Billie Jean

Hello again, explorers! As usual, lots has happened since we last spoke. The weekend after my last post, I flew to NYC to meet Mom for a weekend of Broadway and shopping and food. Everything was, of course, fabulous because, much as I dislike The Big Apple as a city, it does have quite a lot to offer. We saw "God of Carnage" and "Billy Elliot: The Musical" as Saturday and Sunday matinees, respectively. Saturday was filled with shopping before and after the show as well as a visit to Little Italy for dinner. It was a super fun trip and I was so happy that I got to spend time one-on-one with Mom.

The only hitch was that we didn't know that the weekend we were there was the final weekend of a HUGE festival in Little Italy ("San G...something or other"). The street our restaurant was on just happened to be the main street of the festival. As far as street festivals go, this had to be the worst one I've ever seen. Since everything was mostly along this one narrow street, people were PACKED in together like a school of fish. It was nearly impossible to navigate against the crowd. On top of that, most people were drunk and spilling cheap beer everywhere, it was insanely loud, there was no entertainment whatsoever (just food), and it was filled with the crème de la crème of bratty, obnoxious high school kids and white trash adults. Mom and I just stared around in confusion, wondering what could possibly be so "fun" about this festival that it would bring out such a huge crowd.

Anyway, aside from that irritation, the NYC trip was wonderful. The week after I got to see the premier of "Infinite Story", a night of new works by local playwrights produced as a 2nd fundraiser for the Exquisite Corps Theatre company. Adrienne directed one of the pieces, called "Cracking Up" by Peter M. Floyd, and it was definitely my favorite of the 4 shows. Very funny, very well-done. Then, that same week, there was dinner at the Shavit household to celebrate Tani's (Momma Shavit) birthday.

I also went through training and am now an official volunteer for the Feline Rescue and Adoption Society. I spend a couple hours every Tuesday night playing with the kitties in the Adoption Center at the Cambridge Petsmart, and I also clean out their cages and feed them and whatnot. There are some real sweethearts there, and I'm not even a cat person! FARS is a good organization and its where Yuval and I will adopt our cat from in the next few months (we don't have enough money for a cat right now).

The other exciting news has both good and bad parts. The good part is that the Boston Bruins have finally come out of hockey hibernation and started their season! The bad part is that they're not doing so well and have lost pretty heinously in 3 of their first 5 games, which have all been at home. It's kind of heart-wrenching to watch this team that is so good struggle so hard to find their footing in the beginning of the season.

I also attended my first wedding of a high school friend. Two friends, actually, who have been dating since the beginning of senior year and got married last weekend in Cincinnati. I helped a little, in that I designed their wedding website, but I was impressed by the way Kelli made everything come together so beautifully. It was a little awkward seeing people that I haven't spoken to since graduation, but fun to catch up. I had a lot of cake and Coke. I got to see a little of my family, but Mom and Dad were in and out all of that Saturday because they had their own wedding to attend. The Indian daughter of a good friend and colleague of my dad was getting married to an Episcopal boy, and there were 2 weddings (Hindu & Episcopal), a lunch, and a reception all in the same day. The Episcopal wedding and reception took place at the Cincinnati Zoo near the elephant palace. I'm so jealous my parents go to explore the zoo after hours! I think having a reception at a zoo would be super fun.

I got to make up for lost time with Dad when he came to visit the weekend after I was in Cincinnati for the wedding. He had a meeting with people at the Harvard Business School on Sunday night/Monday, so he came in to Boston on Friday night and spent the weekend with Yuval and me at our place. Apparently our guest room makes a great room for sleeping in because, since there are no windows in there, it creates a blackout and sensory deprivation effect! He slept until 10am on Saturday, which I have never, ever seen him do in my life. We went out for yummy food while he was here, had Sunday brunch at the Shavit house, saw some of the Head of the Charles Regatta, and met up for a little bit with my cousin, his wife, and their 2 year old bundle of cute daughter.

We also had the first snow of the season while Dad was here! Sunday morning dawned with some freezing rain and sleet that turned into wet, ploppy snow by the afternoon and continued into the night. Oh, New England, you and your crazy weather!

The next couple weeks are going to be busy, too: babysitting Dylan, kickball games, a job interview at Harvard, volunteering with the kitties, a Kenyon alumni event with Professor Shutt, a trip to the Boston Symphony to hear some Beethoven, and, of course, Halloween.

Read
On Beauty by Zadie Smith
Catching Fire by Suzanne Collins
Over Sea, Under Stone by Susan Cooper
The Dark is Rising by Susan Cooper
Catch-22 by Joseph Heller
13 Little Blue Envelopes by Maureen Johnson
Surely You're Joking, Mr. Feynman! by Richard P. Feynman

Seen
9
The Informant!
Independence Day
Top Gun
Braveheart