"The Public Library of the City of Boston; Built by the People and Dedicated to the Advancement of Learning."

I'm walking in the city this morning and just passed the BPL. Even though I have some complaints about living here, it is sentiment like the above(which is carved into the stone structure of the BPL) that makes me happy to live in this city and in this nation. It is easy to forget the tremendous opportunities available to us as free people. I make it a point to remind myself as often as possible just how fortunate I am in comparison to the majority of other people around the world (even though I still make jokes about being a poor artist, I realize that this is only in relation to the standard of living here).
We are and come from people who chose to risk everything for freedom, for eqality, to live life on their own terms. I am proud of this heritage. We are the land of the free and the home of the brave and I, for one, hope we always remain so.

That's a Thinker

I just played this board game called "Cranium". The rules are a little convoluted at the start, but all and all I had a fun time. There are four decks of cards; each with its own type of question or challenge. There's a deck whick is similar to pictionary, but with a few twists. Some of the cards require you to mold a word, object, or action out of clay. Others propose you draw with your eyes closed.
There was one deck which became the dreaded one. This one was all about performing, often rather like charades, although sometimes you are allowed to speak. I ended up enjoying this deck though (when else would I get to pretend I'm Ronald Reagan?)
My one difficulty was trying to keep myself from playing with the clay. I used it to make a chubby brontosaurus with earmuffs and a scarf(who knows why that particular form came to me). Then the clay had to be used in the game, so I saved the head and gave the other team the bulk of the clay(poor chubby dino).
I have always loved board games & have played a good number of them in my day. This one is a good party game. It requires all sorts of different specialized skills from artistic prowess to spelling.

"You're Not Going Crazy, You're Going Sane in a Crazy World."

I was walking in the city yesterday and came to an intersection, and being Boston (meaning who knows what traffic laws cars and pedestrians will choose to go by today) I stopped to check for oncoming traffic. No sooner did I stop when this woman plows into my back with a "Oh, I'm Sorry". Which I would have been completely fine with, as I'm a reasonable person. Here's what makes me mad though, she then proceeds to say "We Had a WALK sign!" and trots away in her oh-so-fashionable cowprint high heels. I can't stand it when people have the need to blame me for their own carelessness. I wanted to scream after her, "we live in a society!" Are poeple so freaked out about accidental contact with another person in this city that they can't simply be a reasonable person?
Sigh...

All I Need Is Lots and Lots of Stuff.

This weekend I accquired lots of stuff to make things with. Some items were acquired at "Family Dollar"(one of those anything here's a buck stores) and some were given to me by someone very near and dear. Now comes the fun part. I get to figure out what I'm going to make from 360 fake fingernails, 600 tiny, fuzzy ponytail elastics, all those foam cubes I mentioned before etc..