231 years ago tonight

"Listen my children and you shall hear
Of the midnight ride of Paul Revere,
On the eighteenth of April, in Seventy-five;
Hardly a man is now alive
Who remembers that famous day and year.
He said to his friend, "If the British march
By land or sea from the town to-night,
Hang a lantern aloft in the belfry arch
Of the North Church tower as a signal light,--
One if by land, and two if by sea;
And I on the opposite shore will be,
Ready to ride and spread the alarm
Through every Middlesex village and farm,
For the country folk to be up and to arm."

Only 25 miles (and 231 years) away...

This is the year Shawn is going to come visit me and read his minuteman poem on Concord bridge.

Pucks and Plato

So I was just reading this week's Bucci article, and ran across this in the letters section:

Dude,
Your comment about Plato cheering for the Wings reminded me of a paper I wrote years ago in an intro to philosophy course. I compared Plato's "Republic" to the '72 Soviet team and John Stewart Mill's "On Liberty" to the '72 Canada team. Contrasting the two philosophies ended up being almost as much of a nail-biter as the ultimate series was. I ended up getting an "A" and it was one of the more fun papers I got to write while at school.
Thanks for reminding me of it. Greg Albert Ulsan, South Korea

Apparently this dude is my soulmate. And he is living in South Korea. Brilliant.

Opening Day

I can't tell you how good it feels to be sitting on my couch, eating peanuts while enjoying a beer and watching the Red Sox on TV. Spring has officially arrived.

It's been a busy few weeks! The semester is winding down, and consequently, I have been working like crazy, caught up in the Wait-I-thought-I-had-more-time-to-finish-this-oh-dear god-it's-due-now rush. Plus, you know...working for a living, and trying to maintain some sort of social life.

So...St. Patrick's day - I was so excited to be going out with friends in Boston; I was even willing to shell out the 30 bucks it would have taken to get me into a bar at Fanueil Hall. I get all dressed up, drive into the city with Nicole, and pick up her friends at Northeastern. Before we leave, I hunt around in my purse for...I don't know, lip gloss or something. It was only then that I realized I had taken my checkbook out of my purse to pay bills online that afternoon. My checkbook, which included my license.

As I was fairly sure that no bouncer in beantown was going to buy my sob story (come on, I don't look THAT old!), I tearfully bid my Paddy's Day adieu and drove my pathetic self back home. On the way, I called my brother and vented a little frustration, and, being the good guy that he is, he said, "Dude, you need to go to Blockbuster and rent season 3 of 24, get yourself a pint of Ben and Jerry's and watch that shit in bed. I'm going to send you the money to rent it, and I am going to call you tomorrow and ask what happened, so you'd better do it."

"Okay..." I sniff. 30 minutes later, I pull into the Westborough Blockbuster, only to realize that...yep, my license is STILL at my apartment (I don't have a Blockbuster card, and I doubt they'd accept a High St. Video card.) I called Shawn back, and he busted out laughing. After about five minutes, he was still laughing, and I had to admit, the situation was just a tiny bit humorous.

On the 19th, I 'ran' the Ras na hEireann in Somerville with Dana and some other friends. I say 'ran', because I was sick and thought I was running pretty fast, when, in actuality, I was pretty slow. But none of that matters when there is free beer for runners after the race! We went to PJ Ryans, and they had the BEST potato leek soup I have ever tasted. Beer, soup, post-race craic, it was great. We then engaged in an impromptu pub crawl through Davis Square. So, even though it came a couple days late, it was one of the best St. Patrick's Days ever.