Martin's Musings

It was really good to see my former college roommate Seth on Saturday. He was in town for a conference, and we met up for dinner Saturday night. Over some BBQ at the Village Smokehouse — yum — we made up for lost time, since we’d only been in touch intermittently over the last nine years. It’s always great to hang out with old friends and have it be like not a day has gone by. It felt that way with Seth, laughing about people we used to know, reminiscing about psycho ex-girlfriends (actually, just mine), good times, and catching up on our lives now. We’ve both changed a lot since graduation, but in some key ways, we’re both exactly the same. And that’s a real comfort to know. I hope we’ll stay in better touch from now on.

Spent a bit of time in the South End on Saturday with Pyles, Farrah, and Barry. It’s a funny thing: the South End is one part of town I just don’t really ever spend any time in. Not sure why. In fact, I can’t remember the last time I was there. Thankfully, we picked a great day weather-wise to take it in. And it was cool because I finally went to places that had been recommended to me for a while.

For example, our first stop was brunch at Metropolis Café. In a word: Yum. Good pancakes and eggs. Of course, I was really torn betwen that (aka: the Metropolis Breakfast) and the cinnamon brioche french toast, so I’ll definitely have to go back soon to try the other dish. Now granted, no other brunch place could ever compare to Johnny’s Luncheonette in Newton Center (I take my brunch seriously — more on that in another posting eventually), but it’s nice to have other good places to go.

Then we quenched our sweet tooths with a walk over to Flour, one of those much heralded bakeries that I’ve wanted to go to for, like, ever. I’m not going to say the homemade Oreo was orgasmic or even worth the wait (I think that’s because I was expecting something more along the lines of a Whoopie Pie), but it was real good — and gone in seconds. Ever the indecisive person, I was torn between that and the mini chocolate cakes, which also looked tasty. I’m going to have to go back there too. (Sense a pattern?)

On our way up Rutland Street, we all got a big laugh from a poem posted on some of the telephone poles that went something like this:

Roses are red
Violets are blue
No one wants to see all this poo!

Clean up after your dog
As you ought to do
And I’ll remove these poems from view.
— the poet from Haven Street

It reminded me that unlike some other parts of town, the South End is a real neighborhood. There’s a community feel to the area, no doubt due partly to the small gardens and communal gathering areas (and on other streets, the rainbow flags). I don’t think you could get away with posting that sign on multiple poles on my street — much less one pole.

I know the contents of this entry must not be news to most folks, but for me it sort of was. I’ve often been accused of spending too much time in my Green Line-centered world. I mean, I’m not the world’s biggest Cambridge or Somerville fan (thus, why I didn’t write up my afternoon spent in Central Square last weekend), but the South End is somewhere I could learn to enjoy. There are just too many good restaurants and too much nice architecture to overlook it in my wanderings around the city. And I know I just skimmed the surface on Saturday. So I hope to get back over there to explore the area some more (and try out the french toast and chocolate cake) real soon.