Boston ~ Days 6, 7, 8, 9 and 10

This is just getting rididculous! I'm having way too many new experiences in Boston for me to just take a few hours to sit down at the computer to reflect on the days' events because either me and my sister are planning what we should do next, or we're out doing it, or we're taking time off to relax and recuperate from excess of fun! I apoligize for taking the internet equivalent of forever (e.g. a week ^_^) to write a new "Boston" post, and I've decided instead of doing individual days I'm just going to give you all the highlights of our trip so far. Is that alright with you? Fine. Here goes...

June 28~Today was a Sunday, wonderful chance to take a break before the new week starts, so we went and bought bagels at our favorite bagel place, Kupel's. We also wanted to go to our favorite bookstore, Barnes and Noble, but sadly it closed down. Don't you hate it when a favorite business closes down and a new one takes it's place as if the original never existed? Well we still wanted to go somewhere where we could sit in a building and read for an hour or so, so we had a trip trying to find the Brookline Public Library, only to find that it was closed on Sundays! And both me and Bettina had to go to the bathroom! ^~^ Well we decided to go home and unwind for a while by watching several Marx Brothers clips on YouTube. Harpo's hilarious when he tries to pantomime something to Chico. An hour or so before 5:30 we went to catch a show at the Science Museum, and we saw this totally awesome IMAX movie about skydiving and base-jumping and risk-taking in general. If you've never been to an IMAX theater before (like me) then I suggest you go as soon as possible, because it's an experience you mustn't miss!

June 29~Started the day later than usual (around 9:00), and on my own I took a walk to get a couple copies of the Metro newspaper, because on long train rides it's fun to have some good reading materials. After breakfast (strawberries and bananas), me and my sister took a walk around the reservoir in opposite directions. It was nice, because we met each other in the middle. ^,^ Then we took the "T" to AIB (Art Institute of Boston) at 12:00, we almost got lost but we just made it for the tour. Since it was summer the campus seemed very small and empty and not very art-filled. Still there were huge old-fashioned printing machines to marvel at and rooms full of Mac computers and graphic tablets, which I approve of. You have the old art forms alongside the new art forms, printing presses and graphic tablets.

After 1:00 we found a nearby Barnes and Nobles and happily spent a couple hours just hanging out and reading. I read a graphic novel called "The Rabbi's Cat 2" and a new kids book "The Dunderheads". Then we checked out the Boston Public Library, and for dinner we went out to the Cheesecake Factory restaurant and we had a wonderful meal! I had a big Hawaiian tasting salad, and Bettina had a nice pasta bowl with mixed vegetables, and we both shared a slice of carrot-cake cheesecake. It was the first time we went to a fancy restaurant and picked up "the tab" all by ourselves. Full and happy, we took the train home, and when we got back, we decided to watch YouTube. And tonight was the night I got hooked on Animaniacs!

For hours we watched Yakko, Wakko, and Dot sing and dance and drive people crazy and they are so funny and smart too! I can't believe it, I'm a child of the nineties and I have never been interested in the show before now! Actually the Animaniacs entered my consciousness a couple months ago when I read a post by Rainy.Rani (now known as Rainy.Roni) about the "Yakko's World" cartoon. I was intrigued, but I forgot about it. But now I am completely obsessed with this animated series because it so good! The animation is pristine, and the characters are incorrigible, and the musical element is fantastic! I am gaga for the Warner brothers (and sister).

Ahem. Okay, I had my fun. Now, more highlights.

June 30~Today's college visit was to MassArt. This time instead of being late we made it in time for the info session. Boring. Heard a lot about the application process, I asked a few questions, but still. Then the tour began. We got a tour guide who had a nervous sounding voice and didn't act very enthused about being a student at the college, but the rooms that she showed us were more impressive than at AIB. At least there were some great pieces of art hanging around so Bettina could take pictures of them. After the tour we went back to Barnes and Nobles and read a lot. I love the art section! After reading many art books it makes me look at everything with a respect to design and originality and energy. Kind of the feeling I get after I see a well-done animated movie. We had to go home around 2:15, because our week-long Charlie passes had just run out! We got a slice of pizza at a place called Pino's and got new train passes at 7-11. Then we hung around our apartment and watched some more Animaniacs. This was when I was really hooked and I couldn't stop thinking about them. Have you ever had an obsession with a movie or a song or a TV show and you thought it was the best ever and you couldn't stop thinking about it? Well that's how it was with me.

Then we took a walk around the reservoir to get some fresh air, and we went in a new ice-cream place called Chill (cool-sounding name, pun intended) and bought a mango scoop for me and a carrot-cake ice-cream for my twin. She really likes carrot cake, don't ask me why (I know why, but don't ask). Then what did we do when we got back? You guessed it, enjoyed watching more Animaniacs on YouTube! We even saw the movie "Wakko's Wish", sans part 1 (all the rest of the movie was intact though) and I just have to say that it was the best movie I've ever seen based on a cartoon! We stayed up till about 11:00 talking all about the movie. I know, I know. I'll go to an Animaniacs Anonymous if you'll get off my back about it, sheesh.

July 1~Woke up really early this morning, around 6:30. Bettina wasn't up, and I was still very psyched after watching the wonderful "Wakko's Wish" Animaniacs movie, so I found on Google Images a webpage of how to draw Yakko, Wakko, and Dot Warner, and I proceeded to draw them in my trusty sketchbook, which I brought with me on this trip but frankly hadn't used up till now. Here's the picture, I hope I did a good job in my reader's opinion (as an artist I need other people's criticism):--->The weather was cloudy and gloomy outside. We had made plans of going to the Chestnut Hill Theater again just like last Wednesday, but the only movies that were showing was Ice Age 3, which I wasn't holding my breath for, UP, which we've already seen, Transformers 2, which I would like to see if only I'd seen the first one, and The Proposal and The Hangover, 2 adult movies. We Skyped with our folks for about 27 minutes, our longest session yet, and took the free time to get some dishes done (though it wasn't our dishes we were doing). I had a lot of trouble scrubbing this disgusting grease-blackened pan, but I used a lot of Mr. Clean on it and I think it made it a bit easier, though I do wish I had an SOS soap pad with me. Enough of this banal kitchen stuff though, these are not highlights here!

Even though we knew it was all rainy and cold outside, we decided to go to the Arboretum. Last year we enjoyed walking through the picturesque paths and breathing the oxygen rich air of trees, trees, and more trees, but this trip all we got was mud, mud, and more mud, plus one tiny umbrella! Luckily we found a nice dry gazebo to rest at, and we had sandwiches and cereal there and scratched our initials out on the bench with a key. After that we decided we wouldn't wait until the rain lightened up, so we went back the way we came and made it back to the train station wetter than comfortable, but more or less fine.

Then we went to a Barnes and Nobles, because it's so nice and cozy to be lost in a good book while the world outside is rainy and cloudy. We stayed inside until the storm let up, and then we went out. We were hungry, so we found a Boloco's and got a very special deal. You know the Metro newspaper? Well it had coupons for Boloco's and instead of burritos you get the filling in a bowl and you eat it like a salad. It costs less and has fewer calories in it. We brought them back to the apartment and watched some more Animaniacs on YouTube. There was this funny episode called "The 'Please, please, please Get a Life' Foundation", about Animaniacs fans who stress over trivial facts or tidbits and really need help. How do the Warners cure these poor unfortunate souls without a life? They hit them over the head with a mallet!

Yakko: "Is this you? Are you happily engrossed in inconsequential cartoon trivia to the point where your socks can probably stand up by themselves? if you are, there's hope. There's help. There's the 'Please Please Please Get a Life Foundation'!"

Too bad it's not a real foundation. Do you think I need it? We watched until 11:00 and after that we made plans to visit MIT at 3:00 the next day. Then we went to sleep. (The next day is the last one on this blog post, just hang in there, 'kay?)

June 2~This morning I did another Animaniacs drawing, and here is the picture to the right. ---> I could've done Yakko better, but I'm proud of my Dot. Anyway we had to go to MIT, or for those unaware of the acronym's meaning, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. The train ride was slow, it just stopped for about half an hour and everyone got really pissed off. Still, when we arrived it was easy to find the administrations building, but we were a few minutes late and we missed the beginning of the tour. We wandered around the MIT campus aimlessly trying to plot our next move until we caught a bunch of people following this guy around and we figured that that must be the tour we missed, so we just blended in and pretended we were there the whole time. Of course it would've been better if we heard the beginning, but the guide was really interesting and he showed the whole group a bunch of interesting stuff like huge libraries and statues and he related a few personal anecdotes about his time as a student at MIT.

We had a really great time, all because the guide was friendly and enthusiastic. Even though I'm interested in art schools, I had not a lot of fun touring the MassArt and AIB campuses because the tour guides weren't professional. So to any college admissions officers reading this post, it pays to invest in good student tour guides! Anyway, after the tour we decided to take it easy on the way back home, and we walked down the famous Newbury street, known for it's eclectic mix of shopping venues and expensive (but face it, fabulous) fashion. We decided to get 2 slices at "Upper Crust", a real gourmet-type pizzeria. They had a special on tomato, spinach and garlic pizza slices, so we bought those. We enjoyed them near the Boston Public Library, and just watched people walk by. It was a beautiful day, and Boston is such a wonderful city to be in the middle of.
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Well thank you very much for reading till the end of this post. The next blog will only have July 3 and July 4 because those were two very special days.
So until next time, *mwah* Goodnight Everybody!