P: New Year in Boston

The weather is really starting to suck here, surprise, surprise. The sidewalks and streets are a disgusting mix of slush and ice, and essentially the precipitation can't make up its mind as to whether it wants to be sleet or snow or rain or what. I've been less than productive since returning Sunday night, but I have to say, I've had the best of intentions. Sunday I cooked a vegetable stew--zucchini, onion, cabbage, Morningstar fake ground "meat," chicken stock, chili powder, paprika, and kale--I've never cooked with it before, and I thought it would wilt in the stew, so I left them in stringy chunks, but that didn't quite work. I also made a pot of quinoa in the rice cooker, and I'm not used to eating it. It tastes like nothing. At least, nothing appetizing.

Monday night some classmates and I went to Milky Way, a bowling alley-bar-restaurant, where they do a $7 pizza buffet Mon evenings. Naturally, when I am put in front of a buffet, I try to "milk" (get it? pun??) my money's worth. It was in this neighborhood called Jamaica Plain, which is rough around the edges but has recently had a renaissance among artists and lesbians (it's also the origin of the ice cream shop JP Lick's). It's also a pain in the arse to get to. I walked for 20 minutes to catch the #39 bus, rode that for 20 min, then arrived. When I looked it up on a map, it would take the same amount of time just to walk the whole thing door-to-door from my apt, , but you have to cross the Emerald Necklace (the name given to a long string of green park), and it's kind of super ghetto, esp as a single gal at night.

Here's an example of how small world Boston is--a few blocks after I left my apt , I saw a young couple (presumably BU studnets) walking behind me. I was a tiny bit turned around, so I asked them the best way to get to Longwood and Huntington. They pointed me there, and I stopped at CVS to try to fill up my Charlie card (T pass), but they didn't have a T pass htingamabob. Anyway, I get to the 39 bus stop, and I see this couple there. I get off at Perkins St and Centre St, find my way to Milky Way, get a drink at the bar, then meet up with my classmates, and then I see this couple again. It's like, the only place anyone goes to in JP on a Monday night would be this bowling alley bar.

This wouldn't be quite so uncanny if I didn't find that everyone in Boston always refers to the same hot spots in a given neighborhood: Zaftig's deli and Publick House bar in Brookline, Sunset Bar & Grill and Super 88 in Allston, Bukowski's in Back Bay, JJ Foley's near South Station, Grendel's in Harvard Sq, Masa in South End, always Fugakyu for Japanese or Tamarind Bay for Indian... I'm struck by the unanimity in social hotspots for Bostonians young and old, student or professional.

Anyway, bowling at Milky Way was with these small bocce balls, and you get 3 rolls to knock down the pins. I came in 8th place out of 8 people, but what can you do? Bowling's not my forte.

The past couple of days have also been tied up at the BU School of Dental medicine, which is in a kind of pain in the ass location as well. So far I went to 2 separate 2+ hour appts, and I have another 3hr appt in 2 weeks, followed by another consult. I rue the day I dropped $300 for their stupid plan. I tried to stage a coup to get a refund, but the director started ignoring my emails. I was going to threaten to write a negative piece in BU Today on the dental plan (claiming, falsely, that I was a freelancer for the online daily paper), but then my conscience, I guess, thought better of it.

I also made friends with this Korean kid in the theology school, and we are starting a Korean-English language exchange, 1-2x a week. It will be a way for him to practice his English and for me to practice my Korean. Hopefully by the time I'm ready to ship off, I will be better versed in the subtler points of grammar and conversation.

I'm writing today from the BU gym, after having run 4 very slow miles, and having done a couple of free weight exercises and some crunches. I have been taking it easy since I've been back, as I felt a twinge in my knee while running on Monday. I iced it up and took Tues and Wed off, and today was going to go at it to make up for the missed days, but then I started to taste the cofffee I had drunk a few hours earlier coming up the other way. Gross.

Tonight I'm meeting some kids in my running group at this restaurant called The Fireplace in Brookline/Washington Sq--Morgan, Sydney, Christine and I met there for brunch a while back. Thurs nights they do live jazz, so it should be fun! And tomorrow's my roommate's birthday (Morgan, Sheila's a day older than you!), so she's having a little dinner party back at the apt.

Well, wish me a more productive day tomorrow than today!