Who the Hell is Arto

So, I posted (elsewhere) that Arto is going to be in Cambridge, MA tomorrow night and that I am absolutely ecstatic about seeing him again... and sure enough, people asked... "Who is Arto?"

My Response.... oh, and a blog about the weather... again :)
.....
Who the hell is Arto?
Ugh... C'mon people... Arto and the ANB - you must have heard me blabbing about these guys for weeks after my trip in 05.

Ararat video
ANB Myspace Fanpage
BBC World Music nomination
Official site of Arto (I can't spell his LN)

Okay. That should be enough FYI right. I must say - i had no idea he's 50. wow. (And befor you all critique my musical taste... yes, he has a voice thats "interesting" but when you hear them live with the entire band, its awesome - and the words are great!)

So, now that that's out of the way....

Okay, the snow novelty thing... ya, almost (but not quite yet) over it.

It snowed on Tuesday night. I mean, this was more "real" than the last time i said it "really" snowed. We got a few inches - nothing like the 100 inches in upstate NY but... a few. Decent. Cars were covered. Etc.

As I was walking to school, I realized that walking on the snow is a bit like walking on the sand at the beach (except at the beach you are rarely wearing 10 layers and carrying heavy books). Man, what a work out. Lift, step, lift, step.... climb over the snow banks that the snow plows left at the sides of the road. Then there were the occasional puddles where the salt and shoveling had caused the snow to melt... I was pretty good at avoiding most of those. In a few places, the snow was complete slush - muddy slush to be exact. But I still wasn't bothered much. Hey, its a new experience right?

About two blocks away from school I passed by an old lady - perhaps my grandmother's age or a few years younger. She was obviously homeless - hunched over, wearing several layers and a beat up old sneaker on one foot (a plastic bag on the other). Here I was bundled up in my warm cozy boots and jeans and sweater and jacket - and here was this poor woman hobbling through the snow. And, though I feel bad when I see a homeless man, I think seeing a homeless woman is just that much worse. Yes, I'm sexist! After I passed her, I seriously was about to break into tears so I found a single in my wallet and walked back towards her and offered it to her. She initially looked at me and said, "Oh dear, you don't have to do that." She paused for a moment but when I didn't withdraw my offer, she responded, "But I'll take it and buy myself a cup of hot tea! God bless you." Aww.... it broke my heart. She was nice. Its so unfortunate that people end up homeless but it's even more unfortunate when its freezing cold and snowing outside. I hope she found somewhere warm and cozy to spend the rest of her day.

Anyway, I finally got to school, sat through my endless day of classes and at 2 pm - hallelujah - i was ready to go home... except one problem....

I got down to the lobby and started chatting with some classmates as I put on my jacket/scarf/gloves/ear muffs. Outside, the "snow" had turned into a giant mess... it was raining, snowing and hailing all at once... go figure (damn indecisive weather). The "puddles" had turned into "rivers." And, gosh darnit.... I hadn't thought to grab an umbrella! Just as I thought the situation couldn't possibly get any worse, one classmate mentioned, "Oh, by the way, the green line is down"

WHAT????

what do you mean "DOWN?" One guy sat down on the couch. "What are you doing? You're going to stay here?" "Well, you heard him Alina, the green line is down...." Oh no... it was Vday - I had a pie to bake (and eventually destroy) and stuff to do. I was not about to be stuck at school! I called MBTA. Sure enough, the wire had cut, the green line wasn't operating but they had a shuttle service instead. I bundled up and headed out.

As I came to cross the street, I learned the first lesson of this mixed awful weather. The "snow" is not always safe. You see, as I began to cross the street I had 2 options - 1. walk through the puddle or 2. step on the muddy snow - though it might be slushy, at least its not a puddle.

I went with 2.

Eh. Wrong answer.

2 was a giant puddle - larger than puddle #1 - but covered, misleadingly, with some muddy snow making it look like a snow pile. In I went shin deep - and no, I didn't have rainboots on.

I scrambled onto a bus headed to Kenmore station where I change over to a different train (D line). And then, I started my .3 mile walk home.... up the slippy, slushy, icy hill and then.... across another street. As I stood there trying to calculate the depth of the puddles and where I should cross the street, another young lady approached, looked both ways and just walked on through. Thats when I realized Lesson #2 - sometimes, there's really no "better" way to go - just suck it up and do it. At this point, the streets were literally flooded... silly of me to think I could find a dry path across the street. Waddle across I did.

The rest of the walk home was okay. The snow was half melted half ice... I felt like I was hiking - but with my feet sliding across each other. In my bundled mess (imagine my medusa hair from the rain and a scarf wrapped around my head and face and two hoods - one from my sweater, one from my jacket... ya, real cute) some guy stepped aside to let me pass and as I did he said, "You are very beautiful" - HAH! Lesson #3... Crack impairs your judgment.So, I made it home. No falls. No broken bones. Just some cold wet feet. A short while after I got home, my two roomies came home - much earlier than usual. Apparently, the school was shut down at 3pm - classes cancelled, libraries closed, employees sent home. (My last class ended at 2pm - damnit!)


Today, was another adventure. The "water/ice/snow/slush/mud" had turned into...ice. And all the foot prints of people climbing through the snow had sorta frozen (in places where it wasn't shoveled). Shoveled places were even worse because the shoveling had left a thin layer of water leaving an even slicker layer of ice. So, this time, it was like an obstacle course - hike through the frozen snow (sometimes big balls of snow serve as boulders to help liven up your morning commute)... be sure to dodge the puddles, avoid the ice when possible and when not.... walk very slowly. Oh! Don't forget those snow banks from yesterday - ya, its like a mini wall of snow you get to climb over... except its a slippery wall and a slippery ground. good luck. And give up on traditional heel-toe walking... stomping works better.

(Then I decided it'd be a great idea to cross the foot bridge to get a picture of the snow covered Charles. Uh, it was kinda like trying to go up a newly waxed floor in rollerblades... yes I held the railing with two hands and went up sideways and went down backwards. don't ask)