Favorites of December

Posted December 4, 2025 by Lucy Oster

Rumor has it that I’m a student blogger here at this institution. Somehow, despite the fact that I’ve played the biggest role in this rumor, both as perpetrator and main actor, it might have slipped me by…. Nonetheless, December is here with its own ice to slip on (mostly rain still in the Boston area, but I’m keeping an extra-cautious eye on the streets when I bike into class now!) and I am busy. Between my full-time job (library!) and part-time internship (archives!) I barely have time to scrabble up the mountain that is my Final Assignments – professors* (*a subset that would include my dear non-professor lecturers) and I both agree that these should be Capitalized. I want to do a semester wrap-up blog post, but I think I’ll hold off on that for now, and I’ll participate in what is my favorite December tradition: lists of favorites. I won’t keep it Simmons-specific (that’s sort of the point of the planned wrap-up blog..), but I will try to keep it to the Boston area.

Favorite way to kill time in 2025: The main branch of Cambridge Public Library’s new section! They have one of the most extensive “new” sections of a public library that I’ve ever seen, and being there makes me feel crazy in a very awesome way. So many shiny books! A big part of my position at work is dealing with the “new and notable” books, so it’s a bit funny that I love touching the new books so much that I’ve made it a point to waltz my way to the CPL basically every Friday, ostensibly to pick up my holds, but really to look into the light.

Best date spot: The hottest club in town is the Otto in Coolidge Corner, and the most romantic thing you can do there is split a hot honey pepperoni pizza with your person(s) before catching a new flick over at the Coolidge Corner Theater. And I say this as a pescatarian so you know it’s for real. Pro-tip: every October the Coolidge’s membership deal drops to $20 for students! Put it in your calendars for 2026 NOW.

Best alone spot: Okay well I love movies, and seeing the new ones with your lover is fab and all, but go to the Brattle or the Harvard Film Archive in the light of day solo and come out a changed man. (NOTE: Going to the movies in the “light of day” in a Massachusetts winter can easily lead to you coming out into pitch blackness. This can be scary. Be careful.)

I like moving? Not just sitting??: Get a freaking bike and join a soccer team! Starting in August every Saturday I biked to a casual pick-up soccer group. Also, I’ll drop the blogger shtick for a second and say that having a consistent gym routine was probably the best thing I did in 2025. And I started this graduate school” thing also, so… What really matters, your degree or your triceps?!? (YOUR DEGREE!!!!)

Okay, what else?: Honestly, I think we should all do our last readings now. The most fun you can have is: completing your Final Assignments on time! Of the three on my plate, I’m most excited to create a LibGuide for 407!