I don't know what the hell T.S. Eliot thought he was talking about.  February is totally the cruelest month.

I mean, February is not helped by the fact that I have always loathed it.  In the mountains of my childhood, February meant endless chilly rain drizzling from leaden skies.  It meant temperatures too warm to be cold and too cold to be warm ( Read more... )

I've been a little cranky today.

"Not enough coffee, Allison?" you ask.  "Surely," you reassure, "it's just all this overcast weather." "Maybe," you optimistically suggest, "it's because it's President's Day, a theoretical fake-type Long Weekend Holiday, and you are At Work."

Well, I hate to tell you this, helpful as you are, but it's not any of ( Read more... )

Hello, Internets.

I have a manifesto for you.

It seems that recently my world has divided into two camps.  And no, before you ask, it's not Cylon and Human.  It's people who think I should be in a relationship, and... me.

As many of you know, I've been single since August of 2009.  I've been happy with my choice.  Unfortunately, I can't say the ( Read more... )

So, at this point most of you are aware that recently, our friends in the Mid-Atlantic states got a little dusting of snow.  The highways, the schools, and even the Federal Government have declared Universal Snow Days, with Senators and Congressmen whizzing cheerfully down the Capitol Mall in makeshift sleds drawn by teams of aides.  Hot popcorn ( Read more... )

So I've decided to start updating my blog again.  You can consider it a belated New-Year's Resolution, if you like, but really, it's more like a vain attempt to get my thoughts recorded in some kind of lasting medium - to create a record, however ephemeral, that once, I really did exist.  Why?  Because the end times is near.  I'm not kidding.  ( Read more... )

Dating (n.) - gerund.   The act of meeting decent, reasonable, entertaining people, getting to know them, and discovering that you would still, rather, ultimately, be alone, eating ice cream in your underwear.

Halloween (proper n.) - a holiday that causes scantily-clad drunk college students to crowd the T, vomiting into public trash cans and ( Read more... )

So I was on the LiveJournal* today, and I realized that I hadn't posted since August.  And that that post was about wandering around Vienna in a hypoglycemic coma until a Greek man hit on me.

I felt as if I should write something.**

I realized I had nothing much to write.

SInce August, I...

1. Satisfactorily reacclimated to American life.  Helloooo, ( Read more... )

Those of you who have been reading along closely - okay, okay, those of you who have been sleeping along peacefully - during this travelogue may well find yourselves asking, "But what about the Requiem?  The Museum Fatigue?  Is it just me, or were we promised a fish head, here?" No, no, dear readers.  You may have been asleep, but you weren't ( Read more... )

As the more astute among you have already guessed, I write this somewhat belated update to my travelogue from the familiar soils of the United States - in fact, from the familiar carpet of my desk in Harvard Square.

As my travels progressed and I wandered on through Europe, I found myself with less and less time to spend at the computer; what's more ( Read more... )

A cordial hello to all from Vienna, the home of Mozart, Strauss, Beethoven, and truly undigestible sausage delicacies!

This is my last day here, and rather than stress out about trying to cram another landmark into my already dense itinerary, I have decided to loiter in the lounge of my moderately upscale hostel and visit my good friend the Internet ( Read more... )