the bus arrived late, so i got to harvard square on a slightly delayed schedule. i hate being late. when i'm late, i feel like i've broken a sacred social pact which says you arrive on time to an appointment (or at least call if you know you're going to be late, but alas, i don't own a cellphone). anyway, i made a quick stop to the local florist to grab a bouquet of flowers (a batch of purple tulips) before walking to the new designated pick up area by au bon pain, where i saw laurie was already waiting for me in her volkswagon. the conversation ranged from how we were both very hungry, to whether or not i truly love squirrels or is it all an act. approaching chinatown, laurie's fast paced city driving scared an old pedestrian so badly that we saw him do an 180° and walk right back onto the sidewalk.
at china pearl, much of the usual fare of dim sum dishes. i of course had to get my tripe and chicken feet. we got the yiou tiao hur fin and ordered a dish of clams from the specialty food bar. we also had the mango pudding, and it took laurie 10 minutes before she was absolutely certain it was mango that we were eating.
it was over dim sum that i finally asked her exactly what happened friday morning. that being a rather depressing topic, we also talked about the kind of pets best for her (i suggested maybe a weasel or a chinchilla if not fish) and the wisdom of crocodiles, that vampire movie i saw recently. i also revealed how i normally eat and she made me promise to eat more fruits. after dim sum (the cashier stamped my dim sum card twice! i am now elligible for the $10 discount!), laurie drove me back to harvard square, but not before picking up her guitar first from her apartment.
the first thing i did in harvard square was to use the secret public bathroom by au bon pain. much relieved, i stopped by newbury comics to purchase some cd's: diana krall/the look of love, texas/i don't want a lover, and call and response's eponymous debut album. i then took the subway back into boston, to dtx, where i called amanda to see what she was doing, but got the machine instead, so i browsed borders bookstore for about half an hour before calling amanda one more time and getting her machine yet again. that's when i decided my day of adventuring was over and came home.
when i got home i drove to the library to borrow some books: lords of the horizons: a history of the ottoman empire by jason goodwin, the ottomans by andrew wheatcroft, and a people's history of the american revolution by ray raphael. after the library, i went to super star market (now a shaw's super store) to buy some groceries, making quite sure i bought an ample amount of fruits (bananas, apples, grapes) while i was at it.