photos

on boston and watchmen

The boy had Friday off from work so we took the train into Boston to see Watchmen and go out to lunch. It was still snowy but not terribly cold, which was nice. (Yesterday was downright tropical. 60 whole degrees!)

I’d been eagerly anticipating Watchmen for awhile. Not nearly as long as most people who read the graphic novel years ago since I only first read it recently, but longer than I usually anticipate film releases.

I loved it. Really. Really really loved it. It’s not the book, but no film can ever really be the same as a book. They’re two different experiences but I think it does a lovely job of capturing the essence of the book and you can feel the respect for the source material on the screen.

The opening credits are brilliant. The 80s-ness of it hits just the right notes, without looking silly or dated. It just kind of seems classic and a little bit retro and timeless. The slight changes to the plot make sense in the context of the film, and I think they work very well and didn’t feel forced or disingenuous. And at almost 3 hours it didn’t feel long at all. Really, it got to the last act and my first thought was “we’re here already?”

The casting was spot-on almost across the board. Having seen both Patrick Wilson and Jackie Earle Haley in Little Children I was a teensy bit skeptical (particularly of Wilson, since the Nite Owl is my favorite and he usually looks very golden-boy) but they were both wonderful, and the hair & makeup team did an amazing job on both of them and several other actors in making them look exactly like the pen & ink versions.

Have I mentioned that I loved it? I did. I’ve seen a lot of mixed reviews but I really think it’s impressive and I struggle to imagine how they could have done it better. Two thumbs up, lots of stars, I may need a Nite Owl action figure, this film is Erin-approved and all that jazz.

After the movie we went and had black&tans at Ned Devine’s and wandered around town a bit. We walked through the North End and spotted all the stores and restaurants and cafes that had changed in the year and a half since we left. I don’t miss it, really. I miss aspects of it but not the whole. I’m glad we lived there for as long as we did but I’m also glad we moved.

I did take the opportunity to use my new(ish) Canon PowerShot while we were walking around. I like having a smaller camera to keep in my bag to catch random snapshots and such. Some of the better ones are up on my Flickr photostream.

This birdie was hanging out with the seagulls in Christopher Columbus Park.

I like being close enough to Boston to visit, still. I’ll like it better when it’s even warmer and has less snow.

Home now, with books to read and work to do and coffee. MacBook was fixed yesterday by nice Apple Geniuses. Going to bake banana muffins later.

By erin, ago

october

It is only my second October in Salem, and last year we were still in unpacking mode so we didn’t really have the time to stop and look around enough. It’s fun, though I think my favorite part is all the technicolor trees. We were severely lacking in trees living in Boston.

Went for a walk today and took a lot of photos. Wasn’t really planning to, just brought the camera on an excursion for bread. Came home breadless, alas, but did get some great photos and a pumpkin spice latte. Best of the photos are now on my Flickr photostream. Also met a cat named Maleek who enjoyed pets on the head (you can see him on the photostream, too).

Finished the tarot sevens. Am pondering my plot or lack thereof for NaNoWriMo now that it’s only days away. I am feeling a bit like I’m in a holding pattern, waiting for the rest of 2008 to tumble into writing and holidays and then fall into 2009. I am taking some time to enjoy the scenery.

By erin, ago

on anniversaries & apples

taken at macks apples, londonderry, nh, 10.13.08

Yesterday was my 2nd wedding anniversary. We went to New Hampshire to go apple picking and bought a cotton candy pumpkin and I took a lot of photos, some of which came out remarkably well. I am endeavoring to be a better photographer. After apple picking (Mutzu apples, which are fantastic) we went out for dinner at the Indian restaurant we’d been meaning to try for ages and it was wonderful. They had naan stuffed with basil that was possibly the best thing ever.

Today I finished the last of my edits on the novel and sent it off all pretty and shiny to be read by a few wise, bookish people to get some outside opinions on it. It is odd to be free of it, if only temporarily. I have been working more or less nonstop on it for the last week or so, since the boy read it and gave me some very good suggestions on things to add and adjust.

I have things to do, of course. I have the troublesome sevens to paint for the tarot deck. I have NaNoWriMo coming up in two weeks and I use a little bit more planning for it, though I never like to plan too much for NaNo. I like to see where November wants to take me without a map.

I should clean the studio, and I would like to add some more things to my Etsy store. I finished The Graveyard Book, which was not entirely what I was expecting but fit my mood nicely and made me want to play in graveyards (which I can easily manage around here). I should start The Catcher in the Rye, or possibly re-read Einstein’s Dreams.

And there are apples to eat, as well.

By erin, ago

awaiting autumn

I have been in a sort of cocoon of Lapsang Souchong tea and writing lately, alternately accompanied by Philip Glass on solo piano and Zoe Keating on multi-layered cello.

Now I’ve moved on to being vaguely addicted to Amanda Palmer’s new solo album, Who Killed Amanda Palmer. I wasn’t sure what I thought of it at first but it has grown on me like some sort of musical fungus and I think I love it to little bits. Or something.

Still writing. Still have my Lapsang Souchong. Still have kittens finding new and interesting places to nap. Tessa was all about the front window for awhile (see photographic evidence) and now she’s underneath the gold armchair in the corner. Bucket has taken to flopping in various spots in the hallway so I have to jump over her to get to the kitchen for tea.

It feels like it could trip over into autumn any day now, I am sick of the humidity and I long for scarves and fingerless gloves and pumpkin spice lattes. It is my favorite time of year, all cinnamon and leaves and crisp cool air. Any day now.

By erin, ago

blueberry girl

I went blueberry picking with Kyth & Amy in New Hampshire this weekend. We managed to have lovely weather despite the ever-present summer storms, and we had a marvelous time. I’ve never been blueberry picking before. Apple picking many many times but never blueberries. It takes a lot longer to fill a bucket with blueberries than it does with apples.

I was glad that I’d brought my camera. Berries are fun to capture in their natural habitat. I was struck by how much blueberries look like itty bitty pomegranates in shape, and surprised that I’d never really noticed it before.

I now have about 3 pounds of blueberries. We have been snacking on them but have barely put a dent in the haul, so the rest have been relegated to the freezer. (We have a freezer that works now, thankfully.)

I have always loved frozen blueberries. I would eat them by the handful when I was little and my mom would freeze them, sneaking them out of the freezer and not always leaving a reasonable amount left for whatever baking purposes they had been intended for.

I will endeavor to be better with these. I am probably going to make blueberry cookies tomorrow, and possibly some sort of blueberry cake type something later in the week. Or scones, perhaps.

I like having the ability to take a day trip to pick berries on a farm as easily as we can take a day trip into Boston. And I like that we live in a sort of in-between place that’s not too urban and not too rural. I used to think I was a city girl but I never really was, though I am not much of a country girl either. I am something in between. Or maybe I am all kinds of girls, and I fit better in the places that leave me free to be all of them.

By erin, ago

this entry has kittens

I am feeling remarkably proactive and productive today, which is odd for a Tuesday though not so odd for a waxing moon. I have spent today organizing writing things, and I now have a large color-coded chart of the novel hanging above the desk, which will hopefully help keep me motivated and prevent things from getting overwhelming. (I only have 12 unfinished/unwritten vignettes out of 40, which is quite something, really.)

So, pictures of kittens!

While sitting at my desk if I look to my left this is what I usually see:

This is Tessa, sleeping on the file box I keep art prints in. It has been her napping spot of choice when I’m in the studio for awhile now. She gets very irate when I have to move her.

And this is Bucket, sitting on the floor behind me. Though she is not hiding in difficult-to-photograph places today, she is still a bit camera shy. Or possibly just doesn’t like Radiohead.

They are lovely, fluffy things even though they are not terribly helpful.

By erin, ago