presidential coins

I don't know how Congress passed this without my knowledge (haha), but they're going to be printing coins with all of the presidents on them, starting in 2007, I believe. $1 coins, in fact! As well as commemorative first lady coins and special Lincoln-bicentennial coins. Ah, that U.S. Mint....

The one rather strange stipulation is that a president must be deceased for 2 years for him to be put on one of the coins. I guess they're kind of assuming that most of those alive will be dead by 2016, but still - why the rule? Is it because it wouldn't be fair to all the other already-dead presidents who didn't get to see their own faces on coins?

Seriously, though, what's with the 2 years thing, especially? Do they want to make absolute certain they're dead and won't ever see a coin with their likeness stamped on the front?

So odd. But, I'm always a huge fan of new coins/stamps/bills/etc. As much as I don't like the government 99% of the time, I do like new issues of our currencies. I am looking forward to the change of pace. Let's hope they do better than the Sacagawea dollar coin...(I wish that one had done better, but alas, it was not up to me.) xoxo

Currently Reading:
	TITLE: Get A Financial Life AUTHOR: Beth Kobliner
	TITLE: Idoru AUTHOR: William Gibson

rest in peace

R.I.P., Mr. & Mrs. Martin Luther King.

Last night, irony of all ironies, Dan & I went to see Dr. William F. Pepper - James Earl Ray's lawyer, and author of two books on MLK, Jr. - speak at Brookline High School. He spoke for 2 hours about whodunit, mostly. He was a personal friend of Martin Luther King's, and spent almost 40 years trying to find the truth of the matter of who assasinated the civil rights leader. It was all very interesting, and Dan bought a copy of his book, An Act of State. I look forward to reading it sometime in the future...when I've gotten through my zillion other books, of course. But still - I would like to read it, and I do plan to.

Not much other news right now, except for that Dan & I went to Shag on Saturday to get our hair cut. I also got mine colored (a slightly darker brown, with some reddish in it); I took a picture, but it doesn't really do it justice. I took a few more photos on Dan's camera, but I don't have those yet. If I'm happy enough with any of them (which I probably won't be; I'm terribly un-photogenic), then perhaps I'll post those up sometime later - they show my cut better. For now, though, here:



All right - now, back to work! xoxo

Currently Reading:
	TITLE: Get A Financial Life AUTHOR: Beth Kobliner
	TITLE: Idoru AUTHOR: William Gibson

ouch

This morning I woke up & felt like someone had been beating me with a bag full of bricks all night long. I think part of it had to do with my somewhat tortured dreams, although I've no idea what they consisted of, now.

Anyway, I'm feeling slightly better, now. I think I'm just tired; I may go lay down for a bit before I start work this morning. It's not like last night was particularly taxing or anything! In fact, it was a lot of fun - my friend Jess came over, and we drank some red wine while waiting for Dan to come home, then we all went over to Billy Tse's for sushi. Afterwards, Jess & I watched A Walk On the Moon, another movie that my sister had picked up at the library & then loaned to me. It was a pretty good movie, although not what I was expecting (I was mixing it up with Mandy Moore's A Walk to Remember, hahaha!). We had a few technical difficulties with my computer & a library-owned DVD (thanks for being such a good sport about things, Jess!!), but we did manage to watch the entire thing, after several frustrating delays.



I also got a lot more done on my baby blanket, although you wouldn't know from looking at it - since there are 126 stitches each row, it takes a LOT longer to look like I've produced anything of substance! But, I'm still tooling along...

I think I'm going to go lay down and read for a bit now. My body needs me to. xoxo

Currently Reading:
	TITLE: Get A Financial Life AUTHOR: Beth Kobliner
	TITLE: Idoru AUTHOR: William Gibson

Boston, 2007 and beyond?

Yay! This morning, Dan heard back from our landlord, and it looks pretty promising that we'll get to renew our lease (Dan had emailed to discuss our potentially doing so yesterday). Hurrah! This is so exciting. We just adore our apartment and its location. I really hope we'll get to stay for at least a little while longer... Our landlord wants to meet us sometime, as we've been his tenants for almost half a year without us ever having come face-to-face, but hopefully that meeting won't change his mind about us! :) And yay, definitely my scrupulousness about making sure that the rent was paid early each month (I try to get it in around the 15th of the previous month every time, so that if something comes up, it can be taken care of in time) sounds like it paid off. Wish us luck!

Yesterday evening, I headed out in the awful, slushy weather for the second time (the first having been for a late lunch with Christine at Cosi; had I known how bad the weather actually was, I might not have gone!), to go to a meeting of Knitting For the Greater Good. They want to recruit people to knit baby blankets to be included in care baskets they give to new mothers who can't afford much. I have already started a new blanket with yarn that Danny helped me pick out at Mind's Eye Yarns! It's really fun - I do hope to be able to get several blankets knitted up this year (it's such an easy & rather mindless task, great for knitting in front of a movie...) - the only thing that would stop me would be the cost, as baby yarn (the very softest) tends to run a bit pricey. Oh, well - we'll have to see. I do really like being involved in this.

However, when I finally arrived at Borders, where the meeting was to be held, there was not a single knitter in sight! I traipsed up & down the stairs a couple of times, scanning in vain (and probably arousing the suspicions of the store's security guard), but, nothin'. I couldn't believe it - I figured I had been stupid and written the wrong day down! Dan was supposed to meet me around 6:30 so we could try out the new sushi place nearby, so I ended up buying a coffee and reading in the upstairs cafe until he arrived. We ate a really yummy (and quickly prepared!) meal at Ueno, and then sloshed back home through the rainy snowy mess. When I got there, I looked up the meeting...and realized that I had been right about the day and time. So strange. I emailed the woman, and she said there were eight knitters at the meeting - and neither of us can understand how I could have missed them! But, I don't feel so bad - apparently I'm not the only one who couldn't find the meeting. I was invited to attend the next one, and I plan to attend...provided I can find it! xoxo

Currently Reading:
	TITLE: Get A Financial Life AUTHOR: Beth Kobliner
	TITLE: Idoru AUTHOR: William Gibson

i love the snow!

The snow is so pretty, falling in large, soft flakes outside of our windows. I could sit & watch it all day. Unfortunately, I have to start work soon - so I will try to keep this quick.

This weekend was nice, and while I didn't have many plans, it was still somewhat busy (that's how things turn out for me, it seems...). Friday night Bethany brought over sandwiches for dinner, and we watched a movie here with Ashu - Dan & Kevin were at the movies watching Hostel, which we would have no part in, heh. We also watched an episode of My So-Called Life, and I got a lot done on my latest knitting project (even though I had to restart it for the third time! ugh).

Saturday, Dan & I headed over to Porter Square to find the office of the travel agent I had been talking to, so we could sit down & discuss our plans for Japan more concretely. She was very nice, and definitely knew what she was talking about - she got the vouchers for our Japan Rail Passes printed (yay! one of the things I was most worried about getting done) and gave us plenty of good advice. For just $60 (it would have been free if we had bought our plane tickets through her agency, but unfortunately I only found her after we had already bought them online), she is going to help us reserve hotels and get us pretty much all set to go (everything save packing for us, it feels like), so I am greatly relieved. I definitely needed much reassurance that we could do this without any major missteps, and see everything we want to see in just a weeks' time. Whew. The agent is calling a hotel she knows personally today, to see if she can get us a room in Kyoto (one of the 3 cities we'll visit, along with Tokyo and Ube/Hiroshima). It is wonderful to have her help - that, along with all of the advice from several wonderful friends who have traveled there before, is helping me feel much more confident than I was only a few short days ago. I hope it all works out!!

After we left the travel agent, Dan & I had lunch & ran some errands in Harvard Square, then came back to the apartment for the evening. We watched Love and Anarchy, a movie that Bethany had gotten out of the library for us (mostly Dan, hehe) and I knitted some more (it's really progressing! - but I only want to share the final product on this one, I think). The movie was not great, but oh well. I suppose it was interesting enough...

Sunday morning, we headed over to North Station to catch a train out to Waltham (I got to ride for free as Dan's "guest", as it was Sunday, so that was great) to meet Bethany, Kevin, and their friend Adam. We all piled into the car and made the drive down to Newport, RI to see a piece of Bethany's in a show at the Newport Art Museum. It was a cute little place, with a great exhibit on children's book illustration that I greatly enjoyed. The show Bethany was in was also really neat.

Afterwards, we had Indian food for a late lunch/early dinner, and then we all climbed back in the car for the ride home (which Bethany and I slept most of the way through; we're definitely our mother's children! haha). When we got back into the city, Dan and I stopped at home briefly, then went out to meet a couple of friends of his for coffee. For want of something more to do (they weren't going to catch their train out of the city until 11:30), we headed up to the Harvard COOP, where we bought a few books, then left as it was closing. We spent a few hours hanging out at the apartment, and then walked Dan's friends over to North Station, where they were to catch their train home. By the time we got back to the house, it was almost midnight, and I was exhausted. See? Like I said: long weekend, weirdly enough. Very fun, but how does that unfailingly happen to me?? I know I'd be bored otherwise, but it's hilarious that I never get a "down" weekend. Ah, well - I'm happy this way. No need to change things.

Now, time for work. xoxo

Currently Reading:
	TITLE: Fahrenheit 451 AUTHOR: Ray Bradbury
	TITLE: Idoru AUTHOR: William Gibson

books & music

...or more like music & books, because I'll do it in that order.

First off, check out my awesome cousin! There's now a video up on Google Video of him playing harmonica. He's fantastic at it. I think he'll be the next John Popper or Bob Dylan (at least, if those guys are good harmonicists (is that a word?) - I don't know if they are, but I mean to say he's excellent).

Also, yesterday I finally finished The Lanuage Instinct! Hurrah! Not that I didn't enjoy it, but it was long. And not always the most exciting. But I am glad I read it - I love the idea of language, and it was so great to read all those theories on how they believe language developed in our species, and how it develops in each person. Very interesting stuff. My favorite parts were all of the studies that were discussed, particularly those regarding people exceptional in their language abilities (those who were either surprisingly good or bad at speech or writing). Pinker wrote this book mostly for the layperson, and he was generally very inclusive and is very accepting of all kinds of speech that many linguists tend to look down their noses at - he often defended slang and language changes that others think are "lazy" deteriorations, pointing out that in fact our language has always been a constantly changing entity. However, there was a chapter ("The Language Mavens") where he kind of went on the attack at certain people (mostly others who considered themselves "professionals" but were really only annoying sticklers without much merit), and I didn't like that chapter much because I have to admit, I kind of like word games and the-origins-of-words type things. Even if they're just fun stories and not necessarily true. Oh well - that was the only part I wasn't too thrilled with. Otherwise, like I've said, some really neat stuff. I can understand why Sarah K wasn't too thrilled to read chapters of it in college (I would have hated to, as well), but I think taken as an entire book it was really a good learning experience for me. A bit slow at times, but worth it.

And now I'm on to my next book, Fahrenheit 451 - can you believe I've never read it?? I missed out on reading it in our high school curriculum (which probably would have meant I disliked it, anyway, since school often made me despise books I might have otherwise liked, because of overanalysis). I'm glad I'm finally getting around to it - it looks promising, so far.

This weekend doesn't consist of many plans, so far - and I'm glad. It's been a long time since I have had the chance to just kind of veg out for the weekend. Today Dan & I are going to go see a travel agent to talk to them about planning the trip to Japan, but otherwise, I hope to just kind of hang out and relax. And get some of those zillion things done that I need to get done. xoxo

Currently Reading:
	TITLE: Fahrenheit 451 AUTHOR: Ray Bradbury
	TITLE: Idoru AUTHOR: William Gibson

the new e-tickets

Slashdot recently wrote about how they are going to start sending tickets as text messages to cell phones. Interesting concept. Now we won't have to remember to bring our cell phones and our tickets to an event! Heh. I just wonder how they really think this will cut down on piracy and fraud...maybe for a month or two, yes. But honey, people always find a way around if they want to badly enough. And I'm sure it wouldn't even be that hard for some of the better hackers out there...

eep

Yesterday night, I had a lovely dinner with 2 of my new friends here in Boston, both wonderful activist women who I very much respect & admire. We had a bottle of red wine I had picked up (Italian, of course!) and some fantastic homemade pizza, and we were there, ostensibly, to talk about the biolab that BU is trying to erect in Roxbury (one of the poorest & most downtrodden neighborhood in the Boston area, which is why it's "okay" if they put a level 4 bioterrorism research facility there), but we also ended up sitting around and chatting for several hours about a little bit of everything. I never knew I'd so enjoy the company of a woman who is older than my own mother (besides that of my grandmother, of course) and a recent grad. They are both just fabulous people. It's so nice to know that there are people out there who share so many of the same values that I hold.

This morning, though, I'm in a much worse mood - I get to go to the dentist in an hour and a half, to get three MORE cavities filled (ugh). I wouldn't mind that so much, since it'll hopefully help the extreme sensitivity I've been feeling in my teeth recently (I've never, ever had a problem like that before), but it's gonna mean another $300+. Which I really can't afford right now. I could break the visits up into 3 (one for each cavity), but I'd so much rather get it done all at once. I don't know about that trade-off. I can't seem to justify either choice. Damnit, why did I have to go so long without dental checkups??!? :(

Cross your fingers for me that it all turns out okay. xoxo

Currently Reading:
	TITLE: The Language Instinct AUTHOR: Steven Pinker
	TITLE: Idoru AUTHOR: William Gibson

sooo busy

Between work, CodePink, catching up on emails/books/etc., and trying to get around to planning for Japan (less than a month away, now!), I just feel like I've barely had time to breathe, lately. Ugh. I need to just have one day where I can sit down and do nothing at all (or at least, whatever I want to do, which would probably entail lots of reading & trying desperately to catch up on everything). I wish I had yesterday off, but I didn't, so I felt even more swamped (as everyone was catching up on things they had been meaning to do; I had to juggle loads of incoming emails with work, oy). Anyway, just thought I'd vent. Really not much to say today. Sorry to be so bitchy, though. Really.

Here, I'll post a picture of these adorable animal-face surgical masks (click the link to see more cute ones!) that perhaps we'll have to wear around Japan, if we have colds...



Anyway, on that better note, I hope everyone is well! I will try to write more later today, or tomorrow. Definitely this weekend. Or, you know, before 2006 is over... xoxo

Currently Reading:
	TITLE: The Language Instinct AUTHOR: Steven Pinker
	TITLE: Idoru AUTHOR: William Gibson

Saturday morning

Good morning!

I just mailed off my scarves to the Red Scarf Project, and I thought I'd share the last picture I have of them with everyone:



The tags on them say "Handmade for you by Arianna; Boston, MA" (which is what they ask you to write). I hope they can be put to good use!!

Also while at the post office, I was chatting with the clerk about whether they print all new stamps with a rate change, or if they reprint the old designs with "39" on them instead of "37". She told me that, besides the basic bird & flag stickers that they always print (that have no denomination printed on them, although they have been changed slightly for the new pricing), there has been only one set printed that says "39" ... this great series of children's book characters!! They are fantastic - they have The Very Hungry Caterpillar, Wilbur (from Charlotte's Web), Fox in Socks (Dr. Seuss), Maisy, Curious George, Olivia, and Frederick the mouse! Now, I have to admit, I probably wouldn't have known all of those characters if my mother wasn't a first grade teacher, but I do (thanks, Mom!), and so the stamps were terribly exciting to me (they're adorable!). So, even though I've got plenty of stamps still here at my house (I bought a ton of them when the 2 Disney series came out), I couldn't resist the temptation of buying a sheet of these new ones. Just a sheet! But I definitely didn't need them...

Good thing I write a lot of letters.

Currently Reading:
	TITLE: The Language Instinct AUTHOR: Steven Pinker
	TITLE: Idoru AUTHOR: William Gibson

feminism

Well, since Dad complained that I don't post enough these days...here goes. :)

Yesterday night (after making a yummy soup & delicious fruit breads with Bethany, and watching a bit of the newly-released version of The Outsiders), I finished reading Feminism is for Everybody, which was (part of) the first reading for CodePink's new "radical book club". It was a quick read - I don't usually try to juggle 3 books at once, but I had to get this one done for Sunday! - and I really raced through it; bell hooks made it really rather accessible. It's more like a pamplhet for people to pick up when they are curious about what, exactly, feminism entails. And I am so glad I read it - I really didn't know half of what was in there. "Feminist" has gotten such a bad rap in the past several decades, as militant, butch women who despise men and want to rid society of the male population. And that just isn't true (at least, of most feminists!) - I wouldn't mind being called a feminist after having read hooks' book; that didn't used to be the case, only a few short days ago. Feminism isn't anti-men, it's anti-partriarchy. It's against all of the institutions that have forced women into submission & subordination - not the men who have put them there, but the generations & generations of both men and women who accept the way things are - that women have "their place" and that it is somewhere below men, to serve them. Not to say I don't love cooking or doing things for Danny or for my father - but the point, I think, is that you choose to do these things. When I am not in the mood to cook, for instance, I'm not still forced to. And as simple & basic of a right as that sounds, it's not one that a lot of women are lucky enough to have.

I won't get terribly deeply into it, but I did like the book, and I'd recommend it to anyone. I feel like I always kind of knew all that stuff about feminism, but didn't want to acknowledge that I could possibly be a feminist, because of all the negative connotations that word tends to attract. But I do wish that we could change what people think of that denomination. I am not very militant, but I do really love the idea of equality for all. It's what I think I'll push for, under whatever title someone may brand me with. xoxo

Currently Reading:
	TITLE: The Language Instinct AUTHOR: Steven Pinker
	TITLE: Idoru AUTHOR: William Gibson

many things

So, again, here are several things I wanted to post about pre-holidays, but couldn't manage (damn you, computer) to do before I left for CT. Sooo, much-belated, here:

1. The PAO shadowbox my father made for me - he's awesome! These are the actual screws that were in my hip following my periacetabular osteotomy in April '04; they were removed in May '05, and I wanted to keep them as a souvenier, of course! So my father suggested making a special display for them...the frame is a small one (I think something like 5"x7" or 5"x8"), but you can still see how massive those screws were! I placed a 2-inch paperclip on the glass for perspective...



2. My first foray into cable knitting (it's really fun!) - in the form of a red scarf that I am knitting to donate to the victims of Katrina. These pictures are close-ups of detail of the first few minutes of working on it; since then, I have completed that one (after much labor!) and started a newer, much simpler one. I will try to take pictures of the finished cable scarf & get those up here soon, as well...




3. A funny story about me doing something stupid: While I was back in CT for something or other (I went back several times in the past couple of months, for various reasons), I was headed out to meet my friends at Zen Bar for a bit, and on the way stopped at the local Bank of America branch to withdraw some cash, as I had none on me & would have to pay cover. So I pulled up to the ATM and paused for a second, drinking it all in - it was an entirely new machine, very classy. It looks like the future ATM of all BoAs; pretty impressive! So, perhaps it was the new machine that threw me off, but I think it was my own stupidity (you'll see). So I pulled out my card and put it in the machine, watching in wonder all the buttons and the amazing-looking touch screen, etc. I went through the normal (rather mindless) motions of withdrawing $40...that is, until I saw that they were going to charge me $1.50 to withdraw money! I was outraged - they can't do that! This IS my bank, isn't it?? Are they going to start charging fees to pay for all of the new ATMs?!? ...And then it occurred to me - maybe I had put my credit card into the machine instead of my debit card...yup. That was it. Red-faced, and so grateful that no one else had seen the little episode, I quickly withdrew my money, got back in the car, and promptly spent several minutes laughing at myself. Ah, I can be slow sometimes...thankfully usually not regarding things that really matter...heh.

I have to go do work now. I know I should update more often. I will try to. xoxo

Currently Reading:
	TITLE: The Language Instinct AUTHOR: Steven Pinker
	TITLE: Idoru AUTHOR: William Gibson
	TITLE: Feminism is for Everybody AUTHOR: bell hooks

sexycake

I tried to post this before Christmas, but I wasn't able to (there was something that wasn't working with uploading pictures). Sorry that this is a bit late for the holidays (the aim was to sell it by Christmas Eve), but I couldn't pass up posting it, it's so gorgeous:


...it's a cake made with diamonds! Okay, so no jewels actually go in the batter, but the frosting is studded with them (the picture doesn't really do the concept justice). It retailed for $1.7 million at the shop that created it in Tokyo. (See the article here for more information, if you want it.)

Speaking of Tokyo, Dan and I will be flying there come February! Yes, folks, we've finally bought our tickets (at a great rate - the time to visit Japan is the winter, if you want to get a good price! although of course you miss out on kick-ass things like the cherry blossoms...oh well) and we will be flying out of Logan on February 16th. We'll stay for a week, visiting 2 of my friends who are there teaching English, and hopefully seeing a lot of the culture and people that make up that intriguing country. Too bad I don't speak a lick of Japanese - I wish I could even begin to understand it; that would make me feel so much more comfortable there. But, there's no way I'll be able to pick anything up in a month in a half, so I guess we'll just have to wing it! All I can say is I can't express how glad I am to have Dan along with me. And I'm so excited! Albeit terribly nervous.... xoxo

Currently Reading:
	TITLE: The Language Instinct AUTHOR: Steven Pinker
	TITLE: Idoru AUTHOR: William Gibson