THEM

Saturday night I watched the French horror movie "Them." It was scary--and I was home alone--it was dark outside...I finally had to turn every light on in the apartment. I love the French, I love their food and culture and joi de vive--I took 3 years of French in highschool, but truthfully I can never get through a French movie without feeling frustrated. I think French movies enjoy being vague and mysterious but just once I'd like to know how a movie ends. Last year I saw "La Moustache" which I loved (wonderful actors, wonderful script) but I still don't know if the husband is crazy or the wife is evil and could somebody please tell me whether or not he has a mustache! That's all I ask. So I was pleasantly surprised to see that this horror movie (Them) did indeed have a clear ending: Both lead characters die. There's no vagueness about it. Dead. Murdered by teenagers. Based on a true story. Depressing. But clear.

Margarita Party

Teacher Leah had a backyard margarita party last weekend--the margaritas were delicious and it was a perfect night for a soiree. The girl in blue with the astonishingly gigantic teeth is me (I swear I don't whiten my teeth), the lovely gal in green is Frances, and on the right is Leah's student Jin Hee Lee who is adorable and funny (I think we may have corrupted her with all our talk about boys).

Sweet

Hello Everyone. I'm back from vacation and feeling rested and refreshed. While I was away I was diligently researching the important news of Boston. Here's a crucial update: a new cupcake bakery has opened on Mass. Ave. in Boston, called 'Sweet.' Since I am a thorough reporter, I naturally had to taste several cupcakes to see if they were worthy of recommendation. They were fresh and quite good. While I was taking pictures inside the bakery, the owner came up to me and asked what I was up to (maybe he thought I was a reporter for one of the local newspapers). He was extremely nice and we had a wonderful conversation about the fabulousness of everything cupcake (I think his name was Jeff??) and he explained that his wife makes the cupcakes fresh each day and they would be adding new cupcakes in the coming weeks, including Boston Creme Pie and Red Velvet (yum!) If you're not from this country you must know that cupcakes are very trendy right now--the best cupcakes can be found at Magnolia in New York City (made famous by the gals from 'Sex and the City'). There is a park across the street from Magnolia where everyone goes to eat their cupcakes--it's a funny sight to see all these grown New Yorkers eating little pink and yellow cupcakes with complete dedication and joy. Truly and absolutely, cupcakes are the greatest dessert imaginable...a perfect serving size of cake, creamy frosting and childhood memories, what could be better? I haven't tried the new cupcake bakery in the North End yet (Lulu on Hanover Street) but that will be my next sacred pilgrimmage. (Does anybody remember cupcakes that mom would bake inside an icecream cone?? now that is a piece of Americana--I think they were popular at school bake sales)

Falafals and Champagne

Our Cooking in English teacher, Stasia, broke her leg several weeks ago. Last night after work I picked up falafals from the Falafal Palace in Central Square (a true palace of cheap but decent falafals) and a bottle of champagne and headed to Stasia's. I walked across the bridge into Boston and down Marlborough Street (one of the most scenic streets in Boston) and to Charles Street in Beacon Hill (she lives seconds from the water--lucky girl). We enjoyed dinner and chat--Stasia looks great--after dinner I ran into her cute neighbor in the hallway as I was getting Stasia's mail and encouraged her to have a cocktail party so I could meet him officially. He could be my future husband. At our next meeting of The Broken Leg Club, Stasia and I plan to cook Japanese food (I've never cooked real, authentic Japanese food so this will be educational). One more exciting fact about going to Stasia's house: anytime I visit Stasia she gives me a bag of goodies to take home. Yesterday she gave me samples of Fresh body lotion and face scrub and mojito flavored gum and some delicious rye bread and other fun surprises. Thank you Stasia for my going away gifts and please get well quickly! Attention Dear Readers (all two of you): I am going on vacation and will return on June 18...so I won't be posting blogs for a couple of weeks. Please stay tuned for future blogs!

Teacher Gone Wild

As promised, here are the infamous Charlene photos. You wouldn't know if from these pictures, but Charlene's really very lovely. Everytime I went to take her picture on Saturday (at the party) she broke into 'Crazy Teacher Action Figure.' Good Times.

Central Square Post Office

This is the post office 2 buildings down from Boston Life and across the street. It was built in 1933 and added to the National Historic Register in 1986.

Gloucester Fishing Village

I went to Gloucester on Sunday. Gloucester is a 45 minute drive from Boston and is a popular center of the fishing industry and a summer resort. It also has the oldest art colony in the United States (Rocky Neck Art Colony) where you can visit galleries and art shops. I had a tasty seafood lunch (scrod with sherry sauce) on the deck of a neighborhood restaurant overlooking the water, and walked along the beach--the water was frigid. Many movies have been filmed in this picturesque town, including 'The Perfect Storm.' (Gloucester is not as upscale as Cape Cod or Martha's Vineyard, but it's much easier to get to which is a definite bonus--no traffic!)

Saturday Night Party at Boston Life

It was nice seeing everyone at the party on Saturday. Atsushi and I had an interesting discussion about Hillary and Obama, Joyce (everyone's favorite mom) brought her beautiful daughter Andrea to the party, I caught Ian and his girlfriend smooching in the hallway, Young very impressively used the expression 'okie-dokie' in a sentence, and Charlene went into some sort of crazy angry lion expression everytime I snapped her picture (this deserves a blog all its own...please stay tuned for the next blog dedicated solely to Charlene's angry lion poses). The food was quite good--sandwiches, sushi, cookies and Joyce's magnificent rhubarb crisp! Takeshi looked ready to let loose after running around all day in a fit of pre-party preparations, Minako and her husband were seen socializing on the stairway (someone has a crush on Minako's husband but I've been sworn to secrecy), and Frances and I chilled out in the office later in the evening when the heat from Room A was beginning to sizzle (I have some cute pictures of Frances which I will publish in future blogs). Thanks everyone for a fun night!