TITLE: Queen Bees & Wannabees
AUTHOR: Rosalind Wiseman

this ain't no disco

Well, I finally finished The Handmaid's Tale! I thought it was a very good and engaging read, although the part at the end I find a little condescending, on the author's part. I won't go into much detail, and I know in some ways it's just to help clarify/end things, but still I felt that it was either pointing out the obvious to make sure everyone caught what she (Atwood) meant, or else it was trying to show how clever she was by showing all of the small tricks she had employed. I don't know - I don't want to be too critical, because overall I really enjoyed the story, and loved the concept of it, and the character of Offred. It's definitely a novel I would recommend; I found that everyone who had already read it were always nodding their heads in approval when I told them I was checking it out, finally.

Last night, Danny and I went to see Four Brothers, which was a very good movie - very emotional. And I just adore Andre Benjamin. Another thing that I would recommend checking out, even though it didn't do terribly well in the theaters, I guess. I think it should have done better, in any case. It's worth taking the time to see, even if it's not a life-changing experience.

Otherwise, everything is going pretty well in the North End so far. I am still just loving our apartment, and Danny's even been doing some awesome cooking lately! After hitting up Haymarket for the second time on Saturday (I went earlier with my sister, after which we baked an amazing fruit bread & made a big fruit salad), Danny cooked up a delicious tomato sauce, which we had later on in the week with his eggplant parm! (That was the night thoroughly amused Christine & Paolo by eating with spoons, though, because we still don't have forks! haha) And today we, together, made a fantastic vodka sauce to eat with the fresh pasta we bought at a local shop the other day. Yummy. It seems like you can't NOT have a delicious meal in this neighborhood!! Hehe.

Oh, and Danny showed me this quiz, this morning:

Pure Nerd 60 % Nerd, 39% Geek, 34% Dork

For The Record: A Nerd is someone who is passionate about learning/being smart/academia. A Geek is someone who is passionate about some particular area or subject, often an obscure or difficult one. A Dork is someone who has difficulty with common social expectations/interactions. You scored better than half in Nerd, earning you the title of: Pure Nerd. The times, they are a-changing. It used to be that being exceptionally smart led to being unpopular, which would ultimately lead to picking up all of the traits and tendences associated with the "dork." No-longer. Being smart isn't as socially crippling as it once was, and even more so as you get older: eventually being a Pure Nerd will likely be replaced with the following label: Purely Successful. Congratulations! Also, you might want to check out some of my other tests if you're interested in any of the following: Buffy the Vampire Slayer Professional Wrestling Love & Sexuality America/Politics Thanks Again! -- THE NERD? GEEK? OR DORK? TEST

My test tracked 3 variables How you compared to other people your age and gender: You scored higher than 63% on nerdiness You scored higher than 53% on geekosity You scored higher than 53% on dork points

Link: The Nerd? Geek? or Dork? Test written by donathos on OkCupid Free Online Dating

I kinda wanted to be a geek, since I associate that with more tech-y stuff, but oh well. I won't complain about this - it definitely fits me to a "T". I am always, always trying to learn new things or figure things out. Just ask anyone who's seen me run to Google/IMDb/Amazon/Wikipedia/Dictionary.com/etc. when the slightest question about something arises! :)

All right - I always feel like I have tons & tons of things I should tell about, but I of course can't think of any of them right now. So I guess that means, for now anyway, that it's bedtime - goodnight! xoxo

Currently Reading:

TITLE: V for Vendetta
AUTHOR: Alan Moore & David Lloyd


TITLE: Queen Bees & Wannabees
AUTHOR: Rosalind Wiseman

"O! The joy!"

Danny and I were putting all of our loose change in the big glass jar known as the Bottomless Jar of Misfourtune, and my eye caught a nickel (not "nickle" - Bethany & I now know that a nickle is actually a type of woodpecker!) that looked rather odd...I took a closer look, and realized it was a very recently-released nickel, the first redesign of the nickel since 1938, commissioned to commemorate the bicentennial of the Lewis & Clark expedition. Crazy! I had no idea they were even doing something like that.

The front has a weird, enlarged picture of Jefferson, and the back is a picture of a pine tree and an ocean scene, with the words "Ocean in view! O! The joy!", which is supposedly what Lewis (or was it Clark?) wrote in his journals when they finally caught sight of the Pacific after months of travel. In any case, there were only 50,000 of these suckers printed, so I think I'll hold onto it for now. Might be worth something someday.

Currently Reading:

TITLE: The Handmaid's Tale
AUTHOR: Margaret Atwood


TITLE: V for Vendetta
AUTHOR: Alan Moore & David Lloyd

we're here!

Yay, we made it safe & sound to Boston! As did all (well, most) of our stuff. The move went sooo much more smoothly than I could ever have hoped; everything we wanted to take with us fit in the truck, it was packed by around dinnertime on Wednesday, and then we left to drive up to Boston around 7am the next morning. The drive went well in & of itself, and we would have done just fine if it weren't for actually having to get off the highway & try to find our way in amongst the Big Dig once we actually arrived in the city, haha! Thankfully I have an awesome, awesome big sister who not only came to meet us while we were driving helplessly around the North End, but who also brought around donuts, bottled water, cups, paper towels, toilet paper, and first aid supplies for the move. We arrived late to meet up with Stephen, who was going to give us our keys, but he thankfully waited around for us long enough to hand them over before he had to run off to help out his other new tenants. And, surprisingly, for what was supposedly the biggest moving day for Boston, we didn't encounter many other people moving in! It must've been Cambridge & other college areas that got most of the brunt of that.

In any case, our movers showed up right as we did, and JB arrived a little while later, and between the 6 of us, we managed to get everything inside the apartment in about 2 hours! Not necessarily in any sort of order, but it was fine. And the only mishap was when Danny cut his finger pretty badly on the terribly broken (and leaky!) faucet, that I'm going to call the landlord about today. (And thank god for Bethany and her first aid kit!)

We ordered pizza for lunch for all the movers, and then Dan & I returned the truck to the Budget place and returned home to start setting things up. We got a good majority of our things together before Bethany & Ashu arrived to see the place, and then we realized how starving we were, so we ran an errand to the hardware store & then ate some subs for dinner. So, while it wasn't the healthiest day (I had a huge gas-station cheese danish for breakfast on the drive up, since I refused to buy food at McDonald's), it was very successful, overall.

I hope that's a good indication of what it'll be like up here, in general...!

And please guys, come visit!!! xoxo

Currently Reading:

TITLE: The Handmaid's Tale
AUTHOR: Margaret Atwood


TITLE: V for Vendetta
AUTHOR: Alan Moore & David Lloyd