Bill Gates Meets the Queen

This photo from Boston.com makes me laugh. I came up with a pretty good caption. "We are not amused by Service Pack 3. Or Vista. And, no, presents will not make it better."

In the criminal justice system, the people are represented by two separate...

Last Wednesday, I was called to Boston Superior Court for jury duty. I got there just after 8am, having been kept up a significant portion of the evening by people in the streets celebrating the Celtics victory (I was happy, but annoyed at the same time.) I brought an Agatha Christie novel (about as close to crime as I like to get) and hoped that my number would not be called to be empaneled. As luck would have it, I missed out on being empaneled on the first two juries called, and the last three cases settled. The last one to settle was a criminal case that would have required 90 jurors; what did those guys do? I am glad they took the plea; it was all very "Law & Order."

Anyhow, when we were finally done for the day, I took the opportunity to grab a bite to eat in Quincy Market, and then walked over to Talbots in Downtown Crossing, where I picked up a tee shirt to replace one I had ruined earlier in the week. (They had some really nice, high quality, keep their shape, bright colored tee shirts at Talbots, on sale!)

I was dressed that day somewhat like a Talbots' advertisement. I had on a floral long sleeved blouse, a pair of cuffed navy slacks, brown boots, a white cardigan tied around my shoulders, and I was wearing my pearls and pearl earrings. Needless to say, I was the most conservatively dressed person at jury duty, which consisted mostly of people wearing either tee shirts and jeans or shorts or capris. One lady was wearing a suit, but it wasn't a conservative one. I was also carrying my summer Coach purse. (Thanks, overtime!)

As I headed for the Park Street T station, I heard someone calling my name. I turned around and spied my friend Sauce, who was with two of his lawyer colleagues. I had tried calling him earlier on one of the jury duty breaks to see if he had wanted to meet me for lunch, but I had gotten his voice mail instead. Sauce took one look at my outfit and realized that it must have been my day for jury duty service. "You look like you just escaped from the Junior League."

I countered with, "I was thinking more like the Connecticut Ladies Rotary. Please take note of the pearls. Or the Young Republicans." I made a face.

He then observed the Talbots bag hanging loosely over my shoulder. "Is that a prop!?!" he exclaimed, much to my embarrassment. I told him and his colleagues about my run into Talbots, multi-tasking as I was in town. They congratulated me on being released early, and Sauce and I said we would catch up soon. They continued on in the direction of the courthouse, while I headed home to take a much needed nap.

What happened to "wicked bummed"?

You know that your Anglophilia has completely pervaded your life when you realize that you sent someone an email where you unconsciously wrote that you were "gutted" that you couldn't participate in an activity. And this was to a person who doesn't know me well enough yet to know that I have these occassional Brit outbursts. Yeesh.

What happened to retro being cool?

I am all for modernization, but is this really necessary??



This illustrates my feelings that those of us who were kids in the 80s had the BEST cartoons. Why do they have to be updated? Why can't they be embraced for what they are? If parents are looking for innocent things for their kids, why can't it be the innocence of our childhoods?

Leave the innocence of my childhood left intact, Corporate America!!!

Next thing you know, Raggedy Ann is going to have a designer bag and a Sidekick while Raggedy Andy is wearing saggy pants and aviator glasses. (I have a homemade Raggedy Ann and Andy that my Great Aunt Lena made for me sitting in the cedar closet in my parents' attic just waiting for my kids to be born.)

Playing the "Grown Up" Card

My friend JR sent me a link to this story about "being an adult" on the Dooce blog today. (The post is about having low/zero tolerance for jerky behavior at concerts. I am so there.)

The post is prefaced with this: See if you can get through this post of his without using Google. Go ahead. Try it. See?

Uh, I didn't need to Google anything. I didn't get why people needed Google. Was it because of the bands? Clearly, I am still a hipster then! :-) A crabby adult hipster, but a hipster all the same. ;-) (Seriously, does this make me still a hipster that I knew all the band references in the article? I thought that all of them were fairly mainstream. Or maybe I just listen to the right radio stations, thank you Paul Driscoll on WFNX.)

The post though is really relevant to me today. I talked myself out of going to see The Fratellis tonight at the Paradise because I didn't want to deal with jerky concert goers in this heat.

Thanks to Diana for the caption idea

I think that I might have been taking my job a little too seriously on Friday.

Thanks to Diana for the caption idea

I think that I might have been taking my job a little too seriously on Friday.



photo by the Big Red EP

Still here

I have been ultra busy of late, with work and with life. Through the thoughtfulness of a colleague, I got to see JK Rowling do her thing over at Harvard. My favorite part of her speech was about her college friends: "The friends with whom I sat on graduation day have been my friends for life. They are my children's godparents, the people to whom I've been able to turn in times of real trouble, friends who have been kind enough not to sue me when I took their names for Death Eaters." I ended up leaving voice mail messages for a couple of my best college friends after that. JK is utterly right on that front; they have certainly turned out to be among the best friends in my life.

My friend Ellen took a photo of The Protégé in her cap and gown with her fellow Sloan grads. I missed seeing her march because I was across the street getting ready for the lunch (we were five minutes late), but I got to see it on the archived simulcast. I miss her already.

Events last week were particularly stressful. My car crapped out the day before a big work event, and I was stuck relying on cabs and public transportation. I realized during this particular occasion how much I really am a person who needs her car. Having the car is a huge part of my freedom and mobility, and having it taken away unexpectedly was a real blow. How American can you get? When I got it back, I did even blink at the cost of filling up the tank; I was THAT HAPPY to have my car returned.

I babysat this weekend for the Niblet while his PunkRockMom was out of town on business. Sitting through a Little League game in the sun and heat on Saturday I think earned me a cosmic/karmic prize. Good grief. Poor kid was not in good shape at the end of that game. Whose idea is it to play baseball in the summer, outside, in polyester? Lots of Gatorade was administered, STAT, along with some really good grapes we picked up at Shaw's.

After watching a good number of episodes of series one and two of "Doctor Who", we spent Sunday in the dark (relative) coolness of the NE Aquarium. My favorite fish was the octopus, with the turtle running a close second. The Niblet enjoyed the sharks (what nine year old boy DOESN'T like the sharks?) Afterwards, we went outside for a short walk around the harbor where the Niblet found seven decent sized jellyfish swimming right next to the dock. Yuck. I mean, cool, science.

After this weekend, I think that my maternal needs have been fulfilled for the time being. (Don't get me wrong. He was VERY well behaved, and we had a lot of fun despite the fact that many of the things I suggested we do were "strange". I did get bonus points for introducing the Niblet to Pizzaria Regina and for making a shepherd's pie that went over very well (I thought it had too much gravy.) I just have realized more than ever that I am not cut out for single parenthood.) Well, I thought that until I saw my friend D's little bibs and Onesies she customized as baby gifts for some friends of hers. Maybe I don't want children; maybe I just want dolls to dress.

I plan on spending this week in the air conditioning as much as possible and catching up on a lot of missed sleep.