bironic: Neil Perry gazing out a window at night (RSL neil window)
[personal profile] bironic
Hi. I'm alive. I am feeling alive. All this change really has been reinvigorating.

I've been trying to ride out the high of moving by doing lots of activities. Actually I've only gone straight home from work once, on the first day, and even then I felt restless enough to walk over and get a library card. The last couple of weeks have included:
  • a reception at the Museum of Science
  • a Story Collider event
  • art gallery exhibit opening (check out this amazingness)
  • a bike ride around Fresh Pond
  • a pig sighting in the Public Gardens
  • a free lecture on playing with food elasticity by the White House pastry chef
  • the acquisition of some shirts and a coat and a pair of rain boots
  • a neighbor's BBQ
  • chavurah Sukkot services in Beacon Hill (still beautiful over there, especially at dusk, wow)
  • Shabbat dinner at my friend's place
  • and a handshake with the fabulous doctor-writer Atul Gawande
I'm taking an indoor rowing class too, on erg machines. So far it hasn't been nearly as body-breaking as I'd feared. Turns out it's more legs than core.

Yesterday I popped by the Massachusetts Independent Comics Expo (MICE) to hear a panel on using comics for science education. Some of you would have loved some of the art and comics on display, like Maris Wicks' Hulk yoga series, Michael Rapa's cartoon of frowny-faced Batman flying on equally frowny-faced Superman's back (not online :( ), and Tami Wicinas' fan art including several iterations of The Doctor. Other personal favorite: Rosemary Mosco (example one and two). Then over to a book sale for the science and science fiction shelves at the Harvard Book Store's warehouse near Union Square (restrained self to four books for $20, including a guilty pleasure vampire romance anthology), followed by the What the Fluff? Festival around the corner in the square proper, where, it is said, marshmallow fluff was invented lo these many years ago. I ate my first fluffernutter. Confess it was not a revelation.

Then I got to hang with [livejournal.com profile] therienne, [livejournal.com profile] mollyamory, [personal profile] arduinna and [livejournal.com profile] katie_m for tacos and an Iron Man 3 rewatch. Super enjoyable.

Other fangirl encounters to follow. I look forward to creating and deepening those relationships; many of the above activities would have been better with company.

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Ten days in, the job remains as great as it seemed. There are more evening commitments than anticipated, but given other flexibilities and the fact that everything so far is interesting, I don't much mind. The people are smart and pleasantly weird and morale is good, the last of which makes for a wonderful change.

Although there are few direct ways to get to it, the apartment is also good. Today I'm learning how the washer-dryer works. Three weeks without doing laundry was enough to overcome the fear of what people say is more of a sauna than a dry cycle.

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It's strange, being back in Boston. In a good way. Just, I am encountering layers of memories when I go certain places. Some from freshman year of college 13 years ago, some from senior year, some from grad school, some from grad school remembering college, some from visits in the intervening years, etc. Little flashes when I turn a long-unvisited corner or smell a certain something in the air. An arc across time. To get to work I take a bus that passes through both campuses. Eight years in fifteen minutes.

My geography expands each time I live here, seemingly at a greater rate. First it was a walkable radius around school, then it was a few stops along the Red Line in Cambridge, now it is several of the Boston cluster cities plus what I can reach by car. It's like I'm all grown up or something.

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[livejournal.com profile] festivids disputes period = time to contemplate what to offer and what to request! It will be nice to do fannish things again. Maybe I will even be able to do the vid I want to do for Halloween.

.

Miss you guys. I'm reading LJ & DW every day, just haven't been saying much. Will try to do better. Come winter, I'll bet computer time will soar.

Date: Sep. 29th, 2013 09:25 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] browngirl.livejournal.com
*waves from across town*

Date: Sep. 29th, 2013 10:03 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] laurashapiro.livejournal.com
Really glad you're settling in so well and liking the new gig! Also I envy you getting to hang out with so many awesome fans (and I envy them getting to hang out with you)!

Date: Sep. 30th, 2013 01:54 am (UTC)
From: [identity profile] zulu.livejournal.com
Hooray, I'm glad things are going well! And that you're busy and happy and moraled. :D

Date: Sep. 30th, 2013 05:41 am (UTC)
From: [identity profile] chocolate-frapp.livejournal.com
wow, what great art!

Date: Sep. 30th, 2013 03:35 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] kassrachel.livejournal.com
Yay for the new job being awesome! Yay for fans and IM3! Yay for the Story Collider (I just listened to an episode of that, and it made me think of you, actually.) Yay for Boston! <3

Date: Oct. 1st, 2013 01:55 am (UTC)
ext_2047: (RSL neil window)
From: [identity profile] bironic.livejournal.com
Yay for the change in geography meaning there's an increased likelihood of seeing you sometime!

Date: Oct. 1st, 2013 01:56 am (UTC)
ext_2047: (RSL neil window)
From: [identity profile] bironic.livejournal.com
Right? Gorgeous.

Date: Oct. 1st, 2013 01:56 am (UTC)
ext_2047: (RSL neil window)
From: [identity profile] bironic.livejournal.com
You being a key fangirl to encounter soon. <3

Date: Oct. 1st, 2013 01:58 am (UTC)
ext_2047: (RSL neil window)
From: [identity profile] bironic.livejournal.com
Well, it was just the once so far, but maybe they'll have me back sometime. :)

& thanks so much. It's good to feel good (besides the pang of having left friends). I hope it lasts.

Date: Oct. 1st, 2013 01:58 am (UTC)
ext_2047: (wilson smile)
From: [identity profile] bironic.livejournal.com
Thank you!

Date: Oct. 2nd, 2013 05:18 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] thirdblindmouse.livejournal.com
Yay, Rosemary Mosco's work is great!

I feel silly for not realizing there was a festival going on down in the square. I am bad at keeping up with events, even though I would love to go to more events than I do.

Date: Oct. 2nd, 2013 10:40 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] cincodemaygirl.livejournal.com
Thank you for the art links, they are all amazing! I'm so glad you're having fun. <3 Hopefully I'll manage a visit soon (though finances are pretty up in the air due to the shutdown), it sounds like there are heaps of awesome things to do in Boston--and I miss you already! *hugs*

Date: Oct. 12th, 2013 11:47 pm (UTC)
ext_2047: (Default)
From: [identity profile] bironic.livejournal.com
Back at you. ♥ How's the "vacation" going?

I feel like I owe you an email? Yahoo's been redoing itself again and may have eaten a message, or else I actually did write back to you and just need to do so again.

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