It's better to ask

BF invited me to a birthday dinner the other day. I had hoped that I would be able to go, since it was at one of my favorite sushi places in the city, but instead I was stuck at a Community Board meeting because our item was last on the agenda.

As an aside, Community Boards never fail to amaze me. I used to wonder why CBs have a purely advisory role. After sitting through CB4's full meeting and watching them deny almost every application that came before them, I sure am glad that they have zero power. While several of the applications were over-reaching, most were perfectly reasonable and a few were actually as-of-right and were only being presented to the CB as a courtesy, so that community members wouldn't wonder "Hey? What's that building going up down the block?".

I understand why the CB denied the guy who had "expanded" his restaurant to include the sidewalk in front of his building and half of his neighbor's back yard, but the guy who wanted to have outdoor seating (5 four-person tables) until 10 pm for his restaurant on Restaurant Row? The CB justified it by saying that it would be too noisy. I don't get it. It wasn't an outdoor bar, it was only 5 tables. Also, you have to understand that just about every other restaurant on the street has seating in the rear yard, and none of them have time restrictions like this guy was willing to submit to... Any way, I felt bad for the guy.

I sat through about 5.5 hours of this before they got to our application -- it was approved (I guess that's why our clients pay us the big bucks). I was tired and hungry and by the time I got home, even Domino's had closed. I was sitting down to a dinner of cereal and about 20 minutes worth of DVRd shows when BF walked in. I asked how dinner was and this is what followed:

BF: It was. . . good.

ET#2: Oh, sorry I missed it.

BF: Actually, it's good that you couldn't make it.

ET#2: Why?

BF: We ordered omakase without looking at the menu.

ET#2: Was it good?

BF: Yeah, but guess how much it was -- there were 4 of us.

ET#2: I don't know, did you have drinks?

BF: No.

ET#2: $200 per person?

BF: No, it was $1,900 total.

ET#2: WHAT???

BF: Umm, yeah. They asked us if we wanted to order it and we said yes without looking at the menu.

ET#2: You guys are dumb. Well, at least now you can stop saying that I made you pay for your most expensive meal ever.

BF: Yeah.

If I had been there, I would have looked at or asked to see a menu.

Kind of wish I had a camera phone

Yesterday, I was talking to my mother. In a quest to be ever more efficient and having recently showered, I put her on speakerphone so I could comb my wet hair. For some reason, this act fascinated her. "Oh, ET#1, you must have a really fancy cellular phone."

(Ummm......This is what my phone would look like if it had color. My parents own/use a Palm Treo 700. Just let that sink in.)

As you might have deduced, my phone lacks the camera phone feature. A fact that I am happy about, I never understood the need to have a camera on your phone. When I was visiting Japan, it made a little more sense. They have integrated all the features so that you take a picture of a bar code like image upload it on the Internet and get some real image back. For example, when we were in Coco Curry House you could take a picture of these squiggly lines, and somehow it uploaded an image of the menu with all the nutritional information on it. And I guess when V went to the Justin Timberlake concert, it was a way to sneak a camera into the stadium. But I have found very little use for one, until yesterday.

After talking with my mother on my fancy phone, I went to go hunt for dinner amongst the many take out joints in Coolidge Corner. As I was walking, I could not help but desperately wanting a camera phone to share with all of you what I saw:

- A very skinny medium height man, holding hands and then subsequently kissing a rather portly woman who was at the very least a head taller than him.

- A little person couple on what must have been a custom made little person tandem bicycle.

- A Porche Carrera with a bike rack on the back.

- A mother holding onto her baby in her arms as she walked. First, it was unusual to see a mother without a Baby Bjorn or HUGE baby carriage. Secondly, her baby was wearing a clear full on helmet and Bill Lambeer-esque face mask.

- Gr, the boy whom I met on the T when picking up numbers for the Run to Remember 3 weeks ago.

Alas, no pics to share. My contract with Verizon ended in March. Maybe I will consider buying a new phone. Probably not.

When worlds collide

When I was in college, my friend Isa, used to tell me that she hated when her worlds collided. She liked have separate circle of friends, who did not know each other well. She liked having her school work not interfere with her volunteer work. Separate worlds kept you sane because each one was like a oasis from the other.

I have never followed this rule, or at least not consciously. But the one place I have drawn a distinct line is between work and everything else. So it is always a little disconcerting when you run into someone from work in a non work setting. However, for the past three weekends, it seems fate has intervened and the line between the two worlds have blurred.

Three weeks ago at N's bacherlorette party, I ran into an assistant professor,Br, in my department. I was in the Improv Asylum with my bucket of beer, when I standing next to me I see his wife. Instead of ignoring her, I said "Hello." This act may have been a mistake as I could see annoyance flash on her face. She did not recognize who I was (even though I have talked to her multiple times) and the only thing she could say is my husband is over there. Well, really I just wanted to say "Hello" and did not have a burning desire to talk to him. After the show was over, and N had been the shining star in a skit, we mulled around waiting for everyone to finish using the restroom. Br, came to talk to me with my candy necklaces and drunk bride-to-be by my side. N gave him a little pat on his tousche. Luckily, for me he did not even flinch. He chatted and showed me a poster that had a picture of his friend on it. And then we talked about science. Yes, I was 3 vodka tonics and 2 beers into the night and I was talking about cellular metabolites.

The next weekend seemed harmless enough. ET#2 and her man came to Boston and we ran a road race. It was a warm day, so by the end of the race I was rather sweat laddened. At the finish line was A, a Russian guy from the proteomics lab downstairs. He was so excited to see me and he gave me a big hug. Two days later, I went down to his lab to borrow a screwdriver. He said "ET#1, I did not know you ran. I was checking your time and it was good. My time did not come on the computer. Why is that?...." We talked for about 15 minutes. I told him that the Champion Chip had to be on his shoes and he could not carry it in his pocket. He told me that this was his and his girlfriend's first road race and they were so excited about it. Now, when I see him in the hallway, I get an extra big smile and wave.

What could possibly happen this past weekend? I spent most of my time at home or in the lab so there was no possibility for a random sighting and yet there was fate intervening again. SS had her first road race on Sunday morning. AC and I went to cheer and entertain her on her run. At the end of the race they were serving hot dogs, hamburgers, and beer. It was nice. They made the race as a little community party. Kids came for the pony rides and bouncy house. Old sweaty Irish men hugged each other and congratulated each other on a good race. I wanted a hot dog even though I did not register for the race. The nice man gave me two, extra charred. I was happy. The three of us were walking back to SS's house with hot dog's and soda in hand. I had put mustard on one and ketchup on the other, so I was alternating bites from either one. And then I heard my name. It was a prof from my department, DW. Yet again some awkward small talk. Luckily for me I was with friends, so cutting the conversation short was not terribly rude.

I understand that Boston is a small city and running into people you know is inevitable, but here is my problem with it: I am terribly vain. Why is it that I have to run into work people when I am incredibly drunk adorned with penises, sweaty and nasty from running, or double fisting and stuffing food in my mouth? Why can't I run into them at the very least when my hair is washed? Sigh. I think Fate is telling me that I need to do a better job of keeping my worlds separate or at the very least start behaving more normaly in public.

mmm.......

It's National Doughnut Day, everyone! Enjoy...