Merry Christmas

Happy Halloween!

Angry Feast

Tonight was a night out at the Scandinavia House for a screening of the 1988 film, Babette's Feast. Excellent movie. If you have the opportunity to watch, I most definitely recommend. The story is centered geographically in the Jutland region of Denmark. Yes, there are subtitles, but you won't get lost in the sauce of the storyline. I promise! The synopsis is a bit similar to the film Chocolat in that the main character, with a mysterious background, arrives in a remote and insular village only to magically transform it later on. Complete with morality challenges. In Babette's Feast however, it is in the form of an exquisite meal for the community paid for by lottery winnings.

Another plus of movie night at SH is that if you order a coffee and a dessert together, showing your movie ticket, it comes out to just $2.00 total. That's surprisingly cheap by Manhattan standards. I lovingly selected a huge ginger cookie on offer from Eli's, and was immediately disappointed at how stale it tasted. However, the coffee was pure Scandinavia - dark and strong.

Now here is where it gets angry. I am one who silently (and sometimes verbally) flips out when a person's cell phone begins ringing at the most inappropriate times, especially when the culprit doesn't answer or seem to realize how much of a nuisance they are causing. So, you can imagine how much I nearly died of embarrassment when my own mobile started ringing during the film.

Normally, I keep it on vibrate and am rarely one to catch a call on time. Of course, that night was, it seemed, the one and only time I mistakenly turned the phone on and it began ringing well into the movie. Keep in mind that I was in the second row, right smack dab in the middle, and wasn't even aware at first that it was my phone. Since it sounded oddly close by, it wasn't until like, the tenth ring that I fully realized the evildoer was me. Trying to sneak into my purse to turn it off, thus hoping to conceal the evidence, all was apparent to several audience members directly in front who the guilty party was. You would have thought I had just eaten a baby dipped in BBQ sauce!

Sigh

The Way We Were

Back From Boston

A splendid time was had by all, and the weather was way agreeable. Not too hot, not too cold. Just right. Baby bear conditions. Stops were made via automobile in Hingham, Revere, and Roxbury for family genealogy enquiries, and all of Boston proper was spent on foot. Exhausting.

In Hingham, I all about climbed the walls due to impatience through an obligatory 1 1/2 hour tour of the town's historical society. Things turned immediately to joy upon being shown several samplers made by our direct ancestors when they were young girls. These samplers were close to two hundred years old. Seriously, I simply cannot believe my greats left behind such an enduring legacy!

Our side trip to Revere was spent looking for a street sign of our family name. Since our ancestors founded the town of Charlestown, and settled all throughout the area; the name, the graves, and the remaining houses can be found all over Boston. Our maddening excursion, courtesy of the rotaries, was topped off by a visit to Kelly's for a delicious meal, which we ate on the beach.

The trip to Roxbury was less than forgettable. Driving around looking for the Eustis Street Burying Ground proved to be a huge pain in the ass. Unfortunately, we arrived several minutes after the 3 o'clock closing time. Still, it was one of those beautiful Gothic looking graveyards that is situated on a busy cross street, making it stand out all the more beautiful.

As I mentioned above, our day in Boston was lovely. Since Bunker Hill wasn't open during our visit last year, we decided to stop off for a tour. I climbed all 294 steps to the top only to be met by smelly, sweaty others who probably weren't used to so many stairs. Although my calves were killing me the next day. I discovered later that most of the photos I took up there were marred by all the scratches and smudge marks embedded on the plexi-glass windows. One of the highlights was a militia man dressed in period clothing giving a shooting demonstration on the grounds.

We settled on the Union Oyster House near Faneuil Hall for our last night's dinner. Both of us chose the stuffed fillet of sole. It was delicious, but the seafood stuffing was something less than desired. Nothing bad, it was the kind of stuffing that is all seafood with scant amounts of cracker. I prefer it to be the other way, more crumbly cracker, less seafood. But that's just me. Prior to our meal, we watched a cool street performance by two drummers.

Now for the NPS Passport book. I mentioned in another post how I introduced this program to my mother when we were at the Grand Canyon last month, and that she was now an stamp addict. Boston is loaded with stamping stations and I think we got most of them. This included bagging some bonus stamps which weren't part of the NPS program, but from a now defunct citywide Freedom Trail scavenger hunt. Score!

Photos can be found here. Drummers here --

My Moment of Zen

A few weeks ago, I bid for and won a 30GB Creative Zen Vision: M. I am so doing a happy dance over my win considering it was snagged at $100 less than it currently retails for. For the past two years, I've owned a Zen Micro, which I love, love, love - but it only played music. However, I could never hide my disappointment that had I waited to purchase my Zen Micro just a few months later, a Creative product with superior video capabilities would be made available instead. But let's not dwell, okay?

After several trips to visit family and friends, I grew tired of those lulls one faces while waiting on the bus in I-95 traffic, or being held up for whatever reasons never given by Amtrak and Metro North. After the novelty of reading wears off, you really crave something more interesting than staring at your fellow passengers. Last year's return home from Europe also produced much internal frustration due to the lack of in-flight entertainment available to us schlubs in cattle class. Really now, there are only so many times a human being can endure You, Me & Dupree over and over again. Hopefully now, no more!

So far, I have been transferring my music over to this player with excellent results. Plus video and photos, which are the real reasons for purchasing this little guy. As for the videos, I've been downloading them like a banshee and pretty much taxing out my poor laptop in the process. I think it's going to need a spa break in Baden-Baden really soon. I'm also beginning to fear that an intervention is in store should my family and friends see the amount of British television, documentaries, travel and cooking shows I watch.

In It To Win It

Quite possibly, my most favorite song in the whole wide world (right now anyway).

Anytime I feel down, I just listen to this song and try to gain a better perspective of how far I've come along in life. This is of course considering the circumstances by which I arrived in this world.

Hey somebody's giving me grief
I'm having one of those days
Something that I just don't need
Today things just ain't going my way
Nothing is working for me
Oh boy I'm feeling the strain

[Bridge:]
So now I, gotta reach up to the bright sky
Live life, have trust, keep the faith
Dust myself off and I'll be alright

[Chorus:]
It's ok, bad days will come at times
Don't stress it won't last it's only for a minute
All good hard times you'll wonder why
Oh babe you got to be strong
If you gon' win it

Hey what's the problem with me
Is it bad enough to complain
There's people much worse off than me
Hey can't seem to land on my feet
Feel like it's all going wrong
This shit should make me grow stronger

[Bridge]

It's ok, bad days will come at times
Don't stress it won't last it's only for a minute
All good hard times you'll wonder why
Oh babe you got to be strong
If you gon' win it

Take a deep breath
Face your fear don't be worried
Life is too full it could never be empty
Take a step back
Get a better perspective
Fix up, look sharp, don't be so negative

It's ok
It's alright
It's all good
It's alright

[Bridge]


It's not as good live. But I can't just throw up lyrics, declare the song my saving grace, and expect to call it a night. Can I now?

The Safe Word Is Pineapple

Can I Have This Dance?

I just love this!!



Matt also keeps a blog about his adventures.

Now if I could only get a candy company to sponsor me...

Congratgawelldone

My new catchphrase: "Congratgawelldone - ya wanka"

Too funny!

David Walliams - totally dishy!