Foot Fix

At last the mystery of my foot pain has been solved!  I turned my right foot in Rome, but kept walking on it until I got back to the U.S.A.  But all the R.I.C.E. only worked for a bit.  I'd try to do a triangle in yoga class, and the owie would come back.  Today the physical therapist manipulated my foot until she found the trouble spot, illustrated below.

The ouch bone was too mobile, and its excessive moving around caused the hurt.  The PT taped my foot in such a way to give the battered bone a rest.

Next I get to got to ankle class.

A Slow Few Days

Last Thursday I and some buddies went to Jordan Hall to hear the Boston Early Music Festival Orchestra.  I had never been to Jordan Hall before, so it was a double-treat.  However, getting there was harder than we thought it would be.

First, when we descended into the Harvard Square T Stop, we encountered an enormous crowd.  The T was broken, and people had been waiting for some time.  Oh no!  But we only had to wait about 5 minutes.  Then we got off at Symphony.  We planned to eat at Lucy, a place highly praised at Yelp.com.  We had 2 hours before the concert, so we were not concerned that it was a small place with only one table left.  The owner assured us he could feed us within the 2 hours.  Well, time passed and passed and passed.  And Julie asked if we were going to get our food on time, and the guy said yes.  And then we had only a half hour, and the guy said it's coming out in a minute.  So 5 minutes later we got our food.  And it was great food!  The bread looked like sheets of sponge, but it was good.

We got to the concert in time. We heard strings with harpsichord and sometimes trumpets.  I couldn't see the trumpets from my seat.  I like Baroque music.  I like Baroque art.  I even like Rococo.  I like opera that is highly stylized and heavily ornamented.  (I'm not saying I have good taste.  I'm just saying this is what tastes good to me)

On Saturday Laureen and I went to another concert at Jordan Hall featuring the guy who played harpsichord at the first one, but playing the piano this time.  There was a victory parade for the Bruins at 11, but since the concert wasn't until 2:30, I figured we would be safe.  But I hadn't considered that as the victory parade progressed, fans would be returning to the T.  As it turned out, 1 1/2 million people showed up for the parade, and the T got swamped.  I left extra early, because Laureen and I were going to get frozen yogurt before the concert, but the train was creeping along between Park St and Copley.  We made it. 

Proof Positive!

My rose bush hasn't produced any flowers for a few years.  So why is it producing this year?  Maybe it liked all the rain.  Anyway, here's the proof.  (I confess to pumping up the color saturation, since the blooms are a very light pink.)

Romeo is enjoying the opportunity to go outside.

Im/peccable = With(out) Sin

Perhaps you read my post on the word vincible.  Well, would you believe that there is a peccable as well as the better-know impeccable?

Oxford English Dictionary | The definitive record of the English language

	peccable, adj. truetrue Pronunciation:  Brit. /ˈpɛkəbl/ , U.S. /ˈpɛkəb(ə)l/ Etymology:  < French peccable (c1050 in Old French as pecables; compare Anglo-Norman pecchable, peccable, pechable) and its etymon post-classical Latin peccabilis capable of sinning, liable to sin (9th cent.; 14th cent. in British sources), sinful (14th cent. in British sources) < classical Latin peccāre to sin (see peccant adj. and n.) + -bilis-ble suffix, after impeccābilisimpeccable adj.... (Show Less) Thesaurus »    1. Capable of sinning; liable to sin. In later use also (freq. in humorous contrast to impeccable): fallible, imperfect, flawed. 1604    T. Wright Passions of Minde (new ed.) v. §4. 210   All men by nature are sinners, are peccable, the iust offend often. 1675–6    H. More Let. 10 Jan. in Conway Lett. (1992) vii. 417   Which is wonderfull how else to understand of the Humanity of Christ, unlesse he had such a soul as other men have, of itself indeed peccable but by reason of his perpetuall Faythfulnesse, alwayes devoyd of sin. 1741    G. Berkeley Let. 7 June in Wks. (1871) IV. 272   We hold all mankind to be peccable and errable, even the Pope himself. 1833    J. H. Newman Arians 4th Cent. ii. 249   At first it [sc. Arianism] had not scrupled to admit the peccable nature of the Son; but it soon‥avowed that, in matter of fact, He was indefectible. 1857    H. Miller Test. Rocks iii. 154   Fitting and preparing peccable, imperfect man, for a perfect impeccable future state. 1900    F. Thompson in T. L. Conolly Literary Crit. (1948) 137   The sublimest teaching, if the utterance be peccable, is not worth one impeccable stanza. 1936    D. B. MacDonald Hebrew Philos. Genius vii. 141   The state‥was a divine foundation and, therefore, peccable only on its human side. 1992    N.Y. Times (Nexis) 13 Mar. c6/1   Its credentials are about as impeccable as you can find in the peccable atmosphere of Hollywood. 1604—1992 †2. Sinful, wrong. Obs. rare. 1633    W. Prynne Histrio-mastix 563   Is not the selfe same sinne as sinfull, as peccable? 1633—1633 peccable, adj. Third edition, September 2005; online version March 2011. ; accessed 06 June 2011. An entry for this word was first included in New English Dictionary

Cats and Food

Juliet likes sleeping on top of the clothes-drying rack.  This is how she looks from underneath.

Yesterday I went with Sue, Julie, and Dave to True Bistro, a vegan place in Somerville.  Above, Julie and Dave look serious.

Sue's hand gestures are echoed by the gentleman at the next table.  How artistic is that!

A salad with farro, which tasted something like barley.  Nice presentation.

Wilted spinach, smoked tofu, pecans, cranberries, red onion, balsamic vinegar.  The smoked tofu had a meaty taste reminiscent of bacon.

Housemade spaghettini, smoked tofu, English peas, blanched almonds, cream sauce.  I liked this; Julie didn't love it.

Cornmeal-crusted oyster mushrooms, horseradish/dill aioli.  You can't go wrong with fried stuff!

Black bean and plantain torte, salsa verde and sour cream. (I think I got that right.)
I generally think of vegan diets as very restrictive, but the True Bistro makes great use of plant foods.  I could be vegan, if I could eat stuff like this every day.

Kitty Corners

Romeo and Juliet have been with me now for nearly 5 months.  They have scoped out the comfortable places in their new home.

More Granary Burial Ground Photos

The Mary Goose buried here is not Mother Goose, but people still pay her penny-homage.

This monument reminds me of something...but I can't think what.

Gorey Hallelujah!

Yesterday was commencement day, an extra holiday for me and my library buddies.  So Sue, Julie, Laureen, Lynn, and I decided to see the Gorey exhibit at the Boston Athenaeum.  I'd never been there before.

Sue, Laureen, Lynn, Julie

Inside, photography was strictly forbidden, so you will have to take my word that the exhibition was awesome, or buy the exhibition catalogue.  My favorite items were the envelopes young Gorey used to mail letters to his mother when he was an undergraduate at Harvard.  He decorated them with weird watercolor pictures.  He must have been well-known by the post office.

Next we visited the Granary Burying Ground, which is visible from Athenaeum windows.

 

Note that the woman buried on the left was named Silence.  Talk about Puritan names.

Next we backtracked and ate lunch at Zen Grille and Sushi Bar.  I had noodles;  I don't eat anything raw.  The sushi was very attractive.  Take a look at Julie's lunch.

Next we stopped to look at a Memorial Day installation on Boston Common.

Now go to Youtube to see our  our Swanboat ride.

Catching Up

Lately I've been watching old TV that I missed the first time around.  I was only 5 when the series Thriller started up; it's a good thing I discovered it on Netflix, because it had many good episodes.

The Host of Thriller

Most of the plots had supernatural elements.  I've just finished season 1, in which I saw a very young William Shatner in  two episodes; but the fun doesn't stop there!  In The Hungry Glass Shatner played opposite Russell Johnson (a.k.a. the Professor on Gilligan's Island).  In The Grim Reaper Shatner was joined by Natalie Schafer (a.k.a. Eunice 'Lovey' Wentworth Howell on Gilligan's Island).  Small world!  What are the chances of running across two people from the same island?

So my Thriller-watching inspired me to seek out Thriller-host Boris Karloff's lesser-known films.  First I saw The Man Who Changed His Mind (1936), which was a classic mad-scientist story with the familiar theme of mind transplant.  By working really, really hard, Dr. Laurence manages to construct a machine that switches minds into different bodies.  But the scientific world won't even give him a chance to demonstrate his machine; they just walked away scoffing.  Then Laurence thinks of a practical use for his machine when his backer threatens to take away his lab...  Another noteworthy aspect of this flick is its strong female character, the lovely Dr. Clare Wyatt, who ends up saving the day at the end.

More History of the Future!

Thanks to Steve who saved the Wall St. Journal article that sent me looking for images of Arthur Radebaugh's syndicated strip: "Closer Than We Think"  This stuff is my kind of stuff!

The Overextended Month of May

May  (thank you Wikipedia)

• Cystic fibrosis Awareness Month ^[3]
• South Asian Heritage Month
• Haitian Heritage Month
• Asian Pacific American Heritage Month
• Borderline Personality Disorder Month^{[citation needed]}
• Asthma Awareness Month^[4]
• National Pet Month
• Science Month
• Celiac Awareness Month
• Jewish American Heritage Month
• National Law Enforcement Appreciation Month
• National Masturbation Month^[5]

What's the World Coming to?

When I found out that the so-called Botox Mom had not really injected Botox into her daughter, that she was a hoaxter, I felt the same sting of betrayal that accompanied the discovery that Dean Martin was not actually a drunk.  What's the world coming to when we can't believe what we see on TV and read on the internet?  One thing's for sure, when the rapture comes on Saturday, she'll be left behind!

Quit Looking at Cuteoverload and Listen to Me!

Gone to Her Reward

The cybersphere has been full of Dolores Fuller, who died on May 9.  Although known chiefly through her association with Ed Wood, Jr., her most successful enterprise was serving on the Elvis Presley song-writing team.  She co-write that unforgettable tune: Do the Clam.

Here she is running into her old boyfriend and his old friend in the after-life: (click to enlarge picture.)

May Day at the MFA

So Rosemary and I went to the MFA to see the Chihuly glass stuff and the Art in Bloom.flower arrangements.  The new cafe looks good.

The Chihuly stuff was mostly displayed against black, reflective surfaces.  Mr. Chihuly was OK with photos taken for non-commercial purposes.

There was also a room with a glass ceiling on top of which were many glass goodies that were reminiscent (in many cases) of sealife, which tempted me to call it a sea-ling.

I only photographed a few flower arrangements.

For more of my photos go to: https://picasaweb.google.com/bryant.colleen08/MuseumOfFineArtsBoston#

Two Birds with One Stone

It's the last day of National Poetry Month and the day after William & Kate's wedding.  So here is a poem by Stevie Smith in the nick of time.

The Hat*
I love my beautiful hat more than anything
And through my beautiful hat I see a wedding ring
The King will marry me and make me his own before all
And when I am married I shall wear my hat and walk on the palace wall. 

 *Stevie Smith, The Collected Poems, New York: New Directions Books, 1983, page 272.

Miscellaneous

I finished The Bones of Avalon.  I don't usually go for historical novels, but I love Phil Rickman's Merrily Watkins series.  So I was waiting for the next one to come, and instead out came The Bones of Avalon.  I did enjoy it.  It had many of the same themes as the Merrily Watkins series: mysticism, murder, church politics.  It takes place in Elizabethan times, but Rickman only slightly antiqued his language.  In his afterword he thanks various linguists for their advice which he ended up mostly not taking since, "a strict adherence to Elizabethan written structures and terminology would only have made it sound stilted in ways it never would have been at the time."  Fair enough.  He has a great talent for taking masses of material and making it into a riveting story

Speaking of stilted language, I was thinking about the pronoun thou, which is no longer used by most speakers of English, but which used to be the informal form of you--the form you'd use for family, close friends, or people you were insulting.  Nowadays we mostly hear it used in prayers and hymns, so that it has formal, exalted associations.   That's why The Philadelphia Story had this scene between Macaulay Connor (Jimmy Stewart) and a Quaker Librarian

Librarian: What is thee wish?
Macaulay Connor: I'm looking for some local b - what'd you say?
Librarian: What is thee wish?
Macaulay Connor: Um, local biography or history.
Librarian: If thee will consult with my colleague in there.
Macaulay Connor: Mm-hm. Dost thou have a washroom?
[the librarian points]
Macaulay Connor: Thank thee

It's hilarious to use a holy, exalted word in the same sentence with washroom--at least from the Judeo-Christian viewpoint.

In other news, we had pizza for lunch in the office today.

I think this must be a magic mushroom pizza.

Two Layers of Cat

The Romeo Suspension bridge over the Juliet river of snooze.

From above.

Romeo's famous thumbs.

A Snooty Cutie

I need to sleep like this so I can keep my nose up.

A Cat in a Box is Worth Two in the Bush