Alex Krogh-Grabbe

Last night Nicole and I went to the alternative music contradance at the Concord Scout House. It was great, dancing to pop music and calling by Lisa Greenleaf. But the highlight of the night for me was twofold, and revolved around a cute little uncoordinated bundle of cute named Ethan. Ethan is five months old. This was one of (if not the) first times his parents (Melissa & Robert) had brought him to the Scout House. It was wonderful to see them again, and to finally meet the little bugger whom I’d seen pictures of on Facebook. During one dance, Nicole and I were sitting out on the steps up to the stage, where little Ethan was sitting, asleep, with headphones on to keep out the loudness of the room. But it wasn’t enough, and he awoke, bawling his little eyes out. Lisa said from the mic “paging Robert and Melissa…”, and I spotted them, dancing together, in the middle of the middle set, looking to see what the matter was. I immediately sprung into the hall and took Robert’s place in the dance so that he could go comfort the distressed infant. When Melissa & I got to the top of the set, we dropped out too, and she joined in the calming efforts. The efforts were successful, but at the break, some new friends of mine who’d apparently babysat Ethan a lot already offered to take him home with them right then, so Melissa & Robert could enjoy the rest of the dance. Turns out they were going our way, so we joined them (we were pretty tired). What unfolded was a fascinating twenty minute car ride, Ethan screaming his little lungs out the whole way. It was fascinating because we would try all these things, but he just would not stop crying. But because he was so adorable, we didn’t really mind that much.

Today, I made bread. I’ve made scones and cranberry bread before many times, but this was my first time making real bread, with yeast. It went well! One loaf tore a little bit coming out of the pan, but it’s still good, and the other one looks perfect too. The texture is great, and the flavor reminds me of my dad’s bread (where the recipe comes from). Here’s to further adventures in food creation!

Tonight on the T, between Central and Davis, I saw a peculiar sight. Two young women were sitting across the car from me to the right. One had red hair pulled back in a ramshackle bun, the other, straight dark hair half-up (though in the overly shiny fashion of girls who get pregnant in high school, not in the matte, swishy fashion of attractive hippie women). They both wore conventional coats, conventional pants, and conventional boots. They both carried conventional purses. They also both carried smartphones. Not only did they carry smartphones, but they were absorbed in the smartphones, apparently playing games. Perhaps the same game; I could not say. But what struck me about the situation was that, despite their utter captivation in their mobile games, they were carrying on a conversation. A conversation which (to be fair) was occasionally about the games in their hands (“no, it’s because you have four lives”), but also seemed to range to more analog topics (“so I told him that, and he was like…”). Those were pretty much the only two snippets of conversation I heard, but they conversed for much of the ten-minute ride. It reminded me of nothing less than old women sitting around a table, chatting over a game of bridge.

The world is changing, and this new technology is but one Penrose stair in the fabric of the human experience. I’m currently reading Bowling Alone, by Robert Putnam, on the observed decline in American social capital since sometime in the 1970s. But I believe in conservation of social energy, and while there may be fewer conversations over bridge games, there may also be more conversations over games of Angry Birds.

A while ago I started an intermittent series here, trying to explain how things work in Washington. I don’t think I ever got more than one or two parts down, but I just saw a fantastic video that demanded to be included. It’s from Schoolhouse Rock, which I was unfortunately too young to grow up on, but it fits my impression of that show as producing fantastic educational content. Enjoy the feeling of knowledge percolating into your brain:

That’s basically it. And the process is as boring and repetitive as the melody of the song.

To and from my recent New York City stay, I took the new MegaBus route from Amherst. It started on December 15th, departing from Hampshire Mall in Hadley. On the way back, I had arranged to be picked up at the mall, but heard another passenger talking to the driver at one point, and the driver said he actually drops people off at UMass as well. Apparently they aren’t allowed to stay at Haigis Mall for very long (probably because Peter Pan doesn’t want its competition in so convenient a location) but they do swing by there after the mall to drop people off. They may pick passengers up there too, but I’m not sure. It also may be dependent on who the driver is. This driver said that they’re still working out the kinks in this new route.

Hope this information is helpful if you’re planning on taking the MegaBus to or from New York!