I may be in danger of becoming addicted to karaoke.

Truth.

Tonight Katie's friends from Portland (Oregon) were in town. We ate at Spikes (which I cannot get enough of lately), then headed to a Korean style karaoke place in Allston with my bike, three frying pans they found on the side of the road, and a box full of Mike's pastries. The experience was more amazing than I could ever have imagined. I laughed so hard. I danced so hard. I played the tambourine so hard. I sang so hard. My throat/voice is still hoarse. Somehow through all of this I managed to sample every pastry.

And yesterday I traipsed through Harvard Square with New Haven's Lia Kim and her lovely sister, Erin, after having a sleep over with them, and a fulfilling conversation on my rooftop. The time was passed so pleasantly.

The Very Hungry Caterpillar.

(AKA-girl)

One Wednesday morning, the warm sun came up. Out of the bed came a tired, and very hungry girl. She started to look for some food. At 8 am she ate through two banana bread muffins and one cup of vanilla soy milk. But she was still hungry. At 10 am she ate through one bowl of punjab eggplant. But she was still hungry. At 1 pm she ate through one bowl of pasta salad, one banana/almond milk smoothie, one handful of cashews, and five dried plums. But she was still hungry.

At 1:30 pm it was suggested that she eat a hot dog and potato chips. But she declined.

Also, this video is darling

Sacrilege.

Sam: The latest book from the people responsible for Pride and Prejudice and Zombies: Android Karenina. Seriously.

Me: That makes me sad.

Sam: Yeah. From a review, it "lives up to its promise to make Tolstoy 'awesomer.' it just doesn't capture the depth of feeling of its source."

Me: Wow.

Sam: Yeah. Makes me feel bad that I never actually finished the original.

Me: Trust me: it can't get more awesome.

My parents have been married for a long time today.

Good job, parents.

New York, I love you, but you are bringing me down.

For more reasons than I can say, both parts of this song are true for me. Again. Again. Again.

My future.

I don't know what I was expecting, but when we walked into the psychics, we were greeted by two animal skin rugs, one older woman (still attractive), one younger woman (younger than us), a boy (around 10), and a baby-toddler (strapped in a chair and watching the Disney Channel). It turns out that both the woman were psychics. While Jasie was escorted by the older woman behind curtains, in a setting of greater ambience, Liz and Jendar took turns having their palms read by the younger woman, sitting on a couch in the front room, with the television on five feet away. I also could have had that chance, as they were both finished before Jasie, but I waited. The older woman seemed more legit. Once the curtain was closed behind me, the psychic asked me to think of two wishes and tell her one. I told her the one I cared the least about, because I felt less dumb saying it. Though it had nothing to do with my stated wish, she began by telling me that I would be very successful in both "love and money." I wouldn't be rich, but very comfortable. I would get married, and have three children—the first would be a girl. She said she saw me living by the ocean. "Very peaceful. Water." Now this was related to my wish. I told her that I wanted to know the right place for me to move, without explaining my already arrived at LA decision. It was at this point that I granted her more credence. She went on to say that something in the next 4 to 6 months would be a happy thing for me. A happy change. Perhaps related to this, an important letter will come that will require a signature. Either in the mail or email. She doesn't know. She said she saw pens, papers, books around me and asked if I was a student. I told her I just graduated, and she asked what I was doing now. "Looking for a job." "What kind of job?" "A librarian job." "Ahhh." There was more. Some possibly too personal too share, some just sound advice. All in all it was an interesting experience, and interesting to compare to my friends' own palm readings. In each case the respective psychic seemed to say or ask at least one insightful thing for that person. Jendar was asked her connection to New York City, when leaving or staying in the city was precisely the guidance she wanted, Liz was asked if she had plans to travel across the sea, when she wants to go to Europe this summer, etc., etc. Cheers to a $20.00 okay spent!

Los Angeles, I'm yours.

I have an answer now.

I am 99% going to spend this interim living at my grandma's house in Los Angeles. I decided one night while talking to my oldest brother, who lives in southern California too. Maybe I was just happy to have reached a conclusion, but it was the best I have felt about anything in a long time. When I told my younger brother he responded that he feels like living at grandma's after college is a rite of passage for Hunt children that he somehow avoided, which is perhaps why he doesn't feel like an adult yet. And it is a passage for Hunt children, but only some. I will be the third to do it, following my two older brothers. This is not completely surprising, as I similarly followed them on serving a mission and attaining an advanced degree.

I simply feel that a home surrounded by avocado and lemon trees may be the perfect place for me to be right now. And also, I may or may not have prayed that the Lakers would win the championship as confirmation for my decision. Sorry, Celtics fans!

Curly Hair Club

The last few days have been really lovely. They feel like gifts. Jendar, Liz, and Jasie came to my city from Manhattan, and it was so nice to be with them. We even formed a club. Or really, we formed multiple clubs, but the first, and possibly most important, revolved around our mutually curly hair. (Others involved sunglasses, sandals, and picnics.)

Monday evening we ate at my favorite pizza place in the North End—Ernesto's—where the "sometimes owner"/mafioso, became taken to Liz, and graciously ended up giving us free food. We also enjoyed the rightfully famous cannolis at Mike's Pastry before calling it a night. Tuesday we visited the infinitely charming Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum, ate free popsicles at my alma mater, had a picnic at Boston Common, rode the swan boats in the Public Garden, and strolled through Harvard Yard and Longfellow's garden, respectively.

At this point, we sat on the grass at Longfellow's house while Liz dialed various numbers, and in all sincerity said sentences like, "Hi. Is this psychic readings by Catherine?" and, "My name is Liz. I'm interested in palm readings..." Listening to her end of the conversation made me laugh, but I was interested too. We all were. So that night we had our palms read (of which I will write more later), before eating Spikes (!). It was a holy, holy day.

Mafiaso!
Swan Boats!
Garden!

West Point Wedding

Saturday evening my friend Zach pronounced that we have watched some of the finest people get married this summer, and he is right—first Derik and Ingrid, second Hediyeh and Pete. I feel fortunate to have such fine friends, and fortunate to share them with Zach. I cannot express how happy I felt when, at 1:20 am the day before the wedding, after watching CocoRosie play and laying on a futon in Manhattan, I learned that he would be making his own journey to New York.

The wedding itself was beautiful, which is not surprising: Persian weddings are beautiful. And, as already alluded to, Hediyeh and Pete are beautiful, kind individuals. Followed by the dancing, my favorite part of the night's festivities was hearing them read the vows they wrote to one another. They were simple, and sweet, and sincere. I am grateful for the love they make.

Grad graduate now.

Apparently, life after grad school includes trips to various museums (MFA, ICA, etc.), the New England Aquarium, the Atlantic Ocean, surprise birthday and bachelorette parties in New York, walks around Lexington, Mass, Memorial Day hikes, and three music shows in three days.

It also includes long, demoralizing hours looking for a job, and long, un-demoralizing hours eating cookies and riding bikes. Nearly every day I find myself wondering if I would be better served looking for a job, eating cookies, and riding bikes elsewhere (such as Salt Lake, Provo, or Chapel Hill), and so far I haven't found an answer.

I wish I knew what I was supposed to be doing with my life. Right now I feel slightly unsettled.

Hello, Summer.

Thank you for your: sunshine, longer days, smells of honey suckle, bike rides, fresh watermelon, grilled veggies, hikes, rooftop views, music shows, and so forth.

Love as always,
Rachel

Commenced.

Bachelor of Arts in Philosophy April 2008

Master of Library and Information Science May 2010

Five years ago today

I walked into the MTC, one step at a time.