Seven Things Making Me Smile

So it has been quite a bit of time since the last Seven Things Making Me Smile installment. I feel like this is a very good way to start off the new year!

1. Jean over at Delightful Repast has an out of this world recipe for fruit scones over at her blog; I highly recommend it. I make no bones about not being the most enthusiastic cook/baker on the planet, but I have made the recipe three times in the last month! (Here's a photo of the ones I made this morning.) These scones are easy and delicious! (The standout ingredient is the fresh orange zest.) "Mmm, delicious, thank you!"©

2. After waiting for what seemed like forever, the second series of "Downton Abbey" is back on Masterpiece Classic ! Hooray!! It's so exciting to catch up with the Crawleys after a whole year of missing them. After watching the first episodes, I am really hoping that things will work out for my favorite couple from downstairs, Anna and Mr. Bates, and the evil Mrs. Bates (who can give O'Brien and Thomas a run for the money in the being nasty department) ends up being divorced/defeated/sent back to the gates of hell. The Dowager Countess continues to have the most fabulous one liners. Of course, I am still "shipping" Mary/Matthew and Sybil/Branson, while pouty Lady Edith can go suck an egg. Not forgetting all the great people downstairs: Mr. Carson, Mrs. Hughes, William, Daisy, and Mrs. Patmore. Love this show; it is definitely "appointment television"!

3. I heard recently that over the last 18 months, 18 new restaurants have opened in Kendall Square. My new favorite after work spot is Area Four. I highly recommend their take on both the Sazerac and the Dark & Stormy cocktails, the bacon & sea salt pretzel nuggets, the mac & cheese, and the meatball pizza. The ambiance is very chil-laxed and the waitstaff is young and friendly. Since going the first time back at the end of November, I have been there at least a half dozen times and keep bringing new people with me.

4. I suffer from dry, weak, and peeling finger nails; it's been a problem for me all my life. (The worst is when they rip right at the quick.) I have tried so many different kinds of strengtheners, polishes, and regimes to remedy this, but nothing has really worked all that well. I was at the beauty supply shop in Coolidge Corner, and the ladies there recommended Duri "Rejuvacote". I started using it about two weeks ago, and it is working brilliantly. I don't think that it is making my nails grow any faster, but they are certainly stronger than they have been.

5. The Banana Republic Cashmere Wrap. Best scarf ever!! If you don't have one already, you will have to wait until next fall to buy one because they are all sold out, but these puppies are SOOO worth the $98 investment (to be fair: I have purchased most of mine using BR Rewards and taking advantage of sales). I have them in a bunch of different colors (black, oatmeal, pink, gray, red) and wear one just about every day. They can both dress up and dress down an outfit and are great for work (especially for my office which gets freezing in the afternoon once the sun goes down).

6. I used to drink Oregon Chai all of the time, and I was recently reminded of how much I loved it. It actually is the perfect thing to have right before bedtime. I don't know if it is the warm milk or the ritual, but it has helped a bit with my insomnia issues, and anything that can do that is most welcome.

7. My local PBS station WGBH has a second channel (WGBX), and now on Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday nights they are now exclusively running British programs. Mondays are "Ashes to Ashes", "Hustle", and "MI-5" ("Spooks"); Tuesdays are Masterpiece reruns ("Downton Abbey") while Wednesdays are "Larkrise to Candleford", "Doc Martin", and "Waking the Dead". I bet you are surprised I actually have any time to do anything OTHER than watch tv, right? (And it's great because they show the shows without edits and without commercials.)

So these are some of the things that are brightening my days of late. I am sure there will be more to add as the year progresses!



Please note: these are all my own opinions; I have not been compensated in any way for recommending any products, etc. etc. All images are from the sites referred to and linked.

"Perhaps in this neglected spot is laid / Some heart once pregnant with celestial fire"*

We had some really unseasonably warm weather this November, and, on one warm Sunday earlier in the month, I took my camera for a walk through Mt. Auburn Cemetery. When I was a kid, after church on Sundays, my dad would sometimes take us for a drive through the old cemetery in our town, and we would try to find the oldest grave marker. It would get us thinking about what life would have been like for that person: were they born in America or were they immigrants? were they alive during the Civil War? during the American War for Independence?

Because of that, I never think of graveyards as spooky, well, at least not until it starts getting dark...I think I spotted a number of those Weeping Angels from "Doctor Who" on my walk.... EEK!










*Elegy Written in a Country Churchyard, Thomas Gray
The full stanza reads: "Perhaps in this neglected spot is laid / Some heart once pregnant with celestial fire;/ Hands that the rod of empire might have swayed, / Or waked to ecstasy the living lyre."

"People should not be afraid of their governments. Governments should be afraid of their people. "*

As a bit of a precursor to Guy Fawkes' Day, on Friday, the Fourth of November, the 'Tute got a visit from the character V from the graphic novel V for Vendetta. It was rather all a bit "meta" as V spent most of the day reading that very same graphic novel. (I have to be honest, I actually took a lot of geeky delight in seeing V down the hall every time I popped out the office. Hee hee!)




*V for Vendetta

As far as pumpkin patches go, this one looked pretty sincere*

Even though I have worked at the 'Tute for the last eleven years, this was my first visit to the MIT Glass Lab's Great Glass Pumpkin Patch sale. So many cool, unique glass pieces. I picked up a couple as gifts and one for myself. Really great turnout this morning, even with the rain. (Glad that I wore my boots though; the lawn was extra soggy.) I wish I had gotten a few more photos in situ, but my hands were kind of full. :-)








*If you are not familiar with this reference, you need to rent "It's the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown". This is not optional: it's a classic.

Counting down to the big day!

I met my friend DM out for dinner in Harvard Square last night. (I always forget how much fun Harvard Square is! It isn't just for tourists.) Afterwards, we were walking around and passed by Cardullo's. There is a great display case in the window for the royal wedding.


I need to start planning what I am going to serve at my Royal Wedding viewing party! (Something that is easy to deal with at 5:00 a.m.!)

Public art, public spaces

In my previous post, JR mentioned in the comments that there is a new sculpture up at the 'Tute that looks really cool in the dark. I have to be honest: at first, I really didn't like this sculpture. It gave me the creeps.
But then I saw it lit up at night, and I finally started to see the beauty in it.
And then the snow came, and I really started to love it. See if you agree...

During the daytime:


At night:


The piece is called "The Alchemist", and it is by Jaume Plensa. My changing reaction says a lot to me about how art can be influenced by its surroundings. It will be interesting to see what I think in the spring when everything is really green.

Color that POPS!

One thing I will say about the snow, it certainly makes the bright colors around the 'Tute stand out.

"Oh, the weather outside is frightful"*

Walking over the Mass Ave bridge this morning was something akin to Rhett Butler walking into foggy nothing at the end of Gone with the Wind.


(It's like the Nothing from The Neverending Story ate MIT.)
I looked a gift horse in the mouth this morning and have been regretting it ever since. I took the T into work because of the snow storm, and, after being in an overheated B line train for longer than I could handle, I made the decision that I would walk from Hynes to work. As I was leaving the station, having "refilled" my Charlie Card, I found in front of me a nearly empty #1 bus, just sitting at the corner of Mass Ave. and Newbury St. Instead of getting on it, I popped my headphones in my ears and trudged over the Mass Ave bridge to Cambridge.

Walking through the city during a snowstorm is one thing. When you are crossing an open bridge with nothing to block the wind, that is a whole other kettle of fish. Snow pelted me in the face, and my glasses completely fogged up. By the time I got to work, my exposed hair was soaked and frozen; it took me two and a half hours before I warmed up properly again.

I have learned my lesson. Tonight, I am taking the bus back into Boston.

*I wish that I had a delightful fire right about now.

"The Doctor, doctor, fun." *

I can't believe how much joy I am getting out of this whole TARDIS at MIT hack. In a rather unexpected turn of events, after sharing my photos on the Universal Hub group pool, my photos of the hack went viral.

Seriously.

Well, viral in a whole "British scifi nerdy TV" kind of way. They are on Wired and Io9 and other techy blogs, not to mention Twitter. (I tweeted my photo to Neil Gaiman; his response, "brilliant". SQUEE!) The day after I put the photos on Flickr, I received a call from the editor of Boston.com, who had tracked me down at work and was trying to get permission to use the photos on their website. (I called them back too late, they had already sent a photographer, but my answer was going to be "no" anyhow. And now I have some privacy concerns that I didn't have before, although I am hoping for the best.)

For five original photos of the TARDIS at MIT, I have now gotten 19,759 views. The most I ever got of any one photo was something like 32, and now I have one photo that has gotten over 11,000 hits. At first, I was extremely freaked out by this (the aforementioned privacy issues), but, now, I am kinda loving it. I just hope this isn't my 15 minutes of fame, because if it is... it isn't what I was hoping for. On the other hand, as my friend L said, "Well, the beauty of the internet is that you can get lots of 15 minutes."

And as of yesterday, the TARDIS is back, only this time on the iconic Great Dome, which is where it should have been in the first place, in my opinion.






* Doctor Who: The Waters of Mars:
Adelaide Brooke: "State your name, rank and intention."
The Doctor: "The Doctor, doctor, fun."

"It's bigger on the inside." *

Look at WHO decided to pay a visit to the Massachusetts Institute of Technology today!




Keeping my eyes peeled for the Doctor, Amy, and Rory, but hopefully no Daleks!! Perhaps Ms. Pond is going to be matriculating into the class of 2014. Maybe the Doctor will have need for a new companion!

(I am so glad that I decided to brave it and head out into the rain at lunch, otherwise I would have never noticed it! You have gotta love those MIT hackers.)

* Pretty much every visitor to the the TARDIS has commented on this, weelll, except Rory.

Derby Day

On Saturday afternoon (after spending the morning running errands), I met up with several friends for oysters and to watch the Kentucky Derby at Dante in Cambridge. It was a beautiful day so we sat out on the patio; however, we were saddened because all of the oysters were already eaten! (I felt like the Walrus and the Carpenter.)

We had just decided to leave in search of oysters, but before we could, we were approached by a man who was setting up an informal bet on the race. He had cut out the names of all of the horses from the newspaper, and for $5 you got to pick a horse's name out of an envelope. That was your horse for the race. If your horse won, you got $50; if it placed, $30; and if it showed, $20. Nothing was kept by the "house"; he said it was just to make the race a little more fun.

When I first heard this pitch, I was a little dubious, but "Miss Post" handed him the money without reservation. After some initial trading amongst ourselves, we each were settled with our horse. (Mine was Noble's Promise.) By the point that all of the horses/chances were sold, a good size group was gathered around the bar by the television and started comparing horses and exchanging pleasantries, which is unusual in buttoned-up Boston. The man running the game really got people pumped up for the race (this guy would really made a great game show host), and next thing you knew, everyone was cheering as the horses burst out of the gate, tearing up the sloppy course at high speed.

My horse was in the top three coming out of the gate as was D's, but both soon fell behind. Into the final stretch however, Miss Post's horse, Super Saver, pulled ahead and ended up coming in FIRST PLACE!! HURRAH!!! Fifty smackers!! To celebrate the victory, we bought a round of mint juleps, and E got some goggles just like the jockeys wear. Where these goggles came from, I don't know. At that point, I was so excited that she won that I didn't ask. (Later on though, I considered that the game show host was some kind of promoter, but that could just be the skeptical New Englander in me talking.)

Before he left, our host asked that next year we pay it forward. Wherever we are on Derby Day, cut out the names of the horses, put them in an envelope, and sell chances for $5. I think that I am going to to that. It really did make the race and the afternoon that much more fun!

Not Another Night of: "Hello, *insert location here*!"

Last night, JR and I went to the Oberon Theater in Harvard Square to check out the Amanda Palmer and Jason Webley project EvelynEvelyn, which has prompted a some controversy on the internet. I preferred to reserve judgment on the whole thing until I actually saw the show and heard the music. I loved Amanda's music in The Dresden Dolls, but I haven't listened to her solo album: "Who Killed Amanda Palmer?". It wasn't intentional; I just wasn't interested when it came out. But I did like the teaser music that EvelynEvelyn had posted on MySpace, so when JR proposed going to the show, I was game. (I never really believed that EvelynEvelyn were real people, although I never had confirmation one way or the other.)

So JR and I got in line at the Oberon around 7:15pm and were finally let into the theater about 20 minutes later. (I had been feeling lousy all day, but I wasn't going to let the not inexpensive tickets go to waste.) We had bought reserved seat tickets, so we went over to the area with cocktail tables and booths and got seats with a great view of the stage, which were also perfect for people watching. The crowd was quite diverse in terms of age and, for lack of a better term, scene. (Ie. there were scenesters, but not everyone was a scenester nor was everyone who was a scenester from the same scene.)

We ended up sharing our table with a young couple, Matthew and Molly, who had been to several other ART shows this season, and we were chatting a bit about that before the show began around 8:30, with a short solo set by Jason Webley. He was able to take the audience from 0 to 10 in about 3 short minutes with some audience participation. He was followed by a solo set by Amanda Palmer, who thanked her parents (who were sitting two tables behind us) and her neighbor and sang a song about her childhood home that I really liked a lot. Then, the totally awesome Sxip Shirey, who had acted as the MC earlier in the evening, came out and performed a set. JR and I were just blown away by this guy, who uses pitch changers and found objects to compose and perform really interesting pieces.

After a short intermission, Sxip came back out to introduce the Evelyn sisters. [What was not readily apparent was that Sxip was now playing a character in the EvelynEvelyn piece. Once we figured that out, it made a lot more sense because we had loved him, and now he was being a jerk.] The Evelyn sisters (played by Palmer and Webley) came out and performed a "side show" musical telling their backstory with Sxip playing their handler who was obviously abusing them in addition to exploiting them. There was a definite script to the performance, but it was obvious that things weren't locked yet. There were several funny moments when each of the performers broke character.

The original music was very good and spanned a bunch of different genres, from vaudeville to country western to 80s rock ballad, while the Evelyns switched off between the piano, the accordion and ukulele. They even played the first movement of "Moonlight Sonata" while Sxip played around with shadow puppets. A lot of the original music juxtaposes dark lyrics with lighter music, and something about one song, "Have You Seen My Sister Evelyn?", reminded me of "Uncle Ernie" from The Who's Tommy. The music concluded with a ukulele cover of Joy Division's "Love Will Tear Us Apart" that reminded me of the version by Broken Social Scene that was in The Time Traveler's Wife.

As far as the production goes, I think that the cast of EvelynEvelyn was fortunate to have such a loving and forgiving audience last night because there were several production issues in the theater last night that were distracting: mike levels changing, a guitar's amp cut out, difficultly switching between instruments. Hopefully those problems will not occur again tonight. I think that last night needed to be considered a "preview", and once the tour properly begins a lot of these rough edges will get smoothed out. On the other hand, those rough edges were some of the best moments of the night. I did think that the stage at the Oberon was too small for what they were trying to do. They needed more room, and I hope that can be fixed at other venues.

We stuck around for the Q&A, and I asked a rather nerdy question about the eclecticism of the music, which resulted with me inventing the word "cross-genrely". (In my defense, it was past my bedtime.) I AM interested in process, especially in something which I felt was a musical departure from what I expect of Amanda Palmer, and she and Jason did give a fair answer to my question. On the walk back to the car, JR and I agreed that it was a really good night of live music, and it gave us something to think about too (although I don't think that it was offensive in the way that some people were concerned it would be). I particular enjoy it when you see music performed in way where you didn't feel like the band is going to take that exact same show to another town the following night. The uniqueness of the evening is going to stay with me for a while.

You're always a planet to me

Those crazy MIT hackers were back up to their old tricks today as they celebrated the 80th anniversary of the discovery of the planet (or dwarf planet, depending on who you talk to), Pluto. As I headed home from work tonight, I noticed that the Milky Way was suspended from the little Dome, and I grabbed a couple of snaps.

"Tyger Tyger, burning bright, In the forests of the night"

My friend Diana passed along her copy of Audrey Niffenegger's Her Fearful Symmetry for me to read. (The title comes from the poem by William Blake referenced in today's title.) I was really excited about this book when I started because the premise is right up my alley: American twins are left a flat in London that overlooks Highgate Cemetery by their mother's twin sister whose ghost is haunting said flat.
Good Things checklist:

London - check

cemetery - check

ghosts - check

handsome British neighbor who is doing PhD thesis on Victorian cemeteries and funerary customs (That's my PhD thesis, if I were going to actually write one.) - check

What's not to love? (Or so I thought.) When I first started reading the book, I DID love it. In fact, I was enjoying it so much that I felt the need to text message status updates to JR (who had already read the book). They are as follows:

* This book has me longing for London. SIGH
* I wish someone would leave me a flat in London above a man like "Robert Fanshaw".
* Exactly halfway. If Robert becomes a prat, don't tell me. I couldn't bear it. He loves Pre-Raphaelites.
* Page 230, just IDed and translated the subjunctive from the Latin. Haven't had to do that in 15 years. EEK!

It was getting late when I stopped texting her, but I continued to read until midnight. The following morning I sent her this email:

* I never want to meet anyone like the people in this book EVER. OMG.

Don't you just hate it when that happens? Wonderful premise, ideal location, and then main characters that you would like to punch in the nose? In the words of the immortal Kevin Kline, in his Academy-Award winning role in A Fish Called Wanda: DISAPPOINTED!!! (I am sure that other people feel differently about the characters than I do; I would love to hear an explanation of why they shouldn't all be in therapy for life. The characters, not the people who like them, that is.)

On the upshot, I now know that I definitely want to add Highgate Cemetery to my itinerary for my next trip to London, whenever that might be. Here is a photo of another lovely Victorian garden cemetery: Mount Auburn Cemetery

Yummy in my Tummy

On Friday night, my friend "Miss Post" and I went out to Trina's Starlight Lounge in Somerville after work. I had read about it (and the ladies of LUPEC) in an article that PunkRockMom sent me from Boston.com. And as Miss Post and I are up for trying new cocktails (and she already had been to Trina's and liked it), we ventured forth into Somerville to try it out.

While appearing rather humble from the outside, Trina's Starlight Lounge is a hip, happenin' place with cocktails and food that are super tasty. When we arrived, which was just after 6pm, there wasn't a big crowd yet so we were able to grab seats right at the bar. I was drinking a "Shaddock" (Bols genever, Aperol, Saint Germain, lemon juice) from the drinks menu while Miss Post was drinking "Dirty Shirleys".

After the second round, we ordered some food. The menu is mostly retro Southern comfort food, which is a delicious thing. We shared chili cheese fries, and Miss Post had the "dog of the day" while I had a crab cake. We also shared the most out of this world corn bread. Now I love corn bread, and this one was definitely up there in the ranks of the best corn bread. It was moist with a good crust and had kernels of corn in it and was topped with honey and came with a huge hunk of butter. I thought I had died and gone to heaven. So did my blood pressure. (Kidding, sort of.)

The night started to pick up around 7:30pm, and I was pleased to see that it was totally my kind of scene. Mostly laid back crowd, closer to 30 than 20, of people who were there to enjoy a libation without making a scene. Retro without being pretentious, which I totally appreciate. (Note to self: "Retro sans Pretention" would be a cool name for a band.)

I had a feeling that I was going to be right at home there just based on the music playing when Miss Post and I arrived. It was the first album by Nouvelle Vague, a band I wasn't familiar with, but one that I now love. They take new wave (hence the "nouvelle vague") songs from the 1980s and cover them in a bossa nova style. After hearing "Love Will Tear Us Apart" by Joy Division in sultry bossa nova, it was true love.

I ended up heading home around 10pm (after a series of Diet Cokes and waters), and, despite my persistent mental block navigating Somerville, I didn't get lost going home. I was really proud of myself until PunkRockMom told me that Inman was too easy and I needed to work on Davis or Union Squares...DOH!

I do hear that the Highland Kitchen makes a pretty sweet cocktail too. Finally learning my way around Somerville will be worth it!!

A room with a view

Sometimes, really cool things happen at work. Like getting to be the first people to a hold a meeting in a new building. A new building with some fantastic views of the Boston skyline. This is one of those times when I love my adopted hometown.

"I Think I'll Go For a Walk Outside"

Sometimes, it really is worth it to leave the office at lunchtime. Eating at your desk only goes so far. It is especially worth it when the long absent sun decides to put in an appearance after over a week of rain and clouds.







Especially since the sun seems to have gone away again. At least, it has acknowledged that it still exists.

Mount Auburn Cemetery, Cambridge

Despite the poor weather forecast, Saturday turned out to be a gorgeous day, so I took myself and my new camera over to Mount Auburn Cemetery. It is such a beautiful and peaceful place (and a perfect example of the change in funerary customs at the end of the 19th century in America and Britain, ie. my imaginary PhD thesis.) I spent a couple of hours tooling around the cemetery listening to my audio tour and snapping photos here and there of things that caught my eye.

Take Your Mama Out Tonight

Last night, JR and I got together and had dinner at Hungry Mother in Kendall Square. I must have gone by the restaurant a number of times without noticing it before last night. Fortunately, I recognized the sign with the small cardinal logo from the website as I was driving past. Hungry Mother is subtly tucked away in a converted house, just down the street from the Kendall Square Cinema. When I heard the menu was Southern, I wasn't sure what to expect. I wasn't sure if it was going to be like Famous Dave's or Redbones or what. The atmosphere was perfectly suited to my taste, hip while being comfortable and unpretentious, and, even though the restaurant was crowded, it didn't get terribly loud. The tables are a little bit cosy, and we did end up asking the people at the table next to us what they were eating as we eyeballed their entrees. (They had eaten there a number of times and gave some high praise to the catfish.)

We started with an order of the Southern-style cornbread with Sorghum butter, which I had never had before and tastes like a delicious blend of butter and maple syrup. So tasty. For our entrees, JR got the grilled rainbow trout in the almond butter vinaigrette, while I had the French-style gnocchi with pancetta. We ended up sharing our entrees, and that was SUCH a good idea. The trout was delicious, crispy on the outside, flaky on the inside, with lots of flavor. The gnocchi was a lot smaller than I am used to, but was still a light, puffy pillow, and the sauce was fantastic! JR asked for more bread so that the sauce wouldn't go to waste. Our waitress was attentive without being overbearing, and we weren't rushed out the door as we lingered talking over our respective tea and coffee.

While the menu isn't really expansive, there is variety in the selection, and the quality was very, very good. Prices are what you would expect at a nicer restaurant in Cambridge, reasonable, but not cheap (~$22 entree). The restaurant uses sustainable foods, and they recycle and compost. (It says so on their menu.) The drink and wine menu is diverse. I definitely want to go back soon. I wonder if they have outdoor space for the summer?

Written on a snowy Sunday morning in January

I love these snowy Sunday mornings. Everything is so quiet, wrapped up in a blanket. The occasional car driving by or the scraping of shovels on the pavement are the only noises coming up from the street, and the building seems to still be asleep. I woke up at 7am; it was still very dark outside. It made me suspect that my clock wasn't working correctly. When I got up to double check the time with the clock in the living room, my suspicions were allayed, but it became painfully obvious that the sun was not going to make an appearance today.

I have made myself a breakfast of oatmeal and hot chocolate, a holdover from my childhood, when on snowy days like this one, my brother and sisters and I would pile on all our winter gear and help my father shovel the front walk and driveway. I wish that I had realized then that we weren't just doing a job, but we were making memories and traditions. We would all come in, usually sopping wet from snowball fights or sledding down the steep driveway, clomp down to the basement in our snow boots, where we would shed our wet clothes, hang everything up to dry, and then scurry up to the warm kitchen for our hot breakfast. (If it was a weekday, we would have already sat listening to Bob Steele on WTIC AM, hoping for a snow day. It is funny to remember how we would hold our breaths as he finished the towns beginning with "M"s and started through the "N"s. [Those kids in Litchfield County ALWAYS got the most snow days.])

Last night, my friend DM invited me to see The Curious Case of Benjamin Button with her at the movie theater in Harvard Square, and then we grabbed some supper over at Cambridge 1 on Church Street, where we deconstructed the film.(Anyone else who has seen it, was young Daisy's voice dubbed at the beginning of the film? It seemed not quite right.) From our table, we could see through the back window to the old cemetery; it looked beautiful in the light from the street as it became further covered in snow.

Walking back up Brattle Street to where I had parked my car, we couldn't get over how quiet Harvard Square was on a Saturday night. So much has changed in that area since I first moved to Boston. Stores have come and gone (the amount of time I spent in that HMV was ridiculous) and soon mainstays like Crate and Barrel and Out of Town News will be leaving. It is rather sad, but, as they said in the movie, "nothing lasts."