Phew. Now that that's over with...
So I've been quite busy lately, as you can tell from the radio silence -- the constant energy of summer in the city has a way of doing that -- so I'll do my best to update completely, albeit briefly. Also of note is the fact that I lost my glasses at Phoenix Landing on Friday night (an evening I will not be recounting here), so pardon the typos. They did find them at the bar, but I can only imagine the state they're in. The bartender I spoke with could only describe them as "pretty mangled." Sad face.
Taking it to the streets
A couple weeks ago, the City of Cambridge held its annual dance party in the street in Central Square. My friends and I weren't there long, but boy was this just the best idea that the city ever had. They closed down Mass Ave, and hundreds (thousands?) flocked to kick off the summer and dance:
Summer's near and the time is right for dancing in the street!
SoWa: A Market of Epic Proportions
Oh you are in for a treat. Now you know how much I love farmers' markets (ref: post on 6/16). But SoWa (which stands for South of Washington Street, in the South End) is more than a farmers' market. In addition to farm-fresh produce and food (love buying herbs here), there are craft tents with artisans selling clothes, jewelry, kitchenware, you name it... I got one of those hip feather extensions for my hair there. It's just a barrette, but is further fueling my (safe) love of badass things that appear permanent, but aren't.
Outside at SoWa there are these magnificent food trucks, peddling everything from ultra crunchy, healthy fare to greasy, chili-covered foot-long hotdogs. I usually partake in the latter, and then get some kind of pretentious beverage from the healthy truck, mostly out of guilt... And that's not all! Hop indoors and you'll find the vintage market, a veritable museum where you can buy the artifacts pretty affordably.
I just love it here. One of my oldest, best friends from home was visiting, and I took her there for a quintessentially Boston experience. I think it's safe to say she enjoyed herself...
Happiness is a half-eaten hotdog
The CAVE Project
I have a particularly artsy friend who heard about a gallery opening near Harvard Square, in which they turned the gallery into an indoor cave. I was all for it, and a bunch of us drove over to check it out. Approaching the gallery, this is what we saw:
We entered to find that the "cave" had been constructed entirely of newspaper, chicken wire, and papier-mâché. The experience was very interactive -- we were given flashlights and walked around to find carefully-chosen and interconnected headlines in the newspaper, in addition to modern-day cave paintings. Besides a preoccupation with Angry Birds imagery (they were randomly everywhere), it was a great show. Very cool!
Man-made stalactite/stalagmite in the gallery
A panic on your hands on the Fourth of July
I went to Truro, MA, down on Cape Cod, for July 4th weekend, and this is definitely what the title of this post references. I had a little moment when I was sitting with my family in my aunt's Cape house and thought, 'All right, it's officially summer now.' I think as a New Englander, I'm conditioned to be extremely skeptical of weather patterns -- we know that if it's good, it probably won't be good for long. I actually had an unpleasant dream last night where it snowed in the middle of summer... But last weekend I felt at ease to proclaim the fact that we are undeniably in summertime here. It's in full swing, and it's a good thing.
My aunt has a big beautiful house in Truro, way down the Cape just before Provincetown, and it's tradition that we all pack up, brave the traffic, and enjoy a few days there for July 4th weekend. I took the day off on Tuesday and made a full vacation out of it -- we went to the beach, bad souvenir shops, this adorable little Audubon nature preserve in Wellfleet. And of course we visited P-town for the great seafood, the shopping, and (after dark) the spectacle, i.e., the drag queens.
It was great to get the entire family together. The weekend composed of ultimate comfort -- my aunt made amazing drinks and food, which yielded great conversations, and my uncle even orchestrated a mini fireworks celebration for us on the beach:
...with the help of ItHasToBeZachary
(You see how much I am plugging you? New material please!)
My heart leaps up just thinking about it. Great weekend.
Be In a Movie...!
My prose tends to get a little stale if I write out too much, so I just want to include one last, really unique experience from this weekend... being an extra in the movie Ted, with Mark Wahlberg, Seth MacFarland, and Mila Kunis. It takes place in Boston and they've been filming here for a few months, but this was a great chance to be part of the excitement!
Ever since I was a wee one I've wanted to be a movie extra -- it's kind of on my bucket list -- so my friends and I headed over to the Hatch Shell to see Marky Mark and a "special musical guest," who turned out to be Norah Jones!
Norah was very mellow -- it was nice to see her perform -- but by far, the best part was when Mark got up on stage, delivered a few lines in that expertly delicious Southie accent, and proceeded to sing terribly. Then as the audience, we did a few takes of some extremely enthusiastic booing. I felt slightly like I was in the acting game again. Yay to that :)
A very fuzzy Marky Mark
Well, I am absolutely spent. I have a few really big weekends coming up, so watch this space for my epic upcoming camping trip, and the weekend that I see the final Harry Potter, or rather, when my life unravels as I try to fill the deep hole of nothingness that seeing the final movie will leave... Well, toodle-loo!
