Now, the real fun and scoring occurred back at the MIT Student Center, where we congregated after our run. Each runner had their running time listed, and then the attacks started. You see, the “smiley-face” points were penalty points that one could penalize other runners with, and the final winner was the person with the least amount of points (that would be me). I have no idea why I ended up the winner (not that I mind), but let’s just say the fact that Scotty, who did have the most stickers, did not want to be last, and heaped points upon points on poor Vivienne. In his defense I have to say, that Vivienne earlier did some serious damage to Scott’s point spread, so retaliation was definitely in order. There was some foul language during this section of the game, some semi-serious accusations (“That does not surprise me, she is unstable”), but mostly good-natured quips.
What a fun event that was, and the weather was simply beautiful this morning – a nice summer day, not too hot, just right, mid 70s. This sunny day followed two days of Novemberish weather with temperatures in the low 50s, which is really not fun in mid-June. I was at work, mind you, so would have not benefited from nice weather anyway, but, a little sunshine here or there in June is appreciated. Just putting that out there.
What did I want to tell you about? A hike, a German dinner, a theater performance and my performance - my annual performance evaluation that is. It happened this Wednesday and I am happy to report that I did get an “outstanding” rating; my boss is happy with me and I am happy with him. So that’s good.
Theater performance then – my last ushering duty before the summer took place this Thursday at the Lyric Stage Company (where else? This is my favorite Boston theater, as you know). The incomparable, phenomenally talented Kathy St. George played and sang her heart out in “Ladies and Gentlemen, Miss Judy Garland”. What a swell evening that was!! The first half of the play - Judy Garland in her hotel room in London at 2 AM, more than slightly inebriated, trying to record at least one clear thought onto a tape recorder. The hope was that her incoherrent musings would add up to something that could be constructed into a book – from what we could tell that was not going to happen. In part two of the performance, the depressed, confused, lonely Judy Garland kicked in the turbo and transformed into the dazzling performer we expect her to be. If you have never seen Kathy St George perform, put it on your list, she is simply wonderful, and in this particular show she had Garland down pat (http://www.kathystgeorge.com/). A standing ovation was the least the audience could give back to her as a thank you for an enjoyable evening.
This past weekend began with a day of cooking, the dinner group I belong to was scheduled to take place at Casa Petra, and I had promised an evening of German food for those hungry friends of mine. As usual, I had set a slightly overambitious menu, and ended up slaving over some pretty labor-intensive dishes, drive around the Boston area to find a bottle of Kirschwasser (a cherry brandy that is used to soak the Blackforest Cherry Cake) and make Spaetzle over a boiling pot while the guests were guzzling away German wine and beer. It was actually a lot of fun – the menu included Flammenkuchen (a German/Alsacian specialty) – a thin crust pizza dough topped with a mixture of sour cream, egg, cheese, fresh herbs and bacon; the above mentioned Spaetzle (German noodles made from flour, eggs and water) topped with sauteed onions and grated cheese; and four kinds of salads (Cucumber Salad with Joghurt Dill Dressing, Bib Lettuce with Lemon-Sour Cream Dressing; Tomato Salad with Raspberry Vinaigrette, and Carrot-Apple-Almond Salad). For desert I served the previously mentioned Schwarzwaelder Kirschtorte, which is a chocolate spongue cake, soaked in cherry brandy, layered with liberal amounts of whipped cream (also containing brandy) and Amarello cherries. Each slice has about ten million calories, but since there is so much alcohol in it, you really stop caring after a few bites.
Something had to be done to restore balance in that body of mine, so it was off to the mountains on Sunday – Mount Monadnock to be exact. Located in Southern New Hampshire, it has as its claim to fame that is is apparently the second most climbed mountain the world, right after Mt Fuji, and arriving at the summit, which always seems to feature enough people to host a convention with, it does not seem that far fetched of a claim. Most of the “conventioneers” arrive via the White Cross Trail, which seems to be the easiest way up to the top. Our route led us up the longest route possible, the Pumpelly Trail, which after a few slightly challenging sections leads to a wonderful ridge trail marked by rock cairns and beautiful views. Monadnock summits at about 3100 feet (965 m), and is pretty much on its own, away from other mountains. Apparently its name, Monadnock, is a geological term for a so-called “inselberg”, an isolated mountain. It has been a favorite for our literary friends David Henry Thoreau and Ralf Waldo Emerson, who liked to muse about it, and in particular for Herman Melville, who compared Moby Dick’s hump to the mountain.
We hiked about 8.6 miles roundtrip and did some pretty decent time, about 4.5 hours total, and only slight damages occurred when I zipped down a particularly slippery section, and dinged up my right elbow, which now features a nice yellow-green halo around it, and once in a while still pinches a bit. The struggles of us weary hikers were rewarded with a nice dinner (which also celebrated my 3-year anniversary in our fair city) at Boston’s premier steak house, Abe and Louie’s - http://www.bbrginc.com/AL/1.html) and needless to say after a nice piece of Filet Mignon and a glass of Malbec, I was ready to hit the hay quickly. Life was good.
That would be it for my report this week. Enjoy your weekends, talk to you soon.
Pet:)
No comments:
Post a Comment