Set in Harvard Square

In the last few days I found out about a local writing contest. It's sponsored by a bookstore in Cambridge, and the prize is essentially free books and a chance to read your work in public and get your name out.

The problem is that all entries are due by this Saturday by 5pm. Can I write something good enough to submit in only four days? Unlikely, especially in the midst of a busy school week. Still, it's a tempting thought...

Then again, I've never been good with length limits, and this contest requires nothing longer than 2000 words. For half a moment I considered taking an existing story and forcing it into the required setting of the Harvard Square neighborhood, but that story is over 3000 words, and would never keep its quality if I cut it by a third.

More than likely, this contest is just a distraction from work that is far more important, especially since I don't have a viable idea for a new story I could put in the setting. I suppose I'll just focus on the fantasy settings I know so well and try to make a bit more progress there instead.

-Kim

West Side Geese

As all of my faithful readers already know, the Simmons residence campus is being homesteaded by a flock of geese, drawn to our serene environment and plentiful crumbs. Mostly they want the food the undergrads keep dropping as they walk out of the cafeteria. Who could blame them?

Campus geese are a hardy breed of bird. They lived in the park before they came our way and learned not to worry too much about heavy traffic speeding by, so groups of college-age girls hardly register on their danger radar. (The border collie the school brought in is capable of clearing them out for the course of one day, but they came back even stronger than before.) They also prefer the sidewalks to walking cross-country on the frozen grass and shrinking piles of snow. Often, I'll see lines of them strutting down the sidewalk (or the road!) in single file lines, straight out of Make Way For Ducklings.

The fearlessness of these creatures is evident in the way they simply ignore students rushing past them on the way to class or the dining hall. I passed within arm's length of several geese just this morning, and none of them ever stopped pecking the ground to give me even a momentary glance. It gives me the urge to poke them. Actually, to be more precise, it gives me the urge to pet them. Their feathers look so soft, that I really want to pick one up. That, of course, would not end well for either myself or the goose. Still, it crosses my mind. And I'm not the only one. My neighbor Dave told me that he saw a goose "trapped" behind the campus wrought-iron fence the other day. The poor creature was poking its head between every bar in the fence, looking for a space it could fit through. Dave wanted to pick the bird up and chuck it over the fence to join its friends and save it the trouble of working its way down to a real opening in the fence.

After lunch today I learned a new fact about city geese--they are highly territorial. Our resident gaggle of geese had reinstalled itself on the quad after being chased off last Friday and were enjoying their lunch in peace when a pair of intruders came in for a landing. The new arrivals glided in and settled down on the sidewalk. Unfortunately, they came down a bit farther apart than intended, and the larger of the two had to run back to his companion. And I mean run. Have you ever seen a goose run? It's a sight to see. You know how a squirrel's tail flows when it runs, and the tip never seems to move? Well, that's what the goose's head was doing. The neck was flowing as the body bobbed, which allowed the head to remain still as the large bird skedaddled over to its friend.

Well, the geese already on the quad didn't like this at all. Their leader, who was actually noticeably smaller than the new arrival, came at them making a sound halfway between the traditional honk and the hiss of an enraged swan. His run was not as bouncing, and clearly intended to intimidate. He ran with his head down and his beak open bellowing his war cry. His neck flowed, and his head did bob, but it didn't look silly; instead, it was the vicious flowing movement of a sea serpent.

The newcomers backed off, but didn't leave. The leader of the Sharks (that is the Simmons mascot, after all) turned to his flock and honked for their attention before charging again. The turf war was intensifying, and the rumble between the Sharks and the Jets was on.

The Sharks began another slow charge, all of them mimicking the call and posture of their leader. Let me tell you, it was quite a sight to see all of them moving in tandem, driving back the interlopers. Little by little they were pushed back, and most likely left the campus shortly thereafter. I couldn't stay to watch, being on my way to work. Who knows, they may have broken into a big musical number, punctuated with honks and pecks.

Whatever the result of this particular incident, it is clear to me that our geese have claimed our quad and intend to stay, no matter what other flocks, dogs or students get in their way.

-Kim

The North End

Boston's North End is a unique part of the city. Not only is it older and more historic than areas downtown, it is also the area with the greatest concentration of Italian-Americans. The narrow, cobblestone streets are lined with Italian restaurants and pastry shops, and the Boston accents heard calling out across the streets are thicker than any others in the city.

In all my time here last semester, I never actually made it to the North End. So yesterday afternoon, Christina and I took of on a quick little adventure. Our main purpose was to go to a pastry shop. She wanted a lobster tail (very large flaky pastry filled with cream), and I had my heart set on a canoli. We hopped on the subway at Longwood Station in the nearby park and rode up to Park Street, where we had to change to a different Green Line train, because the D line trains never go far enough. We got off at Haymarket, and one block later were officially in the North End. We took the long way around to the pastry shop to get more of the North End experience. Tourists always go to Mike's Pastry, but the crowds and the prices aren't the best. So we went down the street to Modern Pastry, the shop frequented by the locals. Granted, there was a line there too, but what else would you expect in the late afternoon on a Saturday? I didn't really mind so much--standing in line gave me time to drool over all the different pastries and make up my mind for sure about what to order. The canolis there really are excelent. The cream is thick and delicious, and you can get several different types of shells, including chocolate-dipped (yum!).

Leaving Modern, we noticed that the Haymarket produce market was still set up. This event happens every Saturday, and this was the first time I had ever seen it. The street is full of stalls of vendors with any kind of produce you can think of. In fact, it sork of reminded my of an art festival, because each stall had a tent over it, like an artist booth. I hadn't planned on getting any produce--my meal plan covers me well enough that all I really need to buy is the occasional jar of peanut butter--but the first stall we stopped at had something that caught my eye. The man was selling kiwis 4 for a dollar. How could I pass up a deal like that? So I spent a moment picking out the four best kiwis I could find. He tried to rush me, but I wanted to make sure I didn't get any of the squishy ones. What I learned from this is that Haymarket is rather intense, but it'll be worth enduring the crowds to go there this summer when I have to feed myself instead of going to the dinning hall.

Now that I've finally spent time in the North End, eaten canoli and shoped at Haymarket, I'm starting to feel like a real Bostonian. Who knows, by summer I may even care about baseball! Red Sox relif pitcher Justin Masterson spoke at church today, and he's an athlete I can respect. If hall council really does organize a group outing to a game, I'll know who to cheer for!

-Kim

5 things that made me smile recently

1. Simmons has decided that the geese on campus are a nuisance, and have brought in a dog to scare them away. It's a friendly-looking black and white border collie, and I saw it on the residence campus yesterday afternoon with its handler, apparently having just scared away all the geese.

2. The geese were back again today, and just as calm as ever. Most animals make me smile, but for some reason, seeing a goose in the middle of a city just really brightens my day.

3. The electronic sensors placed in the swimming lanes for meets (or, in this case, the day before a meet) are made by Daktronics. I finished my laps today swimming toward that familiar name.

4. Last night I auditioned to play a concerto for this semester's orchestra concert. I have no idea when the decision will even be made, but I feel better for having tried. Also, the entire rehearsal last night was even more fun than usual, possibly because our director was "dancing" as the explained the mood of each movement of "Swan Lake." Plus, I had a pocket full of M&Ms, and coasted through the rehearsal on a constant sugar buzz.

5. In Collective Memory we have to do a final project, in groups and give a formal presentation. Our instructors made the groups for us, based on interests we submitted through email. I had been worried I would be placed with intimidating people and forced to work on a topic I cared nothing about, but was pleasantly surprised today. Our group, brought together under the subject heading of "dead white English men." The only other person in the class who I knew, Tiereny, is in the group, and our other member isn't intimidating at all, and we ended up, after quite a bit of discussion (mostly on literary subjects), deciding that we want to do our presentation on King Arthur. That's right--we are going to trace the historical significance and societal remebrance of a fictional character. But it's going to be fun! The point of this class is to see how groups of people remember things, and how those memories change over time, so why not explore one of the most enduring legends of our time and see just how interpretations have changed over the centuries. With all the different versions available, we'll have more than enough material to trace the developments. Quite frankly, the most difficult part is going to be nailing down what the original memory was, since it's debatable how old the legend really is. So, it's time to dive into some research, but at least it's research on a topic I love!

-Kim

so it begins

The semester is off to a running start. Already I've been working through daunting reading assignments and wondering whether I really will have time to complete everything I have for every class. Last night I was finishing a 100 page book and reading three chapters of another so that I could write a one page response and post it on the class wiki by noon today. I stayed up past midnight to get it posted, and I really hope this doesn't become a norm (I have a response due every week in that class). It might have gone more quickly, but we're still in the theoretical discussion of collective memory. Once we begin discussing concrete examples, the readings should be easier to get through. At least I hope so. On the other hand, at least I can do the reading. I have thus far been unable to access the list of reserve readings for my rare books class because they are not available through the library website. Hopefully that changes, but it has been a good excuse not to worry about that class this week while I was stressing over collective memory.

On an unrelated note, I've been having a lot of strange dreams since coming back to school. Very random people are showing up who don't even belong to the same realms in my real life, say, a mix of someone from home and someone from here and someone from USF. That may be common for people in general to have such confusing dreams, but mine are usually a bit more logical. But just the other day I had a dream that began on a sailboat, then passed through something resembling Little House on the Prairie, then ended up with me in a strange big house, panicking because my teeth had become loose and would all fall out if I opened my mouth. It was at the teeth bit when I woke up, and it really weirded me out. That sort of thing doesn't usually happen. Or at least, it hasn't happened in recent years. Is it a sign of stress? Or is it a reaction caused by my noisy refrigerator and mystery food from the cafeteria?

-Kim