My Boston

Tuesday, November 30, 2004

#25 From Boston to Oklahoma and a Thanksgiving with UFOs - November 27, 2004

Howdy Partners!

Greetings from the Sooner State! I have come here to spend Thanksgiving with my friends Ulli and Gerald, and their two lovely daughters Louise and Siri. This is my annual visit here to the state where the wind blows and so on and the state motto is "Oklahoma is OK", which I have to admit is not terribly exciting. But then again not every state motto can be as dramatic as New Hampshire's which says "Live Free or Die" or as poetic as Massachusetts' "The Spirit of America".
[http://www.ok.gov/]

Still in Boston, last weekend, I went for the first time to the IMAX dome theater at the Boston Museum of Science (http://www.mos.org/) and saw a film called "Forces of Nature" featuring such lovely events as tornadoes, volcanic eruptions and earthquakes. I left there with a slight bout of nausea, but recuperated fairly well and quickly - next time a little Dramamine might be in order.
Saturday I actually got back into one of my old habits, and did some baking, before heading out to a housewarming party in Sharon, Massachusetts (http://www.townofsharon.net/) where my friend Glenn and his kids Madison and Noah (aka Mamba Boy as featured in a recent short documentary) celebrated their new digs. It took me a while to get there as I was stuck on 93 South (also known as the distressway), which looked more like a parking lot that day. The party was a lot of fun with tons of nice people and about 20 crock-pots.
Sunday I once again headed for the MA countryside, this time to Ashland, Mass. The town's claim to fame is Henry Warren who invented the synchronous self-starting motor and Telechron Clock - hence the town's football team is named "The Clockers", a name not everyone is apparently happy about (maybe they got clocked one or two times too many). Our aim in Ashland was to drive to my friend Renee's house and retrieve an antique trunk that her parents decided to give to me. Driving home with a trunk sticking two thirds out of my car was interesting and a tad nerve-wracking, but we managed alright - and the trunk is wonderful in my studio and doubles as a comfy, cozy window seat.
Monday night I attend the Boston Ski and Sports Club's Monday Night Football event at a bar called "Porters" which is fortunately only three blocks from my house, and a very nice place. The Zagat Guide in 2001 called it "Upscale for a Bar, Sporty for a Grill". (http://www.portersbar.com/) It was definitely a great event, and everyone had fun watching our beloved New England Patriots (once again) drive home a win. I discovered my current new favorite beer, Harpoon's Winterwarmer Ale - fantastic! (Did I mention that I like beer? I have been to scared so far to attend any of the events from the Beeradvocate group here in Boston, however at some point it might be unavoidable!).
Tuesday night, after a couple of tight and stressful days at work, I headed to Cambridge with my friend Linda dell'Olio (aka Linda #3) to the Cambridge Antique Market, which is a wonderful house, five stories full of antiques and wonderful things to look at! (http://www.marketantique.com/cambridg.htm).

Wednesday started horrendously early - heading to the airport to fly to Oklahoma at 6 AM, unfortunately through Chicago, but I have to say it went pretty smooth this time. Only a 20-minute delay, and even though I had to transfer between terminals everything seemed to go like clockwork. It was a long day, and we unfortunately had something very sad happen on the drive back from the airport when a dog ran into our car. Apparently this is a common occurrence and frequent problem here with stray dogs, which roam the countryside. I have had a hard time with this as you can imagine. Hats off though to my friend Gerald, who handled the situation pretty well.

On Thanksgiving, as a pre-emptive strike for the food that we were to ingest later, I went for a walk and jog in the morning with Ulli and the two girls, and look at a new development in the neighborhood called Berry Creek. It is scary to see what took place there, a gated community with houses in sort of a very gaudy faux French Country Style. It's almost like watching a bad accident, just so bad you have to look. The fun part for the kids was the entrance, where someone put detergent in a little pond on a little manicured piece of lawn with an artificial waterfall, and the good Oklahoma wind blew soap clouds all over the place.
On the way home we enjoyed collecting tons of Pecan nuts fresh off the tree!
Another tradition here is to decorate the house with lights for the upcoming Christmas season, and the whole neighborhood is currently rising to the challenge (of course our house here is the prettiest, no contest!).
Thanksgiving itself was celebrated with the UFOs, the Untenured Faculty Organization of Oklahoma State University, which was loads of fun! A very mixed group of bright adults, cheerful kids and a Boston terrier named Kaelyn who was not afraid to perform dog tricks for bits of turkey and cheesecake. I had some Pumpkin Ale with the meal, all in the spirit of the season.
Today we headed to Oklahoma City to the Museum of Art to see an exhibit called "Millet to Matisse: Nineteenth- and Twentieth-Century French Painting from Kelvingrove Art Gallery, Glasgow" - a very nice exhibit, with some wonderful paintings by Millet, who was one of the greatest painters of peasant scenes, Jules Breton, who depicted the hardship of the Urban Poor and a new discovery for me, Bastien Lepage. There were of course Monets, Renoirs, Van Goghs, and Seurats! The museum is wonderful (http://www.okcmoa.com/); it has the largest most comprehensive collection of Dale Chihuly's glasswork in the world, in particular his glass tower at the main entrance, which is three stories high. Quite a sight and most amazing!
Afterward it was kid's time and we headed for the Oklahoma Zoo, which was actually a lot of fun, in particular the hippos were my favorite! Driving home and enjoying a beautiful vast Oklahoma sky dipped in reds, yellows and purple was a great end to a very nice day.

I have been enjoying my time here very much, we have been reminiscing of course, back to our student days in Freiburg, watching German comedy on television (for my German friends: Loriot "Ja wo laufen sie denn?, Ja wo laufen sie denn?") and we are enjoying each other's company. Playing a lot of games with the girls (kids' version of Cranium and some treasure hunting.) Tomorrow is a party here in the house, early Christmas type of event, and Sunday we are possibly heading up north to the Woolaroc Native American museum in Bartlesville.

Time to go, hope all of you had a great Thanksgiving, see you back in Boston.

Petra

Friday, November 19, 2004

#24 Boston - First Snow - November 19, 2004

Immediately for the good news! (No, not the snow, duh! even though I do consider that good news).

One of my black and white photographs got accepted for an exhibit called "Illuminations", which is a quarterly exhibit at the MGH Cancer Center. The artwork will be displayed throughout our brandspankin' new Yawkey Outpatient Building, and my photograph is one of them! Very proud little photographer I am!

Also (and this is a bit related to snow), I booked my first ski trip (with lessons, helmet included) for December 4th, where I will head up to the Sunday River ski area in Maine!
Following that segue, we did have our first snow here in Boston last week! Yesss! It started on Friday morning and snowed solidly for about a day-and-a-half. I was of course utterly delighted, giddy as a schoolgirl, skipping though the streets with a misty-eyed expression on my face. I was looked at by my Boston colleagues with astonishment, and the certainty that by March I surely would be so sick of the snow, that I was ready to move back to California. I ignored it and continued to be thrilled. Looking out the window and seeing people sweep snow off their caahs gave me the wonderful satisfaction that the exorbitant parking fee I do pay was not for naught, and that Ella was snug and warm in her underground garage. I took Oscar to the window for his first ever viewing of snow, and he seemed completely entranced by the snowflakes - that's my boy!

As if it was planned that way the Boston Ski and Sports Club had its "Blizzard of Oz" party to open the ski season Friday evening. The party itself was nothing to write home about, in particular my new slightly slow "friend" Bob, who I had to tell at some point that it was now really time for me to go wash my hair. In a side room though, there was an exhibit hall where all the ski resorts in New England provided information on trails, ski lessons, vacations, etc. That was definitely worth it, and I am really looking forward to my first lesson. There are some ski areas that are actually fairly close to Boston (Wachussett, Nashoba and the Blue Hills), so that should provide ample opportunities for a novice like me.

Saturday it continued to snow, and that reminded me that it was definitely time for some winter wear shopping so my friend Elizabeth and I headed downtown to do some retail therapy. Successful retail therapy I might add, and I did return home with a good loot. I noted a slightly scary trend though, the quilt bag women now seemed to have morphed into the Ugly Christmas Sweater Brigades. If I loose my mind (completely) when I am 80 and wear one of those things, please shoot me! The weather got nicer by the day and Sunday provided me with the chance to go for a beautiful hike in the snow in the Blue Hills just outside of Boston. It was just wonderful! On Sunday I also had my first experience "slush and snow jogging". Some of the snow had melted already and there were patches of ice along the Charles River Esplanade, which made for some interesting foot maneuvering on my part.

The week so far has been quite busy at work, with some serious deadlines in the works, but full of learning, and some "aha" moments to be proud of. Not enough though to keep me from staying indoors at night. On Tuesday I accompanied my new Russian Friend Tatiana to the swanky Harvard Club, where she just became a member. It was a very pleasant evening, with a tour of the facility (http://www.harvardclub.com/site/content/tour/tour.jsp). Wednesday night our planned book group pretty much disintegrated and my colleague Renee and I ended up on a cocktail binge at Deville Lounge [http://kingsbackbay.com/?], a very stylish, chichi kinda place, with cocktails with pretty pretty names like Dead Apple and Cranker. Needless to say we had to sample one or two or three. Most of you know that I do not drink cocktails too often and too much of it (Fredi - not a word, NOT A WORD!) - let's just say it was an entertaining evening. I just returned from my class at Harvard (hated it, bad teacher, bad bad teacher) and now will retire to my couch with Harry Potter. Weekend plans are forming quickly and next Wednesday I will be getting the hell out of Dodge to go to Stillwater, Oklahoma, and spend Thanksgiving with some very good friends of mine. I will hail with my next update from the Sooner State, where the weather forecast promises sunshine over the holiday.

Fully aware of the New England chill that I will experience this winter, I am adding a little bit of weather frivolity at the end. On that note, bundle up, people and be well!

pet:)

NEW ENGLAND TEMPERATURE CONVERSION CHART

60° F: Southern Californians shiver uncontrollably. People in New England sunbathe.

50° F: New Yorkers try to turn on the heat. People in New England plant gardens.

40° F: Italian & English cars won't start. People in New England drive with the windows down.

32° F: Distilled water freezes. Maine's Moose Head Lake's water gets thicker.

20° F: Floridians don coats, thermal underwear, gloves, wool hats. People in New England throw on a flannel shirt.

15° F: New York landlords finally turn up the heat. People in New England have the last cookout before it gets cold.

0° F: All the people in Miami die. New Englanders close the windows.

-10° F: Californians fly away to Mexico. The Girl Scouts in New England are selling cookies door to door.

-25° F: Hollywood disintegrates. People in New England get out their winter coats.

-40° F: Washington DC runs out of hot air. People in New England let the dogs sleep indoors.

-100° F: Santa Claus abandons the North Pole. New Englanders get frustrated because they can't start their "kahs."

-460° F: All atomic motion stops (absolute zero on the Kelvin scale). People in New England start saying, "cold 'nuff for ya?"

-500° F: Hell freezes over. The Red Sox win the World Series.

Thursday, November 11, 2004

#23 Boston - Bingo at Symphony Hall - November 11, 2004

Whasssup, people?

Greetings from Boston, where the weather keeps giving us mixed messages, but nevertheless strong signals that winter is indeed here. After a balmy 65 degree weekend, and today's high of 51, we have also experienced some evenings with temps below 30 degrees, very crisp. A first small batch of snow is due to arrive on Saturday and the weather is supposed to settle in the 30-45 degree range for the next week. It has been sunny nevertheless, and that makes up for the loss of daylight. [Is everyone else this tired? My God!]

The lovely weekend allowed for some great activities and for a good mood overall. I sailed into the weekend on Friday by attending a benefit for the Leukemia/Lymphoma Society. The shindig took place at the Institute for Contemporary Art (http://www.icaboston.org/Home) and was called "Chocolate for a Cause" (the title was enough to lure me there). For $25 you got two drinks (chocolate Martini among others, and one of my favorite beers, Magic Hat #9) and all the chocolate you could eat. Excellent chocolatiers from all over the area supplied their truffles, and let me tell you folks, there was some pretty decent sweet stuff there. Boston Restaurant Lumiere absolutely wowed me with their white chocolate ice cream - fab, fab and fab! (http://bostonchefs.com/clients/Lumiere/rest_page/) The ICA featured a photography exhibit by Boris and Vita Mikhailov - his photos document "the height, decline, and fall of the Soviet Union and its disturbing aftermath". According to ICA, Mikhailov became a photographer not by choice, he was an engineer. However the KGB found some nude photos he took of his wife, and that was it for his engineering career. The photography was not something I could relate to much, but it was nevertheless a very enjoyable evening.

Saturday I decided (guilt, guilt and guilt) to finally volunteer again with Boston Cares - this time I helped out at the Boston Living Center, a non-profit that serves people with HIV/AIDS. My job was to help cook and serve lunch, which was a lot of fun. [http://www.bostonlivingcenter.org/aboutus.shtml].

Later that day I went to my first activity with the MIT Euroclub here - what a group! [http://euroclub.mit.edu/] These people are insane - there is something happening constantly! You can join anything from their knitting group to bicycling, badminton, skiing, cultural events.... We all met at a very beautiful Thai restaurant called Bangkok City, had a wonderful and lively dinner with folks from Germany, Russia, Italy, Switzerland, Greece, Korea (I know, I know it is NOT in Europe, but we do let other people join us) and then all headed for the Boston Symphony Hall, where we attended a concert. The symphony hall is an absolutely stunning place [http://www.bso.org/symphonyHallHome.jhtml?sh=1&_requestid=226031]! We attended a concert by the Boston Symphony Orchestra with famous conductor James Levine - the BSO is a great orchestra, however the night's selection was not necessarily up my alley. Classical music is tricky for me, there is no grey zone, either I feel compassionately about it or I don't. This was a "don't" kind of evening. The best part was "Symphony Bingo", a game I started to play with my new Russian friend Liz. One of the pieces was the final scene from the Opera Salome, a very difficult part to sing, I must admit, but that did not make it any prettier. It is one of those musical pieces, that If you do not really really really like classical music, you will NOT change your mind. At any moment I was expecting all the neighborhood cats to come in the door and join the auditory fracas going on (not to say that the soprano was bad, she did get a standing ovation.... hmmmh....). The opera was sung in German, and despite our best efforts we could not figure out where in the text listed in the program the performer was at any given moment. Whenever we recognized any word that she was singing, one of us said "Bingo!" Fun was had by all!

Sunday invited for a drive, so my friend Linda #3 and I headed up the Northshore to go antiquing - we centered our search around the area of Essex and Manchester-by-the-Sea/ Cape Ann and it was a lovely day to explore new areas. [http://www.cape-ann.com/aboutmanchester.html]. It was definitely relaxing after the Sunday morning I had, which involved some hectic caused by chores and an incident that involved my cell phone and a crockpot. Buster Keaton would have been proud.

Work is very busy these days, we have such a huge deadline coming up and an insurmountable amount of work leading up to it. Lots of late and early meetings, challenges and good learning experiences. We might be expecting some breathing room early next year. Maybe.

Of course I do have to end with a little amusement, so here is a scrap from a website called redsoxdiehard.com:

You might be a Bostonian if...
• You think of Philadelphia as the deep south.
• You think there are only 25 letters in the alphabet (no R).
• You think three straight days of 90+ degrees is a heat wave.
• All your pets are named after Celtics Hall-of-Famers.
• You refer to 6 inches of snow as a dusting.
• Just hearing the words New York puts you in an angry frenzy.
• You know the significance of 1918.
• Your favorite adjective is wicked.
• You think 63 degree ocean water is warm.
• You still can't bear to watch highlights from game 6 of the 1986 World Series.
• You believe using your turn signal is a sign of weakness.
• You don't realize that you talk twice as fast as everyone else.

On that note, cheerio!

pet:)











Thursday, November 04, 2004

#22 Boston with a Boo - November 4, 2004

Hello my disillusioned friends!

I have to admit that I have been nursing the post-election blues a bit, and mixed with a decent measure of feebleness caused by Red Sox sleep deprivation and work hectic, I have spent more time than usual on my beloved couch, catching up on reading and listening to music. As a matter of fact I was so spacey this morning during an early morning jog along the Charles River that I stumbled over a root (damn trees!) and took a nice little spill. Apparently the somewhat sluggish motivation that got me there in the first place did not translate into good brain-leg coordination. It must have been quite a pretty sight!

As to my activities over the past week, as usual there is lots to tell. This past Friday after meeting my friend Glenn for a drink at the swanky Boston Park Plaza Hotel (www.BostonParkPlaza.com), I headed to the Black Cat Bewitching Halloween Ball of the Boston Ski and Sports Club. It was quite a fun affair I have to say, and I hooked up with a group including a male cheerleader from Toronto (via Colombia) and his French wife (Peter Pan), a Hugh Heffner look-alike from Waltham, and a quite interesting couple from New Hampshire - he was a cross between a pimp and a Texas oil magnate and she was a cute little Fraeulein in a very nice black number.

Unfortunately I had to head home early as the next morning another road race beckoned - this time the 7th Annual Halloween Hustle. This race was a benefit for Partners Home Care's Pediatric and Maternal Infant Program (http://www.heartbreakhill.org/race/hhustle.htm) The race took place in the pouring rain, but everyone was in good spirits. I ran of course in my cheerleader outfit, and let's say, it was well received. My time was a little slow on account of the party the night before, but I managed still to put up a decent time of 9:42 minutes/mile.

I headed back into the city fully aware of the fact that I might not be able to reach my home or garage as the parade for the Red Sox was taking place. Due to some fortunate timing and one slightly illegal driving maneuver, I made it home in time before the big hoopla started. After drying off I ran down the street, and voila! There was the parade - just in time. The Red Sox came by on Duck Boats, which for those of you who have not been to Boston, is the thing to do as a tourist around here (http://www.bostonducktours.com/). The boats with the World Series champs then headed for the river, which meant the whole mob headed toward the Esplanade (myself included, even if it meant climbing over a fence at Storrow Drive). It was quite the celebration!

The rest of the day was dedicated to some R&R, house cleaning, reading and general lolling around. I discovered a new favorite sandwich place in my neighborhood - Cafe Podima, a little hole-in-the-wall place on Cambridge Street, absolutely fantastic sandwiches [in particular the Double Decker Sandwiches with interesting names like "Revolution"], and custom-made fro yo, in at least 35 flavors (favorite so far - Orio!).I picked up my pictures from the parade only to discover that they were the worst ever photos I have taken. Most of the time I just held the camera up in the air with the result that I have many pictures of parts of the duck boats, and the backs of people's heads.

Sunday was of course Halloween, and my friends - Beacon Hill absolutely takes the cake! I signed up for a tour by a group called Boston by Foot (http://www.bostonbyfoot.com/) - the tour was called "Beacon Hill with a Boo". A woman dressed as Xena, Warrior Princess, led us through some of the more interesting and hidden areas of Beacon Hill. To say upfront - Beacon Hill goes all out for this holiday! Some streets are closed off, the residents have decked out their houses, backyards are turned into haunted castles and images of ghosts projected on walls! The residents themselves sit on their stairs, drinking wine and champagne, handing out candy and all their houses are illuminated (you can get quite a nice glimpse into some of these absolutely stunning homes). At Senator Kerry's house on Louisburg Square they were handing out candy as well (not that it helped) under the watchful eye of some bodyguards.
Add the quaintness of Beacon Hill, and it was absolutely fantastic and just like fantasy land!

Well, what did I learn on my tour?

*Right next to the State House is the equestrian statue of Joseph Hooker, a war general who liked to be out on the town, and some folks think that the term hooker comes from "Joseph Hooker's girls". [There are actually several explanations for this - another one is from 1859 "Hooker - A resident of Hook, ie, a strumpet, a sailor's trull. So called from the number of houses of ill-fame frequented by sailors at the Hook (ie. Corlear's Hook) a city of New York."] (State House: http://www.sec.state.ma.us/trs/trsbok/trstour.htm)
*Xena took us through an alley called Holmes' Alley, part of the underground railroad where slaves used to hide. Beacon Hill also has a rich African American history (http://www.afroammuseum.org/ ) - you can walk a Black Heritage Trail on the hill. [http://www.americanhistory.about.com/library/weekly/aa061502a.htm]
*We learned about Mary Dyer who was a Quaker and who was sentenced to die for her beliefs (apparently Quakers used to worship in the nude, and that did not go over too well at the time.....) [http://members.aol.com/montaukiowa/marydyer.htm]
[http://www.quakerinfo.com/quakwomn.shtml]
* James Allen, alias George Walton, alias Jonas Pierce, alias James H. York, alias Burley Grove, whose deathbed confession of a "highwayman" was made to the warden of the Massachusetts State prison and the narrative of his tale can be seen in the Athenaeum nearby. Most curious is its binding - it is bound in the skin of its author. [http://www.bostonathenaeum.org/highwayman.html]

*There were quite some interesting stories that took place in Beacon Hill – about murder, intrigue and conspiracy. We learned about The Debutante Murder at 85 Pinckney Street (http://www.bostonfamilyhistory.com/neigh_beac.html), the Parkman Murder (Chestnut Street) [http://www.iboston.org/mcp.php?pid=parkmanMurder], the Enchanted Sleepwalker Murder (dude got off with arson...). And of course, not to forget, the Boston Strangler (http://www.crimelibrary.com/boston/bostonmain.htm)!
*Also on Chestnut Street lived Edwin Booth, brother of John Wilkes Booth, who had to make a quick exit out of town on account of his brother's insanity killing the president and all. Apparently Edwin was quite the accomplished Shakespearean actor at the time (http://search.eb.com/shakespeare/micro/78/51.html) and I am sure was not pleased about his brother's derangement.

Couple of final morsels:

*I discovered a beer called "Old Speckled Hen" and a Web site called Beeradvocate.com
*New cool pub and restaurant names: Last Drop on Mass Avenue in Boston, the Impudent Oyster (Cape Cod).

So, the weekend is upon us, the weathah is getting colder (47 right now, 30s coming up next week), I am planning my first ski trips for early December. Weekend plans include a classical music concert, some kind of chocolate event at the Museum of
Fine Arts and a little trip to the Ipswitch Sanctuary.

Bye bye for now.

pet:)

Wednesday, November 03, 2004

#21 Boston - Yesssss!!!!! - October 29, 2004

There are no words, there simply are no words!

What an experience to be in Boston when the beloved Red Sox win the World Series, first time since 1918! Eighty-six years of baseball frustration alleviated!! What an experience for me at the stroke of midnight to stroll into my birthday through downtown Boston with tens of thousands of baseball fans out in the streets, cheering, cars honking, church bells ringing, helicopters flying, smiles on every face, high-fives abound! It was truly magical!
T-shirt vendors are out in force on the streets today, there is just one conversation subject, and the city will celebrate with a big fat parade on Saturday morning. 5 Million people are expected to cram into downtown Boston!!

Functioning on little sleep, fumbling my way to the newspaper box just in order to read everything about the event that I witnessed every second of, it was a wonderful and exciting "day after". Birthday, Baseball, Beautiful Fall Weather. Life is good. Many of us here will use the upcoming weekend to balance out our sleep deficit, pay deserved attention to the New England Patriots, who have been on a 21-game winning streek, and the upcoming elections. The fun never stops!

Last weekend definitely provided some time for R&R and interesting activities. I attended the Head of the Charles Regatta (http://www.hocr.org/index2.html), which started in 1965 for the first time, and features rowing races with participants from all over the world! The weather showed its grumpy-grey-windy side, but I stayed around for a lazy minute or two, grabbed a "wish bag" full of kettle corn and then headed home for the couch. In the evening, I hoofed it over to the Boston Common where an attempt for a Guiness Book of World Records was made by trying to come up with more than 28,952 lit pumpkins. The actual count ended up being 16, 462 jack-o-lanterns, a wee bit short of the record, but I have to say it was a dazzling display, quite spectacular! Pumpkins of all sizes and shapes, with the most amazing artwork carved on them, anything from the symbol for Pi to George Bush and other political statements, the typical Halloween art work such as creepy ghosts, ghastly witches, spiders, monkeys and of course, Red Sox socks and "Go Sox" cheers - all of them lining the trails of the Common and on display on huge scaffolds. Wow!
Sunday I headed to the Museum of Science to (on the last day possible) see the Exhibit of the Lord of the Rings movie paraphernalia, which was definitely a must-see. On display were all the costumes from the movies, the maquette models for some of the buildings and castles, and stations featured swords and armor from the movie set. Each sword had three versions, an original steel sword for the close ups, and aluminum and polyurethane versions of the same for fight and action scenes. Video screens showed how some of the digital art work was done, quite amazing!
The rest of the weekend and this week was filled with some R&R and rainy weather laziness, tons of baseball excitement, heaps of work (big deadline coming up) and of course, the frenzy of Wednesday night, where I sat with my friends Renee, Alyssa and Vanessa, watching Game 4 of the World Series and hoping that the dream would come true! Yesterday's birthday was spent with new and old friends, lunches, dinners and other general merriment.
Tonight I am heading for my first-ever Halloween party/ball - the Black Cat Bewitching Ball at the Park Plaza Hotel. In order to not be a complete dud and attend the ball as such, I headed for a vintage clothing store in Cambridge called "The Garment District" earlier this week and ended up coming home with my first- and last-ever cheerleader outfit, blond pigtail wig and pompons! Give me a B, give me an I, give me an M, give me a B, give me an O!!! Gooooooooo ....! I will have to stuff myself into said garment tonight and hope to look as ridiculous as possible (isn't that the purpose?).
Tomorrow AM I will unfortunately miss the Red Sox parade and a chance to hang out with five million of my closest friends, as I am heading to Waltham for a race (5K) called "The Halloween Shuffle", where I will once again don the aforementioned airhead outfit. Other plans for the weekend include some serious couch time, possibly a drive to Providence to see the water fire (http://www.waterfire.com/photos/index.html) on the Woonasquatucket, Mosshasuck and Providence Rivers. Sunday night of course is Halloween, and I learned that Beacon Hill is quite the place to be, so I will be loitering with some friends and give that cheerleader outfit some more mileage.

Comrades - I hope this email finds you all well - have a great weekend, be happy for the city of Boston and make your dentist happy by feeding lots of candy to little children.....

On that sweet note - toodles!

pet:)