Lobster Ravioli

Tonight I met up with a former T-Mobile co-worker. We went to the North End and had dinner at this great little Italian place, Giacomo's. I didn't get a picture but you can read about it: http://www.boston.com/news/necn/Shows/tv_diner/restaurant_reviews/giacomos/

It was a tiny place, jam packed, noisy, and you could smell how good it was all the way out the door. They don't take reservations and you have to wait outside until a table clears. They don't take your name, you just wait outside and if a table opens up that matches how many people you have in your party you're in. Ziad had been there once before and said the people outside stare at you while you eat and it makes you feel like you need to hurry up and get out so they can have their turn :-)

I had lobster ravioli and it was beyond good. This was the first time I've actually really eaten lobster. I've had bites of it before but this was an actual meal. My friend had a lobster and shrimp fettuccine which was excellent as well.

Tuesday's are Terrific!

Had a busy day at work. Spent the evening with Kristin. Helped her move a shelf up to her apartment. It must have been a site to see us trying to heave this 80 pound box up to the third floor. We were laughing pretty hard. We ate at an Irish pub that was so cozy. I had a Farmer's Cheese sandwich..it looked sooooo good..I took a big bite and my eyes started to water and my mouth started to burn. Horseradish! OMG! I couldn't go on with it...so I ate my french fries instead.

I saw an interesting outfit today on the bus...this lady came in wearing a cow print skirt (actually looked like real cow hide, you could see the hair). It wasn't the regular Midwest black and white cow...no my friends...it was the Boston uptown tan and white cowhide. To accent the ensemble she had on blue argyle socks and brown lace up shoes. It was sweet!

It certainly is Monday

Must be the season for rear end accidents. First Andy and now I just found out my brother was rear ended this afternoon on his way home from work. He's ok thankfully and we aren't sure about the extent of the damages other than he's got a case of whiplash. The girl that hit him was on the phone...and apparently isn't familiar with the concept of stoplights.




Cambridge Firehouse #2

Knitting is Nifty

Sunny Sunday

I've been messing around trying to add a links section to my page because the template I picked originally did not have the links section. I've been working with it for a few hours and I finally figured it out. In the process I picked another template but I did get it to work with my original template too which made me feel like I accomplished something already this morning. For those of you who know all about doing this I realize it's probably not a big deal...but for me it's a pretty big deal damnit! :-)

Have fun checking out the other blogs!

Giant Cows are Cool

Found something new here in MA...Turkey Hill Ice Cream. They have a funny commercial and a funny website www.giantcowsarecool.com . Alex left this afternoon for a few days in St. Louis and I'm experiencing life alone in the city which might explain why I find the giant cows are cool website amusing! :-) I moved my computer into the living room for the few days that Alex is gone so I can watch TV and surf at the same time. I started a new book a few days ago called The Shop on Blossom Street. My mom sent it to me. I like it...going to spend tomorrow getting acquainted with it. A few months ago I read The Secret Life of Bees. I highly recommend it. I loved it, loved the writing and the story itself.

Too much body hair? Never fear...my blog will make you as smooth and famous as David Beckham!

I like to roam the blogs of others at blogger.com sometimes, but what I don't like is that three out of four sites are an advertisement for laminate flooring, body hair removal, or some other such thing (actually happened in that order this morning when I was looking).

I get enough of that crap on TV and in my junk email....why do I have to be subjected to it here too? Am I missing something? Is it really someone's personal blog dedicated to helping the rest of us remove our unwanted, unsightly, excess body hair or is it just another ad?

Hardly any body hair on David B.

Friday Friday Friday

Looking down from The Pru and Andrea at The Pru










Tonight in Harvard Square I broke my rule and gave a beggar my leftover change for some reason and when I dropped it in his tattered Styrofoam cup he said, "Thank ya sista, nice haircut". I had to laugh because if you know anything about the hair drama I've gone through in the last month you will know how much agony said haircut has caused. I don't feel special though, I'm sure he says that to all the girls :-)


Last night we went to the airport to pick up Andrea. As we waited at the doors watching the international passengers pass through I noticed this man dressed completely in black, totally bald, with a longish black beard and glasses. He was standing at the end of the walk way where passengers could go either left or right to meet their families. I watched as he directed people for about 20 minutes...just like a traffic cop with confident, purposeful hand movements and verbal directions I couldn't understand. As I watched him I realized he didn't appear to have a badge and both Alex and I thought it was odd. It was driving me crazy because I began to think he didn't work at the airport at all and yet everyone was following his orders without question.

So finally he moved from his spot and started talking with two women and then he walked away carrying their suitcase. So I went over to the women and asked them if he worked at the airport. I told them he looked like he worked there and I had a question (of course I didn't but I wanted to find out what was up). They told me "No he doesn't work here at all, this is his first time in the U.S. and he is Finnish". Sooooo it proves you just have to act like you're in charge and most people will follow without question. Nice that it happened in an airport too isn't it?

Pictures of the day are one's Alex took while taking Andrea around and this evening in Harvard Square...





If you look really closely you can see our apartment building from The Pru










We thought we'd struck it rich when we found this on a billboard but no such luck! :-)




Mennonites in Harvard Square singing Christmas Carols...not what you'd expect but goes to show you will see anything in Harvard Square.

Jello costs how much?

While waiting for the bus yesterday our neighbor Gert and her friend Dottie (from 18L) sat down next to me. They were chatting it up about the high price of Jello and bananas at the Star Market. Gert recognized me after I said hi to her and she introduced me to Dottie, who remembered me from Gert's Jean Nate' story. They then started talking about their friend's cat who was so big he "looked like a small dog". Dottie said, "Well you know he's altered and when they are altered they get bigger than normal". I'm sitting there thinking she means genetically altered or something but when she asked me if our cat was altered I realized she meant spayed/neutered. I had never heard it called altered before...made me laugh.

Has anyone seen the commercial for the toe nail fungus medicine? It's a cartoon and shows the nasty fungus character lifting up the person's big toe nail and crawling inside to join his fungus friends. Not only is it a hideously gross commercial but when he lifts the toe nail up like a car hood I feel a hysterical scream welling up inside from the image and the thought of the pain...even if it is a cartoon.

The thing about Sunday...Monday always has to follow..

My brother Jared moves into his dorm today at Webster. His classes start Tuesday. He's less than excited at the moment, a big change no doubt, but I'm sure it will be a great experience!

Looking forward to a visit from our friend Snooky over Labor Day weekend. She and Michelle came to visit us last Labor Day in St. Louis. The picture (Snooky is on the right) is from an 80's party our friend Lee had during their visit last year.

We watched Kinsey last night. I thought it was a great movie.

Got a call from my co-workers at T-Mobile today, they were enjoying the day at Chateau Ste Michelle near Seattle. We went there last year and had a great time, sitting on the grass drinking wine and eating cheese and crackers...ooo la la! It was nice to hear from them even though the connection was less than desirable. http://www.ste-michelle.com/index.cfm

Back work tomorrow...

Pictures from a morning walk

I had to get a couple pair of pants altered this morning so after taking the bus to the shop I decided to keep walking into Harvard Square. It was nice and cool this morning and I found a place called Hi Rise Bread Co with freshly made breads, muffins, pies, cookies, coffees, and more. It was a small shop that felt very much like a farm kitchen.

Spring Bring the Rain, With Winter comes Pain, Every Season has its End

A nice line from a song in the movie Broken Flowers which we saw tonight. It was a good movie...but as Alex said it didn't end. There was no nice tidy summary or closure but it was a good movie. After the movie was even more interesting. We were waiting for the bus and the homeless guy who was on the bus with me me last night walked up to this guy who sitting next to us. ( I know he's homeless because he told the bus driver he was last night). So anyway...the guy didn't have the time and the homeless guy with the "rust" stained pants seemed irritated. He walked on and a few feet later I see him spit, yes SPIT, on this other guy in front of him and ask him the time. So I believe the new way to get someone's attention is to spit on them. We were mortified, grossed out, disgusted and the safety geek in me was thinking....blood borne pathogens, blood borne pathogens, body fluid, body fluid, ALERT! ALERT! Well we asked the guy sitting next to us if he wanted to share a cab because we didn't want to ride on the bus with Senor Spitter. Turns out he's from Naples and is doing post doc work here until October. The picture for today is from the tiny place where I get wraps for lunch. He is from Senegal and makes a mean black bean wrap. They are so cheery all the time and it's amazing to watch them work together. She calls out the orders and he whips up the wraps with blazing speed. I've never seen them make a mistake and the people stream in there for lunch.

Antigone Rising

I took the bus to Newbury Street and walked to Copley after work to meet Kristin and her friends. Kristin and I got to hear Antigone Rising and some other band. While we waited for her friends Moira and Victoria (originally from the Chicago area), we chatted. Turns out we have a few things in common... she was married to an Italian who's family was from Brindisi. Talk about a small world! We had dinner and drinks and laughs. It was a great night to sit outside and enjoy the company and the dinner. They are all hysterically funny and so easy to get along with..and they knit, which made me even happier considering I've been trying to find fellow knitters for several months. They also do a mean Thanks for making me feel welcome!!

Victoria, Moira, Kristin
The other two pictures: where the concert was held (they had free ice cream and free iced coffees...score!) and the Hancock building.

Not much too say...

Not much going on...the Bibbity Bobbity Boo guy sat next to me on the bus the other day. Had a pleasant chat with him. I'm going to a free concert in Copley Square tomorrow with a girl who just moved here from Seattle...she worked for T-Mobile there. Her and her friends are going and she invited me..excited about it! Antigone Rising is the group we are going to see.

Here's a funny website I found today... http://www.stuffonmycat.com/

Jared starts classes at Webster next week. They got a bunch of his stuff moved into the dorm/apartment today. He's supposed to be sending me pics of his place soon.

I'll write more soon!

Bibbity Bobbity Boo

We saw the Degas exhibit at the Sackler Museum at Harvard and explored the Fogg Museum next door as well. Afterwards we went to see The Aristocrats; a film about an old vaudevillian joke that has made the rounds with comedians. Each time it's told it's changed by the teller, and the film discusses the joke and shows how the comedians all tell it in their own special way or how they heard it. It's like a game to see how over the top they can take it, how bad they be. It's not a movie for everybody and a few people did walk out but it was funny and interesting to see the great comedians of the past 60 years, and the rising stars of today, including Cartman from Southpark, put their spin on it.

We saw three people tonight in Harvard Square begging for money. Two girls and one guy, not very old...one of the girls looked to be in her twenties... she held a great sign that read "Spare Change for Poor White Trash". It was so much better than the punk who goes around asking for .50 cents all day...I still see him once in awhile and someday when the time is right I'm going to give him a penny and ask for change...










I saw an interesting fellow on the bus the other day that I forgot to mention. He was on older man with what looked like a goiter on the back of his neck. He seemed to be the happiest person in the world because he kept singing or chanting the same thing, "Bibbity bobbity boo" Over and over, almost under his breath like it was his personal mantra that helped him to deal with life and keep him from going insane. Or perhaps like most of us he was already a tad over the edge and he just practiced his mantra outside instead of inside his head. I don't know for sure. What I do know is that I've found myself repeating it (silently) since I met him.

Freakin Friday

More adventures on the bus today. Apparently they left the windows open on the bus last night and when I got on this morning I noticed several seats had small puddles of water in them. Being ultra intelligent :) I picked the seat without the puddle. Feeling happy and dry I rode along with nary a care...when it came time to switch buses I stood up and noticed with a twinch of horror that my ass was as wet as duck's butt in water. The freakin seat was wet afterall, it just didn't have a puddle in it. So my pants are stuck to me like saran wrap and I'm mortified because I knew my pants were obviously wet. But...just to be sure... I asked the girl behind me on the escalator to check. She said sheepishly, "Yes, you can see it...but only if I'm looking up at you...not if I'm looking straight at you" So basically at butt-height I guess.

So I walk along with my wet ass ...right into work, holding my purse behind me, straight to the bathroom to have a look. Yup, looks like I peed myself...so I grab a bunch of paper towels and head to the stall to try and dry out. Long story longer...I find out when I get in the stall that the water I sat in and has now absorbed into my pants smells like mildew. So after the water dried I still had the pleasant aroma to remind me. Later in the day to add salt to my already fragile and wounded state, I tripped over my damn lab coat in front of several scientists and I actually made some kind of weird noise like...oh..uh...oh...I'm ok...I'm ok. Needless to say I'm ready for the weekend :)


Here are some recent shots Alex took. Miss you all!

What's that smell?

Had some excitement at work today. A scientist was working with a chemical and suddenly everyone outside of the lab was smelled a funky odor...it went through all 5 floors. The fire department and the Haz Mat crew were called, the building was evacuated and they checked things out. Everything turned out to be safe for the people to go back in but it took about 2 hours to get everything sorted out. A great way to get thrown in the mix!

Posting pictures soon!

TGIF

It's Friday...the promise of the weekend...the anxiety of what to do so you don't waste it looms. No misadventures on the bus or in the car to report today. I'm going to miss the Mascoutah "Homecoming und August Fest" this year. It's always the first weekend of August and it's basically our town's fair, aka, a reason to drink beer by the bucketfuls. I remember when I was a little girl a piss drunk woman dumped her bucket o' beer on me near the bathroom. Nice. It's usually 900 degrees with 1000% humidity and the porta potties are ripe...so you can see how it all fits together nicely...heat,humidity,beer,potty, a vicious cycle. Lee, if you go have a bucket for me! So I got the premiere of this new show on FX called Starved. Very interesting...a dark comedy with poignant bits of humanity. It's not for everyone, but I liked it. Alex took today's picture (he's actually taken them all...thank you Alex) during one of his trips to Boston. It's the pond in the Public Garden where the Swan Boats are. I was a tourist and took a swan boat ride. http://www.swanboats.com/ Also in the Garden is the statue of the mallards from the book "Make Way for Ducklings". http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Make_Way_for_Ducklings

Just an ordinary Thursday

Just two pictures I like for the posting today.

The bus ride today was much better. I got on an earlier bus, sat up front, and stood at the front of the bus before my stop so I made sure I got off when I needed to.

Alex and I went to the EH&E company BBQ this afternoon. To say it was awkward to try and mingle and talk with 40 people we don't know would be an understatement. But we shuffled through it. Company get togethers are a nice idea in theory but in practice I don't enjoy them.

On the way there though a funny thing happened. I was driving, made a left turn...got into the right lane and found all the cars were stopped. So I stopped behind the line of cars waiting for the light to turn. It was taking a unusually long time and the cars in the left lane kept whizzing past. Then a car zips in to a space in front of the car in front of me and it dawns on me that I'm not in the right turn lane but in a freakin' parking spot! Yup friends, I pulled right into a parking spot...the thing is... here lines on the road are kind of optional and half the time you don't know what lane you're in, or parking spot in this case.

And the door just slammed shut in front of me

Side view of Harvard Lampoon

So yesterday I went into the main office to do the HR paperwork and meet and greet with various office types. It was nice, they were nice, it was all very nice.

Since the job is in a lab environment (my college chem teachers would be so....proud...incredulous is probably more like it) and I can't wear my favorite summertime shoes..my black flip flops, I had to do some shoe shopping. Some of you know how much I LOVE my black flip flops and some of you can relate when I say there aren't many things that can compare with HAVING to buy shoes. Here's the deal...the only other pair of shoes that are even moderately acceptable for summer and meet the closed toe/closed back lab rules, are my clunky black clogs, I tried them Monday and it's just not going to happen. So, Alex and I set out yesterday in search of an acceptable, comfortable, pair of shoes I could wear with just about anything. We found a nice pair of Puma's that fit the bill, so I wore them to work today and my feet felt pretty good and I still felt summery and not all hot and clunky and nasty.

The picture of the building with the purple and yellow door is the Harvard Lampoon building where they write the Harvard Lampoon. It's a really cool building and during Halloween they light it up to look like a jack-o-lantern. Here's some info on it.
http://www.harvardlampoon.com/history.html


So today I'm on the bus on my way to work and my stop comes up. The bus starts to slow down, I stand up and say excuse me to the nice young girl with the Fendi glasses, sitting next to me, she gets up to let me out, and as I am trying to make my way through the crowd of the still sleeping passengers, the freakin' doors open and close in the blink of an eye...I couldn't get the oblivious man standing between me and sweet freedom to move his ass out of the way...so as the doors are slamming shut in front of me I shout out, "I NEED TO GET OFF"! Well everyone applauded me for my need and I just stood there red faced and pissed off, praying the next stop wouldn't be too far away.

They didn't really give me a round of applause...no one here notices anything about anybody...not a bad thing necessarily..just the way it is. It actually has its merits; I have figured out if I don't look directly at anyone the beggars in the their $150 shoes stay away and I guess it would be tiring to greet and smile at every single person you pass on the street or in the bus...so you just look at nothing...into the void...or make sure you have reading material. Sometimes though I make eye contact and smile. And people here really are friendly once they warm up to you, I haven't met a mean person yet I don't think.

At any rate, the next stop wasn't too far away and so it wasn't a big deal but I did feel pretty stupid yelling..I need to get off to no one in particular. I was told by an experienced bus rider at work that what you're supposed to yell..."REAR DOOR" I don't know which is worse, so I've decided to get off two stops earlier when it isn't as crowded and I don't have to worry about being stuck or having to yell anything.

A window at "John Harvard's Brewhouse"
& an interesting entrance. Alex took all four pictures in Harvard Square yesterday.

First Day

So the bus route worked and I made it to work on time! It's so nice not to have leave the house until almost 8. It was overcast and almost chilly this morning...this afternoon though heated up a bit and my walk back to the bus stop was considerably warmer. Work went well, first days are usually pretty easy and this was no exception.

Susanne, the woman who currently manages the safety program for PRB (Partners Research Building) took me on a tour of the building and showed me all of the labs and points of interest.

One part of the building does surgery simulation. I got to see a mock surgery being performed by three or four residents. It looked incredibly real, especially when I first walked into the observation room. After the tour she bought lunch for the facility people we work with and we had a get to know you lunch. We ordered from a place called Dimitrio's...it was insanely good, and I'm sure ridiculously fattening. Which I imagine is what makes it so good.

I met two people on the bus today that live in our building..both from Texas, both very nice. I also got to me our neighbor Gert. Mom met her when she and dad were here and said she was a riot. Well I got to meet her today and she is the funniest 87 year old I've ever met. She kept slapping the back of her thigh everytime she said something funny. And in order for her to understand my name (she kept saying nacae, naddie) I used the tried and true Jean Nate' perfume reference. She immediately understood because she laughed, slapped the back of her thigh, and exclaimed "I wear Jean Nate' to parties, now I can tell my friends I met a Natae". As she turned the corner for the elevator I could still hear her laughing and slapping the back her thigh. She's adorable!