save the date!

save the date:

vaulting into the future:
a testing ground for masonry innovations

friday, september 11th
mit museum
265 Massachusetts Ave
7:30pm until TBD
(but at least until the food and drinks run out)


i spent this weekend writing a press release...to come shortly.
in the meantime, check out this other blog for info:
http://vaulting.wordpress.com/

[bostonian #6] bpl's music to my ears

in my constant quest to find fun free things to do over the summer, today i stumbled upon a cool little concert series at the boston public library called concerts in the courtyard. every friday from 12:30-1:30 until the beginning of september, they have a different musical event involving local musicians and a variety of styles.

since copley is really not that far from my office, i strolled over to hear cellist javier caballero play. the concert was the best little respite from the day - the pieces ranged from soothing bach for solo cello to international folksongs to sultry tango with violin and viola - and the surrounding greenery and italianate arcades added to the peaceful atmosphere.

the courtyard would make a great place for lunch, and apparently a good crowd of people think so, too. i even saw a guy who brought the whole spread with him: jam jars, cutlery, loaf of bread and all. might have to head back sometime with a book and my brown bag.

i also had never checked out the farmer's market out in copley square during the day...but now i realize that open markets are one of my weaknesses. i came away with lemon verbena honey, a pint of fresh blueberries, and a couple heirloom tomatoes. cannot resist!

the list lengthens, or, back to the written word

it was only a few weeks ago that i discovered google reader's awesome capacity to consolidate my incidental and sporadic blog reading, and since then i've been hooked. (looks like that's an on-going theme.) to date, i have 30 blogs listed, which seems like an over-the-top number, but i got a little carried away in my eagerness... ah well.

but today the list went to 31 as i discovered the creative writing blog of one of my new acquaintances at school. a few weeks ago, she had mentioned during small group the start of a blog for her in-progress young adult fantasy novel - that off-hand comment immediate set a bell ringing in my own head. how many young adults (20-35) are writing young adult (12-18) fantasy novels? i used to know one (myself, in high school), but now i know two. !!

i actually haven't mentioned this little-known fact to her, mostly because it's remained little-known to most people since i started college. i did do some creative writing at columbia, but mostly in the form of short stories that i allowed few outside of my class to read (maybe keigo and a couple others). since then, it's been studiostudiostudio, although the writing bug has never left me, and the editing bug still surges back every once in a while (mostly to edit my friends' various school applications).

the other day, i was thinking about my long-ago writing project and how one of my major writing mentors had passed away about a year or so ago. no one has read that manuscript since her eyes laid on it. this was a semi-bizarre realization.

but now, after stumbling on this blog and going through anu garg's faithful word-a-day emails (which, unfortunately have a tendency to clog my box with hundreds of unread messages)...maybe those are the piques of inspiration needed. this summer's already been too ambitious in terms of summer projects i've wanted to embark on but that never left the ground*, but maybe this one will take flight in some form.

* unaccomplished goals left out in the rain (but holding an umbrella, waiting for a future sun):
learning the guitar, improving my spanish, learning dreamweaver and flash, doing a design competition

** in-progress goals that are already enjoying the good weather:
playing the flute again, joined an a cappella group, finding God through music, redefining my architectural goals, learning more about community development, working w/ real materials and expanding my masonry horizons

[bostonian #5] : green street grill

nat was gracious enough to be ok w/ this photo,
despite being caught in the middle of chewing. merci!

nat is frequently one of my faithful partners in crime when it comes to food explorations, and i was fortunate enough to be graced by her presence last weekend, when she came up for a "let's see everyone i know in boston" weekend spree. i had heard about green street through over-heard conversations - people said it was a good place to grab drinks. someone might have also mentioned it was good for food. so when i told nat i knew of a place "somewhere on green street" that could be tasty but had yet been explored, my dinner partner was a good sport. we went to investigate.

yes, green street grill was a good option. the ambiance was cool and borderline romantic with the dim lighting and christmas string accents - it was fine w/ a friend, but i could imagine it being the right atmosphere with the right person, too.

neither of us actually got drinks (too sleepy already from the day), but the food sounded good (aka flowery menu descriptions) and, in most cases, was. nat's burger was juicy and had homemade potato chips on the side. my arugula and grapefruit salad was on the bitter end and probably wasn't the best choice, but it still worked.

although we did talk about food (and aspirations to be a food writer or go to culinary school if it weren't so self indulgent), it was more of an overall catch-up conversation, which is always fun. nat and i have actually been pretty good about keeping up w/ one another over the years, meeting up in the most random of places (from her grandparents' apartment to a japanese stationary store in nyc) and always having a good time :]

and she entertains my idiosyncrasies like taking photos at dinner, which helps.

- - -
green street grill
280 green street (off of magazine st.)