Things I didn't blog about this month

I will attempt to make up for more than month of blogging by trying to summarize things I would have blogged about had I remembered to.

• Hockey at Fenway -- Courtesy of Jeff Roberts, I got a ticket to see college ice hockey at Fenway Park. Unfortunately, Sheeva was coming in for a visit that night so I couldn't stay to see the much touted BU vs. BC (men's) matchup. Instead, I got to see UNH vs. Northeastern women's teams play. And it turns out that not only is my sister right and women's hockey is just not as interesting as men's,* but the way they set up the ice at Fenway was to run it diagonal across the infield from first to third. As a results, there were literally no good seats as the only ones anywhere near the rink where near the ends and no one sat at center ice.
• Mystery Hunt -- This really deserves it's own lengthy post, but I'm never going to get around it. That being said, much fun was had despite the fact that I lost my voice to the point that Sunday morning I was Skype chatting to people sitting next to me because it was easier and less painful than trying to talk. While going to sleep was probably the healthy option for me at that point, there were too many people around who aren't normally and I figured I'd sleep when they left. And oh, did I! There were a number of puzzles I enjoyed, but the one best suited for a blog post was Peek Yrrej Tuo. Our task on this puzzle was to remake the Godfather without saying the title of the movie. (I misinterpreted that rule and made a silent film.) Initially a group of undergrads were set to make it on their own. However, when I went to check on them, it turned out none of them had actually seen the movie and they were basing it on things they had read on wikipedia. This was taking too long, so I jumped in to direct and made the masterpiece embedded below.
• Cheese and Biscuits -- I taught myself how to make cheese from a Minnesota State Fair recipe. It was kind of like cream cheese and I infused it with garlic and chives. When I was finished, I wound up with a bunch of leftover whey. From this, I made a ridiculous amount of biscuits: first a batch for a potluck and then multiple batches for an impromptu biscuit party I threw when Breath was in town unannounced. No one who has had the cheese has died and everyone loved the biscuits, so I call it a success.
• The Vikings choking in the NFC Championship game -- Actually, I don't want to talk about this.
• Brandi Carlile -- I just got back from Portsmouth, NH where I saw Brandi Carlile sing for the second time in the past year. It was a sold out show, but I managed to grab a ticket from someone on Craigslist this morning. And it was an amazing show and so worth the hour drive. If her voice doesn't give you chills, something is wrong with you. (I actually much prefer the live arrangement of "Oh Dear" with five voices and a ukulele instead of the more fully orchestrated version on the album.) In my fantasy life in which I became a singer instead of a scientist/engineer sort, I sound like her. After the show, I waited around and got her autograph and we even talked about the State Fair ever so briefly! Oh, and the opening act, Katie Herzig, was pretty good too.

Now, without further ado, "The Internet" presents The Godfather starring Harrison Bralower as Marlon Brando, directed by me (as you can hear at various points):

Dear Santa...

Dear Santa,

I know the online store says they're out (and really, is that surprising, given its awesomeness?). But all I want for Christmas is the Justin Morneau "Sluggie". Imagine being able to cuddle up with my very own Canadian AL MVP...

Christmas comes early...

... or my birthday came late. Either way, I just bought myself tickets to the only two Twins games happening at Fenway this year. And for the May 19th game, I splurged on myself and will be sitting right behind homeplate. (Well, off to the left, but whatever.) I've also noted that the Twins are playing a weekend series in Philadelphia in June, home of my friend Maggie. I may have to pay her a visit...

(An aside to whoever schedules MLB games -- the Twins play the Red Sox once in April to open Target Field and once in May at Fenway, and then they never play each other again. I'm pretty sure there's a more optimized schedule than that.)

Happy Thanksgiving!

I meant to post this yesterday, but got distracted by work...

Every week day morning for over a year now, I walk to the Davis Square T stop to head in to work. On the vast majority of those days, I've taken a copy of the Metro from the same woman who stands at the end of the escalator. (As I have mentioned before, the Metro is not a great paper. But it is free and it has a crossword puzzle.)

When I first started getting the paper from this woman, she never made eye contact and never smiled. She just held out the paper and waited for people to come back and take them from her. When someone did, she'd hold out another paper for the next person... or the person after that if the next person ignored her. It was the same thing everyday, with no sign of personality from her.

I figured she must be bored or shy or both and decided to make it my mission to get her to at least smile. Thus, every morning when I took the paper from her, I would say a cheery good morning. After about a month, she started to look up and smile when I said it. Eventually, she started recognizing me and smiling before I said anything. A few months ago she started holding the paper back from me until I said "Good morning," at which she always responded with a very quiet "Good morning" back.

But yesterday was a big turning point. We did our usual "Good morning" exchange and I took the paper from her. But she wouldn't let go. Instead, she looked me in the eye and said, "Happy Thanksgiving." I wished her the same, and took the paper and headed off to the T.

So, on this turkey day 2009, I am thankful for the Metro lady at the Davis Square T stop and our small little bond. And for Google for sponsoring the free wifi at Logan which is allowing me to post this while I wait for me 6 am flight.

Our fine feathered friend

Today at work we were visited by a guest. After our morning meeting we noticed him (her?) just hanging out by one of the research assistant cubicles. He seemed just as interested in checking us out as we were in checking him out. When I moved the cereal box that was blocking our view of him, he was particularly interested in where I put it. Ultimately, I broke eye contact with him and attempted to take a picture of his backside which either made him lose interest or frightened because he took off from the ledge into the city.

In other news, my phone takes reasonable pictures and can connect to my work computer over bluetooth.

My alma maters are better than Harvard

According to some survey done by the Global Language Monitor, Harvard University only ranks third in public perception -- and the Harvard Crimson is all up in arms about it. The two universities ranked one and two? Michigan and MIT, my alma maters.

It's a fun day to work in a group where over half the people have at least one degree from Harvard.

Go Engineers and go Blue!

The Doogie Howser Cutoff

Today at work, I made a reference to Doogie Howser, M.D. The research assistants gave me a puzzled look as, apparently, they have never heard of him. This wasn't even a look of "Oh, I sort of know what you're talking about," but of complete ignorance of the boy genius. This appalled my (also 27 year old) officemate and me. We set about surveying the office and determined the exact cutoff for knowing about Neil Patrick Harris's pre-How I Met Your Mother fame.

For starters, we confirmed with everyone older than or the same age as us that they knew the show. Thus, we concluded that this is one of those cultural phenomenons that most people who were cognizant in the late 80s and early 90s knew. Of our seven research assistant types (recently out of college), all of those who graduated college in 2009 gave us blank stares. (However, one How I Met Your Mother fan wants to Netflix it now.) Of the three who graduated in 2008, two had heard of it and one had not. We contacted the older brother of the one who hadn't heard of it, and confirmed that he knew of the Doogmeister, thereby removing any bias of her environment growing up and solidifying that this is an age gap thing. But here's the exciting part -- she is exactly one day younger than one of the 2008 grads who does remember watching the show.

Therefore, we conclude that the cutoff for knowing about Doogie Howser, M.D. is February 1, 1986. All those born February 2, 1986 and later have no idea who he was. And some of these people are college graduates.

You can commence feeling old now -- I sure do!

Edited to add: So, apparently Doogie is on Hulu and I've been reminiscing this evening. The conversation summed up at about 1:57 into the second episode of the first season manages to hammer home the point that this show is old from the other direction.

Google, over here!

Prior to very recently, my research group at MGH, CEPAC (Cost-Effectiveness of Preventing AIDS Complications) did not have a website. Now it does... but we need Google to find it and rank it highly. So, now that I've posted it here, hopefully it will. (Also, those of you who aren't web crawling robots are welcome to check it out as well.)

Today, in my building

The official word from MGH Police:

"As you may have heard in the media, there was an incident this afternoon at 50 Staniford St. involving an assault on an employee. An off duty security guard, not associated with MGH, shot the suspect and the suspect has died. The employee is being treated for injuries and is in stable condition. The building is safe and has been secured. The Boston Police Department is processing the scene."

Today was a fun day in the office, what with being in a temporary lockdown and all. But I am fine as is everyone I work with. (The incident happened on the 5th floor, I work on the 9th floor.)

Twins 1, Yankees 4

My previous statement about Alex Rodriguez still stands.

On the plus side... no more Metrodome! As much as I have fond memories that took place there, it cannot be stressed enough how awful a baseball stadium it is. (There is one exception -- if it is raining outside and the stadium is full, it's kind of worth it. See last week, for example.)

I didn't get to see the last two Red Sox games, wherein they were swept by the Angels. I went to bed after the Twins game on Friday so that I could get up early and drive to Maine. And I was out hiking in Acadia during today's game. More on that later...