2009: Hil and the Year of Exclamation Points/Expletives

well! it's been 2010 for two weeks now, and the year has kicked off to an incredible start: my birthday was great, band practices have been great, writing for the dig has been great, my apartment's cleaner than usual and i've thoroughly enjoyed traipsing all over town in my new (WARM!) snowboots.  as happy as i am to leave 2009 in the dust, it deserves a look back, even in the form of a silly blog post.  i grew more than i thought possible in 2009.  i went through a lot of nasty firsts (first heartbreak, first layoff, first time i ever ran myself ragged etc) but the year had its high points, too.  found this rundown somewhere and decided i should give it a try.  if anything, it helps put the past 12 months in perspective and i feel more confident than ever that this year will be better than the last.  and the last year, overall, was a damn good year. if anything, the lows not only justified the highs, they made me appreciate 'em so much more.

also, 2010 is already the year in which i got a song written for me for my birthday, i saw my first fellini film (AND LOVED IT) and it's the year in which i'll venture out to texas with a rowdy crew of rockstars and one of my best friends.  that's not a bad start, seeing as we haven't hit the 20th day of the year yet...

X H

1. What did you do in 2009 that you'd never done before?
flew off to another country completely on a whim; got my heart real broke; got laid off; road a bike on city streets; attended a bunch of big name music festivals as a member of the press;  met, interviewed wrote stories on and even befriended some of my favorite musicians of all time (liiiiiiiiike the avett brothers. le sigh.)

2. Did you keep your new year's resolutions, and will you make more for next year?
the only resolution i ever make is to try to eat healthier and work out more.  throughout unemployment i was pretty good about getting to the gym every other day and kept that schedule up for a good five months... and then i found a job and my life turned chaotic and i had no more time for fitness.  as i'm currently a bit... softer than i'd like to be (i'm trying to avoid "fat" but 'cmon) as a result, i'll be making the same resolution.  vanity counts/kills.

3. Did anyone close to you give birth?
nope. no new babies this year.

4. Did anyone close to you die?
yes.

5. What countries did you visit?
jolly old england.  i had a stopover in reykjavik for a good few hours in between logan and heathrow, so does iceland count?

6. What would you like to have in 2010 that you lacked in 2009?
a time machine.  there simply aren't enough hours in the day, period.

7. What date from 2009 will remain etched upon your memory?
january 23rd.  it's the day i got my nose pierced.   i have no idea why i'll remember it other than i distinctly remember writing in my planner "NOSE PIERCIIIIIIIING APT 8PM PINO BROS!!!" on the day of january 23rd.

8. What was your biggest achievement of the year?
making my mom proud throughout a pretty painful, humiliating ordeal.  it may seem juvenile or silly, but i always (try to) do the "what would my mother think?" thing before i let loose on someone who's crossed a line.  i did this time around.  my mom's a resilient person who's been to hell and back so many times that she could draw the map to the route in her sleep, so to aim for her level of calm and class amidst the most tawdry of motives isn't an easy feat.  she says i made her proud; that's probably my biggest achievement.

9. What was your biggest failure?
letting my feelings get the best of me, generally speaking.

10. Did you suffer illness or injury?
i got a naaaaasty case of food poisoning that put me out of commision for a week.  other than that, my pride took a brusin'. (haha.) that's it.

11. What was the best thing you bought?
my first cashmere sweater ever; a plane ticket to london

12. Whose behavior merited celebration?
my friends are the most hilarious, loving, beautiful and fiercely loyal people i've ever met.  their behavior always merits celebration!

13. Whose behavior made you appalled and depressed?
it's really, really not worth getting into. take my word for it.

14. Where did most of your money go?
sadly, to material things.  having a full-time gig and money in the bank is dangerous for a girl with a newfound love for cashmere, hand-tooled leather boots and vintage goods.  my cashmere sweater count for 2009 is now up to 5, thanks for the sale package i just got from j.crew today.  [granted, i got  those sweaters at an average of 50% apiece, but still.]

15. What did you get really, really, really excited about?
spring and summer in the city.  i wouldn't take anything back about the bike rides, lake house trips, rooftop barbeques and sweat-soaked dance party adventures that took place in the spring and summer months.  and the UNION SQUARE FARMER'S MARKET. OH MY GODDDD.

16. What song will always remind you of 2009?
2009 will forever be the year of GAGA. [i was hesitant and late to the bandwagon, but i have arrived.]

17. Compared to this time last year, are you
i. happier or sadder? happier.  last year around this time i was in an interesting spot. haaa.
ii. thinner or fatter? softer. i'm SOFTER. (in the belly/butt region.  ok so i'm fatter.)
iii. richer or poorer? richer. in friends, in life, in wisdom, in cash, whatever, i'm richer.

18. What do you wish you'd done more of?
taking care of myself, honestly, be it sleeping more or making sure i've got my own back covered.

19. What do you wish you'd done less of?
i wish that i'd put WAY less energy into resenting and loathing the existence of people who hurt me, even if they were terrible and even if their transgressions were severe. i absolutely could've handled myself better in those situations and i'm not proud of how i dealt with disappointment, heartbreak and humiliation in that regard.  2010 is the year of turning the other cheek and cutting hurtful people out of my life.

20. How did you spend Christmas?
christmas eve at dad's, christmas eve at mom's.  pretty great at both houses.

22. Did you fall in love in 2009?
noooo no no no.  i started 2009 in a bit of a haze falling for someone who had absolutely no business being in a relationship with a girl like me and it was the first time i had ever really opened myself up to the possibility of being a real girlfriend.  as awful as it sounds, i was waaaay too busy throughout 2009 to even THINK about love, let alone search for it or allow it to find its way into my life in a romantic sense.

23. What was your favorite TV program?
MAD MEN.  Joan Holloway, you're an inspiration to us all.  (i've never wanted to be a redhead so badly before in my life.)

24. What was the best book you read?
crime and punishment. yup.  dostoevsky and i get along famously.

25. What was your greatest musical discovery?
i'd go out on a limb and say lake street dive.  i love their music so much, and rachael, bridget, mike and mike are great people, to boot.

26. What did you want and get?
a week in london with some of my favorite people on the planet; a year full of fantastic music; the opportunity to work with and chronicle the works of great artists and musicians living in/passing through boston on the regular; absolutely incredible nights dancing and reveling and loving my life with my very, very best friends.

27. What did you want and not get?
looking back on it, i guess i really wanted my relationship with dan to work at the time.  that's changed.  i also really wanted to salvage some friendships that pretty much self-imploded.  that's changed, too.  either way, i'm starting 2010 with the attitude that i've left those relationships in 2009 and that's where they'll stay. i feel infinitely better as a result.

28. What was your favorite film of this year?
pirate radio.  good god that movie was brilliant.

29. What did you do on your birthday?
it was pretty chaotic and frenzied and glorious - ten or so of us went to dali for dinner, and then we went back to my apartment, where boyfriend of the moment had made an AMAZINGLY DELICIOUS red velvet cake from scratch.  i blew out my candles surrounded by about 25 of my closest friends, and then we went to the inman bukowski.

30. What one thing would have made your year immeasurably more satisfying?
i dont know if it would've made 2009 more satisfying, but i wish that i had invested in a camera and dabbled with photography more.  i take decent pictures and spent a good half of the year hanging out with people snapping photos all the time wherever we were, so i regret not using that as a learning experience to gain some insight as an intro to photography.  with that said, i do plan on buying a new fancy camera before austin, portland and spain this year so that i can document my trips as i've never been able to do before.

31. How would you describe your personal fashion concept in 2009?
i think i threw out "urban bohemian" once and it stuck, so that.  i also like "that cambridge asshole": too put together/intellectual for allston, too hipster for back bay/beacon hill, a little more formal than your run-of-the-mill davis/union sq attire.

32. What kept you sane?
hours of conversation over dinner, subway rides, movies, albums, packs of cloves and bottles of wine with lianne.  afternoons on the couch with indian food, bad tv, cookie dough rolls and introspectives with marcy.  grounded, perspective-changing chats with maya. and the occasional "we love you, honey" from mom/dad/stepdad/grampa/broskie.

33. Which celebrity/public figure did you fancy the most?
this question is silly! i have no idea.  not robert pattinson.

34. What political issue stirred you the most?
iiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii have absolutely no idea.

35. Who did you miss?
everyone i left back in new york.  visiting in october was such a painful/lovely reminder that i had a great life there and that i'm eager to return to it sooner rather than later.

36. Who was the best new person you met?
tall order!  i was so fortunate in the friendships i made in 2009.  that list is miiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiles long.  you're all the best.

37. Tell us a valuable life lesson you learned in 2009.
don't let the bastards get you down. 

38. Quote a lyric that sums up your year.
"every new beginning comes from some other beginning's end."  i could've gone with the whole "one door closes/another opens" thing, but semisonic is so much more badass than julie andrews, let's be honest.

39. What are your plans for 2010?
world domination, one snappy interview at a time.  i also plan on using my kitchenaid mixer more as that sucker is a culinary dream come true for me.

fall's almost done...

i have a bit of writing to do before bed so i won't say much, but can we just talk about this tree that i saw while out causing a ruckus last night?

in other news, november is one of those months of new beginnings that i'm kind of excited to say goodbye to, if only because december means london, christmas and new year's eve. so many things to look forward toooo....

long time no see! also: boston phoenix, WTF. regards, hil.

hey guys.

my my my, i've been a busy girl. between day job work, TPB work, enjoying the brief heat wave here in boston and riding my bike all over this city to catch up with friends new and old, i'm getting very little sleep and i'm spending very little time at home. this past weekend consisted of running around like a crazy person trying to cover Boston Band Crush's ONE NIGHT BAND [which was an incredible success], the McAlister Drive show over at the 'Dise and Jeremy's last night drumming it up with the Sea Monsters on Sunday. I'm back at my desk. I have iced coffee in my system, even if it's getting a little brisk out. life is good.

fast-forward to today, when little miss jessietron sent me the link for the Phoenix's new lifestyle piece: "A Girl's Guide to Boston Boys." this post royally pissed me off on many levels and as much as i've respected the phoenix in the past for its music coverage and photojournalism and other stuff [and hey, i have some friends over at phoenix media, ok?], nina maclaughlin's article in the Welcome Back '09 issue made me want to write to her directly and ask her to never ever write an op/ed ever again. my issues with it:

1) The Boston Phoenix is one of the OLDEST alternative weeklies in the country [second only to the village voice, i believe, or hell, it may even be older], it has an established readership and it still gets picked up even though it's a free paper with midweek circulation. what's the most important part of that last sentence? ALTERNATIVE. WEEKLY. The Boston Phoenix is NOT the Improper Bostonian [aka the glossy which boasts quips on cavity-inducing $15 cocktails and socialite photo spreads to keep the beacon hill set happy] and it's NOT the Boston Herald [aka the daily owned by Rupert Murdoch known for its blue collar/conservative slant.] it's picked up, predominantly, by readers in cambridge, somerville, allston, jamaica plain and charlestown, which host some of the most well-known [and liberal] academic institutions in the metro-Boston area as well as the most creative and innovative nightlife/restaurants/venues/museums/etc etc. i think it's incredibly short-sighted of maclaughlin, and the lifestyles editor at the phoenix who allowed this to even hit the web, to make sarcastic [and, um, entirely unoriginal] cracks at THE PAPER'S KEY DEMOGRAPHIC. Boston Phoenix, these "arrogant, competitive, and highly self-centered" men of cambridge/"members of the famed creative class" of JP who are most likely to be seen at the cemetery [wtf?]/"(aspiring) rock stars" of allston are THE ONES PICKING UP YOUR PAPERS. the yah brahs/frat boys/finance dudes of downtown/beacon hill/kenmore are hardly the gentlemen who'll be picking up the latest issue by the T on a wednesday morning. in fact, it's these assholes who are most likely to use your classified pages to wipe puke off their face after a particularly rowdy night at the liquor store/on lansdowne street. i think that this article had the potential to poke fun and crack jokes in a good-natured way: i mean, come on, we're all capable of making fun of our idiosyncracies as bostonians and we're all very aware of how we tend to distinguish ourselves by neighborhood. with that said, maclaughlin's angle on this puff piece was poorly written [line edits, anyone?] and dripping with disdain from someone clearly suffering from a case of hipster/harvard envy.

2) at the risk of sounding repetitive, this piece was COMPLETELY AND TOTALLY UNORIGINAL. oh my god! hipsters in allston with ...tattoos?! girls wearing lily pulitzer in back bay?! backwards red sox hats in... WAIT DON'T TELL ME... kenmore square?! OHMYGAHDTHATISSOHILARIOUS. you write for The Boston Phoenix. i'm sure you had ample time to pitch an idea and see it through to fruition. that should've given you PUH-LENTY of time to think of a new spin to put on this idea. also: ashmont. dorchester. SOMERVILLE. even southie [which tends to host these frat boys who're just like "the pals of your best friend's older bro."]. how about you do your research, learn how to use the subway beyond the red and green line, and get to know the city you're covering? if you're going to write off half your audience, you may as well include the neighborhoods where yes, the Phoenix is distributed and where you can find exceptions to every single "type" you defined in your piece. maybe it'll even give your story a little color and keep it from looking like the half-assed column of some Carrie Bradshaw wannabe majoring in Communications at BU.

aaaaand i'm spent. rant done. editorial staff of the boston phoenix: i expect more from you as the supposed authorities on arts & entertainment coverage in my fair city, and i never thought an alternative weekly would be so snottily exclusive. and, frankly, a little more uneducated about the city in which it resides than it should be.

in other news, teaparty boston? yeah, we won't tell you who to date based on what neighborhood you're scouring for boyfriends in, but we WILL tell you how arts & entertainment actually is in Boston and with direct quotes from the people who are making exciting things happen here. we won't be poking fun at them. OR their tattoos.

i am truly happy.

for the past four years, the first sox vs. yankees game of the season has been the true start of spring for me and i've celebrated it with my best friends in new york who all happen to BLEED pinstripes.  with the exception of the spring of '07 when i was still living in spain, i've watched the game go down at a dive bar in yonkers with bren, ryan, billy, larz and a slew of my other ny favorites.  i got all nostalgic sitting on my couch with meg and later jessie last night watching the sox take it in an AWESOME game that stretched into the twelfth inning courtesy of jason bay and his 2-run homer in the bottom of the 9th with two outs.  i miss my boys down in yonkers and mel and jules very much, though it was kind of wonderful to just crack open a brew and feel the first drafts of summer passing through my open windows last night.

so, this is meg and goofing around during the game.  photobooth turns everyone into small children who are easily amused.

oh, and jessie and i got excited when they won.  here's the celebratory shot.

this is jessie's anime face.  this is just my scary face.

before the sox went all rockstar at fenway park last night, meg and i went for a feast at local indian food favorite punjabi dhaba followed by banana cinnamon/chocolate banana ice cream cones at christina's.  there is NO BETTER COMBINATION than a delicious, piping hot meal at p-dhabs followed by the best homemade ice cream in cambridge.  we were gonna stop at the thirsty scholar on the way home for a round/some sox action but opted to just drink the beers in my fridge and slouch on my couch for the game.  we ran up to the roof last night because meg's never seen it, and i could've done cartwheels when i realized that it's FINALLY that time of year for drinks and hookah on the roofdeck.

meg had to bust early due to her crazy athletic fitness loving ways (she's going hiking today, have fun meggg!), but jessie, christoph, mikey and matt all came bounding into my apartment shortly after her departure and within fifteen minutes we were smoking honey shisha on my roof while matt cat-called and howled at random pedestrians moseying up and down somerville ave.  (favorite quotation of the evening: "hey BOZO! you got a calzone? .... yeah ENJOY YA PEPPAHRONI CALZONE BOZO.")

after the hookah started to ash, we opted for an impromptu adventure and decided that heading to the nearest playground was definitely the way to go.  the one up the street from my house is an excellent choice for late-night playground debauchery as it's got good swings, monkey bars and a huge basketball court that slants at a pretty sharp angle, ha.  we must've been out there for at least an hour.  here are the best photos from one of the best nights of early spring.

it's gorgeous out in boston today, you guys.  jessie and i are bouncing over to harvard to go find maya in a little bit and i'm wearing the first sundress of the season.  GO SPEND TODAY OUTSIDE! :)

the happy list, april fool's edition.

this is what came popped up when i google image-searched "happy" this morning. lolz.

THINGS THAT ARE WONDERFUL:

+big plans for big weekends.  this weekend, by comparison to previous weekends, won't be that extraordinary, but dance parties, dive bars, brunch at deep ellum (to visit mr. chris sous chef extraordinaire), painting dates, playing outside and a night with the sea monsters are all on the table. bliss.

+scarfing chicken tikka masala from punjabi dhaba with some of my favorite people before running up to magoun square for trivia nights and games of pool at townie dive bars.  MEDFIHD BY CHOICE! (my family's actually from medford. i guess that makes me legit/a real townie? i don't know.)

+i think i'm going to get a bike.  i'm still terrified at the thought of riding one alongside the crazy people who drive on somerville/mass ave, but i've been convinced, i think.  i'll be brave.  i'll try, anyway.

+i've lived in this apartment since november and i only realized recently that i have WINDOW BOXES YAAAAY.  jessie thinks i should use one for a mini herb garden.  i want flahwiz.  (i don't want bees buzzin' right next to me when i'm sleeping  some rando stole hers from the lawn in front of her apartment in allston.  le sad.

+this week marks the two year anniversary of slovak attak '07, which consisted of a ten day trek through vienna, bratislava and budapest with los, nico, vince and katie.  during slovak attak, i ate enough sacher torte for a family of five, almost got arrested for riding the metro illegally in budapest and somehow wound up downing absinthe on a boat on the danube only to walk back to our slovakian hostel without my shoes on.  in short: it was epic and its anniversary is always worth noting.  that, and i miss nico, vince and katie so incredibly much :( 

now, it's off to the gym to work on my fitness, as opposed to staying home and making french bread french toast. gahhh. i would so much rather be doing the latter.  i HATE pulling pranks on people and will definitely be refraining from that today, but what are you guys up to for april fools?

(just playin'. you've been warned.)

H!L

this FACEPALM is brought to you live on saturday night.

F A C E P A L M.

while getting ready to go to some "gold"-themed BC birthday party in allston with marcy, i was blasting guns n' roses/bodega girls/madonna (1984-1988, not any of this disco revival shit) and i somehow COMPLETELY lost track of time and am now sitting on my couch smacking myself in the face because i should've left my house an HOUR AND A HALF AGO.

lessons learned:

+ "sweet child o' mine" on repeat is a procrastination enabler.  it just makes me make my hair all huge (or huger, i guess), dance like a maniac in front of my full length mirror for an hour and scare my neighbors when i scream the high notes with axl in the last 1:20 of the song.  

+ i own several articles of clothing/pieces of jewelry/assorted accessories that would be appropriate for a "gold"-themed soiree.  why this is unfortunate: a) my gold sequined tom's are now so rank and disgusting that i can't even take them out of my closet they reek so bad b) my necklace with the huge pearls wrapped in gold filigree leaves royally snag on my hair/various articles of clothing and as a result the necklace is boasting hunks of bright purple thread leftover from when i wore the necklace with my flapper dress on halloween, ugh. c) the gold jewelry i do own isn't ostentatiously gold (a la "bling bling." word.) or relatively classy therefore it looks kind of awkward as most of it is vintage-y or weird. i do, however, own the best purse ever for this kind of affair:

um hi impromptu vanna white? ok.

+ TURN THE RADIO OFF AND GO HANG OUT WITH YOUR FRIENDS, DAMMIT!  IT DOESN'T MATTER THAT YOU HAVE TO TAKE THE 66 TO GET THERE!  JUST GOOO.

ok! and now a buddy is swinging by to save me and take me to a party in somerville? did my saturday night just get salvaged?  wtf life.

"it's like bigfoot."

I. HAVE. MIIIIIIIIIICE.

EW EW EW EW EW EW EW.

I WAS SITTING ON MY COUCH WHEN I SAW THIS MASSIVE CREATURE ROUGHLY THE SIZE OF MY FOOT SAUNTER FROM MY STOVE TO UNDERNEATH MY FRIDGE. I'M HOPING THAT IT'S NOT THE DADDY MOUSE AND THAT BABY  MICE AREN'T HANGING OUT UNDER MY FRIDGE WAITING TO POUNCE ON MY SHOES AND POOP IN 'EM.

I AM ALSO REALLY HOPING THAT THIS CREATURE IS NOT A RAT. IF IT IS A RAT, I AM VACATING THE PREMISES. FOREVER. Alksdjfalksdjfaljf;l.

MY PARENTS ARE ON THEIR WAY OVER WITH TRAPS. AND PEANUT BUTTER. AND THEY'RE GOING TO LAUGH AT ME.

I AM NOT GETTING OFF MY COUCH UNTIL THEY GET HERE.

I DON'T CARE IF THAT MAKES ME A PANSY THERE ARE CREATURES LIVING IN MY HOUSE WITHOUT MY PERMISSION AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH.

JAS;DLFJKASL;DKFJAL;SKDJFAL;SJKDFAL;FJKSD.

couch fort? why, yes. yes indeed.

things i should be doing instead of building another hangover induced couch fort and watching law and order svu episodes before marcy and los come over and we make brownies:

+saving my apartment from the hellish mess devouring it at present.  it was created by a merry band of spaghetti-and-meatball-eating friends who wound up at my place after another rowdy sunday at precinct for tiramisu and hookah and, apparently, leftovers.  my kitchen is D E S T R O Y E D.

+picking out a green outfit for eighties st. paddy's dance party tomorrow evening at phoenix landing.  

+taking a shower.  i'm still wearing my makeup from last night and my hair looks ... interesting.  that requires leaving the couch fort, though. hmmm.

+committing to memory the list of reasons why i never, ever need to go to southie ever again after going to the parade yesterday.  as a local, i grew up with parents who forbade trips to southie for any reason whatsoever and who frowned upon the annual saint patrick's day parade because they deemed it an obnoxious, booze-soaked walk of shame perpetrated by good for nothins' and stupid college kids.  my parents? kind of right.  if i see one more wasted girl with flat-ironed hair, an oversized paul pierce/kevin garnett jersey, leggings and uggs, i'm going to vomit.  on their uggs. on the green line.  on the way back to suffolk/bu/bc.  which is where they can be found in their natural habitat. ugh ugh ugh hate so much hate so much seething searing hate.

+going to the gym.

+cutting up my credit card. NO MORE SHOPPING FOR A LONG LONG LONG TIME.  the stuff (headband, belt, dress and shirt) i picked up at urban today is grrrreat and completely unnecessary but i had to have them. a;sjdfal;sdjkf.

+getting coffee. 1369 please.  the starbucks on somerville ave made me want to eat glass a couple of days ago and i haven't been back since: basically, the girl working the bar (read: making the drinks, putting them up on the counter for customers to collect 'em) was real bad at her job.  i hate when people bitch and moan about food service ("how hard can it be? you work with coffee." "how long does it take to heat a croissant?" etc.) unless they, like myself, have actual food service/bartending/waitressing experience and they can tell the difference between someone who's awful at their job/lazy and someone who's slammed/unlucky/having a bad day.  this girl was either stoned or lazy or both.  laaaaaame.

+sending in my audition tape for rock of love four.  jessie and i are going to romance bret michaels.  (just kidding! we like/respect ourselves too much to do that, i think.)

happy things.

hi!

i just posted this on los' fbook wall.  i figured i'd share the love with you, too.

as much as i want to write about how spontaneous and awesome it was to run to the back of the somerville theatre last night to greet U2 after their super secret surprise show, i'm too tired right now. i have no idea why, either, seeing as i got plenty of sleep last night. (ok not really but i got more than 7 hours, i think, so i shouldn't complain.)  in lieu of talking about how much i love bono and how genuinely happy he seemed to see the crowd who had come out just to say hi, i'm going to write a happy list.

THINGS THAT MAKE HIL A HAPPY CAMPER! (in no particular order):

+coffee and ginormous chocolate chip cookies from 1369.  mikey and i hit up 1369 after a fantastic visit to the ICA (see below) and the cappuccino i had was one of the best caffeinated concoctions i've downed in awhile.  (i usually consume between 4-6 shots of espresso a day, so this is big.) 

+the interlock mini skirt from american apparel.  i have it in black and eggplant and i wish it were springier outside so that i could wear either one with leggings and cute little flats and not have to worry about getting said cute little flats all muddy and gross.

+"back to the future": i own the complete trilogy and watched the first installment while awaiting the arrival of marcy, chris and andrew before our bono sighting.  los and i are thinking of going as marty and doc next year for halloween, but only if this brilliant plan falls through.  (jessie i know what you're thinking but I ALREADY HAVE THE PURPLE SKIRT AND THE GLASSES OK!)

+shepard fairey.  i went to his show at the ICA today and found it to be inspiring and humbling and it made me wanna go home and create something.  the arrangement of the exhibit was exquisite, the presentation was superb, and i absolutely plan on taking advantage of the free ticket i scored sometime next week.  his guns and roses poster is now prominently displayed in my kitchen.

+i love the sartorialist and it's one of the first blogs i check when i wake up in the morning, and i've bookmarked this photo since its original posting on february 13th.  i want a bright blue scarf!  i want a grey blazer with colorful, almost unnoticeable details! (i want the girl version, however, seeing as i am not an extremely tan italian man...)

+buenos aires.  this time last year los and i were prepping and packing for a weeklong stay in my second home.  to say that it was incredible, that whole returning-to-my-favorite-city-for-the-first-time-since-leaving-it-with-my-best-friend-in-tow thing, would be a gross understatement.  some favorite shots from our trip to buenos aires in march of 2008:

los hanging out in the hammock at our hostel in palermo.

we got to catch up with tony, one of my good friends who i had studied with while living in buenos aires in 2006, and this was the view from the roof of his apartment building on charcas.

the graffiti and street art that plasters the walls of capital federal is amazing, and this was one of the many murals we spotted on the entrance to a restaurant in palermo.

i stayed out with a bunch of newfound friends 'til dawn my last night in BsAs and was able to snap this shot while walking home that morning.  sunrise on rio de la plata? this doesn't even begin to do it justice.

so, anyways!  that's the march 12th edition of the happy list.  what's making you smile today, ladies and gents?

-H!L.

saint bono in somerville.

image courtesy of the big green.

the following phone conversation just took place about two minutes ago.

dad: ARE YOU GOING TO SEE BONO TONIGHT?!

hil: ... no.

dad: HE'S GOING TO BE RIGHT DOWN THE STREET FROM YOU!!!

hil: ... i have to go to the gym bye.

dad: BONO'S GOING TO BE NEAR YOUR GYM.

hil: ......

my family is easily excitable.

(i didn't tell my dad that i may, in fact, be ransacking davis square this evening hoping to see bono and the edge slummin' it at sligo's or the burren or something. it is free pool night at flat top johnny's, however, so we'll see.)

independent love, grand, and a sunday afternoon in pictures.

(photo snapped by yours truly while walking down somerville ave. this morning.)

get ready for some reeeeeeeal local love, right here.

somerville: bear my children.  i love you so very much.  today, heather came and met me at my humble abode and we walked down to union square in hopes of securing a much coveted table at the neighborhood for brunch.  we weren't surprised to see a crowd of at LEAST 15 hopeful brunchers standing outside on the sidewalk waiting for a table at union square's popular breakfast spot, and opted to keep walking in order to find a calmer meal at a less crowded joint.  

enter: the independent.  i was at the indo a couple of nights ago with the fellas, but i had no idea that they offered up a tasty brunch on sunday afternoons.  i mentioned that the drinks were great, heather was sold, and we stepped inside.

i'm just gonna put it out there: the beehive has NOTHIN' on the independent for sunday brunch, and i love the beehive. a lot.  the independent's brunch menu is incredibly affordable, eclectic, and serves up ample portions.  the drinks are exceptional:  i had the earl grey manhattan (jessie, you would've swooned), which consisted of jim beam that's been steeping in earl grey tea, honey liqueur, bitters and a splash of lemon, and heather was enamored with her classic bloody mary.  here's the two concoctions pictured below:

we both ordered the french toast, which was iggy's brioche prepped with orange zest and served up beneath a cloud of whipped cream and legit maple syrup, and we split a side of the frites and garlic aioli.  i'm kind of a french toast freak, and seriously, this was the best french toast of my liiiiiiife. just LOOK at it.

i think it goes without saying that we didn't finish everything, but we left the independent completely, utterly and head over heels in love with the establishment.  somervillains: forget sound bites, the broken yolk, and dare i say it, the neighborhood for sunday morning brunch.  the independent is where it's at if you want fancy schmancy food on the cheap and drinks that taste as good as they look.

on the way back to my apartment we passed by grand, which is my favorite neighborhood shopping stop to date.  i was just planning on look shopping while heather browsed through the witty screen-printed t-shirts and black and white photo prints, but i couldn't resist picking up these beauties before heading home:

they're shellacked lace earrings made by cursive.  i'm a sucker for bright jewelry and these babies match my mood perfectly at present.

leaving grand, i couldn't help but snap a shot of the store's outside wall on the corner of washington street.

reason for this photo:  i need to get to the ICA stat so that i can check out the shepard faerey supply and demand exhibit.  i know, i know, faerey's  now iconic billboard/street propaganda will be on display in town until halfway through august, but i'm totally that cool kid who waits until the last minute to see shows and collections and frequently forget about them until they've long since departed (the ansel adams photo exhibit at the mfa in 2005 being a perfect example of that. le sad.)  the ICA is free on thursdays and the museum is open 'til 9.  who's down?

tonight: dinner in allston rock city with this little one and then off to precinct for my weekly dose of sea monsters and pints of allagash. 

Kendall Square: You confuse me.

last night, after a lovely couple of hours spent drinking limca (indian keylime soda, look into it as it's DELICIOUS and i'm going back to shalimar to get some more in a few) and smoking some rose and mango shisha with mike and matt, we opted to head over to kendall square to shoot some pool.  on the way there, i realized that my friends and i, uh, NEVER go out in kendall. ever.  know why?  because kendall is a royal pain in the ass and one of the most awkward areas in cambridge or boston to navigate, on foot or otherwise.

here's my beef with you, kendall: you're humongous.  and nothing of interest, with the exception of buildings important to MIT and all that, is situated anywhere near your T stop.  when i say "everything of interest", i mean everything that's not legal sea foods or the harvard coop satellite store, both of which are located on main street.  i mean the kendall landmark theatre, which is one of the best cinemas around for international and feature releases; i mean flat top johnny's, where we were last night; and i mean the garment district, which is the reigning champ when it comes to procuring vintage clothing and costumes in the greater boston area.  the fact that you gotta GoogleMap your kendall-bound destination before you even leave your house is enough reason to refrain from heading anywhere near that part of cambridge for the night.

with that said: i wish your layout was a little more sympathetic with the needs of boston/cambridge nightlife, kendall, because your location is ideal.  you're right over the bridge, for chrissakes! you've got movies, booze, pool and decent shopping! why can't you just be a little more accommodating when it comes to organizing a bar crawl or shopping on a rainy day?  

we wound up ditching flat top johnny's for the independent in union square, which is way closer to our respective homes and open until 2am on fridays and saturdays.  the food is awesome and the drinks are fantastic, and it's one of the few bars around that serves legitimate cocktails: i'll bet you $20 that a faneuil/causeway/comm ave bartender has no idea what an aviation cocktail is, let alone how to make one, and they shake up a mouthwatering aviation over at the independent.  union square, i fall a little more in love with you every day...

so, yeah. sorry, kendall.  you're kind of awkward, which is too bad because you've got some real potential. and now, i'm off to central (which beats kendall in every single solitary sense for food, nightlife, entertainment, shopping etc. anyway) to pick up some canvases, limca and some more paint.  i think i'm gonna walk there, too, seeing as it is ABSOLUTELY GORGEOUS OUTSIDE.  seriously.  get off your computer and take yourself for a walk, just be sure to leave the jacket at home and bring your shades.

to quote kj: "whoever decided on the soundtrack to 'WATCHMEN' needs to be drawn and quartered."

one of the best things about this movie: 

jeffrey dean morgan as the comedian. (image courtesy of http://meatbun.us/)

so! last night, i piled into the balcony at the somerville theatre in davis square with 15 of my favorite people to take in the 11:45pm showing of "WATCHMEN".  we got to the theatre at 11 to be safe, seeing as we had a slew of seats to hold onto, but it was no use, really: the lobby was packed with excited movie goers, comic book gurus (i don't want to say geeks, that's mean) and even a reeeeally devoted fan who went all out and donned a Rorschach getup complete with eerie inkblot mask, fedora and trench coat:

photo snapped by the lovely and talented miss g.

needless to say, we were stoked.  here's me, stoked:

once again, photo courtesy of the lovely g.

we booked it upstairs, grabbed our seats, and the whole theatre roared when the previews ended and the massive screen in the 800+ seat theatre went yellow.  

i didn't have any expectations of the movie going into it, so i can't say that i was disappointed in this incredibly hyped-up release that's been gossiped about by avid readers of moore's comic book series and hollywood insiders alike... but a large percentage of the folks i attended the showing with were definitely of the opinion that "watchmen" is mediocre at best. 

without giving up any spoilers, a few things i loved and loathed about "watchmen":

LOVED:

+jeffrey dean morgan as the comedian: i LOVE jeffrey dean morgan in general and find him to be a refreshing, confident presence in whatever television show/movie he's involved with, and "watchmen" was no exception.  his character was probably one of the least likable in the film, but his depiction of the comedian was PERFECTION in my book. (granted, i know next to nothing about "watchmen" as a series and haven't picked up one of the comics, but i can't see anyone else doing this part justice the way morgan did.)  his smirk, swagger, saunter and cigar were all perfect and i wanted so much more of him throughout the movie.  "watchmen" is worth the price of admission for his performance alone.

+the opening title montage/sequence: "watchmen" is based on a twelve part series of graphic novels by alan moore, so the fact that they were able to edit, cut, rearrange and smush alllll of that material into a feature film is impressive.  the opening sequence, set to bob dylan's "the times they are a-changin'", is a beautifully shot, vintage-feeling montage of powerful clips that piece together the background information we need in order to appreciate and understand the plot and overarching themes of the movie.  the first five minutes still stand out to me as the most enjoyable part of the movie... i don't know why i was so into it, but it got me excited about the three-hour action epic i'd signed up for, and i'm sure i'm not the only one.

LOATHED:

+the soundtrack: ok fancy mr. director man, i understand that you want to play up the fact that the movie takes place in 1985 and you draw on nixon and vietnam and a few other historical events that you signify with musical choices relevant to that time period, but C'MON.  the random hendrix/ccr/bad eighties pop tracks interspaced throughout the most pivotal ploty points were SOOO DISTRACTING and it completely snapped me out of the story.  boo on your part, person in charge of music choices.  boo.

+the length: going back to the fact that this was a 12-part series, i get that it has to be a long flick for artistic integrity, but this was just too long. TOO LONG.  it was good and fine and everything, but 163 minutes and previews? too long.

+the ending: felt INCREDIBLY rushed.  that's all you get.  no spoilers, because i'm still trying to figure out what the hell happened, really, myself, but yeah.  wasn't crazy about it.

THE VERDICT ON "WATCHMEN":  it was ok. i would consider seeing it again, if anything for jeffrey dean morgan, but only at the somerville theatre (or MAYBE imax) because it is grrreat.