Top Republicans Want to Raise Taxes on the Poor

This is not The Onion.  This is just how ridiculous things have gotten in the Republican leadership.  Today, the New York Times ran an editorial titled "The New Resentment of the Poor," which noted that Republican presidential hopefuls Michelle Bachmann, John Huntsman, and Rick Perry (with an E not an A for America) as well as House majority leader Eric Cantor have all said that not enough people pay taxes and more people should. 

Yes, some people don't pay Federal income taxes.  You know why?  Because they are so poor and have so little income we choose not to tax it.  Instead we let them keep it so they can buy yachts, fill up their children's trust funds, and go on a vacation to Turks and Caicos.  Oh just kidding, that part actually is a joke.  We let them keep what little income they make so that they can just manage to feed their families and pay for gas to get to their super low-income job.  It's the millionaires and billionaires whose taxes we lower to historic levels so they can buy the yachts and fill the trust funds. It's good for the economy you see; rich people create jobs.  I bet you've never seen a poor person create a job.  That's why since we've lowered taxes on the rich, the economy has improved so much. 

It gets very confusing these days who has too much.  Poor families pay too little in taxes!  Teachers make too much money!  Women have too many rights!  Oops, I think we're still supposed to be embarrassed by saying one of those out loud.  Go Bachmann!

Still Life In My New Apartment

It's no Harmen Steenwyck (full disclosure I used Google to help me make that obscure reference), but it makes me happy.  It's the little things that are making this apartment feel like my own, my home.  

Oh and fun fact, I got this bowl at a market in Namibia.  One of the very few things from that trip that has managed to make me happy.

The Wheels Fall Off the Cart

Literally.  I took the cart that Jake put together in the Shaw's parking lot on it's second trip to the grocery store yesterday.  On the way out of the building one of the wheels fell off.  I was able to put it back together to take it to the store.  Once I got my groceries home I had to struggle to pull the cart up a half of a flight of stairs to get it to the elevator.  When I got to my door, the wheel popped off again.  I retraced my steps, but I was only able to find two of the three parts to put it back together.

I was really missing New York, and grocery delivery service.  Here people drive their cars to the grocery store and park in the parking lot.  Having a car in New York is a rarity and even if you have a car, you definitely don't drive it to the grocery store.  Here people also drive their cars to Target.  Or they wait for a half an hour to take the bus to Target.  Half an hour, seriously?  This is not public transportation, it's public frustration.

We got on Seamless Web the other night to order food (for those of you unfamiliar, Seamless Web is this great online tool that allows you to search for and order from delivery places in your area) and almost all the restaurants charge for delivery.  I was scandalized.  In New York if you're going to get delivery you don't even need to come to a compromise about what you're going to get because one person can get Indian and another Chinese and no one will have a problem getting to the $7 free delivery minimum.  Here there were delivery minimums of $30 and delivery charges of $5.  Is there no civilization?

Okay, so I've complained about the buses and the lack of cheap, available delivery service on this blog already.  We all know I'm terrible at transitions.  It is all starting to seem real now that this is my home for the next three years and it's a bit scary.  But New York was scary at first too.  And then I learned how to manage the subway, get around the streets below Houston (sort of), find the reasonably priced groceries, and make friends.  And I miss that sense of comfort, of knowing what I was doing and where I was going, of having a routine.  And I miss my wonderful friends who I ate mac and cheese with, watched Glee with, baked cookies with, went to Target with, ventured into the outer boroughs with, tackled the budget with and generally learned how to make the City my home with.  I know the grammer in that last sentence is horrible, but the sentiment is pretty good.

So here's to New York, but also to Boston and to keeping the wheels firmly on the cart.

Hilarious Anderson Cooper Video

Anderson Cooper, newscaster of great gravitas, is given a string of pee puns to deliver after Gerard Depardieu publicly urinated in the aisle of a plane.  I'm surprised Depardieu is still famous enough for anyone to care about or report on what he's doing, even if what he's doing is peeing in public.  Either way, the pee story pales in funniness to Anderson Cooper losing it in a fit of giggles over one particularly poor poop pun.

The Biscuit Remix

I recently wrote about my new neighborhood bakery, The Biscuit (see Hot Spot Boston: The Biscuit).  And since then I've been back two more times.  Since the first time I didn't have my camera, I thought I'd come back and rave some more about the baked goods and post a picture of my most recent indulgence, the plum blueberry crumble top pie.  Just trust me when I say that the picture doesn't do it justice.

They call it a crumble, but in my mind a crumble is just fruit with a crumble topping and this had a solid bottom crust as well, so for  clarity's sake I'm calling it a crumble top pie.  But whatever you call it, it's delicious.  It was tart but sweet and the crumble was so perfectly soft and buttery but with a little crunch.

There are still about 25 different options inside that bakery case that I want to try, but the one thing I won't try again are the sandwiches.  They have a whole board describing all the sandwiches they offer, but they aren't made to order.  There is only a small basket with pre-made sandwiches so you never know which of the offerings listed on the board will be available and you can be relatively sure of at least some sogginess.  It was disappointing because I think they could easily add made-to-order sandwiches and then I would never have to leave The Biscuit.  Instead, I'll just have to keep popping in for a sweet treat or a tea every now and again.

Hurricane Irene Welcomes Me to Boston

My plans for this week have changed too many times to count.  First I was going to come to Boston on Wednesday to prepare to start work on Monday.  Now I'm not starting work until after Labor Day so I planned to move in on Sunday.  Then word of the hurricane came and we decided Saturday would be better.  But then my brother and sister both had to get to college on Saturday so we decided Friday would be better.   So here I am.

I am afraid of storms.  Most of you know that.  The rest of you will not be surprised to hear me start any sentence with, "I am afraid of..."  When I was little, in the summers I used to avoid watching the weather on TV.  If I did happen to hear that there was a threat of thunderstorms I would refuse to shower or go swimming in the lake.  During storms I would cry and sit on the floor in the middle of the room (to be as far as possible from windows or metal springs in sofas, of course).  I'm better with thunderstorms now, but I still get nervous about bigger storms like hurricanes and tornadoes.  Thankfully, living in New England, it's rarely something I have to consider.  But Irene has me in a mild panic.

I did some pre-move shopping and the water aisle at Target was almost completely sold out.  My friend and I got the last two packs of bottled water.  My number one mission when I got to Boston was to get to the grocery store.  Jake and I went early and got gallon jugs of water, canned soups, canned chili, canned vegetables, and some fruit.  All of this was pretty heavy and we live several blocks from the grocery store so we also bough a collapsable shopping cart to carry our food.  I didn't realize it wouldn't come assembled.  In New York we would have just had our groceries delivered, but alas, this is so not New York.

So, with his characteristic patience and surprising handiness, Jake put together our shopping cart in the parking lot of Shaw's.  As we wheeled a pantry worth of food home (I still feel like we don't have enough water) I felt like perhaps I was being a bit paranoid.  I said, "Part of me feels like a psycho for doing this, but part of me feels like a genius."  Jake replied, "Don't you think all psychos think that way at least some of the time?"

But the news has been doing such a good job at fear mongering/reporting.  Friends, family, politicians, even signs on the highway, are all telling me it could be serious.   York City has it's first mandatory evacuation ever.  Our old apartment is being evacuated and I met a girl in the laundry room today whose cousin's New York City wedding was cancelled because her parents were turned away at the New Jersey border and put on an evacuation route.

En route to my other hurricane chore, getting cash in case stores lose power and can't take credit cards, I got caught in a downpour.  Now I'm sitting in my living room which, in addition to a ton of moving boxes, now also contains my patio furniture.  Now I'm off to do my third load of laundry so that in case we lose water at least I'll have clean clothes.  Then I will likely try to distract myself by watching Project Runway (see post Summer TV: Project Runway) online and trying not to check weather.com.   Here's hoping for a safe weekend and not a week of eating cold canned goods in the dark!

Summer TV: Teen Mom

I've always been a big fan of Teen Mom.  And I felt vindicated when the New York Times ran an article about how it can be used as a tool to teach about safe sex.  Serious newspapers take this show seriously!  This is no Jersey Shore.  People have said that Teen Mom glamorizes teenage pregnancy, but anyone who watched the previous seasons would know that isn't true.  These girls struggle with money, school, terrible boyfriends, custody battles, family issues, substance abuse, homelessness, depression, and even a child protective investigation.  It's not easy and the show makes that clear. 

But as the third season continues, the girls have become tabloid fixtures and for the first time it seems to me that the show may be doing more harm than good.  Two out of four of the moms have gotten breast implants.  Some are talking about modeling and acting as though they can now turn their stint on MTV into a full blown career.  And why wouldn't they think that when you look at Bristol Palin?

While some girls can presumably afford plastic surgery, Catelynn and Tyler have reportedly been evicted from their apartment.  It seems that none of these teens can figure out how to manage their MTV paychecks responsibly.  Amber's child protective case has made her the object of harassment in her neighborhood.  Clearly, Amber has issues she needs to work out, but most struggling parents who are working with Child Protective Services are not also subjected to public humiliation, only those being followed around by MTV cameras. 

If the show was meant to teach young people the perils of teenage parenthood, the lesson has certainly been lost on some, including the cast themselves.  Maci is pressuring her new boyfriend to have another baby even though she now has a two-year-old and is still a teenager herself. 

Teen Mom is documentary drama of the most engaging sort.  You will cry; you will cringe; and you will be grateful it isn't you.  Educational tool - probably not, Entertaining television - absolutely. 

Vassar Named One of the Nation's Least Religious Colleges

The Princeton Review recently used student input to rank the most and least religious colleges.  Among the top five least religious schools were two that I applied to and one from which I graduated.  Clearly, I was looking for a certain type of school.  John Blake, on CNN's religion blog, calls it a "dubious honor."  And I have a funny feeling most of us godless liberal arts graduates might consider it a point of pride.  When I first heard of it, I felt that way.  I love Vassar and I'm fond of saying it's the greatest place on earth.  I was happy to be part of a liberal community of like-minded professors and peers. 

But is that a fair feeling?  Probably not.  I've grown from having thoughtful religious friends.  I've known incredibly liberal women who want to be pastors.  I've met a nun who cares for homeless LGBTQ youth.  I think the religious right has done a disservice both to the religious and to the right.  I'm still proud of my very liberal, liberal arts education.  I love that Vassar is shaping a generation of liberal thinkers.  But as to whether or not they believe in god, well that's up to them. 

Better than Bread: Hushpuppies at The Crab Shack

Some have said my last two entries are painting an unfair portrait of this great state of North Carolina.  But there are plenty of things I love about this state, like hushpuppies.  Hushpuppies are pure genius.  They are fried pieces of cornbread in the shape of fingerling potatoes; they taste like the outside of corn dogs and as you might expect, they are delicious.  At The Crab Shack in Pine Knoll Shores they come free at the beginning of the meal like bread, except so much better.  

And when you order a soda, it comes with its own side of...more soda.  The fact that you will want more soda, or more sweet tea, is already assumed, in the form of a pitcher of soda/tea served alongside your glass.  And the sweet tea lives up to its name.  I would say it's about two parts tea to one part sugar and all parts wonderful.  

Jake got a bowlful of crabs covered in Old Bay.  I skipped the crabs because it's a lot of effort for a small amount of meat.  And super messy.  Instead, I went with the lunch special of popcorn shrimp with cole slaw and potato salad.  It came served in a frozen meal-style plate with three sections.  In my defense, I could have ordered it with fried okra and french fries.  Instead I went with the vegetables covered in mayonaise.  

As you can see, there's so much in this state that they get so, so right.

My Michael Moore Moment

We went to Wal-Mart to get a beach tent to shield us from the North Carolina sun.  Like a lot of liberals, being in Wal-Mart was making me feel vaguely queasy, probably from all the effort I had to expend to suppress my urges to take them up on their admittedly good deals.  Jake grabbed a multi-pack of 5 Hour Energy and remarked at the super low price. I reminded him (and myself, you all know I love a good deal, see post: Pot o' Gold Plastic Coins) that the super low prices were the result of super low wages, gender discrimination and union busting.  So I figured if I had to be in a Wal-Mart, and especially a Wal-Mart in the South, I might as well use the experience to reinforce my own beliefs.  I understand that the desire to reinforce one's pre-existing political beliefs is the reason why Fox News exists, but it's fun anyway.  So I went looking for the guns.  Having seen Bowling for Columbine, I was pretty confident I was going to find them.  And I did, pretty easily.

I wasn't expecting to find hollow point bullets, though, especially ones that weren't even behind the counter.  Hollow point bullets are not like regular bullets; instead of passing through an object, they expand into an object upon impact.  It's frequently described as a "mushrooming" effect and it causes much more severe tissue and organ damage.  As a result, it's very effective for killing deer and other game.  Unfortunately, it's also very effective for killing anything else.  New Jersey has a partial ban on the bullets and they are considered illegal for use in war.  But at Wal-Mart all you need is seven bucks and they're yours.

American Owned and Operated

Since being in North Carolina, I've seen a few stores, (Subway shops, gas stations) displaying signs that say "American Owned and Operated."  It's clearly meant to be a selling point.  We've all seen "Made in America" stickers on products.  Perhaps not as many as "Made in China," but we've seen them.  Our products come from all over the world, and these labels let us know where they were made.  They let us know if a product is supporting the American economy and American jobs.  But services are not like products.  Services, by their very nature, (excluding say, phone tech support) are provided in the country where they are bought, by people who also live in the country where they are bought, so we already know that they are supporting the American economy and American jobs.

So what are these signs trying to say?  Are they stating the obvious, this business is located in America?  Unfortunately, I don't think so.  It seems to me these signs imply, this business is owned and operated by real Americans.  Fear not, you won't find any Pakistanis selling you cigarettes or Mexicans making you sandwiches here.  The underlying message of the sign is offensive.  Why do I need to know the immigration status of the owner of my fastfood franchises?

I don't.

Summer TV: Project Runway

I did not forget about my summer television mini-series.  I love competition shows.  Some of my favorites are Top Chef, American Idol, and Project Runway.  There's nothing a judge-y person like myself loves more than judging people on TV.

Like most great reality television, this season of Project Runway has a great cast of contestants including an Asian man with impeccable taste and a cosmopolitan accent that I can't place, a curmudgeon of an old man who used to design for major fashion houses, a good sprinkling of interesting gay men, and a woman who just learned how to sew a few months ago.

The challenges this season have been especially creative.  In one, the contestants had to make an outfit out of materials made entirely from a pet store (see judging below of an outfit made out of hamster bedding!) and in the most recent episode they had to dress models on circus stilts.  It's not the typical set of circumstances under which designers work, but it adds a lot of fun.

The two best parts of the show, however, are the runway show and Tim Gunn.  The runway show is a fun batch of eye candy and Tim Gunn is the picture of classiness and style.  Plus, his catch phrase makes the show: "Make it work."  It also doesn't hurt that the show highlights my favorite city, the fashion capital of America, New York.

Catch new episodes on Thursdays at 9:00 on Lifetime

Hot Spot Charlottesville: The Tavern

The Tavern

1140 Emmet Street North, Charlottesville, VA

Lightning fast service, Southern charm, great values, and delicious comfort food - find it all at Charlottesville's The Tavern, "where students, townspeople, and tourists meet."  But if you happen to go in the summer and eliminate the students from the equation, the lines are much shorter.  The menu is huge and is full of amazing classics, like biscuits and gravy and corn cakes and new favorites like lemon poppy seed or bacon pancakes.  Our waitress was delightful and I've literally never received faster service.  Our first items came within two minutes, no exaggeration, and everyone had all their food within five minutes.

I ordered a cheese and bacon omelet with a side of biscuits and gravy.  The biscuits were so fluffy, buttery and delicious they would be amazing on their own, but slathering them in pork sausage gravy doesn't hurt either.  The omelet had whole slices of bacon in it, not just crumbles.  Pam ordered strawberry pancakes and they came with a generous portion of real fruit and whipped cream.  Four of us ate to our hearts' content for just over $37.  Jake got the pancake of the month which was corn cakes with blueberries and they were amazing.  The atmosphere is warm and the ceiling is UVA blue and orange.  There is no beating it. 

We glanced at the lunch menu too, which offers a selection of "kosher style" sandwiches.  Apparently The Tavern's interpretation of "kosher style" is: exactly the opposite of kosher.  Almost all the sandwiches offered meat and cheese combos.  Well Toto, we're certainly not in New York City anymore.  

Virginia is for Lifepartners

We are now in North Carolina, a short four hour drive through torrential downpours.  But I got to spend 36 hours in Charlottesville with my best friend/lifepartner Pam (whose own blog you can check out at spicykoury.blogspot.com).  I met her bunny, Ranger, whose nickname is "Bunny."  I petted him and he was the softest thing I'd ever touched, but he was not that friendly.  He pretty much spent the whole time eating paper and looking scared, as is illustrated below.

I also helped Pam put together her new 6th grade History classroom.  I helped her put together a bulletin board and hang her posters and I got a new appreciation for how much work even the seemingly easy aspects of teaching can be.  We learned that we are not very good at cutting in straight lines.

Pam hosted a murder mystery party in the evening where we all tested out pretty horrible accents (British, Russian and Swedish, many of which started sounding Irish or Indian at one point or another).  We mostly just drank mojitos and ate lots of snacks, including gourmet popcorn from Scotty's in flavors like "loaded potato" and "cornfetti," which might be better described as fruit loops.  In the end it turns out I was the murderer.

Today we went to brunch at The Tavern and hit the road.  The Tavern was fabulous and I'll be writing more about that later.  On our ride to North Carolina we passed by a lot of farms and a lot of election lawn signs, the best of which is below.

 

7 States, 12 Hours

We made it!  We drove from Boston, along the entire coast of Connecticut, through the hellish traffic of the Bronx, along the entire coast of New Joisey, through Delaware and Maryland and into Virginia.  And now I'm here to enjoy one of my favorite homes away from home, Charlottesville!  So far I have been flabbergasted at the price of gas ($3.39!), tickled by "y'all," and enjoyed mocking the Republican debaters.

Stay tuned for more updates on my 36 hours in this wonderful University town!

The Job Hunt Pt. VI: The End

This will be the last entry in the "job hunt" series.  Today I got two job offers.  I accepted a job as a Development Officer at the National Network of Abortion Funds.  I am very happy.  It is a nice bump in salary and responsibility.  I finally feel like Jake and I are both moving forward, rather than me just tagging along.  I was worried that I would have to settle and take a step back or stagnate and now that's not the case.  I'm excited and nervous, as anyone probably is before a new job.  But it puts my move to Boston in a whole new light.  I feel like I can finally be excited without worry, without holding back.  It is a great feeling. 

And I am feeling very lucky.  Today the stock market took its biggest dip since 2008 when the bottom fell out before graduation making my first job hunt so much more difficult.  So many of our fellow recent graduates are unemployed or underemployed.  We were taught that if we go to school and work hard everything would be alright, and for a lot of us, this economy is a real slap in the face. 

It really makes me sad.  The Tea Party made increasing the debt ceiling, something the United States had done 74 times since the creation of the ceiling (including many times under Reagan and Bush), into a national charade.  As a result, for the first time in history our debt rating has been downgraded and confidence in the American economy has been shaken.  I remember learning in my Economics class in college that people and countries will always lend to the United States because we always pay our debts.  Now just a few years later, that was put in doubt. 

People all over the country are struggling to find employment and working class and middle class Americans are being asked to bear the brunt of a downturn caused by financial markets and greed run amok.   I will never understand how it is okay to balance the budget by laying off government workers and slashing services that the most vulnerable rely on (usually costing us more in real dollars and economic stability in the long run) but it is blasphemous to ask millionaires and billionaires to pay any more in taxes.  It the general scheme of fairness it seems more moral to ask someone to give up their yacht before we ask someone to give up their kids' braces. 

I will continue to vote and work with my conscience, to support equality, opportunity, and justice.  Today I am grateful.  It is not really the end; it is the beginning. 

Amazing Animal Videos

I'm interrupting the summer TV series for these amazing YouTube videos.  You all know I don't even like animals so these videos must be pretty great for me to post them.  I just couldn't help myself. 

If only I had been at Mystic Aquarium on this day...

It's a bit of a wait for the good part, but it's pretty cute...

This might be my favorite, and I need to credit Anjali for introducing it to me...

Summer TV: Storage Wars

So I decided that yesterday's post would be the first in a mini-series about summer television.  We're all waiting patiently for the Fall lineup, but in the meantime there are still some pretty good offerings to hold us over during these summer months.  As I mentioned in my last post, The Glee Project is a great upbeat summer show.  My dark horse pick for summer TV is Storage Wars.  The concept is simple.  People bid on abandoned storage units and then we get to watch as they pick through them to see what they got and then visit pawn shops and experts to see how much money they can make off of it.  Below is a pretty good preview of the show. 

Part of what makes the show great is the ability to play along.  You can say, "oh yea I think that's the money unit," or "I wouldn't pay more than $20 for that pile of garbage" and then once they unearth the trash or treasures inside you get to find out if you were right.  There's a gambling element to the show that is exciting - who will win the bid, is it worth the money, will they hit it big or bust out?  There's also an Antiques Roadshow aspect where you get to ogle all sorts of cool finds and find out what they're worth. 

But what sets this show apart from copycats, such as Spike TV's Auction Hunters, is the fabulous cast of "characters."  Dave is the villain.  He comes with lots of money and a big attitude and likes to push around newcomers with his cash and bravado.  Brandi and Jarrod are a couple who constantly bicker over which units to bid on, but have a sweet and realistic romance about them.  One time Brandi bid $200 on a junky unit just to win Jarrod a mobster poster he wanted.  Darrell sometimes brings his son to add a familial dynamic, but the best of all is Barry.  He's the older guy with the slicked back hair who flirts with younger women and drives a Jaguar.  Oh yea, and he looks and talks just like Jack Nicholson.  Just check out these clips and try to deny it.

Catch new episodes of Storage Wars on A&E Wednesdays at 10pm

Are You Watching "The Glee Project" Yet?

If you love Glee, but are getting sick of the increasingly out of touch story lines and unrecognizable, slow paced musical numbers, you need to check out The Glee Project.  If you love Glee, but yearn for more earth-shaking, hand-clapping group numbers and top 40 hits, then you need to check out The Glee Project. 

12 young people compete for an 8 episode guest role on Glee.  Each week they perform two songs: a "homework assignment" song sung live and a music video for which they pre-record the vocals.  The bottom three perform for Ryan Murphy, Glee writer and creator, to determine who goes home.

Below is a video from a homework assignment song performed earlier in the season.

The Glee Project is the best of Glee mixed with the best of American Idol.  I thought after a decade of singing talent shows there wouldn't be much else out there, but the kids on The Glee Project have blown my mind.  They are so unbelievably talented and lovable, it is a joy to watch.  I hooked my sister on the show, and then she hooked my mom on it. The songs are consistently up-tempo and chances are you've heard them on the radio or had them stuck in your head at one point or another.   It's tempting to see the contestants as high school cliches - the fat girl, the rocker, the gay kid, the latina bombshell, many of which already exist on the show - but instead you see them as real people and it makes you see the characters more like real people too.

I think Glee will benefit from this infusion of enthusiasm and reality that has been missing from the most recent season.  We've been reintroduced to what made Glee great to begin with: quirky, talented youth coming of age as outsiders we can relate to and root for, plus a healthy dose of arena/broadway worthy performances.

In this video, the remaining contestants are subjected to that classic Glee hazing ritual: the slushie, and perform a song from the ever-entertaining musical genre: the mash-up.  Spoiler Alert: This is a fairly recent video, so if you haven't seen the first few episodes this will reveal who has left the show so far. 

 

Catch new episodes of The Glee Project every Sunday at 9:00 on Oxygen

My Sister the Cake (and Sandwich) Artist

I bought my little sister a small fondant set for her birthday.  She does great clay sculptures, bakes amazing treats, and decorates beautiful cakes.  We're all big fans of cake shows like Cake Boss, Ace of Cakes, and Ultimate Cake Off.  I seriously believe she could work in one of those shops.  Without any training she created this amazing seaside cake with Nilla wafer sand and a sculpted fondant blue crab. 

She also happens to be a Subway "sandwich artist."  It seems like even this ubiquitous chain knows my sister is an artist with food.  Her masterpiece: the tuna melt on flatbread.

Hot Spot Mystic: Sea Swirl

30 Williams Ave., Mystic, CT

seaswirlofmystic.com

Today Jake and I went to the Mystic Aquarium and were pretty much the only people there without strollers.  It was smaller than I remembered from visiting as a kid, but I enjoyed the Beluga whales and the sea lions.  

After, we went out to lunch at the Sea Swirl.  This roadside stand was once a Carvel ice cream shop and now serves up fried seafood to order, grill fare of the burgers and dogs variety, and soft serve ice cream.

We both had cod sandwiches that came straight out of Stonington Harbor, hot and crunchy, served on a soft potato roll with lettuce and tartar sauce.  The white board out front listed the day's specials as well an announcement for the birth of the owner's granddaughter.  The place has been written up by the New York Times and the Boston Globe and is a local gem.  Come by and grab a seat at the picnic tables soon!

Building a Home

Is harder than I remembered.  Packing and unpacking is a long process.  And even though we had a whole apartment full of stuff that we brought with us, it still feels like there’s so much more that we need that I didn’t anticipate.  Now that I’m in my second apartment I have this new desire to have more grown-up things: cups and towels that all match, furniture that isn’t made out of plastic or particle board.  And I second my friend at spicykoury.blogspot.com about how surprisingly difficult it is to find a decent couch.  99% of everything out there is a terrible chenille or microfiber suede.  We finally settled on a leather couch from Raymour and Flanagan.  It was scheduled to be delivered this past Thursday between 12-4, but we got a call around 2 saying the truck had broken down and they were running two hours late.  When the couch finally arrived the delivery guys told us that it had a scratch and asked us if we would like to send it back for a new one.  I didn't want to start of with a brand new couch that was already damaged, so we let them take it back.  All day waiting and our living room is still empty.  Looks like the process of building our new home continues.  

Hot Spot Boston: The Biscuit

One thing I want to do is to highlight some of my favorite places to do one of my favorite things: eat.  I’ll post them as I find them in Boston (which you may already have noticed I’m using as a catchall for Boston and surrounding towns of Somerville, Cambridge, etc.) and I’ll reach back into the depths of my nostalgia to bring you some NYC gems. 

The Biscuit: 403 Washington St., Somerville, MA

www.visitthebiscuit.com

This place is right around the corner and I love a great little bakery so I was very excited to visit.  The front case was full of really yummy looking treats of the sweet and somewhat savory variety from cinnamon twists; croissants plain or filled with chocolate, raspberry, or ham and cheese; bread pudding; fruit tart; quiche; sticky buns and a variety of scones.  They won me over though with their tea.  They serve Rooibos tea, and not the terrible Tazo variety you can find in Starbucks or Whole Foods or similar places where they flavor it with flowers or berries or herbs. 

I had a Rooibus latte and a slice (weighing approximately two pounds) of banana brioche bread pudding.  It was all amazing, comforting, sweet and plentiful.  I loved it and I can’t wait to go back and try everything else they have.  The treats and the coffees and teas seemed to be the focus there, but I also noticed a pretty extensive sandwich list that I will have to check out too.

The Job Hunt Pt. V: The Philanthropist Wears Prada

I’ve had three more interviews in the last two days.  I finally had that interview with the organization that was hiring, then hired someone, then was hiring again.   The interview was very short and it left me wondering how serious they really were about filling the position or about me as a candidate.  At 15 minutes, the commute would be heaven, but I’m still not sure about those people. 

I had a second interview at the women’s organization and the job description still seems beyond my qualifications.  I applied for two positions there and it turns out the second job I applied for actually reports to the position that I got the interview for.  I don’t know why I got a second interview or if they’ve really read my resume.   At the same time, you can’t grow in a job where you already know how to do everything.  Perhaps feeling a little over your head is a good thing. 

The last interview was the best.  I met with the VP of Communications at a major foundation and she was tall and chic and had beautiful white hair.  The organization sounds fabulous, the jobs sounds fabulous, and clearly she was fabulous.  The best part though, was a printed sign above her desk that said (I’m paraphrasing here): “All you need in life is your friends, to party hard, and to look twice as good as the bitch standing next to you – Paris Hilton.”  What’s not to love?

Boston vs. New York City

Admittedly, this is wildly biased and heavily influenced by the fact that I had the time to get to know New York and Boston is just an acquaintance so far, but here is my highly unscientific early judgment on my first two adult homes. 

Cleanliness – Boston

I can’t say there was no dog poop, but there was significantly less.  And not a single subway station I’ve entered so far has smelled like pee.    That’s a win for you Boston. 

Friendliness – Tie

This one really is too early to tell. The only people on the street who have talked to me in Boston so far are homeless people and I have to say, it hasn’t exactly been pretty.  In New York, people panhandling on the subway will apologize before they start to beg.  Yesterday in Boston a homeless woman called me a bitch because I couldn’t tell her how to get to Copley Square.   New Yorkers may have a bad rap as cold and unfriendly folk, but I wouldn’t count them out in this category just yet. 

Convenience – New York

Hands down.   I waited fifteen minutes for the bus in Boston yesterday, on a weekday.  That’s like the M31 on a Sunday, or something you might find in Queens.  The grocery store doesn’t deliver, so I’m assuming the McDonald’s and the liquor store don’t either.  New York has everything, everywhere, all the time so this one goes to the Big Apple. 

Variety – New York

We walked around Harvard Square yesterday and in one stroll I feel like we saw all there was to see.  I feel like Boston is a city I can wrap my arms around.  It’s really more like fifteen small, quaint New England towns all put down in the same spot, attached by a subway and separated by suburbia.  Every subway stop in New York was a whole new world.  East Harlem was so different from the West Village was so different from the Upper East Side was so different from the Financial District and so on and so on.  For a tiny island in the Northeast, Manhattan is unmatched in this category. 

Aesthetic – Boston

I sat in the Public Gardens yesterday and there is not match.  I love Central Park, but this was so much better.  There are Victorian homes.  With yards.  Made of grass.  So much grass!  And trees!  New York is beautiful in its own way.  I love the Chrysler Building and Grand Central, but nature really takes the cake and come fall, I know Boston is not going to disappoint. 

Food/Culture – New York

Broadway.  The Fashion District. The Met.  Enough Michelin Star restaurants to feed an army.  There really was never a question.  This one goes to New York where the bright lights, the food trucks, the nightlife, and the art scene, like everything else in New York, never sleep.   

Affordability – Boston

So far, I don’t feel like I’m spending less in Boston, but you get more bang for your buck, so everything feels like an upgrade.  For the price of a one bedroom walk up in New York, you can get a two bedroom apartment with an elevator, laundry, a dishwasher, and a garbage disposal (otherwise known as the New York holy grail, and something you might dish out three grand a month for).