Deadhead

I suppose if you’re going to keep your loved one's ashes, you may as well keep them inside a replica of your loved one’s head. What does strike me as a little icky is the idea of taking the likeness at the moment the loved one realised the brakes had failed.

(Via Cynical-C.)

Twhat?

“The trouble with Twitter, the instantness of it - too many twits might make a twat.”

If we can leave aside for a moment the propriety of the Leader of the Opposition giving it a bit of the old Anglo-Saxon on live radio, I think there’s a more pressing question here. The sheer, unabashed, eating-your-own-eyelids-in-embarrassment crapness of the alleged joke for a start. Ian Duncan-Smith was Eric Morecambe compared to this guy.

YOU MADE ME PLAY SECOND BASE!!

Whee! Went out to a pub near Fenway Park Thursday night to watch the Red Sox game, which was a lot of fun.



It was pretty exciting towards the end, and luckily Boston won.



Fenway isn't as close to a train as it could be, but the important thing is it wasn't half as crowded getting back as I dreaded!

Tokyo prepared me well.

Forgot to mention we tried a Tex-Mex place the other night. Sigh. It was supposedly a four-year "Best of..." winner for Quincy*. Does Quincy only have one Tex-Mex place? It wasn't gross, it was just...below average. For one thing, they had shredded carrots in their salsa. That may be a fun way to mix it up at home, but it's just not the way things are done. Period. That and it was on the watery, bland side. Fail.

The actual dinner was ok, but nothing special, and it wasn't really on the cheap, either. I have a feeling I will just have to wait until my trips home for satisfying Tex-Mex. I think I'm already done giving chances on that one.

*Quincy, for the record, is not pronounced the way it looks. Nay, foolish you. Rather, it is pronounced Quin-zy.

Anyhoo, got another 3 books online, used, praying and mostly sure for the right editions. Another $105. Some of these books are "recommended" and not "required," but what sort of new law student isn't going to read those, too? I left "poor" behind about $40K ago, so what the fuck. Grr.

Saturday night we went to a restaurant off one of the piers in South Boston. South Boston seems to be a bit of a mixed bag.



I knew this couldn't possibly be part of the original sign, but it still took me a moment.

Great city views, though, and it's close to the water for a nice breeze!





I have no idea what the weird looking building is, but I like it.



Anyhow, the place we ate was called No Name Restaurant. It's in all the guide books, really well-known for being a very basic hole-in-the-wall with reasonably priced, very fresh seafood.



I had heard that the service was mediocre at best, but I am here to tell you that "mediocre" is beyond pushing it.

The end of the meal makes it a little clearer--you go downstairs to pay at the register. Considering the larger part of the crowd is probably tourists, I'm betting the waitstaff gets fuck-all in the tip department. It's a vicious cycle if you ask me, though: I can't recall the last time I had such impressively shitty service.

My mom and I had almost gone there when we visited last, but it was going to be dark and I didn't want to be wandering around South Boston at night--plus it was chilly then. Instead we went to Wagamama. We made the right decision, no doubt.

The food at No Name was certainly fresh and quite good, but when you factor in the shit service and crap decor, well overall: meh. My lobster was really great--at $28, a fabulous price, and while I discovered the claw meat is just as great as the tail (tail still wins, fyi), I simply cannot bring myself to eat, as Matt Damon so delicately puts it in Mystic Pizza, "the green stuff." (Aka, the "tomalley.")

Before:



After:



Getting back was easy, since we'd spotted the silver line. Turns out the silver line is not a subway, but rather a trolley-thing. See the glowing building?



That is the station and I have decided that every station should glow at night. Also, it might as well glow the color of the train lines that stop there. Kthxbai.

"Be a beacon"?

Happy Birthday, Mom!

Maru says Happy Birthday (Where was Maru when I was moving?!)



And a new Simon's Cat!

Leonard Cohen’s greatest hit

Had completely forgotten this existed. Magnificent.

...or, you could just do the Republican method, and roll a dildo in glitter!

It's so hard to watch Jon Stewart in the internet lab. I may have earphones on, but it's hard not to laugh out loud in this tiny room.

No, no. It's not a cow. It's a minotaur. It's a creature of myth. And he got this one out of your mom's closet.

This is Bourdain's big spot lately. I'll put the suitcase away after our stuff finally gets here.



Mid-meow, but a little drunk looking, perhaps.



Mouche always has to be at the highest point in the room. Windows are also a big favorite, and I'm not sure how I feel about him being in this one, since it's on the kitchen counter.



It's foggy again today, but this is my view from the kitchen counter. Usually you can see the water behind the trees. Very pretty and great breeze.



Excuse me for a moment. I am about to punch the sweet fucking life out of the chick next to me, who keeps re-telling the most insipid, worthless story to the guy next with her. I want to just lean over and say, "Can you work the details out for him somewhere else, please?" Also, she was humming Jingle Bells a couple minutes ago. You can see where my frustration is coming from.

Ok, back to story time. Here is my balcony. You actually can see into your neighbor's landing, but it's not too intrusive. In our case, Jim. He's quite nice. We have the corner, so we only have to worry about one neighbor.



The marsh in front of our building during the day...



...and at night! When the tide is in, it looks like this.



The night we got into Boston, it was quite foggy...but pretty!



And we had dinner at Legal Seafoods so I could get my crabmeat roll sandwich. SOOOOOOOOOOOO good.



Unrelated but cute, this was at our second hotel. Bourdain's paranoid and hides constantly, but he gets a little lazy about appearances when he's sleeping...



Also got our mailbox set up. They accept all packages for us, including anything that needs a signature. And since we have nighttime concierge, we can always get our stuff. So send packages! ;)

They also have two dry cleaners who drop off and pick up a few times a week. For an even bigger bonus, the friendliest employee is from Fort Worth and is also the apartment cat-sitter. Score!

Sadly, our place does not recycle, but I can sort of see why not. It's just not feasible considering the building's set-up. But as far as little things being exciting, we do have a rubbish chute in the hallway by the elevator. Listening to the trash plummet to its demise from eight floors up is both scary and gratifying.

Lastly, I went to the bookstore today and got five of my books. Three are for one class, two for another. So a small dent, really. For $201.75. Holy. Shit.

And please, for next time, can I get a bag that's a little less condescending?



I mean, is the bag mocking me? I feel like it wants to pat me on the head. Hey, fuck you, bag. Maybe I'm sensitive.

It should start unloading buckets of rain any minute now (so I'm told), so I'm heading off upstairs to nurse some Tuaca from Texas and read about the joys of coal mining disaster lawsuits, whee!