Fourty Four

I watched the inauguration with my office over lunch.

We cooed over the girls (Sasha's cool digital camera!), debated Michelle's dress (I loved it), and giggled at Aretha Franklin's hat (hellz yeah). And we all gave a hearty goodbye to George W. Bush as he boarded his helicopter. I hope he enjoys his retirement as much as I will.

As Obama delivered his address, the room quieted in reverence. His speech was weighty and powerful - and I was especially struck by his inclusion of "non-believers" grouped in with Christians, Muslims, Jews, and Hindus.

Unless we're talking anthropology, or engaging in friendly informed conference, I'm wary of the value of invoking belief systems (this spoken by someone who decries their lapsed Catholicism at ever turn). But God in government? I wish we could separate the two - and I know we can't right now. This is a major turn for the way a leader of our nation derives political strength. It's truly inclusive, and another indication of what we can hope for in the next four years.

Now, if we can just get Neo-Druidism the recognition it deserves.

The First Family Puts Family First

To say I'm excited doesn't quite cover it. Tuesday will be an amazing celebration.

A Couple of Kids in Love

diamond cutters

Newsflash: It's officially cold here in Boston.
Tonight, a low of 1 degree F. Perhaps I got that punctuation wrong: A low of 1 degree?! Eff!!!

The coldest I have ever felt was while camping in Canada, in some forest outside of Vancouver - the name of which I have blocked out. The occasion was fun - a trip out west in mid-March to see Mr. Boyfriend's sister at Western Washington U. in Bellingham, WA. The camping outing...not so much.

We were told to pack light for our cross-country jaunt, so we did. We were thus unprepared for the freezing temperatures we faced overnight in that unnamed forest, let's call it Wannafreezyournutsoff Woods. Boyfriend and I shared two sleeping bags zipped together on the frozen ground. The air was so cold that when a sliver of skin would become exposed at, say, my neck or earlobe, I would have to pep talk myself into reaching my hand out of my huddled cocoon to cover up.

At the first sign of dawn's light we scrambled out of the tent, rammed our feet into our shoes, and jumped into the rental car to blast the heat on high. We then drove back to civilization to find the one thing that would make us feel human again - Tim Horton's. I have never been so happy to see that bastion of crullers and coffee shining in the morning light.

If my memory serves me right, we drove back down through Vancouver and spent the day wandering the city. It was gorgeous, with the hint of something sinister behind the shine of the hustle and bustle. I found it both clean and gritty; we walked and drove down streets that could welcome you in and shrug you off within the same block. Then again, it might have been that every time the sun went behind the clouds or the breeze shifted slightly, I'd shiver and start with a shock at the remembrance of the night before.

Forget New York. It's time to move to Hawaii.

What I wouldn't give for a conviviality waiver

Gala season is almost upon us...
Looking Forward to Your Check

why I need to move to NYC in my lifetime

Improv Everywhere is performance art in the blogging age: technology plus a bit of urban creativity equals excellent YouTube viewing.

http://improveverywhere.com/

Ironic that I'm jonesing for New York when Mr. Boyfriend was supposed to be there today. (If he'd made it, I'd be jonesing for him right now. Awwww...)

Maybe we can both make a trip over the Martin Luther King holiday weekend. Yes, yes, I see farther down the page there's a Boston Society of Spontaneity too and I could find something here...but there's something distinctly non-spontaneous about a city that shuts down at 2am each Saturday.

Though I'm also considering a trip home again - I'd love to get my mom's drawings and paintings archived and set up a laptop with her so she can do some scanning and editing of her work, and get it online. Oh! Jetblue sales - what a coincidence...

Eight was great but Nine is fine...

Alas, tomorrow is back to reality.
Last week was a snowy three and a half days and rather...festive. And I've managed to log a ridiculous amount of indiscriminate TV watching, with movies including: Hackers (forgive me. I was hungover), Don't Mess With the Zohan (spotty - saved only by a buttocks driven hacky sack move), Mrs. Brown (Billy Connolly!), Austin Powers II (stupid Heather Graham), The Da Vinci Code (every lapsed Catholic's fave), and - for a double dose of Mr. Hanks, You've Got Mail. Not to mention any number of MythBusters, Ace of Cakes, and (appropriately) Biggest Loser clips.

Aside from this impressive array of mind numbing TV consumption - I feel 08 was a productive year. I did get that Bachelor's degree and all, and write that thesis thing. I reached my first palindrome age in 11 years. I celebrated my third annivesary with the Boyfriend...and we moved in together. We entered the Real World without applying to MTV and moved across the Charles, and learned what it is to maintain a functioning fireplace. We now curse young'uns who make us wait in line at Bagel Rising as "Those damn BU kids." On the cultural front I surprised myself with a job choice contrary to my literary leanings...and am really happy about it. I polished my accordion skills, pretended to read Anna Karenina, and got the makings of a book club in the works.

For 09 I'm going to make an effort to get a regular volunteering gig going - I had an idea to interview potential adopting families for animal shelters, and I need to get moving on that.

And I would also like to say that Mr. Boyfriend is an amazing cook - he even follows recipes and makes new things for us to try. Even though I do love a good box of Annie's - kitchen sink style.

resolutions

I'm trying not to dwell.
Christmas itself was sad without my favorite fuzzball around but was still lovely. I loved spending time with my Mom and showing the Boyfriend Buffalo's culinary delights and Polish traditions. But I'm still sad.



On to the present and future...
My present is absolutely wonderful and I'm very excited about it. I'm using my gorgeous new (but antique!) jewelery box every day.

How about a resolution to paint the bedroom? That sounds good. Perhaps in the spring.

Vacation plans: Prague seems to be out of the running. It's just too expensive to fly. Recession? Shmecession. The airlines are still out to gouge us all. And I'm just not the type of personality that can do a last minute vacation from budget-finding websites because the price is right - and really, what kind of 9-5er is anyway? I need to plan plan plan!

Which brings me to the alternative: the Caribbean. To be more specific, Punta Cana in the Dominican Republic. Yes - the DR, Part II - but this time perhaps at a resort. The spontaneous (well, spontaneous because I didn't do the planning, Tour Guide Boyfriend did), earthy, motoconcho-wheeling trip we last took was amazing but requires a good amount of research - and hutzpah. We have neither the time nor (currently) the inclination for that this time around. And we can get a direct flight from Boston - which is KEY when time is short.

My mom offered up some of our RCI credits so that will be an IMMENSE help in making a vacation happen. Mid to late March a la spring break? Sounds good to Kate...

And New Year's Plans are so far a bust. I would like to stay at home with champagne and make s'mores by the fire. Who knows?

Another note: This story telling is... sadly too perfect. And not just for writers.