Enjoying Ethiopian Food

Note: Photos in this post are not my own. Click through for complete credit. 

Last night a group of people from my lab went for Ethiopian food. A new Ethiopian restaurant has opened resonably close to the campus, and an Ethiopian student in the lab organized the outing. David and I had planned to go to a movie, but I was really tired, and when I found out about the Ethiopian restaurant outing I dragged him along (it really was to his advantage anyway – the Ethiopian restaurant was on his way home). I also haven’t had Ethopian food in a long time, and was keen to eat it again. I ended up splitting a vegetarian platter (which was delicious) with Rhutesh.

Over dinner there was a suggestion that we should sample cuisine from all the countries in the lab – which someone put at 17. I think it’s a great idea, but am a little apprehensive about my responsibility to Australia’s cuisine. We certainly won’t be visiting an Outback Steakhouse, and there aren’t really any authentic Australian restaurants that I know of (and it’s not clear to me that Australia has an authentic cuisine, anyway). All this makes me alarmed that I may have to cater myself. Which, in turn, makes me alarmed that I’ll have to decide on something that really is Australian. Hamburgers with beetroot and pineapple? Pavlova? Vegemite on toast?

Touring the Boston Public Library

None of the photos in this post are my own. Click through for complete credit.

Yesterday, Eva and I led a tour of graduate students to the Boston Public Library. The plan was to arrive on time to catch one of the free, guided tours, and we were actually a little early, so we had some time to explore on our own. I was particularly taken with their current map exhibit, Boston & Beyond: A Bird’s Eye View of New England, which includes some fantastic historic maps of Boston and the surrounding area. It was really nice to track down my current address on old maps, and to notice how the neighborhood has changed.

I really enjoyed the tour of the library. It turns out that the majority of the building is very much as it was when it was first built, and a recent renovation and restoration means that this is even more true today than it was, say, 10 years ago. For example, the lamps that hang in front of the museum are the originals (for a long time these lamps were used as the logo for the library):

As are the lamps and desks in the incredibly nice reading room:

I have visions of my thesis being written here! I’d never been through the entrance of the Boston Public Library during the day time (I’d been through it once before, at night), and it turns out it’s quite spectacular:

Light streams through the windows at the top of the stairs (yesterday was beautifully sunny), and the marble of the entrance positively glows. The lions at the top of the stairs look incredibly regal. My favorite part of the library, though, was the depiction of physics in one of the many murals.

Physics is in the left-hand panel in this photo

From the Boston Public library web page:

By the wondrous agency of Electricity, Speech flashes through Space and swift as lightning bears tidings of good and evil.

I have every intention of returning to the library on my own with a camera on a day when I have time to explore on my own. The place is full of interesting nooks and crannies, and, while I suspect it’s a nightmare for the architecture and art history purists out there (it really is a mish-mash of styles), it has some moments of great beauty.

Wearing Hand-Knit Socks

My first pair of On-Your-Toes socks are done!

I really do love them, although I have to admit that the apparent high difference in the photo is real. This what happens when you don’t measure things properly. Luckily, it doesn’t matter so much as the tops are generally hidden under my jeans. I don’t think I’ve ever knit anything yellow before – it certainly won’t be the last time though. I love the mustardy color.

I’ve cast on for another pair – these are blue-green, and I have actually already made my way through the first sock. These socks have become my knitting group and movie knitting – I’ve discovered that, providing I’m not doing anything tricky like starting or turning the heel, I can knit these socks in complete darkness.

And, because it won’t be so long until the blue-green socks are finished, I’ve ordered yarn for the next pair:

Lightweight Socks that Rock in Amber. Delicious!

Desperate for Spring

About this time every year (at least since I’ve been living in Boston) I get desperate for spring. Today isn’t so bad – the sun is out, and it isn’t that cold – but last week was dire. I think we had five days straight without any sunshine, nevermind the comforting green of plant life! One thing that I like to do in the middle of winter is to force some bulbs. My mother has done this for years, but a few years ago I bought a forcing vase of my own. In the past, I’ve had success with paperwhites, and this year I bought some pink hyacinths (promised on the packet to be fragrant), and right now I have a flower opening.

As promised, it is fragrant, and it’s a welcome (if early) sign that spring will come! I have 3 more of these hyacinth bulbs, which are actually beginning to sprout in the bag. Hopefully I’ll have time this (long) weekend to put them in a pot, for some more hints of spring.

Always planning

Recently, my "free" gift from Rowan arrived:

Four balls of All Season’s Cotton (in Ravish, aka baby blue) and a pattern for a waistcoat or shawl. I’m not sure I want to knit either of the suggested patterns. I certainly wouldn’t wear either of them, although my mother with wear the waistcoat. Alternatively, I could use the yarn to make some kind of baby gift: Trellis might be fun (all those cables!), the pattern is free, and it would use up all the yarn…