my neighbours have complained about me.
apparently they say i'm noisy.
i am hardly ever home, so i don't see quite how this is possible.
but apparently i step loudly.
i also listen to NPR in the mornings to get my daily news bulletins and i guess i play that too loudly as well.
i came home today and saw a note that someone had left for another set of neighbours who have kids and who leave their stroller in the hallway. it says 'please don't leave your belongings here, I don't want to have to move them myself'
geez loueeeez. i think it's the same guys.
i won't be inviting them around for tea.
i did buy some slippers though.
i feel like a ballerina and i'm stepping much more lightly.
shame i don't know what's going on in the world.

i'm trying to decide why i've tended to eat the same thing every night since i've been in boston.
considering how much i love to cook.

that's not entirely true, i've got two signature dishes. (are they signature if no one else ever eats them with you??? if a tree falls in the forest....) i have a few theories:

most realistically it's that my apartment is furnished like the ark - only two of everything, one pretty crappy knife and no cleaver. so i have no gadgets to create with. how can i begin to make pesto or olive tapenade? surely not by hand! how did they do it without mixers? and a small white plastic chopping board is no substitute for my butcher block. i also have an electric stove, which i'm not crazy about because i don't understand quite how to gauge the temperature. note: i am not complaining, it's a cute little flat, just not what i know.

tony and aden (bosses) bought me 8 wine glasses as a moving in gift. perhaps i should've asked for forks instead?

it could also be that i've discovered trader joe's. if you are lucky enough to live near one, you know the pleasure. it's all healthy food (for the most part). and it tastes great. london crew - they have GYOZAS in a bag and you can get 25 of them for something like 4 dollars! heat them in the microwave for 1 minute 30 second and PRESTO. imagine paying £4.50 for SIX at fujiyamas? evil. they also have edamame in a bag for 2 dollars, yummy cheeses from around the world (not quite neal's yard), fresh salsa, delicious meats and lots of frozen but healthy options. and it's all so convenient. (and 3 blocks from my house!)

it's very strange because these days, or i should say, these evenings, i've got all the time in the world. i keep myself busy when i can, but that's because i make the effort. if i didn't, i'd have even MORE time here. so why am i opting for the meal that takes less than 15 minutes to put together? why haven't i cracked open the SF chronicle cookbook (volume I) that i lugged all the way here? why have i never used the dishwasher here to wash one bowl and one fork and one pot?

i really don't know the answer. maybe food is better when it's shared.

so what are these meals - I hear you asking.

meal 1 (most often)
spaghetti (angel hair is preferable - a treat i don't get much in the UK)
trader joe's 3 cheese pasta sauce (delicious)
trader joe's spicy chicken sausage cut into small pieces
cherry tomatoes quartered
asparagus (lots since it's the green of the evening)
sometimes garlic if i really feel like making an effort
lots of parmesan cheese on top

meal 2 (second most often)
handful of shrimp (frozen from trader joe's)
broccoli
asparagus (it's cheap here, so i'm taking advantage, and it's not even in season)
onion (again, if effort is called for - this means frying as well as boiling is now required)
yellow pepper (again, real effort needed here as this adds time)
trader joe's red curry sauce (rivals a restaurant, really!)

i don't think i'm eating any less healthy than i otherwise wood. though i hardly ever used premade sauces in the UK. i guess it's just much less diverse.

which is also strange considering i could have just about anything i wanted any night. i live just down the street from deluca's, there's a huge supermarket about 5 blocks away and a trader joe's around the corner. but i think i'm also slightly freaked out by the array of choice here. the bread aisle in the supermarket here is literally the length of my flat. i am NOT JOKING. white, wheat, rye, pumpernickle, cracked wheat, 9-grain, sourdough, wheat-free, gluten-free, lactose-free, yeast-free, square crust, no crust, whole loaves, half loaves, french sticks, etc etc etc. it's crazy. and this isn't even a SUPER store.

but i know EXACTLY where each of my aforementioned ingredients resides. so getting in and out of the store is simple and painless and doesn't involve hours of mindless gazing and grazing.

hmmm. so choice. a good thing, or a bad thing?
the jury's still out.

happy monday!

and saturday night i danced with dame edna.
went to a costume party with a pregnant britney spears and kevin federline (sam and jono)
i was still a little tender from friday night's margaritas with the mob, so i didn't make much of an effort at all apart from false eyelashes. sam had a spare afro wig, so i decided to join their theme and go as shar jackson (kevin's ex-girlfriend). ha.
there were quite a few gay friends of angela's - so they came in drag ('halloween is like christmas for us' one of them said!), and we also had bruce leeroy (black friend's take on bruce lee), a few witches, and the knights who say nee. (or whatever)

they made a punch with coolaid, vodka and mountain dew. sounds a disgusting combination, but it was actually really good. i didn't end up drinking that much and was home at a relatively decent hour.

thinking of going to see goodbye and goodluck, or goodluck and goodnight, or goodbye and goodnight. whatever it's called, it's gotten rave reviews.

happy sunday!

i met the mob on friday night.
seriously, i think i found the boston mafia.
the leader's name was ernie, though i swear he looked just like one of my grandparent's dancing friends, jerry. i asked, but he didn't know anyone in toledo ohio. (had i known he carried a gun, i may not have asked such a ridiculous question - but i didn't know that then). he was short, balding with a comb-over and a slick navy suit. these guys sat next to us at the bar, there were 6 or 7 in total. we were in 'their' spot and i think it could've turned ugly had they not decided we were too cute to kick out - so instead they bought us drinks and continued to flirt with us in the polite and chivalrous way that men nearing their sixties often do. we weren't going to refuse the drinks! the bar was expensive! we ended up heading to a nearby club where we jumped the queue when the bouncers recognized ernie - i don't know what he does (or did!) but everyone knew him and everyone was eager to shake his hand. he was treated like royalty and i couldn't help wonder whether the gun had something to do with it, now that i knew he carried one. it was like being in an episode of the sopranos. they had us fooled for awhile that they were all cops - and they certainly could've been. but turns out that ernie owns a few car dealerships, dom collects and sells autographs on eBay, and the other guys, well, i think they were just enjoying the attention that being around ernie afforded them.

it was a silly night and karen and i just kept laughing at the surrealness of it all. but if i ever want a repeat, i know where they'll be on friday nights!

ok. so i am just back from that winetasting event.
life is so cool sometimes.
i walked to the event rehearsing my new mantra in life.
'something might happen'
ok. it's not mine. it's really john randle's (anna's dad) - but i've adopted it for my life in boston.
and we were shut into this tiny room in the back of the bookstore, maybe 9 women (1 man) were here for this evening. and who should walk in but a former student of mine from 2004 - a USC student at that - not BU. and then some random people ended up walking in late, and when it was over (and we were kicked out rather ubruptly) we decided to carry on in a winebar nearby and experience a good cabernet, locally...so i've just ended up spending 5 hours with some strangers...and i've met two really nice mexicans, a lovely jordanian woman, a former student, my two workmates (who live across the street so who joined us) and two other americans.

so it really goes to show that things really might happen. i understand now why people do things every night! (like my friend vixter) although, saying that, i went to bed last night at 10:30, so i've got some energy..

and tomorrow i've volunteered to work at the local radio station WBUR (the local NPR station) to help with their pledge drive and take calls, so i have to be up in 5 hours.

but nevermind. something might've happened. and it did!

i would recommend the philosophy. it's fun!

this is a test. my very first test.
i get it. i've fiddled around a bit and i think this could be interesting.
i don't think i'll let too many people see this though.
how strange to think someone else might read this.
i have to be writer and editor at the same time, i'm not sure how i feel about that.

i think i should probably think about saying something interesting if anyone is going to read this.
even though i've just finished saying that i'm not sure i want anyone to read this.

there is a winetasting tonight at the local bookstore. three blocks from my house,
my second in less than four weeks. i think i'll go. by myself. lest i sit here and turn the tv on and get trapped on my horrible sofa that reminds me of a very bad shirt. (think hotel lobby) the author of a downtown girl's guide to wine will be reading from her book and then we'll eat cheese and taste wine. it's only five dollars.

there's so much to do here, and it's so accessible.

last night i went to see two ten minute plays written by a friend of a friend of a friend. i hardly know her and just stayed for her plays, but they were interesting. lesbian themed (she's a lesbian) but universal in their understanding of relationships. very cool. i talked to the guy who staged the play fight, he was studying a phD in theatre at tufts.

my flat has a beautiful bay window with a seat running around it. in the mornings when it's sunny, it's beautiful to sit. it looks on the alleyway behind the house, but it's still nice. i'm not complaining!

ok. i guess this is the point of these things, so a very select few can see what i have to say.
enjoy!