Crazy Monster Wrestling
Friday night, I had the priviledge to attend Shpadoinkel Mania XVIII, a spectacle of giant Japanese monsters known as Kaiju Big Battel. There's no good way to describe it. It's wrestling pageantry with characters who fight in a ring for world domination. They dress up as characters like a can of soup (Kung-Fu Chicken Noodle) or sibling plantains (Los Plantanos). There's a whole storyline behind the characters, there's a huge cult following, and it's fun for the whole family (there were 10-year-old kids and their parents, along with tons of college kids.) Bottom line is it makes for a really poor blog entry, but a really fun night.
Year number six
It's hard to believe it, but this fall marks the beginning of my sixth (yes sixth) year in Massachusetts. (Consequently, this also means I just had my fifth anniversary with the city of Boston, which is apparently the wood anniversary. I actually just got a pair of wooden salad tongs from Kenya from my sister, so don't worry about sending any gifts, I'm all set.) While this place has definitely grown on me, I can't ever forget my roots.
So I'd like to take a moment to compare and contrast six facets (Six! Get it? It's like a theme) of life in California and Boston.
Politics:
Yeah, they're both pretty liberal. But let's look at the men in charge. Both governors are republicans, both are pretty boys, and both had no prior experience in government. Both also made millions of dollars in Hollywood starring in a bunch of blockbuster mega-hits. Oh wait, no they didn't. Point to Arnold (and CA).
Baseball:
We all know baseball is a religion in Boston. Blah blah blah, curse, blah blah, hope springs eternal, blah blah. Well the Giants and the Sox are both hideous at the moment. I think everyone would rather not talk about it. No points for anyone.
Diplomas:
I got two really sweet diplomas out of all those hard years of studying. Tufts had the prime minister of Greece speaking at graduation, LAHS had the principal (the fourth in four years no less) so it's kind of tough to pick a clear winner... But Tufts was willing to put my middle name on the diploma while LAHS wouldn't... so point to Tufts (and consequently Boston) on that one.
Mexican food:
--Boston's got Anna's Taqueria. They make really great burritos.
--California's got about a million taquerias that blow Anna's out of the water. Sorry. Point CA.
Coming of age:
Going away to college means learning academics, learning about life, and learning to drink. I've seen Boston's bars, and most of them were nice establishments. Being 21 here is fun. But even more fun than turning 21 is turning 13 as a little Jewish boy. I mean do you have any idea how many gift certificates I got for Tower Records? Plus I just found a $25 savings bond packed away in a drawer that's worth $32.58 right now! From a purely financial standpoint (hey, I work in accounts payable) the bar mitzvah was a pretty good coming of age. Mazel tov California. You get a point.
Running:
Tough one. I grew up running in great weather on some great trails out west. But Boston's a running city. From a "hardware" standpoint, I earned a boatload in California starting with six first place ribbons in the Junior Olympics (three-peat in the 1320 yard run and three-peat with the Almond Elementary 4x880 yard relay), and most recently a ribbon for a first place finish in the 2006 Donner Lake International Triathlon Relay. Lots of ribbons. Tufts, on the other hand is responsible for the All-American award. Point to Boston. (CA you can have a ribbon for the good effort.)
So I guess it's a pretty close competition... But Boston gets a bonus point because I'm still here, so the final score is 3-3. It's a tie! Everyone's a winner!
So I'd like to take a moment to compare and contrast six facets (Six! Get it? It's like a theme) of life in California and Boston.
Politics:Yeah, they're both pretty liberal. But let's look at the men in charge. Both governors are republicans, both are pretty boys, and both had no prior experience in government. Both also made millions of dollars in Hollywood starring in a bunch of blockbuster mega-hits. Oh wait, no they didn't. Point to Arnold (and CA).
Baseball:
We all know baseball is a religion in Boston. Blah blah blah, curse, blah blah, hope springs eternal, blah blah. Well the Giants and the Sox are both hideous at the moment. I think everyone would rather not talk about it. No points for anyone.
Diplomas:
I got two really sweet diplomas out of all those hard years of studying. Tufts had the prime minister of Greece speaking at graduation, LAHS had the principal (the fourth in four years no less) so it's kind of tough to pick a clear winner... But Tufts was willing to put my middle name on the diploma while LAHS wouldn't... so point to Tufts (and consequently Boston) on that one.
Mexican food:
--Boston's got Anna's Taqueria. They make really great burritos.
--California's got about a million taquerias that blow Anna's out of the water. Sorry. Point CA.
Coming of age:
Going away to college means learning academics, learning about life, and learning to drink. I've seen Boston's bars, and most of them were nice establishments. Being 21 here is fun. But even more fun than turning 21 is turning 13 as a little Jewish boy. I mean do you have any idea how many gift certificates I got for Tower Records? Plus I just found a $25 savings bond packed away in a drawer that's worth $32.58 right now! From a purely financial standpoint (hey, I work in accounts payable) the bar mitzvah was a pretty good coming of age. Mazel tov California. You get a point.
Running:
Tough one. I grew up running in great weather on some great trails out west. But Boston's a running city. From a "hardware" standpoint, I earned a boatload in California starting with six first place ribbons in the Junior Olympics (three-peat in the 1320 yard run and three-peat with the Almond Elementary 4x880 yard relay), and most recently a ribbon for a first place finish in the 2006 Donner Lake International Triathlon Relay. Lots of ribbons. Tufts, on the other hand is responsible for the All-American award. Point to Boston. (CA you can have a ribbon for the good effort.)
So I guess it's a pretty close competition... But Boston gets a bonus point because I'm still here, so the final score is 3-3. It's a tie! Everyone's a winner!
Good Things Happen in CA
Earlier this month I took a much-needed 10-day timeout from life in Massachusetts and headed back to the homeland. California was great. Despite the fact that the parents left town soon after I got home (I've never been a very good planner...) I got to see lots of other family, including the sis, along with more friends than I'd expected.
In addition to all the people I saw, there were also two big
trips while I was at home. First there was Ashley's wedding. It was the first wedding of one of my peers, which made it a little amazing, but it was also at the Ritz in Half Moon Bay, and everything about it was awesome; the ceremony, the party, the food, the people. We even split a room for the night. (We stayed at the freakin' Ritz!) Tons of fun and way too cool to write it all down, so I'll give you this...
The second trip I made while I was out west was an overnight trip up to Jeff's cabin in Tahoe for a triathlon at Donner Lake. I competed as part of a relay, with my friend Jay (above in the pink) leading off for the swim, Jeff taking over for a tough bike ride up a big old hill, and me finishing off with a run around the lake. It was a great time and an awesome team effort from everyone helped our relay beat out about 40 other teams for the win. Also, there are some pics of the race here, but it doesn't really include the whole team...
Anyways, great race, great wedding, great trip.
In addition to all the people I saw, there were also two big
trips while I was at home. First there was Ashley's wedding. It was the first wedding of one of my peers, which made it a little amazing, but it was also at the Ritz in Half Moon Bay, and everything about it was awesome; the ceremony, the party, the food, the people. We even split a room for the night. (We stayed at the freakin' Ritz!) Tons of fun and way too cool to write it all down, so I'll give you this...The second trip I made while I was out west was an overnight trip up to Jeff's cabin in Tahoe for a triathlon at Donner Lake. I competed as part of a relay, with my friend Jay (above in the pink) leading off for the swim, Jeff taking over for a tough bike ride up a big old hill, and me finishing off with a run around the lake. It was a great time and an awesome team effort from everyone helped our relay beat out about 40 other teams for the win. Also, there are some pics of the race here, but it doesn't really include the whole team...
Anyways, great race, great wedding, great trip.
Party Time
All modesty out the door for a moment. I think my housemates and I threw a pretty good party last weekend. It certainly surpassed our expectations, and the comments we received were all positive. And a note to anyone who attempts to emulate our success: butcher paper on the walls and lots of Sharpies makes for a good time.
Furthermore, the enthusiasm that everyone in the apartment put into the planning -- from the website, to printing up pictures of global warming and nukes, to the trip to Home Depot for "bird flu" masks -- was impressive. It brings to mind a quote from Hannibal Smith of The A Team, who said, "I love it when a plan comes together."
Furthermore, the enthusiasm that everyone in the apartment put into the planning -- from the website, to printing up pictures of global warming and nukes, to the trip to Home Depot for "bird flu" masks -- was impressive. It brings to mind a quote from Hannibal Smith of The A Team, who said, "I love it when a plan comes together."
Ecuador III
The final part of our trip was spent in a small mountain town called Vilcabamba. Back in 1973, National Geographic published an article about many locals who lived well past 100. Since then a handful of hippies have set up hotels/hostels/resorts there. We stayed at Madre Tierra Hotel and Spa, and thanks to our connections, we were treated like royalty. Mike Don and Becca worked at the hotel back in February as consultants/travel writers and helped with rewriting menus, brochures, and even a bilingual literary magazine featuring work from local artists. We hiked during the day and were treated to meals that were always top-notch (and accompanied by fresh bread, fresh tea, and fresh hummus... I mentioned the hippies, right?)
Here's the traveling party on one of our last nights at Madre Tierra. Yes, those are flowers in my hair.
Here's the traveling party on one of our last nights at Madre Tierra. Yes, those are flowers in my hair.
Ecuador II
By tourist standards, we didn't see anything amazing in Cuenca. But that's not to say that the city was dull. Cuenca was a very charming city. I truly enjoyed it and really liked the way it felt small but developed and quaint but not too poor all at once. We spent time every day walking around the city, seeing it's many old churches and cathedrals, and sitting in its parks and squares. We saw the soccer stadium with double barbed wire fences to keep the fans separated.
We also took a bus to Cajas National Park. There we hiked through the mountains, went wading in a lake, and bushwhacked our way down mountainsides. And as we did nearly everywhere we went, we saw donkeys. They actually interrupted our picnic lunch. The park was at 13,000 ft (4166m, according to the sign,) so everyone had horrible headaches from the altitude.
On the way home we tried to stop at a little village famous for las truchas (trout) but the restaurants were all closed. So we hitchhiked home in the back of a pickup truck.
We also took a bus to Cajas National Park. There we hiked through the mountains, went wading in a lake, and bushwhacked our way down mountainsides. And as we did nearly everywhere we went, we saw donkeys. They actually interrupted our picnic lunch. The park was at 13,000 ft (4166m, according to the sign,) so everyone had horrible headaches from the altitude.
On the way home we tried to stop at a little village famous for las truchas (trout) but the restaurants were all closed. So we hitchhiked home in the back of a pickup truck.
Ecuador I
I made it back from Ecuador in one piece. It was an awesome trip. However, my to-do list was only partly successful; I forgot to watch the toilet flush; I did eat cuy; I really didn't speak much Spanish.But of course this trip had much more to it. We spent the first few days in Cuenca, which is a moderately-sized, middle class city at 8000 feet in southern Ecuador. We had lots of great, cheap food.
This included good bread shops, gelato, seafood, produce, and of course cuy. At the market we bought all sorts of really good produce. We also bought 15 eggs for a dollar and had to find change because the egg man couldn't break a five dollar bill. Ecuador uses the US dollar and all of our coins. I know there were news stories a couple years ago about those Sacajawea gold dollars being a waste. But they're making good use of them in Ecuador.
vaya con dios
Tomorrow I'm off to Ecuador. I don't know exactly what's on the agenda for the trip, but I'm hoping to accomplish the following as soon as I get there:
1) Flush a toilet. Southern hemisphere. Which way's it gonna go??
2) Eat cuy. I hear it's the thing to have if you're going to Cuenca.
3) Learn Spanish. I've always wanted to learn. I'm hoping a week in "Southie" will be enough.
1) Flush a toilet. Southern hemisphere. Which way's it gonna go??
2) Eat cuy. I hear it's the thing to have if you're going to Cuenca.
3) Learn Spanish. I've always wanted to learn. I'm hoping a week in "Southie" will be enough.
Box of staples
I passed a milestone at work today. I finished a box of staples. I had been waiting for this time to come. And to be honest I never thought it would be possible to go through 5000 staples. (Sophomore year Mike Don took a box of staples from the English department, and I don't think we used more than 30 staples between the two of us. He still had a very full box of staples when we graduated.)
But in the work I do every day at The 'Tas, as it's known in my apartment, I use a lot of staples. Actually I use one staple every time I pay a bill (it's kind of the cherry on top of the sundae...)
Now, I'm not celebrating this event, per se. That would suggest that I use accomplishments such as this in my work to measure my worth as an individual. Or even that I pay attention to such inane facts as how many staples I've used. (Who would do that.) This is somewhere between an achievement and a mile marker on my road to... um... somewhere that I'm going. It is what it is. And it's a lot of bills.
But in the work I do every day at The 'Tas, as it's known in my apartment, I use a lot of staples. Actually I use one staple every time I pay a bill (it's kind of the cherry on top of the sundae...)
Now, I'm not celebrating this event, per se. That would suggest that I use accomplishments such as this in my work to measure my worth as an individual. Or even that I pay attention to such inane facts as how many staples I've used. (Who would do that.) This is somewhere between an achievement and a mile marker on my road to... um... somewhere that I'm going. It is what it is. And it's a lot of bills.
Tufts Alumni 0; Tufts Hillel 1
This week I got mail from Tufts Hillel. I think I'm making too big a deal of it, but the fact that the mail reached me absolutely blows my mind.
The Tufts Alumni Network has been trying to reach me, and while I'm interested in staying in touch with them, I prefer to hear about them through emails rather than mail. And if I do want to hear from them more, I'll let them know.
But the fact that Hillel has found me... I honestly don't know what to say. I can't imagine how they did it. Score one for them.
The Tufts Alumni Network has been trying to reach me, and while I'm interested in staying in touch with them, I prefer to hear about them through emails rather than mail. And if I do want to hear from them more, I'll let them know.
But the fact that Hillel has found me... I honestly don't know what to say. I can't imagine how they did it. Score one for them.
Day of Glorious Food
Saturday started off like any other Saturday -- getting woken up too early by the busy traffic on Brookline Street. But this Saturday was unique thanks to two very awesome things: breakfast and dinner.
Breakfast came from the authoratitive cookbook "The All New Joy of Cooking." The goal was to cook pancakes, because, as we all know, they are the best food ever. (Not an opinion... verified fact.) Rather than traditional pancakes, we went with "Silver Dollar Hots," which are described simply as "super light and fluffy... delicate treats." Unfortunately, I think we aimed too high. Long story short, something got messed up. But anything can be salvaged with a bit of chocolate. First we added some chocolate chips. That was good, and we decided to up the ante by adding Ghirardelli hot cocoa powder to the batter. This was also good, but we needed more. So we piled a bunch of the Silver Dollar Hots onto a bowl of Ultra Chocolate ice cream by Double Rainbow. It was very good. This reinforces my earlier argument that chocolate fixes anything.
Dinner was the second awesome of the day. Along with four of my housemates, I had my first trip to Mr. and Mrs. Bartley's Burger Cottage. I think Bartley's is Harvard's answer to that one local place that every Ivy League school has that's kind of a tradition and everyone goes there and doesn't mind the wait. This place had awesome burgers, good shakes (excuse me... frappes), and good fries. There was a lot of anticipation when I finally headed into the place for dinner after waiting outside for 20 minutes, and there was definitely the potential for the food to fall short of the expectations, but I was very pleased with the meal.
Awesome.
Breakfast came from the authoratitive cookbook "The All New Joy of Cooking." The goal was to cook pancakes, because, as we all know, they are the best food ever. (Not an opinion... verified fact.) Rather than traditional pancakes, we went with "Silver Dollar Hots," which are described simply as "super light and fluffy... delicate treats." Unfortunately, I think we aimed too high. Long story short, something got messed up. But anything can be salvaged with a bit of chocolate. First we added some chocolate chips. That was good, and we decided to up the ante by adding Ghirardelli hot cocoa powder to the batter. This was also good, but we needed more. So we piled a bunch of the Silver Dollar Hots onto a bowl of Ultra Chocolate ice cream by Double Rainbow. It was very good. This reinforces my earlier argument that chocolate fixes anything.
Dinner was the second awesome of the day. Along with four of my housemates, I had my first trip to Mr. and Mrs. Bartley's Burger Cottage. I think Bartley's is Harvard's answer to that one local place that every Ivy League school has that's kind of a tradition and everyone goes there and doesn't mind the wait. This place had awesome burgers, good shakes (excuse me... frappes), and good fries. There was a lot of anticipation when I finally headed into the place for dinner after waiting outside for 20 minutes, and there was definitely the potential for the food to fall short of the expectations, but I was very pleased with the meal.
Awesome.
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