Three Words

BEAT L. A. !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

May 29, 2008

A great day! Many congratulations and all the well wishes in the world to Banks, Jenne, and our little niece, for a lifetime of health, happiness, and love!

What's Up Doc?

We just enjoyed a very fun weekend celebrating Price's doctoral accomplishment! We kicked things off at Fenway on Saturday afternoon and saw a great game. Dice-K pitched a winner, complete with a Papelbon save, an Ortiz 3-run home run, and some great defense from MVP Mike Lowell. The weather was beautiful and the Fenway franks were just delicious. All-in-all, this ballpark is definitely one of our favorite places on earth.

What a day!

There's Manny, still looking for #499 & #500!

Mary and Raine also flew in on Saturday afternoon for the real festivities to begin. Graduation was quite an experience, complete with big screen tv's and medical students walking with babies in tow. Very different from quaint W&L, but nonetheless a monumental accomplishment for Price. Congratulations, Dr. Blair!

Price getting 'hooded' on the big screen.

Price is enjoying some time off this week before his fellowship at Harvard begins after the holiday weekend. He has visited Boston Beer Works more than we care to admit and has spent a great deal of time watching numerous sporting events - soccer, baseball, and NBA playoffs. Ah, the life!

Just for fun, here is me in action during an afternoon story/craft program. We read Flower Garden by Eve Bunting and then made our own gardens. It's hard not to love this job :)

Today's Globe article

Price was quoted in today's Boston Globe, reacting to the news of Senator Ted Kennedy's sad medical news. Ted Kennedy is not only a fixture on Capitol Hill, but his presence is widely respected here in the Bay State, so this is big news in Boston. Price just happened to be out and about yesterday for a reporter to snag him, less than an hour after the story broke. His quote was also picked up by the AP Wire, so we saw his name on CNN, too! Here's the article:

Bay Staters struggle to digest the news

Email|Print|Single Page| Text size – + By James Vaznis Globe Staff / May 21, 2008

For many, it seemed an impossibility, a tear in the fabric of New England life that almost could not be conceived. For more than 45 years, longer than the lifetimes of many of his constituents, the lion of liberal politics and the standard bearer of the Kennedy legacy had been the unabashed, unswerving voice from the left.

He survived his own blunders and rescued foundering campaigns. Time and again, he returned to office, unassailably reelected by the people of Massachusetts.

But yesterday, on the streets, in cafes, in small towns, and big cities, wherever people were, they struggled to digest the diagnosis by his doctors. The news of Edward M. Kennedy's malignant brain tumor was more than stunning; it was bewildering.

Many struggled for words and said they could not imagine the political landscape without him. Others said they would not have to. Kennedy, they said, is a fighter who would beat his cancer into remission.

"I know he's strong. He'll pull out of it," said Betty Peréz, while taking a break from her job as a dishwasher at the A-1 Deli in Haverhill.

A man emerging from the John F. Kennedy Presidential Library in Dorchester broke into tears.

"It's the end of an era," said Mel Wasserman.

With his booming voice and hardy laugh, Kennedy has towered over Massachusetts politics and encamped in the psyche of a state where he was assumed to be a given. His fights for healthcare and education were scripts of the local identity. His appearances at fund-raisers, campaign events, and local haunts were perennial events.

Margie Brown, a 55-year-old nursing teacher who grew up in Quincy, wistfully recalled shaking Kennedy's hand in the 1960s when she was 10 years old.

She was at Jordan Marsh in Downtown Crossing eating a muffin with her grandmother, and he was young and handsome, with his wavy hair and big smile.

"He's been the mainstay of the Kennedy family," said Brown, who now lives in Connecticut, as she sat on a park bench in the Public Garden.

As the seriousness of the senator's condition set in yesterday, conversations took on tones that were at once wistful and wishful.

"Someone who has given 40 years of service - that's pretty remarkable," said Price Blair, 28, of Boston, a postdoctoral researcher, as he was reading in the Public Garden. "It's hard to imagine Capitol Hill without him."

A quick tour of the region yesterday showed lawyers and executives and middle-managers among Kennedy's supporters, yes, but as often there were laborers and everyday workers who live from one paycheck to the next.

While becoming one of the Senate's most powerful figures, Kennedy managed to keep a connection to even the humblest of the state's residents, a fact that won him admiration and good wishes yesterday, even from some who do not see eye-to-eye with him.

"Hey, I like the guy; I'm Irish Catholic," said Ryan Buddy, 60, of South Boston, a Garelick Farms worker as he shopped at a grocery store on East Broadway. "He's a dinosaur, as far as I'm concerned. A lot of people would knock him down, but he's done a lot of good."

Dorothea Grigoropoulos, a South Boston resident for 45 years, said the Kennedy family winds through her own history: Her parents, who were Irish and German, grew up in the North End, where they knew Kennedy's grandfather, John "Honey Fitz" Fitzgerald, the onetime mayor who used the North End as his political base.

"This is the last of the clan," she said. "Two of his boys are in politics, I know, but they're not like his brothers. His brother was the first Irish-American to make it."

Like any great politician, Kennedy has faced setbacks along the way. But for most yesterday, those episodes seemed like ancient history.

"He's done an awful lot for the citizens of Massachusetts," said Janet Healey, a recent retiree. "He hasn't lived an easy life; it'd be a shame if God took him now."

Ralph Ranalli, Erin Ailworth, and Sarah Schweitzer of the Globe staff Globe correspondent Matt Collette contributed to this report.

Oh, Hitch.

Isn't it appropriate that, in preparation for Mom and Raine's visit this weekend (can't wait to see you!), Yahoo runs a front page story about personality tests for cats. Although he is still most unsatisfactory (is that a category in the personality test?), Hitch is getting better around people, and since he knows Mom and Raine so well, my guess is that he will greet them tomorrow with a "Meeeoooowwww", which will mean something along the lines of "Who are you? What are you doing in my house? I want you to leave. I am now going to retreat into the closet. Please do not follow me or try to pet me. " Oh, Hitch. In the words of Simon Cowell, you are pathetic. But we still love you. Sometimes.

Bleeding Heart

We have a very interesting plant blooming in the back. With all the horticulturists in the family, I knew someone could help us figure out the name of this one. However, the problem was quickly solved this morning, thanks to a friend here at work. It's a bleeding heart plant. Not a weed, Price :)

Believe in Bacon

Bacon is definitely one of Price's favorite things! If he had it his way, he'd have bacon with every meal. (Am I right here, P?) But of course, in our healthy household, that is just not the case. However, we did stumble upon a great meal, courtesy of Rachael Ray, and it's definitely blog-worthy. This is a yet another great way to enjoy bacon!

Salt
1 pound whole-wheat cassarecci, rigatoni or penne pasta
1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil
6 slices lean peppered bacon, chopped
1 large red onion, chopped
4 cloves garlic, finely chopped or grated
1 cup chicken stock
1 (28-ounce) can crushed fire roasted tomatoes
Black pepper
A handful flat-leaf parsley, chopped
Shredded sharp white Cheddar, to pass at tableHeat water to boil for pasta, season with salt and cook pasta to al dente.

Heat a deep skillet over medium-high heat with extra-virgin olive oil, a turn of the pan. Add bacon and crisp 4 to 5 minutes then add onions and garlic cook to soften, 5 to 6 minutes. Stir in stock then tomatoes and season with pepper to taste. Simmer sauce 15 minutes. Toss pasta with sauce and parsley. Serve with grated sharp white Cheddar.

To have along with this meal is a terrific slaw salad with fennel! If you haven't tried fennel, it's delicious, low-calorie, and very refreshing in the warmer months. It has a anisette flavor, but very light, so don't be afraid. I also like having it in tuna salad, in place of celery, and it's great in soups and stews. Try this slaw in place of your regular cookout coleslaw - it's a winner.

3 tablespoons white wine vinegar
2 teaspoons sugar
1/3 cup extra-virgin olive oil
1/2 pound shredded slaw salad mix
1 bulb fennel, trimmed, reserve a handful of fronds
4 ribs celery from the heart, thinly sliced on an angle
10 leaves fresh basil, thinly sliced
Salt and freshly ground black pepperMix vinegar and sugar in the bottom of a bowl and whisk in oil. Add slaw to bowl. Chop fennel fronds and add to cabbage. Quarter the fennel bulb, cut away the core and thinly slice, add to cabbage. Add the celery and basil to the salad, toss to combine, season liberally with salt and pepper, to your taste.

Is it just me, or should Rachael Ray hire me as her PR rep? :-)

Psycho T in fine form...

Okay, so it may not be the smartest thing he's ever done (dude could lose a lot of $$$ in the future if he was to injure himself), but I applaud Tyler Hansbrough for having some good old-fashioned college fun. If you're the reigning player of the year and you forego the NBA because you love your school and you love college life (who didn't?), you deserve to get a little "fratty" sometimes. Besides, do you notice what fraternity house he's partying at? No, not Chi Psi. Maybe Tyler's just trying to channel the UNC/SAE spirit of Brantley Blair. TOGA!

Freebie Alert

Don't know if anyone's a fan, but Nine Inch Nails is currently offering their next album, The Slip (due out on CD in July) as a free download. Just go to their website (www.nin.com), enter your email address, and they'll send you download instructions. You have to love it when musicians give the proverbial finger to the record label. Nice going, Trent Reznor.