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 57: The 'Snake

Tuesdays are serious days this summer.  In addition to Calliope (choir), which has always been on Tuesdays, the Straw Dogs softball games are also on Tuesdays this summer, meaning that I dash from the Fresh Pond area down to MIT around 4:30 and don't get home until 10p at the earliest, after Calliope.  Today was the first of such days, so I suppose I shouldn't be speaking in generics quite yet. However, I have a fairly certain feeling that getting home at 10pm on Tuesdays is not going to be the norm, due to the presence of a nice little place we like to affectionately call the 'Snake (the Rattlesnake, located on Boylston St. in Back Bay; pic above taken around the corner on Newbury St.).

It's just around the block from where the choir practices (at Emmanuel Episcopalian, a really pretty church which is beautiful on the inside... the kind of place I used to fantasize about as a kid who wished she went to boarding school; yes, weird).  And it's got some tasty stuff.  D., who just joined the choir after I pestered for a while, was fairly disgusted by my zest for the macaroni and cheese, which, in addition to being basically the antithesis of all things vegan, includes (along! with bacon) Taza chocolate.  Sound gross?  Maybe, but I find it almost as delicious as the peanut butter burgers at both Bukowski's.

Yay softball!  Yay choir!  And yay for adding more chocolate and peanut butter to the world. :-/?

Day 50: Straw Dogs

It's that time again.  Straw Dogs time.

What are Straw Dogs, you might ask?  The answer is honestly: I don't know. I always assumed that a straw dog was something like a straw man... here's the quote from the Tao Te Ching which references Straw Dogs:

    Heaven and Earth are heartless / treating creatures like straw dogs

Well, we unleashed those dogs on our rival softball team today, the Base Pairs (get it? ...yeah).  Except, turns out those Base Pairs were pretty well paired, and were heartless in treating us like straw dogs.

But it was great to be back on the softball fields at MIT!  Really cool view of Simmons, a dorm with quite interesting geometric architecture, from the field.  After, I had other plans so was unable to go drink with the Dogs and so-called "Dog Handlers" -- but bluegrass at Cantab did not disappoint.  The band was called Tricky Britches, and they were pretty darn good (I got super-duper happy when they played "Uncle Penn", a cover of a Ricky Skaggs song that my dad played all the time when I was a kid).

Next week -- revenge of the Dogs.

Day 23: Muddy Charles

Anyplace that claims it's a decent university has to have an on-campus pub.

MIT actually has two. One attempts to be social, but never has a good feel.  It's in a dorm, so it's mostly first-years and dorm hangers-on.

The other does not attempt to be anything other than a room in an old, old building across the Charles River from Boston (and right across from the MIT sailing pavilion), and it accomplishes that quite well.

Both have cheap beer, but the Muddy boasts free food (Wednesday is wings night) -- and you can bring your own.  I am never going to be able to portray the atmosphere right -- it's got a couple TVs, but it's got more wood than TVs. You can get a pitcher of Rapscallion for $12.  Down the hall is an enormous ballroom where there is often ballroom dancing being practiced.  Upstairs there is a climbing gym.  You can get up onto the roof on warm summer nights (and I have).  There are enormous pillars outside, in the entrance, above the stone steps leading down to Memorial Drive.

It's a pretty great place to go after sailing, or softball practice, or just a long day in lab.  Here's to you, Muddy Charles, for having such a great name and for being there.