stariel

I saw this place a while back, in fact I think I might have told you. snarfywarning, this one's for you!





This Mexican place is just down the street, and makes me think of you every time I see it. :)

Yes, Seattle has movies too. But it doesn't have caflygrl and orionnebula and occasionally grateblue2, my Boston movie buddies. All three of which were with me tonight seeing The Dark Knight.



...and how could I not like a theater with flashing stars?

The theater in Fenway has played host to many memorable movie moments during my time in Boston. Hanging out with orionnebula for hours beforehand when the last Harry Potter movie was released - we didn't need to, apparently everyone came to the later showings. The cute blond employee with the bouncy walk. Seeing Narnia *and* Indiana Jones. Sadly I think the Golden Compass was at a the downtown theater, but hey, this is the all movie post!

This theater isn't special for any particular reason, it's not The Coolidge. But it is conveniently located...

Right next to the Boston Common you'll find the Public Gardens - complete with the island, pond, and statues from Make Way for Ducklings.



The ducklings in the aforementioned book come from this island, I believe.



I have no idea what all their names are.

The pond is home to ducks, swans, and (in the background) swan boats.



A nice place for a walk, even if they won't let you on the grass.

Berklee School of Music - not to be confused with Berkeley, which is in California - is located right across the river and very close to Newbury St.

The old, classic side:



The new, modern side:



And there's also the human side. It makes the neighborhood full of college boys carrying guitars - but you can be pretty sure that they're really good at guitar.



You knew there was a reason I like Newbury so much...

Yeah, I know, Boston doesn't have a monopoly on thunderstorms. However, since I decided to move it seems that Thor has decided to take pity on me and come to Boston for a thunder-filled vacation so I can enjoy one my #1 type of weather all the time. The thunderstorms here are very different from the ones in Seattle - it's bolt lightning instead of sheet lightning and they come on and then leave very quickly, usually accompanied by pouring rain.

Thunderstorms are also very hard to take pictures of. Yesterday I was headed out to Allston to meet kale_eater when it started raining hard:



That's the blue sky through the window of the T. Then our train stopped due to "power problems" and we all had to get off. And the sky went dark:



The thunderstorm was right overhead and quite impressive, even though I didn't manage to get any pictures. I should have taken a video so you could at least hear the thunder!

I found out much later that the "power problems" may have been due to lightning that struck the train power lines up the street a ways, although that also might have been after our train stopped as I did still see trains running the other way after ours was stopped and the thunderstorm seemed to be moving towards the place where the lightning struck, not coming from there.

In any case it was pretty impressive.

Cornwall's was my favorite bar ever, until I found River Gods. But that is another story. But this story is about how I went there last night and didn't get home till after 1am and thus will be posting two AMoB posts today, but one later.

What makes a great bar for someone who doesn't drink?

Board games!



That's the solution (guessed by orionnebula) to our game of Simpsons Clue. I was Smithers.

And evening of fabulousness was also made possible by.... crazy friends:



... and virgin Pina Coladas (not pictured). What a night.

Yeah, I know that yesterday was a place in Davis Square, but today is Davis as a whole. Davis is actually the first place I ever went in Boston (technically Somerville) on my first day exploring. It was relatively useless that day since it doesn't have a grocery store or anywhere to buy sheets and towels, but it does have a bunch of little coffee shops and such.



Davis, like many of the "squares" in the Boston area, is not actually square. It is, in fact, a very odd shape which has been turned into a smiley character on t-shirts and such. Sadly I couldn't get a picture of one of those, but instead I got a picture of a street sign accurately depicting the traffic mess that is Davis "Square":



I was standing in the blob between Holland St. and College Ave. when I took the first picture.

The Coolidge is an awesome movie theater in Coolidge Corner, my old neighborhood! I have many fond memories of it during my time in Boston - from the Buffy Singalong - also a picture there of the sign lit up - to seeing some strange movie there with Brit to seeing Brokeback Mountain with orionnebula and an entire theater of gay men... Anyway, it's great.

Lorem Ipsum is a neat used book store in my neighborhood.



I like it because of the name, because of the books, and because of the egg machine.

There is a machine where one can buy little eggs - the plastic Easter egg type - that are filled by other people who visit the bookshop. There is an "egg production" station where you can take a plastic egg and put in whatever you want, then add it to the machine where someone else can buy it for $0.25. I think it's one of the more awesome things I've ever seen.

When I first went to the Boston Public Library - actually the first few times over about 2 years - I only went in the old part. The old library has beautiful architecture, a courtyard, artwork, exhibits, and an amazing reading room. It also doesn't really have books. I was really confused about where the books were until one day I decided to go ahead and embarrass myself and ask orionnebula - turns out there's a newer section with a separate entrance. You *can* get there through the main entrance, but only if you know how to wind your way through the labyrinth-like corridors.



The library is a beautiful building and has these amazing lights on the front that I am totally obsessed with. Something to do with my love of metalwork and filligree I think. In any case, they are probably my favorite part of the library - books and all. ;)

The also had a pretty awesome exhibit of old aerial maps drawn in the late 1800s and early 1900s which I saw.