the week before last, i had spent a few days in boston with my friends, p & d. p was on last week of maternity leave. since her mom was there as well, she took the afternoon off from being mommy-p to just being p. we went out to lunch and then to see the dark knight, which was even better the second time around because i caught things that i had missed the first time.
on our walk to harvard square, we started talking about sarah palin, whom we don't support. (i refuse to support anyone who doesn't support women's rights, especially when she is a woman herself. it makes no sense and shows how hypocritical she is.) we had been watching the week's worth of the daily show with jon stewart and the colbert report. as we walked and talked, a woman in front of us hung up her cell phone, turned to us, and said, "i know who you're talking about." p and i looked at each other, unsure of how to react to that statement. then, the woman said, "i hope you're not for palin," and proceeded to go on a rant about the her and the republican party.
she revealed that she had been a federal government employee and hated working under the bush administration. apparently, every time she logged into her work computer, she has to click "yes" to a statement asking if she will work in the best interest of the government to farm out as much work as possible to contractors. regardless of whether she agreed with that policy, she despised having to be forced to agree with it on a daily basis. she was so fired up in telling us how wrong she felt the republican party has treated this country that as we reached our parting ways, she apologized for having us listen to her tirade. we, of course, loved that it had happened, that people are becoming so impassioned about this election that they would reach out to strangers and share their views.
last night, r and i eavesdropped on two guys at the table behind ours, discussing palin's run for vice president. it's exciting to hear people talk about politics after all the talk accusing the american public how uninvolved they had been in previous election years. of course, being in boston and new york is partial. they're mostly democrat supporters. what i would find more interesting is to overhear what people are discussing in the mid-west and other areas of the country where they are more republican. nonetheless, this election seems to illicit more attention and participation than the previous two elections. maybe we now have more at stake, with wall street taking a huge hit today (announcement of the lehman brothers' bankruptcy, merrill lynch being bought out by bank of america, aig's close position to destruction) following a pattern of a troubling economy and the ongoing military involvement in the middle east, that people are paying closer attention. on one hand, yes, people getting impassioned by this election is exciting. on the other hand, however, it's almost as if it's only because this country is facing a dire situation that americans are finally listening up. i can't help but wonder if people had been this involved and paid this much attention the last two times, would we be in this situation.
on a side note, i received a notice from the ins that because i had failed to make my appointment to take my oath of naturalization, i will have to wait for further notice of a rescheduling. i never received the first notice of the oath to begin with. to think that having taken the oath would've secured my ability to vote! now, i have to wait and see if i can make it by election day. fingers-crossed!
Showing posts with label boston. Show all posts
Showing posts with label boston. Show all posts
Monday, September 15, 2008
Friday, May 09, 2008
boston
r and i visited boston last weekend. it was sort of a weird visit because we stayed with his friend who lives about an hour outside of the city so we weren't actually in boston. but we actually hit boston itself first on friday, to kill time waiting for his friend to arrive at his home. we went straight to the institute of contemporary art. they were in between major exhibitions so we ended up paying full admission to see just half of the museum. what they had was cool, but we felt a little gypped.
afterwards, we headed to the barking crab restaurant for a late lunch. it was within walking distance from the museum, and boston is a seafood city. we were totally disappointed, however. again, we felt gypped having ordered the crab cake appetizer. it was $12 for 3 tiny little medallions of mostly breading. we had excellent crabcakes not long ago at jacques imo's in new orleans where we could see large chunks of crab meat. then, our entrees came. i don't mind the paper plates and the whole picnic feel to the restaurant even though they were certainly not charging picnic prices for their food. the food was not that impressive though, especially for what we were paying for. overall, i would recommend avoiding this place.
we headed to r's friend's house that evening. we just took it easy, after a long drive for r, and had dinner and saw iron man. the movie was good. nothing mind blowing, but it was fun.
the oddest thing i encountered was actually the pets. i know someone who has 4 cats which, to me, is quite a handful, having grown up pretty much without pets. but r's friend has a dozen animals: 6 dogs and 6-7 cats. it was a little overwhelming for me, but i love seeing r around dogs. he has a great fondness for them and loses all inhibitions to doggy-talk to them.
since r has never been to boston before, he wanted to some of the more touristy things. he's very interested in history and wanted to do the freedom trail. unfortunately, saturday was a dismal day, and his friend suggested that we visit the museum of fine arts instead, an indoors activity. we were totally fine since we love art. we hit this museum at a good time. i LOVED the british printmaking exhibition: rhythms of modern life, british prints 1914-1939. using simple lines and forms and no more than 3 colors at a time, the artists were able to convey so much. the pieces held so much energy.
r was absolutely inspired by the antonio lopez garcia exhibit. his work is so meticulous that, upon first seeing them, i thought they were photographs, when in fact, they were paintings. r is fascinated with space, being a set designer, and loved the way lopez garcia captured an empty apartment in his paintings. i could tell he was itching to start a painting of his own.
afterwards, r's friend took us to a bar, then dinner, and another bar where one of his friends is playing in a band. when we first arrived at the bar, we had walked into "nerd night." it was nerdy people giving power points to share their extensive knowledge. r's friend's friend started heckling the presenters. immediately, i thought to myself, r's friends were the people i and my friends were escaping when we chose to apply for ncssm. i couldn't take sides. luckily, the band finally started to perform.
the next day, r and i headed into boston on our own. i wanted to visit my friends, p & d, and meet their baby girl. n is so precious. they let me hold her for a little while. apparently, d was taking pictures of everyone and anyone who holds the baby. we caught for a bit and then they walked us to a shopping center where r and i grabbed some korean food for lunch. p & d took the baby back to the their house, and r and i decided to roam the city. we were finally on our own.
we left r's truck at p & d's house and walked to the T station nearby. r wanted to compare the T to NY's metro. we got off near charles street and walked to boston commons. luckily, the weather finally cleared up. it was cloudy but not wet. so we embarked on the freedom trail, going all the way into the italian district in the north end. r really wanted to see paul revere's house, which we did. unfortunately, it was already closed by the time we made it there. but we got some italian pastry before we headed back to get the truck. that afternoon was my favorite part of the trip.
r noticed that boston is so much cleaner than new york. i couldn't agree more. maybe we were just in the nicer parts of town, but i never thought to look for feces on the sidewalk as i ALWAYS do in new york. we definitely want to go back again, but we might do it a little differently this time, like staying IN boston and putting up with ONE baby instead of a DOZEN animals.
baltimore is next on my list of places to visit with r. it will probably have to wait until june. stay tuned.
afterwards, we headed to the barking crab restaurant for a late lunch. it was within walking distance from the museum, and boston is a seafood city. we were totally disappointed, however. again, we felt gypped having ordered the crab cake appetizer. it was $12 for 3 tiny little medallions of mostly breading. we had excellent crabcakes not long ago at jacques imo's in new orleans where we could see large chunks of crab meat. then, our entrees came. i don't mind the paper plates and the whole picnic feel to the restaurant even though they were certainly not charging picnic prices for their food. the food was not that impressive though, especially for what we were paying for. overall, i would recommend avoiding this place.
we headed to r's friend's house that evening. we just took it easy, after a long drive for r, and had dinner and saw iron man. the movie was good. nothing mind blowing, but it was fun.
the oddest thing i encountered was actually the pets. i know someone who has 4 cats which, to me, is quite a handful, having grown up pretty much without pets. but r's friend has a dozen animals: 6 dogs and 6-7 cats. it was a little overwhelming for me, but i love seeing r around dogs. he has a great fondness for them and loses all inhibitions to doggy-talk to them.
since r has never been to boston before, he wanted to some of the more touristy things. he's very interested in history and wanted to do the freedom trail. unfortunately, saturday was a dismal day, and his friend suggested that we visit the museum of fine arts instead, an indoors activity. we were totally fine since we love art. we hit this museum at a good time. i LOVED the british printmaking exhibition: rhythms of modern life, british prints 1914-1939. using simple lines and forms and no more than 3 colors at a time, the artists were able to convey so much. the pieces held so much energy.
r was absolutely inspired by the antonio lopez garcia exhibit. his work is so meticulous that, upon first seeing them, i thought they were photographs, when in fact, they were paintings. r is fascinated with space, being a set designer, and loved the way lopez garcia captured an empty apartment in his paintings. i could tell he was itching to start a painting of his own.
afterwards, r's friend took us to a bar, then dinner, and another bar where one of his friends is playing in a band. when we first arrived at the bar, we had walked into "nerd night." it was nerdy people giving power points to share their extensive knowledge. r's friend's friend started heckling the presenters. immediately, i thought to myself, r's friends were the people i and my friends were escaping when we chose to apply for ncssm. i couldn't take sides. luckily, the band finally started to perform.
the next day, r and i headed into boston on our own. i wanted to visit my friends, p & d, and meet their baby girl. n is so precious. they let me hold her for a little while. apparently, d was taking pictures of everyone and anyone who holds the baby. we caught for a bit and then they walked us to a shopping center where r and i grabbed some korean food for lunch. p & d took the baby back to the their house, and r and i decided to roam the city. we were finally on our own.
we left r's truck at p & d's house and walked to the T station nearby. r wanted to compare the T to NY's metro. we got off near charles street and walked to boston commons. luckily, the weather finally cleared up. it was cloudy but not wet. so we embarked on the freedom trail, going all the way into the italian district in the north end. r really wanted to see paul revere's house, which we did. unfortunately, it was already closed by the time we made it there. but we got some italian pastry before we headed back to get the truck. that afternoon was my favorite part of the trip.
r noticed that boston is so much cleaner than new york. i couldn't agree more. maybe we were just in the nicer parts of town, but i never thought to look for feces on the sidewalk as i ALWAYS do in new york. we definitely want to go back again, but we might do it a little differently this time, like staying IN boston and putting up with ONE baby instead of a DOZEN animals.
baltimore is next on my list of places to visit with r. it will probably have to wait until june. stay tuned.
Sunday, October 14, 2007
boston
i'm visiting high school friends in boston for a few days. one of them lives in pittsburg and is in boston for the weekend, and i haven't seen her in years. it's odd to be able to say that, to think of spans of time in years, that i've lived long enough to think of time in greater increments than just seasons, a sign that i'm definitely growing older. the other two friends, a married couple about to expect their first child, live in boston, and i had visited them not too long ago.
the two girls lived on my hall during my senior year of high school. the one i've kept in frequent touch with has changed quite a bit since her high school days of jeans and sweatshirts; she's now an attorney at a major law firm in boston. she dresses the part of a grown up. she's still old self in many ways, however. the friend who's visiting from pittsburg hasn't changed much. different hair style but pretty much everything about her is the same: demeanor, attire, way she carries herself. i'm sure there are other changes that i've missed or didn't get to see since we did only spend a mere 48 hours together. i guess it's odd how people remain the same and change over the course of time. some things stay the same, other things evolve. it's also interesting to see how life has taken us on very different paths since our point of juncture in high school, both in our professional and personal lives. i guess seeing how friends evolve is a part of growing up and a part of friendships.
the two girls lived on my hall during my senior year of high school. the one i've kept in frequent touch with has changed quite a bit since her high school days of jeans and sweatshirts; she's now an attorney at a major law firm in boston. she dresses the part of a grown up. she's still old self in many ways, however. the friend who's visiting from pittsburg hasn't changed much. different hair style but pretty much everything about her is the same: demeanor, attire, way she carries herself. i'm sure there are other changes that i've missed or didn't get to see since we did only spend a mere 48 hours together. i guess it's odd how people remain the same and change over the course of time. some things stay the same, other things evolve. it's also interesting to see how life has taken us on very different paths since our point of juncture in high school, both in our professional and personal lives. i guess seeing how friends evolve is a part of growing up and a part of friendships.
Sunday, March 25, 2007
shreveport, louisiana
this past week has been a whirlwind. i was visiting friends in boston when i got a call for a job in shreveport, louisiana. the next day, which was this past thursday, i left boston; on friday, ran a whole bunch of errands that included an optometrist appointment for new contact lenses and involved walking over 40 blocks in manhattan (there was no form of transportation that's worth waiting for when walking from point A to point B takes only 15 minutes...i just had a lot of destinations to hit...); flew out to shreveport today, saturday. all happened in 3 days. i don't know ANYONE on this crew. the person who called is a friend of a friend. but i have a good feeling about this and think i'll get along with everyone. after all, my department consists of all guys, except for one person who does her own thing and doesn't sound like someone i'd interact with as much as the guys.
oh yeah, not to mention the unc-usc game last night. how awesome for unc to come back from a 16-point deficit and be classy about it, holding the ball during the last 7 seconds instead of scoring and hugging the other team as the clock ticked down to the final buzzer. for a moment there, i hid my face in my hands in disbelief that we were down by double digits in the second half: "why is this happening?!" my sister and i screamed so much that i wouldn't have been surprised if our neighbors had called the cops. after half time, the intensity was so high with the deficit that we were on our feet for the rest of the game. as the game played on, my sister noticed we were inching towards the television: "as if us moving closer to the television is going to help," to quote my sister. well, maybe it did. but more likely, thanks to roy williams playing the deep bench, we had the energy to take over as usc's endurance dwindled. our zeal came back, and two minutes into the second half, we dictated the game. this is why unc is #1.
oh yeah, not to mention the unc-usc game last night. how awesome for unc to come back from a 16-point deficit and be classy about it, holding the ball during the last 7 seconds instead of scoring and hugging the other team as the clock ticked down to the final buzzer. for a moment there, i hid my face in my hands in disbelief that we were down by double digits in the second half: "why is this happening?!" my sister and i screamed so much that i wouldn't have been surprised if our neighbors had called the cops. after half time, the intensity was so high with the deficit that we were on our feet for the rest of the game. as the game played on, my sister noticed we were inching towards the television: "as if us moving closer to the television is going to help," to quote my sister. well, maybe it did. but more likely, thanks to roy williams playing the deep bench, we had the energy to take over as usc's endurance dwindled. our zeal came back, and two minutes into the second half, we dictated the game. this is why unc is #1.
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