Where We’ve Been
It’s been a good few days in my world. My good friend Nora (most of you reading this probably know her!) is gracing us with a visit this week. She arrived Saturday afternoon, and we’ve been busy enjoying ourselves since.
Saturday evening we went to see her cousin Samantha’s dance recital in Winchester. We hadn’t been to any ballet–professional, kiddies, whatever–in quite a while. It was neat to see. Samantha is very serious about dance, it seems, and I thought she was quite good. She takes classes at the Boston Ballet school, so we discovered afterward that we are familiar with some of the same ballet people. We also got to finally meet some of the Gallers I’ve been hearing about for years. By putting together different characteristics from various Gallers, especially Nora’s uncle Don, I felt like I could come up with something that looked/sounded a bit like her dad. So it all made sense! Nice people…
We saw some fireworks over a pond in Winchester as we were walking through the parking lot after the recital.
On Sunday we decided to take a crack at going to the Red Sox game. Since the Sox headed out on a road trip on Monday, it was our only chance to try to take Nora to Fenway. We started our day with some Dunkin Donuts coffee and breakfast bagel action (it’s only appropriate), and then headed down to stand in the day-of-game ticket line. We seem to have pretty good luck when we try for day-of-game tickets, and this time was no different. We got the last available tickets before they started selling the no-shows. We couldn’t get three seats together, but we were able to get two good seats behind home plate and one standing room ticket for the right field roof. Once you get in the ballpark it’s possible to move around, and the people sitting near us weren’t in their seats for about 1/2 of the game, so Ezra roamed the park, checked out the right field roof, and sat with us behind home plate. It was a fun game, especially because we won, 6-3. Afterward we made our way over to the North End for some general exploring. We ended up having dinner at a “Mom and Pop place” (Nora’s description) and then stopping in at a soccer-oriented espresso/gelato cafe. We enjoyed our coffees and gelati as Spiderman played on TBS (I think) in the background.
I did a bit of work Monday morning and then Nora and I spent much of the day in Harvard Square. We shopped, she made the necessary shoe purchases, and we got some drinks at Cafe Paradiso. I managed to get through the day without buying much more than a magazine… exercising great restraint, I purchased vicariously. We met Ez at Shilla for a little sushi, and then went to see Faust (the Murnau film) with Cul de Sac musical accompaniment at Coolidge Corner. If you don’t know them (I didn’t), Cul de Sac describe themselves as a noise/atmosphere/psychedelia band. They have provided accompaniment to Faust and other films at venues around the world. I liked the film and the whole experience. And I’m certain I’ve seen one of the band members on the T about 40 times. He must live or work on the Red line.
We were pretty slow to get going on Tuesday… I think all the activity caught up with us and we were tired… and the warm weather didn’t really help. John arrived from Portland around 2:00, and we grabbed some caffeination from the Someday to try to get ourselves moving before heading down to the waterfront for the FNX Best Music Poll party. I had never been down to the Bank of America Pavilion (formerly the FleetBoston Pavilion and before that Harborlights), and I hadn’t been to an outdoor venue in many ages. It was the first Interpol show (yeah, Interpol again) for both Nora and John. I thought they played quite well, but the crowd wasn’t strictly an Interpol crowd, and it’s just a better experience–in my opinion–to see them at a club where they’re the main event. I guess I’ll just have to take John and Nora to see them again sometime. (Yeah, twist my arm.) My fan activity this time was a surprise one. Sam, Carlos, and Daniel did a little signing before their set, and I got their signatures on a beaten-up Antics poster (apparently the last one). I’ve heard that Paul was around, but I didn’t see him and he certainly wasn’t signing anything when I was there. A guy next to me got them to sign a ticket for his small son. Nora relieved Ezra of his fan enabling duties and stood in line with me for the signing while Ez and John got beers.
And that brings us up to today. Nora went into town to meet up with a friend of hers and then headed off to visit family for a few days, so I had an opportunity to get more work in. Hope to see Nora again on Friday… and I might even get to visit with her parents! Haven’t seen them since her wedding.
It’s still hot here. Gah. I hate it. If you don’t know already, you should–I really hate hot sticky weather. I’m not physically made for it. If anything, I’m made for Fall weather. I endure the heat to get to that!
Besides the heat, I am also enduring a frustrating Red Sox game on tv. At least they’re not currently losing. They’re just not scoring yet.
I’m having visions of ice cubes… “I’m melting… melting!”
