lists

I've noticed that posting to my blog is sort of like exercising: once you fall off the stick it gets hard to get started again. Then again, I've also been busy.

In the last two weeks, I've:

• Unpacked and arranged everything except my books (we need to build a bookcase)
  
• Gone to Bar Harbor for a lovely long weekend with Dave
  
• Gone to upstate New York for a long weekend to visit Dave's parents with Dave, David, and Debi
  
• Started the insane workout regimen known as Crossfit
  
• Started settling into Somerville and done things like get a library card
  
• Hosted a friend for a night when he came to Boston for a conference
  
• Hosted Eric for a weekend (another post on that later)
  
• Made a few pies
  
• Eaten fabulous meals at Havana in Bar Harbor and Hungry Mother in Cambridge
  
• Eaten a summer's worth of ice cream now that I've escaped the ice cream wasteland of NYC and finally returned to a city where they know how to make ice cream (blueberry and coffee oreo and fresh mint and salted oreo and blueberry lemon. and I tried cucumber, but it was not very good.)
  
• ...oh yeah, and I started my new job!
  

So far I'm pretty happy in Somerville and at the new job. I miss my friends back in NYC, and I miss Gorilla Coffee (we are down to two pounds from the six we stocked up on!) and I miss the Food Coop and I miss running in Prospect Park in the mornings. That's about all I miss so far. I'm finding that I like the slower pace of life here, at least for now. I love my huge apartment, I love having a porch and a little yard, I love all the trees in my new neighborhood, I love not being woken up every night by yelling and garbage trucks and sirens and fights, I love my short commute (25 minutes door-to-door), and I LOVE having a washer and dryer in the basement. Words cannot express how much I enjoy having laundry at home. That and high quality ice cream, I've got it made.

I'm surprised it's been three weeks since I last posted! The time has flown by. I'm going to steal a page off Mandi's blog for quick list of what I've been up to lately:

• Attended my friends Litza and Aryeh's wedding, which was beautiful.
  
• A work trip to DC (breaking my new rule of Time Spent Traveling Must Be Less Than Time Spent At Event)--I had to spend an entire night in DC (thanks Hilary!) plus eight hours of travel, total, in order to attend a two-hour meeting. Oh well--at least it was an interesting meeting.
  
• A fun trip to DC (just three days after the first trip) for a lovely wedding and a mini-reunion of some grad school friends. It was a wonderful trip, although a bit warm. Photos to come as soon as I have time to get them off my camera.
  
• Continued fighting with Washington Mutual about how I don't want a debit card with an RFID chip. It only took eight phone calls and several hours of work, but I finally got one.
  
• Long-delayed birthday drinks with one of my oldest friends, to celebrate our 30th birthdays, and a delayed birthday dinner with another dear friend.
  
• Just barely survived the first heat wave of 2008. Record-breaking temperatures left my apartment in the upper-80s all night and the city at nearly 100, or more if you go by the heat index.
  
• And as I write this, I am on the Bolt Bus (yes! literally posting to the internet from the bus! And the bus driver is yelling at someone because her three-year-old is being chatty! which is a lot less annoying than the sorority girls on their cell phones.) up to Boston for a quick visit to see Dave and some other friends.

So, I hit 30 two weeks ago today...and the deadline for finishing my 29 things list.

Unfortunately, I didn't do so hot. Oh well! Maybe I'll turn this into my "things to do before I leave NYC list". Here's the roundup:

1. Go to a performance at Carnegie Hall.
Nope. Didn't get to this one.

2. Visit the Tenement Museum.
Didn't get to this one, but I might this weekend with some visiting friends.

3. Try a cuisine I've never had before.
Yes! I ate game meat (venison).

4. Run the Brooklyn Half Marathon.
No, but at least I have some good excuses for this one: first, it hasn't happened yet--they moved it to May this year--and second, my leg/knee/hip issues have prevented me from running.

5. Go running at least three mornings a week, even during the winter!
Sort of. I haven't been able to run for several months (see above), but I have made it to the gym at least three times a week pretty much every week. I think that counts.

6. Improve my pace time.
Well, I've started running again, so....no, not yet, but I suppose either going from no running to some running could count. Or, they gym equivalent, I am lifting much heavier weights than I started with!

7. Take advantage of my balcony while the weather is nice.
I did do that, and I am really looking forward to continuing to do so now that the weather is getting nice again.

8. Frame all those great photos I have sitting around in boxes.
Nope, didn't get to this one. Of course, the lack of wallspace to hang things on may make this a moot point, anyway.

9. Head out to Sripraphai in Queens, the best Thai food in NYC.
Alas, no! Although I tried, I just never got out there. Soon. I have been waylaid by the delicious Thai food directly downstairs from my apartment.

10. Finally get that band started instead of just talking about it.
No, although I am still trying.

11. See the new Elizabeth A. Sackler Center for Feminist Art at the Brooklyn Museum.
Yes, I did do this, and I have pictures to prove it.

12. Join New York Road Runners.
No, my inability to run prevented this.

13. Volunteer at least once a month.
I was doing really well at this for awhile, but life got crazy, and this has fallen off. I need to start again.

14. Visit the New York City Transit Museum.
Nope. However, I have spent many, many hours on the train.

15. Shave my head.
No, I decided not to do this for professional reasons and for tactful reasons.

16. Visit the Map Division at the New York Public Library.
I am not sure how I haven't gotten to this.

17. Go ice skating in one of the NYC Parks.
I seem to have totally missed the season for this too.

18. Visit the Statue of Liberty.
Nope.

19. Get a library card for the Brooklyn Public Library.
No, and my overloaded bookshelves are giving me dirty looks about it.

20. Post on my blog at least twice a week.
Well, sometimes I managed this and other times I didn't. Kind of a wash.

21. Go see the new Greek and Roman galleries at the Met.
Yes! I had a great time doing this.

22. Finish reading A People's History of the United States.
I have read a lot of books the past few months, but not this one.

23. Run the Liz Padilla Memorial 5k in Prospect Park next weekend.
Yes!

24. Go up to Western Mass at least once a season.
I went in the summer, the fall, and the winter. I think my spring visit will be a late spring visit (maybe May).

25. Perfect my bread baking skills.
Dave makes so much bread it's really better if I don't make any at all.

26. Get another tattoo.
This is something I am still thinking about--I have too many ideas swirling around in my head. In the meantime, you should check out this awesome gallery of science tattoos.

27. Keep my four plants alive.
Let's just say three of my plants are doing really well and leave it at that.

28. Make a budget and stick to it.
I've more or less done this.

29. Go to Thailand.
Professional circumstances (i.e. my inability to take off three weeks at a time right now) have kind of intervened, but Dave and I are still hoping to go this summer.

So....overall, I think I did so-so at this project. On the other hand, I did do some pretty cool stuff that I hadn't planned on. Hopefully I'll finish off everything on this list before I turn 31.

1. Hilton Alexandria Mark Center, Alexandria, VA, 2. Steve, 3. Radisson Plaza Lord Baltimore Hotel, 4. The cats help Dave move, 5. full moon, 6. Year Five Antiwar Protest, 7. Cousins visiting, 8. Cousins visiting, 9. birthday boots!

March just zoomed by! In the last month, I have:

• Attended two conferences
  
• Visited Washington, DC; Alexandria, VA; and Baltimore, MD
  
• Completed two of the major deliverables for my job
  
• Dealt with some sudden, very unexpected changes at work
  
• Hosted visits from my brother, my parents, and Kristen and Frank, and saw my cousins when they visited from Chicago
  
• Attended an anti-war protest with Mandi
  
• Helped Dave move
  
• Moved my office at work
  
• Attended a lecture on the neuroscience of drumming
  
• Bought the awesomest boots ever
  
• Oh, and I turned 30!

That's my excuse for not posting much recently. Stay tuned for a "29 things" update later this week.

And now I'm sitting in my cozy apartment, listening to an April torrential downpour.

I really like lists. Plus, list posts are easy and quick to write.

So: three things I can't get enough of lately.

1. Radiohead's new album, In Rainbows. I'm not the most critical reviewer here, or anything, but I consider this pretty much a perfect album. I can't stop listening; it's become my commuting soundtrack and there are four songs that I love enough to stop reading and just listen when they come on.

2. Haruki Murakami: Steve loaned me several of his books, and I've been ploughing through them. I've read about half a dozen in the last six weeks. Hardboiled Wonderland and the End of the World has been my favorite.

3. My new slippers from LL Bean, a Christmas gift from my parents. I have now lost all claim to NYC coolness (ha), but my feet are so warm. You can take the girl out of New England, but...

It's been awhile since I've checked in on my list (and awhile since I've posted), so here's an update on how I'm doing on my 29 things to do before I turn 30 list.

3. Try a cuisine I've never had before.
Last weekend, Dave and I took Steve out for a (belated) birthday dinner. We had the tasting menu at Palo Santo (one of my favorite restaurants), and one of the (amazing) courses was venison. I've never eaten game meats before, so I think this counts.

5. Go running at least three mornings a week, even during the winter!
I've been cleared by my sports doctor to start running again, so I'm back on the treadmill. Since he okayed it, I've been there three times a week. Yay! Running regularly is so great, both for my body and for my mind.

6. Improve my pace time.
As I increase my milage, I'm also increasing the pace I'm running at. I don't think I'm officially faster yet, but I am doing better than I was a few weeks ago.

13. Volunteer at least once a month.
I've got two volunteer projects going, one at Infinite Hope (playing with cats) and one with Mandi, so I'm doing well on this one.

24. Go up to Western Mass at least once a season.
I made my winter visit at Christmas.

27. Keep my four plants alive.
A couple of them are looking a little wimpy, but they're still green. And somewhat to my surprise, a set of Paperwhite bulbs I kept from last winter did manage to re-sprout! This one is a definite win, since I now have four green things in my apartment.

I only have two and a half months left, and I still have a lot to do. Here's what remains:
1. Go to a performance at Carnegie Hall.
2. Visit the Tenement Museum.
4. Run the Brooklyn Half Marathon.
8. Frame all those great photos I have sitting around in boxes.
9. Head out to Sripraphai in Queens, the best Thai food in NYC.
10. Finally get that band started instead of just talking about it.
12. Join New York Road Runners.
14. Visit the New York City Transit Museum.
15. Shave my head.
16. Visit the Map Division at the New York Public Library.
17. Go ice skating in one of the NYC Parks.
18. Visit the Statue of Liberty.
19. Get a library card for the Brooklyn Public Library.
20. Post on my blog at least twice a week.
21. Go see the new Greek and Roman galleries at the Met.
22. Finish reading A People's History of the United States.
25. Perfect my bread baking skills.
26. Get another tattoo.
28. Make a budget and stick to it.
29. Go to Thailand.

It looks like I have a lot of places to go. I better get cracking.

1. The Red Sox. Of course.

2. Stereogum's website in general, and the Gum Mix in particular. The Gum Mix is a great mix of music that you can either stream or legally download for free. They add new songs daily and I've really been enjoying the mix. Listening to music makes work much more pleasant and I've discovered some artists I really like. They also put together Drive XV, a neat tribute to one of my top albums of all time, R.E.M.'s Automatic for the People. While the covers are good, but to be honest, I prefer the original. I fell asleep listening to that album every night for years, as in every night for a decade or so, and would probably still be listening every night if I hadn't broken the CD player in my clock radio.

3. Acorn squash. One of my favorite fall/winter foods, especially when it's roasted in the oven and mashed up with butter, salt, and pepper. Yum.

Yes, I am still alive, and no, I have not forgotten this site. I've been super busy the past couple of weeks. Several of the things I've done really merit their own posts, but here's a short list:

+ My parents came down for a visit. We celebrated my dad's birthday, went to a great event put on by the War Resisters League, and went to the Art Under the Bridge Festival in DUMBO.
+/- At the Arts Festival, we saw some really really bad art and some good art. Performance art is frequently very stupid, in my experience.
- I had to go down to Washington, DC, for a last-minute business trip.
+ But I got to eat another wonderful meal cooked by Frank, see Kristen and Frank's new house, and stay with Hilary, so it wasn't so bad.
- I went to a going-away party for Eric.
+ I went to a welcome-to-NYC-for-the-weekend party for Bahar and Satish.
+ Jenn and I hosted a very fun barbeque, and we ended up with twice as much beer as we started with.
+ My old friend Dave came to NYC and took me out for dinner at Daniel, an extremely fancypants restaurant, and we had a fantastic meal.
+ That meal was so good it deserves a second plus.
+ I took a yoga class and a pilates class at my gym.
- I had to take those classes because I seem to have injured my IT band again so I need to cut back on running.
+ I saw a fantastic show: M. Ward at Wall Street Rising (a free show downtown, outside!)
+ I saw another fantastic show: S PRCSS, Parts & Labor, and Les Savy Fav, at Bowery Ballroom. And that show was free too, because my brother won a pair of tickets and gave one to me.
+ Both those shows had female drummers (M. Ward and S PRCSS).
+ I ran the Liz Padilla 5k, therefore crossing one item off my to-do list.
+ I've read (The Namesake) and re-read (A Wrinkle in Time; A Wind in the Door; A Swiftly Tilting Planet; Many Waters) some really great books.

So, overall, it's been a pretty good few weeks. Pictures of M. Ward, the Bowery Ballroom show, and my parents' visit are all on Flickr.

Mandi had a great post awhile back about 30 things she wants to do before she turns 31, so I thought I would steal her idea and make a list of 29 things I want to do before I turn 30 next March. Here they are!

1. Go to a performance at Carnegie Hall.
2. Visit the Tenement Museum.
3. Try a cuisine I've never had before.
4. Run the Brooklyn Half Marathon.
5. Go running at least three mornings a week, even during the winter!
6. Improve my pace time.
7. Take advantage of my balcony while the weather is nice.
8. Frame all those great photos I have sitting around in boxes.
9. Head out to Sripraphai in Queens, the best Thai food in NYC.
10. Finally get that band started instead of just talking about it.
11. See the new Elizabeth A. Sackler Center for Feminist Art at the Brooklyn Museum.
12. Join New York Road Runners.
13. Volunteer at least once a month.
14. Visit the New York City Transit Museum.
15. Shave my head.
16. Visit the Map Division at the New York Public Library.
17. Go ice skating in one of the NYC Parks.
18. Visit the Statue of Liberty.
19. Get a library card for the Brooklyn Public Library.
20. Post on my blog at least twice a week.
21. Go see the new Greek and Roman galleries at the Met.
22. Finish reading A People's History of the United States.
23. Run the Liz Padilla Memorial 5k in Prospect Park next weekend.
24. Go up to Western Mass at least once a season.
25. Perfect my bread baking skills.
26. Get another tattoo.
27. Keep my four plants alive.
28. Make a budget and stick to it.
29. Go to Thailand.