Last post for January

I totally scored big at the record store by my apartment, In Your Ear. Ever since I was 16 and received a record player for my birthday, I've been obsessed. And thanks to all you hipsters who have made collecting records an actual "thing". It was so hard to be standing in the classical music section and not buy every single recording of everything they had. But I did make out pretty well:

1. Bernstein conducts Copland with the New York Phil(harmonic)
2. Rostropovich playing Dvorak cello concerto, USSR radio orchestra
3. Heifetz playing Brahms violin concerto with Chicago
4. Richard Stoltzman/Richard Goode Brahms clarinet sonatas
5. Brahms 3 and Tragic Overture with Boston Symphony
6. Beethoven 7 with Berlin
7. Beethoven 6 with Berlin
8. Leon Fleisher, playing Rachmaninov and Franck with Cleveland
9. Beethoven 9, Rudolph Serkin, New York Phil
10. John Patitucci (for all you jazz folk)

All for under $25.

Also made a lovely dinner, complete with a baked potato (dairy free butter), oven roasted veggies, and chicken thighs with hoisin sauce. Basically, caramelization on the chicken and veggies was what we were aiming for. Basically dessert. Washed down with UFO Raspberry.

Also finally saw Scent of a Woman. You might have remembered a post I did back about my week in the DR, because we played a tango called Por Una Cabeza, which is featured in the movie. Finally got it, and wow. It just goes to show that Al Pacino once again owned his role, and that is why he is among the greatest of the actors. Ever. Here's the trailer.

This is the next movie I plan to see, if you wanted something completely different:

So looking for a restaurant recommendation? Cheap Thai food perhaps? Really good crispy chicken pad thai and chicken satay...go to Noodle Street, and adorable restaurant (and menu) with an awesomely friendly staff. Perfect for a student budget, delicious, and filling. I ate here with a friend after our orchestra rehearsal when it was snowing and gross outside. And I think mother nature is really confused again, because yesterday there was a 40 degree difference between the single digits it was hovering around last week. I actually didn't have to wear a coat for most of the day, until it rained. Hard. 

There is a point when rain is refreshing, like in the summertime when it's warm out. And even though it was pretty warm yesterday, there comes a time when you get so wet, an umbrella is just useless. This happened to me when I was on my way to meet some friends at The Ave. It was my first time there for beers and bar food, but under rather unfortunate circumstances. Yesterday after our rehearsal, one of my best friends at school received a call from her roommate. She was all smiley and whatnot because she was on the way to pick up her new pet, but all of a sudden her demeanor completely changed into shock. One of the bad things about living in a city: burglary. While she and her roommate had been out, someone had broken in with a crowbar and taken some really valuable things. What is wrong with people? They even took her winter jacket. 

There's always sketchy stuff going on in cities, and BU has a great emergency alert system: when a crime is reported around campus, or the area that students live in, we get a call/text/email right away to let us know which areas to avoid, suspects to look for, etc. Luckily, our apartment is relatively safe. And if I walk home after dark, my street is very well lit, but I still never listen to my headphones, or check my phone. I try to walk with people if I can, or take the T. My area is pretty well populated, but even though I don't really worry about things happening, you can never be too careful. 

Aside from everything else, I've been doing a lot of research for my challenge next month which I will unveil tomorrow. These little challenges have been a really good idea. To recap:
August-picture a day, September-30 days of water, October-Be a tourist in your own city, Novemeber-take a trip to the DR, December-kindness, January-internet diet. These little things have created little habits in my life that are good. I drink more water, I spend less time wasting away in internet land, and I'm more apt to go exploring in Boston. Stay tuned tomorrow when I post about my new challenge.

And listen to this. It's great. It's a string quartet that Dvorak used with the music from his first song cycle. You can tell it's supposed to be for a vocalist with the prominent melodic line, but it's just beautiful.