Just One Small Concession

Okay, I don't want everyone to flip out Jerry Maguire style. So just sit down and remain calm as I tell you this. I'm allowing myself to root for the Bruins. Yes, the Boston Hockey team. BUT THAT IS IT. When I moved, everyone loved making jokes about me jumping on the Sox and/or Patriots band wagon, which will NEVER happen. I am confident that I can justifiably be a Bruins fan.

First of all, I came to Boston with an absolutely clean slate in terms of Hockey fanaticism. Okay, so maybe I was a fake Rangers fan for 5 minutes in the 90s when they had Messier and those other good players. I, however, can't even tell you what the other players names were. I think Gretzky may have even played for the Rangers for a year? In other words, I know NOTHING about hockey. I think that permits me to root for the Bruins.

Secondly, why NOT root for them this year? It's the playoffs already and they're doing well. This could be instant gratification at its best. I have nothing to lose by rooting for a team that has a chance of winning the Stanley Cup.

Finally, I'm dating someone who is a Boston sports fan. Between baseball and football seasons, I figure this brief lull where we can sit and watch a game without worrying about witty and slightly cutting remarks whenever key plays are made will be delightful. So, it is not so much a compromise as a political maneuver.

All of that said, playoff hockey is really entertaining. Three goals were scored within the first 10 minutes in last night's game three of the Bruins vs. Flyers conference semifinals series. Sure I have no idea what icing means and sort of hate that they allow fighting, but what the heck, when in Rome.

The Water is [not] Always Good.

This weekend I went on a mini excursion to Philadelphia. The weather was akin to a late July hot spell. The novelty of 89 degrees made the stickiness bearable. At some point on Saturday night, after many hours of enjoying the Derby and its accompanying refreshments, my friend Megan attempted to read an obscure text she got from one of those incomplete numbers. "Boil water emergency? Emergency boil water?" By all accounts, she made no sense. So, we simply ignored her. In the light and clarity of Sunday, we then learned of the water drama up in Boston. (We think Northeastern texted all their students to notify them, hence the weird number for the text.)

When I got back home late last night, I realized just how spoiled we are by clean water. Pouring Poland Spring on my toothbrush made me feel like some diva celebrity. (There was once a rumor that Cameron Diaz only washed her face with Evian.) I took a cool shower before bed and freaked out when a little water got in my mouth. All of this said, my address is Cambridge, which has a separate safe water source. Though, the fact that the Somerville town line is spitting distance from my apartment made me willing to abide by the water advisory for the night.

In the midst of all of this, I am reminded of one of my favorite high school memories. It became a tradition for each graduating senior class to put on some sort of comedy meeting in the Spring. When I was a junior, a group of senior boys put on "Thursday Morning Live" which included a live Faculty Jeopardy skit (for the record, it was absolutely hilarious). They also filmed commercials, one of which was for Lawrenceville water. Lawrenceville bottled water is handed out in mass quantities at all Lawrenceville functions. It has a black label emblazoned with the school seal, Virtius Semper Viridis. The seniors showed a nerdy scientist explaining the make up of water and how Lawrenceville bottles it: they go to the water spout for dorm garden hoses and fill them up. At the end of the skit, the nerdy scientist says, "Virtius Semper Viridis: The water is always good." Needless to say, that line has been in my head for the last twenty four hours. I don't think Massachusetts Water Resources Authority will adopt that motto anytime soon.