09/00 - Whoah, am I behind! The photos are coming, I promise. Many are scanned in, even!

      11/5/99 - I'm finally getting around to linking recent text that I'd been planning on, but hadn't had the chance. Slowly, but surely - so keep an eye out for new links and photos in the old text.

      bitty2k


      Gorgeous day. Going to explore the RI Heritage Festival.

      On holiday. Will report later. - 8/00

      We christened my kitchen by hosting Beth's Birthday Brunch. I love breakfast food, but people don't really host Breakfast Parties, just dinner ones. However, we had a bunch o' people over, I fed them, I fed them some more, and then fed FJ!! a bit more until that FJ!! guy was full - a feat in itself! Personally, it was an excuse to make fresh whipped cream and waffles. FJ!! and Dean got Beth her first official Lesbian Power Tool - which makes me wonder what she was beforehand.

      I've been spending some of my spare time taking cooking classes at the Cambridge School of Culinary Arts. I am a little frustrated by the class style - each person only gets to work on one recipe, and doesn't get the chance to learn the special techniques that the other recipes (8 or so for the pastry class) require. Or even to watch, really, since everyone is crowded and crazy. I did come out of it with some definite inspiration, however. (What else would one expect from a class entitled "Chocolate Bliss?") Or at least a desire to buy a Lot More Toys for my kitchen!

      Arthur bought me a camera for my UK trip :)

      Aieee! Life has been nothing but work lately - my entire week in Truro was comp time, not vacation time. So this page is suffering mightily. Suffice it to say, I've been having a great summer, my tomatoes are doing ever-so-much-better this year without a drought, I've actually managed to catch a few flics, I'm planning tons of great vacation trips for the next year, and I'm throwing two parties. The weather hasn't been hot enough to desperately crave those swimming trips to Houghton's, and we haven't had a car to get to the Blue Hills.

      Ah, a wonderful week alone on the Cape. Me, a laptop, and my bike - it was exquisite, especially after all the craziness at work of late. I could just bike into Ptown or Wellfleet, take the bus to Hyannis, or just stay home, cook, and read Cryptonomicon. I was actually annoyed when Arthur came to drag me back to civilization...
      I definitely felt flustered in Ptown - the days that I was there, it seemed rather, well, het, and I felt like i was in a strange alternate universe. But I did manage to get checked out several times with the new haircut.
      What sucks is that the local bus doesn't run very late at night, and I don't feel safe biking on unlit back roads after dark. So I had to leave PTown at dinner time, which definitely puts a damper on the nightlife. Granted, I just curled up with a good book on the porch and read until I was forced inside, which I never seem to have the time for anymore... The bus schedule works more in my favor going the other direction, so I spent a lovely day in Hyannis on the water, shopping (yeah, I go on vacation, and buy a ton of cookbooks at a used bookstore - oh!oh!oh! I finally found Raising the Stones!), and eating some nummy ice cream. A wonderfully relaxing week!

      Whoah. One of the problems with being back in MA is that people don't distinguish between Amherst and UMass/Amherst. In DC, everyone knew. Here, many don't. And I mean I've spent plenty of time at UMass and have close friends and respect the education there, but there's still that little voice that wants to shout, no Amherst, One of the top three (depending on the year, of course) liberal arts colleges in the country. Like Harvard, but smaller. And then I feel guilty and snooty. But it does make a difference on resumes, because things like that count, alas.

      The brilliance of Seinfeld lay in its ability to take every day occurences that could happen to anyone, and make us laugh. Every now and then I or someone I know will say whoah, I just had a Seinfeld Experience.
      This weekend, I most definitely had a Seinfeld Experience. Or a suburban housewife sitcom experience. I'd been in the checkout line for ages. Finally, the person in front of me has her stuff rung up and my items are now all loaded onto the belt. So far, so what. Well, the grocery store had a special coupon - $10 if you spend more than $60. Now, I thought, who am I not to use this? I have over $60 worth of groceries, so there's no reason I wouldn't want to take advantage of this.
      Now, the woman ahead of me realizes that these coupons exist. Suddenly, instead of paying, she demands that the cashier give her one. The cashier, typical teenager with attitude is like HELLo, I don't THINK so, etc. So this woman then sends her son all over the store to find an extra circular. He finally gets back, and there's no coupon in there, because the coupons are only in the circulars that got mailed in the newspaper. So now she's trying to imply that I stole her circular, and that she should have my coupon. Suddenly, I feel like the cashier - HELLo, I don't THINK so... Now, had I had under the minimum of groceries, or this woman desperately needed the coupon and asked nicely or something, I'm not the sort of person to be possessive of my coupons. Ten dollars is not going to make or break me (thank goddess...!!!). However, when someone suddenly insists that I stole her circular, and starts a tug-o-war with the grocery cart (trying to take my cart so that it looks like I stole her cart, and thus the circular in it, hence the coupon...), I get a little peevish. When she tries to physically remove the coupon from my hand, I get angry.
      Thankfully, she gave up and actually paid for her groceries. But I'm still reeling from the shock of someone physically trying to take something from me, implying that I stole a stupid coupon. Aieee! It's so freakin' petty. And Seinfeldesque.

      Ahem. Hiking, in shorts, hot, sweaty, dehydrated.
      Within 24 hours, it was snowing.
      Wrong. Wrongwrongwrongwrong.

      I should stop taking the intelligence of humans for granted.

      I've been told I need to have another party, so that people can hook up.

      Men can be really nasty creatures. I overheard (more like, "didn't have earplugs to ignore the conversation") some women on the train discussing their boyfriends, and man, were they scum. But then I'm left wondering, are there so few nice guys out there that people settle for creeps, or is it because women are accustomed to settling for the dregs of humanity that there is no need for more good men?

      Sometimes I get really sad on my way into work in the morning. Usually I've got my nose buried in a book (this week's list include The Dylanist, Neverwhere, and Girl, Interrupted) and am oblivious to most things (have missed my station on occasion). But some days I'm really sleepy or am having more difficulty than usual focusing, and then I people watch. And that's how I become sad - if you look around, no one is smiling. An entire train full of people, none of whom are smiling. Okay, so early in the morning I'm not necessarily Miss Chipper myself, but most of these people are actively frowning, and that's what I find sad. Its one thing to not be happy. Its another thing to be unhappy. And most of these people look unhappy. Its contagious - its challenging to be on a train with that many unhappy people and not be unhappy myself. So at what point does the train hit a critical mass of unhappy people and everyone becomes unhappy? Are all these people truly not happy, or did it start with one person and everyone else caught it?
      What's startling is that people are like this in the evening, too. Its not just the morning commute, when, granted, people aren't exactly thrilled to be greeting the workday, but all the time. You'd think people would have relieved smiles on their faces, or look relaxed, to be going home. But they're not. They still look unhappy. And that saddens me. Sometimes I have the urge to leap up onto my seat, burst into song, and cheer people up. Actually, I feel like offering them cookies, but hey, even I don't have a constant cookie supply handy.

      Damn ;) Dunkin Donuts was smart enough to put a limit of one donut per visit on their Five-Cent donut special.

      This cute thing takes up large quantities of my time "a sweetheart is a mirror
      a friend a delicious cake
      it isn't worth spending
      an hour with anyone else"
      Ghazal 119, Rumi

      Every day I get to cross the Charles as part of my commute. And I put aside whatever book I'm reading to just watch the gorgeous view from the bridge. And Boston is truly a beautiful city, but that view is magnificent. This morning it was foggy. Beautiful. A few weeks ago it was snowing. Still beautiful. Earlier this week it was sunny and warm and people were sailing. Still beautiful. (Well, as long as I don't look at the water too closely. Love that dirty water...) Having that early morning pause to appreciate how wonderful Boston is is one of the best parts of living here. Over the winter I found myself fascinated to see it frozen - I'm not used to large bodies of water freezing. I mean, I understand that it must happen - that's where the Titanic had problems - but even watching ice creep out over Dorchester Bay leaves me breathless, because its just so large a space to be frozen.

      We went out to BioDevastation 2000 this weekend. The weather was perfect - the puppets and outfits were fabulous, and rain would have ruined the effect.
      We were amused/horrified to view the police paranoia. This was meant to be a demonstration rally, but they had sharpshooters surrounding Copley Square, more police/media than demonstrators, and this look of tense fear in their eyes. When heading back to the T, we were disgusted to see an entire row of motorcycle officers lined up. No one around. No one. But they were still out in full force, prepared for the worst. Now, had they consulted with DC police instead of Seattle police, they'd have learned useful tips on how to control riots and demonstrations, instead of learning paranoia. It was a peaceful rally. With sharpshooters.

      Every time I mention my intention to cut my hair short for the summer, I get some very panicky ogre-ish looks.

      We survived ChocoCon III. We may have been dizzy and exhausted after (and prolly still shaking, too!), but we've recovered, finally. Shirley, once again, totally outdid herself. She moved to a new (larger) house and managed to fill it with people - she keeps growing, and growing... :) She made these amazingly rich chocolate-chocolate chip cookies (for which she was kind enough to share the recipe, and now my coworkers worship her, too!), and they were the mellowest item there.
      Didn't play bridge this year - instead, some partygoers were shocked to discover that there were people there who had never played Fluxx - rapidly remedied. And now Shirley has the space to display all her books, so some of us were in seventh heaven.
      Beforehand, we swung by to visit DT for lunch, where he showed off his new sound system, which intimidates even him. I realized it'd been ages since I visited the New Yawkahs, and everyone was at this party, so between seeing Dennis and getting to the party, I feel somewhat caught up. Till next year, anyway ;)
      I'm trying to get Shirley to host a Garlic Party in the summer. I mean, its not quite the same as chocolate, but variety is good.
      I got to yell at Dawn and Misha, since I shouldn't have to go to NJ to see them when they just live over the river. So they came over for dinner last week, and I had waaay too much fun embracing my Martha side. I was told my salad looked too pretty to eat - I need to stop doing that, because it makes for a lot of leftover salad, pretty or no. Ah, but I made some minestrone and bruschetta and other garlicky Italian stuff, with the trend ruined by a very cinnamony apple pie. (And it turns out Cathie doesn't eat apple pie - how un-American is that, anyway? I mean, McCarthy would have been much more popular had he hunted down people who dislike apple pie rather than attacking so-called Communists!)

      Everyone should start off their workday listening to Louis Armstrong. It would just do so much.

      Eeeeew. Bagels should not contain blueberries.
      I was especially grossed out on the way to work yesterday when I passed a bloated blueberry bagel. It had been raining pretty violently, so this bagel was swollen beyond belief and looked like something out of Star Trek - a particularly creepy dead alien. Not the image I wanted to start my day with.
      On the way home, it appears that it must have been a whole bagel truck capsizing in the park, because there were bagels, bagels, everywhere, but no mischievous monkeys. Dismembered, bloated, squashed bagels - it was really disturbing. I won't be able to eat bagels for quite a while. *shudder*

      Oh! I had repressed what a true New England winter was like when living down south. A taste of it last week. Ack! I can no longer wear Tevas 11 months out of the year. Waaah! A good annual snowball fight is satisfying, but this crap about ice skating through slush to get to the T is a bit annoying. It actually makes me miss DC. Of course, an alternate view is that DC started sucking the New Englander out of me by spoiling me with nasty, hot weather and mild nonexistent winters.
      Then again, considering DC sucks the morality and honesty from people, I may have gotten off easy. Or that could just be because I was warped to begin with. (ObGarth: "It's sucking my will to live!")

      To contrast with my "Things I Don't Get" page (formerly my rant page), I've come up with something I finally do get.
      Never having much money means there's a lot of stuff I don't eat/buy, etc. That's normal. I've always been cranky, however, with the cost of some things - finding affordable meals can be outrageous! Take a night at the movies, for example. $8.50 each - so if you and your SO decide to go, that's $17. Parking/Transit is another couple of dollars. Popcorn/soda, if any, is another several dollars. If you have children, that's going to be around $15 additional dollars in babysitting. Now weren't movies supposed to be cheap entertainment for everyone? Something that anyone could afford? Guess not anymore... If a typical movie is somewhere around 1 1/2 hours these days, and costs about $8.50 (Matinees are over $5 - until I moved to DC, $5 was what you paid for a full price!) and minimum wage is $5.25, then... someone who earns minimum wage spends an equivalent amount just on the ticket alone.
      Anyhoo, back to things I do understand. Fancy pastries and stuff have always been rare treats, etc. I may like them, but I can buy a full McDonald's meal for the cost of one Napoleon, say. The revelation occurred when I bought a knish. I like knish. But considering what you pay for so little, it's something I rarely do (except for some bagel places that have them cheap). As I was pondering that, I finally looked at it as - would I be willing to handmake a knish? And the answer is, no. I'm paying to have the things I'm rarely willing to make myself. Luxuries, so to speak. And suddenly, it's all okay. Well, meal prices aren't - those're highway robbery (Andy was shocked at how much pasta costs in the North End!) - but things like chocolate-filled croissants and homemade gnocchi aren't the easiest things to make. I guess I forgot that for a while, when I was making anything I wanted, including the more time-consuming stuff (baklava!).

      Anyone who knows me knows my dislike for football. And the Superbowl in particular - something about it interfering with my birthday... However, Superbowl parties can be tolerable ;) Particularly when there's an anti-football room. Then all the testosterone is in one place, and the rest of us in another. It makes things much more fun. Especially when a cute blonde jumps in my lap. And there's a twiddlebug cake.
      Okay, so I ramble on boringly about parties. Mostly because there's usually some fun photos to post up with them, when they eventually get developed. But really, I find it interesting because unlike college, we tend to have themes to our parties. A cookie party. A Miss America drag party. Silly things, but shouldn't one be silly at a party? They wind up being social gatherings of people that don't revolve around alcohol, and goshdarngollygee, we all have fun harassing each other.
      I always intend to put in serious, well-written bits of life, but by the time I get to sit down and look at everything, its been too long. So I settle for putting up pictures and gearing stuff towards my friends, who amuse easily and waste waaay too much time on the internet to begin with.

      New Scrabble personal individual high score: 427 points in one game. Later that week, we also broke the house record for total score.

      Okay, so what is the past tense of to ski? skied? skiied? skiid? skid? I realized this morning that I have no clue whatsoever. But anyhow, I went x-country skiing for the first time in half a lifetime recently. With people who take skiing seriously, so me and my wobbly ankles enjoyed ourselves, but on a completely different level. Last time I was on skis, I had healthy ankles, and thus no problem. Now, however, it's difficult with no ankle support. My ankles would bend at the slightest chance, and it makes skiing very scary - I have to fervently hope that I'll make it back without having broken anything. Its scary - I guess I can get the fear and risk of downhill just by going cross-country ;) It was fun to go with enthusiasts, once I convinced them that they didn't have to go slowly and stay with me - I was happy going along at my own letsbabytheankles pace. But its not something I can do often, since said ankles have not recovered yet and are still very wobbly just walking along the living room floor.

      January produced Bitty's First Annual Cookie Orgy. Several hours of baking and decorating ensued. Turns out Matt's not the only one with an artistic streak in the group ;) I forgot to collect votes for the favorites, but there was only one disappointing batch, which is useful enough information. And I never thought I'd see Jeff Mc and Colin fighting over the mixer - Colin, in the kitchen?!? :) (Oh, Arthur, please tell me you have a picture!) I also hadn't realized that I had converted people with the gingersnaps - at least two guests expressed that they had never liked gingersnaps before, but having some right out of the oven and made from fresh ginger convinced them. Bwahahahahaha. Next year? The world...
      Conveniently, it was also the same weekend as Arisia, so there was a Skyler and a Shirley to foist leftovers upon. And Skyler showing off his cloak and dimples :) It was definitely an amusing adventure hooking up with them. On the way to the hotel, Arthur was wondering if I was heading the right way, etc., and I'm like see all these really odd characters walking past us? This is the right place, dear. And I was right that I couldn't be in the hotel more than a couple of minutes before bumping into people I knew. It was a nice feeling. It was also kinda' scary ;)

      Okay, so was anyone else as underenthused about the Y2K bug as I was? I mean, talk about anti-climactic.

      1999


      Christmas was a beautiful day. No snow, but I wasn't the one complaining about that. Arthur once again proved what an odd boy he is by wrapping cinnamon sticks and garlic as stocking stuffers. Not to mention that his favorite gift from me turned out to be the cheese slicer - I mean, the most unromantic thing I give him is his favorite. And then there was the two-blender deal - we had gotten his folks a new blender, since theirs had been starting to emit black smoke. And his folks had gotten me a blender, since i didn't have one. What a shame we don't drink much, because that was an excuse for a Margarita party if I've ever seen one!
      After eating, we went for a walk in the arboretum, where the boy experimented with black and white film. I think he should get red and green film for next year, 'cause that'd be much cooler.
      I did, of course, have fun taunting the cat with Much Ribbon.


      Curled up by the fire, I was watching the cat. And I've decided that cats are definitely awesome creatures - and if I could, I'd be one. Maybe I just want a tail. And whiskers. And the ability to leap. And to be stroked all day. And sleep whenever I wish. Seriously, though, one can get entranced just watching a cat - I wish my body could do that!

      Arthur took a massage class. Mmmmmmmm...

      An event for which I don't have pictures (but the person who does has a new scanner!) was a group trip to Medieval Manor in South Boston. I'm not a SCAdian, so the lack of authenticity didn't bother me - rather, the performers knew they couldn't achieve authenticity, so it was more of an atmosphere than an experience. But ohmigawd - they just keep bringing more and more food! Food, wenches... As one of the Jeffs pointed out, how can you go wrong with buxom wenches bringing you beer and a banquet? I'm definitely going back sometime (probably with the usual unusual suspects, only one of whom was with the previous crowd), but with an even emptier stomach. Just beware - you need the King's permission to go to the rest room, and the King doesn't always like giving permission... I was definitely amused, and while socializing with straight people, even! The horror! *grin*

      Recent hike in the Blue
Hills Being towards the south shore has its advantages: we go hiking in the Blue Hills frequently. A different trail every time :) It's made Beth really happy, because she doesn't get many opportunities to go hiking anymore. And we actually dragged Cathie into the out of lab, and she didn't melt in the sunlight, much to our surprise.

      So Schroedinger's Lawyer and I are still plodding away at watching all of B5 - I'm now up to season 4, shortly after the end of the Shadow War. Anyway, I'm really beginning to like the Minbari. Okay, I've always liked them, but this whole Minbari custom of watching the face of a loved one sleeping for three nights is a damned brilliant ritual. People look completely different when they're asleep - so peaceful, young, innocent (well, at least the Good Guys do!)... it's a powerful, serene beauty all on its own. Billy Joel's The Stranger is about the same concept - we all wear masks for other people, all the time. So I agree that the best way to get to know someone is to watch them when they've let go - asleep. How sweet and romantic and dead-on. I'm curious as to whether B5 drew this Minbari custom from any Earth culture.

      Beth and FJ, two of the evil 
masterminds behind the surprise party Well, he's no longer actually Schroedinger's Lawyer. We celebrated with a surprise party over the weekend. I enjoy a surprise party where the victim^H^H^H^H^HGuest of Honor is actually surprised - it happens so rarely :) But it worked. We surprised him, we fed him chocolate, and laughed a lot. ("People are still eating this cake, and they're not dead yet?" - FJ!!)

      Homecoming was rather boring. It seemed to be all about Beer. Which shows that nothing has really changed since graduation. We actually won the football game, which is odd for those of us who remember the winless seasons - figures, the only Amherst football game I ever go to, and we win. I walked around realizing no one at Homecoming had changed - and if I didn't like them 3 years ago, I'm not going to especially like them now, especially if all they can do is consume beer, belch, and toss the cans in the grass. I wound up realizing how lucky I am - all my friends are here in Boston, so I can see the niftier people any time I want. Now, if only we can get Judie's to move to Cambridge...

      Camp Site on Black Mountain Pond Okay, it was a great trip despite my coming down with a cold when it was cold and rainy. But other than that, it was truly fantastic. It took me a while to adjust to the backpack, since it threw my balance off at first, so I kept wacking my head on the frame :( But then the view at the top of the mountain was amazing and worth it. And I realized that gorp should be the ultimate PMS food, because it can combine salt & chocolate - two necessary food groups. Arthur keeps taking photos that are good enough to be postcards, but he doesn't believe me. I think he should become a freelance photographer if toppling Microsoft doesn't work.

      Cathie's right about Boston being a walkable city. I walk almost everywhere (except for home. Dorchester is great, but a bit far for walking. Besides, I live 5 minutes from the T!) and it's really helping me learn my way around. Granted, I can't tell north from south half the time, but hey, its a start.
      In a car, one doesn't notice the piano being used as a potholder in someone's front yard. Only pedestrians get a chance to appreciate this modern art. And walking to the fruit stand, I get to see the ocean each week. The walk to the Co-op always has interesting dyke eye-candy. And it helps get me in shape for this backpacking trip.
      [Addendum: until one gets lost in Somerville. Not recommended.]

      I'm going backpacking in NH :) Man, I love being back in New England. The Red Sox clinched the wildcard spot, my winter wardrobe can take effect, and I get to go hiking in the New Hampshire foliage. Hello!!! Why the fuck was I ever stupid enough to leave?
      [Addendum: It's December, and I'm wearing Tevas. This Is Wrong. Did I accidentally bring warm winters north with me?]

      Beth recently had a party, themed around the Miss America Pageant - which, although normally not my thing, is much more interesting when watched with a bunch of queens going "that skirt is too 80's, honey!" They all decided that the winner is a dyke, but she just doesn't know it yet.
      What made life fun is the number of political futures that went down the tubes at that party... you see, dress could be gowns or swimsuits, and there were some surprising choices made there... and there happened to be cameras present... shall we play 'Blackmail the Republican', perhaps?
      The best was the look on everyone's faces when I got there... see, I wasn't going to be outdone by a bunch of straight guys in drag. So if I was gonna' put on a dress, I was gonna' go all out... I succeeded :) I scared my friends ("Who are you, and what have you done with Bitty?!?!?"), even made the Kinsey-6 boys go "Fuck Me!", and made Beth ROTFL "you're fabulous" when she realized that under the short sexy dress I was wearing boxer shorts ;) I mean c'mon - this is me. I may put on make-up and heels, but there ain't no way you can make me ALL femme, even for an evening. (Being Femme is Arthur's job.)
      And I've decided I should start catering (for the cost of ingredients, nothing more) my friends' parties - I wind up making food for them anyway (hey, the snotty food queens calling my desserts "divine" is enough to give me an ego, okay?), and people melt (not the food - the people!) when they partake of my bounteous hospitality, so why not? Since Beth and I are deciding Colin needs a housewarming party, and we know Colin can't cook...

      Sand Castle Photo, 9/99Mmmmm... made it to the Cape again for Labor Day. Went canoeing, hung out with Jeff, Derek, and Stephen, and built the Sand-Castle-That-Wasn't-A-Castle- But-Wouldn't-Collapse-Either. Got a really nice tan. Buried Arthur. (Didn't leave him for dead, however.) Derek and I wanted to go find a place to go horseback riding; life is full of disappointments.
      I was kinda' frightened by how some parts of the Cape are now the epitome of suburbia - it feels like that's the opposite of everything one expects/desires when on the Cape. Guess not. But if all you want is suburban bliss, why not stay at home, sparing the rest of us from your invasion of nature? I've gotten spoiled - Arthur usually brings us to the Truro/Provincetown area, which seems to have stricter zoning laws. But some of the places near us in Mashpee were a bit much.

      Shirley Killing Kenny Wow! The housewarming was a smashing success :) As usual, I was all in a flurry preparing for everything, but since my friends are all wonderful, things went smoothly. Colin, Jeff Mc, and Matt all came over the night before and helped out - it's much easier to cook vast quantities of food with willing entertainers present. I made them pizza, and they helped me chop, grate, bake, and saute (I sound like an infomercial).
      There were a couple of losers who didn't make it (Pffft - London! Really! Why would *any*one choose to go to London for a week instead of coming to my fabulous party? Sheesh!), but otherwise it was an amazing crowd of people. Many of my friends had never met my other friends - Cathie, in fact, was starting to doubt they existed. But toss 'em all together and BOOM! What do you get? Dennis dyke-bar-hopping in NYC with Alek. And several people hooked on Fluxx, including a new fan base in Ireland. Cosmic Wimpout until 2:30 AM. The Chocolate Goddess, and an Amazing Cake. ("How can they call something with two whole cups of flour in it *decadent*?" - Shirley scans through one of my new chocolate cookbooks.) Fresh pesto from the garden - with enough garlic to alter the flavor of bodily fluids :) Backrubs :) A Kenny cake, so we could all take turns killing Kenny. People from Ireland, DC, NJ, and next time we'll get them Canajuns too! Several new suggestions for our House Name.
      So many people I'm surprised we didn't spontaneously combust. For once, I didn't bake any bread, but its not like we didn't have enough food ;) Arthur had been off canoeing [that word looks weird] through Maine the previous week, and was enough of a darling to come back just in time for the party. (Prolly 'cause he knew he'd get his arse kicked if he didn't.)
      All in all, everyone had a wonderful time, and hopefully I'll clean up my disk space enough to fit in some photos (if I ever get Arthur to scan them in, hinthint).

      Carson Beach I love Boston. I'd never lived on the water before, and I've discovered the joy of walking out of the house and smelling a sea breeze. The ocean is a 15-minute walk away. The people here are great. There's no lack of Italian food. And everyone here turns out to be Red Sox fans... How convenient.

      Latest experiment - cooking Indian food. I'm realizing the best way to adjust to the spiciness is to start making mild versions on my own until I'm used to it. Hey, it worked - everyone ate my food! (Since it wasn't like the Rancid Hummus of Death. I take comfort in the fact that I can't have been the first person to vomit in the BPL.)

      Woohoo! It's almost housewarming time! Hopefully, we'll have pictures to scan in soon. But for now, I'm cooking up a storm, especially with fresh basil and garlic from the garden... There should be a whole lotta' people here, including one friend I haven't seen since I moved to DC. So I'm entitled to one big hug, I'd say :) And I even got Dennis off his butt and planning to attend, even though there will be no meat on the premises. Now that was a challenge!
      Alas, this disgusting plethora of raspberries that seems to have taken over the yard won't still be here for the housewarming. Maybe I should've tried to freeze some for pies, but I don't like raspberries, and although I enjoy going out there to pick them before they go bad (there were waaaay too many rotting because we couldn't pick them fast enough), who the heck is gonna' eat them? There were so many that even Arthur, who loves berries, got sick of them.

      Well, I've been going to the movies more often than usual, and I have to say, my expectations have been off the last several times. I expected the South Park movie to be awful, but it was one of the best things I've seen in ages - although how much of that is because of my low expectations, I'm not sure. The film should have been about 20 minutes shorter, since the third quarter of the movie was dragging and repetitive, but other than that, we were laughing hysterically most of the time.
      I had been kind of nervous about seeing Muppets From Space - I love the Muppets dearly, but Treasure Island made my skin crawl. But it was great :) Let's see - the commune theme, the coming out scene, the invisibility scene - they went back to doing what they do well, and that's Having Fun. Instead of trying to do what Jim Henson did, and doing it badly, they focused on their strengths. And it worked.
      Mystery Men was awful. Thankfully, we only paid matinee prices, because I would have demanded money back on anything more than that. Although I admit a large part of my disgust may stem from a strong dislike of Ben Stiller, it was still an awful movie. Arthur and I have decided that they should have cut the first 3/4 of the film and just shown the final action sequence - that was fun, but really, the rest of the movie couldn't make up its mind whether it was a dark drama or a comedy. I'm not saying the two can't mix in principle, but this film was nowhere near successful.

      Bicamp, Main Clearing Arthur and I made it to BiCamp - finally! - and wound up picking around 20 pounds of blueberries - eeek! Arthur ate so many I swear he should have turned purple, and the Oompa Loompas were going to have to rescue him or something. (Drats. i really wanted to see the Oompa Loompas come and roll Arthur around!) He made this fabulous blueberry cake when he got home. I, OTOH, wanted to take some of the smooshier blueberries for some chemical-free tie-dye, but no one would let me :( I dunno, the idea of throwing mooshy blueberries at a t-shirt and watching the big resultant purple splotches sounded fun to me...
      But it was a relaxing weekend, and we got into Noho for a while, and biked through Amherst, ate at Bart's, went to Atkins... all the stuff I adore :) Burnt the inside of my thighs, but the rest of my legs were untanned. Odd, itching-wise. Big Potluck. Big Fire. Wheeeee! I was happily surrounded by half-naked bisexuals all wearing Tevas, who thought my Pooh Pillow was a great thing :)

      Colin is trying to get me hooked on Babylon 5. However, he chooses to taunt me with some of his knowledge, but never actually answers any of my questions. If I had a working VCR, I could just borrow all the episodes and not have to worry about his cruel dangling of foreknowledge. Instead, I have to tolerate his acting like a Vorlon.

      Hurricane Island Arthur's mom is an Outward Bound instructor, so we got to go up to Hurricane Island for a few days, and have a great time. I did bang up my knee rather noticeably, "exhibiting bad rock-climbing techniques" as Arthur says, but if he didn't show me the right way to climb, how was I to know any better? His excuse is that it wasn't real rock-climbing. For him - he's a foot taller than I am! There are some hiking spots that for him are mere tall steps but for me involve said "rock-climbing technique."

      View from Rooftop I spent July Fourth on a friend's rooftop deck, with a perfect view of the fireworks, and no crowds. (Not to mention birthday cake and ice cream!) We couldn't get the local station that was broadcasting from the Esplanade, so the hostess put on the new SW soundtrack - despite being completely unintentional, it coordinated quite well with the display. Thankfully, the heat wave had broken a bit by then, so being outdoors was bearable.


      Jeremy, Arthur, and I went up to Vermont on a Biversity trip, and I'm ever-so-glad we did! It was beautiful, and I hadn't been up there in years. It was definitely one of those moments when i realize, truly realize, how glad I am to be back in New England. I just got some of those contented warm fuzzies that make me smile, just by looking over the lake.

      I have a new obsession - playing Perquacky. It's a different form of Boggle, basically, and now I see the cubes in my sleep. Aieeeee! My current goal is to be able to hold my own in Scrabble games with Arthur's family, or cribbage games with Dave.

      Arthur is a psycho - he voluntarily spent a day biking from Boston to Provincetown. Blech! But at least it meant a relaxing weekend on the Cape, and Arthur in his bike shorts (yum!). And Provincetown, of course, which is never a bad thing. (Unless you're dealing with a misogynist gay man who insists on only talking to men, even when a woman asks him a question. ARGH! I hate sexist pigs!)

      Oh WOW was the weather amazing for the long weekend! I got to go to the beach, and relax, and get my first sunburn in 15 years. It's so nice to be away from all that bloody humidity in DC. I like walking out my door in the morning and smelling a sea breeze. The weather has been phenomenal.
      tomato drawing It's also given me an opportunity to work in our garden a lot - I'm growing tomato sauce :) I find myself content to be out there in the morning watering everything, and checking all my basil plants like a protective mother. I feel so crudely domesticated - I planted petunias in the back of the yard. What a grown-uppish sort of thing to do. Hopefully the plethora of herbs will flourish in time for the housewarming, so I can make fresh pesto and tomato sauce out of all our vegetables :)

      It's baseball season! I'm so excited - I went to a game in Fenway for the first time in 3 years - and got to watch us almost sweep the Yanks ;) The view was great, and I got to see my man Nomar slide into third on this fabulous triple right in front of me. And it seemed like everyone was at this game. Woohoo!

      The Movie - I did, of course, go opening day to see it with friends, and I knew the critics panned it big time, but I mean c'mon - it's still a film we've all waited 16 years to see.
      Well, it really was as bad as the critics said it was, and for the reasons they said. (Does this mean I should be looking for a job as a film critic?) It's not just bad acting - bad acting made the original movie entertaining at least. This was just a lack of acting at all - no attempt at doing more than reciting lines. Which fits in with the idea that the actors were just walking graphics, with no personality. The animated characters had more personality, and they were racial stereotypes. (The Trade Federation just happened to have Asian accents? Gimme' a break!) Blech. And the pacing was awful. Yet everyone else seems to love it. I'll have to watch it again in a better theater (I miss the Uptown!) and see if it grows on me. 'Sides, now that I've met someone who agrees with me about Ewan McGregor, I have someone to watch it with for the right reasons.
      I found it no end amusing that Arthur's mom managed to see it before he did.

      The wonderfully wacky folks at Wunderland are now embarking upon a new venture, Contagious Dreams, where they hope to become an internet storefront for other small games companies. They're looking for games to test and promote.

      Beth signed me up for Six Degrees, and I've been really into it - I've always been fascinated by the concept of 6 degrees of separation, and my life has recently been reminding me of how small the world is.
      [Addendum: So when I finally actually met Jay in person, we counted at least 7 independent ways we were 1 degree apart. That's scary, especially since I'm sure there are more.]
      What I've been finding most interesting is that while my queer friends are also into 6 Degrees, my straight-boy friends - geek and non-geek alike - are totally averse to it. People who spend half their time on-line anyway care nothing for it. Now, why on earth is it such a glaring orientation split? I mean, that's only 10 percent of the world that can be connected this way - it's those straight boys who know lots of other straight people that I need to connect to. After all, not all of my friends are incestuous queers!

      I hadn't worn heels since my high school prom when I found myself looking frantically for some dress shoes for the office holiday party. (Held at Wye Woods, where people were dressed to the nines one night, and rolling in gigantoid leaf piles the next morning.)
      Well, I didn't quite kill myself wearing these things in the dark on gravel, which still amazes me. So what? you ask. Well, as a self-identified butch, wearing heels really grossed me out. Until I realized how much fun it is to dress up like that once in a blue moon.
      So, I now own my second pair of heels - this time, black suede boots :) I'm realizing that it really does feel different to be wearing them - I'm no longer the shortest person everywhere. I've discovered the true reason behind such obscene things! To actually feel taller than other people - notice; do we see men wearing them? No! And if they do, they're ridiculed.

      I'm now teaching a class on the Internet for this neat organization Byte Back, which teaches computer literacy skills to low-income DC residents.

      I'm hooked on bridge now, I'm afraid - I played with a new partner for the New Year's Tournament, and we tied for first :) Wowsers!

      1998


      I also seriously followed elections for the first time in my life this year. I'm devastated that Cellucci won (despite the fact that I happened to like Swift before she changed all her stances to match his), so maybe this is the first indication that my being in Maryland rather than Massachusetts isn't all bad - at least we managed to fend off Sauerbrey down here. (However slim the margin!)
      After covering Fred Tuttle in the Rural Update, I was definitely amused to see Fred get 23% of the vote in Vermont's Senate race. I love New England :)
      Arthur works for the Center for Responsive Politics, and programs their state databases of campaign contributions - if you want to see scary politics in action, read some of their reports.

      I'm so excited that I get to make it to Creating Change after all! And, hopefully, I'll also get to go up to Boston this winter for OutWrite '99. I found the Ms. Foundation Institute to be so inspiring that I'm almost afraid of how overwhelming all these other conferences will be.

      My Arabic class is going fairly well, so far. Challenging - which is great :)

      I finally talked Arthur into taking a Ballroom Dancing class with me this month. How's that for scary!

      Ben bought me a package of Butterfingers the other day. So what? you ask. Well, it was actually a package of bittyfingers. So I don't know whether or not to eat them now. (I've never had any auto-cannibalistic urges.)

      Jeff, Derek, and Scottie just had a housewarming party, proving that Beth is right - all the Cool Kids do live in Boston (or at least Cambridge). So anyway, I flew up there and had a great time seeing lots and lots of people as they sung Amherst songs above Alewife Parkway.

      I've always been a baseball fan, but am far away from my beloved Red Sox. So, Red Sox cap on, I've ventured into Camden Yards for an Orioles game. What a nice change of pace to see a home team win, y'know? Although, thanks to Nomar, the Sox were in great shape this year!
      Which nearly led me into a serious dilemma. Pittsfield used to have a farm team for the Chicago Cubs. So I used to go to Cubs' games, root for Mark Grace, and eat ice cream bars. Which makes me, well, a masochist, I guess, for being a fan of two such hopeless teams.
      Two teams that haven't won a World Series since before my grandparents were born - and could have faced each other in the World Series this year. Who'd'a thunk it?

      This August I got to relax on a beach on Cape Cod with Arthur for vacation. Of course, I spent some time in Provincetown like a good little dyke. This was the start of some travelling for me, work-related and personal, which unfortunately involved missing the BiNet Retreat (last year's was a blast!).
      In late September I hosted a Lambda Sci-Fi Video Party (and bought a tv!), and following on last year's huge success of a BNDC Holiday Party, you can expect us to be hosting this December's as well.
      November has me hosting the BNDC Women's potluck, and hopefully making it to Creating Change in Pittsburgh (gratuitous link to the only person I know in Pittsburgh).
      Some of my travelling involved a trip to Atlanta for the Ms. Foundation's Institute on Women and Economic Development. I had an amazing time there, met some fabulous people, and even found a folk singer I actually like!

      A card-shark at heart, although not talented in reality, I have been feeling rather old as I've been playing bridge with ben lately. I even won recently! I'm rather addicted to games in general, actually, and have been playing anything I can as often as possible - sometimes I even win! (But not at Blockhead.) Recently, we were honored to have Kristin host a Gaming Party at Wunderland.Earth. Wow - what an amazing place! Games, games, and MORE games! Shel is encouraging everyone to buy their new game Aquarius, and I have to agree. (Regardless of my late January birthday...)

      The band I'm in travelled to San Francisco this summer, and it was pretty exciting (although I missed it :(. Last year we got to play for the Inaugural Parade, which was too cool - it was freezing out! And I'm in the South, too, where it's supposed to be Hot. But be sure to make it to our fall concert!

      Besides occasionally performing, I've been trying to catch up on my reading, and updating my pitiful excuse for a web page. Between working, commuting, and sleeping, I don't have much free time these days.

      Being in Washington, DC, it's hard to avoid all the politics going on around here, so I've actually done the unthinkable and started reading parts of the newspaper besides the comics and sports sections.

      Heidi and Shel just sent around an announcement for their latest web site, which also tends to be work-related. (The fact that almost everything is work-related these days scares me no end.)


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