Culture Comes in Many Forms

I never talked about our day this past Sunday. Even though it was absolutely disgusting weather-wise, wtbrosie had a full day in Boston. That morning we went into Chinatown for the August Moon Festival. I used to go in with my family as a kid and teen, but I hadn’t been since probably my first year of college. it’s always a ton of fun, and I like begin able to expose wtbrosie to new things, like Dim Sum and Moon Cakes.

Afterwards, we joined the Boston Queer Adventurers and my friends Kim and Mel for Shakespeare in the Park. This is an annual free show performed by the Commonwealth Shakespeare Company (formerly affiliated with CitiCenter). This year they did The Comedy of Errors . I haven’t been able to get much theater in due to money and time, so I’m glad this is still happening in Boston–it’s good for the city too.

 

Lantern Festival

This past Thursday, wtbrosie and I went to the Forest Hills Lantern Festival, which is based on the Bon Festival from Japanese Buddhist custom. Paper lanterns are decorated to honor the ancestors, then lit and floated on ponds and rivers to symbolize the ancestral spirits’ return to the land of the dead.

I’ve been to the festival before, and found it an incredibly moving experience. This one even more so. I hope to attend in the future, even more prepared to honor my ancestors via both the lantern and in a more traditionally Hellenic manner. Especially as I am looking towards combining elements of Buddhism into my own spiritual practice.

 

Wakefield Finally Gets the Call

Wakefield among six Red Sox All-Stars – Extra Bases – Red Sox blog.

I am happy beyond words. I absolutely adore Wakefield, despite the fact that, until this season, the only thing you could count on from him was dedication and doing whatever Management asked.  His dedication and time spent with teh team has endeared him to most hearts within Red Sox Nation, and I do’t think there is one fan that’s not happy about this news.

Congrats Wakey!!

 

Map of potholes in Greater Boston – Boston.com

Winter in New England generates serious potholes, including one monster in Jamaica Plain that recently ravaged nine cars in rapid succession. Do you have a similar pothole on your route that consistently rattles your axle, or keeps you swerving? If so, mark it here, and we’ll chart the potholes around the region. You can report a pothole found in the city of Boston by calling the mayor’s 24-hour hot line at (617) 635-4500.

Map of potholes in Greater Boston – Boston.com

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Girl Scout Crackies

Girl Scout cookies are probably some of the best things ever created. I don’t think I’d find many people to disagree with me on that point. We also are all aware that I’m a troop leader. This means that my girls are selling cookies! We are doing these sales in both the traditional way (pre-order your cookies now, I’ll give them to you when they come in) and via booth sales where we set up in front of a store or something and you can walk up and buy cookies for immediate gratification. Sure, you can find scouts doing this at almost any local supermarket, but would you be helping MY girls? Probably not. So I’m going to make a suggestion: order a box or two from me and ALSO get your instant fix. Once you’re finished your first box or two, you’ll be happy to know you have a couple reserve boxes heading your way!

My girls ARE going to be doing booth sales though, and I’ll be posting those dates via Twitter (which cross-posts here) as soon as I have confirmations on dates, times and locations. Try to support the Girl Scout you know.

 

Miss Me?

I have no idea why I’m so lazy…I know a lot of it is my sleepiness, and becasue I’ve been kinda busy at work the last couple weeks, but not busy enough to not make posts. And some of it is definitely due to the fact that now i have to double-post everything because I no longer have my own site, but still. I have been pretty miserable with my trapezius acting up lately though–I just want the knot to work out already!!!

What else? Oh yeah, busy as ever–I took Friday off, so went to E’s after a Girl Scout training Thursday night. When I got home I started setting up for the sex toy party we hosted. Saturday was a Halloween party at Jere’s. Sun was the busiest day–we had breakfast with the boys and Em, then to the Bluegrass and Blues Festival as Nashoba Valley Winery, then out for dinner with the Lesbian dinner Meetup I’m a member of.  Yeah, kinda busy. I’m praying this weekend stays relatively quiet.

 

Fancy That

So, I found out the strangest thing the other night. I stopped by my dad’s house to pick up some camping gear, and we were talking about my current place. He mentioned that I hadn’t given him my new address, so we went to his table to put it in his book.

When I said the street name, he looked up and said, “Hxxxxx? Hxxxxx Street? I know that street!” I gave him a pretty skeptical look and told him that I doubted it since I’m not THAT close to the street he grew up on (yeah, I’m about a mile from the house my dad lived in till he was 9). “No, no, that’s where Nan and Pup (my great grandparents) lived for a thousand years!” I was pretty shocked to be honest, and we even went into the other room to confirm it with my uncle. They aren’t 100% sure on the number, but are pretty sure I’m only about a block from the place my grandfather, great aunt and great uncle grew up. They’re actually going to look through the old paperwork to find out which house it was.

 

Why I Dislike the Community # 1356

Tonight is the first Friday of September, and most of the queer women I know are going on and on about Guerrilla Queer Bar, an event where ‘the gays’ “take a straight bar back!” My first question is, how are we taking it back when it was never ours to begin with? My second question is, what’s wrong with the few bars and clubs we DO have (that are all going out of business mind you).

I’m especially frustrated with the women that participate in this. Laurel’s already unofficially has a First Friday event (yes it gets crowded, but that’s what reservations are for), and if people start skipping it to attend GQB, then eventually there’ll be no more Laurel’s First Friday (speaking of, Ellie and I need to do that some night…). Toast is gone, 90% of the clubs are male-centric, and Dyke Night is now once-a-month. If the ladies want to “take over” a place, let’s do it at one of the male clubs/bars, because the gods know they have more than enough to share with us.

 

Saving A Buck

“Patrick said his administration is working on a set of new regulations that would open the door to replacing some of the police details by hiring civilians, equipping them with orange safety vests and flags, and training them to direct traffic, especially on secondary roads.”

Words cannot even begin to express how much I support this! It was about 10 years ago I was informed that police are paid up to $40 an hour to stand around directing traffic, and I was old enough to realize what crap that was. Just a few years ago I found out that we are one of very few (if not the only) states that doesn’t have civilians doing traffic detail. If Gov. Patrick can successfully pull this off, I just might help with his re-election campaign.

Okay, we all know that’s a lie since politics bores me to tears, but I’ll still be really happy and supportive!!