#4 Boston - Tales from the Hub - June 30, 2005

Tale #1: How Mattie Almost Went to Jail

Well - here I was with my friend Matt in tow, who had just flown in from the UK and who had booked himself in the very economically priced auberge at the YMCA on Huntington Street here in Boston. Let me urge you (and this constitutes a serious warning) to NEVER NEVER NEVER EVER go there - I have seen jail cells with more luxurious accommodations than this dump! Don't even get me started on the "bathroom in the hallway" issue. Y.I.K.E.S!! The decision was made immediately to relocate Matt to my surpassingly comfortable sleeper sofa, and in the end we had one very happy British chemist. It took both of us several hours and a couple of beers to forget about this unsightly pig pen.

Tale #2: Beers of New England

It was not just the YMCA sty that made us go drinking, but a weekend of sizzling temperatures in Boston contributed to tale #2 as well. Saturday claimed a solid 95 degrees F (=35 Celsius) and on Sunday the thermometer read 92 F (33.3 C). And of course, it was humid as can be, which made you want to dive into a bar every chance you got. After an initial stroll through Boston (it takes only about 10 minutes for most folks to fall in love with this city of ours anyway), Matt and I headed to the famous Parish Cafe on Boylston. If you want to have spectacularly scrumptious sandwiches and also drink your way through New England - this is the place! Located in the heart of the hub, they feature 50 bottled beers, 12 brews on tap and usually a few specials as well. I commenced the beer fest with Magic Hat's Blind Faith (Vermont), and then moved East toward Maine, to sample Gritty McDuff's Best Brown Ale and the Sea Dog Raspberry Wheat. Matt's selection included Allagash Summer Ale from Maine, followed by Tremont Ale and Rapscallion Premier, both from Massachusetts. The latter was probably my favorite beer of the day and was served in a glass reminiscent of a cognac snifter. Yumm -y!

Tale #3: The Barbary Coast Wars

Boston, American History and the Freedom Trail, again - and NO, I am not tired of it - even though my tour was somewhat less fact-filled as I recently lost my wonderful booklet on "Revolutionary Boston" - so Matt's guess was as good as mine when it came to certain historical facts. We educated ourselves in the USS Constitution museum (ahh, air-conditioning!!) on the Barbary Coast Wars, hostilities that took place between the US and several Northern African Muslim city states (Morocco, Algiers, Tunis and Tripoli) in the early 19th century - a response to their rampant piracy on US merchant ships at the time. Now the US did not appreciate these acts of illegal appropriation and sent in their navy, among them the now-Boston-based USS Constitution, to put an end to these bad habits. Two wars ensued, one from 1801-05 and one in 1815, ending the massive pay-offs US merchants had to shell out for their own safety.

Tale #4: My New Addiction to Windshield wiper Fluid

Moving on - I know I am not always THE brightest light on the horizon, but I certainly could have figured out this one a bit quicker and saved my throat and lungs from massive irritation. My little Ella had just returned from a small check-up at the car doc when I noticed a burning sensation in my throat every time I took her out for a spin. Blaming the car dealership immediately, I called up and made a follow-up appointment, thinking that exhaust was backing up in the car, it's all their fault, yada yada, yada .... who knows what it was! It was bad and needed to be fixed! Eventually (duh!) I figured out that a bottle with windshield-wiper fluid had opened a bit, and all that wonderful methanol was evaporating out. This (the figuring out part) happend fortunately right in time before I had to pick up Matt from the airport (in 95 degree heat) - in addition to the "jail cell" experience at the Y, having toxic fumes in the car would have definitely made this an even more memorable trip for him.


Tale#5: Running on Empty

On the fitness front, I have really gotten into running and due to the heat and humidity I have started a regimen of running at 6:30 AM. As you know, I am not the most coordinated person, klutzy some might say, in particular in the wee hours of the morning. Joanne is now chasing me up Beacon Hill once per week, but even on flat ground, I realized this morning that having two beers the night before and maybe not enough sleep might just put a bit of a damper on my running performance. Elaine and I had attended a meeting of the Neighborhood Association of the Back Bay (http://www.nabbonline.com/index.htm) last night, in the rooftop bar of the Rattlesnake Bar and Grill on Boylston Street. Cool Place, and aside from a little drizzle here or there, it was a very pleasant experience (until I had to get up today).

The 4th of July weekend is upon us and I am looking forward to a relaxing time, no particular plans yet aside from watching the USS Constitution do a turnaround (from Charlestown Navy Yard to Castle Island) and to attend a re-enactment of the Boston Tea Party. Happy Holiday Weekend Everyone!

pet:)

#3 Boston - The Cure for the Common Cold - June 23, 2005

Friends - I have discovered the cure for the common cold and other ailments and indispositions that might befall any of us - just simply go and see the Red Sox play in Fenway Park and you will be healed of all your maladies!

It was a most appropriate cure for my weary soul this weekend - my first time in this exquisite traditional ball park!!! I was as as happy as a clam (maybe I should not say that in this state where most of them end up in chowder) - our beloved Red Sox played the Pittsburgh Pirates, and it was brutal! The Pirates played pretty much as if they had never seen a baseball, the whole thing seemed mysterious to them, and I think they were not even sure how they got there. The Red Sox, of course, stepped right in and gave them a good thrashing, and ended up winning 8:0!! Go Sox!! I for one do not care if the came is close, as long as my team is winning, who cares if the other team looks like a bunch of losers!! Renee and I feasted on the traditional ball park libations, sausages, hot dogs, beer, ice cream - you name it!! Even the sun came out toward the end of the game, and a good time was had by all. (http://www.fenwayfanatics.com/fenway/)

I had been not feeling well at all this weekend, and I am not quite sure what was the cause of it - just general exhaustion, or maybe some bug bit me and I had a bout with encephalitis, lime disease or the Ebola Virus - there was also a little incident with some vodka and orange juice, but I am getting ahead of myself, let's revisit this later.

On Saturday morning I decided to again venture out into the great green outdoors and join the AMC for a hike, this time in Maudslay State Park in West Newburyport, Massachusetts (http://www.mass.gov/dcr/parks/northeast/maud.htm) - located along the Merrimack River on the former estate of the wealthy Moseley family, one of 19th century New England's wealthiest clans. The hiking trails took us along the old carriage roads of the property through marvelously luscious forests laden with oak, maple and beech trees, flanked by Rhododendron, azaleas and dogwoods and mountain laurels in bloom, and 19th century gardens, most of them in fairly shoddy shape as we were surprised to discover. We also stumbled upon a pet cemetery, where Tinker, Buddy and a slew of other 19th century pets found their final resting place.

Our hiking group got along famously, and the mood reached a new high once we came upon a section of the property with objects of art - sort of an exhibit of local artists. At this point some of us completely lost it - in particular a spry and very quick-witted older gentlemen who attributed a piece of whatever-it-was-made-from-wire-paper-color-creation to "those kids who smoke too much whacky-weed". Then he proceeded to yell at an oversized Raggedy Ann doll, who leaned against some grapevines, "aren't you ashamed of yourself?" To come to his support, she looked kind of unchaste and showed no remorse for her scruffy appearance. The hike was topped off by the appearance of the Virgin Mary in a grassy field, immediately adjacent to what appeared one of the Apollo capsules.

Bad art aside, Maudslay State Park also features a summer series of "Theater in the Open" with an array of theatrical offers ranging from Shakespeare, to Samuel Beckett and CS Lewis to arts workshops and puppet shows.

While not everyone knows Maudslay, Newburyport is quite the tourist attraction (http://www.newburyportchamber.org/visitor.htm - http://seacoastnh.com/arts/photosnewburyport/) - one of your typical quaint New England seaside towns (if you are into that sort of thing) - so I strolled alongside the tourist mob for a while, but then decided not to join the long line of cars heading toward Plum Island (http://www.kieranchapman.net/photos/plumisland/).

Nice as it is, I just wanted to head home and relax, and get myself recuperated. Back at the crib, I made the mistake and drank a little orange juice with a little vodka, and that was literally the end of me. I was so completely knocked out - still cannot believe it. It was not as if I gulped down huge quantities, just a little flavor in the OJ, that is all I wanted..... Jeez! This led to my not leaving the couch Saturday PM, Sunday AM - pretty much almost until I had to head over to Fenway Park. The only interruption was a pretty pathetic and brief outing during which I joined my friend Elaine at Boston Beer Works on Canal Street Saturday night, and get this, ordered a hot cocoa!! The waitress thought I was completely retarded, and I had to ask Elaine to drive me home. What in the world was that? (My bet is still on Ebola......).

Anyway, I am fine now - the dreaded NCI site visit is over - we did well I believe, but it has not quite sunk in yet that we are done!!

To celebrate I went for my first ever 8-mile run last night, which resulted in a most strange phenomenon this morning. I woke up, and my mind was absolutely willing to get up, ready to face the day, but my body refused to even move an inch. Took some coaxing to get it out of bed. More pain is awaiting tomorrow morning, when my running buddy Joanne and I will meet at the crack of dawn and attempt to run about and down Beacon Hill. We'll see how that will pan out!!

Boston is expecting a scorcher of a weekend, my friend Matt from the UK is visiting, so more tour guiding on the way!!

Hope this e-mail finds you all in good or at least decent shape, and remember - not one shred of evidence supports the notion that life is serious.

pet:)

#2 Boston - Bugs in the Woods - June 17, 2005

If you think the attack of the dust particles on my friend Lisa in New York was vicious, you did not witness the onslaught of a massive contingent of iniquitous bloodsucking mosquitoes on a group of innocent AMC hikers in the Blue Hills outside of Boston this past weekend (http://www.friendsofthebluehills.org/). Temperatures in the 90s in the previous week and a swampland adjacent to the hiking trails contributed to this very unfortunate event, which led us to cut short a planned 4-hour hike after about an hour-and-a-half, at which point our leader and some other doomed participants looked quite frankly as if they were afflicted with small pox. Bite counts exceeding 50 were noted in the record books that day.

I myself had wandered around in a mist of bug repellent, slathered with sunscreen lotion, and still managed to come home with approximately 10 bug bites, including a particularly uncomfortable specimen behind my right ear. As a pre-emptive measure to avoid having said bug bites turn into dinner plate-sized welts, I spent the next three days in a Benadryl-induced daze, which led to some very enjoyable naps, not all of them in appropriate places. Oh well!

Being a glutton for punishment, I ventured off on another hike on Sunday, this time in a most diverting place called Purgatory Chasm in Sutton, Massachusetts (http://www.gweep.net/~lizzie/purgatory/). My friend Glenn and his kids Noah (aka Mamba Boy "hihihi-euw-euw-yucky") and Madison had brought me to this 14,000-year-old gorge with trails anywhere from 1/4 to 1 mile, and titanic-sized granite boulders strewn loosely about as if a giant had carelessly tossed them aside.

The chasm features favorites such as "Devil's Coffin" (http://www.gweep.net/~lizzie/purgatory/images/chasm/devils-coffin-98.jpg), "His Majesty's Cave" (http://www.gweep.net/~lizzie/purgatory/images/chasm/his-majestys-cave-98.jpg), "Lover's Leap" and, everyone's favorite, "Fat Man's Misery" - which is a fracture between two giant granite rock formations. You lower yourself down, and then shimmy sideways along the gap with your face and other parts of your body smashed against the rock. Absolutely cool! (http://www.gweep.net/~lizzie/purgatory/images/chasm/scott-in-fatmansmisery-98.jpg). The name "Fat Man's Misery" tells all, and you have to be a reasonably slender build in order to get in (and out for that matter).

Our attempts at further exploring the area were thwarted by rain and so we hightailed it back to the Rivard family's hometown of Sharon, MA. The car ride home was quite entertaining and a quite giggle-ish affair, mostly caused by my casual statement that I really don't like toast, which did delight the kids to no end. Well, I do aim to please!

The two hikes provided ample distraction from the fact that work had been getting exponentially more stressful in view of the NCI site visit on June 21, aka next Tuesday. Craziness at work combined with a bit of a stomach ailment has made this past week a taxing one. I have been countering this challenge with time spent with friends, lots of exercise and some reality escapes courtesy of Netflix (this week's favorites: "Mystic River" and "Memento").

The weather has also been accommodating by dropping about 30 degrees down into the 50s and all is well in joggingland. The Charles River Esplanade and Charlestown were both frequented this week for runs.

On another good note, I passed my first performance evaluation at MGH with flying colors and am happy to report that they want to keep me around a little longer.

Last night, my friend Ellen and I represented Boston Cares at the MSPCA (Massachusetts Society for the Protection against Cruelty to Animals) in Jamaica Plain. It was our time to walk the dogs from the animal shelter - this week featuring Princess, a lovely shepherd mix, a hyperactive black lab named Dede, an even more wound up Jack Russell Terrier from Belmont, and, my favorite - Buddy, a Sharpei mix, who pretty much resembled a barrel with legs, but impressed me by jogging around the parking lot jauntily and with notable speed. Even though most of the action was in the cat room, we also had time to visit the ferrets, rabbits, guinea pigs, Chinchillas, lizards, budgies and hang out the two most charming MSPCA house pets: two pit bulls, who were absolute darlings. The larger of the two, Chaos, had a head the size of a bowling ball, perceived himself to be the best lap dog of them all and seemed extremely interested in a bag of pretzels I had in my bag. What a wonderful experience, and I am happy to report that two of the dogs (Princess and Dede) and several cats were adopted that night.

My friends - I am looking to the next few days with trepidation and with the knowledge that I am going to be a tired, exhausted, slightly grumpy and stressed out little person, and I ask for your forgiveness ahead of time.

My Boston friends, If you can give me lots of TLC, your shoulders to lean on, your ears to listen to - you know I will return the favor should the NCI ever visit you.

Keep your evenings open Tuesday and beyond - we are going to celebrate!!

All my love,

pet:)

#1 Boston - Year 2 - June 9, 2005

My beloved friends, Year 2 in Boston has commenced and with it summer has arrived with a bang! We pretty much skipped spring here, decided to have several weeks of rain instead, and are now baking in mid-80 degree heat! Of course most of my days are spent in an air-conditioned hospital with a jacket on, but it is hot out there!! Last night we had a most impressive thunderstorm that lasted late into the night and cooled us off a bit.

My anniversary here in the hub this past weekend was celebrated with a fabu dinner at the most quaint Oleana Restaurant, a truly hidden gem on Hampshire Street in Cambridge - http://www.oleanarestaurant.com/main.asp. The place has received numerous accolades, among them the 2004 James Beard "Best Chef in the Northeast" award - the food was excellent, nice ambience as well!

I could have not picked a more clashing volunteer task for Saturday than my stint at the Women's Lunch Place on Newbury Street (http://www.womenslunchplace.org/). Located in the basement of a church on fancy schmancy Newbury Street, where you can easily plop down $200 just to have your hair looked at, it has been providing food, friendship and shelter for poor and homeless women in Boston since 1982. Saturday was an absolutely sweltering day, and standing next to a 165-degree hot commercial dishwasher for several hours meant "sweating it out" in a totally new way for me.

After degreasing, I dedicated most of the weekend to R&R and rested my weary feet, as I awaited my friend Jimmy and his visit to this splendid town of ours. In what felt like a repeat of my initial steps here in the Boston area a little over a year ago, Jimmy and I hit the Freedom Trail in a jiffy, tracing early American history (http://www.thefreedomtrail.org/) and encountering favorites along the way, in particular "Lucky Bob", one of the many street performers along Faneuil Hall and Quincy Market. Every year the performers have to audition to be among the select group of thespian talents allowed to entertain tourists and locals alike. http://en.wikinews.org/wiki/Boston's_Faneuil_Hall_selects_2005_performers.
The trail ended for us at George Washington's old watering hole, the historic Warren Tavern (http://www.warrentavern.com/history.htm) in Charlestown.

Even on Monday, nothing could stop us from pursuing revolutionary era history - we headed to the Concord-Lexington area and Minuteman National Historic Park, and hiked along the battle fields of the American Revolution, where the minutemen were able to mobilize a militia 20,000-men strong (in a day!) in response to the British forces (http://www.nps.gov/mima/ -- http://www.lincoln-ma.com/town_groups/minutemanpk.htm), which were announced by Paul Revere and two friends during the famous Midnight Ride (http://www.nationalcenter.org/PaulRevere'sRide.html)

Walden Pond (http://nanosft.com/walden/), honored by American nature writer David Henry Thoreau, who roughed it there in a cabin in the woods for 2 years, provided a welcome and anodyne sight - with its emerald green waters, and a display of fauna that included Eastern Blue Jays, Orioles, toads and tons of tadpoles trying to escape swarms of fish gunning in their direction.

No visit to the Concord area should be without a stop at Kimball Farm's in Carlisle - a roadside stand with frappes and ice cream concoctions so huge, that even little kids completely ignored the (I am sure very pleasant) animals in the petting zoo. A goat just cannot compete with a pile of whipped cream, my friends!! My new friend Ian, age 2 1/2, completely agrees with this statement.

Since the visit ended with yet another high-calorie expedition, this time to The Burren in Somerville (some of the caloric intake did come from beer), there was a definite need for some exercise, so it was a very opportune coincidence that I had signed up for the JP Morgan Corporate Challenge on Tuesday night. Of course, the race of 3.5 miles took place in 87 degree weather (7PM!!) and more than 12,000 of my closest friends were there with me. Needless to say on account of the unmerciful heat it was not a fast event - in addition, the course had several bottle necks where it was impossible to even attempt to run. (http://www.jpmorganchasecc.com/events.php?city_id=4). Everyone was sweating up a storm, the water stops were completely mobbed, but the runners kept clumping down beautiful Comm Ave (http://www.tucman.com/boston-photos/?boston=streets) and eventually made it back to the Boston Common. The event raised $30,000 for the Boston Arts Festival. Favorite t-shirts: "I have been sucking wind for the last 30 minutes" ; Runner-Up: "Will run for food".

Enclosed for you (on account of the anniversary) is a very arbitrary top ten list featuring a pretty mixed bag of Boston impressions - enjoy!!

Boston - First Year - Top Ten

1. Best Pub Name = The Squealing Pig (Honorable Mention = The Flying Rhino in Worcester)

2. Weirdest Experience = The Hypnotizing Dermatologist (who also at the end of the treatment touched my forehead like a TV evangelist and declared me healed)

3. Favorite Restaurants = Oleana (quaint, upscale); The King and I (Thai); Antonio's (Neighborhoody Italian); Ma Soba (Sushi); Finale (Deserts Only)

4. Favorite Pub = The Burren in Somerville, no contest

5. Best Organizations to Join = Boston Cares, Appalachian Mountain Club; Boston Ski and Sports Club; Running Partners

6. Best Museums = Isabella Stewart Gardner; Kennedy Library; Museum of Fine Arts

7. Best Experience = World Series Win of the Boston Red Sox - 15 minutes before my birthday

8. Best Neighborhoods = Beacon Hill, Back Bay, the North End

9. Best Visual = New England in the Fall; the view to Beacon Hill and Back Bay from Cambridge

10. Best New Friends = You know who you are! Thanks for making this easy. Love you all.


pet:)