Presents presents presents!

December 29, 2009 by Sadie in Sadie & Greg

We had a stupendous Christmas/Boxing Day, and are still rolling in bounty. I think Greg's family is trying to keep us on the East coast through the sheer force of Christmas loot. We had a very quiet Christmas morning at Oak Street, where Greg made apple turnovers from scratch and got me everything I wanted (A Year of Mornings, a Year of Evenings, the new Grizzly Bear album, and even scrimshaw earings made of 10,000 year old mammoth). The next few days are devoted to packing for Eugene and preparing myself for staying up three hours later every night.

Staycation in Paradise

December 23, 2009 by Sadie in Sadie & Greg

Have I mentioned that it snows in Massachusetts? It snows big, fluffy cold snow that sticks for weeks. The air just got nose-bleed dry, and I'm sitting in our kitchen, drinking tea and watching our neighbor pack her car for the vacation. She locks her car every time she goes inside for another load, and I wonder if people raised in New Hampshire actually believe North Grafton, MA is a dangerous place. These are the things I have time to think about during our long staycation.

I've read a pile of books (in case you're looking for a happy YA romance for your favorite gay boy, tuck Boy Meets Boy under the tree), watched a pile of movies (looking for a happy teen movie? Go for Nick and Nora's Infinite Playlist), and did a whole pile of nothing with a very sweet companion. Being in my home the day before Christmas Eve is awesome. And for all the joys of being a perpetual kid in someone else's house, being a grown up in my own house on Christmas has a romantic kind of magic. 

Rochester

December 20, 2009 by Sadie in Sadie & Greg

Here is a picture of Dorothy from my venture to Rochester.

Graceling: totally bitchin'

December 15, 2009 by Sadie in Sadie & Greg

I recently finished Kristin Cashore's fantastic book, Graceling, and am now wading through a really horrible book that doesn't deserve being mentioned by name (you know who you are). Graceling has had enough critical praise for me to simply direct you to much more articulate reveiws (http://kristincashore.blogspot.com/2008/02/reviews-reviews-reviews-for-graceling.html). It's hard to read this book without wanting everyone you know to read it immediately. Not read, inhale. While it is cool to finally have a female character that can make her own decisions (glaring your way, Ms. Myer), it is the dialogue that make the book so real and whole. So much YA fiction is shaped around two people who are talking at each other, either to convey information to move the plot along or to convey their innermost feelings that are unaltered by the other person's response. Cashore's characters come into a conversation with one idea and negotiate a third way, so the plot, while action-packed and riveting, doesn't seem to move the characters along without their will. Which is how some books (oh, yes, Stephanie, I'm still talking to you) make their female characters into slaves, to other characters or outside forces. This is only one of many refreshing, progressive, fantastic things about the book, like the hero cycle and the rich development of characters as they grow as people and together. So, if you haven't read it already, grab it up, make a cup of tea, and take the phone off the hook. 

Oh, and my Christmas list is:

Good Earth Original Sweet and Spicy Tea (I can't find it in any of my local grocery stores, but maybe they haven't pulled it on the west coast)

The beautiful photo book, A Year of Mornings: 3191 Miles Apart

Megan Whalen Turner's The Thief

holiday break

December 14, 2009 by Sadie in Sadie & Greg

The house is still, challah french toast is soaking, and I'm preparing to finish another big book from my wonderful neighbor, Lydia. This week, the priority is to remember how to talk to other people without mentioning bureaucracy, national data sets, or even those wacky students from my wealth and poverty class. I'm just talking about feminist speculative fiction.

Our Hanukkah dinner was really fun, and we had way too much food. My menorah seemed to work pretty well, too.

Oh Christmas tree

December 10, 2009 by Sadie in Sadie & Greg

I got my first farm-raised tree last week (not counting trees from mom's farm, obviously). Greg did quick work of it, and we dragged it back home without much of a struggle. It's so nice to have our own real Christmas tree to sit next to and read while it snows and hails outside.

We're celebrating the first night of Hanukkah with friends tomorrow. I made my own menorah out of antler and wire, and am going to try to make traditional kugel and latkes. Lots of oil to celebrate the festival of lights- yum!

It's quiet and snowing.

December 06, 2009 by Sadie in Sadie & Greg

I'm making bread and my holiday cards this afternoon, watching the snow melt off of the trees outside.

Ornaments from the Bay State

December 03, 2009 by Sadie in Sadie & Greg

After deciding between a submarine theme and Martha Stewart Christmas Explosion, Greg and I compromised on a nautical Christmas, very appropriate for a little town whose ancient graveyard is full of captains. I began ornament making by rifting on an Anthropologie design. All I can say about the child labor they must use to construct the ornaments is that those little fingers are magic. Each boat took an hour! Greg suggested that I take pictures of the two I've already made and hang a dozen facimilies on the tree instead. Next project- the octopus tree topper.

Happy Happy Birthday Robbie!

December 02, 2009 by Sadie in Sadie & Greg

I hope you have a wonderful birthday. 

Finals and colds

November 30, 2009 by Sadie in Sadie & Greg

It's that time of the semester again. Time to sit on the couch with a pile of handkerchiefs, an endless supply of throw blankets and black tea, and the impending doom of paper deadlines. We didn't manage to get our tree today. I didn't even manage to get out of my pajamas. Maybe we'll get it next week (unfortunately, I have to get out of my pajamas before then). 

It's beginning to look a lot like...

November 28, 2009 by Sadie in Sadie & Greg

For whatever reason, I'm really excited about the Christmas season- the greenery, the sparkly lights, wrapping all those presents. Yesterday I made evergreen bouquets and garlands for the house, and tomorrow we're going to get a tree. Greg is trying to keep the Thanksgiving spirit alive by playing our Arlo Guthrie album on repeat, but I sneak the All-Christmas station in the car. The spirit will overcome him soon.

The Five E's of Fair Process Leadership are a joke.

November 23, 2009 by Sadie in Sadie & Greg

Today was my last real day of leadership and organizational behavior, a management class I’m required to take for my public policy degree. I know that I am almost entirely alone here, but a discipline whose insights must alliterate seems a bit weak to me. For example, the five principles of fair process management include engagement, exploration, explanation, expectation, and evaluation. Transparency had to be dropped from the model- if it really mattered, it would start with an E.

During class discussion, I occasionally mention that the leaders we read about may have increased profitability because they fired all skilled labor in the organization, and am generally dismissed. One of my quieter friends in the class says that she could vomit on a case study analysis and get an A, whereas the TA seems to mark me down for not mentioning unpublished articles extending a particular theory. I should have known the cards were stacked against me when the TA presented a retaliatory presentation to my presentation on the financial crisis in another course.

But what do they expect when they force students concentrating in poverty alleviation to take a class valorizing big corporations at a time when income inequality is as high as it was in 1933? Applause? 

Thanksgiving comes in threes this year.

November 21, 2009 by Sadie in Sadie & Greg

Greg and I will have two turkeys, a lasagna, and possibly lamb with every relative in a three state radius this Thanksgiving. All of my final presentations will be over, so the holiday should be a little more relaxing than last year, where I locked myself in his eleven-year old cousin's room with the 1994 Crime Bill. 

This semester's coursework is easier than the last two semesters, but the commute is more challenging. I've never had a reason to balance life and school- at Smith, there was someone else to make dinner and clean the bathroom, so I could nerd out all I wanted. Last year, eating cereal three times a day didn't affect anyone else. Now that I live in a tiny cooperative of two, someone knows when I don't take my vitamins. I think I've learned to be a worse student and a better human. 

My dear friend Carly and I saw New Moon yesterday. Despite the flippant and snotty review by the NYT (who are as tortured as ever by the ernest abstinence-only morality lesson), it was totally delightful. Those who are too old to remember the wonderful awkward tension of having a best guy friend are blind to the gem in this movie- love that doesn't manage to make it to third base or out of high school. And who doesn't have a few secret true love best friends tucked away in their teenage heart?

After a short battle with spinal cancer, Greg...

November 14, 2009 by Sadie in Sadie & Greg

After a short battle with spinal cancer, Greg's grandmother passed away last night. Her warmth, intelligence, and authenticity made Caswell family gatherings a pleasure- more than most girlfriends can ask for. We're all feeling her absence. Greg and I are trying to take it easy, although finals are sneaking up about as subtly as an rhino in stilettos.

Mom sent a midterms care package, which is wo...

November 14, 2009 by Sadie in Sadie & Greg

Mom sent a midterms care package, which is wonderful! I just made homemade chai tea with the cloves, cardamon, and vanilla she sent. My vintage jewelry collection also doubled, which will significantly update my usual green/brown/red sweater/scarf/chino assemblages.

This week's game night categories:

November 13, 2009 by Sadie in Sadie & Greg

Cubist Panda

Expressionist Wizard

Art deco Vampires

Graffiti Ballerina

Minimalist Girlfriend

Realist Swine Flu

Surrealist Sailboat

Abstract ice cream

Anime pirates

Happy Birthday, Seraph!

November 10, 2009 by Sadie in Sadie & Greg

I got to talk to Seraph last night, and it sounds like she has a relaxing birthday planned. I plan to talk about all her living wage rabble rousing in my Wealth and Poverty class today! Keep on keepin' on, sister. 

Happy Halloween! Although we didn't have many...

October 31, 2009 by Sadie in Sadie & Greg

Happy Halloween! Although we didn't have many trick-or-treaters, we still carved a jack-o-lantern. Yes, it is the death star.

Happy almost Halloween! Greg and I are going ...

October 30, 2009 by Sadie in Sadie & Greg

Happy almost Halloween! Greg and I are going to the symphony and a big sweaty dance party held by one of the coolest MPPers at a Cambridge VFW hall. It should be fun.

There are occasionally fall ladybug infestations in Massachusetts, and here is one of the speckled friends that was hanging around Heller this morning.

Game night Apples to Apples wins: Responsibl...

October 23, 2009 by Sadie in Sadie & Greg

Game night Apples to Apples wins:
Responsible: grave robbers
Hopeless: Cindy Crawford
Elitist: carnival workers
Graceful: chickens
Distinguished: Helen Keller

Oh, Seraph, that's wonderful! I'm very proud

October 22, 2009 by Sadie in Sadie & Greg

Oh, Seraph, that's wonderful! I'm very proud. Let Isa know that she'll make a great professor! As I have come to realize from leading weekly undergrad discussions, good teaching is all in the theatrical flair.

I am very, very slowly recovering from October. Regaining lost sleep is tricky.

I think I'm finally done with midterms

October 20, 2009 by Sadie in Sadie & Greg

I think I'm finally done with midterms. Everyone in the program is so tired they can barely function and everyone has the flu, but teachers have finally been fed... just like zombies, they won't stop until they have your brain, in paper form.

Off to bed.

Adam and I moved game night to Wednesday this...

October 02, 2009 by Sadie in Sadie & Greg

Adam and I moved game night to Wednesday this week so Greg and I could celebrate his birthday. We have a dinner with his family tonight and friends on Saturday, so this was our romantic evening in. We reheated leftover tomatillo tortilla soup, made creme brulee, and watched The Great Escape (I usually request movies with at least one female character, but this was a birthday exception. He almost made me watch Das Boot). One of the funny, wonderful things about Greg's family's birthday traditions is that birthday boys (Greg has two brothers) get to eat an entire apple pie, generally replacing a week of breakfasts. He was magnanimous enough to share this morning, and there really is nothing like an apple pie with cinnamon sprinkled lattes to start a fall Friday.

I got a pleasant letter from my doctor lettin...

September 28, 2009 by Sadie in Sadie & Greg

I got a pleasant letter from my doctor letting me know that I most likely have Gilbert's syndrome and not the other horrifying blood disorders that I looked up on Web MD when he flagged some weird test results. Apparently, Gilbert's syndrome (pronounced like you're in Paris) requires no treatment and does no harm. I hope it can still get me out of gym class.

Between hanging out with Adam and the kids (v...

September 25, 2009 by Sadie in Sadie & Greg

Between hanging out with Adam and the kids (virtually speaking) and school, there's not lots of time left for the day to day household operations. Greg pulls through with laundry, we share cooking (although his last dinner was Ben and Jerry's), and he does almost all of the shopping. His current method of finding the right brand of a particular food item is buying them all. Yogurt was a greater challenge than the month devoted to milk, but we're doing our due diligence. I have friends remodeling their first houses themselves while getting advanced degrees... but isn't it enough to finally know what yogurt really makes you happy?

Yesterday I got a big box in the mail from Se...

September 17, 2009 by Sadie in Sadie & Greg

Yesterday I got a big box in the mail from Seraph! It had lots of goodies from England, from a modern wall clock to a sweet jam pot. We enjoyed one of the linen tea towels from Herrod's and Somerset cider for dinner this evening, a perfect meal of grilled corn and a cucumber, tomato, and bread salad, all from the farmer's market this afternoon.

Greg and I are preparing to play Elefant Hunt with Adam, Sam, and Emma over Skype for Thursday game night. The board game is from a gaming magazine from 1984 called Dragon 88. It's totally awesome.

Greg would like to know which mix CD you prefer

September 15, 2009 by Sadie in Sadie & Greg

Greg would like to know which mix CD you prefer. It seems that he believes that "Fett's Vette" was more appropriate than "the Weight." I guess mine was heavy on The Weepies and Josh Ritter and a little lighter on the Weird Al.

School is now at a steady, terrifying clip, and being a TA makes my week much more challenging. Students feel like I have something to teach them, and I am concerned that if I do not teach them the way they want to be taught, they will not learn the concepts. As though I have anything to do with their learning! My song and dance, all the reading, and many, many pictorial aids seem not to work. They get confused. They get scared. They talk about Kanye West. I have to figure out what the problem is, because everyone who has taken the class in the past let me know that it was crap. I don't think its the material, or the professor, so... it must be me. Or whomever was me before this semester.

I'm going to dig down into the next reading, a classic ethnography called "Aint' No Makin' It", and drag them down with me.

I am reading Crunch, by Jared Bernstein, as G...

September 10, 2009 by Sadie in Sadie & Greg

I am reading Crunch, by Jared Bernstein, as Gregory reads aloud the Grafton News to no one in particular. "Oh, wow, someone else donated their hair... this must be a regular feature! Hmm, the candlepin bowling league's record again... the VFW is having a flag burning ceremony... I wonder if they yell obscenities at the police, too?" Maybe we'll go into the big city tonight for dinner.

Adam and I have been Skyping quite a lot lately

September 02, 2009 by Sadie in Sadie & Greg

Adam and I have been Skyping quite a lot lately. A few nights ago, I got to read Emma my favorite book, "The Pigeon Finds a Hot Dog." Last night, Adam, Sam, Emma, and I played an awesome game of Apples to Apples before bath and bed. It seems that my east coast schedule and the schedule of pacific time elementary school kids are perfectly aligned. It's a nice infusion of kid and brother love, and I like to think that Sam and Emma like to exchange weird faces with me over three thousand miles. Maybe we can get matching sets of Cosmic Encounter and start playing weekly- the ultimate nerd good time. If anyone wants a "Team Adam" t-shirt, I'm taking orders. 

My last real Sunday until December! I'm going...

August 30, 2009 by Sadie in Sadie & Greg

My last real Sunday until December! I'm going to stay in bed until Greg cuts off my coffee supply.

Despite being very nervous for the first half an hour, leading my first class went pretty well. I'm not sure how I'm going to impart new insights for the students, most of whom already get the basic concepts of inequality, but it'll be fun to talk about wealth and poverty issues with interested people every week. As for the senior economics students, I don't think I can convert market fundamentalists, so it should be fun sparring practice.

Greg and I are going to Jamestown this afternoon to visit his grandmother, and then its back to reading stupid management books. For my leadership and organizational behavior class, we're required to read the greatest hits of airport bookstores everywhere (you know, all the ones on how to be effective corporate executives and how to put your heart into laying off your staff). I can't believe policy wonks have to put up with this.

I start school this week, so we're trying to ...

August 24, 2009 by Sadie in Sadie & Greg

I start school this week, so we're trying to do as much vacation stuff as we can. Greg is making an elaborate Greek feast tonight, including pastitisio and steamed cauliflower with Greek cheesy sauce. Once he starts school in a few weeks, its mac and cheese every night.

This is my last full week of vacation before ...

August 21, 2009 by Sadie in Sadie & Greg

This is my last full week of vacation before school begins. I'm trying to squeeze the most folksy home making into these last days. Greg and I picked raspberries and blueberries, made blueberry jam, lemonade, and oatmeal molasses bread, and I have a big sewing project with some grad school friends this weekend.

This semester I am taking:
Policy Implementation
Organizational Behavior
Theories of Social Justice and Social Policy
National Data Sets for Public Policy

I'm a little nervous to take an extra class because I will be TAing an undergraduate course called The Paradox of Wealth and Poverty, and will be leading two 30-student sections a week. I'm also working on a survey project for a neighborhood in Waltham. The Waltham city planner is fantastic and all the Heller researchers are very helpful, but I may have to interview 80 households myself if I can't recruit volunteers.

None of this is keeping me down, though. The heat and humidity is doing just fine on its own.

Generic Heading

August 14, 2009 by Sadie in Sadie & Greg

Happy birthday, Jordan!

Grafton updates: I am now back from Maine and...

August 13, 2009 by Sadie in Sadie & Greg

Grafton updates: I am now back from Maine and finished with the flu. I will be sworn into the planning board soon and in the meantime am remembering how to email and register for classes. The CSA is drowning us in greens and I look forward to a weekend escape to Williamstown.

Today I spent two really great hours in the t...

July 30, 2009 by Sadie in Sadie & Greg

Today I spent two really great hours in the town planning office, talking to the two town planners about the development realities of a small place in a big recession, still losing farm land to suburban encroachment but now juggling defaulted subdivisions. I can't wait to start.

Today is also the weekly farmer's market, where I got a massive, beautiful head of lettuce to cut our pound of CSA spinach. The bakery was absent, so I had to make my own bread. There is this picture of Irish soda bread on the cover of The New England Table by Lora Brody that convinced me to try my hand at it. It looks like a precious, lumpy little scone, begging to be smothered in cold butter. Unfortunately, the results reminded me of Peggy Bracken's description of soda bread from The I Hate to Cook Book: "This is a big easy crusty faintly sweet loaf, comforting as a turf fire in a thatched cottage. It is handy when you're out of bread." I managed to burn every surface, and it's still soft in the middle. The salad turned out pretty well, though, and I found retsina at that Greek grocery to wash down the burnt bits. The clerk thought I was a little nutty for buying it, but there's something so refreshing about its cool pine taste... like freshly mopped linoleum.

As I've mentioned in earlier posts, Massachus...

July 29, 2009 by Sadie in Sadie & Greg

As I've mentioned in earlier posts, Massachusetts has seen some rain this month. Greg has done all of the laundry since we moved to Grafton, but I took on the task today, remembering grandma Edna as I pinned everything up on the line. But it started to rain this afternoon, so now all of our clothes are hung inside, amplifying the muggy air. I think we're going on a Mediterranean grocery run to escape the humidity. New England in late July is a stickier version of the Pacific Northwest in late January.

It's so much fun to hear your reports from the field! Such a treat.

Greg and I are back in Grafton, having recove...

July 25, 2009 by Sadie in Sadie & Greg

Greg and I are back in Grafton, having recovered from our long flight. Today we picked up our first share at a local CSA, the collaboration of three farms. It will be so much fun to get a fresh box of produce every week and figure out how to eat or preserve strange edibles. Unfortunately, all the heirloom tomatoes have an airborne blight brought in from box store tomatoes. The crop is a little sad looking this year, but it's nice to support family farms through hard times.

For such a little place, the Grafton public library has a generous cookbook section, which we've only started to dig through. The librarian seems like a big time foodie and personally selected the recipes from the last cookbook I checked out that I absolutely had to try. She promised that Ina Garten's french apple tart would change my life.

Both of us had a wonderful time in Eugene at Marshall and McKenna's wedding and playing with the family. Some of my highs include: trampoline jumping with Jordan, figure drawing and playing in the park with Sam and Emma, walking through the old neighborhood with Greg, and sneaking off to drink coffee with mom. The orchestrated recipe potluck was out of this world, too, and I think we were all surprised that we liked squid so much!

I hope you all have a great time in Olde England!

One of the thrills of living in the intersect...

July 11, 2009 by Sadie in Sadie & Greg

One of the thrills of living in the intersection of compromise is creatively imagining a commute that will not kill me, my psyche, or the earth between here and Boston. Yesterday I took the train and subway to work, which took an hour and a half but was relaxing and productive. The Worcester line has tables on the second story of the train, so us early arrivals can work on our laptops and use the train's wireless. The driving/commuter rail option is less expensive, more stressful, and requires getting up early to avoid traffic. I might try back roads on Monday, although Google maps warns that the traffic isn't much better.

I doubt the phrase "it takes fifteen minutes to get anywhere in Eugene" is actually accurate anymore, but it was true when I lived there. I've felt superior since graduating college, when I had a ten-minute walk to Essentials for work, and haven't had more than a ten minute driving commute since. Now we have to play old-school board games, eat local food, and hide our TV to feel superior.

This is our last weekend before the big trip home. We're coming in on Tuesday, and Adam has already reserved Wednesday for birthday pre-partying. We're going to have a hike and picnic on Thursday afternoon with Yayoe, and then head off for Belnap on Friday afternoon! Greg is excited to go rafting on the McKenzie with Marshall and McKenna and listening to home-grown music at Sam Bond's Garage. I'm excited to see all of you!

I'm getting the hang of Greg's birthday present

July 07, 2009 by Sadie in Sadie & Greg

I'm getting the hang of Greg's birthday present. This is my second successful latte. It makes the commute east much tastier. The house is slowly coming together, although there is so much torrential rain that all I do is cower inside looking at justseeds.org posters. Not much exploring central Mass lately.

I'll be in Oregon in a week! Yay!

Six days into our new life in Grafton, Greg a...

July 04, 2009 by Sadie in Sadie & Greg

Six days into our new life in Grafton, Greg and I decided to throw a Fourth of July party. All of Greg's family and friends came, and despite a handful of unexpected guests, we had way too much food and just enough sangria and beer to go around. Having been trained by the rigor of Russian Orthodox Easter, managing a potluck was nothing. But my guests were disconcerted by my refusal to leave the kitchen unless to fill drink orders and retrieve dirty dishes. You can take the girl out of the holiday kitchen death camp...

The new house is beautiful, with enough space for two and then some. Grafton is a larger, more suburban version of Williamstown, which makes me happy. The Baptist church chimes its bells every hour, on the hour (or half hour or quarter of an hour, depending on how they feel). The town is old as dirt, and I like the the Civil War memorial and ancient graveyard on our street. Finding community will be easier than in Waltham, which was a real life city that had a place for students. Hopefully, I'll get to integrate into ordinary town politics here.

The move is this weekend, a good thing, becau...

June 26, 2009 by Sadie in Sadie & Greg

The move is this weekend, a good thing, because our apartment's gas was just shut off. My roommate quickly took a long shower after the gas company busted in, so we have no hot water. Oh, there are so many reasons for my eagerness to get to Grafton...

I also marched in Boston Pride on Saturday (I...

June 17, 2009 by Sadie in Sadie & Greg

I also marched in Boston Pride on Saturday (I'm to the left of the lovely lady in the red tanktop), which so much fun. Walking down the middle of the street is the only way to see Boston.

The weekend was eventful and wonderful, as Gr...

June 17, 2009 by Sadie in Sadie & Greg

The weekend was eventful and wonderful, as Greg and I signed the lease in Grafton and had a bbq in Rhode Island at his grandmother mimi's house. We're still living off excitement, with bellies full of fish and ribs.

I woke up early and made strawberry jam for m...

June 09, 2009 by Sadie in Sadie & Greg

I woke up early and made strawberry jam for my birthday. Being twenty eight is great, despite the unbelievable wrinkles. Who knew all those years of deep thoughts would wreck my forehead?

Before they had such technology, Adam did all...

June 02, 2009 by Sadie in Sadie & Greg

Before they had such technology, Adam did all the voice-overs of Monkey Island for Seraph and me. It was magical game for all of us.

I had a great first day at my internship. Being in an important office is nice, but being with nice people is more important. At five I walked to the North End with my friend Carly, where we ate Italian on a rooftop and bought pastries on the way to the commuter rail. Now I'm home in my pajamas, eating a woopie pie and feeling glad that being grown up is so decadent and fun.

Oh, and Greg and I found the perfect apartment in Grafton, with a landlord who thinks we're pretty perfect, too. The packing process has begun!

Since his recent conversion to the slow food ...

June 01, 2009 by Sadie in Sadie & Greg

Since his recent conversion to the slow food movement, Greg and I have decided to source food locally this summer. The growing season is, unfortunately, a bit shorter than that of the lush Pacific Northwest, so I'm planning some big canning projects. My birthday request, including canoeing and hiking, is a pick-your-own berry adventure. Hopefully we'll figure out how to make strawberry rhubarb pie this summer.

I doubt that eating local food will make up for my new car commute (the apartments we like are all conveniently on the wrong commuter line for me to take them to school), but Greg is pretty militant about making a gesture toward carbon neutrality. My commute may be carbon balanced... whether I like it or not. Watching him strip old windshield wipers of metal to be recycled, I have a feeling I'll be living much more mindfully in a month.

It's true, I'm not very good at keeping prese...

May 29, 2009 by Sadie in Sadie & Greg

It's true, I'm not very good at keeping presents a secret. This is a cropped draft of the print, without the signature "sweet mocha Friday" text under her arm. Limited edition, hand-inked prints on rice paper available until Adam's birthday, when I'll break the wood block.

Greg and I have found the most beautiful apar...

May 26, 2009 by Sadie in Sadie & Greg

Greg and I have found the most beautiful apartment and are now competing with another couple for the prize of signing the lease. The place is so lovely that I almost cried on the way home, waiting to call and beg them to let us mop the wood floor with Murphy's oil soap every Saturday. Greg and I have a long wish list, from proximity to local diners and farms to internet and friendly neighbors. But I didn't dream of asking for a tree-lined street or a couple with an eight year old upstairs. If I ply them with enough homemade jam, maybe they'll call me aunt Sadie.

So as long as the other couple aren't both engineers who are planning to stay for five years, I think our exuberance for the place will win out.

While reading the New York Times' reporting on Sonia Sotomayor, I was distracted by a muckraking video on microwavable chicken pot pies. Although it appears to be impossible not to get salmonella poisoning, I now have a fierce thirst for pot pies. Got to get it in before the start of chicken-free living, as Greg hates the stuff. It seems like all we eat is bison these days.

My two internships are now in place for the s...

May 19, 2009 by Sadie in Sadie & Greg

My two internships are now in place for the summer. I'm continuing my research work at Brandeis on service-learning summer programs and helping out at the Corporation for National and Community Service, the federal agency that manages the VISTA program. I'm planning the state's Martin Luther King Jr. Day service events and getting a handle on the first 9/11 Day of Remembrance and Service. This week I'm digging up evaluations on youth civic agency for the Brandeis job. For the CNCS, I'm helping staff a public listening session for the Edward M. Kennedy Service America Act. I think juggling both will be fun and mutually reinforcing. My research boss Alan is already giving me advice on MLK Day service-learning curriculum. I'd like to think that hanging out at the federal building gives me cred in the ivory tower. I get gun checked, which is kind of gnarly.

Apartment hunting with a mathematician and a policy analyst involves serious file sharing. We have an elaborate document of every Craigslist listing from here to Worcester, with the walk score (www.walkscore.com), our respective commute times from the apartment to school, and the basics about washers, utilities and parking spots. There are a hundred towns between Worcester and Waltham, but many are zoned to keep riffraff renters out. It is a much more nuanced decision that I initially anticipated, but I get more excited about making lunches together and having a joint Netflix account every day. We're going to start looking at apartments and communities this weekend.

I've also been working on a few woodcuts. Got my first jab of the season. It's all clean and wrinkly now, but it was a blood bath last night. My sheets are disgusting.

Yayoe, happy birthday! I hope you have a grea...

May 12, 2009 by Sadie in Sadie & Greg

Yayoe, happy birthday! I hope you have a great day.

I recently discovered the perfect discontinued side table from Ikea. Because it has three legs on one end, the top of the table slips over my couch, enabling the graduate student's dream situation: sitting on a couch with a book while typing notes. I found the last remaining Bostonian Rian Ikea side table last night on Craigslist. I'm going to pick it up at noon today! I want to thank Yayoe for giving me the perseverance it takes to pin down a great cheap find. I couldn't ask for more in an evil step mother.

No worries, Jamie

May 07, 2009 by Sadie in Sadie & Greg

No worries, Jamie. I hear forty is the new twenty five. It's all in the company you keep.

I have one more conference presentation on service-learning policy this afternoon, and then my nights and weekends are my own!

Current summer project list:
1. Remember how to paint and print.
2. Finally fix up that bike Greg and I picked up by the side of the road in Easthampton on our anniversary (in October).
3. Learn to ride a bike.
4. Find a new apartment... my eighth in the last six years.
5. Can everything.

Done

May 05, 2009 by Sadie in Sadie & Greg

Done. And super sleepy.

In an effort to blow off steam while my paper...

May 02, 2009 by Sadie in Sadie & Greg

In an effort to blow off steam while my paper was out for editing and to show solidarity with Greg, who is making and dueling robots in Dallas, I made a dress yesterday. Its Marimekko meets the Chinese cultural revolution, in a good way. I should be preparing for my labor economics exam or catching up on all the communication with friends I've ignored for a semester. But you can wear a dress. It's less fund to wear friends and labor economics problem sets. I also had a calming conversation with Jamie in the middle of a totally insanely overwhelming experience at the Container Store. She guided me away from any serious storage missteps, and I am a happy owner of a plastic object that allows for more efficient can stacking. What our grandparents did without these modern marvels, I do not know.

It was 93 degrees here today, which makes stu...

April 29, 2009 by Sadie in Sadie & Greg

It was 93 degrees here today, which makes studying very, very challenging. Just a week and a bit to go.

I'm making oatmeal and flax chocolate chip spice cookies for our last day of classes. I think the Joy of Cooking recipe is broken, because I have to half the oatmeal and spit in the dough to make them stick together. But they're nice and chewy with my special improvisations.

Back from Eugene and DC and now safe, sound a...

April 22, 2009 by Sadie in Sadie & Greg

Back from Eugene and DC and now safe, sound and typing away. Happy Earth Day and congrats to Seraph, Robbie, and Isa!

I have had an incredible vacation

April 17, 2009 by Sadie in Sadie & Greg

I have had an incredible vacation. There's nothing like a root canal to make the world a gentler place.

Current Cast List of our dress up party: Mal...

April 08, 2009 by Sadie in Sadie & Greg

Current Cast List of our dress up party:
Malcolm Reynolds: Adam
Inara: Jamie
Dr. Simon Tam: Sam
River Tam: Emma
Zoe: Jenny
Jayne: Destin
Badger: Jordan
Shepherd Book: Mom
Wash: Bob
Adelei Niska: Dad
Kaylee: Seraph
Mrs. Reynolds/Saffron: That's me

Goodwill run on Saturday!

I got three fantastic and one bum filling on ...

April 07, 2009 by Sadie in Sadie & Greg

I got three fantastic and one bum filling on my last dental tourist trip to Eugene (not a terrible rate of return for my plane ticket). Due to a combination of stress, tooth pain, and nervousness that my bum filling is going to fall out of my mouth, I clench my jaw. I've clenched my jaw for three months now, and surprisingly, my jaw hurts all the time. I've had a jaw ache for thirty six hours. Ugh. Dad is cleaning me up on Friday, so I should be cheerful for most of my vacation in Eugene. Hoorah!

I'm going to a recession wine party tonight, ...

April 03, 2009 by Sadie in Sadie & Greg

I'm going to a recession wine party tonight, with the requirement that our wines are under five bucks. I've slightly altered my fine Spanish table wine to mimic a Cru Les Millades... and such a good year.

Procrastination is a virus that eventually sp...

April 03, 2009 by Sadie in Sadie & Greg

Procrastination is a virus that eventually spreads to each of my favorite work spots. For the first semester, I could sit at my desk and the living room table. This semester, I've burned through the living room couch and kitchen table. I think lying in bed eating oatmeal and doing work has lost most of its utility, too. I'm trying out the Waltham library now. Like most New England libraries, its old and beautiful and very quiet during the day. During the afternoon, high school kids come to use the computers and re-hash the three hours they were marginally separated by class schedules. Sometimes they open their homework and lay graphic novels over it. There's nothing quite like a public library.

There are some sentences you don't want a not...

April 02, 2009 by Sadie in Sadie & Greg

There are some sentences you don't want a note from a housemate to begin with. It's true, My Liz threw a glass of red wine on my white couch. And I should have realized that the huge painting she recently completed of the couch was stained with a deep crimson color was an omen. But I'm sure the cleaner can get it out. And she says we get to bring the paintings from her show home, so even if the couch has a big wine stain forever, it will have its 2D twin for company.

I'm working on a policy analysis for a clas...

April 01, 2009 by Sadie in Sadie & Greg

I'm working on a policy analysis for a class about federal STEM education promotion programs. In the case of policy analysis, twelve ounces is never enough. Gregory Caswell and I are planning for cohabitation next year. That's all the news that's worth reporting from Waltham.

The midterm crunch has passed

March 27, 2009 by Sadie in Sadie & Greg

The midterm crunch has passed. I'm starting to dig into final papers and projects and think about summer work. Through my commitment to streamlining my paper topics, I've become a little tired of writing about science, technology, engineering, and mathematics education policy. Hopefully, I'll find a refreshing, insightful study on federal NSF grants this weekend.

Sorry for the long blogging absence

March 20, 2009 by Sadie in Sadie & Greg

Sorry for the long blogging absence. I have a memo due for my work on Monday, which (as mom would say) I haven't the foggiest how to write. I'm buckling down at a local coffee shop. I thought all this education would make me a faster writer, but all it's taught me is how to qualify everything I say. Curse thee, analysis paralysis!

Dick got obsessed with oatmeal cookies when I...

March 10, 2009 by Sadie in Sadie & Greg

Dick got obsessed with oatmeal cookies when I was a senior in high school. I'd come home and he'd have another weird, lumpy batch waiting. Being too young to understand how good an oatmeal cookie is (why ruin a buttery sugary vessel with rolled oats and raisins?) I didn't get the draw. But lately I rush home from school to see what would happen if I doubled the cinnamon, added allspice and used leftover molasses. Or replaced chips with broken pieces of a dark chocolate bar. Will today be the perfect oatmeal cookie? Alas, these ones are too dry.

Another Friday at the MACC office, taking car...

March 06, 2009 by Sadie in Sadie & Greg

Another Friday at the MACC office, taking care of business.Carly would have silkscreened the Axl homage to my sweater, had we more time between the dance parties. Fortunately, paperclips are ubiquitous in office settings.

March brought snow and more economics

March 01, 2009 by Sadie in Sadie & Greg

March brought snow and more economics.

In hopes of making stronger ties with people and procrastinating less, I quit Facebook. I'm liberated from posting and trolling witty one-liner updates. Adamandjamie.com is my only bullhorn for the telling of my daily minutia. Adam one, Facebook zero.

This afternoon a package appeared on my door...

February 26, 2009 by Sadie in Sadie & Greg

This afternoon a package appeared on my door, a beautifully wrapped gift from mom. When I pulled it apart, my roommate exclaimed, "a jet pack!" It's actually a shiatsu massage pack with heat and vibration capabilities, which I plan to wear constantly. Thanks, mom!

My friends Marshall and McKenna came to visit...

February 22, 2009 by Sadie in Sadie & Greg

My friends Marshall and McKenna came to visit Boston from Brooklyn this weekend- an unbelievable treat! We saw a Shepard Fairey exhibit at the Institute of Contemporary Art in Boston, which was phenomenal. Fairey is behind the Andre the Giant Obey street art and the Obama Hope portrait. We also caught "It Happened One Night" at the Brattle Theatre in Harvard Square. I laughed so hard I got a nose bleed. And now, back to my oatmeal and stupid, stupid homework.

I have some economics theory to slug through,...

February 19, 2009 by Sadie in Sadie & Greg

I have some economics theory to slug through, so I'm settled back into bed, listening to music with my morning oatmeal. Noah and the Whale makes everything sound hopeful, even as I have to prove why we shouldn't have a minimum wage, welfare, or a social safety net for the sake of correct answers on my problem set. Sneaky economists. Unfortunately, it's the only class we've got with a straight man; that is, everyone else is problematizing and critiquing methods, not teaching them. Critique is for undergraduates; tools are for us jaded practitioners who went back to grad school when we realized that "deconstructionist" isn't a career path that includes dental.

Today was college awareness day in Dorchester

February 17, 2009 by Sadie in Sadie & Greg

Today was college awareness day in Dorchester. I made college bingo, which was a hit once the kids saw the awesome giant foam fingers BU had donated for the event. I had to borrow a college sweatshirt from my roommate. Despite my eight years of hanging out at colleges, I don't have a lick of branded gear. There's something magic about college paraphernalia. Slip on a navy hoodie and the instant co-ed spirit makes me want to mobilize a bar trivia team. Fortunately, I have a casserole and cookies to bake. Domesticity always keeps me out of trouble.

Another beautiful Saturday morning in Waltham

February 14, 2009 by Sadie in Sadie & Greg

Another beautiful Saturday morning in Waltham. I'm settling into bed (again), hoping to finish my sociological inquiry reading before noon. Tonight, I'm hosting a wine club meeting, the Valentine's Day equivalent of inviting orphans over for Thanksgiving dinner. While only two people have confirmed, I'd like to think that it's because people are too embarrassed to post on a Facebook Invite that they don't have a date. Oh yes, the people will come.

I just got a cool research position at the Center for Children Youth and Communities, studying summer of service programs for middle school students. I hope it will help me refocus on the things I came to Heller to study- transformative education and civic agency. And I get to hang out with a very cool veteran researcher in the service-learning field. I have so many different interests that intersect with his research projects that I walk into his office and am totally fixed to my chair, enthralled by his stories, for an hour. You know a subject is exciting when time quickens around it.

I'm going to be in Eugene from April 9-18th! ...

February 10, 2009 by Sadie in Sadie & Greg

I'm going to be in Eugene from April 9-18th! Dental tourism, yay!

David Bowie had some great insight into perso...

February 08, 2009 by Sadie in Sadie & Greg

David Bowie had some great insight into persona and personal style, and I like his playful irreverence for our daily dress up. Hair color is fun to play around with and often an important exercise in humility. I guess that makes me type A!

I made some great bread yesterday! The oatmeal molasses loaf will be perfect with beer cheese soup and the challah is almost gone already- the perfect toast with the pear marmalade Adam and I made this summer. Mmm.

I've often wondered about the psychology of t...

February 07, 2009 by Sadie in Sadie & Greg

I've often wondered about the psychology of those who (A) have the self assurance to randomly and drastically change their hairstyle/color, a feature both prominent and often used as a descriptor...or (B) are vascillating between personae in an attempt to find comfort in one.

So, are you type A or Type B? ;-)

Ah, Mocha Friday

February 06, 2009 by Sadie in Sadie & Greg

Ah, Mocha Friday. I love reading those words. While I don't have classes on Friday, so Friday is the equivalent of Saturday, it's my only uninterrupted homework day. I spent the morning in bed, drinking coffee and finishing up my social theory reading. Getting to feel accomplished for staying in bed and reading is the best thing about graduate school.

I died my hair red this week, which looks remarkably unweird as measured against previous hair experiments. One of my classmates looked at me and said, "bringing henna back!," leading us to remember the good old 90s of covering our heads with green clay. Adam also reminded me of the year I had black hair, which was marginally less ugly than the month I was a platinum blonde, God help me.

This is great and easy vegetarian chili fro...

February 01, 2009 by Sadie in Sadie & Greg

This is great and easy vegetarian chili from my friend Betsy:
-2 Tbl olive oil
-2 cups chopped scallions or onions
-1 red bell pepper, chopped
-1 green bell pepper, chopped
-4 garlic cloves, minced
-14 oz firm tofu, well drained and squeezed dry between paper towels
-2 Tbl flour
-2 Tbl chili powder
-2 tsp cocoa powder
-1/4 tsp ground red pepper
-28 oz can low sodium stewed tomatoes with juice
-4 Tbl red wine or balsamic vinegar
-2 1/2 cups black beans, rinsed and drained
-2 Tbl chopped fresh cilantro

1) In a large saucepan over medium heat, warm the oil. Add the scallions, red peppers, green peppers, and garlic; cook, stirring frequently, for 4-5 min, or until tender.
2) Crumble the tofu and add to the pan. Cook, stirring often, for 5-7 min, or until golden.
3) Add the flour, chili powder, cocoa powder and ground pepper.
Cook, stirring constantly, for 2 min. Add the tomatoes (with the liquid), and the vinegar; bring to a boil. Reduce heat to low and simmer for 20-30 min or until slightly thick.
4) Stir in the beans and the cilantro. simmer for 5 min.

It looks like Brandeis is closing their impre...

January 27, 2009 by Sadie in Sadie & Greg

It looks like Brandeis is closing their impressive art museum and selling all of the artwork. Pretty crazy. The Heller school seems blessedly insulated from the panic, or has at least kept quiet enough to stay out of the New York Times.

I wish the weather here permitted outdoor projects! Tomorrow's forecast includes 8 inches of wintery mix, a beautiful combination of sleet and snow that makes all concrete surfaces death traps. I think I'll try to convince my roommates to stay in and read Twilight aloud- that's as close as I want to get to icy roads.

One of my teeth is on its last legs, so I'll hopefully see you all for Easter/Pesach while it gets patched up. Medical tourism at its best.

While sitting among my colleagues watching th...

January 21, 2009 by Sadie in Sadie & Greg

While sitting among my colleagues watching the inauguration at the Heller school, I had anticipated the speeches and processions. But the benediction by Rev. Joseph Lowery left me speechless. When he said, "And even as we reap the whirlwind of social and economic disruption, we seek forgiveness and we come in a spirit of unity and solidarity to commit our support to our president by our willingness to make sacrifices, to respect your creation, to turn to each other and not on each other," I felt myself recommitting to be mindful of my public responsibilities. I'm so excited to work at being a citizen of these United States. Amen.

Tomorrow begins the first real week of school...

January 19, 2009 by Sadie in Sadie & Greg

Tomorrow begins the first real week of school, which I'm still not entirely ready for. My brain is slowly bending to the idea of doing homework instead of trolling the internet, eating nachos, and re-applying lotion and lip balm like its my job. Fortunately, my two three-hour seminars will be conveniently separated by a really fun party, hopefully with nachos. The first inauguration I've ever watched. I'm trying not to let my generational dismissiveness of nationalism overwhelm my generational hopeless idealism. I think idealism is quietly winning.

My roommates and I have also repainted and redecorated our half bathroom in a style that is eccentric and whimsical. I painted the walls a dark teal and Katherine used her many power tools to replace the fixtures. Liz sewed the curtain and painted the painting, a self-referential piece idealizing our own home. Which is how it should be, really.

I just received four boxes of loot from Eugen...

January 13, 2009 by Sadie in Sadie & Greg

I just received four boxes of loot from Eugene, and am slowly integrating it into my Waltham life.
Classes began today. I'm taking econometrics, economic theory, policy analysis, and sociological inquiry. Should be fun.

I am easing back into the icy east coast, app...

January 09, 2009 by Sadie in Sadie & Greg

I am easing back into the icy east coast, applying for internships, ordering books, and responding to emails laid fallow for three weeks. Its wonderful to see my friends here when I'm happy, relaxed and not consumed by public policy. Being so pampered on vacation has made me more able to listen to other people without finding a way to talk about my papers. Now all I want to do is talk about Twilight (fortunately, everyone else in the world is waiting to talk about the same thing). I think my hair grew several inches from all that rich, healthy food, and my skin is buttery soft. As is my belly...