1. Long in the planning, we finally got together with Matt and Norah for a Saturday outing to the ICA (John B., Erik's new playmate from work, and Jenn couldn't make it, unfortunately). E & I hadn't been to the ICA before and got seriously lost on the way there: while the building is quite obviously and visibly on the waterfront, we just couldn't find a way to bike there: we ended up on some nasty highway intersection just to be (mis-)led into the World Trade Center from which we escaped by going underground through a subway station, all the while seeing the damn thing but not getting there! Be advised, fellow-Bostoners: don't take Summer Street Bridge. Anyway... just rambling away here... eventually we caught up with Norah and Matt, who were happily sitting at the back porch of the museum, where it is really, really lovely. Perfect picnic spot, I'd say.
The reason we were excited about the ICA was the Shephard Fairey exhibition, which unfortunately ended yesterday. Amazing stuff, beyond the super famous Obama image and the almost equally famous Giant series. Norah and I almost missed the first room, though, since we were too engaged in our rant about how irrational the "discussion" on health care has become.
Just about as irrational as the "debate" between the Polish social activists caught on tape by artist Artur Zmijewski: their task was to represent their own beliefs on a poster and critique the posters presented by the other groups. Guess what happens when you throw conservative Catholics, Jewish activists, the nationalistic Polish youth, and the socialist Polish youth into one room? Posters go up in flames... Zmijewski's video "THEM (SIE)" is quite unsettling, if predictable (probably unsettling because predictable).
Aside from Fairey and social documentary video art, there was a bit of (lame) sculpture (but that's just my opinion), some good photography (ditto), and some blah painting (ditto). The coolest room in the museum: the mediathek:
You can't see it, but outside the giant window: well, it's all water. Imagine your office in here!
2. Next to the ICA is the famous Boston seaside restaurant The Barking Crab. While making written (Facebook) arrangements for meeting with Norah, I had accidentally misspelled the name and asked if she wanted to go to The Barking Crap, and really, that name fits more properly. Of course, we didn't know that at the time.... We went because we wanted to have an authentic Boston experience, which the Crab claims to offer, and because we wanted to sit outside in a Biergarten-like atmosphere to enjoy the warm evening while hanging out with friends.
In respect to the Biergarten atmosphere, the rustic picnic tables, plastic utensils, plastic flatware, and plastic glasses and pitchers, all kept underneath a giant tent, were completely and fully acceptable. So was the menu, prominently featuring fried fish and beer (and lobster). We should have been suspicious that the menu didn't list beer prices, but instead we happily ordered a pitcher along with our food. Big mistake, as it turned out. The service reminded me of airport restaurant service: the waitstaff wants you in and out as quickly as possible. Our food arrived immediately, the plates were taken before we were done (we had to stop the waiter twice), and the bill arrived with all glasses still half full. And when we didn't leave right away, we were asked after just three minutes if there was anything else...? Because otherwise...? Yes, we got the message; we had overstayed our welcome.
For a glass of beer, a plate of fish and chips, and one fourth of an appetizer (we shared), you pay 25 bucks, thanks to the hidden beer price that was completely insane. The food was okay: it was your typical pub food. Of course, you can order the lobster at 18.50 a pound, and crack is open by whacking a rock down on it, as the people who shared our table did with utmost enthusiasm. They belonged to the unbearable group of yuppies that, while a rare sight outside of downtown Boston, gathered en masse at the Crap, 'scuse me, Crab, to enjoy their fancy fare off of plastic. That's decadence.
3. Norah & Matt went their way; E & I went ours. And it took us past the Boston Commons, where we could see tents and stalls and a big stage. So we stopped, asking what the commotion was all about. In retrospect I feel sheepish we didn't know: it was Shakespeare on the Commons! For two weeks, the Commonwealth Shakespeare Company had been performing The Comedy of Errors for free each evening, and Saturday marked their second-to-last show. So we plopped down on the grass, got our share of Ben & Jerry's ice-cream ('cause all that fried fish just wasn't enough!), and enjoyed a truly magical production. It was really, really beautiful, and it was such a lovely evening, and it's such fun to sit in the grass, and... and... and... *sigh* It was so romantic!
4. I didn't need to beg Erik to come along to the Open House at NESOP, the New England School of Photography at Kenmore; he fully supports my photographic ambition.
That ambition hasn't translated into anything yet, so don't ask. But I'll tell you anyway: My grandfather was a photographer, and when he passed away all his equipment went to my dad, who then transformed a closet into a tiny darkroom. And when I was young, I spent hours in that darkroom with my dad. In high school I took two darkroom classes, and in college I went to the darkroom with my friend Konni, who's a professional photographer. Then digital photography happened, and since then I've been taking lousy snapshots with my lousy compact digital camera (and photos on our honeymoon that turned out nicely because I had borrowed a good camera, a Canon Rebel XTi). In any event, I finally dug out my old film SLR, and I'd love to get back into doing film photography and developing film myself. In addition, I'd like to get a better understanding of digital photography. NESOP offers evening workshops for people like me who like to take pictures and want to make a hobby of it. I'm thinking of taking a class this fall, and that's why I wanted to go to the open house.
Alas, the open house was more geared towards people who are interested in taking a two-year course at NESOP as full-time students. We joined a tour to see the dark rooms and computer labs and studios and the equipment room, and we met with faculty and students who talked about their work... and that was all super interesting. Erik (who particularly liked the photojournalism work) told me to keep my bicycle helmet on to keep my head from exploding from all the excitement. If you're interested, NESOP has a beautiful gallery with recent work by students: it's all really, really good work!
5. After we spent the early afternoon at NESOP, we crossed Kenmore in search of food and found Le Petit Robert, a small French bistro with an impressive collection of miniature Eiffel towers and a real French waiter who I wanted to take home with us 'cause his accent was so cute. (But E convinced me that a dog is better qualified as pet.) We went for the "express lunch option" and got really delicious food for very little money. We'll definitely go back to explore the dinner options. The waiter warned us to make reservations: apparently, the place gets packed for dinner. No surprise there!
So. That was the weekend. All those activities interfered with doing laundry, which is usually on our Sunday to-do list. Hence, I'm staying home today to wash and dry and iron and fold. And to work on my syllabi! Yes--I'm starting to teach in eleven days! Totally excited about it... and therefore I leave you with pictures of my new office that I have all to myself (taken with a phone camera):
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