Day 12: Calliope

This morning started out with a brisk bike ride on a beautiful day in to the Back Bay area, where I was meeting with the director of my choral/orchestral ensemble, Calliope to help out a bit with auditions. The morning ended up being extremely pleasant (although only 2/5 women who were auditioning actually showed!) as I chatted with the director and two of the other women in the chorus.

I was quite lucky to stumble upon Calliope just by searching for a choral group to join last summer. The most interesting part about Calliope is that the chorus both performs *and* practices with an orchestra, and it's a really great group of guys and dolls. I always wished I had taken up an orchestra instrument -- the closest I came was oboe in the fifth grade, and I didn't get all too far with that :). So it's a great experience to be able to practice with an orchestra each week, and getting back into singing with a group has been so uplifting.

Anywho, enough of my goings-on about that. After auditions, I biked up to the Armory in Somerville from Boston to meet a friend at the winter farmers' market there - who turned out already to be gone by the time I got there (turns out, I am a bit slower at biking 5 miles, much of it uphill, than I would like!). But that was fine (and the market was really well-organized, I definitely want to go back!), and I headed to my next destination, Starbucks in Davis Square, which usually has outdoor seating. Turns out they haven't put out their tables yet, but the restaurant next door had, so I had a salad while waiting for a friend to join. He checked out my flashy green bike for a bit and I studied some for my biology exam (this post is being written during an *ahem* extended break). Soon I'll bike back home because it's my roommate's birthday tonight and we are hosting the first "real" party chez nous! (At least the first one I will be in attendance at.)

Happy spring to all!

Day 5: Cambridge Winter Farmer's Market

At the request of a friend of mine who does urban foraging, and who had a booth at the market this morning, I attended the Cambridge Winter Farmers' Market for the first time early this afternoon. I came away with a slightly heightened knowledge of the foraging prospects around the Charles river, a copy of an urban foraging book (gift for Dad for Father's Day), and some tasty aged cheese.

I started writing this post this afternoon, before I knew about the second wonderful treat Cambridge would bring me today. A friend of mine posted a message online that she had an extra ticket to a show at Berklee Performance Center just across the river to see Devotchka opening for the Magnetic Fields. I know Devotchka mostly from the soundtrack to Little Miss Sunshine and had only heard a few songs from Magnetic Fields (which I must admit at first I thought was "Magnetic Zeros", as in Edward Sharp and the Magnetic Zeros, a band I've been listening to a lot recently). And boy was I pleasantly surprised at hearing both live! We had really good seats (although Berklee is a great venue and most any seat is good) which always makes it nicer. The night ended with a lovely walk over the bridge back to Cambridge, though a bit frigid. That sneak preview of spring we had a few weeks back would be welcome as a more stable fixture!