Running All Over Town Before Grad School Runs Me Down

So I cleverly bought myself a week and a half before the semester slammed into me where I could just explore Boston and play and have a grand time before the soul crushing academic grind began again. Of course, I squandered most of my time catching up on TV shows and revisiting old haunts (I really didn’t need three new used books from Raven Books…), but I also continued my quest for the perfect Boston coffee spot.

So, with no further noise on my part, here is how I spent my time:

January 7

My parents are horrific creatures of habit (so am I), so, despite my whining and wincing, we ended up eating at the same places while they were here. My dad didn’t want to know anything about Little Italy or my favorite Turkish diner. New England = sea food. Period. Thus, Legal Seafood. However, Legal serves their tea in these incredibly cool cast-iron teapots. All was well. By the way, the wealth of plaid in the background is my mother’s outerwear.

January 8

Despite my vow that they would not haunt Fanueil Hall (it’s a dangerous addiction) on this trip, we ended up down that way for dinner, anyway, because we spent our day at the aquarium, where we spent a gloriously long time looking at fish, and remarking upon how ugly shark’s teeth were.

January 9

You may not know this (or maybe you’ve sensed the trend) I love shop windows. Especially late at night, when the light gets a little spooky.

January 10

Wandering around Brookline Village it occurred to me that it was January, and there were still green things. Green. These tiny mosses are still alive.

January 11

If you thought this was snow, you’re wrong. It’s baseball diamond sand, which I’m pretty sure is frozen with these footsteps in it.

January 12

Thus begins the frantic travels part of my vacation: two friends and I (yes, I spend time with other humans, hence why I take a lot of late night photos– it’s usually the only time I have a moment to do so) went to the MFA to attempt to finish what a Certain Fellow and I began in October (we failed. A third trip is necessary.) So a Certain Lady, a Certain Fellow, and a Certain Villain went cavorting about the Asian and Buddhist areas of the MFA. Certain Partners in Crime are certainly not in this first photo. Later photos: the funniest thing I saw all day, followed by collection of creepy shadows around a really nifty Japanese Buddhist idol.

January 13

This is the inside of a great coffee shop whose name I have now forgotten.

January 14

Toured around Newbury St. Signs in stores, sunsets, and other trivial bits. The second one is somewhat hard to read (curses on my tiny camera phone’s screen, which made it look very clear indeed) but it says “keep this little button safe, though humble he could be of great use one day…” Oh, Anthropologie…

January 15

I also love wires and wire intersections. Reservoir Station has a marvelous collection. Plus, sitting down to pleasantly friendly graffiti is always a bonus!

January 16

In the department of new haunts/old haunts, I found a great cafe in Cambridge that I’m now rather partial to (Cafe Crema, to the curious), where I took no photos. Then I prowled around the same stores I always prowl when up in Cambridge. Then a Certain Fellow called to inform me it was snowing. I supply the photographic evidence. All my complaining about the lack of tangible winter has paid off! But first! A picture of feet at the Park St. Station.

So much work to do!

I have, for your viewing pleasure, Boston in an example of Extremely Persistent January Greenness. It simply refuses to be winter, which is extremely frustrating (says the idiot whose commute involves a minimum of ten minutes walking).

My dating system has totally disintegrated in the highly acidic mental environment of the end of the semester, so I will generalize this set as “something in the neighborhood of Dec. 10-19th.”

Something in the Neighborhood of Dec. 10-19th.

Celebrating the season (in spite of snow, or other indications of the season), the cake store put out a gingerbread house. It was actually really lovely, and this picture doesn’t do it a lot of justice.

fabulous Cleveland Circle graffiti doodle, which I have been trying to take a photo of for weeks. My phone likes to die on me before I can be in the right place to take the photo. In a rare display of my prowess over technological demons, I finally got a photo of this dude.

Free medieval opera up in Cambridge. Orientalism and faux antiquity for the win. Some of the costumes were really fabulous. There was one prop I loved– a bedraggled fan that had four really stubborn pink feathers still clinging on. Unfortunately, however, I’m too polite to take camera phone pictures during a performance. So… this is a recital hall.

Porch-roof sitting Santa. What do you do if you have a second story apartment and a plastic Santa you’re dying to display? You put him on the roof of the porch and laugh in the face of gravity.

The cranes above my desk. Read also: a day I didn’t go outside because I was bent double writing papers.

One of many days that I left campus embarrassingly late. I liked the shadows on the sidewalk. This is your brain on grad school finals.

Please note: rain. Not snow. Inappropriate weather. Go to jail. Go directly to jail. Do not pass Go. Do not collect $200, Mother Nature.

Harvard Square. Please note the guy wearing an entire orchestra… or something. 😀

baseballs + December = why is there no snow yet? I don’t get it.

Finally, my favorite part of finals: the detagging of library books, and the deconstruction of the terrible devices I make to keep my brain functioning and fully sensible in the face of sleep deprivation.

More to come– I have book reviews and more recent pictures to put up, too. I took a break from pictures while I was home for the holidays, but now that I’m back in Beantown I’m back at it.