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.
"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*
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.
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...
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...
Mmmmm...
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.
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).
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.
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.
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."
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.
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.)