| esquire within |

Seasonal.

Have you noticed a serious mood change as the temperature drops? Are you sleeping more? Feeling lethargic? Craving sweets and starchy foods?

Have you stepped on a kitten in the last four weeks?

No?  Just me?

Sigh.

Yesterday I was completely worthless.  Pinched a nerve in my neck and was feeling six kinds of cranky -- pretty much all day. I think sometimes Boston makes me feel stir crazy. A lot of my law school friends have moved to other climes, and of course none of my Cornell family are close enough for a day trip (at least, not until I buy my own helicopter). There are a lot of people I miss seeing on a regular basis.

Also, it's miserably cold and grey. Not quite Iowa Cold, but pretty freaking close. I'm a child of summer, so New England tends to get to me after Christmas. A week on the beach would probably do wonders.

So we're sitting at the Starbucks in Davis Square -- borrowing internet from Diesel Cafe across the street.  Frankly, I'd rather be over there, but it's usually too crowded with yuppie wannabes hogging booths.  That and a scarcity of electrical outlets makes it better in theory than in practice.  We did, however, manage to snag seats right next to the fireplace, so I can't really complain.

Nevermind, I lied.  I can complain.  About the sorority chick next to us who's been on her cell for the last ten minutes discussing dieting and dress codes for pledging.

Shoot me.

Anyway, today I've resolved to make headway on my new project for the Tokyo-based Niwano Peace Foundation. It's one of those things that'll be great once I get some momentum. I always hate the beginning.

"A" for Effort, Western Mass.

A million Massholes just killed healthcare reform.

I'm the first to admit it: I really did not see that coming.

Pity that Coakley had the resources to outspend Capuano in the primary.  I feel like this would have turned out differently with him on today's ballot.

Two years of Scott Brown? 

Ugh.

Today I voted for Martha Coakley.

Massachusetts has not elected a Republican to the Senate sine 1972.  I suspect today will not be the start of a new trend.

Took me about 45 minutes to get over to Brighton today so I could cast my ballot.  Chatted up the old lady running the registration list, who said voter turnout had been high and steady.  In a state in which Democrats outnumber Republicans 3 to 1, that's a good sign for issues like health care, finance reform, clean energy, the right to family and the right to choose. 

Mom asked me the other day if I was worried about one-party government.  And I am.  But on the same token, if the country has willed into being an imbalanced Senate, well, that's a reflection of current values, philosophies and priorities -- which will no doubt change soon enough.  I'm not much for so-called "strategic" voting; while I certainly understand the value of two-party government (and would, quite frankly, prefer significantly greater diversity than that), it's not more important to me than having a representative in the Senate whose vote at least resembles my leanings.  

I'm also worried about a minority party being able to derail the legislative process for the sake of being contrary.  I'm not saying the current power dynamic is anything close to ideal.  It would be intensely refreshing to see greater transparency and cooperation breathed into our consistently disappointing Congress.  But a vote for Scott Brown wouldn't get us any closer to that. 

Perhaps if I had seen a single bright idea come out of the Republican Party in the last year, I'd feel differently; but in my book, it's still the "Party of No" without any fresh alternatives to offer.  While I would desperately like to see more bi-partisanism on Capitol Hill, the very nature of the concept requires two to tango -- and for as much as the Republicans have been "shut out" of the process, they've made twice the effort to pull that door closed themselves.

With any luck, the President can help restore our House Divided at the Republican Conference next week in Baltimore.  Provided the idiots -- on both sides of the aisle -- will let him.

Varmint.

Last night we made a spicy three-bean chili with bison (which is a lot better for you than beef but still has all the delicious wonders of red meat).  As usual, we made a pretty big pot of it, and unless I wanted to divvy it all up into smaller containers, the leftovers weren't going to fit in the fridge.  But we have a deck, and it was snowing, and we used to do put food outside at our old apartment all the time.

The key difference here is that our new deck is connected to the ones beneath it, all the way to the ground -- so animals (and serial killers) have significantly greater access. 

So we wrapped the lid onto the pot with aluminum foil, then put a very heavy cast iron pan (wrapped in a plastic bag) on top of the pot -- and then wrapped the whole thing again in a trash bag.  We figured it was more or less water and vermin proof.  And if anything got past these formidable defenses (seriously, the pan is heavy), well, then it just plain deserves the chili.

This morning, I went to the back to check the goods.  The pan was still in place on top of the lid, but a lot of the plastic was shredded -- and the tell-tale footprints of a Rodent of Unusual Size were all around.  I have a feeling if the weather was nicer, whatever it was would have invested more time and patience into acquiring the meal (and with all that chili pepper, a nasty case of indigestion).

Guess that's the last time we do that.

Dinner and a movie.

Saw Precious last night at the Somerville Theatre.  It was an amazing film, but very intense.  Gut-wrenching.  Harrowing.  I had no idea what I was getting myself into when I sat down. 

I'm glad we went, though.  It's one of those movies that drags you through the deep sewers of the human condition, but still manages to bring you out the other side and let you feel a little sunlight on your face. 

AND we got to experience the Somerville Theare, which is now my favorite movie house.  Reminds me -- in a good way -- of the Bijou in Mount Vernon and the King Theatre in Belle Plaine, although it's bigger, of course.  We got in for $16 and the Girl got a popcorn for an unbelievable $2.50.  I don't think you can get a piece of chewing gum for less than $5 at a chain theater.  Sounds like they have an improv comedy night on Thursdays -- Awkward Compliment -- which I foresee sometime in our near future.  There's also the Museum of Bad Art in the basement -- "Art too bad to pass up!" -- which I plan to check out next time we're there.  Maybe I'll wait for when the Sister comes to visit -- she'd appreciate that sort of thing.

After the movie we went to Orleans, a restaurant/bar a block or two down the street in Porter Square.  The Girl had a baby arugula pizza with caramelized onions, and I ordered the black bean burger with goat cheese.  We'll be back.