Vacation calling

Posted on June 25, 2009
Filed Under Books | Leave a Comment

I’ve had an unexpectedly stressful morning and don’t much feel like writing here right now. So instead, I’ll leave you with a link from the New York Times about Ray Bradbury (whose books I really like). I particularly loved this quote from the article: “Yahoo called me eight weeks ago,” he said, voice rising. “They wanted to put a book of mine on Yahoo! You know what I told them? ‘To hell with you. To hell with you and to hell with the Internet.’ … It’s distracting,” he continued. “It’s meaningless; it’s not real. It’s in the air somewhere.” Enjoy!

The glass is half full (and nearly spilling over)

Posted on June 24, 2009
Filed Under Boston, Fashion, Health, Lake, New Hampshire, Plants, Society, Spring, Summer, Travel, Weather | Leave a Comment

So since it’s been raining nearly every day this month, I decided to make a list of why the wet weather is a good thing. I usually try to look at the positive side of things, so here goes:

1.) Fewer allergies. The rain has washed most of the pollen away and kept it from blowing everywhere making me very happy.

2.) No need for air conditioning. We’ve only turned ours on once this month for a few hours–this will be a definite money-saver.

3.) Less desire to play outside. I usually have a hankering for the outdoors and the lake every nice day of the summer, but so far, these cravings have been few and far between, making work much easier.

4.) No sunburns. So far, my skin is very safe this year. My dermatologist will be thrilled.

5.) No need to water plants. This saves water for a future use, as most plants are getting absolutely drenched (of course, this also means the plants are wilting from being over-watered. But hey, I’m trying to keep the glass half full, although now it’s nearly spilling over!)

And I’m out. Today I’m rebelling against the forces of nature and wearing a yellow sundress. That’s right, I’ve shed my long pants and layered shirts and decided to bare my incredibly white legs. I don’t care if I’m cold or wet, I just can’t stand looking at all my pretty dresses lined up in a row not worn. Also, the dress is cheering me up since I was woken up at 4 a.m. last night by my upstairs neighbors. It sounded like a freakin’ bowling ball fell on my ceiling and after that, I tossed and turned until I had to get up at 6:30 a.m. Regardless, I’m looking on the bright side, after all, I’m only a few days away from my week-long vacation!

Moving on up

Posted on June 23, 2009
Filed Under Boston, Family, Food, Friendship, Love, Summer, Travel | 1 Comment

I’ve been trying to think of new things (or new old things) to cook for dinner and last week of I was reminded of my love for linguine with clams. It was one of my favorite childhood dinners, so I decided to take a crack at it. It’s incredibly simple (basically just combine garlic, basil, parley, clams, olive oil and clam juice in a pan and toss with pasta), inexpensive and delicious. You can make your own by following the directions on the Snow’s chopped clams package (I modified it slightly to suit my tastes, as you probably will, too). It’s a great weeknight meal option and I definitely think I’ll be adding it into the roster of yummy foods to make.

Later this week, Meg, Carly and I are headed to Highland Kitchen for a sort of roommate farewell dinner. Although our lease isn’t up until July 31, Carly is leaving early next week to prepare for her wedding at the end of July. I’m so excited about moving into my new apartment with Mike and setting up our home there, but I will definitely miss my current apartment and roommates. None of us knew each other going into the living arrangement, but we’ve definitely ended up being good friends. We’ve all lived together for more than a year and a half and it’s going to be weird/sad to come back from vacation in two weeks and have Carly gone. But I’m so glad I got to meet these two amazing girls and hope that we stay friends for a long time to come. It’s really exciting because we’re all embarking on new life journeys and I can’t wait to see where they take us.

It’s official: summer is here

Posted on June 22, 2009
Filed Under Boston, Family, Food, Friendship, Lake, Love, New Hampshire, Pets, Society, Summer, Travel, Weather | Leave a Comment

It’s official: summer has arrived … at least on the calendar. It’s still rainy and cloudy and not very warm here, although there’s hope that by the end of the week things will clear up. I’ve got my fingers crossed because Mike and I are headed to a Nascar race then Maine then the lake starting on Saturday. We’re both so excited about our upcoming vacation, now all we need is for the weather to cooperate. We made a lot of preparations yesterday and I am so excited about our trip. Only a few more days …

We were lucky enough to get some really nice weather on Friday evening, which allowed Mike and I to go for a walk along the Charles River and to Central Square for ice cream and drinks. Before the walkabout, Mike made an amazing dinner of baked salmon with dill, risotto, a delicious salad with pears, goat cheese and avacados and bacon wrapped scallops. It was an incredibly delicious feast pared with a yummy white Bordeaux.

Saturday was mostly decent as well and we headed to Ikea to sit on our new couch again and to check out other possible furniture for our new apartment. We still really liked the couch (brown Karlstad) and have decided to get a chaise on it, too! We even found a coffee table that we both like. It’s medium-brown wood and oval-shaped with legs that start out fat at the top and tapper down. It’s sort of ’70s retro and very cool. It’s nice to know we’re got that all picked out so when we move in, we can get stuff right away.

After Ikea, we headed to Cape Cod to pick up a canoe for our Acadia trip and have dinner with Mike’s brother John and his girlfriend Pria. We went canoeing on the little lake near Mike’s dad’s house, which was awesome. It was dusk and lots of fish were jumping out of the water eating bugs–very peaceful and relaxing. We even got to see some rescued seals at the Woods Hole aquarium, one named Lucille (who was a failure to thrive) and the other (who was blind) named Bumper. For dinner we feasted on Quahogs, a Cape speciality.

Yesterday we had dinner with some friends (I saw my dad last weekend for Father’s Day) and prepared for our upcoming trip. We’ve got everything we need now and just need to finish packing things up later this week. If anyone has been to Acadia before, let me know cool stuff that we shouldn’t miss. Stay dry!

The Falls: An inviting read

Posted on June 19, 2009
Filed Under Books, Weather | Leave a Comment

I finished reading another Joyce Carol Oates book yesterday and this one was fantastic as well. I’m really enjoying reading her books and I’m actually about to start another one. I usually don’t like to read so many books by the same author so close together, but this one really caught my eye. The book I finished yesterday is called “The Falls,” and takes place in Niagra Falls starting in the mid-20th century and ending in 1978. The story follows Ariah, who has been widowed on her honeymoon, when she meets Dirk Burnaby, a local lawyer and womanizer. They meet, fall in love and start a family. But then tragedy strikes, tearing their world apart.

The book is full of rich, complex characters that are sometimes very likable and at other times, almost detestable. The story is rich and interesting int hat the reader knows a lot more about the characters and events in the book than any of the characters do. It’s the kind of thing where you want to whisper in their ears to fill them in on what they’re blind to. But as in life, there’s not really anyone to do that.

One theme that Oates tackles frequently is the buildup and teardown of the American family. It’s a fascinating concept and one that has been played out endlessly in the later half of the 20th century. Reading her books really makes me contemplate this issue. what I love is how Oates presents this social quandry in the form of rich, inviting novels instead of as an anthropological study. I’d definitely recommend this book, as well as “We Were the Mulvaneys.” Next up: “I’ll Take You There,” a story that takes place at Syracuse University, where both Oates and I attended college.

Have a good weekend all! And do a sun dance so we can get rid of this rain!

Falling down

Posted on June 18, 2009
Filed Under Boston, Knitting, Movies, Music, Quotes, Society | Leave a Comment

I was so busy yesterday that I didn’t have any time to post on here, but today things seem to have settled down a bit, so I’m back. Knitting went well on Tuesday night, except for the intense traffic I had to sit through to get there. Sometimes when I’m sitting in traffic on the highway thinking about the hundreds (probably more like thousands) of people also stuck there with me, I want to pull a Michael Douglas in “Falling Down,” abandon my car on the road and just walk away. Sitting in traffic also provides a lot of time to think, since there really isn’t much else to do and while crawling along at 10 miles an hour the other day I was reminded of two things. One is a Henry David Thoreau quote: “The mass of men toil in quiet desperation.” And the other is a Dave Matthews Band song, “Seek Up,” here are the lyrics:

Oh, life it seems a struggle between
What we see and what we do
Well I’m not going to change my ways
Just to please you or appease you
Inside a crowd, five billion proud
Willing to punch it out
Right, wrong, weak, strong
Ashes to ashes all fall down
Look around about this round about
This merry-go-round and around
Well If at all God’s gaze upon us falls
It’s with a mischievous grin, look at him

Oh look at me in my fancy car
And my bank account
Oh, how I wish I could take it all down
Into my grave, God knows I’d save and save
Man, take a look again, take a look again
Things you have collected, well in the end piles up
To one big nothing, one big nothing at all

Dreams, dreams, dreams

Posted on June 16, 2009
Filed Under Dreams, Food, Friendship, Health, Love, Society | Leave a Comment

As my wonderful readers probably know, I have a lot of weird dreams. Here’s a sampling of what’s been going through my mind during my REM cycle in the last few weeks:

1.) The other night I thought that I kept waking up with a toothache, but in the morning my teeth were completely fine. I evene dreamed about getting up to look at them during the night in the mirror and how I should move my upcoming dentist appointment so I go sooner. But my teeth seem completely fine and pain-free now, so I’m assuming it was all a dream … although I swear I really did get up. (Even weirder … my dentist called me this morninf to reschedule my appointment because she’s going to be away the day I was supposedto have it.)

2.) The same night as the teeth incident, I dreamed that mine and Mike’s new apartment had a secret bar in the basement (like a speakeasy). It was pretty cool, although Iwas slightly worried about the noise keeping me up at night since I usually try to go to bed early. I’ll be checking all corners of the basement when we move in for bathtub moonshine …

3.) I dreamed that I was in a dessert-making contest with a friend’s girlfriend. She made chocolate cheesecake, while I made blueberry pie. Someone else made rubbery gross eggs that made me feel nauseated. Unfortunately, I woke up before finding out who won.

I’m sure there have been others lately, but that’s just a sampling. Have you had any weird dreams lately? Share them here!

Earth’s eye

Posted on June 15, 2009
Filed Under Boston, Family, Food, Friendship, Knitting, Lake, Love, Music, New Hampshire, Quotes, Society, Sports, Spring, Summer, Travel, Weather, Winter | Leave a Comment

“A lake is the landscape’s most beautiful and expressive feature. It is earth’s eye; looking into which the beholder measures the depth of his own nature.”–Henry David Thoreau

Mike and I drove up to the lake on Friday after work and as we were trekking north, the weather just kept getting better and better. The sun was shining and we were in great spirits, aniticpating the fun weekend that was ahead. It was really nice to see the family, especially grammy, who is visiting from Florida. We watched some of the Dave Matthews Band live at the Beacon Theater performance that recently aired on the Fuse network and it was pretty cool. Brother bear was gone all weekend at the DMB show in Saratoga, which looks to have been really fun.

Saturday was pretty much the perfect summer lake day. We spent the entire day outside (from about 8 a.m. to 8 p.m., with time for some food breaks). Mike and i kataked around Pine Island again, as is our usual route. I want to try to go farther or to a different spot next time, although Pine is a nice island to go around–both in distance and scenery. We relaxed outside all day and Mike serenaded us on my dad’s old guitar, which he fixed up. We went jet skiing in the afternoon to cool down, but unfortunately the lake is still pretty frigid, so we didn’t go water skiing. All the cold weather and rain has kept the water temperature pretty low still. We ate a delicious dinner of smoked ribs that Mike and my dad made in his new smoker, which he loved. They turned out awesome (as did the bread my dad made and the peach pie muzzy made) and pretty much put me in a food coma for the rest of the night. After dinner, Mike and I headed to the Bike Week festivities in Weirs Beach, which were hilariously trashtastic. We didn’t find any of Mike’s Chamber of Commerce shirts with the new logo on them, but muzzy is going to try to hunt some down this week.

Yesterday was rainy again, so Mike and I headed out early and went indoor rock climbing on the way home. It was so fun! I loved the challenge and the workout, plus it was something fun for us to do together. I hope we go again, especially to learn how to do the belay, because that will really open with the facility (Boton Rock Gym). I finished the small sleeve of my vest last night and I’m planning on going to knitting tomorrow to keep working on finishing it. I’m also really looking forward to our vacation in less than two weeks! We’re hitting up the Loudon Nascar race on June 28, then going camping in Acadia for the week, then headed back to the lake for Fourth of July festivities with friends. There’s so much fun stuff to look forward to right now …

TGIF

Posted on June 12, 2009
Filed Under Boston, Family, Food, Friendship, Lake, Love, Music, New Hampshire, Society, Spring, Summer, Travel, Weather | Leave a Comment

TGIF! While this week has been a good one, I’m very glad it’s nearly the weekend. I’m really hoping the weather starts to get a little nicer soon, especially since Mike and I are headed to the lake after work today. I’m really excited to go home and relax for a few days and see the family, including grammy, who is visiting from Florida. I’m bringing my knitting home for her to check out (she is a very accomplished knitter), so I hope she likes what I’ve been doing. Other than that, Mike and I are planning to have a fun-filled (and hopefully warm and sunny) visit to the lake.

Unfortunately, brother bear won’t be home, but it’s for a good reason: He’s going to both nights of the Saratoga Springs Dave Matthews Band concert. I’m definitely a little (OK, a lot) jealous. I hope he has an amazing time and I can’t wait to hear about it. It’s great that we both love DMB because it’s something fun to bond (obsesses) over. In fact, the evry first concert brother bear ever went to was a DMB concert at SPAC when he was only 12. I remember it as a very fun night and I’m so glad we got to share it.

Have a good weekend (and do a sun dance, if you’re so inclined)!

A festival of books

Posted on June 11, 2009
Filed Under Books, Boston, Family, Fashion, Food, Friendship, Lake, Love, New Hampshire, Society, Sports, Spring, Summer, Travel | Leave a Comment

Apparently the weather gods are ignoring my pleas for a warm, sunny summer. The prediction for the weekend was perfect, but now it looks like this cloudy, rainy weather may extend a few more days. It better not because Mike and I are headed to the lake the see the family (grammy is visiting from Florida) and enjoy a summer weekend full of fun activities (kayaking, water skiing, wearing something other than a wool sweater). At this rate, it’ll be snowing again before we get to enjoy any lovely weather. I’m starting to think summer just pass us by. I really love New England, but when we have to turn the heat on in June, I begin to question why!

As I mentioned earlier this week, the bus rides to and from New York City gave me lots of time to read, so after I finished “Animal Dreams,” I started reading “Postcards” by Annie Proulx. I’ve read several of Proulx’s other books, most notably “The Shipping News,” which is one of my favorites. “Postcards” is set on a rural upstate New York family farm from the World War II era to nearly the present day. The book follows the somewhat divergent paths the members of the Blood family take as their farm begins to fall apart in the wake of modern inventions.

Although “Postcards” was an interesting read, full of Proulx’s trademark vivid, yet dark characters, the story was somewhat unsatisfying. It all just seemed sort of hopeless, which was sort of the point I guess. I did enjoy reading the book, but if you’re going to choose only one of her books to read, I’d recommend “The Shipping News” over this one (“That Old Ace in the Hole” was also good, but I’d also stay away from “Accordion Crimes,” which was decent, but somewhat disjointed). Proulx is also the writer of “Brokeback Mountain,” the touching short story that became the major motion picture. The movie is actually extremely similar to the shory story, a rarity among books turned into movies. I don’t know whether it was because I’d just read the Joyce Carol Oates book “We Were the Mulvaneys,” also set on a rural upstate N.Y. farm in a similar era, but “Postcards” just didn’t cut it. Not to say that it was a bad book, but it’s definitely not one of my favorites.

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