hello, little sparrows! a brief update on the ratties - last i checked, the dead one is still stuck to the trap in the bowels of the basement (yuck) and the other one is nowhere to be found. i'm sure there will be a stench emanating from the walls sometime soon. blech. this weekend actually saw me out of the house for a change, which is nice. friday night was spent in dutiful practice of frenzied job hunting. the chicago dept. of children and youth services (which is like a hybrid of child welfare, early education and care, and youth workforce development, ie. the most perfect fit of all time for me) recently posted an assistant commissioner position. i am working my connections to try to get an interview for that puppy. cross your legs (please, ladies) and whatever else that this works out. i have some interviews here and there, but i am beginning to get a bit nervous. my hope is that stuff will ramp up and start pouring in soon.
i tried to take my mind off the job hunt on saturday, when i made a leisurely breakfast (i'm loving the morningstar farms veggie sausage), tidied up a bit, and set out to the south end to visit the open studios. the stroll was amazing. i forgot how wonderful it is to be in a neighborhood not littered with students, piles of vomit, and empty red bull and lay's chips vessels just lying around. everywhere. instead, the taint of allston/brighton was replaced by pristine brownstones, pleasantly wild gardens, friendly shelter dogs, and kind and artsy folk. i had the loveliest random conversations with people in shops and the open market proved to be a treasure trove. not only did it feature over 60 artisans' wares (painted pottery, jewelry, handmade soaps, handbags), but there were two local farms selling a gorgeous array of the season's bounty. i scored a ring and matching earrings from a gal who went to risd (we bonded because apparently, we went to the same parties in college), an organic body oil (patchouli and orange = not the least bit hippieish, believe it or not), sigh-inducing produce (kale so deep green and thick, that i wanted to cry; heirloom tomatoes; white peaches; fingerling potatoes), and a baguette and farm made pesto, which i ate all of as i browsed the kiosks. the weather was cool and breezy and i felt ever so at peace with my scarf and my spoils. it was a wonderful day.
followed up by an evening of pub crawling in south boston, which is kind of like spending the day listening to classical music and then spending all night listening to NKOTB. the pub crawl was fun and we met many irish people with bad tempers, but big hearts. observe above.
on another note, when did east cambridge become the retirement community for men that i've dated? i had a lovely brunch at eric's yesterday (he called it modest, i called it fantastic) of chicken sausage, herbed greens, cantaloupe, and hi, the best grits i've ever had. oh, and lots of cafe bustelo, which truly is the only kind of coffee worth drinking. once i rolled up to his place, i saw a little squatty scrappy jack russel that looked familiar. "it's jackpot!" yes, it was jackpot, the dog that belongs to brian's gambling addict next door neighbor. brian and eric, incidentally, like 4 houses down from one another. and that's not the only coincidence - without going into detail, if you've ever loved me, i've loved you, or we've feigned such feelings in the drunken darkness, the probability that you live in east cambridge now is like 72%. if you expand that zone to cambridge, it's almost 90%. so wowza. thanks for the memories, cambridge boys. it's like that huge nashville retirement community for aging country stars, except you have the awesome distinction of saying you hit it with me. hooray.
now i am headed to get my run on and fantasize about coming home to a slobbery friend named provolone. mike had the fantastic idea to visit ole prov when i'm in chicago in a few weeks, so if anyone wants to join up to ascertain his character (provolone's, not mike's), please feel free. i mean, if i'm not going to leave chicago with a job, at least i'll leave it with another mouth to feed.
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