apartment.search.

I'm moving in september. Nowhere big, still in the boston area, but I'm moving in with (hopefully) two friends. We'll be the perfectly matched roommates (which means they're both flexible enough to let me be stubborn and inflexible), so I'm excited for it to work out. I've been scanning craigslist to get an idea of what's out there, even though everything that's available is for may 1st, not september. We're pretty flexible on where we live. As long as it's safe and there's parking, we're happy. The tricky thing is that there are a bunch of areas I don't know at all. Somerville, for example. I know that there are sketchy parts, and I know that there are cool parts. I just don't know what's where. Same goes for cambridge, charlestown, and, to lesser degrees, malden and medford. Pretty much anything that's north of the charles. I've got the areas south of the river down pat, I just need a little inside info on the rest. So any of you who can shed some light on these places- please let me know. I'd hate to end up living in a crack house.

250.people.

Right now, in the big apple, my friend *mk* is celebrating her birthday and the birthday's of three of her friends who were also born in april. (Happy birthday everyone!) I want to be there. They had the goal of getting 250 people to show up at the bar- a number that a friend reached for his birthday party alone. You'd think that the four of them would have a much better chance of succeeding assuming they all have a diverse group of friends, but *mk* had her doubts. I'm curious to see how it goes. I marked off the "maybe" box on the evite. While I really wanted to go (and meet the folks I feel like I know, but have yet to meet), I knew that it was rather unlikely. Not only did my most recent car repair put a strain on my "extra" cash, but neither *nn* nor *ac* were going to be able to make the trip from boston to ny, and I wasn't thrilled about taking the china town bus and footing the hotel bill by myself. So now I'm sitting at home writing this entry while 250 people are having a blast in a nyc bar with plans to shut the place down at 4am. Pros? I guess I'm not drinking all those carbs and empty calories that they, no doubt, will enjoy.

danger.mouse.

I was driving downtown with *e* the other day, and she asked why people made "motors" when they're so dangerous. Huh?
"You know...like that guy in front of us," she clarified.
Oh. Motorcycles. We knew a guy who'd been in a horrible motorcycle accident and almost died, and had to have several surgeries to fix his legs. He told *e* how dangerous they are, and she's been fixated on that danger factor for some time now.
"Well, there are lots of dangerous things that are made because people will buy them," I tell her, "Like that man in the car over there. He's smoking a cigarette, and cigarettes are very bad for you."
"Ya. [Long drawn out sigh.] I guess he wants to die," she said with a shrug and raised eyebrows.
She repeated this sentiment every time she saw someone outside smoking. Who knew there were so many suicidal people in boston?

the.sock.pit.

I got some new sheets today at filene's basement. They're wine colored, and they match a duvet cover that I've had for years. It's an off-white/beige color with red/wine flowers on it, and I haven't used it much since white sheets don't match it, and I didn't have any other ones. A few months ago, I got the same brand sheets in white (since my favorite white ones started to get holes), and I love them. At first I was a little skeptical since they seemed kind of scratchy, but once I got them washed, on my bed and snuggled in, they were smooth, soft and silky- all rolled into one. When I found them in the wine color today, I knew they were mine. I washed them, and just remade my bed with the rarely used duvet color, and found a nice surprise. A sock that I'd been missing for years had made its way inside the duvet cover during some dryer cycle. Now it's back, and better than ever.

happy.red.hat.society.day!

Last weekend, while *ac* and I were enjoying our early dinner on the outside patio area of the parish cafe, we noticed a group of four older woman wearing red and purple outfits, with red hats and purple boa's. They seemed quite energetic for older folk, and laughed as they skipped down boylston street. They even posed for pictures with a group of high school aged kids. To make matters even more interesting, *ac* was recently in san digeo for business, and saw another group of women in similar attire. I'd remembered hearing something about a red and purple club, but couldn't place all the details, so decided to look it up online. It's official name is the red hat society and it's a social club for woman over 50. (If you're jealous, and want to be a member but aren't 50, you can be a junior member of sorts. You don't get to wear purple with red hats, but you do get to wear lilac with a pink hat until your 50th birthday.) It turns out that these guys even have their own society day each year, and that day's today! I guess this explains why there've been so many sightings recently. If you're looking for a gift for your mom for mother's day, you could always visit the official site, and pick out your favorite hat. I'm sure there would be chapter to join in her town!

the.sarah.silverman.program.

I've been watching some episodes of the sarah silverman program (per *ac's* recommendation)and they're hilarious. They kind of remind me of curb your enthusiasm in that awkward hilarious way. What I can't get over is that sarah silverman is 36 years old! She honestly could pass for 22. I wonder what she'll look like when she's 70?

red.and.yellow.make.orange.

fyi- beets makes your pee orange. So don't be alarmed next time you eat a ton of them, and end up with a bright orange toilet bowl. You're not suffering from kidney disease or internal bleeding, you just got a little too much of the high folate pink stuff.

sweep!

We swept the yankee's for this three game set for the first time in seventeen years! And, we got four straight home runs in the bottom of the third- a record for the red sox, and the fifth time it's happened in the history of baseball. (Once in 2006 by the dodgers, 1964 by the twins, 1963 by the indians, and 1961 by the braves.) It started with manny, then drew, then lowell, then varitek. Sweet! The players were jumping up and down like little girls by the last one. All three games were great- lots of tension and mix ups. As much as I hate them, the yankee's make for great opponents. Yup- you heard me right.

taxi.

I took a cab home from belmont tonight since my car's still out of commission. I rarely take cabs. I tend to think they're a waste of money when public transportation is so cheap and pretty easy to figure out. In fact, on my way out to belmont earlier today, I took the orange line to downtown crossing, then the red line to harvard, and the 72 bus to belmont center. It was super easy, and a lot faster than I expected (about 1 hour 5 mins (driving is 40 minutes)). Plus, I got to read my book the whole time. Since it's sunday (and the bus schedule isn't as flexible on sunday's) and it's dark out, I got sent in a cab on my way home. The last time I took a taxi was when I was in london in march (we took them a bunch there- maybe 6 times in the week I was there). The time before that was when I was in london in august. Before that? I can't even remember. Needless to say, I don't often take cabs. So when I got into this one, I was rather disoriented to have the driver on the left side. At first I really thought he was backwards- like he was driving a london taxi- but then I realized that the london guys are on the right, and this guy was on the left- where we all sit when we drive. Still, I was a bit uncomfortable the whole way home. I guess I associate taxis with london, and not boston. This is a good thing since I would be poor if it was the other way around.

i.heart.boston.

Today was one of those days where I really appreciate living in boston. It was the first nice day in a while, and since it made it up to 75 degrees, everyone and their mother decided to take advantage of it and venture downtown. Since my car's still in the shop, *ac* and I took the 39 to copley, and walked through the garden and common to downtown crossing. It was macy's clinique bonus time, so we hit that first. The bonus gift was different than the advertised one, but I liked the bag better. The other good news was that they had sunscreen tester's out. I'd used my moisturizer which has spf15, but didn't think to put on extra. Even though we went straight to macy's (except for a brief stop at the ice cream truck), I already felt a little burnt- especially on my shoulders- so I lotioned up to keep future wrinkles at bay. After macy's, we went to h&m to check out their stuff. I found a skirt that was on "what not to wear." I remembered seeing it as part of an outfit someone put together, and was excited to find it at the store. Sadly, it didn't look as nice on me. It was gathered/pleated at the waist, so it poofed out too early, and made me look like a marshmallow. Not good. I left with two skirts for $9.90 each. They'll be perfect to throw on with a tank over my bathing suit this summer. We finished the day with a stop at the parish cafe. Mmm. I got my favorite zuni roll, and a magic hat. It was perfect walking through the garden and common and seeing everyone so happy. Kids were running in the grass in their t-shirts and shorts, dogs were jumping in the pond, and people were so much more friendly than usual. Did I mention I love boston?

let's.go.red.sox.

The red sox vs. yankee's opener tonight was awesome! We were down 2-6 from early on, and scored 5 runs in the bottom of the 8th for a final score of 7-6. We're tied for first place in the american league with minnesota- both at .667. If only I was as fortunate as *ac* who was at the game- in box seats none-the-less. Lucky duck!

too.many.

I have quite a few books that I haven't yet read. It tends to go like this- I'm in coolidge corner, and invariably stop at the booksmith. I'm drawn to the bargain table, where books (good ones too!) are reduced to anywhere from $2.99 to $5.99, with the majority of them ending up at $3.99. I find covers I like, see if the summary looks promising, and add them to my collection. In terms of reading, I go through spurts. Sometimes I'll read six books in a month, but usually I'm rushed to finish my bookclub book before our monthly meeting. Now I'm left with an ever increasing pile of books that look great, but gather dust. I've decided I need to do something about this. I haven't figured out exactly what, but it will probably be some sort of competition. I'll probably post a list of books along with daily updates on what book I'm working on, and what page I'm on. Maybe I'll even give myself a prize when I finish the list. Don't worry- I'll put some more thought into this, and keep you posted.

sandpaper.

I've never really been worried about getting old. Actually, to clarify, I've never really thought about getting old. I guess I figured it would happen slowly enough that I'd never notice it. Then one day I woke up and thought I found a gray hair. I freaked out. It turned out to be nothing- one of the girls' blond hairs stuck in the brush, but regardless, it felt like a slap in the face. Now I'm overly conscious of wrinkles, gray hair, aching joints, etc.- anything that would be a sign of aging. A few months ago I noticed my face was really tight if I didn't use moisturizer, and now, it's my hands. They're like sandpaper- no matter how much lotion I use.

eight.

Today I got my eight gallon pin at children's blood donor center! It was my 64th platelet donation. I think that I'll have a party when I get to ten gallons (eighty donations). That should happen somewhere around the end of the year, so make sure your calendar is clear and come on over.

ice.cream.

It's free cone day at ben and jerry's today! If you live or work near one of their places, you should stop by for a free treat. Mmm.

special.day.

Happy patriots' day! I love this holiday. Us massachusetts (and maine, apparently) residents enjoy a day off of work/school while the rest of the country go about their lives like it's just a regular monday. We have the boston marathon and a red sox home game (which we won today- 7-2!) and if tax day falls on patriots' day, we get an extra day to file those taxes. Brilliant.

overheat.

My computer has been having overheating issues for some time now. The fan runs all the time when it's turned on, and if I don't keep it propped up on something (to allow the fan room to move air) it shuts down. Well. Tonight I had another issue with overheating- this time with my car. After grabbing dinner with a friend, I was dropping her off when a light came on and the car beeped. I thought it was the gas light since I was running low, but it was the coolant light. So I turned it off and hung out for a little bit, but it came back on during my one mile drive from her house to mine. Since it's pouring out, I didn't feel like opening the hood to see if the fan was running or not, so I'm planning to deal with that tomorrow. If I'm lucky, it was some fluke thing, and everything will be fine tomorrow. Since I'm not usually lucky with my car, it will continue to overheat, and I'll have to bring it into get checked out. The good news is that I took my dad's and friend's advice and looked on cartalk to get some recommendations for a good mechanic. I found a nearby one that people seem to love, so hopefully he'll have a quick fix for me. Bad volkswagon.

line.rider.

I'm pretty sure I'm just behind the times, but someone just showed me this website tonight. (Click on the "movies" link to watch some examples, then try your own.) It could easily turn into a new procrastination technique for me. I don't have it down pat yet, but pretty soon, when I become a hermit, I'll be a master.

gum.chewers.

I have a pet peeve. Actually, I have several, but today we're just focusing on one. I hate when people chew gum like cows. It's tricky, because unless you're related to someone, you can't really tell them to keep their mouth closed when they're chewing. They most likely don't notice that they're doing it, and would probably be offended if you corrected them. (So guys- if you're a friend of mine who chews like a cow, this is directed at you. Stop doing it!) When I was a kid, my mom didn't let us have gum. She wanted us to be old enough to be aware of how we were chewing it. That, and she probably didn't want it stuck all over the furniture. This seems to have worked. Although I responded by stealing gum from grocery stores on two occasions, now I'm always conscious of keeping my lips zipped. Unless, apparently, I've had some wine. A few weeks ago, when I was visiting with friends (and drinking plenty of wine), I grabbed a piece of gum on my way back from the bathroom. We were sitting around in the living room, and one of them asked me if I was chewing gum. Then they started talking about how much they hate when people chomp their gum. This was when I realized I was doing exactly that- chewing my gum like a cow chews its cud. Disgusting. So now I've made a vow never to chew gum while intoxicated. I just can't risk behaving in such an uncouth fashion.

headgear.

Above, we have a picture of my sister. She's wearing the very same bow she used to wear as a kid. I found it while searching for my easter basket, and thought they should be reunited. As you can see, it is quite large. Now, just imagine this same bow on the head of a small child. Boy oh boy. The poor kid.

new.music.

I played the piano for three and a half hours tonight. I just finished and came upstairs- just now. I played through two new books I bought yesterday- one was a mix of composers, and one was an erik satie book. His stuff is a little bit of a reach for me- some of it I love, but a lot of it is too unstructured for my taste. What really drives me nuts is that half of his stuff isn't written with bar lines, so it's next to impossible to figure out the beats, or when a note goes from flat/sharp to natural. After that, I played four granados pieces that I downloaded today. One of them is the one that *ba* plays, and I fell in love with it. It's a different style than I usually play, but as *ja* pointed out, I tend to play "happy" songs, and I wanted to expand a bit. So now I'm exhausted, and my shoulders are very sore from all the playing. I blame *ba* for renewing my obsession with the piano. You owe me a shoulder massage boy.

go.stock.up!

It's clinique bonus time at macy's- april 8th to the 22nd.

i.t.

I saw the knee guy today, and it turns out that my knee pain is caused by iliotibial band syndrome. My i.t. band is tight and snaps over the thigh bone when I run leaving me with a weak, cramping knee. It'd be nice if I actually got to be a real runner before this happened.

wills.hole.

The three of us (*ba*, me, *ja*) hanging out by the wills hole bog in acton. We were all at our parent's house for easter weekend, so decided to meet up for a quick hike. Who knew there were such great hiking areas right in our backyard?

bad.bear.

Oops. I slept on my sister's floor saturday night (in my new sleeping bag) since my old room is now the computer room, and happened to notice this poor guy on a bench. During one of his nighttime outings, he ended up a little too close to a light bulb, and got his head burnt. Ouch. I'm not sure why my sister still has him, although she says she likes him. I guess it's good to stay loyal.

e.y.e.g.l.a.s.s.e.s.

I love glasses. This is good, since I'm blind, and would be up a creek without them. I've tried contacts, but frankly, don't have the patience to do all that's necessary to wear them (you know- put them in, take them out, rinse them, store them, and do whatever else is involved). Plus, I love them! When I wore my brand new glasses to school in ninth grade, my friend *lw* stopped me in the halls, and gushed, "your face was made for glasses!" She said this with such conviction that I couldn't help but believe her. Today, they're a part of my persona. I wear them as an accessory, and take pride in choosing out the perfect shape, color and style every time I pick a new frame. Today I helped my sister pick out her first pair of eyeglasses. At 22, she held out the longest of all of us (our dad got his in 2nd grade, mom- high school, me- 9th grade, *b*- junior high, *k*- sometime in elementary school). So I got to acton by 11:40am in order to check out a couple of vision places before meeting some friends for hiking. We got to the first place, tried on several pairs, choose, adjusted, and paid for the favorite, and were out of there by 12:05. Not bad! The ones she got are really cute- a good shape for her face, kind of dark on the outside, but with a funky pink inside. I'm glad that this trip was more successful than my first- when I helped *k* choose glasses twelve or so years ago. We got him some roundish colored wire rim frames that I insisted were blue. Turns out they were purple. I didn't truly realize this until about two years ago when I found them in his room. The poor kid. It's amazing he's turned out so well adjusted.

loogies.

I've always found it repulsive when people (generally teenage boys) hawk loogies. It's usually done in broad daylight, and the larger the loogie, the prouder the spitter. So imagine my dismay when I've been forced to do the very thing that disgusts me. As you may know, I've been running in the neighborhood at night- usually about four miles a few times per week. I also have asthma. Not the kind of asthma where I regularly have attacks and my throat closes up, but the kind that bothers my under three conditions; when it's cold out, when I exercise, and when I'm congested. When all three go on at the same time, it's pretty much a party in my lungs. I can breathe in fine, but can't breathe out, and usually end up coughing and wheezing, even when I use my inhaler. So recently, I've found that it helps to clear my throat, and "hawk a loogie" while I'm running. Since this mortifies me, I try to be as discreet as possible- it's pretty dark out, so that helps, and I try to find an area that's more wooded than residential. Still though, I can just picture some poor home owner seeing me spit on his yard, and chasing me into the street with a broom. I guess it's a good thing that I could probably outrun him now.

harsh.

As most of you know, I have a bit of an obsession with the show "what not to wear" (and fyi- I'm still waiting for someone to nominate me). I've pretty much seen every episode of the tlc version with stacy and clinton, so I've been supplementing with episodes of the original bbc version with trinny and susannah. It took me a while to get used to their more blunt and somewhat cold way of confronting nominee's, but once I did, I fell in love with them. While stacy and clinton get people to dress better, susannah and trinny have a much funkier, edgy style. Today I checked out a tivod episode of the bbc version, and was shocked to find, not trinny and susannah, but two new hosts- lisa and mica. I'm not sure what to think. I feel a little betrayed, although when I did some research, it turns out they left in april 2006 to start another show. So I'm a year behind the times. I'll give these two new ones a shot, but mostly because I don't really have a choice.

i.heart.mgh.

I finally made an appointment with a sports doctor to check out my knee. It's been bothering me when I run, and now, instead of having to stop because I can't breathe, I have to stop because my knee hurts. That's not okay. So I talked with my pcp, and he referred me to some guy within mgh. As usual, I looked up info on this doctor, and his resume reads like the president's (although maybe not the current one). He's chief of sports medicine at mgh, the head team physician for the patriots and the bruins, works with the new england revolution, and performed shoulder surgery on john kerry. I think I'm in good hands.

ohio.to.providence.

I'm excited. My college pal *nk* is finishing med school soon, and was matched with brown for her internship program. Not only is this an amazing opportunity (and her first pick), but it's a lot closer to boston than where she is now- in ohio. A forty-five minute drive to providence beats out a flight to dayton anytime. Yay!

last.minute.hike.

I love it when the weather starts to shape up around here. Today it was around 60 degrees, and the sun was out while the wind stayed put. At the last minute, I checked to see who was around to going hiking with me, and got lucky with *nn*, her brother, and his fiancee. We did the usual skyline trail in the blue hills, and had a great time. I'm not sure if *nn* slowed down for us yesterday or if my cardiovascular endurance has really shaped up, but I wasn't lagging behind her as per usual. I think I'll go with the increased cardio endurance- that sounds more successful to me. One of my favorite things about hiking on a nice day is that everyone who's out there with you is happy and friendly too! Everyone smiles and says hi, even as they're trudging up a steep and rocky incline. So nice.

laying.around.eating.ice.cream.

Took the trek out to northampton to visit *ba* friday night. He was house sitting which made for more comfortable sleeping arrangements (we all got our own space instead of having to bunk up as we would have if we'd stayed at his place). I know I've been to northampton before- probably when I was looking at colleges way back in the day- but I didn't remember it being so cute. I was also drooling over the mountains out there. If we'd had more time yesterday, I'd have insisted on going for a hike. Next time. Here's me laying on the counter eating banana ice cream. Mmmm...my favorite.