Media-crity

Sunday, as I mentioned, I went to the Sowa Open Market with a craft-minded friend. I don’t think we stopped laughing the entire day, which was nice. It started when I was on the orange line heading down to meet her. A little girl, maybe 4 or 5, sat next to an older man in his mid-late 50s. She looked up at him and, in that disarming way kids have, asked him his name. He said it was Kim and asked hers. She looked at him, broke into a big grin and shook her head. “No it isn’t!” she said, as though he had just told her it was Mickey Mouse. “Your name is Grampy!” He took it very well and confirmed that he was, indeed, someone’s Grampy. She happily sat next to him, with her parents in the seats across from her, for a few minutes before leaping up to look out the window. She was so absorbed in watching the scenery go by that she didn’t notice when he got off until the next stop.

Furrowing her brow, she looked around, concerned. “Where did Grampy go?” she asked, confused. Our section of the train once again burst out laughing.

At the market we saw all sorts of neat stuff like decoupage map bracelets, purses with all kinds of lovely fabrics, beach-glass-and-metal pendants, handmade stationary, paintings, antiques, illustrations …

We looked at every booth and I came away with two purchases, which I am going to plug here because the artists were both so awesome and they deserve to be plugged and to have lots of people buy stuff.

The first thing I bought was the book Goodbye, Penguins by Greg Stones, the plot of which is “fifteen penguins go for a walk and disappear one by one in humorously tragic ways.”

It’s the best book I’ve read in a long time. Check this out!

One penguin was abducted.

That’s just one of the pages from the book! He also has a bunch of hilariously random watercolors involving penguins, robots, zombies, mermaids, and sheep. This is one of my favorites.

Penguins, Man, Baseball

Seriously. My friend and I spent 20 minutes in his booth crying from laughing so hard. And we weren’t the only ones.

The other thing I bought was a print from Eric Sturtevant. He draws this adorably, hilariously cartoon-y animals. If you have kids, you should definitely check this guy out. In fact, if I know your kids, they might just be getting some art this Christmas!

Look at how cute this is:

“Early Reading Time”

And some of them, like the one I got, are just hilarious:

“Medieval Firefighter”

He ALSO just got a contract with Barnes & Noble for puzzles and kids card games, which is so awesome for him. Anyone for Old Maid?

Finally, this is a plug for someone who isn’t local but I so wish was. And if she was she would have had the most popular booth at the market.

To start, my friend Laurel and her husband Lorne are some of the awesomest people I know. You may remember Lorne and Laurel from when they visited this winter, or from the link to her blog over there on the side. Well now they’ve gotten their shop, PenguinBot open for business! Please go check it out, you won’t regret the click.

For instance, wouldn’t you be the most stylish lady on the block with this tote?

Or how about this knit clutch with HAND-WHITTLED handles? HAND-WHITTLED, PEOPLE.

Or she takes custom orders! I had one custom-made back in February and eagle-eyed readers can spot it in several pictures around the blog, such as running into and out of the Pacific Ocean this past July. I carry it pretty much every day and I love it. It has a little pocket that’s the perfect size for my iPod and Charlie Card, curing me of my habit of tossing the card in after I tapped it and then spending 5 minutes the next time I needed to get on the T cursing and dumping the contents of my bag onto benches and floors throughout the city. She has also done things like custom diaper bags and a bag with a special pocket for a hunting knife. The possibilities are endless!

And now I will close with a frightening encounter I had on my way home Sunday.

I was standing on the orange line platform at downtown crossing, waiting for the train that had just been announced, when this guy came stumbling up. A guy carrying a large duffel bag, waving an American flag, and wearing a freaking Jason mask! He stood on the yellow line and yelled at the oncoming train, waving his flag and thrusting his hips at the train, then turned and lurched at me and got right in my face and yelled something before I jumped aside and he continued. I ran down to get in the next car because I was NOT riding with that dude. I sat all the way to the side and could see him in the next car. He stood way down at the far end of the train, leaning against the door to the conductor’s compartment. I obviously couldn’t hear him but I could see him gesturing crazily and waving his flag in peoples faces STILL WEARING THE CREEPY JASON MASK. I felt like I was in a horror movie and he was about to storm the conductor’s compartment and take over the train.

Fortunately, he didn’t. He got off at North Station and sat down on the bench.

CREEPY. Also funny now that I no longer fear having a supporting role in Final Destination XXVIII.

This is what I do when left to my own devices on a lazy Sunday.

I made it using Scrapblog, which is the coolest site EVER and makes all sorts of fun little things like this. It’s supposed to be for digital scrapbooks but I’ve been using it for, well, stuff like this.

HA! Pedroia’s up and what sounded like all of Fenway was singing Happy Birthday to him. DAMNIT WHY AM I NOT THERE???

All the happy birthday songs in the world will not fix the dismal lead the Blue Jays have though. SIGH.

…aaaaaaaaaand he’s out. 0-for-3 so far today.

I put on my robe and wizard hat jersey and Red Sox cap. And chug the diet coke.

Hmm. It’s mostly been pictures and bitching about Manny, huh?

Well let’s see. I turned 26 and I got to go into the Pacific Ocean for the first time. That’s about the most exciting thing.

For my birthday weekend I flew out to Portland (Oregon) to hang out with some cool girls. It was one of the best weekends of my life. Much of it too hard to articulate but suffice it to say it was also one of the best birthdays of my life.

Here are two of my favorite pictures from my birthday, both taken in Cannon Beach by Adria.

OMG THE OCEAN!! YAAAAAAY!!!!!

OMG THE OCEAN IS COLD!!!!!!!!!

Other than that, working hard, playing hard (My So-Called 90’s Night at the Common Ground in Allston, The Kinsale, Original Sin cider …), and not wanting the summer to end.

If you weren’t watching last night’s Sox game, let me set the scene. Sox vs. Yankees. Yankees one up in the series. Score’s 4-3 Sox. A two hour rain delay that resulted in 4 false starts for Papelbon to close the game. Finally it’s the top of the 9th. He retired the previous 3 batters handily, including A-Rod, which is why he was brought out in the first place.

Cano’s at bat, full count, representing both the tying run and the end of the game.

Papelbon fires another one. There was drama and tension and then there were … cars. Driving in circles. And somewhere out in the universe, BASEBALL WAS STILL HAPPENING.

Yep. Fox cut to Nascar. Yes, they had been warning since the game resumed that we might have to switch to FX at some point. But who was paying attention? The game had begun at 3:30, it was now nearly 9. Papelbon was dazzling, the Yankees were a hair from losing, who’s thinking about changing the channel? AND IN THE MIDDLE OF A PITCH NO LESS.

I actually screamed, as I’m sure many people did. I shudder to think how close we came to missing it. Do you know how many channels there are to scroll through in the guide to even find FX? Particularly when you’re watching NESN HD, which is in the 800s, and FX is in the 20s or so? And what of the people who don’t have cable?

But, in the end, we found it just in time to see Cano’s last foul tip, then the groundout. Even had time to see Pedroia swoop in, which made me very happy.

But Fox, never again. And what was up with sending Nascar to a commercial right after anyway?? Stupid. Stupid stupid stupid.

Ugh. On Friday I got this lump behind my ear that I assumed was a zit. It was definitely not a swollen gland. I’ve had those and this feels way different. It was squishy, for one.

It got more and more painful and seemed to grow and shrink. At least it was on Friday and for a bit on Saturday. Then it stopped doing that and pushing my earlobe out.

Saturday night I barely slept because everytime I rolled over onto that side it’d hurt. By Sunday my entire ear hurt and the area was hot and throbbing. I was all set to get an emergency doctor’s appointment today and have it dealt with but then I started getting pain down my neck and into my shoulder.

I called the nurse line and they advised that I be seen in 6 hours. At that point it was after 11 which meant, you got it, ER time! It was a cyst and obviously infected and they don’t like to play around with diabetics, I know, so off I went for my 4th ER trip in 6 months. It was empty so we got in right away.

They injected lidocaine into it (that was the worst part, OWWWWWW THE BURNING, and it barely worked anyway) and cut it open to drain it. The PA who did it was really nice. He was explaining MRSA and superbugs to me so I mentioned taking micro and nursing school so we talked about that. He treated the whole drainage process like a lecture in class, which was funny and kept me entertained.

He drained and scraped and did all sorts of unspeakable things to it that make me cringe just thinking of them. Then he put a wick in there (gauze, to help it drain further and keep it cleaner) and taped and gauzed it up. I have a very attractive bandage on my face now. I have to go back today to get the wick removed.

I’d put the pain of the drainage at above infiltrated IVs and just below having my retinas burned away by lasers, simply because this was a lot quicker, I didn’t have to have a lens attached to my eye, and I had Nate in the room to hang onto.

So I’ve been a little slack on the picture posting but the truth is that my days are all pretty much the same. Work, gym, home, dinner, sleep. And since the phone-on-the tracks incident I’m loathe to whip my phone out to snap a pic of something interesting on the subway platform. Then there are things like yesterday’s melee but I sure as hell wasn’t in any position to be taking pictures of THAT. Nevermind that either or both participants likely would have just turned on me.

So, maybe a mix of pictures and stories is in order.

Like today. Today I made this cannellini and parmesan soup that I posted about over a year ago. I switched up the recipe a bit, using a small handful of frozen chopped onion instead of chopping a large one, adding some minced garlic, and of course the ditalini. The soup was fantastic if I may say so myself, though not terribly soupy. I liked it but anyone looking for more liquid might want to decrease the casta by a quarter to half.

It’s now packaged into some small tupperwares to bring to work for lunch along with my ciabatta and cheddar. I’m really looking forward to it.

Also, I have calf muscles! Hooray! Not sure how I’m going to do with the couch-2-5k but it’s definitely doing SOMETHING. It better be since I just got me some fancy new sneakers. I went to Boston Running Company in Beacon Hill and got my feet videotaped while I walked on a treadmill to analyze my gait and get properly fitted. It was a cute little shop and the proprietor is so friendly and helpful. If you’re in Boston and thinking about taking up running, or even walking, I’d highly recommend BRC.

Tomorrow it’s back to the old work-gym-dinner-bed grind. Right now, though, just bed.

Echoing Amanda and Melissa, this week can suck it, culminating in today’s experience on the bus, which I will recount for you now. May contain some Language.

EDIT: I drew this diagram to better illustrate the situation. Enjoy!

So I was on the shuttle bus to the gym today (trains are undergoing maintenance and they’re running buses between some stations) and minding my own business when a frickin royal rumble broke out.

Two guys were sitting perpendicular to each other, an old guy and a guy who later turned out to have a knife. I will call them Old Guy (OG) and Knife Guy (KG). OG was sleeping through most of the trip. He half woke up and took his hat off and laid it on his lap, tapping KG in the arm. KG flipped his lid and started in on OG, who was still half-asleep, screaming “You just touched me, mofo! Don’t touch me!” He stood up and got in OG’s face, shoving him. OG stood up and shoved KG back and it was off to the races.

I was sitting directly across from KG and tried to get out once I saw what was going down but there was no time and I was trapped as these two beat the crap out of each other, often times shoving each other onto me. While the bus was still moving so there would have been nowhere to go anyway, since it was a packed bus. In the back we were screaming to get the driver to stop and he finally did. Fortunately we were at the station by then so a guy in the front hopped off to flag a cop.

Meanwhile, in the back, OG is bleeding, KG has blood all over his jacket. KG’s gf was jumping on his back to try to get him off OG and he just shoved her off. KG then headbutted OG in the face and OG fell back, dazed and gushing blood now. KG took this lull as an opportunity to pull out his friggin switchblade and start waving it around. I took the lull as an opportunity to get the hell outta there.

Shortly after that KG took off yelling “I’LL GET YOU MUTHAFUCKA!!!” OG followed him off the bus, threw his bag down and yelled “I’M RIGHT HERE, COME AND GET ME!” Sweet. Other passengers started trying to see if OG was okay but he resisted their advances with such coy remarks as “What the fuck is it to you?” and “Leave me the fuck alone fucker!” He also yelled at several of them to get the fuck back on the bus and fucking drive, only getting angrier when they informed him that they were not actually the driver. Fortunately the cops showed up at that point.

I kept it cool until I called Nate, at which point I all the terror and tension escaped in the form of sobbing. Strangers tried to comfort me, which was nice but mortifying so I pulled myself back together right quick.

I then gave a nice lengthy statement to the police and while I was doing that they caught KG so we all breathed a sigh of relief that he wasn’t going to be coming back with his knife or a posse or an uzi.

So KG is presumably in jail, OG is off to sleep it off (I saw the cops tell him he could go when he refused treatment. He was kind of drunk and apparently a notorious homeless/Veteran character in the area), and I’m pretty banged up for having nothing to do with the whole thing but I do have a cool story.

Moral of the story: you can leave your hat on. In fact, the management would prefer it if you did.

The End.

This weekend we did much the same thing we did last Valentines Day Weekend-ish: We saw a friend play the character of Melissa Gardner in “Love Letters.” Last year we saw Amanda and Alan. This year was Carolyn and some guy who looked like Alec Baldwin playing a politician. I thought about turning it into a tradition but quickly squashed that idea because I don’t think I could handle seeing it again and again and again. It’s a very powerful, moving play but damn is it depressing.

Both were quite convincing in their respective roles even though I seriously cannot handle that play.

Before going to the play we spent the day being Bostonites. That is to say we took the subway to two different malls to hit bookstores, Gap, and Banana Republic. I loved every minute of it. We hit Copley/The Pru first for B&N, Gap, and BR. We decided against B&N because the book I needed for bookclub is only in hardcover and we don’t have a B&N rewards card. We hit the Galleria next and each got a book at Borders. Then it was off to Harvard Square where we decided to eat at Bartley’s. I got the Dick Cheney while Nate got … what he always gets, which is a burger with cheddar and tomato.

Today was much less exciting as I just spent it in my pajamas. I have no idea what I’ll even do for the daily photo unless it’s just my butt sitting in my chair.

Tomorrow: a day off! Hooray! This has been the best weekend between waking up Saturday thinking it was Friday and then realizing I in fact did NOT have to get up and could go back to sleep, no class on Saturday, and not having to get up tomorrow.

We’re back in Mass after our whirlwind Jersey weekend. It was … weird being back in Ridgewood for that long. Especially being at the womens club a scant two blocks from GW (my middle school) and right in my old neighborhood. We stopped at the Rite Aid in town so I could get a snack and though I haven’t been there in many many years, I walked in and instinctively headed to the cooler and reached in for a snapple before I remembered that I was there for a diet coke.

I’m still a little shellshocked after going to Garden State Plaza. I, like any other self-respecting North Jersey kid, spent many an evening walking its corridors. I remember when they built “the new section” and you could tell the difference between them by looking at the floortiles. Now I don’t think I could find my way to the food court. Sigh.

The wedding was so much fun, as an event that gathers my entire family in one place can only be. The ceremony was simple and sweet and the reception was quite the party. I was sad to have to come back home, and not just because we had to drive 5 hours.

There were some low points involving illness and hospitals and stuff that’s not fit for a public blog. Not involving me, don’t worry.

Mostly, I’m pretty lucky to get to be related to this bunch of loons and I treasure every minute I get with them.

I feel like all I do anymore is run. Running after buses, trains, into class, to catch the elevator, to the gym, to meet someone. I feel like I’m always late, always 10 minutes behind. This weekend will be no exception. I have class Saturday, leaving at 12:30 when Nate picks me up and we head to NJ after a quick stop in Hartford to pick up a Lisa Gaumond original. We have to be in NJ by late afternoon for coffee with my aunt the bride to talk photography, then dinner with my cousin/bff and her husband, then the wedding Sunday. I’m getting palpitations thinking about it.

I dropped my chem class because I was drowning in it after missing the first class thanks to an unpublicized room change that left me wandering 2 stops away from the class building for 45 minutes. One less thing to rush for.

Now it’s time to rush off to bed. While I do that, you should all read this really cool article about my Uncle Brian. Especially if you’re into the theatah. The article’s old, from when he got the Gypsy Robe, but well worth the read.

After taking Friday off to let the meds really do their work (I’m on a taper of Prednisone, hence yesterday’s pic of my pills. I took 6 the first day, 5 today, 4 tomorrow, and so on) I was raring to get back into a productive life. Minus the gym because I can’t walk all that far without being winded but it’s a start!

This weekend my internet friend Laurel and her husband are in town from the far west for a conference. She’s tons of fun to talk to online and it carries over into real life. She flew in this morning and crashed on our office floor (well, on an air mattress) for a couple of hours because I couldn’t in good conscience let her sleep on the airport floor. Then we got on the train and I sent her on her way while I headed to class.

Got to class and … no one was there. No prof, no students, no note. I’m confused and concerned and annoyed because this is the third problem I have had this semester with this school and its class locations.

So back I went to downtown crossing-ish to shop a bit until Laurel finished her Fenway tour. When we met up again, we went toward the Common, taking the long way, because I’m terrible with directions. We were quite a pair, climbing Beacon Hill stopping to rest every few blocks and stopping on a bench to take our handfuls of pills. I should mention that she’s about 4.5 months pregnant and not just a wimp like me.

After that we met Martha, another internet friend I’ve hung out with a few times since moving up here, at went to Lulu’s Bake Shoppe for incredible cupcakes that I will dream about for years to come. Mine was pumpkin with cream cheese frosting. More please.

From ye olde bake shoppe, we went to the aquarium! I’m kicking myself for forgetting my camera because I can’t show you all the fun stuff we saw. Mostly penguins. We also learned that clipping a sting ray’s barb hurts no more than cutting your own finger off. I’m guessing we got the new girl to give the talk. There were also giant turtles, creepy eels, blind fish, birds, fur seals, a tent, and more penguins. The Rockhoppers had one giant penguin that just stayed on top of the rocks like the one in Happy Feet. He was the unanimous favorite, especially when we passed by again on our way out and he had stood up to shower in the spray they were using to clean the rocks.

THEN, after parting ways, Nate and I met Laurel and her very funny husband for drinks in Kenmore. BU kids never fail to amuse and horrify. The boys tried a whole range of beers while we sipped our sodas and fended off encroaching elbows on our table, which was apparently the best table in the whole place judging by the way the guy next to me lovingly patted it.

Caught the last train home, thank god. I love you, Boston, but another hour of trains on the weekend might be nice.

Tomorrow, more wandering until Laurel’s flight back to the wild west. Then I guess there’s some sort of big sports game on TV.

Now, though, bed. I love bed. And sleeping in. I love that, too.

I have a new job starting Monday so I wanted to get myself cleaned up and prettified to get my confidence going. So I chopped my hair off and dyed it red. Problem solved!

For my birthday today I got this:

I was supposed to get this, too, but Boston traffic decided that wasn’t going to happen:

However, hopefully tomorrow I will get the best gift of all, this:

BUT, my birthday isn’t over yet because tonight, while the kiddies are busy buying book 7 (we preordered ours from Amazon), we are going to see this:

My aunt and uncle had a little bbq today sort of for my birthday (less than a week!) and to introduce the new pup, Mojo.

My uncle used to be a chef at an inn so we were really excited for tasty food and were not disappointed. They had grilled chicken and steak and homemade ketchup-type dipping sauce, plus grilled squash and zucchini, and awesome potato salad that my aunt made. I don’t normally even EAT potato salad and I had seconds! Then for dessert we had lemon pudding cake that I haven’t been able to get out of my mind since the last time I had it over the winter/spring.

Nate had to leave to get to his show but mom and I hung around and went through some stuff mom had gotten from my grandma. Pictures, old letters, cards. Some of it was very funny, like arts-and-crafts projects my aunts and uncles did and groovy 70s fashions.

So back to the pup! He has a long fancy name, Breezy Ridge Someswissgrapeiforget, but he’s Mojo for short. Nate took some awesome pictures of the little guy but I just can’t wait to show him off so here are some of his puppy pics.

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Isn’t he cute? He’s a Swiss Mountain Dog and very sweet. When we got there he was pretty sleepy so he dozed under the table a lot. After we ate, as the weather cooled down, he got a lot more rambunctious and started chewing on the (metal) patio table, our feet, my mom’s bags, flowers …

When Nate has those pictures I’ll be sure to post them! He’s a good little guy.

EDITED TO ADD: Mr. Mojo’s first photoshoot is up!

I don’t even know where to begin!

1. We are now a two-car family again. Thanks to Nate’s incredibly generous parents, he was able to get this beauty. Meet Cecilia.

2. I am annoyed at the baggers at Stop and Shop. I purposely use the self-scan registers so I don’t get the weird looks or eye-rolls when I ask to use my own bag.

Wait, that’s another store altogether. If your store SELLS and ENCOURAGES the use of reusable grocery bags, then your employees should not be so rude to the customers that use them. Christ.

Anyway, I use the self-scan because it’s just easier. However, now the SnS employees have taken to pacing in front of the self-scan registers and bagging the groceries for the customers. I get it, it’s helpful, it cuts down on lines and saves time, but it’s driving me CRAZY. When I have one or two items, just leave them be!

3. I had an interview at a large corporation on Friday. I’m pretty excited about it. I’m looking forward to a building with amenities like a gym and a cafeteria. I’m even looking forward to having a commute, though I know that will wear off quickly.

4. Last night we went to Wood-n-Tap with Francine and took a spontaneous trip to Northampton. It was a lot of fun. Cute little town with a lot of neat shops. I wouldn’t mind living there.