It is a pretty sweet library! Also, there is a really great Thai place on Boylston, Chili Duck.

I wasn't really excited about moving until I left the street where the place is and saw what was around it, so that's a good feeling. Of course, there was a place across the street I wanted even more, but it turns out they don't take pets! I said I will live in this place until my cat moves, and then move across the street....

Also, there is a really great Thai place on Boylston, Chili Duck.

Awesome. I don't know anything about anything in Boston, so it will all be an adventure.

Ooooh, Back Bay! I've always wanted to live there. Does your building have laundry? There's a dearth of laundromats in the area, alas.

I've spent two separate weeks in the Back Bay on business (this year and last), so I'm a little familiar with the area. There's good eats in the Prudential Center as well! Oh, and Newbury St. has Newbury Comics and at least three ice cream places. I recommend J.P Lick's.

For Aims: In which a Camel is merely ordinary.

I think we'll be needing a Boston-area get together again soon. Especially once Nora and Tom get back from the west coast.

For Aims: In which a Camel is merely ordinary.

LOVE!!!

Andrew Sullivan on one of the differences between conservatism in the US and the UK: The Tory "Conference Pride" Event

This truly is a tale of two conservatisms. In America, a core plank of the Republican party is fear and loathing of homosexuals, banning any civil rights for gay couples, persecuting gay servicemembers, and reiterating claims that children need to be protected from the gay menace. Republican intellectuals are intent on Biblical proscriptions of the alleged gay threat to the family, resurrecting the idea that psychotherapy can "cure" gays, and reviving natural law to ensure that gay couples are rendered second class citizens in their own constitution. In Britain this week, at the Conservative Party Conference, there will be a big event to celebrate gay inclusion:

The official Conservative event will be hosted by high-profile LGBT Conservatives Iain Dale, political blogger and shortlisted Parliamentary candidate for the safe Conservative seat of Bracknell and openly-Lesbian Vice Chair of the Party Margot James. It will include a live performance by singer Angie Brown and addresses by senior shadow cabinet members, Nick Herbert and Theresa May, as well as Stonewall’s Ben Summerskill.

There's a protest - by the left. Labour is terrified that the Tories have left previous bigotry behind and can now appeal to gay voters on the basis of their core ideas and arguments. And look at who's scheduled: Two openly gay future cabinet members and the openly gay vice-chair of the party. That's better than the Democrats.

Why the inclusion? Because conservatism should be about what it stands for, not the people it excludes. But not in America. Here, the base hatred only deepens; and the cowardice at the top endures.

Does your building have laundry? There's a dearth of laundromats in the area, alas.

Um, yeah, I think so? Honestly, I didn't really pay enough attention -- it was the 10th apartment I had seen that day, and I liked the next two better.

There's good eats in the Prudential Center as well!

I'm a block away from the Pru!

Finally caught up! I was over 700 posts behind.

Yay, Gracie!

One of the downsides of getting a job is that I won't be babysitting my great-niece on Mondays anymore. There is nothing like a toddler to make me smile. She is very funny and she had me trained pretty well. I will miss that.

IOnewJob news, I have to commute from Cedar Rapids to Iowa City for the job, 35 miles of rural Interstate...in the Winter!, so my car is in the shop today. It will be at least $800 for regular maintenance and that is not including a possible new muffler. Oy!