Really nice evening at the Druid last night, spliftd joined us about halfway through; I was initially put off by its cheesy Cambridge version of an 'I'm an Oirish Pub!' name, but it turns out to have a genuinely nice, cosy, pubby atmosphere (as well as actual Irish bartenders, who were actively uninterested in carding us). They also serve half pints! Whee ( Read more... )

I woke up to my first morning as a resident of Somerville (or "Slummerville" as everyone keeps reminding me) - home of marshmallow Fluff and Stop & Shop. I was woken up by a truck passing outside my window that I thought was incredibly loud thunder; but apart from that it seems pretty rad so far. But weird. I actually live in this country now? Uhh ( Read more... )

A variety of interactions in the past week, including one in particular at my cousin's wedding last night (where someone sort of kindly called me out who I didn't even realise knew me that well), has made me realise that I've acquired far too much of a dependence for my self image on the Me that others mirror back to me. I project something to ( Read more... )

Seeing Paul in Boston got me down in some way. Life is affecting him strangely. Back in Edinburgh he was lighter, more good-looking even; we were never close friends but he was close with Antonio and with Jeff and those guys, and we were the ones still there hungover and half-dressed at Jeff's flat the morning after a party, eating fried chicken ( Read more... )

My other grandmother, the New England one, is staying with us for a little while. We keep trying to ask her stuff about her family and childhood, but she hates talking about it, and yesterday basically told us that she hates her parents ('That's a terrible thing, isn't it!' she said, and laughed). Her father was born in the U.S. but was the child ( Read more... )

My partner's best friend is, it is increasingly clear, in love with him, and now instead of being amusing it's starting to get annoying. He (Pepe) came up to Groton with his uptight Portuguese/New Bedford girlfriend, got retardedly drunk, and was alternatingly friendly to me (getting pictures of him and me together, of which we now have many in a ( Read more... )

Ooh. I had a dream last night about a flood, and I had been in a motorboat with various people (my family?), and I escaped but tons of my stuff, and all my family's cats (the count is up to five now, with grandma's three), were inside it and it got submerged...Then after an agonisingly long time we retrieved the boat and found my cat Aggie drenched ( Read more... )

My grandma's furniture is all in my parents' house now, and when I sit on her couches, on the slipcovers she made, next to her old octagonal table, I feel more at home than I ever, ever do in my parents' house otherwise, with their furniture and my mom's stuff (my dad's stuff is pretty much banished, poor thing). It feels strange, because this new ( Read more... )

Where to start ( Read more... )

I wrote this obituary for my grandmother, but my mom didn't find anywhere to publish it, so Antonio put it on his blog. It's here: http://andanzasyrepasos.wordpress.com/2008/05/18/lillian-jean-gilfillan/