burning like matchsticks in the face of the darkness

Turning on to College Ave. this morning, I saw my first patch of orange/red foliage this season.  (I didn't take a picture this morning, but this is a picture from when I was coming home -- I swear there's more red and orange than there was this morning.  Also: I can has orchid bloom -- though it makes me sad that it came out fuzzy; photographer/camera fail.)

I finally renewed my Shad membership.  (The year runs through August 31, but you get a grace month, and I keep not having time and/or forgetting.  Have I mentioned recently how spoiled I am that I'm paying $20/month for these facilities?  That's like $1/session.)

In my Inbox this morning:

Save the Date for Smith College Reunion 2010
[...]
Reunion/Commencement weekend is May 13 to 16
Classes of 1985, 1990, 1995, 2000, and 2005.

(Isabel suggests, "I think that since they got rid of 2-year reunions and your first one is supposed to be a reunion I so that you can relive the whole college experience and feel especially bonded (or something) we somehow ended up with two reunion 1's in a row. I'm definitely not complaining.")

Edit: Okay, I found myself on the "Smith College - Alumnae" facebook page, and someone commented: "Is anyone else disappointed with the new Reunion schedule? Instead of mixing younger and older classes each weekend, there is now one weekend for classes up to the 25th reunion and one for 30th reunion and higher. I always loved seeing the older alums on campus--they are so inspiring! I can't imagine why Smith made this change."

Also from that facebook Wall: Smith campus house mugs and mousepads by Lenora Paglia ’83

And lastly: SCMA makes Boston Globe's Top 10 campus art collections (having worked there for 3 years, albeit in an administrative assistant capacity, the art museum always feels particularly "mine"/"home" re: Smith). /edit

Speaking of planning farther ahead than my brain is right now, la bff emailed me about the winter holidays \o/  (Sparkle-text would probably be more accurate than rockstar arms, but I don't have her gift for textual representation :) )

Yesterday I was feeling like I'm really kind of over this warm weather (though I was willing to wait until September/after Labor Day to complain, 'cause before that it's still legitimately summer) 'cause being warm and damp when I arrive at the T/gym after walking just doesn't make me happy.  But it got down to almost 50 last night!  I was quite pleased.

( gym )

***

After the CNN hype yesterday, I had kind of wanted to watch Michelle Obama's speech last night, but I'm so out of the habit of actually sitting down in front of a tv (fall tv starting is gonna be WEIRD).  Yay Google.  Huffington Post -- summary, video, and text  [and the text of her brother's speech, which preceded hers -- and the CNN transcript of Ted Kennedy's speech]

***

Cailin was saying that she feels like most of our peers don't listen to classical music, and she doesn't actually expect it to die out, but's interested to see what happens.

***

I had coffee with LauraRuth at Mr. Crepe.  Near the end (she had to leave to go have dinner with her girlfriend) she asked if there was an agenda for this meeting or if I'd just wanted to say hi.  I said I'd just wanted to say hi -- and that I'd learned not to have an agenda in mind when having coffee with clergy, that especially the first time I have coffee with clergy it turns out to be a getting-to-know-you thing even when I went into it expecting that we had an agenda for our meeting.

She did actually have a couple agenda items of her own.  One was that she and Keith were gonna be meeting tomorrow to discuss the Rest & Bread service, which they've been doing for 3 (!) months now, and she wanted my input because I'm so thoughtful and considered and because I "think liturgically."  I had to laugh at that one, though I did talk about how I'd learned that actually I am attached to certain ways of doing things (e.g., Benediction = "Now may grace, mercy, and peace, from God the Father, Jesus Christ the Son, and God the Holy Spirit, be and abide with you always.") and as I've been in various churches, I've picked up preferred scripts for different parts of the service.

The second agenda item came out of a conversation.  She asked where I was from, and I told her, and she asked if I'd moved to the city for school and I said no, I went to school out in Western Mass. and she asked where? Amherst? and I said no, Smith, and she smiled, and I laughed and said, "Yeah, I went to a super-queer, ragingly liberal college -- which was awesome -- and came out of it with a hatred for the American Left."

She asked what "pot" I would put myself in if not "progressive" or "liberal."  I said that if forced to pick a political party I pick (small l) libertarian, and that certainly I am aligned with the progressives/liberals on lots of things, but as I often say, I hang out with the liberals because they make me "less uncomfortable" than the conservatives.  She asked me about that and I briefly explained my Smith experience and my issues with "inclusive" churches -- the latter which conversation I had just had with Sean and Carolyn on Sunday night.

She said she asks because they (First Church Somerville) are trying to put together a vision statement that doesn't use the word "progressive" or "liberal."  (Her distance from the term "liberal" is a class thing -- that she hears the word "liberal" and thinks of people who believe that just because they say the right words they've done good in the world, like just by saying you're anti-racist you've done anti-racist work.)  Thinking about it on my way home, it occurred to me that the answer is obvious: just talk about your guiding principles (justice, peace, whatever), with possibly secondarily listing the issues of primary importance.

At one point she asked me how old I was and said I seemed older than 25 (she didn't quite say "old soul" -- which I was glad of, because I think that implies more gravitas and wisdom than I have -- but it was that sort of idea) and I grinned and thanked her.  As we were saying goodbye, she said she really enjoys being around me, which I was kind of touched by.  And I got multiple long hugs :)

***

Had the first of my haul of gelatin-free yogurts tonight.
Whole Soy & Co. Raspberry yogurt = quite acceptable.

***

( excerpt from IM conversation with Joe )

***

( excerpt from IM conversation with mjules )

It is in the 60s.  Sitting down in short-sleeves with my window open i have goosebumps.  I love this.  I will put on a sweatshirt, but i will not close the window.  Weather like this?  Reminds me why it is good to be alive.  I want to rhapsodize about the hope this gives me, the looking-forward joy, in complete denial about the dog days of August through which i will surely suffer, but since some of you actually don't like the cold weather, i'll refrain.

---

hedy took me, the Bad English Major ^TM, to see a play her h.s. English teacher did about Longfellow's daughter.

We drove out to Quincy Adams and took the Red Line out to Harvard.  I had my mom's T-Pass -- yay for 'Sundays a guest rides free.'  There were a couple people ahead of us buying tokens, and we were hardly in a hurry, so we just waited in line, and when we got to the front i showed my T-Pass and gestured to Heather.  The woman in the booth emphatically told me that i should never have to wait in line when i had a T-Pass, that i should just walk up to the front side window and show my T-Pass and walk through with my partnter.  I was near dead with laughter before i was even through the turnstile.  And oh so glad that i was with someone to whom i wouldn't have to explain why i was giggling.  Lo we are 12.

We ate lunch at Veggie Planet at Club Passim, which made me think of Bob Franke and then oh the complicated JBCC drama.  Everything has memories attached to it now.  T-stations, streets, etc. conjure up anecdotes, incidents, seasons...

While i waited outside the bathroom for Heather, i skimmed a 20 Question Social Justice quiz on the wall.

Q: "The richest 1% make as much money as the total income of the x% poorest?"
Me, knowing how these questions work: Some huge percentage like 50%.
A: 57%

Q:  "What are [insert about a dozen USA state names which i didn't read thoroughly]?"
Me: South of the Mason-Dixon line?
A: "The total population of these states is the number of US citizens living below the poverty line."
Me: Wow that was a supremely poorly worded question.  And here i was expecting something like, "execute the most (ethnic minority) criminals."

Q #20: "How much does the average American spend on soft drinks every day?"
Me: Some huge number like $5.
A: 60 cents
Me: ... ?  That's like, one soft drink every other day.  Are these 1950s numbers or something, and i'm supposed to be told how much more we spend now?  No, the citation is from 2005.  And there's a MLK quotation following, but i'm guessing that's unrelated.

I am such a Smithie in that i know exactly where social justice questions are going, and such a bad Smithie in my reactions thereto.

For the hell of it, i just Googled, and lo, it is all over the place.  Here is one, if you wanna check it out.

Anyway, the Longfellow play was quite good.  I know almost nothing about or by Longfellow, but this made me actually interested to read some of his poetry.  The character of Longfellow's eldest daughter (for whom Longfellow Hall at Harvard Radcliffe [which she helped found] is named /trivia) talked about her father and about poetry about doing noble things and about writing to her brother during the war and all the while i had pogrebin's Walking Shadow fic bouncing through my head, which added a rather darker element to it all.

Heather is amazing at remembering the names of people in my life and what they're doing.  I know because she asks about them.  I suck at this handy aid to conversation-making and am well-impressed.

The cell phone bill arriving yesterday threw me into a panic about the fact that i have little money and no income.  I'll spare you the lengthy babble version of said panic.

This is my life.

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meme from ahlksey

1) Go to my User Info page.
2) Pick one person on my friends list you're curious about.
3) Comment with their username.
4) I will tell you a bit about them.
5) Now post this in your journal, see who is curious about whom.