Garment District

Today I had the unexpected pleasure of thrift-store shopping. I spent my morning at the Writing Center, having volunteered to cover a shift for one of my coworkers. Afterward, I had lunch in the Fens (main campus eating place) and found some of my dorm fellows at a table. As we were dispersing, Christina mentioned that she and a friend (also in the archives program) were going shopping at a thrift store in Somerville. Well, I had to ask to tag along! So Christina, Marta and I excitedly hopped on the T to go in search of bargains.

Our first--and only planned--stop was the Poor Little Rich Girl store at Davis Square. There were fun things there, but it was more vintage than thrift, and we left without buying anything. Mostly, we tried on hats, since both Marta and I were looking for warm winter hats. Alas, nothing was to be found in our price range. We looked around for another thrift store we thought was in the area, but to no avail. At this point, we decided to head to the Garment District, which was almost guaranteed to be a success.

It was only a few stops down the line, but a long chilly walk from the station to the store itself. By the time we got there, we were more determined than ever to find warm hats to wear for the trip back. But first, we attacked the dollar-a-pound pile on the first floor. I'm serious about calling it a pile, too. they really just throw the clothes on the floor in a heap and let you dig through it. I'm not even sure how they differentiate these clothing items from the vintage stuff they sell on the upper level. Granted, some of the things in the pile are not worth even that small price, but if you look hard enough, you can find real treasures. I managed to come out of the pile with a pair of dressy shorts (which I can wear to look professional this summer), a retro-esque cardigan (yes, mom, I broke down and bought a cardigan), and a sweater made in Ireland of 100% merino wool (very warm and classy). All of this totaled only $3.40. Granted, sweaters are rather heavy, so if I had chosen other items the total would have been much lower. After selecting these things and leaving them behind the counter for safe-keeping, I headed upstairs to browse the "nicer" racks. I ended up finding a beret-type hat that's actually warmer than I thought it would be. Yes, I bought it. And yes, it cost as much as the rest of my items combined. But that still means my total for the trip was less than $7, which is rather impressive, if I do say so myself. I also considered some nice brown shoes, but they were a half size too small and would have been problematic. All things considered, I'd say it was a good day. Here's the hat I found:


-Kim

COF Orchestra Concert

It finally came! Or perhaps I should be saying "it's finally over!" It's hard to say in these instances. I have thoroughly enjoyed my time playing in the COF Orchestra, and I'm eager to do it again next semester. At the same time, it will be nice to have at least one free Thursdya evening before the end of the semester.

The concert seemed to go very well. We had issues with the second movement of Beethoven's Fifth, but I think the fourth movement made up for it. And the best part about all of this was that people came to the concert! The undergrads had their parents there, which fleshed out the crowd quite a bit, but I had a few people who came just for me. A few of my neighbors down the hall came, and Adam said it was good and was wondering about our next performance, which made me rather happy. (We don't perform again until spring semester, so it's going to be a while.) And even better than that, Katie came! I've been meaning to get up to see Katie at her seminary, but haven't gotten it accomplished yet. So this was the first chance I've gotten to see her all semester since they day I moved in. It was great, and we ended up talking about profs we missed (especially in the theology department), which probably confused my RA who sat with us in the cafeteria. That's right--I brought Katie and her roommate to Bartol Hall for dinner, and they survived. In fact, they were impressed by the number of options in comparison to the seminary cafeteria. I suppose I should be grateful that Bartol is as good as it is.

Here are Katie and I after the performance. She's almost dressed to join the horn section.

I'm pretty sure this photo was taken while we were warming up, but doesn't it look like we were playing feverishly fast?



Katie was also kind enough to take some video of the final piece. Don't worry, the picture won't be sideways the whole time. This is really just a taste, but it's the opening of the first movement of Beethoven's Fifth Symphony, which should be familiar to everyone. Pay attention when the camera shifts to the concertmaster--he plays with a lot more passion than the rest of us. Katie said it made her tired just to watch him.

-Kim

The Reality of Hope

The podcast is up! You can now follow the provided links to the sermon delivered by N. T. Wright, Bishop of Durham, in Park Street Church this past Sunday. It is well worth listening to. In fact, I'm listening again as I type this, and I am being impressed again. We all needed to be reminded that not only does hope exist, but we as Christians *are* part of the hope of change in the world. The sermon is based on the text listed below--you can follow the link to read it before you listen to what he has to say.

Colossians 1:9-23

"Christian Hope in a Confusing World"--N. T. Wright

good news

Mom's surgery this morning went just fine. She now has a new hip joint, and as soon as she gets healed up she'll be running marathons! Or perhaps just going to school without pain, but that would be miraculous enough. Thanks for your prayers, they've done wonders.

Right now I'm getting rather stressed about the end of the semester and am distracted by a number of things that I don't feel like going into here.

On the bright side, tomorrow night is my orchestra concert! Katie is coming, so I finally get to see her again. Hooray for friends! Now I should probably take a few minutes to practice the wonderfully difficult music we'll be playing tomorrow night. Quite a few people from my dorm will also be coming, thanks to some posters I threw together to hang up in the dorm. The orchestra itself has only been advertising by word of mouth apparently, so I have no idea how big the crowd will be.

-Kim

Surgery

Many of you know this already, but this Wednesday, my mother is having surgery to get a new hip so she can walk without pain again. Please keep her in your thoughts and prayers.

-Kim