How To Disappear Completely

register me at the registry

I am officially registered to vote in Massachusetts now. Farewell, O Colorado rez. I experienced a pang of nostalgia this morning as I relinquished my old license. I am now a Democrat, as the only thing being Republican gets you in this state is the right to choose the losing candidate. In any case, the way the political scene is going these days, I'd prefer to be an Independent, but that only gets me rights slightly more significant than a doorpost's. Apparently when you have political views that entail being left alone, people go on and make decisions without you. Unless you live in Montana.

On the bright side, I have successfully infiltrated the democratic ranks and may now begin wreaking libertarian havoc from the inside. As Baldric would tell Blackadder, "I have a cunning plan."

The Project of Eating Food

This summer, Evan, Heidi, Laura and I made the fun investment of a share in the Food Project. For a mere $450 (divided four ways), we get a box of fresh produce every week. It's like Christmas because they give you whatever they've got. I love opening the box each week and discovering an eggplant (which made a dee-licious parmesan dish), or a tomato, or the type of salad greens my mom refers to as "weeds." We also get exotic stuff like swiss chard and some stuff that looks like cabbage. We've also been getting gallons and gallons of scallions. There is only so much you can do to keep pace with the scallions before giving up and reaching for the breathmints in defeat.

This week we got peppers and summer squash and beets and cucumbers and green beans in addition to the ubiquitous scallions. But we also got a whole bunch of dill, mint, cilantro and some other herb that might be parsley. Yikes! I'm not sure what to do with all these herbs, short of drying them. I have one cucumber, but I'm not sure that's enough to make pickles. I guess I could make one pickle. Or perhaps some dilled deviled eggs. I wish I were used to cooking with so much abundance.

we make our plans and they come not to pass

So this was a weekend of unfulfilled plans. Our softball team took a beating from my co-worker's Vineyard team. It was 96 degrees so Evan and I tried to make it to the beach, only to experience a flat tire and no where to park the darn thing except on the side of a very busy freeway. Fortunately a policeman came and stood guard, literally slowing the traffic down about 20 mph by his sheer presence so that Evan could change the driver's rear wheel without too much risk of life and limb. We made it to Sears and got a new tire but didn't make it to the beach.

Then the following day I was all excited about Tanglewood and seeing 100-year-old Elliot Carter and we started the 2 and 1/2 hour trek to western MA. But the low tire pressure light went on again. We stopped to add air in the tires, but by that time, I was getting jittery. We would have to come back again late at night and I didn't want to risk getting stuck off the side of the road trying to change another flat at midnight. Especially since the lug nut wrench somehow went missing during our last flat tire episode. So we turned around and went back to Dorchester.*

Ah me. I suppose I can wait another year to see Tanglewood, but all in all, the weekend was a bit of a stressful sad disappointment. At least Evan and I got to spend some time relaxing on the back porch. We also watched clips of Betty la fea, the original Ugly Betty.

*The low pressure light is probably going on just because the tread patterns on my tires are slightly different now, due to the new tire. The alignment seems to be okay and the tires seem to be okay. But, like I said, nothing kills a journey so much as worrying about disaster...

ha ha, someone still loves you

Heidi, Laura and I enjoyed ourselves some bible belt rock and a little "safe indie pop"* last night at T. T. the Bear's up in Cambridge. The venue was acoustically claustrophobic, resembling what might happen if you got stuffed in a tin can and rattled around with a good helping of sonic mush. No one could understand the lyrics and my ears are still ringing.

But those Ha Ha Tonka boys from the Ozarks can do some pretty sweet close harmonies. "Hangman" off their latest album Buckle the Bible Belt was the best song of the evening--guitars switched off and the baritone rumbling out under the high parts on top. Mmmm...That was good. And we all identify with "Twelve Inch, Three Speed Oscillator Fan" these days.

Someone Still Loves You Boris Yeltsin--who beat out Clap Your Hands Say Yeah for the world's longest band name award--was also a lot of fun, even if a crowd of women showed up from no where to block our view when the band took the stage.

The Boris Yeltsin group played some musical round robin. The drummer played lead guitar and vocals, the frontman took the bass, the bassist can also play the drums. Not every band can switch it up like that. Can you imagine Ringo doing Hey Jude? *shudders* Their drummer was also a lot cuter than Ringo: he looked like a smiley, sheepish hobbit who somehow wandered into a band and never went back.

*Laura's words

get yourself outside

I may be recycling several gallons of water back into the atmosphere during these Boston summer days, but at least there are free-$10 things to do to take me outside during these sauna conditions.

Things I am looking forward to:

1. July 13 Life of Phillip Glass film at the MFA.
2. July 24 John Adams, Gershwin, Dvorak.
3. August 3 Shakespeare on the Lawn: As You Like It.
4. August 15 Rebecca. (We watch Witness for the Prosecution last night, rocking gently on a barge as we stared at the big outdoor screen.)

Plus free Wednesday nights at the Museum of Fine Arts and the Boston Observatory. I want to go look at some art and stars.

Not cheap but doing anyway:
1. July 20 Tanglewood: Elliott Carter Centennial Celebration.
2. August 13 Radiohead.

4th of July picnic and puppies!

Some friends just became the owners of two very cute puppies. We got to hold them.

hiking

in the interests of safety, we will now reduce the volume on your television set

For music nerds only.

singing sinks and silence

To celebrate Evan's safe arrival in Colorado, we drove up to Denver to visit one of my friends, the lovely speech pathologist Mimi Urish. Since we couldn't waste a trip to Denver, we wandered over to the 16th Street Mall, which eventually took us to the Denver Art Museum. Though we decided against coughing up the admissions fee, we nevertheless enjoyed all the free public art surrounding the museum building and visited the restrooms.

If you ever get a chance to visit the DAM, please do properly hydrate yourself prior to the visit. The restroom will be the most worthwhile exhibit you experience. The bathroom sinks serenade you. I had great fun running from sink to sink, trying to get the voices to overlap. Since they start on different pitches, with different timbres of voice, I wished I was fast enough to create some sort of singing sink composition.

And so the moral of the story is that you should always wash your hands.

We also visited the Denver Public Library, which currently features an exhibit on the Presidents of the United States of America (the executives, not the band). For each President elected after the invention of the radio, we were able to hear a snippet of their inaugural address. Curious to see what Calvin Coolidge might have to say, I pushed the button on the recording under his name. Absolute silence.

And so the moral of the story is that if you are going to have defective wiring in your display, make sure to place it in the most appropriate place.

to all my northern friends

Happy Canada Day!

Drink a Wellington's and remember me at Timmies. Haven't broken open a two-four in such a long time. I miss the double doubles. And where can I find friends with rum from Cuba??

21

By waiting around for the cheap seats, I finally got the chance to see 21, the film about MIT geniuses who try to take Las Vegas for a cool seven figures: a victory of brain against bouncers.

I was expecting this film to be along the lines of Ocean's 11, but instead I saw a somewhat disjointed battle between Mind and Body, complete with a moral message about not forgetting who your true friends are. Only limited success awaited these card counters, as apparently we aren't supposed to believe that anyone can truly get away with beating the house.

I suppose it is a comment on my own condition to note that successful cleverness interests me more than cleverness that has learned its lesson.

oh, I'd be delighted to stay for that

After watching yet another version of Pride and Prejudice, I'm convinced that private concerts were the early 19th century equivalent of home videos. The same mask of false delight at the dubious accomplishments of someone else's progeny has not changed for centuries...

Apparently Not

Anna found these two pieces of reading material lying haphazardly adjacent. The irony was too good to be left unshared.

A & W Root Beer

Anna was successfully initiated in the refreshing deliciousness of a frothy mug from A & W's. Ah, that mug evokes much nostalgia for fencing tournaments.

Vail

Photo credit: Anna F.

Read about our adventures here.

We had much fun visiting this beautiful journalist who got us tickets to the show.