Why didn’t I know sooner that the Québec government has a New England office?
Gonna brush up my French for the next few weeks, and go to the Association of Québecois in New England pre-party for the Fête Nationale on Georges Island – I think the ferry from Boston is $14 round-trip, or free if you RSVP.
Official announcement below the fold. (continue reading…)
While we’re on reviews, I want to give due glory to the Hypnot—I mean, to Mike’s City Diner in the South End. Anywhere with breakfast combinations called “Intensive Care” and “Emergency Room” has got to be good, and it didn’t disappoint. They serve breakfast all day on the weekends.
It’s on Washington St. right off Mass Ave, so from points north you might take the #1 bus.
— Mike’s City Diner 1714 Washington St. Boston, MA 02118 (617) 267-9393 mikescitydiner.com
Thursday I had lunch at Boston Billiard Club, in part because I wanted to check out the pool situation. Turns out an hour of table time is only $3 before 5 pm! Add that to your Saturday afternoon cheap entertainment list. (After 5 it’s $10 weekdays, $12 weekends.)
To compare prices I called Bar Snooker Billiard in Montreal, but could nut understand ze French.
The food I’m less sure about. It reminded me of my college cafeteria — good if you like processed cream of broccoli soup (and I confess I do), but the fries are terrible.
— Boston Billiard Club 126 Brookline Avenue Boston, MA 02215 (617) 536-7665 bostonbilliardclub.com
What I know for sure is that this week, there will be a gallery opening at the peerless (in Cambridge at least) Broadway Bike School featuring art by two of the bike mechanics, around 8 pm. Wine and cheese will reportedly be on hand.
What I don’t know is what day. My friend who is friends with people there says it’s Wednesday, and this blog says it’s Thursday. So to be on the safe side you should come tomorrow, and the worst thing that will happen is you’ll have to buy a patch kit or something to not feel like a jerk. And then come back the next day.
Update: Thursday.
So I’m getting a belt at Rick Walker’s (“Rock N’ Roll Cowboy Clothes since 1932″), and have the following conversation.
“Those are nice boots,” says a man who appears to be the owner.
I thank him for his kindness.
“Where’d you get them?” he asks.
I give him the name of a vintage store in my neighborhood.
“Do you mind if I ask how much their boots are?” he asks.
“I think from $20 to $50 or so — I got these for about $20,” I reply.
“Fuck… fuck,” he mutters, and jokes about doing them violence.
* * *
Later, as I’m checking out, he compliments me on my purple rodeo shirt. The sales girl I was talking to informs him that I got it at the same place.
“Really? And how much was it?”
“Also $20.” Rick Walker’s shirts are more in the $75 range.
“Fuck. Motherfuckers.”
“I don’t think a lot of people know about them,” I said as I left.
I was tempted to take this on myself, but instead I’ll notify others: the Boston Guerilla Queer Bar is having a T-shirt design contest (specs).
They want to use this lo-res Cher Gueveara logo, so you’ll probably want a recent version of Illu$trator with AutoTrace… OR the free, online Vector Magic. (Thanks, internet!)
So on Easter Sunday I moved from Seedpod Co-op to a friend’s house in Cambridge near Central Square.
Pretty stoked.
Settling into the room for the first time tonight.* Although instead of unpacking, I’m mostly writing emails and blog posts.
To end on a positive note, first a few reasons I’m sad to have left Seedpod.
And a few random reasons I’m happy to live on Laurel St.:
(No, that’s not my house pictured, it’s just some random photo from St. Louis “Hotness Confirmed” Missouri.)
– *I haven’t unpacked since then because I’ve been doing a freelance book design project, which I think might be my last. I loooove me some typography, but I find it a bit unsatisfying as paid work. I need a lot of time to really suss out creative ideas, and that’s difficult with commercial projects that have, you know, deadlines. And it’s perhaps inherently frustrating as art because you can’t easily be creative without distracting the reader from the words themselves, which results in a constant battle to be normal without being boring. I’m happy I once got to set a book with Sauna however.
**Because Dorchester is so huge, it’s divided up into multiple other neighborhoods, so should the whole thing really be called a “neighborhood”? It’s more like a borough. Except we don’t have boroughs.
A year ago, at the talent show of a big young Quaker conference in Burlington, New Jersey, I wanted to play a song called “Jorge Regula” by the Moldy Peaches. I chickened out though, because I wasn’t sure I’d remember the lyrics. But last weekend I played it at the WinterCon “Talent Optional Show,” and a good time was had by all.
It’s about nothing, really, but it captures something of the “food & creative love” vibe of those sorts of gatherings. It’s also call-and-response, which, with the audience on response, allows it to be participatory. Which I like.
Saving the self-deprecation for the end of the post, musically it was nothing to write home about. The guitar part is pretty much ape-simple, but I could still feel my musical rustiness in the strumming. It’s good to get practice being on stage though.
I read a story once about a famous Chinese musician who was visiting the West, and was taken to a concert hall to hear the finest in European classical music. After the concert, he was asked what piece he liked the best.
– The first one, he said.
– You mean the Beethoven? his hosts asked, humming a few bars of the first piece.
– No, he said, the one before that.
Eventually, they realized he meant the period when the musicians were tuning their instruments.
Something similar happened to me at the conference I went to last weekend. (continue reading…)
So he won Boston — about 70 percent in my neighborhood — and lost most of the rest of the state except the islands and the upper Valley area (aka Southern Vermont). Oh well.
I feel pretty good about the rest of Super Tuesday, and next few primaries, with the exception of Maine, which to be honest is a fairly xenophobic state.
I may organize an informal phone banking party later this month — anyone in Boston/Cambridge who’s interested, let me know…
