ward and cindy will be so proud

Tonight I went to a stake singles activity on my own. of my own volition. yep. it was fun! We had a boat tour of Boston narrated by a Bishop here who has written a book on the subject. He knew what he was talking about, I enjoyed myself. I did manage to pick the table to sit at with the married people, who were nice and charming. Twice during the night I was looking single and available over by the railing and guys came up and stood silently by me for a few minutes checking out the river then left without saying a word. Heh. They circled a bit but never came in for a landing, so to speak. No matter, I was busy making some abstracts with my camera. I also got some new perspectives on the bridges from my last post, I think you will be wowed by this after the sedateness of bridges from the embankments. but for now, just me and the abstracts.

also, congrats to my favorite software people for getting Silo 2 out today! woohoo!! (www.nevercenter.com, www.silo3d.com)




these are actually quite fun to look at large if you click on them-

Bridges and a Duck on a raft!

is there such a thing as a Cambridge city vulture?

because, really, I think I ran into one today. I went on a short walk to call my friend Cindy, and was passing by some of the big office buildings and saw a huge, feathery thing pecking around in the grass. I approached, and it looked like a bald-headed vulture. red-bald, not white-bald. and kind of puckery. it looked at me, craned it's neck back, and plopped down on the ground, the size of a medium-sized pig. it was kind of charming actually. hm.

I went to Wellesley and took some pictures for emily!

the place that emily went to college pretty much looks like a park with castles. and a lake. it's about perfect. the only flaws were the chapel and the Davis art museum were closed (hence frowny face pictures). but lunch was great, the best mussels for around $6! I had a good time. the humidity finally decided to hit though, it's been a whole different Boston the last few days. still, astoundingly pretty! and at the train station, front and center, my favorite Joseph Smith book next to my favorite C.S. Lewis book. awe. although actually, when it comes to C.S. Lewis, I find "A Grief Observed" very touching. ok, Wellesley pictures. (mom, I think I also passed by Boston College on the train, is that where you studied?)

Rockport

from my travels recently I've really grown an affection for train rides. so saturday to get out of the city for a while I chose the farthest point on the commuter rail I could get and bought a ticket. Rockport, home of the oldest functioning artists' colony and something about the most painted building in history. having been cloudy at the start of the day when I arrived, I went to a restaurant on the main drag for lunch and to avoid the rain. it was overpriced and touristy, but hands-down the best cup of clam chowder I've ever had! it was surprisingly good. later in the afternoon the sun came out, and I realized my true purpose at the beach- to make all the tan people feel better and infinitely more tan. I was sitting on a stone bench near town rooting through my bag when I noticed a surprisingly dark arm appear pressed next to mine. I looked up to find a middle-aged guy smiling at me. "ooo, you have to use sunscreen, don't you?". I replied with the old standby, "it makes you feel better, doesn't it?". he laughed and said how he had some sicillian blood, and I gave him the look that he was lucky as he walked away.

some photos-

this is my tan part, I've got two, one on each foot. I'm kinda proud.



the full name of this turquoise shop is "Bubbles Pretty Bubbles in the Air". I think that's not all that was in the air when they named it, heh-



do NOT bring your long-tailed cheetahs here! (is that supposed to be a horse?!)



Sarah Elizabeth Block Printers. someone has figured out my new career calling for me, handily enough.

some poorly-lit examples of what I've been drawing lately, mostly street corners-

Boston keeps it's churches in the oddest places

but they are really great churches! it's just slightly startling when they pop out at you suddenly-



like this one- look at it, waiting there ominously, thinking it can hide, just about ready to pounce..




do you see me in there?

here are some others that aren't quite so startling. these are in Medford, where I was invited to have dinner last tuesday with katherine and ben. we BBQ'd salmon outside and had some great conversation, it was nice to get out. she's someone I sat by, actually, in church last sunday. ha. MA is full of churches and colleges. Universities are everywhere, already I've been to MIT, Harvard, and Tufts. Tufts wins so far, it's set back on a grassy knoll like a quaint english village. who wouldn't want to go to school in a quaint english village, really.

When you believe in things you don't understand

this morning I got up and looked around at the apartment I am staying in and thought "ok, it's time to clean". first things first, laundry. being a college student in the 90s, I'd been saving up my quarters for the laundry, it's a shared laundry room and that means quarters are the only currency. so I put on the least smelly of my dirty clothes, rooted around for a container to put the rest in, and headed up to the laundry room. this was at mid-morning, and it's monday, so of course when I went into the laundry room the only person there was the cleaning guy. he looked up at me and sheepishly smiled, and I thought "I can't wash my unmentionables with someone smiling at me"= hasty retreat from the laundry room. half an hour later (really it takes me about 5 minutes to clean a laundry room, but this whole place outside my door is spotless, so I think they must have more earnest methods of cleaning) I went up again, and no cleaning guy! what a relief. so I get out my quarters and.. what, a card slot? no quarter slots for 5 quarters with two of the slots blocked out? I stood there a minute, baffled. then I did the only thing I could think of, which was to wander the laundry room looking for a quarter machine. maybe it's just hidden near the back, I don't know, someone moved my quarter slots and it really threw me. but no, all card-reading machines. this is perplexing. ok, no problem, I have cards- american express, discover, visa- I'll go get one of those. trot back downstairs and put cards in pockets, trot back up. ok slot, here you go and... american express doesn't fit. hm. retry with discover card. logic would say they're the same size, but I'm faced with a slot and it wants something, so I'm going to try everything I've got dangit! discover card doesn't fit. fine. I knew that. the whole laundry system was breaking down, looked like I'd actually have to talk to someone.
so I go to the upstairs leasing office nextdoor, fancy apartment building with fancy dressed people in the leasing office. I sort of slide in, I'm not sure I'm really allowed to be staying for two months in my brother's apartment, so I use my quietest asking voice- "um, hi, sorry to disturb you, but your laundry room takes credit cards, right?". bob-headed possible MIT student working at the desk says "..no, ... you use money to purchase a card, then use the card to purchase time on the machines...?". "ok, right, I'll try that then, thanks so much!.." and slink my greasy head from skipping a shower back out the door unnoticeably (hopefully).
now I have the key to the puzzle! the mystery is unraveling before me, I must purchase a card! I take my pockets full of quarters triumphantly back into the laundry room, put my clothes in the washer with detergent, and find the card kiosk near the back. a-ha! so I just insert my quarters and... hold it. 'new cards can only be purchased with $5 bills'. $5 bills?? who collects $5 bills?? what is this, quarters aren't good enough any more, I have to start collecting $5 bills?!. breathe. ok. I've got a problem because my clothes and detergent are already in there, and all I have is a $10 downstairs. I just have to go do the unthinkable- go outside, where all the scientists are, in my dirty clothes and unwashed self, and buy something. I go out, they're out there getting their coffees and milling about, and I briskly walk the 4 blocks in the morning coffee break hour amidst them to the little convenience store tucked underneath one of the buildings with a name ending in "ex" (Amunex, Genex, they're all named something like that). I buy a muffin, and am so self-conscious that when the teller asks me if I want a napkin I go into a big story about how no, I don't need a napkin, I'll just eat it when I get home (like they care!). I trot it back home, walk up the steps finally with my $5, enter the laundry room, go to the back, purchase the card, insert the card into the machine, and... "Err". Err? that was not an american express you stupid machine, that was the approved card! argh. insert card again and, YES, it finally works. but wait, 'amount left on card- $3'? it costs $1.65 for each cycle! time can only be added with $5 bills. what is this cruel joke of a world. fine. no dryer, ok??! I won't use the freakin' dryer! (I got mad. very, very rare).
I slam my way out of the laundry room, retreat downstairs until enough time has passed that I know my wet clothes are waiting guiltily for me to come pick them up, and a mere two hours later from when I began doing my laundry, my living room is covered with draped, wet, fresh-smelling clothes. guess I'm not going back outside today.
but I do feel much better now that I typed all that out.
:)

One thing about Boston..

it's always windy

walking in Boston

ok, I got pictures up! but they're showing as html on the blog editing page, so I can't see them inorder to comment, so I'll just talk about the day and the above can illustrate.
the first one I can talk about, that's the lobby in the warehouse-turned-apartment building where I'm staying. tom and john have good taste. I left this morning and walked across the charles, it's wider than the thames, which has more dramatic architecture, but there are more scenic boats and kayaks on the charles. I went down to boston commons via charles street. the order of shops on charles street goes like this- antiques shop, nail shop, real estate shop- then repeat. boston commons is a nice open green space, with police horsemen and many a monument. when I first got there, after sitting and eating my apple, I joined a bunch of people gathered around a man dressed in period clothes. he was funny and entertaining and educational, so I listened for a while and learned a few things. then I talked to the woman next to me and told her I'd just joined the tour and asked if it was a free tour and she laughed and said no, it's a paying tour, so I said I should probably leave the tour. knowledge isn't free around here!
after eating lunch I went up to meet a ranger at the shaw memorial for a free guided tour of Black Heritage sites. I was the only one. I staked him out for a while, and in the end couldn't bring myself to make him do the tour for just he and I. I've been on a one-person-tour before, it's just not good for anyone involved. so I went back down to Filene's Basement, one of my sister's favorite boston hot spots. but, on the way, I stopped by the Park Street Church, home of the speech made by an editor named Garrison that really got the anti-slavery movement started. it's a beautiful church, I felt extreamly peaceful there as I sat and read about it. they've got photos in the hallway, one showing the chapel decorated in memorial to Lincoln after he was shot. on the steps the song "America" was first performed by a children's choir. outside is a cemetary, housing the remains of people like three of the signers of the Declaration of Independence and George Washington's parents. also Sarah, wife of Paul Revere. Sarahs everywhere. really great light there, it was beautiful. down by Filene's I ran into a jewelry shop called So Good Jewelry, with racks and racks of jewelry, I think cindy and jane would love it. ward and Kristin, this is where we are going to get our 'Women of the World Whirlwind Tour-Boston 2007' commemorative pendants.
I talked to one person today, a nice guy sitting on a bench. I was trying to take a photo of the boston common's memorial to the men who died in WWII, I found it interesting and kinda funny that the memorial had only statues of women on it, and this man said "no no no, you can get a better picture there! over there! look, I'll show you". I said ok and he showed me, and it was a better shot so I said thank you very much. I was half expecting him to ask me for money for having shown me the secret photo spot or something, but no, he just went back to sitting on his bench. it was a random act of kindness, free kindness, which is rare when you're experiencing the world as a tourist, but very welcomed.
so, in short, boston is good so far! I just don't know what to do with myself at night. besides blog and play the one song I remember on my brother's guitar. hope you all are well!