A Study of Contrasts

The last few weekends has been a tale of many lives for me, or maybe more since I seem to cross a few different crowds these days.

The weekend before last I went to see Phish in Albany NY for two nights. The "scene" is perhaps the least enjoyable part about seeing Phish and I had almost forgotten about this until I realized that my friends are part of the scene. Let's just say it's not always about the music for everyone there. In the past I didn't know they were referred to as the "nitrus mafia" and that other people are actually blogging about this. It just seems stupid to me. So anyways, Saturday during the day we had time, well actually the whole day to kill and let's just say there's not a whole to do in Albany, NY. After a leisurely 11:30 am wake up I was trying to inspire my crew of 7 or so dirty and smelly male comrades to leave the trashed hotel room we were staying in to do something, anything really, and not a single one of them seemed to have any interest in moving. On the contrary, they seemed content with watching Ritchie Rich, Blade II, and then Blade 3 Trinity, and a number of B movies while ordering pizza for breakfast. I couldn't take it so I left to check out the local food co-op since I had previously heard about it and wanted some real food.

My timing was impeccable: 12:30pm Saturday's just happens to be the time for a free half hour session of "Yo Ba" Chi Gong, which to my luck was open to the public. This is the description from the co-ops website of this class:

"Join Unchatwa (aka Tim Stoddard) on a gentle journey for health and vitality. An eclectic fusion of Pasha (gentle heart) Yoga and Ba Gau Zhang (8 palm change) circle walking with kidney cleansing Chi Gung to cleanse the blood, tonify the kidneys, and energize the body, mind and spirit."

Wow - if I had to describe food co-ops to someone and the people there - I would use the exact above description to offer a really poor stereotype of a co-op shopper. While I am pretty open to anything, this is not something I would normally do but having nothing to do in Albany for the day and thinking about the disgustingly dirty room of friends awaiting back at our cheap hotel I decided to give it a try. I actually felt a lot better afterwards, although it was pretty strange - of course I never heard the end of it when I got back to the hotel room, which to no surprise did not see any movement until the show at night except the brief walk to buy snacks from the gas station across the street.

Last weekend I went to NYC and joined my friend's holiday party (he works for Sungard Financials) at Bryant Park. Luckily we are the same size and I could borrow some clothing since I forget that my workplace is very different than a lot of my corporate contemporary's and I had to snag a nice shirt, pants, and tie (when it's warmer I sometimes go to my work in my Cameroonian shorts by contrast). While they didn't ask who I was to get in since I guess I looked the part, this was one of the most extravagant work party's I've ever been to. Catered and delicious meal with the type of deserts you see in commercials, multiple open bars, beautiful roof-top deck view of, the Manhattan downtown, and a solid DJ spinning tunes all night. I was actually in New York for a retreat for a group I volunteer with called CISPES (Committee in Solidarity with the People's of El Salvidor) - man I am really taking a turn to the left lately...and it was such a contrast to be with this radical leftist group the next day, who probably mostly are anti-consumerists and work for non-profits (or are unemployed). We did exercises such as "activist yoga" and "anti-oppression workshops." My friend would probably have felt pretty weird there and he's also a pretty open guy.

Finally, just to top things off on my way back Sunday night I stopped in Springfield, MA and wondered upon the most amazing and unexpected restaurant ever called Teresa's Soul Food. at 10 pm Sunday night I couldn't believe there was anyone there but Teresa, just returning from church, bounced right in and started cooking up some great candied yams, collard greens, and Southern Fried chicken while a huge bible lay open on the restaurant counter (it was kind of diner style). She put on gospel music on the CD player, fried up some cat fish as samples while we were waiting and persisted in trying to get us to try the pig feet. The obvious point of contrast here was that you wouldn't normally associate Springfield, MA with great soul food cooking - and even though we were the only people in the place, the food was really amazing. I highly recommend the stop if you ever for whatever reason find yourself in Springfield, MA 10 pm on a Sunday night. And if you ever the opportunity to do Yo Ba" Chi Gong, I say take it. Why not? You only live once and you don't need to go abroad to see the incredible diversity of layers that exist right here within our own society

Birdie in the Nest

Growing up I always was told by my mom that this was one of our family recipes so I assumed it was special. I've always loved Birdie in the nests but then later on found out that lot's of other people eat them too. I've heard lots of names for them too including:

Egg Island

Eggie Weggy (England)

Toad in the Hole

Egg in the basket

And just now I check in Wikipedia and they've got also:

It is also known by a large number of alternative names, examples being "Rocky Mountain toast",^[4] "moon egg",^[5] "egg-in-the-hole"^[6], "One-eyed Jack",^[7] "Bird's nest"^[8] and "frog in a hole"

So somewhat disappointing, but it still is bomb and I highly recommend this to my readers

The Return of Trainwreck

Picture above may or may not exeggerate age of average tennis player at the Sportman's Tennis Club in Dorchester, MA

So last night I made my 2nd appearance (group hit night) at the Sportsman's Tennis Club in Dorchester, MA. It's the only club of I know of in Boston that's relatively affordable. I guess I am back on the courts again after a long hiatus (except for a few good stretches during the warmer months of the year) and thinking about joining. These guys also do league play which is cool and I can represent Boston.

It's funny - I've never really thought about rankings and levels (3.0, 4.0, etc.) but now I need to. What's also funny is that this group, maybe around 20 strong, is mostly a bunch of old men who play some good old man tennis. Last night I played doubles and felt pretty shaky. These guys do not look like they should be that good but they are deceptive and play smart. In addition when you move indoors the balll just seems to skid and move a lot faster. These guys are probably not serving more than 70 mph but it feels like 100 mph.

It's funny how quickly I revert to old habits. I know I can play the game, but the minute I get on the court, especially with new players, I start second guessing myself. I have always been this way - a real headcase. When I am confident - I can hit ridiculous shots that I should not be able to hit but the opposite is also true and I don't what's in my genetics that playing with a bunch of average old men can make me so nervous.

In general, I think having some competition and being challenged with some stakes are a good thing to have on a weekly basis in your life. It keeps things interesting. And yet I'm not gonna lie by saying it wasn't somewhat of a relief to graduate MAC and not have to think about playing another match there again in my life and the thought of playing in a competitive league again makes me think again about how quickly "Trainwreck" (my college alter-ego) could return.

Weekend fun

Many of you (and by many I mean probably no one) might wonder what I do with myself in Boston on the weekends. I can't say this was the best weekend I've had in awhile, but here goes a few highlights:

Friday
I get home from work to entertain a visitor from a non-profit soliciting me to get involved with anti-bottled water campaign. This same group sent someone to my house on a similar occasion a few months ago with similar results. For the second time in a row, they send a beautiful young woman around my age who does an amazing job at acting (or maybe not acting) genuinely interested in my life, my work, and being as friendly and nice as possible. How could I say no? After already becoming a monthly donor this new one fished a one time donation out of me - this is exactly why 90% of their office is probably young hot females.
I then went to a Harvard law party (I have a friend there) - unfortunately the lights were very bright, the punch was warm, and the music was awful. Since I wasn't in anyone's "section" I felt a little out of place. You gotta be open to new ideas and you never what experiences life will throw at you - this time not a whole lot but who knows if I went to 10 Harvard law party's what could happen?
Saturday
Went to a few party's and after figuring out it wouldn't be smart to drive home I drank some more -It always takes one of these moments to later remember why you shouldn't do this. Just a word of advice here - I would advise against taking a shot of flaming Sambuca (and doing the sniffer)-I hate licorice and when drinking beer all night it just doesn't seem to fit. Anyways, this is probably what made me sick and it's been awhile since I really felt it so bad. It probably didn't help that I was the only one in the house without a bed or couch and slept in a half curl in a chair.
Sunday
Not much to report except my pancakes debacle in the morning (I was in so state to be cooking in all fairness):
1 cup of pancake mix, 1 cup of milk, 1 cup vegetable oil
Wait a second, did I just say 1 cup vegetable oil? I meant 1 TBSP - too late. I ate 2 crispy pancakes oozing with oil that almost made me run to the bathroom again mid-way through the 2nd pancake.
I proceeded to spend the next 3 hours curled up in the fetal position in my bed having a hard time deciding whether my it was my head pounding or my stomach clenching harder.
According to my brother, 1 cup of vegetable oil is more than you normally consume in a week - it's like eating a full stick of butter or something.
I eventually forced myself out of bed at around 3 because it was so beautiful outside and generally I think being in bed doesn't actually make you feel better. They weren't my best 9 wholes of golf but I got through them.

You can't say I don't live an adventerous life

Monsey, New York

I recently visited the great large apple of NYC and the beautiful state of New Jersey on a recent sales trip. One of the highlights was seeing my rabbi friend Heshy in Monsey, NY. Since it was the night before Sukkot - Heshy wanted to take me out and see the community and how different it would be for someone like me coming from a secular background.

Joseph Berger of The New York Times said in a 1997 article that Monsey in the 1950s "was a small rustic intersection with a single yeshiva." By 1997 Monsey had 112 synagogues and 45 yeshivas (Wikipedia).

I saw a number of interesting things but surprisingly my biggest cultural shock moment was going to the Orthodox supermarket at about 11 AM on a Thursday night, bussling with people. This 100% kosher supermarket was, not joking, a slightly reduced in size version of Cosco. My friend is not Hasidim (see pic. above) but almost all of the other shoppers were (and were men). The majority of these folks speak the dying language of Yiddish while the people working there were almost all Spanish speaking. Given the product mix - which was also almost entirely foreign and in Hebrew and the noise level of so many people speaking and yelling things accross the aisles at once, I really thought I was in another country. I also wasn't sure whether my Spanish or Yiddish needs more improvement - oy gevalt what am I saying I don't speak any Yiddish!

Anyways, I'm walking around in awe when all of the sudden I get hit with the worse heart burn (reminescent of a previous occassion - I should probably do something about this at some point) and fell to the floor clutching my chest in pain. It wasn't like I wasn't already receiving a wide range of stares dressed and looking the way I was. After Heshy finally found me and finished his shopping we were able to leave with only slight embarresement. No one did offer any me help, Sukkot was too soon around the corner (actually I sort of ran off an hid between cash registers in a crouched position)
This entry finally connected my two favourite things to write about - heartburn and Judaism. Coincidence? I hope not

My Top 5 Cities

I'm heading home on the Bolt Bus from NYC right now and thought I'd use their free wi-fi to write a quick blog entry - it's crazy that they have this bus now and it's not anymore $$ than the Chinatown bus (and your bus will not explode into flames mid-way).

I had a few days in Jersey for a business trip and in the past have used this opportunity to visit friends in NYC. This time I kind of wanted to get back to Boston and it made me realize how this has become my new home and how much the city's grown on me. It's still not my favourite - in fact right now, at least for cities in the U.S. (plus Montreal since it's close to where I grew up) it might go something like:

1. Montreal*
2. New Orleans
3. Burlington***
4.Minneapolis/St. Paul
5. Pittsburgh/Madison (tie here)
*The one caveat with these ones is in the winter they probably doesn't even make the top 5 because it's so cold.
***Not because it's cold but because of all the annoying UVM students is really only #3 because of it's amazingness in the summer

NYC is a tough one because it goes from 1 to last so quickly from moment to moment - it's just such a crazy place that has extrreme potentials for coolness or terribleness and it's different every time I go. Pittsburgh is surprisingly very cool - lot's of hills, up & coming with very affordable living (and bars), lots of artsy type stuff going on - give it a chance it will surprise you. I imagine Philly and Portland would make the list if I spent more time there. Tuscon is cool too - but doesn't seem really together like a lot of places out West you need a car so it gets cut from the list.

I feel pretty lucky that I've been able to go to a bunch of Red Sox games, see a few shows, go on a few adventures, and many times at-the-last minute, which is much harder to do in NYC. So for now I'm sticking around and hoping that winter won't suck too hard

Police brutality

Going through Dorchester on my way home from the Cape this weekend I had an interesting experience with the police. And by interesting I mean I almost pooped my pants.

I seem to always get in trouble when I am with my friend Higgsy from London who doesn't usually wear a seatbelt for whatever reason and usually puts his feet high up on the dashboard. He's also quite a lanky fellow so it's very noticeable for a passerbye. Dorchester is not such a great neighborhodd in Boston but it wasn't too late, only around 9 or so and it was Sunday.

I still don't know why I was pulled over but there were two cars and the one unmarked one had a big black dude in street clothes that was the most intimidating "police" officer I've ever had to talk to. I think they thought we must have been someone else because they first were asking about what Higgsy was holding on his hand (a GPS) and where we were going...he asked me if I had been drinking and I said no and he pressed me on it saying, "so you haven't a single drink today??!!!" and since the truth was that I had had a beer at around 11 am I told him so and he went bezerk and asked if I thought he was an idiot and told me to step out of the car. I tried to explain that what I meant was that I had drank one beer and not "been drinking" - seems like two very different things right? He started shouting at me about if he asks a question he wants an answer and he asked if I was drinking water whether I would tell him or not. It was absotuely ridiculous. He then was saying how I was stumbling and my eyes were all glazed over - which none of this was true and I told him to breathalize me. He then told me he could put me in the slammer if he wanted. and after telling Higgsy (as they continued to harrass me) that they were fuc$#ng me, they even searched through my car and asked about open containers. They were saying that Higgs was going to have to drive my car home and I told them that he only had an international liscence and didn't know how to drive stick and they were like "we don't care."

The whole thing was crazy and when they finally let me go back in my car they jokingly said to Higgsy, "what's going on here?!" and he told me that they were indeed screwing with me. And actually as I found out afterwards he had told them to do so when they asked him halfway through if they should keep doing it. If he had said no things probably would have gotten worse so I think it was the right answer. But still, they couldn't have been completly screwing around since they continued to search my car even after they told him it wasn't real.

I'm just glad I got away unscraped but it was really terrifying and I'm never good in those situations anyways. I wish I could know why I was pulled over - they just told some lame thing like "slow down" right at the end but I feel like this is exactly why so many people hate cops. They probably could have actually put me in jail for some made up thing if they had really wanted to.

Something smells Fishy at 3231 Washington St.

A christian from Ecuador, a Muslim from Springfield (MA), and a Jew from Vermont walk into a bar...

sounds like the beginning to some joke right? Well this is the rainbow that is my apartment and for the most we get along pretty well. Last night my Muslim roommate Hammed (who's not really observant at all but that's his background) expressed some frustrations with me. I understood a lot of his complaints and I can get in trouble when I fail to see something that is common sense to most people. Take this for instance:

My roommate Hammed told me that his whole family and a bunch of friends would be coming to the house for a graduation party and he gave us some good heads up notice. While I knew they were coming I didn't really think it would be such a bad idea to fry up a quick fish before they got there. Problem was, by the time I actually started frying this smelly greasy fish, his whole family was there, and for some reason, many were in suit and ties and standing around me as I fried. I was the loan white person there too. His mom and sister invited me though to come and join outside with their bbq but I could tell Hammed would not be happy if I took her up on this offer.

So no one actually said anything about the fish at the time, and looking back it is somewhat humorous, albeit rude. But apparently, as I found out last night, my roommate has been holding a grudge against me for the last few months after since this fish frying incidence. I can understand his frustration - I just don't do deal with passive aggressive people who hold things in like this.

Canadian Cougars

Going home for Memorial Day was really nice. I took a trip to perhaps one of my top 3 favourite cities - Montreal. There's just a lot to do there, beautiful parks and overlook at Mont Royal, lots of good eateries and cultural events, and the city just always seems to be more alive than Boston (or Burlington for that matter). And I'm not just saying this because when you turn 18 in Vermont you go to Montreal to drink legally (slash see some "dancing"), it really does seem to be more vibrant. Every time I've been there seems to be some funny or crazy thing that happens. The highlight from this trip was going with my current roommate in Boston to a club downtown (unlike Boston you can actually hang out downtown at night) known as "le Funkytown" that a random stranger had recommended to us. The funny thing was that it actually was pretty funky town (the music wasn't bad)- just not in the way I expected. After paying a $10 cover there was no turning around after coming in and noticing that there was hardly a single person there under the age of 39. Now for most 24 year olds this would be a pretty awkward moment - and it was. Especially because many people had that real traditional Quebecois thing going on. But I figured I had nothing to lose so I took to the dance floor and after some time was in my element and had a small crowd dancing with me. I ended up having a pretty fun time with some of the Canadian Cougars - although for some reason all of these woman were about a foot taller than me. I even inspired some older balding men to join the dance floor - good times.

The funny conclusion to this trip was that ever since the border police searched my car as a teen many years ago I always freak out at the border (not that I wouldn't anyways). Going to Canada the guards pretty much say, "have a good time eh (added for emphasis) and if you go to that club Funky Town make sure to say hi to Edna for me," but on the way back into the U.S. they are really terrible. You feel like you are going through interegation and you've done something wrong and have to crap really badly all of the sudden. This time was no different and I knew I would screw up. The border guard quickly fired off 6 questions in a menacing tone not giving me anytime to answer: "What were you doing in Canada? Where are you from? How long were you there? What illegal substances do you have in the car? Did you buy anything in Canada? How do you (in the car) know each other?" He had asked me where I lived too and I mistakenly said Shelburne Vermont and not Boston because I was nervous and after my roommate had said Boston and I had answered we knew eachother because we lived together, it didn't quite add up and we had to get out of the car while my roommate (who's from Ecuador) recieved an additional 30 minutes of questioning. While these questions might seem easy, put in the right context and with the right tone of voice it's really intimidating even when you've done nothing wrong.

Summer begins

It really is great that the sun is out, baseballs are flying, and we are on our way...

This past week was bike to work week and even though I work way out in the boonies (West Bridgewater, MA) I was able to borrow my roommates old rickety bike and do the 28 miles back each way on Thursday. My legs were dead but it was an interesting experience, also a sad one as I realized that this would really be impossible to do on any regular basis.

The ride in itself was uneventful but coming back I found a parking ticket (street cleaning) on my car and couldn't believe it - not because I got one, this is probably my 7th ticket or so since moving here, but because I had forgotten about my car specifically because I biked that day. This was sadly ironic.

Speaking of sadly ironic, just a few days later I was playing tennis at the MIT tennis courts and noticed afterwards that a joyous barbecue was taking place so I went by and was offered hot dogs, chips, drinks, the whole works (I sweat I didn't even try to fit in as a student, although I guess I already do - small, dorky, and Jewish). I wasn't going to say no and so I partook and enjoyed a free afternoon of food and drink on M.I.T. But was it really on M.I.T.? The more I thought about the more I realized how college tuition is so high these days and some portion of our parent's tuition money is being channeled into places like this and ending up in the mouth's of the wrong people - like me. I guess you could say the same thing about a thousand budgeted items at a college and all of the student organizations which serve no purpose except to have their own bbq's and partake in the fun and enjoyment of redirecting a small portion of our parent's tuition money towards our fun. Yeh college

10 cavities

No, I didn't actually think this was possible, but today I found out I have 10 cavities when I paid (which will soon also be litteral) the dentist a visit after taking a year of absence. I know you probably don't care about my teeth but I just need a minute to complain here about the problem of incentive structures in this world. Obviously, every dentist has a different opinion over what constitutes a problem or something that actually needs fixing sooner rather than later. Dentists, like mechanics, stand to gain when they have more work and problems to fix.

Luckily, I DO NOT work on commission in sales for Equal Exchange so this problem really is avoided. I don't even get bonuses at Christmas. That way if some one is being a jerk or wants to bring in our coffee for the wrong reasons I can even say no (although yes in a small unnoticeable way my individual patronage rebate goes up slightly with each sale). But I would say this incentive based work structure - the "earn your keep" model that fuels most of America and has CEO's earning mega million dollar bonuses to sell sub-prime morgages in irresponsible manners is clearly not sustainable even if it does induce most recent college grads to work their asses off for an extra couple hundred dollars a week in exchange for having no life. There has to be some middle ground...Alpha, the alternative learning program in grades 6-8 that I went through where we each just set our own goals seemed to work just fine. Those of us with little ambition did little and for people that actually wanted to learn it was a great environment. And in the end, everyone knows, you can't beat a dead horse, or maybe that's the wrong expression, what I meant to say is some people will work hard and others won't and incentives, while well intentioned, often produce unexpected and additional results to the primary purpose.

So with all of that being said and a good rant out of my system, you might think I'm being cynical and over-the-top but I'm not. As I was leaving the dentist today, they sold me a tube of prescription tooth-paste for $15 - can I get a second opinion on this? I mean common!

Turning 24

My birthday was yesterday and I turned 24 - yeh me, happy birthday. Actually I really don't like Birthdays because they are so much more fun when you are a kid and you get to actually enjoy them - as pirates or mini-golfers or whatever, and you have friends. At 24 most of your childhood friends are gone and you are a loner along with your few close friends - or maybe I am just talking about myself. But I'm actually feeling like an adult now, which is weird, because it does happen so fast and 24 sounded so old to me when I was in college. I suppose when I'm 28 I'll say the same thing and maybe some day I'll just accept it.
I ended up spending my Birthday with my brother Adam which was nice. My (now) 4 year old neice Esther asked me why I had gotten kicked out of my old house. This was probably the highlight of the night as it was completely unprovoked and I have no idea how she knew that (I was't really kicked it, ok well, sort of, but that's another story) and it caused an uproar. But she really does remember everything. She's going to be a genious.
Anyways, now I am older, still can't grow a beard, and don't look that much different than I did 10 years ago. I'm not sure if this a good or bad thing yet.

Daily Catastrophies, etc.

So I was recently voted in as a worker-owner at Equal Exchange (I think it was in February for my one year anniversary - I can't believe it's been one year!). This was a great moment and it's pretty cool that I am now a co-owner of a $35 million company. I get a share of the profit, eventually a trip to source, voting rights, 401K, etc. I also got my one year review at this time and one of the comments from a close peer was that it seemed like there were daily catastrophes in my life, not always work-related, and that I needed improvement in this area cause it was disruptive. Well it's not that I totally disagree and I did get the name Train Wreck in college for a reason, but Ialso had some particularly bad luck right around my worker-ownership vote and one year review. For example, probably 2 or 3 coffee mugs flying off my desk after the the corner of whatever piece of clothing I was wearing smacked it as I turned to run to catch the van at the end of the day leaving in one minute (I am in a van pool for work and it leaves with or without you). Being late to a few too many times didn't help, and of course, there was the time a few weeks ago when I suddenly remembered last minute that my flight out of Logan was an hour before I thought it was and I somehow made a flight that I got to the airport 15 minutes before it was leaving after running from bus, to subway, to shuttle, to gate and arguing with baggage assholes for 10 minuts about my carry-on being too large (I did eventually get it on btw). I would say that I usually have good excuses, but I guess when this happens often enough it doesn't matter.

For awhile I've haven't been finding the time to write about these sometimes ridiculous events that I think some people might find humorous but today presented another chance:

It being the second day of Pesach (Passover), I was celebrating at my aunts an hour or so outside Boston. The reason why I didn't have my car and I was stuck at work at 5:15 running around trying to figure out how I was going to get there by 6 (I didn't have time to go back home to get my car as it was 45 minutes w/out trafffic to get there) is not even worth telling as somehow I always get myself into these situations. Needless to say, I would have pretty much missed passover if it hadn't been for a friend/co-worker who let me borrow the Equal Exchange events van (this was probably illegal) and told me "GOOOOO!!" So here I am running late (always running late), in this ridiculously colored farmer/artisan coffee van (think large multi-colored bath tub) trying to get through Boston rush hour traffic while (this is true) 1 - my GPS has run out of batteries (at least I am trying here, got the GPS for Chanukah a few months back) 2 - my cell phone is dying and I don't have directions 3 - and I am really stressing because my friend forgot to mention that the van had no gas. After quite a bit of sweaty armpits, I somehow make it 40 minutes late to my aunt's sedar with car still intact.

So the ridiculous part is that I was like the second person there! I should have known - my family is actually worse than me at being on time (really just my mom's side). So they finally show up an HOUR LATER!! and we start the Sedar but of course my aunt has these guide books from the 1950's - "Maxwell House Presents the Passover Sedar" filled with ridiculous adds for Kosher Maxwell House coffee. The language in these books was incoherent and noone really took it seriously (I always find it weird doing things like this with my family since it seems like we're always praying for God and most people in my family have never professed any belief in God -?)

Anyways, the night ended fine but this daily catastrophie stuff really does need to improve. At least for the time management thing, one suggestion from my brother has been to start enacting the fudge ratio but the rest of the world might just have to put up with me. It's all in the adjectives you use: loveable, goofy, fun, unpredictable OR unreliable, careless, clumsy, lacking foresight/common sense, whatever

To do Today

To Eat:

-Broccoli cake -
-Kale cake: check
-Carrot cake: check
(my life has become surrounded by hippies!)

Post in my blog that I've ignored for 4 months: check

Something

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jRX5kH6IrkY