Thursday, September 29
Boston: day 5
ok, so I'm just passing through overnight, but regardless, it's my 5th day in Boston. I feel like I'm really starting to get to know this city. doesn't take much for me. I've got the feel of the layout, just not the specs of all the street names. I need my numbered New York grid, thank you.
the whole college town really bothers me. it was the first thing I noticed when I got on the T from the bus. there's this prevailing unspoken competition between everyone to be cooler, more successful, party harder, get better grades, stand out in some way but not be outcast... because everyone is about the same age and in some way ridiculously homogenous. my theory is that the environment of a homogenous population creates more pressure to stand out and establish an individual identity, which, ironically, results in a forced false identity - simply a reaction to the surrounding environment. but then you could argue that our whole social reality is a result of reactions to our environment. which social theory was that again?
anyone?
Margie?
by the way, I was nearly blown into a light post by the wind. yikes.
the whole college town really bothers me. it was the first thing I noticed when I got on the T from the bus. there's this prevailing unspoken competition between everyone to be cooler, more successful, party harder, get better grades, stand out in some way but not be outcast... because everyone is about the same age and in some way ridiculously homogenous. my theory is that the environment of a homogenous population creates more pressure to stand out and establish an individual identity, which, ironically, results in a forced false identity - simply a reaction to the surrounding environment. but then you could argue that our whole social reality is a result of reactions to our environment. which social theory was that again?
anyone?
Margie?
by the way, I was nearly blown into a light post by the wind. yikes.
Wednesday, September 28
Providence: day 2
I feel so creative around here... and then I feel so artistically uneducated at the same time. hmph.
I guess what makes the difference (aside from the endless hours and nervous breakdowns the RISD students survive) is how they make things seem effortless. then again, put enough time into anything and it just becomes a habit - seemingly effortless whether it really is or not.
I think I found the ABP where Em D worked this summer. and I've hiked The Hill. although I doubt I was anywhere near the stat of inebriation that she and Dave were, according to his stories. plus, Sarah O lives at the bottom - much easier navigating it on the way home... w/o snow at least.
other than that, this town is a very strange mix of a whole lot of college students and 40-something suits. not sure what to make of it. I stare out the window and there's a shopping center with an IMAX, Old Navy, Borders and Nordstrom. I go out of the building and I'm in a quaint downtown with a shopping arcade...?
too strange
I guess what makes the difference (aside from the endless hours and nervous breakdowns the RISD students survive) is how they make things seem effortless. then again, put enough time into anything and it just becomes a habit - seemingly effortless whether it really is or not.
I think I found the ABP where Em D worked this summer. and I've hiked The Hill. although I doubt I was anywhere near the stat of inebriation that she and Dave were, according to his stories. plus, Sarah O lives at the bottom - much easier navigating it on the way home... w/o snow at least.
other than that, this town is a very strange mix of a whole lot of college students and 40-something suits. not sure what to make of it. I stare out the window and there's a shopping center with an IMAX, Old Navy, Borders and Nordstrom. I go out of the building and I'm in a quaint downtown with a shopping arcade...?
too strange
Tuesday, September 27
Boston: day 4
according to Zagat:
Boston Metro Area has about 400 bars
Manhattan alone has about 1100
but I found enough in Cambridge.
John Harvard - horrible beer. even the best watered down Guinness is better than their oatmeal stout.
Thirsty Scholar - nice. good selection (including Murphy's). although the company was a bit of a downer - one other guy whose friend just died in a motorcycle crash.
*Druid - niiice. ran into the bartender outside and he introduced me all around the bar. nice Irish place. authentically Irish. time just flies in places like that! and thanks to Sean for footing the bill.
Margaret Cho was good. the girl I sat next to (Rae?) and I were cracking up the most. really made me miss the NYC comedy clubs. Chris - next time I'm back in the city, be sure to hook me up! She was a lot more political than I expected. pretty decent.
today is sort of a 'housekeeping' day - run to the post office, pack my small bag for Providence for the next couple of days, send out some e-mails, make some phone calls... etc.
Boston Metro Area has about 400 bars
Manhattan alone has about 1100
but I found enough in Cambridge.
John Harvard - horrible beer. even the best watered down Guinness is better than their oatmeal stout.
Thirsty Scholar - nice. good selection (including Murphy's). although the company was a bit of a downer - one other guy whose friend just died in a motorcycle crash.
*Druid - niiice. ran into the bartender outside and he introduced me all around the bar. nice Irish place. authentically Irish. time just flies in places like that! and thanks to Sean for footing the bill.
Margaret Cho was good. the girl I sat next to (Rae?) and I were cracking up the most. really made me miss the NYC comedy clubs. Chris - next time I'm back in the city, be sure to hook me up! She was a lot more political than I expected. pretty decent.
today is sort of a 'housekeeping' day - run to the post office, pack my small bag for Providence for the next couple of days, send out some e-mails, make some phone calls... etc.
Sunday, September 25
Boston: day 2
so exhausted!
but walking all over boston for nearly 7hrs is a very good reason.
today was my first real exploration of boston as the first time I was here was about 11yrs ago and the last time was one day in the middle of January.
for anyone who knows boston or cares what all I did:
-walked up Boylston St and saw the floats for the 375th birthday of boston parade
-crossed the Congress St bridge (currently closed to traffic) and discovered that the Beaver (the boat which hosted the Boston Tea Party in 1773) has disappeared! last time I tried to see it, it wasn't open due to cold weather
-walked along the harbor and really enjoyed the old wharf buildings, especially the mercantile one
-went to the aquarium and saw the 3-D IMax movie on sharks by Cocteau... sweeet! and not really scary, I wanted to pet them. highly recommend the aquarium for serious penguin-lovers (thanks Hugh!)
-ate a stuffed crab on the half shell at Quincy Market
-picked my own bouquet of flowers at Exotic Flowers outside the Quincy Market (that fridge they keep the flowers in was freeezing!)
-walked back to Northeastern from there. ugh!
Tomorrow: exploring Cambridge
time's passing waaay too fast - I leave Boston in a day and a half!
but walking all over boston for nearly 7hrs is a very good reason.
today was my first real exploration of boston as the first time I was here was about 11yrs ago and the last time was one day in the middle of January.
for anyone who knows boston or cares what all I did:
-walked up Boylston St and saw the floats for the 375th birthday of boston parade
-crossed the Congress St bridge (currently closed to traffic) and discovered that the Beaver (the boat which hosted the Boston Tea Party in 1773) has disappeared! last time I tried to see it, it wasn't open due to cold weather
-walked along the harbor and really enjoyed the old wharf buildings, especially the mercantile one
-went to the aquarium and saw the 3-D IMax movie on sharks by Cocteau... sweeet! and not really scary, I wanted to pet them. highly recommend the aquarium for serious penguin-lovers (thanks Hugh!)
-ate a stuffed crab on the half shell at Quincy Market
-picked my own bouquet of flowers at Exotic Flowers outside the Quincy Market (that fridge they keep the flowers in was freeezing!)
-walked back to Northeastern from there. ugh!
Tomorrow: exploring Cambridge
time's passing waaay too fast - I leave Boston in a day and a half!
Saturday, September 24
Boston: day 1
Success!
I have arrived sans problemes in Beantown. Saw a jazz festival on Columbus Ave. Going to see Margaret Cho monday night. Thanks Margie! I get to venture out on my own tomorrow as Margie and Tony both have to work. Definitely have to stop by Fenway during a game, even though it's massively sold out. Also going to roam around Cambridge.
Yeah, so I"ll keep you updated. Any recommendations are welcome!
I have arrived sans problemes in Beantown. Saw a jazz festival on Columbus Ave. Going to see Margaret Cho monday night. Thanks Margie! I get to venture out on my own tomorrow as Margie and Tony both have to work. Definitely have to stop by Fenway during a game, even though it's massively sold out. Also going to roam around Cambridge.
Yeah, so I"ll keep you updated. Any recommendations are welcome!
New York: t-0
not leaving as early as I planned
but sleep is good
this is it...
I'm so scared
but sleep is good
this is it...
I'm so scared
Friday, September 23
New York: t-10 hours
Wednesday, September 21
New York: t-3 days
AAAHHHHH!!!!!!!!!
must finish cleaning
must finish cleaning
*gulp!*
have you ever noticed that the best advice always comes from the strangest places?
ex: my orthodontist whom I haven't seen in 2 years
tells me that what i'm doing is really smart
then comes back in the room later just to make sure i'm keeping some kind of journal because it's really important for a trip like this
the dude's too cool to be an orthodontist
he should be a bad-ass guidance counselor
or an english teacher
I was always fond of my english teachers
except the one who patronized us and thought we actually were dumb and not just lazy
ok, back to the dreaded room
where'd that dude with the pitchfork and spiked tail go who was watching me and threatening to whip me... yes, this is HELL!
must finish cleaning
must finish cleaning
*gulp!*
have you ever noticed that the best advice always comes from the strangest places?
ex: my orthodontist whom I haven't seen in 2 years
tells me that what i'm doing is really smart
then comes back in the room later just to make sure i'm keeping some kind of journal because it's really important for a trip like this
the dude's too cool to be an orthodontist
he should be a bad-ass guidance counselor
or an english teacher
I was always fond of my english teachers
except the one who patronized us and thought we actually were dumb and not just lazy
ok, back to the dreaded room
where'd that dude with the pitchfork and spiked tail go who was watching me and threatening to whip me... yes, this is HELL!
Monday, September 19
New York: t-4 days
Montreal was sweet.
Montreal etait super.
Wish I was still there.
J'espere que j'y etais encore.
And so I'm following Quebecois tradition by translating everything I write for francophones.
Ainsi je suis la tradition quebecoise en traduisant tout que j'ecris pour les francophones.
OK, enough of that. it was great. I'm not a fan of immigration... so what if I have really short hair in my photo and even the immigration officers think I look like a boy? punks.
But now, back to the eternal task of cleaning my room.
And rearranging travel plans:
- Delaware is a no-go due to an absurdly large number of tragic accidents
- Boston is delayed a day due to my strange ability to lose a phone number multiple times
- anyone else want to throw in some other surprises?
please, do it now or not at all... it would help a lot
Montreal etait super.
Wish I was still there.
J'espere que j'y etais encore.
And so I'm following Quebecois tradition by translating everything I write for francophones.
Ainsi je suis la tradition quebecoise en traduisant tout que j'ecris pour les francophones.
OK, enough of that. it was great. I'm not a fan of immigration... so what if I have really short hair in my photo and even the immigration officers think I look like a boy? punks.
But now, back to the eternal task of cleaning my room.
And rearranging travel plans:
- Delaware is a no-go due to an absurdly large number of tragic accidents
- Boston is delayed a day due to my strange ability to lose a phone number multiple times
- anyone else want to throw in some other surprises?
please, do it now or not at all... it would help a lot
Thursday, September 15
New York: t-8 days
ahhh!!
just one week... yikes, man.
trying to confirm all plans, so if I haven't contacted you yet, please let me know. I"m just a bit frazzled.
Montreal tomorrow.
Score.
yikes
a bientot
just one week... yikes, man.
trying to confirm all plans, so if I haven't contacted you yet, please let me know. I"m just a bit frazzled.
Montreal tomorrow.
Score.
yikes
a bientot
Tuesday, September 6
New York: t-16 days
Major freaking out realizing I have two weeks to pack everything. Yikes!!!
But also some real comfort in the fact that Sara Mae has made it to Vancouver, BC. Looking forward to visiting her and Hayden out there. Got sorta short notice that they were going out there: Hi, good to see you, we're leaving for the west coast tomorrow morning, bye!
...wha???
not that i can really talk. and hopefully i'll be seeing them soon!
and as for New York and squeezing in that 'one last chance to...'
I actually had Labor Day off (no time and a half pay, sad, day off work, good) and had to figure out something to do without running into too big of a crowd. hmm...
I went to the Bronx Zoo! when was the last time you were there? I got to see the penguin feeding. such cute creatures! I also discovered that I have a weird fascination with snakes. Then on the way back, about a block from the subway station, decided to get on the bus to City Island because I had never been there and they have good seafood restaurants. Not bad, not bad. had a Mahi Mahi filet with mango salsa and some really good crabs.
it is now 6a and I am up unnecessarily early for work at 8:30a. I pre-empted the cat kneading my stomach to wake me up and feed her. Now she's mewing so I must away and feed her.
But also some real comfort in the fact that Sara Mae has made it to Vancouver, BC. Looking forward to visiting her and Hayden out there. Got sorta short notice that they were going out there: Hi, good to see you, we're leaving for the west coast tomorrow morning, bye!
...wha???
not that i can really talk. and hopefully i'll be seeing them soon!
and as for New York and squeezing in that 'one last chance to...'
I actually had Labor Day off (no time and a half pay, sad, day off work, good) and had to figure out something to do without running into too big of a crowd. hmm...
I went to the Bronx Zoo! when was the last time you were there? I got to see the penguin feeding. such cute creatures! I also discovered that I have a weird fascination with snakes. Then on the way back, about a block from the subway station, decided to get on the bus to City Island because I had never been there and they have good seafood restaurants. Not bad, not bad. had a Mahi Mahi filet with mango salsa and some really good crabs.
it is now 6a and I am up unnecessarily early for work at 8:30a. I pre-empted the cat kneading my stomach to wake me up and feed her. Now she's mewing so I must away and feed her.
