Tonight after errands (dropping off various goods at MIT), full day of work at BBN, choir practice sans D. (who had escaped for some family time at Martha's Vineyard), and a healthy bike ride back, I arrived home to find Z. doing his usually symphonie gastronomique in the kitchen. Realizing that I hadn't seen his fellow first-year compatriots in a while, I gave J. a call and he and M. came over to hang around and chat in front of our "fireplace" (see photo). Which I must say was very nice -- a relaxed evening once in awhile is not so bad, not so bad at all. Over the course of the evening, further phone conversations were had with E., who is still dogsitting in the South End, and D., who was in the throes of a serious game of "before-and-after band names", a game originally construed at Sunday's garden party. [The idea is simple: think Jeopardy!'s before-and-after categories, and add the constraint that both the "before" and the "after" must be band names. Some of my favorites include "Tracy ChapMannheim Steamroller", "Animal Collective Soul", or D's very favorite, "Bu(sh)Cher"; and what we call a "level 2", e.g., "The Dave Matthews Band", or "Queen Latifah". We never said we were classy.]
At any rate, it's nice to know your friends are a phone call away, both physically and mentally.
