Awkward...

So last night I could smell woodsmoke coming in my window, a welcome change from the gas/alcohol/cigars I usually smell.



Apparently the laundromat burned down.


random

This is my Church...

I went to a pretty cool talk after mass this past Sunday- the topic was "How does one reconcile disagreement with the institution and remain Catholic?" The speaker was Bishop Geoffrey Robinson (who wrote Confronting Power and Sex in the Catholic Church: Reclaiming the Spirit of Jesus), and it was organized by Voice of the Faithful and hosted by the Paulist Center Boston. It's nice to finally find an active Catholic community where I don't have to feel uncomfortable at every other phrase spouted out of someone's mouth. This is the Church as it should be, a future for the Church that is not based on the increasingly law-obsessed newer priests coming out of the seminaries.

"For I desire steadfast love and not sacrifice, the knowledge of God rather than burnt offerings."
- Hosea 6:6

"There is nothing on this earth so ugly as the Catholic Church, and nothing so beautiful."
-John Henry Newman

podcasts

I just have to say this again... yes! Finally, people who will listen to me. And who I may listen to and learn from.

Home Alone

So with two roommates off...somewhere (early spring break?) and the third at AWP, I have the apartment to myself! It's a wonderful feeling. I can watch what I want, play my own music, wander anywhere in the house without worrying about us tripping over each other or blocking each other's shower times.

This seems as good a time as any to make an attempt at restarting this blog. I know it's been forever (again) but here's a quick summary:
1. New Year's! Yay! Party at Megan's (and we tricked/kidnapped Kristin into coming). Odd though, that there's so many couples in my group of friends now. Changes the dynamics a bit.
2. Farm! Yay! Great seeing everyone, and going for a long walk. Found a new spring, checked lingering damage from Irene, and begged the trees not to bloom (they're a little confused as to what season it is - and with the weather we've been having, I can't blame them).
3. Boston! Yay? Well, not so much, but Boston and I are at least getting along a bit better than last semester.
4. Classes: Translation, Textual Editing, and Web Development. Web Development=Yay!
5. Mark Does Stuff came to Boston. I was there! Double Yay!

Okay, summary over. See, that wasn't too bad, now, was it?

Mom & Dad - see you soon!

Double Dare

Irene

We survived the storm. Actually, it had pretty much fizzled out by the time it hit Boston - I think they were still calling it a tropical storm, but basically it rained. And there were occasional gusts of wind. Yes, there were a lot of twigs and leaves on the ground, as well as the occasional bigger branch (and, a block away, a pair of young trees) but no more damage than winter storms cause - and quite possibly less.

It was fun hopscotching my way to church though. And where the trees had split, a man was delivering one of them to his girlfriend as "a flower to show how much he loved her." She, of course, was sitting on the step telling him not to drop it on those of us walking by. It was cute.

I'll post a few pictures tomorrow, but right now I don't have the time to get them off my phone.

NYC faired worse

All you need to survive a hurricane

I was at the store today, and noticed this awesome sign:

I'd like to point out that there were no other references to Irene in the store. So further down the coast, they're boarding up windows, canceling trains and planes, and declaring states of emergency. Us brilliant residents of Boston, on the other hand, are stocking up on ice trays.

Signs of Recovery

...because the economy is turning around, or so I've been told. Let's see:

What a Difference a Month Makes

I've been back in Rochester for the last month - so my apologies to any readers who aren't family, if they exist. I figured there was no point in updating when most of my audience was right there next to me. Or in China, with poor access to Google.

Anyway, now that I'm back in Boston, it's time to inventory the changes:

1. Super-annoyingly-rowdy sports bar across the street... is gone. Wow. It's so much quieter around here now.

2. Two other stores I regularly passed but never entered have closed.

3. The band next door (have I really not mentioned them before? They only knew 2 songs, and practiced all the time. Although to give credit where credit's due, their drummer knew more songs, so his solo practices were great.) has not been heard from in a while. They may have moved out.

4. There are a lot of loud parties next door. They may have moved in.

5. The cheap Chinese place right next to Emerson wasn't open when I went. PLEASE TELL ME THIS ISN'T PERMANENT.

6. Kelly's doesn't sell smoothies anymore. I plan on pouting about this for quite a while, as they were really good and my main reason for eating there.

7. The B line's trains have been shortened again. If someone could please explain the logic of adding cars to the college line in the spring, and then taking them away again once the college students start to return, I will be most impressed.

Also, I'd just like to comment that it rained so hard, it didn't just turn the streets into rivers, it turned them into rivers with rapids.

Also, this.