A Goodly Weekend

Me, my sweet beard, and that awesome freeway bridge.

Friday was pretty cool.  I went in to the creative writing office to help Caroline for a few hours.  She sent me to the alumni site and I just took the names from it and Googled them to see what they were up to.  I'm working opposite Lisa, so I started at Z.  I found one guy (name I don't remember) who studied poetry here in the 80s and then got famous writing between-movie Star Wars books.  Talk about a hilarious job.  As I was leaving to go downstairs to AGNI, I got an email from Bill telling me that his conference had been moved from 7pm to 3pm and so I didn't need to come in.  So I'll start next week.  I went to the library, sent off my poems for workshop, and tried finding a place to watch the BSU game.  At 5pm I left and headed to Elizabeths' for our poetry mates BBQ.  Everybody brought stuff and all ten of us were there.  I got to do the grilling.  I was wearing my BSU hat and had my sweet beard, so TJ made the comment that I looked like I was supposed to be grilling.  I love that idea.  Almost as much as I love hamburgers.  We had a good time hanging out and once everybody had a few drinks in them (everybody except me, and Ashley, who had left) then we told stupid jokes (I love stupid jokes) and then cleaned up and I took my leave.  I like that we're all tight and I like everybody in our group so much it's ridiculous.  It has been and will be a wicked sweet year.

Saturday morning my awesome friend Brad Meehan came to visit.  He's up from DC for the weekend and needed a place to crash.  So we're hangin' out.  He had stuff planned for the afternoon and so did I so I sent him on his way after we chatted for a bit.  He went on a tour with his other friend and I went out to lunch with some Portuguese speakers.  The other day I got a mass ward email announcing lunch for anybody that spoke Portuguese (or didn't) at a Brazilian restaurant called Muqueca.  I told them I'd come so off I went.  It turned out to be just four of us.  Three Americans (myself, Michelle, and Tyler) and one Brazilian (Idario).  Idario just got baptized earlier this year and he was way cool.  He told me that my Portuguese was very good (as if my head wasn't big enough already, but it's a good compliment to receive) and we all had a tasty lunch.  Since I was landlocked (among other adventures) in Goiania I never had much seafood, so we all ordered something different and just shared.  It was all extremely good.  My favorite was the marisca, which was a rice dish with yellow sauce, shrimp, pasta, and small clams.  Very tasty.  We also got to speak Portuguese, our Brazilian waitress was really funny (not to mention easy on the eyes), and drink Guarana.  It was a good time and I was happy to have some new friends.  It'll happen again soon, I'm sure.

Afterwards I ran some errands, checked again for places to watch the BSU game, and then met Brad and a few of his friends at Cheers.  I'm not really familiar with the show (at all) but it's the real Cheers that they based the set off of.  It was a pretty cool setup (all downstairs).  I got a Cheers cheeseburger and Brad got some Boston Creme pie (I like his style).

Captain Morgan pose at Cheers?  Check.

After that we ran around desperately trying to find a place to watch the game.  I checked bars that we walked by and we even went to the George Sherman Union building to see if it was on at the food court.  Nothing.  I had sent a mass email out to the ward trying to find a place to watch it (even mentioned it may be abusing the system, which it was not), but the moderator told me that it was abusing the system and didn't send it.  Don't worry, I sent him/her a scalding email telling them that I have no Mormon friends in town and thanked him/her for forcing me to compromise my morals by frequenting an unholy locale dedicated to alcohol consumption (a bar, guys) in order to watch the game.  It was mostly true, since I stood outside a bar on Beacon Street for a few minutes on our walk home, but it was getting late.  So I watched the fourth quarter on GameCast (which sucks but is better than nothing) and went to bed cursing the moderator.

Today was pretty cool.  First, we slept in.  Then, we went to church.  Then we went home and changed.  Then we went to the USS Constitution. 

USS Constitution

Then we climbed all 294 steps in the Bunker Hill monument.

Inside Bunker Hill Monument (with a cannon from the Revolutionary War)

Then we went back to the church to get a ride to the Longfellow Park 1 Ward New Member Dinner.  It was geared towards those of us that are new, but everybody was invited.  Brad and I rode with Bishop Walker.  He knew exactly how to get to his house.  It was out in...Framington?  (Nice, quiet place where turkeys crossed the road when we were trying to turn.)  We met some cool people.  I remember Libby the most.  We ate some good food, went back for lots of dessert, and mingled a bit.  Then we rode home with Andrea (who Brad knows from DC), Jan (who is getting her PhD in some type of astronomy at BU), and Stefanie (who really likes Disneyland).

Now we're home, chillin.  I'ma read some poetry, read some scriptures, and take some nap.  Oh, and those of you reading this can see how fun it is to visit Calvin in Boston.  So come visit Calvin in Boston and it'll be never ending happiness.  Especially at Cheers.