a nerd's life

I think yesterday was such a great culmination of beautiful weather, a great city (where else can you think of that has a week long science festival?), friendlies, yummy food, and hardly a responsibility to distract me from how much fun I'm having.

Mr. P and I rode along the Charles River bike path for 5.5 miles to the Museum of Science, which had a cute little telescope pointed at the sun.

yes, a telescope can be adorable

Then we strolled through the museum for a few minutes (they were doing a demonstration with a sheep's lungs! this is a serious museum, folks), and then rode to the Science Festival Carnival, where we met up with Russell.

Newton's cradle made out of tetherballs, and a girl with a sweet backpack learning physics

a maker bot, which prints things (like the figurines on the right) in 3D

Best part of the carnival: looking at jello under the cross polarized filters! Thank you, mineralogy. We then walked to the Miracle of Science, a bar in Central Square which, according to P, has the best burger around (my veggie burger was also delish!). Eric joined us for lunch, then we all walked to the MIT Museum, which has crazy awesome holograms, but my favorite were the kinetic sculptures. Ice cream at Toscanini's, then we all played kubb (remember my first encounter with the game?) at P's house. After Russell and Eric headed home and we retrieved our bikes, we noticed a flyer advertising free poutine at the Queen's Head. Yes please! At this point, I was wearing pajama pants under my skirt to keep warm for the bike ride home, but a free Canadian delicacy is worth the major fashion blunder.

the catorialist

Today I stumbled across something on the internet that combines so many of my loves: adorable cats, parodies I get without having to look up the original on wikipedia... ok two things is still good.

The Catorialist

Patriots' Day

Did you know that today is a holiday? Me neither. A bit later I plan to bike across the river and cheer on the marathon runners, but I thought I would upload a quick pic of the felted pot holders I made for my mom (which are also appropriate for Patriots' Day).

I found the pattern at purl bee, which is such an adorable blog for those who are crafty, or those who like to read about the amazing things other women do. Depending on the day, I fall into one or both of those categories. I chose crimson, cream, and navy instead of the usual red, white, and blue to make them look a little more americana-y, and to match my mom's kitchen. They were originally going to be a Christmas present, but I am not so speedy when it comes to knitting. They were, however, finished in time for her birthday (three months later), and uploaded to the blog a month after that! Geez, you'd think I was busy or something. Actually, I'm not. Anyway, I thought they turned out brilliantly. They were pretty simple to make, but this was the first time I had tried intarsia knitting, and the first time I felted anything (not counting when I put my banana republic dry-clean-only turtleneck sweater in the washing machine).

myths and pretzel twists

On Friday, Phil and I went to an event at Harvard in which The Mythbusters, Jamie and Adam, were given an award by the Harvard Secular Society for teaching people not to blindly accept myths. The event was at Memorial Church, and since we arrived a little bit late (as is our style), the only seats available were behind the massive columns. But we could clearly make out Jamie's mustache from the back of the church.

On Saturday we turned the kitchen upside down when we decided to make soft pretzels. I was inspired by Smitten Kitchen, my favorite food blog with a Surprise Me! button to help you flick through the four years' worth of archives. I think the improvement I showed from first pretzel to last is itself a lesson in perseverance.

book worming

My excess of free time these past few months has made me a regular at the library. When I learned how to request books from my online account, I exclaimed, "it's like amazon, but free!" What an amazing realization. I love you, Boudreau Branch. Did I mention that my library has a mascot? It's a panda. Adorable.

These are the books I've loved, as of late:
Foreskin's Lament (abso-frickin-lutely hilarious. read this book now.)
Five Men Who Broke My Heart (a little guilty, girly pleasure)
No Impact Man (a man after my own heart)
Running With Scissors (this guy's childhood was fuuuuucked up)

Books I didn't quite make it through:
God is not Great
Devil in the Details (I like the cover art--reminds me of Krystal)
Jumbo
Plot Against America

I still do feel a twinge of guilt for the books I gave up on. Let's not say I gave up; let's say this is "smell you later."

P.S. Play with this. It's fun.