There's one thing every woman's missed in Massachusetts Bay

[sovay]

Tonight: watched the fireworks from the Cambridge side of the Esplanade with gaudior and rushthatspeaks, who had providently staked out a spot about ten feet from the water and directly opposite the fireworks barges. I brought potato salad, brownies, and homemade strawberry ice cream, they supplied the cherries, carrots, cupcakes, and nearly sufficient quantities of bottled water. There was a sky full of burning gold light and blown-rose clouds against argon blue; around eight-thirty, a rainbow became visible in the sunset over the Charles. I was hit on by some kind of postgraduate with an American flag bandanna and the recurring delusion that he could pick me up by inaccurately correcting my knowledge of Norse mythology and presumed inability to distinguish Germans and Nazis. The fireworks had evidently been scheduled for convenient television broadcast rather than actual in-city audience, because ten-thirty at night is way too late to start and playing the 1812 Overture forty-five minutes earlier did not help. The evening was nonetheless awesome. I didn't even sunburn. Tomorrow: write notes on E.T.A. Hoffmann; post my Readercon schedule; read my two books on Wittgenstein with even greater care than usual, as it appears that fifty-nine years of death have done nothing to improve his suicidal depression. Recover my hearing. I have the best cousins ever.

Comments

[erzebet.livejournal.com]

the recurring delusion that he could pick me up by inaccurately correcting my knowledge of Norse mythology

Ha! Ha ha! That just gave me a good laugh. I would love to have been there to see that.

[shewhomust.livejournal.com]

I've always been puzzled by nations (yourselves and the French, specifically) who do your big fireworks parties in the summer. Even bearing in mind that your summer evenings are not as long as ours, I suspect that optimum viewing conditions come too late for comfort (my comfort, anyway - I'm an early bird).

Yay cousins!

[asakiyume.livejournal.com]

some kind of postgraduate

I could just hear the French at that point une espèce de [postgraduate<--French fails me here]

I love that locution, which adds just the right flavor of lip-curling distaste that you need, sometimes. As when such a guy comes along.

rainbow in the sunset--lovely.

[papersky.livejournal.com]

I am assured by my friend Gill, who knew him when she was at Oxford, that Wittgenstein was no less depressing in person.

[gaudior.livejournal.com]

So glad you could come! That was splendid!

(And your help in the actual getting-home and hauling stuff back was exceedingly awesome.)

Best cousin!

[hans-the-bold.livejournal.com]

Sounds like fun (except for Wittgenstein's suicidal depression, that is).

And, like, chicks always get turned on when you correct them about Norse mythology. And when you tell them that they don't know the difference between Germans and Nazis, it's a sure hot date right there.

Yeah. Where was he a postgraduate of?

[fleurdelis28.livejournal.com]

Sadly, I think they sync the East Coast fireworks so they can all be watched in sequence on TV. We watched all three (D.C., New York, and Boston) last night, and it was still partially light when they started in D.C.! I don't understand why they don't sync them north to south, though.

[schreibergasse.livejournal.com]

Yay.

[stinger78.livejournal.com]

This just made my day:

"I was hit on by some kind of postgraduate with an American flag bandanna and the recurring delusion that he could pick me up by inaccurately correcting my knowledge of Norse mythology"

Seriously. :D

[ap-aelfwine.livejournal.com]

I'm glad it was awesome, despite the irritating postgrad. Good on your cousins!

I played a pre-fireworks gig at the beach in one of the coastal towns, with the mostly-competent core of the sometimes bloated band that I play with. Lots of underdressed/probably underaged in the audience-as-it-were. Nobody requested "Free Bird", which was good because there were too many children around to do the hoary digitus-impudicus/"No charge, mate!" gag.

We loaded up the van and left as the fireworks were starting, ca. 9:30--no point in getting stuck in the departing traffic and not getting home till two in the morning.

[blue-sonya.livejournal.com]

Glad you had a great time besides the American flag bandanna guy lol.
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