I’ve had a very busy weekend to make up for a very slow week. Friday night I saw the Italian movie, “I’m Not Scared,” which I really enjoyed. The story is seen from the eyes of a 10-year-old boy and it’s a wonderful and dark tale, and the visuals of the fields that he and his friends play in and other scenes are beautiful and sometimes astonishing. It reminded me of a really good children’s book complete with gorgeous illustrations of the lands and some of the beasts that live on them, human and animal, all very real.
Saturday morning I met a friend in Concord to go cycling and we happened upon an AMC (Appalachian Mountain Club) group that was leaving from the same place. So we signed up and picked up their maps and rode with them. We cycled for two hours, 20 miles or so, on generally flat terrain, which was good because it was hot, mid 80’s at least. It was a nice route through Concord, Sudbury and Lincoln – very bucolic, farms and rivers and conservation land, not much traffic. When we got back to Concord, I downed an entire lemonade in about 30 seconds along with a yummy wrap sandwich at the Back Alley Café. Later, after I got home and had a shower and a nap, my housemate and I grilled some fish and veggies and ate out on my deck, otherwise known as that extra room I add onto my condo every summer. It’s nice now that the window boxes and containers are planted and all the leaves have grown in on the surrounding trees so it’s like being up in a treehouse.
Today I met my friend Amy for our annual Newbury St. hang in Boston. As hot and sunny as it was on Saturday it was cool and drizzly today. Of course I dressed for warmer weather since the weathermen lied, saying it would be upper 60s and cloudy, not oh maybe 60 and wet. I ended up buying a sweater first thing. Then we waited over an hour to get in to Stephanie’s for brunch, but it was very good. I have to say I got rather depressed since Amy wanted to shop and many of the galleries (free entertainment) weren’t open on Sundays. I very rarely shop anymore because I can’t buy anything. After a couple of hours I was ready to sell my condo and tie my belongings to a stick and hit the road, but then I decided I would buy myself some little thing regardless, and that helped. I got a candle and a silk headband at Anthropologie, in addition to the sweater I had to buy earlier to wear. We did get to the Public Gardens for a stroll. The swan boats were all tied up at the dock, but the real swans were active, have recently been returned to the lagoon.
Tonight I am home and trying to catch up. I just made some cupcakes for tomorrow's Spanish class – we missed Maddy’s birthday a couple of weeks ago. And I have to strain the broth I made from the remains of the rotisserie chickens my housemate and I both serendipitously bought this afternoon. Geez, it’s almost 10pm already. I’m exhausted.
10:03:23 PM 
Sunday, May 16, 2004