Casting off

John and I went to Piers Park in East Boston today, rubbing our hands with glee as we walked around a new area full of exploration potential. More working class and, perhaps, more interesting than places like Boston Common or Harvard Square. It was a spectacularly warm afternoon and we were headed to the harbor.

As we approached the park, ducking the planes flying close overhead, we could see an older man casting out his fishing line. Not into the sea, but into the field. Just a large, open, flat area and he's casting off with this look of gritty determination. John said that's good practice for fly fishing, so we walked on. Tooled around for a good 45 minutes. Marveled at "Noddle Island," a tribute to the many nationalities present in East Boston's history, etched in granite.

As we're making our way back to the subway, there he is. Still. Just casting off into the grassy deep. And I admit that something about that scene really resonated with me. In some ways, that's what school-related writing feels like lately. Sort of casting my line into the totally wrong place, where my hook won't catch anything. Like for all my determination, if nothing bites, maybe I'm in the wrong place. Maybe I'm completely insane and everyone around me knows it.

Or maybe I should just let go of my rod and lie down and enjoy the sun.

It's something to chew on at least.

The skys are green and the grass is blue?

Last night my friend Gabi and I headed out for a few pints in Central Square, when we were stopped in our tracks by bluegrass music trickling into our ears--like those little bugs from the Wrath of Khan, only more soothing!

Heading inside for a spell, we spent 20 minutes indulging in banjo, mandolin and fiddle, the delightfully simple yet profound lyrics. But just as I really thought I HAD been transported back to North Carolina or somewhere familiar, the lights went up and the bartender yelled, "Sarry ladies, we-ah closing up!" Without further ado, the musicians dropped their southern accents and packed up.

And you know what? The spirit of Dolly Parton that lives within us all died a little.

Watch and be amazed

Best combination ever?

Thank you, Tampa Bay

So, after a lazy weekend in Vermont--damn you, Green Mountain State and your irresistible foliage!--I am trying to get some work done, all too aware that I have class at 4. When what should appear in my inbox but a note from my design professor that class is canceled today because she has finally "caught the plague that is going around."

Hmm. Funny. And all this from a die-hard Sox fan, right after the Boston World Series choke-fest to the Rays this weekend... At any rate, it's lucky for me that I have an extra two hours now. But I wonder...

Thwarting the Incumbents

I finally got my absentee ballot today. A tingly sensation ran up through my fingertips as I filled in the oval (office) next to Barack Obama and Joe Biden's names. Let's just hope Mr. Jowly Face himself, Bob Barr, helps tip the scale in Georgia toward the Democrats this year (though we may be in for another run of this barf bag).

Then I realized that the rest of the ballot was littered with unopposed incumbents, mainly running for judge, with names I had never heard in my life.

And after a little Googling revealed that the majority of these candidates are people I wouldn't trust to not spit in my food, much less operate a gavel, I decided to write in my votes as an oh-so-subtle form of protest.

For those of you doing the same, here are the 2008 write-in "lesser of two evils" I am endorsing, in lieu of, oh, other democratic options.

1. Stephen Colbert (the obvious choice)
2. Batman (serving up justice with batarangs)
3. Nina Simone
4. Evo Morales (technically the president of Bolivia, but he's doing such a bang-up job there, why not come over occasionally to give Sonny Perdue a kick in the pants?)
5. Smallpox (in place of a particularly odious incumbent). At least you know where smallpox stands.

Rounding out the list were my cat, my mom, and Mother Teresa (YOUR mom, ho ho!)

So--good luck exercising your most underrated right as a citizen of this country. If you don't vote, you're a sucker.