Day 84: All Asia

Thank goodness for Mariposa.  The best part of waking up... is waking up early enough to go have coffee and chill a bit before work.

Otherwise you're screwed.

Somehow, All Asia played in to my day two days in a row.  The first (as you'll know if you religiously read all my blog posts... which you should NOT) was yesterday, pre-fireworks.  The second was today, post-work, pre-live-band-karaoke.  One of the few times recently that E. and I have carved out some chatterbox one-on-one time that didn't involve riding in a car (for 12+ hours at a time).

It was, of course, again ruined by the music, but luckily better music was in our near future.  However, first, on the way to Asgard, in the same damn plaza as yesterday, we again run into my former dorm-mate from college!  This is getting uncanny, so it seemed like kismet that she should join us for karaoke at Asgard -- which (about an hour later) she did.  Excellent.

Asgard was dead tonight until it just wasn't -- nearly everyone showed at the same time.  D. showed with JRock about the same time as C. and party came in for her birthday.  Everyone was having a smashing time (on multiple levels), I sang some crazy-sappy tunes ("Sugar Pie Honey Bunch" and Jason Mraz's "I'm Yours"), and the night was LBK as it should be.  The night ended with some falafel, some funny lines, and some funnier moments. All that was missing was ... you know what? I don't think anything was missing.

Day 81: Jill Brown-Rhone Park

The thingie in front of my house that I always refer to as Lafayette Square (which it is) contains a park, which, because Cambridge is not New York City, is _not_ reasonably called Lafayette Square Park (which would be cool, right?), but is rather called Jill Brown-Rhone park.  I've no idea who Jill Brown-Rhone is, but I am sure I approve of her because it is lovely to have a little park in front of my house (-ish; it even has some of those tables with chess boards painted right on them).

Ahem. After work, I met up with D. in said J B-R park to hand off the goods... you know what I'm talking about.  *wink wink*.  Ok, fine, I'm not that interesting, and it was some healthy chocolate stuff. Long story.  Point is, why don't _I_ ever think of just going outside and hanging out in the park in front of my house?  Seriously.  I adore Central, I adore Lafayette Square, why don't I go out and enjoy it?  So for about 30 minutes today, I did, and it was fantastic.  Sun was shining, people were oot 'n' aboot, maybe some birds were chirping?  Well, in my mind's reinterpretation of the event, there were some damn birds chirping.

Other lovely C. Square events of the day: DELIGHTFUL foods in the a.m. at Mariposa, a venture to some bluegrass nearby in the evening at Atwood's, and some nice downtime just after work, pre-park.  Maybe someone will read this blog, decide to give me an enormous sum of money for a book and movie contract a la Julie and Julia, and tell me never to go back to science but rather to frolic around and critique Neil Simon-esque plays for the rest of my life.  Eh? Eh?  Drat.

Day 64: Close Encounters of the Veggie Kind

Truth be told, I have put great efforts into discovery of the best grilled cheese and the best cheeseburger in Cambridge, but not until recently did I come to believe that a similar quest for veggie burgers might be in order.  Mostly because I feel like veggie burgers are usually crumbly bundles of poorly cohered beans and tofu - not so appealing, right?  Well, I stand corrected.

In addition to providing an edgy yet very Cantabrigian environment (complete with the fixture of a periodic table of burgers and other foods chalked onto its back wall and serving as the menu), the Miracle of Science also serves up a damn good veggie burger.  Saved by the grace of not being a vegan burger, some magical creamy sauce saves the day, and it's delicious.  I stopped by with a friend after our choir practice in the Back Bay, and at first we thought we could get away with splitting one... which turned quickly into two (and I'm pretty convinced he could have gone further if we'd have let him).

After a long day of work, softball (we came thisclose to not losing...), and singing some masterful pieces from a piecemeal mass (more on that later), Miracle was the perfect end to the day.

Day 52: Cinderella's

Warning: there is some griping contained within, mostly in the second paragraph.

Typically I tout the fact that my apartment is located above Toscanini's, hands down my favorite place to get coffee and also to get ice cream in Cambridge.  However, this is a slight stretch of the truth -- in fact, my house is above an "Italian" restaurant just next to said coffee shop called Cinderella's.  Much less glamorous than Tosci, yet at certain points in one's life (or one's night), Cinderella's makes a lot of sense.

Yesterday after work, the original plan had been to run errands with Z., make an appearance at Gallery 263 for a bluegrass/folk concert there, and then go to the typical Thursday night LBK at Asgard.  Z. needed to pick up some computer stuff that was big/heavy from Microcenter and we thought we might go shopping at the Trader Joe's next door, as well. So I jauntily left work at 7p, thinking I had plenty of time to make it to the concert by its start time of 8 or just after.  Of course I forgot my phone at work -- and of course I couldn't just leave it there, as my office was going to be moved at approximately the crack of 7am the next morning.  So after I picked up Z. at home, I asked him if he wouldn't mind a) letting me run to work before I brought him back home and b) skipping the grocery-stopping step of our endeavors.  Of course he was acquiescent.  We got in line at Microcenter where he had ordered some stuff online, and when he whipped out his wallet... he realized he left the credit card he needed at home.  Thank God I'm not the only one who does these things.  Anyhow, phone was retrieved, Z. got to see BBN, card was retrieved from home, monitor and processor were purchased, and then I dropped off Z. at the front door so that I could go park.  Except after I circled, having seen someone move their car, a police-mobile pulled up immediately in front of the place where my car needed to go to turn left onto the street with the parking spot. And stayed there.  And stayed there.  Eventually I backed up the entire street to where the preceding cross-street had been.

But that was the last crappy part of the day. Because, as I have foreshadowed, the day was going to end with Cinderella's, meaning that good times would be had first. Said good times were had both at the gallery and then at the Asgard, where a bunch of folks from Calliope as well as some MIT-ers and the gallery crew met up for some soulful tune-ing.

After, there was still a bit more chatting at Asgard, then we proceeded onward to Cinderella's for some tasty grub, which we enjoyed outside in the park in front of my house, obviously also enjoying the company of many other Central Square-ers as happens when out on pretty much any night in Central Square.  Please tell me where I can find such things in San Diego...

Day 22: Lafayette Square

Perhaps lame to post about the little corner of the world where I live, but today I had occasion for it.  Above you will see the grainy version of the view from the bay windows in our third-floor living room, including a mildly obstructed view of the little "park" that has basically been installed on the corner, lights from various restaurants/etc. across the intersection, perhaps a glimpse of part of the fire station.  What you can't see from this picture is that this intersection is perhaps one of the most convenient in the city.  My own reason for appreciating this little square tonight was its proximity to a grocery store, when I realized I would need to procure a whole bunch of white vinegar in order to properly prepare the shirts E. and I tie-dyed on Sunday at the Earth Day party.  As a kid I dreamed about being able to walk down the road, grab a gallon of milk, and make it home without having to use a motorized vehicle (perhaps my childhood dreams were somewhat limited).

Not only can I do that, but I also have access to greasy pizza and terrible (yet so good) Chinese food immediately beneath, the world's best coffee shop just next to that, and adorable cafes just around the corner... leading into the oh-so-lively scene that is Central Square.  Yay for Lafayette Square, and yay for cozy apartments in it.