P: Personal Calling Cards, Tim's Visit to Publick House, etc

I, too, apologize again for being remiss in my blog duties, which I generally look forward to as a nice break from the hectic nature of grad school. So it goes. As it stands now, my week is front-loaded; class, teaching, and class happen M-T-W respectively, so by Wed night I can breathe a big sigh of relief until the next week. Which is kind of awesome. Okay, actually, I have this hip-hop, LA style class on Thurs nights, but that doesn't really count.

After a hellacious 3ish weeks of long days and nights of writing JANE (my reinterpretation of Jane Eyre), which involved skipping the gym or cutting down my routine, endlessly shoving gummy bears (inspired by Diane's gummy cake!), pretzel nuggets, tortilla chips, bagels, muffins, and every other carbohydrate known to man, into my mouth to fuel my writing, while drinking way too many bottles of diet Pepsi, and eating out of the prepared foods aisle at our local supermarket, Johnny's (platters of mac 'n cheese, bowtie pasta and meatballs, chicken parm with spaghetti...sense a theme here?).

A classmate made a comment that our novel(la) process ages you, like the before/after shots of presidents, and that was a pretty depressing thought.

SIGH.

Before I kick off on another story due for my workshop with Daphne (this Monday), I shall recount a bit of what's been going on the past few days.

Sat evening: Tim arrives; we go to the Roadhouse, where we ordered, AHEM!:
-1 Jameson, neat (me)
-1 Whale Tail pale ale (me)
-2 Brooklyn lagers (Tim)
-Full rack of pork ribs, smoked
-Cole slaw
-Collard greens
-Hush puppies
-Buffalo-meat chili dogs (2)
-French fries

(photo snapped post-carnage)

Can we say red meat, heart attack carnage? Oh my heavens, it was delicious. Particularly the buffalo meat hot dogs with french fries, which was actually only $10, given how fat the dogs were, and how huge the heapings of chili and fries were.

Afterwards, we went to the Publick House, a Trappist monk gastropub known for their Belgian selections, as well as their beer-infused savory menu. There we were joined by my roomie Sheila and our friend Amy. (Amy with the bangs, Sheila in the middle!)

Then my friend Ian (a brewer at six point) and 2 of his brewer friends came to join us at TPH; they were in town for Extreme Beer Fest, which was sold out, so unfortunately, I never made it there.

In classic Patty style, that night I kept trying to increase my funness for the night, or maximize my production possibilities frontier curve, if you will. We started talking with this other kid who was applying for grad school in marketing research, and he was kind of dorky and maybe not the smartest watt in the bulb (err...consulting Morgan's cliche dictionary as we speak to correct that idiomatic phrase), but I was now drinking Wachusett IPAs (very tasty, btw), and I should've been talking with Ian and catching up with him, but instead, I'm talking to this retarded guy, and while I'm in the bathroom, Sheila tells me he said to Amy, "You're really tall. I have a friend who's tall and she can't wear heels. That must be really bad for you." And then he said to Sheila, "You look like you're the responsible one. And you look like you don't eat red meat" (she does).

WTF?

Clearly, I have no filtering system, as well as severe beer goggles, and then all of a sudden we all leave in a rush, and I find this kid's card in my purse. It's not a business card, mind you; it's a PERSONAL card. I know this phenomenon might be catching on (think I read something in NYT about it), but I couldn't help but think of that moment in "Mean Girls" where the captain of the mathlete team hands out his personal calling cards.

Anyway!

Sunday, Tim had a horrible hangover (not me, thankfully), and we didn't get moving until late, so we walked in the rain (boo) for half an hour to go for brunch at The Fireplace in Brookline. I had two eggs over medium with bacon and home fries, and Tim continued the hot dog theme with baked beans. Delish. Then it was a lazy Sunday, which involved Indian takeout, watching The Boondock Saints--Willem Dafoe was AWESOME in it...and it takes place in Boston! with Irish brothers!--and then waking up early to do another cholesterol laden breakfast at Zaftig's deli in Brookline (delish again!).

So, now I'm in a mad scramble to write a new story for Monday, and then I'll have to write another 50p for Ha Jin on April 1st, and then one more story, plus I read about 14 new stories a week from my classmates, students, and assignments.

I can't freakin wait until Spring Break--- South Beach style, holla!!

lets start at the very beginning

ok, well not the *very* beginning. but the beginning of travels. 

the weekend of presidents day/valentines day i headed up to the homeland to see benjamin's new show at the new museum, "urban china," which is a showcase/exploration of china based on a very cool architectural/sociological/philosophical magazine in china with the same name. although most of it was all new to me (i hadnt heard all the details until i got there), it was really interesting & thought provoking, about how we order our lives and adapt to modern times, especially in a country like china, where there is this constant pull of modern vs. past, rural vs. urban... i got to see benjamin host a talk on saturday afternoon with jin, the editor of the magazine a.k.a. the artist, and it definitely shed more light on the exhibit and china and the intent of the magazine, which was all very cool. of course, while ben is doing his thing, im sitting there in the audience flanked by my dad on one side, and terry on the other-- and they are fighting. not inside the auditorium, but previously that day at lunch and they will resume again later- so im trying to moderate and make sure each one is enjoying the talk.  anyway, once finished we took a tour of the rest of the exhibitions up, including a very cool piece called something like "conversations about iraq,"which involves art but also has people intimately familiar with iraq who are literally just there waiting to talk to you and answer any questions you have about it. both shows- very much looking outward, culturally, politically, a nice change.

view of urban china from lobby of n.m.

us in the lobby saturday, post-talk

that night we went out with jin, his girlfriend (a best-selling novelist in china!), and another curator from the museum- to momofuku for a heavenly dinner, and then next door to the momofuku milk bar for desert. lets talk desert. candy bar pie, dulche de leche cake, passionfruit cake, compost cookie.... out of this world. i was as happy as a clam tasting all these things and somehow finding more and more room for the treats...

the rest of the weekend was similarly great- long walks in new york, an intense indian-buffet brunch that was perhaps a bad idea first thing (talk about food coma), the guggenheim, dinner w kari and nic, hanging out with my mom and sister, and a trip back involving a transfer in atlanta-- which wasnt as bad as i expected.

after a hellishly long four-days at work, my sister came to town- for an entire week! as i wrote earlier in the week, we did corral castle, the everglades, a hockey game, a dinner w coworkers... 

gators!

... and then saturday while we are the everglades, we get a call from our uncle bob, who lives in miami, and who we havent seen since we were like 12, but our aunt barbara (his wife) recently passed away, so we had all been thinking of him and them, even though we hadnt talk to him directly.  he calls and says he has an important question for me: "what size shoe do you wear?" because apparently barbara had tons and tons of shoes she never wore-- and it turns out we are both a size 10 (big feetsies for sure!). thus, our plan for sunday turns from a trip to vizcaya or to the seaquarium into a quest for some art galleries and a visit with our uncle. we got to look through tons of old family photos, including many of our dad-- looking all dark and handsome, and in some pictures, totally nerdy! (that too runs in the family as im sure you know).  i also managed to throw some of our aunt's sunglasses into the bag with all the shoes i took- and laurie and i set off- stressed, sad that we didnt know them better- its depressing. it makes you realize whatever families fight over, whatever you get so angry about- its all bullshit you know? yet its so hard for some people to deal and reconcile with it. (patty, im sure you could write your own diatribe about this).  but in the end, you've got to make the best of it. so we grabbed a severely overpriced sandwich, noodle kugel and chocolates from a gourmet store nearby, and headed to the beach to eat outside in peace. 

sporting our late but fashionable aunt's sunglasses! laurie's are totally 1970s- but we think mine stem more from the 1980s. pretty fabulous!

the rest of the evening goes by quietly and calmly, involving me baking a pseudo eggplant-parm-with-ground-turkey-and-fresh-tomatoes concoction which is delish, and we relax. monday, after a long walk up and down the beach at sunset,  i turned laurie on to the sushi place near me- a benjamin staple- which involves sushi boats that go around in water, as if on a conveyor belt. sushi dinner... but also so highly entertaining, at the same time! tuesday night was low key too- we cuddled on the sofa and watched "my so-called life" on dvd, reminessing how horribly awkward angela was in high school. 

its strange, i cant remember the last time we spent so much time together, without any other family members. i mean, its one thing to have sister-days, or meet for dinner once in a while because you're both too busy to do much else-- and while i was seriously nervous about having her for a whole week and entertaining her, it was actually almost effortless in that department. it was so nice to have her around, to go on walks, to eat meals together, drive around, laugh, hold hands, and chat right before bed. it was just so nice to know her so well for a while.  sure, there were stressful moments involving weird garbage puddles on the floor, clothing strewn about, fresh coffee poured down the drain, and not getting enough sleep- but it all balanced out in the end to be a wonderful visit.

now, as they say, alone again- naturally... the foot was sucking this weekend, but its feeling improved now so ive been trying to get some biking in (and minor spurts of running - 5 or 10 minutes, but nothing more so far). the discomfort ebbs and flows, so still taking it easy. tomorrow night my friend rachel & i are heading to a lecture/talk at the wolfsonian museum of design down in south beach re: using shipping containers as houses-- im looking forward to it! then this weekend, ill be driving up to west palm beach to see kim & ira, who are coming down from new york for a few days to stay at kim's fam's house (nearby where we stayed on our spring break last year). should be a gorgeous batch of weather-- in the 80s, sunny, beachie... -- are you getting excited for *your* visit patty?! 

for now, time to veg out and cease any thoughts for a while. i will certainly try to maintain my bloggie upkeep for the near certain future. til then, buenas noches!

xo

 

trips trips everywhere. part I.

i too have been lax about writing recently, so for that i apologise.  last weekend i was in ny for the long weekend, to see ben's show at the new museum- which was very interesting and cultural and really makes me want to visit china. theres much more to write about it but i am sitting here highly distracted by my sister who is dancing to the gypsy kings on a sunday morning in my spangled sparkly sequined forever-21 dress. go figure. yes, so my sister is here visiting- since last wednesday, until this coming wednesday. ive been running her around ragged, making her do the everglades, see an ice hockey game (panthers raaar vs. boston bruins yaaaay); and then last week in and of itself was such a shit show at work as i was working on another very intense case, so i came in early and left late every night. and then we had a fire in my building one night after getting one hour of sleep. i mean... what a week.  anyway that is all over. so below i will just attempt to do a photo-essay about the past week and will be sure to get back to reminessing once i have a momentito. 

the homeland, view from the new museum 

the corral castle, something a 100 lb man who was 5 ft tall built all on his lonesome, moving heavy tons of corral to make a slightly creepy monument to his 'sweet sixteen' - his 16 yr old fiance from latvia who then didnt want to marry him and then he was obsessed for the rest of hi life. creepy. but laurie wanted to see it. 

gators at the everglades!

more everglades

ice hockey!

i swear to be a better blogger soon. take zinc patty. its better than that airborne shit. 

xoxo

P: Long Time No Blogging!

Hugest sigh of relief because I turned in my 56p of draft 1 of my novella to Ha Jin on Wed. Granted, there were many scenes that read, [sic]: "More TK [to come]--Jane and the nanny from Bay Ridge go to Excelsior club off of Kings Highway; bleach blondes spill drink on Jane; words exchanged."

So, to celebrate, I have been taking a lot of Airborne and Vitamin C, because I got a cold from all of this stress-related hooplah, and then Thurs I cleaned my apt all day--vacuuming, dusting, scrubbing, folding, etc. I have been doing not one ounce of work since, AND I went to Great Scott's Friday night Britpop dance party in Allston, which is something like Trash at Rafifi--except the hipsters here are a little more conservative than in NY. Before that, we went to this total, total dive, unironically divey bar called Silhouette Lounge, where there were townies and college students mingled together. I mean, real townies--middle aged, moustached, blue-collar men, and I got there first and had to wait by myself for the first ten minutes, which I've done on many an occasion at other bars, but felt jittery here nonetheless, while I was drinking my Jameson neat ($5.40 for nearly a double! drink of choice when I have a cold) while sitting in a plastic booth. It reminded me of Blue and Gold, if it weren't overtaken by hipsters. Better yet, it's more like that place HOliday Cocktail Lounge--really pretty grimy.

Tim's here on a visit, which should be fun! We're going for drinks with Sheila (my roomie) and Amy (her closest friend from high school and now my running buddy). We'll probably be joined by Ian, who's a brewer for SixPoint and is here for Extreme Beer Fest and his brewing buds, probably at Publick House. Hopefully photos TK!

cheers,
Patty

P: Pimply, Busy, and Sick

I promise to post something longer after Wed night, when I hand in my 50-80 p draft of part I of my novel. I have 4 stories to read and comment on by 5pm today, so I'm a bit out of commission. I've just come down with a nasty cold, so I'm blowing my nose every 5 seconds here in the quiet quiet theology library. I brought along my own box of tissues, while swigging down Airborne-infused water. So...promise to regale you with stories of awkward running club computer programming types, upcoming Robert Pinsky poetry events, and whatever else is occupying my time these days. cheers, P

P: More on Irritating Lawyer-Types

Annie, you so encapsulated? articulated? why lawyer types can be so annoying! $%$##@ present company excluded, of course. I just ran into this kid I went to college with named Carlos. He was a small, stocky, broad-faced, greasy-haired latino who grew up in the P-pines, whose most memorable quote was "I love little brown girls." He lived on my hall sophomore year, illegally--he crashed on the floor of a closet-sized single for 3 months with some other dude, OR he was letting some friend crash on HIS floor, I can't quite remember. The guy reeks of sketchy pretension, and I'm surprised I haven't run into him sooner, as he goes to the law school here. We're in the coffee bar across the street from the library, and he's got deodorant hanging out of the mesh pocket of his backpack, along with other toiletry items. The second I see him, I regret stopping to say hello to him (in fact, I thought I saw him last week, but I kept walking).

"Oh my God, Patty!" he said. "Here, come sit with me for like, 2 minutes. I'm running off to class, but let's catch up."

So he regales me with stories about the thriving nightlife here, and arts and culture, and how I should totally go to see this Samuel Beckett play in Harvard Sq, and or check out "le balet d' Australia" (said, of course, in the original French), and how it "pushed the envelope of what constitutes as classical ballet, blah blah snore snore snore.

As luck would have it, he lives about 4 blocks away from me.

Then he says, "Let's do the number exchange. But I should warn you, my girlfriend just moved back to Boston, so I won't have much time to do anything. But if you need some help getting acclimated, and like, you find yourself alone on like, a Friday night--" (the implication here being if I had no life, he would swoop in and...rescue me with his social networking prowess?) "--totally give me a call."

I should have asked him how he would manage to squeeze me in, with all the fox hunting trial cases to pore through. Sheesh. Instead I told him I'd been here for 5 months already, and I was pretty much acclimated. Then I countered with one of the most irritating passive-aggressive phrases ever to emerge from the work world:

"I'll let you go."

"Okay, yeah, cool, let's totally hang out."

ARGH#$@!

Okay, back to work...

resentful? impossible!

yes, youre right. the law students are likely resentful because no matter how much you look like youre suffering, youre still not reading a case from 1871 regarding a fox hunt and whether and how a fox may be property.  you still look like youre not decoding awful legalise writing, and/or worrying about how you dont get a concurring opinion and whether or not that means anything and whether or not youre slowly, slowly going insane with your multi-use of various highlighters... or perhaps? perhaps you tried to sit next to law students who are studying for the bar at the end of this month, who are terribly freaked out and basically have turned in all of their social skills for a few months and subsist on yogurt covered raisins, curried cashews, and unsweetened banana chips. or you know, more likely you just tried to sit next to typical law students, who are egotistical, rude, and pretty much unbearable, in which case, im glad you didnt get sucked into one of their social circles. i mean. im just saying. i dont have any experience with these things. plus, i bet theology students are nice because they talk about god all the time.

but i digress. last week i hurt my foot, im not sure if i wrote about it, but it was the bottom-side of my left foot, and it was painful to walk on it so i was going around all limpy.  this meant no running, barely any walking, and sustained grimmaces. first thing monday morning at work, i called several podiatrists to get an appointment. none of them had the right phone numbers; it was insane. finally, like the 7th provider on the list was able to give me the correct number for the doctor i was trying to reach. turned out she was no longer 2 miles from work, but about 10. nonetheless, i snatched up an appointment for tuesday afternoon. so yesterday, right, i go to the podiatrist. and i have to say, it was the most informative doctors appt that ive ever had.

first, its a teaching-hospital, so there were several 4th-yr medical students who were taking care of me, in addition to the dr. so one of them takes me in a room, and asks me about the pain, etc; inspects my feet (which i am embarassed to say, contain two black & blue toenails- both second-toes are longer & inevitably slam into the toe box when i run alot). we talk about running- i tell him i ran the miami half, he says he did it last yr, and the disney half as well. very friendly, kind, everything youd want from the experience. another intern then takes me in to get xrays of my left foot. after standing in weird contortions, we're all done, and they take me back into the room. the first intern, runner guy, comes back in with the xrays and tells me thankfully theres nothing broken or fracturerd, and then goes to talk to the dr. finally, i met the dr. this very nice, chirpy, friendly lady who goes through my xrays in serious detail. i learn, amongst other things, that i have two extra bones in my foot (!!!), my bones are starting to shift signifying bunions, my pinkie toe has two bones that are fused together, i have overly flexible feet and small heel cords (?) and ... my feet are flat. 

of course, none of this diagnoses the problem, but i am loving every minute. they inspect my feet again, discuss some possible diagnoses, and then the dr concludes its something called cuboid syndrome. some little bone has apparently dislocated itself and is putting pressure on the surrounding tissue: 

that thing in red is the bone. amazing! that space under it, is where my foot is killing me. so the dr says, theres this procedure, we can usually pop the bone back into place, im just not that good at it. and the intern says, oh, yes, we just learned it yesterday. and im like, give it a shot kid. so both the dr and the intern take turns using a procedure entitled, "the black snake heel whip" ( i kid you not) . in the middle of it (which doesnt hurt- it just makes me stand up while they hold my foot from behind and try to relax it, and then "whip" it into place) makes me horribly, horribly anxious, and i start to have this bizarro panic attack-- my vision gets blurry, my ears are ringing, im covered in sweat. right before i think im going to pass out, its over, i drink water, and it passes. medical anxiety, i tell you.

what a long story about my feet right?! anyway the procedure doesnt work, they fashion me some bandages that will slowly press the bone back into place, and i get the coveted prescription alleve. (ok, so not that coveted) with instructions to wear orthodics the next few weeks and keep this thing on at all times. all of yesterday it was killing me, but this afternoon it started feeling a little better, so keeping the fingers crossed. really though, how interesting!!! i love science.

to be honest, any story that wonderful simply cannot be fouled by other tatterings on. work is barely bareable, but the week is winding down; this weekend ill be in ny to see ben's show at the new museum & see my mom; and then a week from today, laurie will be down to play! perhaps i will even be able to stop wearing my running sneakers at all times.  if not, i remain content for the meantime to rock the "working girl" look. ha!

xoxo

Boston is freakishly warm today

A sweltering 50 degrees out. Yes, it's damp from last night's rain, and there are still huge patches of ice and piles of snow everywhere, but man, it is WARM! I feel like I'm getting spring fever already. This would probably make sense, as I'm staring at my laptop today wondering how the heck I'm going to fill in all these scenes.

I've made some friends in the Theology program (namely because I'm in their library from 10-9, daily, with a break for class), and they invited me to crash the weekly Community Lunch. Today it was sandwich wraps. Last week it was Qdoba. The time before was pasta. At least the theology students seem friendlier than the law students, who throw resentful looks at you when they're asked to share their table with you in the library.

AUGH CAN THIS STUPID NOVEL(LA) WRITE ITSELF ALREADY??!!!

Okay, back to work.

-P

P: T-8 Days Until Draft 1 of the Novella Is Due

I've not been exercising for days. My novella, draft 1, is due to Ha Jin a week from tomorrow (50-100 pages). I read and give detailed feedback on 14 other people's short stories a week, while submitting a newly written short story every month for my workshop with Daphne. I've been eating all kinds of starches and drinking coffee-- decaf AND full-caf--just to stay awake. I'm getting pimples around my temples, I'm consuming way too much sodium, all of my lunch (and dinner) money goes to coffee, sandwiches, and wraps from Espresso Royale, and I haven't vacuumed or dusted for weeks (okay, longer than that).

Enter the life of a second-semester MFA grad student.

Today I wrote something ridiculous like 12 pages, which were all kind of nonsensical ramblings, before shooting off to class to lead a discussion for 3 hours to a room full of undergrads that get progressively more bored as each hour ticks by (I swear, these kids start packing up their bags with a half-hour left of class).

My back aches from carrying around my (albeit ultra-portable) laptop, notebooks, papers to grade, stories to write/read, sneakers, gym stuff, lock, tupperwared breakfast (plain yogurt, oatmeal, honey, banana), tupperwared lunch that I will probably ignore (I have finally HAD IT with veggie burgers, rice, and cabbage--my body is staging a rebellion), water bottle, winter gear (earmuffs, gloves, etc) while trudging about in fleece-lined winter boots and down coat. My body also aches from scrunching my shoulders in front of my computer, my wrists ache from typing on a small keyboard, and my eyes hurt from staring at a laptop all day long.

WAH WAH WAH.

I'm also kind of getting off on all of this work, which I suppose is a good thing. Write now I'm in the midst of writing a scene from my Jane Eyre reinterpretation where Jane (the main character, who's an au pair to an academic family living in Crown Heights), her employer Ed Rockport (who will later make a pass at her), and his adopted daughter from China named Devon, all sneak off on a joyride to McDonald's. It's Thanksgiving night, and Ed's wife Beth (a Marxist feminist professor of cultural and media studies at the New School) just cooked an elaborate Sustainable Foods vegan Thanksgiving menu, where everything had the consistency of baby food.
(n.b.: "Mr. Currer Bell" was a pseudonym Charlotte Bronte gave to herself. Note the initials...)

Beth (Ed's wife; Devon's adoptive mom; Jane's employer) even projected a Powerpoint presentation before the meal, to show the path the food traveled (measuring the carbon foot print, etc etc). There is a still shot of the menu that casts an electronic blue glow over the serving platters of mush that constitutes their dinner. She staged the evening to impress the guest of honor--her grad school thesis advisor--an academic hot shot who shoots down the meal and accuses Beth of reverting back to "19th century paradigms of female hysteria." Then he tells Ed to "wipe the dated New Criticism crap from his eyes and join in the post-modernist dialogue."

So: best case scenario, the dialogue is sharp, insightful, academic, and witty; OR ... it sounds stilted and it flops. The scene culminates when Ed's mom--a sassy blue-collar lady from south Brooklyn, who's now in a nursing home--tells the thesis advisor, "You leave my son alone, you motherf'ing c*unt face." And Jane, Ed, and Beth, all drop their respective jaws/forks/knives. And...SCENE.

I'm so exhausted. I'm on my second library of the day (everyday I'm the last one to get kicked out of the theology library, which closes at 9). I need to go to bed.

And....SCENE.

P: Diane in Boston!

So I had the glorious pleasure of seeing one Diane Bing Sit in my new hometown today!!! Unfortunately I missed her early morning texts (err, by early I mean 11am), but we met for coffee on Charles St in Beacon Hill, and then wandered about Chinatown en route to South Station. Yes, there were roast pork buns involved. There is nothing like seeing an old friend in a new city.

YAY!

So I was back in NY for all of 18 hours this weekend. I treated myself to Amtrak on the way there; Fung Wah on the way back. It's funny; when I called Morgan re meeting up (I crashed at her place so I could get up early and go to my hair appt, before running back home for lunch in Douglaston), I was like, okay, my train's getting in at 10pm, and I'm hungry. Where can we go to get food? And Morgan's like, "Uh, Patty, it's NY. You can get food anywhere at that hour." And although I kind of knew this, I was just momentarily taken aback. Just because everything here closes super early.

Saw the whole fam for my dad's birthday, and man--my sister is REALLY pregnant. Like, tummy hanging over and shirt riding up and exposing a big pregnant belly. I can't wait to meet my new niece! Little Richard was, of course, adorable as ever, although he's 20 months and still isn't really talking. He'll say an occasional word here and there "Finish!" and when my mom and I were feeding him sweet potatoes, he said "hot!" And then he and I were playing Badook, which is a Korean "chess" game that has these round black and white pieces like that Chinese game "Go." And then little Richard thinks it's hilarious to dump the whole jar of pieces all over the floor, and kick them every which way, before he shoveled them back into the jar. And it was in this moment, as I was staring at my little Amerasian nephew, tousling his hair, and I thought: okay, I could see myself doing this. One day, I could consider procreating and popping out an adorable little kid. You guys know my theory of childbearing = narcissism; so this was really a ground-breaking (albeit fleeting) moment that I had.

Shocking!

Last night I made it back to Boston for my poet friend Adam's birthday. We went to Beacon St Tavern, which I seem to go to every week now. As it's a half block from my apt, I guess it's pretty apt. Anyway, somehow the night ended up with a bunch of us going to some kid's loft apartment near Fenway, and it was kind of ghetto. Like, they had tarp over the ceillings, and there were people living in closets and the like. And the only thing to drink was bad gin and apple juice (of which I could not take part). Anyway, I ended up stumbling back home and made it to bed closer to 6am, which left me completely knackered and out of it all day today. Which meant no novella writing.

I guess to atone for the lack of work done this wknd, I will have no choice but to be uber-productive all week...

-P

parental weekend

first, some pictures, because i havent figured out how to work the formatting bc my pictures always come first, even when i want them inter-twined.  i took these earlier today at the japanese gardens (to be discussed below....)

turtles!!

gators!!

rock garden!!

bamboo!!

hooray! weekend with dads! i myself just got home from the night & afternoon with my dad, up in del rey beach. after yet another stress-induced day at work, i got to leave an hour early and trucked it up to del rey where i went to terry's parent's house. people's parents are so cute. i mean like grandparents that come and stay in florida for the winter. they are the sweetest people to begin with, full of that queens-jewish sass, and it was so nice to be able to see them & spend time with them. got there around 6.30, after about an hour and a half driving/in traffic, and then we all went out to dinner at a fancyish seafood establishment. it was low key, and delicious, and then we went home, sat around the dining room table and had cake & ice cream. i mean, i love that stuff. when else do i sit myself down with cake & ice cream? so rare. (popcorn on the other hand...). i stuffed my stuffed little self onto the couch, and slept over. this morning terry's parents had this delicious new-yorker breakfast spread- different breads, tuna, whitefish, smoked salmon, and chopped liver spreads; chive creamcheese; lox, onion, tomato; and pastries. i could move in with them, i tell you! 

after a glorious breakfast (my normal saturday morning meal would consist of shredded wheat and coffee), my dad & i went to the murakami japanese gardens nearby. it was a largeish park really, like a botanical garden but obviously, very well curated and with various little gardens within it - one of raked stones, another with various ponds, etc. it was cool out, but warmer than it has been, and the sun was shining, it was variably sunny, and so incredibly peaceful. i felt so  lucky to be outside and hanging with my dad. nerd alert for sure.  we spent an hour and change there, walking around, and then headed back to terry's parents. dave & dorothy then made us some lunch while dad & terry packed up to fly back to new york. the smell in that house was out of control- like baking, sweet, but mouth-watering too... the suspect?  blintzes!! after those delicious bites we packed up our respective cars and said goodbye. what a lovely day!

i just got home a short while ago and thought, well, my foot has been hurting - ive truly been limping the past few days -- why dont i go get some exercise in a non-intrusive way? so i put on my bathing suit, got my towel, all psyched to get outside, upstairs on the roof and go for a swim. when i got up there (first time since i moved here! took them until this week to finally finish renovating the pool area), the view was incredible. since we are one of the tallest buildings in the neighborhood, you could see both the miami skyline to the west, the ocean to the east, and all the connecting waterways in between. just gorgeous.... the sun was shining, the place was empty, and i couldnt have been happier. this was, of course, until i put my foot in the pool and realized that it was not heated and there was no way i was swimming in a 50 degree pool when it was a cool 69 outside (ok ok, i know, thats not COLD to the rest of you, but i am fully enjoying my floridian weather sensitiveness, and honestly, you dont want to be wet in the cold with the wind blowing on you when you're not prepared for it). no dice. slightly saddened, i came back down here but realized it all works out fine in the end- im supposed to meet some of my coworkers for drinks & dinner tonight in about an hour or so, and i might as well shower since i havent done so since friday morning. (grandparents dont care if your hair is messy). (or at least they dont say so).

im terribly glad that the week has finally ended. i needed this weekend like you couldnt imagine. i dont know why my boss is so INSANE sometimes. and then when he edited something i wrote and sat down with me to go over it, he was so nice and calm. it then makes me feel bad for getting so anxious and hyped up about it, you know? i guess it will train me to always prepare for the worst, always have high expectations, and always be terribly, terribly anal and paranoid. im sure all these things will do well for me in the future. but i tell you, sometimes you just wish it were easier. 

thanks to terry, i can spend the next hour reading several old issues of us weekly, people, and ok magazine. tabloids, how i love thee.

xo

P: NY, NY

Just a quick post today; the reading last night went well, I think. I read that essay about my parents sending me to a Korean-Catholics Singles Weekend Retreat, and I think people laughed at the right moments. About 15 of us went to the BU pub afterwards, then a quick drink at the Lower Depths Tap Room in Kenmore Square, before they kicked us out of there around 1am.

I just stuffed myself silly in the faculty/grad school dining room--$9.50 buffet--and i had way too much mac 'n cheese. THis is always the problem after a night of some drinks and little sleep.

Catching the Amtrak home tonight for me dad's birthday lunch tomorrow, so NY--here I come!

-P

Boston = Michael Anthony Hall (Both Before and After)

"Miami= the hot girl at the party that never had to work on developing her personality or cultural/artistic tastes..." LOVE IT. It's analogous to the handsome man that never had to get a job or get good at lovemaking because there were always a swarm of women to take care of him or drop their panties in front of him. Or like the Korean mamma's boys who never had to cook their own meals or develop emotionally, or the...

Well, I've been giving some thought to the Boston equivalent of such a metaphor (or simile). I'd probably say he (for whatever reason, Boston = male) is simultaneously two parts (a la the Hulk or Jekyll/Hyde):

(1) Boston is Anthony Michael Hall in the Breakfast Club days that would have progressed had he not discovered weight lifting and protein shakes. Boston is the nerdy kid in high school who played with Bunsen Burners, and then went to college and developed a few more social skills, read Foucault and some Henry James, and discovered craft brews as well as outdoorsy/wilderness sports (I swear, everyone here runs in cold weather, goes snowboarding, hiking, sails, kayaks, goes snowshoeing). Then he created his own enclave of similar-minded dorky but well-meaning people, and they go to the same Trappist monk or science-themed bars, close down the bar at 2am (or 1am, in some cases, when I got kicked out of Audubon Circle last friday!!), and then wakes up to run 5.5 minute miles in the freezing cold along the Charles. Boston is earnest, well-meaning, a little clumsy, but endearingly so, and overall kinda preppy and smiley. Boston's not embarrassed to have people overhear his bar conversations about neuroplasticity or revisionist postcolonial history, and even though sometimes common sense eludes him (like he'll be bopping along to Stravinsky on his ipod while blindly crossing the train tracks as the T is honking like mad), he ultimately means well.

AND
(2) He's the blue-collar, raspy voice laced with a thick grating accent, who's happier to watch the Sox game and drink local beer. Instead, he's the actual Anthony Michael Hall after-shot, all hulking and a little crass and a little douchey, a little provincial in the "south Brooklyn" kind of way (though he's probably from the North Shore). He likes to wear his hat backwards, unapologetically owns 5 Celtics jerseys (let's not even get started on his red-themed wardrobe), he flies off the handle when he sees Yankees paraphernalia, and he doesn't know the world outside of the greater Boston area. He drives like a Masshole, tries to get girls up to his house off of Route 1 where he lives with his mother/family/sister, her husband, and their kid. The last "great" book he read was "The Da Vinci Code," he doesn't get what an MFA program is, and asks whether you're going to write "novels" or "fiction and stuff."

Clearly I've only spent the majority of my time with the former, so it's just a weird kind of town-gown mixing here in Boston, where the two types simultaneously coexist. In fact, I haven't had much experience with Type 2, so he's more of an amalgamation of the horror stories I've heard from Sydney and Christine, coupled with the people I saw around UMass Boston (in Dorchester, which is Southie), and also Good Will Hunting. Oh, and I went to this party a while back hosted by people who were from the greater Boston area, and there were a couple of these scruffy types there, as well.

I'm signing off prematurely, because I have to write one more page before I head off to teach. Other people: jump in with your comments on city personalities! Mir: Montreal = ...? the sultry French maid? black square glasses and black turtleneck wearing, Nietszche-reading euro trash? NY= ? Troy = trailer trash? Bring 'em on!

this again?

i could write an entire post about how annoying work is, how annoying my boss is, how annoying one of my coworkers is--- i could write volumes. instead, i will continue to breathe and feel relaxed. after getting home, i went out for a run, had a lovely time (fueled no doubt with angst and irritation, and the dregs of some diet coke), came home, chatted with my sister, relaxed & ate dinner, and now... calm. 

earlier today i was trying to personify miami, and i think i finally got it. miami is like that girl at the party, who's hot, and fun, and wears a lot of make-up, is kind of trashy and wears midriff bearing shirts, but people love her. people love her, and they always hook up with her, and they go to these parties just to hook up with her, and she's basically known as the life of the party. and she loves it! so there is never any reason for her to develop any kind of personality, or learn anything, or be cultured, or anything. thats all there is to her. 

now you try. boston? new york? i guess it also depends on your mood...

spent yesterday afternoon with my dad, it was wonderful. we drove around miami, saw where he grew up, other stomping grounds, and then took a nice walk on the beach and he took tons of pictures. we went out for cuban for dinner, which was delicious, and fun, and relaxing, and i was just so happy to have him here.  while everyone else watched the superbowl, we shared paella and plantains and tres leches. then we came back to my apt, and he took a little nap before driving back up to del rey beach, where he's staying for the week with terry (at her parent's house). such a lovely time. 

today, though, i did get some bad news- my sister got laid off unexpectedly at work. i guess it makes sense- how many people can you continue to keep paying when no one is spending money on ridiculously overpriced jewelry, but still. i feel horrible. this does mean, on the upside, that she will have more leighway to come visit, so there is that. its just very troublesome knowing how bad the economy is, and worse, seeing it affect someone you love.  

one last thought. although i was not happy to return to work today, it did remind me how much i like some of my coworkers, and how sweet they are, and fun. sometimes you really do just need someone to distract you from worrying about everything that is out there- to randomly suggest monday-night-bowling-and-cocktails (even if you'd rather go home and mow on honey bunches of oats); or to listen or laugh or relate or assure you that you are not overreacting. may we all have those people in our lives when we need them most! 

and now im going to turn off this pbs special about polio while im still in a good mood. 

xoxo