Bill With His Had in the Pan - "Emergency" Swimming Lessons
I don't even know Bill, but as my friend and expert swimmer, the most lovely Stephanie Cooper, was teaching me to breathe under water (correctly) in order to make a decent swimmer out of me, she related the story of her friend Bill, who went to Immersion Swim Training, and who had to start out learning how to breath by putting a pot of water in the sink, dip his head in and then practice blowing out under water. I am glad I went straight to the pool for the blowing bubbles and bobbing-up-and-down part of the training program. My sink is right next to the window and who knows what the neighbors would have thought what I was doing. But then again my street is full of octogenarians and their eye sight may be compromised.
There was no "emergency" really to the swimming lessons, the term actually stems from my friend Brad and Chris' son Marvon who is enrolled in a Spanish immersion class, but proudly proclaims he is in Spanish emergency class.
Stephanie said that I did good, and to remember that "breathing is important", which I will certainly keep in mind for other activities as well, not just to prevent myself from drowning.
Pennsylvania - Land of Interesting City Names
Last weekend I drove to Pennsylvania and back to attend my Uncle Coop's memorial service. It was a long haul back and forth, but I was more than entertained by the variety in city names, which were just so much fun. There was Kutztown (big festival there this weekend) and Klumsville, Virginville, Bethlehem next to Hellertown, Bird in Hand, and course the most famous of them all, Intercourse, located right between Blue Ball and Paradise. Pennsylvania to me is always like stepping back in time, it has a lot of history, but unlike Boston and vicinity it is very rural. It is beautiful and reminds me that this is the first place I ever visited in the United States as a teenager many many years ago, and how different this place was from the small town in Germany I came from.
The Big Black Bear
Well, on the way back from Pennsylvania, heading up I-84, a huge black bear ran across the freeway, and fortunately for all of us, he was about 15 seconds before we were in that spot, and so no one got hurt. It was an impressive animal and outside of a zoo, this was the closest I had ever seen a bear. Wow!
My new friend Nuvi
I have a new toy, a Gamin Nuvi GPS (http://shop.vendio.com/targetrm/item/970850779/?s=1h214044404) which guides Ella and me to the destination of our or its choice. It is a great tool, in particular locally - you just type in an address and off you go. A friendly voice tells you when and where to take a left or right turn, and pretty soon you're there. Long-distance is a little trickier at times, and I have to figure out how to tell it to avoid certain areas. It tends to pick the most direct route possible, and on the way down to Pennsylvania it decided to send me down I-95, which goes directly through New York City. Boy, was that fun, stuck on I-95 in the Bronx with one big rig after the other surrounding me. For some reason, the Nuvi also got a little confused (may have been the tunnels), and wanted me to take a U-turn right on I-95, in the Bronx. This is when I started talking back to the gadget, informing it that I was on an interstate with a center divider, and even if there was no center divider, there was no way that I would take a U-turn on 176th street in the Bronx. I got through it alright, and can proudly say that I made it across the George Washington Bridge and ended up in Pennsylvania after all.
The return trip was much more delightful (including the bear sighting), heading up I-84 and I-87 with a little Nuvi-induced detour and only one getting lost episode near the Berkshires, but I did make it home without being in one single traffic jam and that does count for something.
Celtics
The Celtics won the MBA Championship this week with a demonstrative victory over the LA Lakers. What can I say, we are a kick-ass sports town!! There was a big parade on Thursday and everyone was running around in bright green outfits, it was a delight to see. Now all we need to do is to win the World Series again and the Superbowl and all will be well in the hub.
Post-Eulogy
Thanks to all of you who send me your thoughts and support on the passing of my little bird Oscar this week. Thanks to the special friends who came by to help me what needed to be done immediately, thanks to the special friends who let me stay overnight, because I could not bear to be in my place without the little chirper around, thanks to the special friends who called, who brought chocolate chip cookies the size of my head, who sent cards and helped with whatever else needed to be done. There were so many memories that came with your emails - I thank you for that. I will keep that little bird forever in my heart because he truly was special.
Saturday
Saturday started out with the sad task of bringing Oscar to Angelview Pet Cemetery to be cremated (his ashes will be scattered in both New Hampshire and Cambridge, places he both loved), and knowing that this would be an emotional day, my friends made sure that I was distracted and kept me busy and going. I met up with my friend Denise for lunch at Stephanie's on Newbury Street (http://www.stephaniesonnewbury.com/) and a visit to the Boston Health and Fitness Expo. The Expo was not that good of an experience for a crowd-phobe like me, plus I think it was really designed to scare people into going to the doctor for every little pinch they feel anywhere. We lasted about 1 1/2 hours, but then I had to hoof it out of there.
The evening was spent with my fire-displaced friends Ruth and Georges, who invited me and their friend Laura to a most delicious dinner which featured a brisket made in the oven with beets, rutabagas, turnips and carrots, fresh pasta, a tasty salad, olives from Georges' family's orchard in Lebanon, tasty cheese (supplemented with fig jam - courtesy again of Georges' mom) and a yummy desert with angel food cake, fresh berries and vanilla ice cream. Truly a wonderful evening, and not just because of the food, but the stellar company. Good friends you are.
The Bionic Woman
I am officially declaring my friend Stephanie the bionic woman - she ran the Mt Washington Road Race yesterday - http://www.mountwashingtonroadrace.com/ - Motto: "Only One Hill. 6288 ft. The actual running distance is 7.6 miles, but the elevation gain is 5000 feet, so this is an unbelievable accomplishment. The winner, Eric Blake of Connecticut ran the race in 1:00:39, with a pace of 7:59, which is something I could not even do on a flat surface even if ran my little heart out. Congratulations Steph - you rock!!! (She is of course also doing a Half-Ironman, just in case if you wondered). I meanwhile have signed up for the sofa Olympics, at least for today, where the weather promises rain and T-storms. Movies it is!
Hope this email finds you well!
pet:)
Sunday, June 22, 2008
Wednesday, June 18, 2008
Eulogy for a Little Friend - June 18 2008
My dear friends,
This morning my beloved avian companion, Oscar, passed away. I was there with him when he took his last breath and chirped his last chirp. He would have been 12 years old in a couple of week's time and I was fortunate to have him as a pet and friend. He helped me through some pretty difficult times in my life, and even though he never answered, he listened - tilted his head to the side as if to say, I understand.
He had quite a wonderful life, from his early beginnings in California to our exciting life here in Boston. He flew in a plane all across the country (can't say he liked it very much), took frequent weekend trips to New Hampshire and Cape Cod and even upstate New York, and when I was out of town, happily spend time with his foster families, the Coopers in Salem and the Cooleys in Watertown. He had many human friends, some of whom became his caretakers while I was away from him - Denise, Rick, Ruth, Renee, Ken, Sally, Claire, Joanne, Ben, Kaitlin, Martin, Lucy, Glennys and Patrick, Beverly - he loved you all. He had many nicknames - "Little O", "Banana Boy", "Mr Meyer" or as I called him lovingly in German, "mein kleiner dicker gelber Vogel" (my chubby little yellow bird).
I will miss him terribly, that little yellow rascal, he was a special bird. He spoke German (mostly about himself, how cute he was, what a good kisser he was etc - he may have been just a wee bit vain), loved making kissing sounds, and sit on my shoulder, nibble on my earrings and constantly had a project going in his cage, usually involving the destruction of one of his toys. He loved the beeping sound the phone made, was very fond of keyboards, and had his favorite foods - corn flakes, orange juice, oats, yoghurt, celery greens and parsley. He disliked the color red and once in a while during one of his moods (we all have them, don't we?) he flew around like a madman just to show me who was the boss in the house. He loved his bird friend Marge, and taught her how to fly around the house and land safely back on the cage, and he loved his friend Phoebe, who always treated him special.
My favorite sound in the world was his first chirp in the morning, very quiet, very faint, as if to say, I am not quite up yet, give me a minute.
My friend Rick said something very nice today about having pets - they are part of your family, loyal companions who are always chipper, who never judge you, and are always happy to see you. That was true for Oscar - when I came home, he hopped to the front of the cage to welcome me, and he never cared if I looked my best that day, or if my hair was a total mess (at least he kept it to himself). He was my first pet as an adult and definitely set the bar high.
He was a good bird.
Very sadly,
pet:)
Monday, June 9, 2008
#51- Boston - 15 Blueberry Muffins - June 9 2008
15 Blueberry Muffins
That is all my friend and colleague Murray thought he would be able to eat during ASCO, the cancer conference we both just attended. The food courts in the McCormick conference center in Chicago are notoriously bad, and one does not have two many options - Starbucks being one (blueberry muffins, yes!) and the slightly expensive two bistros courtesy of the Hyatt Regency hotel that is attached to the conference center. The regular "food courts" are quite awful and the food is inedible. By the time we met up with Murray and his colleagues from a UK biotech we work with, he would have probably eaten anything that was put in front of him, unless it had blueberries in it or was muffin-shaped. Good luck for him that this was the night we picked to eat in my favorite restaurant in the US of A, Nacional 27 (http://www.nacional27.net/), which features food from all 27 Latin nations in the world, killer ceviche and tapas, and let me tell you, they know how to mix a cocktail. I have not had had alcohol in the past three months except for a bottle of hard cider at a concert recently, but for this night, I had saved up all my good drinking karma to have my favorite cocktail, "Dark and Extra Stormy" - ginger beer, rum, lime, and real ginger crushed up, with a sugar cane stick to stir. Oh my!!! In addition, and that adds to my admiration for this place, they have an entire page of non-alcoholic cocktails and their "Mango-Ginger-Habanero" concoction was so good, I asked the waitress three times to make sure she did bring the non-alcoholic version. The ginger and the habanero give it such a kick, you really don't care if it contains booze or not.
30,000 of my Closest Friends
What can one say about ASCO, the Annual Meeting of the American Society for Clinical Oncology, other than it is a complete zoo. The McCormick Conference Center is a cavernous maze, and to add to he confusion they now added a new wing, the West Wing. You have to plan your daily schedule - forget about sitting in one session and then deciding you don't like it and go to a concurrent one. No no - not possible. 20 minute walk. At certain times during the day, when the major sessions let out, the main corridor resembles the Tokyo subway during commuter time, which is not good if you have a problem with crowds.
Sessions or meetings start at 7 or 8 AM in the morning, and by the time the poster sessions and the exhibit halls close, you are usually toast. You try to find the shuttle to your hotel, which may be at least a mile away and if you are too sick and tired, you grab a cab. You get about an hours rest before heading off for a business dinner and maybe in between you do some emails. The last day, which in my case was Monday, I was unable to move by 4 PM, headed to the hotel, grabbed a cheap sandwich around the corner at Chicago's own "Potbelly Sandwich Works" (http://www.potbelly.com/) and watched whatever was on TV. When you know you have to get up at 5 AM the next day to catch a flight back to Boston, going out is not an option.
I have to say though that the conference organizers tried hard this time to make some improvements - more seating areas were added, and everything was recyclable - the big fat conference proceedings books, and even the conference bags, of which us frequent attendees have dozens in our basements, and we really do not need another one. Really.
Good Eats
I did eat at some very nice places, my friend and colleague Peter from Belgium and I headed to Nick's Fishmarket (http://www.nicksfishmarketchicago.com/), which I believe I told you about already. Very good seafood, upscale prices as well, and generally a very attentive wait staff, except for the fact that they could not figure out how to spread the bill over three credit cards. Interesting about Nick's is that it shares an entrance with a McDonalds, which may be a slight turn off to some. Business meetings during the conference lead us to 101 Bistro (the first place I ever at in Chicago in 2003 - http://www.levyrestaurants.com/Levy/DiningExperiences/Restaurants/Group4/Bistro+110.htm), 312 Chicago (http://www.levyrestaurants.com/Levy/DiningExperiences/Restaurants/Group4/Bistro+110.htm) and of course Nacional 27. My favorite breakfast chain, the Corner Bakery, was just around the corner (http://www.cornerbakery.com/) from the hotel and so were tons of small places to grab a bite in the morning or whenever needed.
Look at that Bitch
I am not naming names, but following one of these dinner occasions I returned with my two colleagues after our dinner to my hotel and we were waiting to hail a cab for them. Now my hotel is in the slightly funky theater district and featured a beautifully ornate, but brightly colored pink bench in front of it. One of the lovely ladies I was with exclaimed "Look at that bench", and I was so glad that I was not the only one with a baffled look on my face (or bad hearing), but our other companion and probably several bystanders heard her say "Look at that Bitch". May have had something to do with a certain accent, but again, I am not naming names, as promised.
The Importance of Being Earnest
Well, upon my return and after a day of being in a complete daze, I joined my lab mates Hannah and Susan for an ushering gig at the Lyric Stage Company, this time for the Oscar Wilde play "the Importance of being Earnest", a lovely and light-hearted play and acted to perfection by the company at the Lyric (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Importance_of_Being_Earnest). In particular the incomparable Bobbi Steinbach took the role of Aunt Augusta to new heights, and was simply fabulous. http://www.boston.com/ae/theater_arts/articles/2008/05/23/versatility_is_her_calling_card/ Most theater companies are now going on summer break, so maybe a little less ushering in the near future, and more outdoorsy stuff to come for yours truly.
Numb What?
I am not even going to try to describe this, just watch it: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VjzrNWPul9E
Celtics
The Boston Celtics are in the NBA playoffs and the whole town is going gaga, wearing kelly green outfits and routing for the team to beat the LA Lakers!! Go Celtics!
From Winter to Summer in 2 Days
Last Thursday, temperature 54 degrees Fahrenheit (12 degrees Celsius), Saturday 98 degrees Fahrenheit (=36 degrees Celsius). Enough said.
4-year anniversary in Boston
On June 4th, four years ago I moved to Boston with three heavy suitcases and a frightened little bird in a travel cage. Time has gone by so quickly and I can't believe what an adventure it has been. Celebrations were held, a lovely dinner at Bambara in Cambridge (http://www.bambara-cambridge.com/), a chick flick with the lovely Denise (Sex and the City - what else?) and a hike in Lynn Woods yesterday, where the bloody flies had a field day with me and I now feature welts the size of dinner plates on my arms and legs. I have been spraying myself with Benadryl and hope the swelling goes down and I don't look I have some disease like leprosy or the Ebola virus.
You may have noticed that I am sending the update a little less frequently. After 4 years of weekly diatribes, I felt it was time to take a break and write when I felt like it and when there was something to write about. You'll still hear from me, you just won't know when and who doesn't like surprises? Thanks to all of you who have enjoyed them, and who on occasion send a brief word or an update of your own. I do enjoy hearing from you and when I am in your neck of the woods , I'll let you know.
Now it is time to focus my attention back to the TV where the 1964 movie "Seven Days in May" with Burt Lancaster and Kirk Douglas has been keeping me entertained. Did you ever notice he had a hole in his chin? http://www.medaloffreedom.com/KirkDouglasNice.jpg Very distracting, I must say).
Until then.
pet:)
That is all my friend and colleague Murray thought he would be able to eat during ASCO, the cancer conference we both just attended. The food courts in the McCormick conference center in Chicago are notoriously bad, and one does not have two many options - Starbucks being one (blueberry muffins, yes!) and the slightly expensive two bistros courtesy of the Hyatt Regency hotel that is attached to the conference center. The regular "food courts" are quite awful and the food is inedible. By the time we met up with Murray and his colleagues from a UK biotech we work with, he would have probably eaten anything that was put in front of him, unless it had blueberries in it or was muffin-shaped. Good luck for him that this was the night we picked to eat in my favorite restaurant in the US of A, Nacional 27 (http://www.nacional27.net/), which features food from all 27 Latin nations in the world, killer ceviche and tapas, and let me tell you, they know how to mix a cocktail. I have not had had alcohol in the past three months except for a bottle of hard cider at a concert recently, but for this night, I had saved up all my good drinking karma to have my favorite cocktail, "Dark and Extra Stormy" - ginger beer, rum, lime, and real ginger crushed up, with a sugar cane stick to stir. Oh my!!! In addition, and that adds to my admiration for this place, they have an entire page of non-alcoholic cocktails and their "Mango-Ginger-Habanero" concoction was so good, I asked the waitress three times to make sure she did bring the non-alcoholic version. The ginger and the habanero give it such a kick, you really don't care if it contains booze or not.
30,000 of my Closest Friends
What can one say about ASCO, the Annual Meeting of the American Society for Clinical Oncology, other than it is a complete zoo. The McCormick Conference Center is a cavernous maze, and to add to he confusion they now added a new wing, the West Wing. You have to plan your daily schedule - forget about sitting in one session and then deciding you don't like it and go to a concurrent one. No no - not possible. 20 minute walk. At certain times during the day, when the major sessions let out, the main corridor resembles the Tokyo subway during commuter time, which is not good if you have a problem with crowds.
Sessions or meetings start at 7 or 8 AM in the morning, and by the time the poster sessions and the exhibit halls close, you are usually toast. You try to find the shuttle to your hotel, which may be at least a mile away and if you are too sick and tired, you grab a cab. You get about an hours rest before heading off for a business dinner and maybe in between you do some emails. The last day, which in my case was Monday, I was unable to move by 4 PM, headed to the hotel, grabbed a cheap sandwich around the corner at Chicago's own "Potbelly Sandwich Works" (http://www.potbelly.com/) and watched whatever was on TV. When you know you have to get up at 5 AM the next day to catch a flight back to Boston, going out is not an option.
I have to say though that the conference organizers tried hard this time to make some improvements - more seating areas were added, and everything was recyclable - the big fat conference proceedings books, and even the conference bags, of which us frequent attendees have dozens in our basements, and we really do not need another one. Really.
Good Eats
I did eat at some very nice places, my friend and colleague Peter from Belgium and I headed to Nick's Fishmarket (http://www.nicksfishmarketchicago.com/), which I believe I told you about already. Very good seafood, upscale prices as well, and generally a very attentive wait staff, except for the fact that they could not figure out how to spread the bill over three credit cards. Interesting about Nick's is that it shares an entrance with a McDonalds, which may be a slight turn off to some. Business meetings during the conference lead us to 101 Bistro (the first place I ever at in Chicago in 2003 - http://www.levyrestaurants.com/Levy/DiningExperiences/Restaurants/Group4/Bistro+110.htm), 312 Chicago (http://www.levyrestaurants.com/Levy/DiningExperiences/Restaurants/Group4/Bistro+110.htm) and of course Nacional 27. My favorite breakfast chain, the Corner Bakery, was just around the corner (http://www.cornerbakery.com/) from the hotel and so were tons of small places to grab a bite in the morning or whenever needed.
Look at that Bitch
I am not naming names, but following one of these dinner occasions I returned with my two colleagues after our dinner to my hotel and we were waiting to hail a cab for them. Now my hotel is in the slightly funky theater district and featured a beautifully ornate, but brightly colored pink bench in front of it. One of the lovely ladies I was with exclaimed "Look at that bench", and I was so glad that I was not the only one with a baffled look on my face (or bad hearing), but our other companion and probably several bystanders heard her say "Look at that Bitch". May have had something to do with a certain accent, but again, I am not naming names, as promised.
The Importance of Being Earnest
Well, upon my return and after a day of being in a complete daze, I joined my lab mates Hannah and Susan for an ushering gig at the Lyric Stage Company, this time for the Oscar Wilde play "the Importance of being Earnest", a lovely and light-hearted play and acted to perfection by the company at the Lyric (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Importance_of_Being_Earnest). In particular the incomparable Bobbi Steinbach took the role of Aunt Augusta to new heights, and was simply fabulous. http://www.boston.com/ae/theater_arts/articles/2008/05/23/versatility_is_her_calling_card/ Most theater companies are now going on summer break, so maybe a little less ushering in the near future, and more outdoorsy stuff to come for yours truly.
Numb What?
I am not even going to try to describe this, just watch it: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VjzrNWPul9E
Celtics
The Boston Celtics are in the NBA playoffs and the whole town is going gaga, wearing kelly green outfits and routing for the team to beat the LA Lakers!! Go Celtics!
From Winter to Summer in 2 Days
Last Thursday, temperature 54 degrees Fahrenheit (12 degrees Celsius), Saturday 98 degrees Fahrenheit (=36 degrees Celsius). Enough said.
4-year anniversary in Boston
On June 4th, four years ago I moved to Boston with three heavy suitcases and a frightened little bird in a travel cage. Time has gone by so quickly and I can't believe what an adventure it has been. Celebrations were held, a lovely dinner at Bambara in Cambridge (http://www.bambara-cambridge.com/), a chick flick with the lovely Denise (Sex and the City - what else?) and a hike in Lynn Woods yesterday, where the bloody flies had a field day with me and I now feature welts the size of dinner plates on my arms and legs. I have been spraying myself with Benadryl and hope the swelling goes down and I don't look I have some disease like leprosy or the Ebola virus.
You may have noticed that I am sending the update a little less frequently. After 4 years of weekly diatribes, I felt it was time to take a break and write when I felt like it and when there was something to write about. You'll still hear from me, you just won't know when and who doesn't like surprises? Thanks to all of you who have enjoyed them, and who on occasion send a brief word or an update of your own. I do enjoy hearing from you and when I am in your neck of the woods , I'll let you know.
Now it is time to focus my attention back to the TV where the 1964 movie "Seven Days in May" with Burt Lancaster and Kirk Douglas has been keeping me entertained. Did you ever notice he had a hole in his chin? http://www.medaloffreedom.com/KirkDouglasNice.jpg Very distracting, I must say).
Until then.
pet:)
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