Was away in Indiana for a while. Destination wedding. You'll be hard-pressed to find a dish in Seymour, IN that doesn't contain meat (specifically bacon) and/or marshmallows. Feels good to be home in MA with my girl Casey. She won't let me out of her sight. Presently, she's asleep with her face smashed into my knee and her legs wrapped over my thigh. She's perfect.
Still unemployed. Getting incredibly anxious/frustrated about this. See also, extremely upset and increasingly self-deprecating. Adverb adjective.
Making 1- and 3-year plans. Mostly involving contests to enter, places to submit, places to read aloud. Things like goals.
MA passed a law making it illegal to text and drive. Good thing I rarely have a need to drive.
Philadelphia must have started taxing water. Because they taxed my water this morning. My fault for leaving my reusable one in my b/f's jeep. Totally knew I'd do that. I even said, "I'm going to forget this."
My brother gave me my birthday present 6.7 months late. It's a blown up picture of him in Afghanistan, in an armored hummer aiming some sort of gun. Not sure what to do with this.
I traveled through 8 states in 24 hours. I'm fuckin' beat.
Monday, September 27, 2010
Tuesday, September 7, 2010
"How can you see your life unless you leave it?"
My first week in MA is just about over. Moving day was super stressful, especially with the cat. She HATED it. But we're settling in, and she's returning to some level of normalcy. My first class is tonight. Poetry workshop with John Skoyles. I met him at orientation last week, and he told me that I need to relax.
Here's an update:
+ Orientation was last Thurs from 9-3. Long ass day. But they gave me lunch, and I got to meet a couple girls who I'll have class with. Realized that everyone is in the same I-don't-know-what-I'm-doing-here-how-will-I-pay-for-this-everyone-is-better-than-me boat. Justin wandered the city alone while I was orientating. Bought me a sunflower and lavender massage oil for my feet. +10,000 points.
+ The area I'm in is very cute. Although, if you go a couple blocks east it starts getting industrial and dumpy. But still nicer than Philly's dumpy, industrial blocks. Most of the people who live here are students or young professionals. I noticed that lots of people like jogging up here. Not really my thing.
+ Casey finally let me sleep last night. For the last few nights she's been wandering the apartment between the hours of 1 and 5am crying her little head off, which means I'm up from 1-5 cursing, crying, begging, and threatening to beat the piss out of her. She does this for 2 reasons: these are her peak outside hours (she hasn't been outside in a week...must be torture), and she's looking for my dad and his cats. But FINALLY, after days of begging and desperate praying (which I never do unless I'm desperate and/or sleep deprived) she quieted down and cuddled with my head all night. I think the key is forcing her to wake up and explore the apartment periodically through the day, and a little play time.
+ Oh, I got the blue room. Bigger closet. [Scroll down]
+ First Red Sox game with Justin, thanks to Daniel for the free tickets. Also, witnessed first street fight, with most punches being thrown by a woman. Kind of tough to watch...awkward, little scary, went on for a while which made it more awkward and scary. And I may have been one of two people in a crowd of about 100 looking for police. The streets around Fenway get packed with tens of thousands of people walking to the game and bar-hopping. For those of you who have never been, Fenway is situated in the neighborhood. It's not like Philly where the stadiums are grouped in a complex. So, there's no tailgating at Fenway. There aren't any parking lots. Just a couple $30 garages. Also, the train lets you out at Bed, Bath, & Beyond, so try to follow anyone in Red Sox gear to the stadium.
Anyway, we left around the 5th inning because we were bored and Justin had to get up early to leave. The seats were nice in that they were in right field along the first baseline. Prime foul ball area. But I guess they didn't know how to angle seats in 1912? Because when you faced forward you faced a big wall and absolutely no action. So you had to sit at an angle to see the game, which wasn't exactly comfortable, and you couldn't really see what was happening until it was over. But they were free tickets. I just wanted to check out a new area, and maybe try to steal some Fenway grass for my dad. Oh, and for the first 3 innings we were in the wrong seats.
+ Justin and I learned that when someone tells you that a particular place serves "The best pizza in Boston," you'd better prepare for the worst pizza of your life.
+ Harvard Square is cute, but gets boring fast. I found a second hand shop that sells all designer clothes. Sadly, they are still a tad too expensive for me, being jobless and all. The shoes were cheap, though.
+ MIT/Kendall Square is boring as shit. Seriously, that place blows. However, we watched 2 young Asian boys (presumably freshman, judging by how awkward and lost they were) carry a mini fridge (with microwave inside) from the subway. They eventually stopped because they were so lost, but it was funny and I took video of it.
+ Justin left Sunday, and I've been bumming around since. Haven't left the apartment since then. It's weird. I feel like I'm in Ambler, and I'm waiting for it to sink in that I'm in Mass. Other than being a little bored, I don't feel far away. Though, I couldn't look at pictures of Brian's Welcome Home party because it was sad not being there.
+ I applied for a part time job at Harvard that will pay me a minimum of $26,198. That's for 3 days of work! In a museum gift shop! I'm hoping so bad that I get it. It will make the next two years so much easier. [Pleasepleasepleasegivemethatjob.] I checked the other colleges in the area, but none have anything that I'm qualified to do. A lot of it is science related. It's a very science-y area. I'm not really sure where else to look. I'm trying to find a decent job before I resort to something like retail or food service.
- I have to leave for class early because my printer conveniently ran out of ink without warning. I didn't even get documents that were slowly fading. Just, prints fine, then prints nothing. What the hell.
+ I took pictures/video of a lot of stuff to try and document it all for you. We'll see when I get those up.
+ I'm doing well so far.
Here's an update:
+ Orientation was last Thurs from 9-3. Long ass day. But they gave me lunch, and I got to meet a couple girls who I'll have class with. Realized that everyone is in the same I-don't-know-what-I'm-doing-here-how-will-I-pay-for-this-everyone-is-better-than-me boat. Justin wandered the city alone while I was orientating. Bought me a sunflower and lavender massage oil for my feet. +10,000 points.
+ The area I'm in is very cute. Although, if you go a couple blocks east it starts getting industrial and dumpy. But still nicer than Philly's dumpy, industrial blocks. Most of the people who live here are students or young professionals. I noticed that lots of people like jogging up here. Not really my thing.
+ Casey finally let me sleep last night. For the last few nights she's been wandering the apartment between the hours of 1 and 5am crying her little head off, which means I'm up from 1-5 cursing, crying, begging, and threatening to beat the piss out of her. She does this for 2 reasons: these are her peak outside hours (she hasn't been outside in a week...must be torture), and she's looking for my dad and his cats. But FINALLY, after days of begging and desperate praying (which I never do unless I'm desperate and/or sleep deprived) she quieted down and cuddled with my head all night. I think the key is forcing her to wake up and explore the apartment periodically through the day, and a little play time.
+ Oh, I got the blue room. Bigger closet. [Scroll down]
+ First Red Sox game with Justin, thanks to Daniel for the free tickets. Also, witnessed first street fight, with most punches being thrown by a woman. Kind of tough to watch...awkward, little scary, went on for a while which made it more awkward and scary. And I may have been one of two people in a crowd of about 100 looking for police. The streets around Fenway get packed with tens of thousands of people walking to the game and bar-hopping. For those of you who have never been, Fenway is situated in the neighborhood. It's not like Philly where the stadiums are grouped in a complex. So, there's no tailgating at Fenway. There aren't any parking lots. Just a couple $30 garages. Also, the train lets you out at Bed, Bath, & Beyond, so try to follow anyone in Red Sox gear to the stadium.
Anyway, we left around the 5th inning because we were bored and Justin had to get up early to leave. The seats were nice in that they were in right field along the first baseline. Prime foul ball area. But I guess they didn't know how to angle seats in 1912? Because when you faced forward you faced a big wall and absolutely no action. So you had to sit at an angle to see the game, which wasn't exactly comfortable, and you couldn't really see what was happening until it was over. But they were free tickets. I just wanted to check out a new area, and maybe try to steal some Fenway grass for my dad. Oh, and for the first 3 innings we were in the wrong seats.
+ Justin and I learned that when someone tells you that a particular place serves "The best pizza in Boston," you'd better prepare for the worst pizza of your life.
+ Harvard Square is cute, but gets boring fast. I found a second hand shop that sells all designer clothes. Sadly, they are still a tad too expensive for me, being jobless and all. The shoes were cheap, though.
+ MIT/Kendall Square is boring as shit. Seriously, that place blows. However, we watched 2 young Asian boys (presumably freshman, judging by how awkward and lost they were) carry a mini fridge (with microwave inside) from the subway. They eventually stopped because they were so lost, but it was funny and I took video of it.
+ Justin left Sunday, and I've been bumming around since. Haven't left the apartment since then. It's weird. I feel like I'm in Ambler, and I'm waiting for it to sink in that I'm in Mass. Other than being a little bored, I don't feel far away. Though, I couldn't look at pictures of Brian's Welcome Home party because it was sad not being there.
+ I applied for a part time job at Harvard that will pay me a minimum of $26,198. That's for 3 days of work! In a museum gift shop! I'm hoping so bad that I get it. It will make the next two years so much easier. [Pleasepleasepleasegivemethatjob.] I checked the other colleges in the area, but none have anything that I'm qualified to do. A lot of it is science related. It's a very science-y area. I'm not really sure where else to look. I'm trying to find a decent job before I resort to something like retail or food service.
- I have to leave for class early because my printer conveniently ran out of ink without warning. I didn't even get documents that were slowly fading. Just, prints fine, then prints nothing. What the hell.
+ I took pictures/video of a lot of stuff to try and document it all for you. We'll see when I get those up.
+ I'm doing well so far.
Wednesday, August 25, 2010
In exactly one week, just about to the minute, I'll be starting my new chapter. Crazy. Things have been unbelievably and, at times, unbearably hectic. Between packing my whole life into boxes, cleaning for the going-away party, planning said party, and just trying to squeeze in all the people who are trying to get their last minutes in with me...I'm surprised I haven't had more breakdowns.
Still lots to do, though most of my things are pretty much packed or donated to Salvation Army.
I'm never really quite sure what to do with myself lately. I frequently have talks with Casey about moving, each time asking her nicely to not fuck it up with the roommate. Please.
It pretty much goes without saying that I haven't been writing, or reading for that matter. A handful of us went to the Mutter Museum on Monday. It was a wonderful day. Rainy at times, but that didn't seem to matter. I like the city best when it's cloudy anyway.
We saw lots of weird stuff. Like the colon of a man who was pretty much inexplicably constipated his whole life. (He died young, obviously.) Tons of fetuses and fetal skeletons, which look like demons, or what I think demons look like. The skeleton of a dwarf woman (and the skull of her baby by her feet) who was in a difficult labor because her baby's head was too large for her pelvis, so the doctors tried to crush the baby's head to get it out. That didn't work, so they decided to do a cesarean. The baby obviously died, and the woman died 3 days later of infection. How tragic.
I stared for a long time at the skeleton of a young man who died at 39 of a painful disease in which his bones grew into his muscle tissue. His skeleton looked like petrified shreds of meat. He was basically turning into stone.
The museum is largely a museum of medical anomalies, but about a third of it speaks to medical malpractice. So glad it's not the 1860s anymore. Did you know President Garfield died of infection after he was shot? He could have been saved, but they didn't know about germs, and they also didn't know that you can't give nutrients rectally, which explains why he also more or less starved to death. Fuckin' amateurs.
Still lots to do, though most of my things are pretty much packed or donated to Salvation Army.
I'm never really quite sure what to do with myself lately. I frequently have talks with Casey about moving, each time asking her nicely to not fuck it up with the roommate. Please.
It pretty much goes without saying that I haven't been writing, or reading for that matter. A handful of us went to the Mutter Museum on Monday. It was a wonderful day. Rainy at times, but that didn't seem to matter. I like the city best when it's cloudy anyway.
We saw lots of weird stuff. Like the colon of a man who was pretty much inexplicably constipated his whole life. (He died young, obviously.) Tons of fetuses and fetal skeletons, which look like demons, or what I think demons look like. The skeleton of a dwarf woman (and the skull of her baby by her feet) who was in a difficult labor because her baby's head was too large for her pelvis, so the doctors tried to crush the baby's head to get it out. That didn't work, so they decided to do a cesarean. The baby obviously died, and the woman died 3 days later of infection. How tragic.
I stared for a long time at the skeleton of a young man who died at 39 of a painful disease in which his bones grew into his muscle tissue. His skeleton looked like petrified shreds of meat. He was basically turning into stone.
The museum is largely a museum of medical anomalies, but about a third of it speaks to medical malpractice. So glad it's not the 1860s anymore. Did you know President Garfield died of infection after he was shot? He could have been saved, but they didn't know about germs, and they also didn't know that you can't give nutrients rectally, which explains why he also more or less starved to death. Fuckin' amateurs.
Tuesday, August 17, 2010
Monday, August 9, 2010
About 21 days left. This is going by awfully fast, and it's making me feel awfully awful. I'm having a blast of a last PA summer, though.
Some bullet points:
.Went to OCMD - dug some clams. got some burns. made some loves. Was really impressed by the ease with which my girlfriends finagle shots out of young men. I have much to learn. Also, wild horses (and their babies), and mosquitoes.
.Went camping in Knoebels - took a nap outside on a sofabed! Under the trees, in the sun. Kinda sweaty. Mostly sweet. Found more evidence of rural PA's unbearable and uncomfortable creepiness when a fraction of our party attempted to get breakfast on the way home. I've never seen Deliverance, but I feel I've lived it in some small way.
.Going to see mewithoutYou on Friday @ the TLA. Hot dog.
.Went to Steak Night at Lower Frederick Fire Co. Saturday night. I know, I know. A vegetarian at steak night?! Trust me, every hickey em-effer there was just as confused. The woman "manning" the salad station (ie, salad, potato salad, macaroni salad, slimy cantaloupe, etc) WOULD NOT let me use the "good paper plates" because they were saving them for the steaks. She tried to get me to use a small bowl for the salad. I gestured to the whole spread and said, "This is all I'm getting." She said there are separate bowls for the soups, and I had to explain how I didn't want soup, and I need more than a bowl because I wasn't eating anything else. She made me get out of line and get a regular paper plate. When I got back up to her she said, "Just rabbit food, huh?" Sorry I'm not interested in eating a slab of meat that is 95% fat. Sorry I wanted to use the good plates for rabbit food.
.Drank 5 Coors Lites at said Steak Night. Felt really confused all night because I was drinking a lot, but not feeling drunk. Did a shot of Jack and a shot of something red that someone bought me (kamikaze?). Switched to Lager. Woke up the next morning still confused as to whether or not I was hung over. Turns out I was just tired.
.No, it's not hard being vegetarian. It is hard sitting in a redneck bar listening to my new friends sing 'Paradise by the Dashboard Lights' and pretending to not know them. I considered asking the stranger next to me if I could try his cigar. (Sometimes a cigar is just a cigar.)
.I need to start taking more pictures of these things. Everything feels so strange sometimes, and I can't explain how. It's like forgetting and remembering at the same time. Like movies. Everything feels immediate and nostalgic.
.Started packing dishes and other kitchen items today. Broke a glass I didn't want. I didn't realize how much crap I was living with that I didn't want or need until I put in a position to travel light. I'm considering my life in terms of want/need, need/don't need. I'm so light. It hurts.
.Considering a dabble with veganism after noticing how cheese makes me feel: somewhat off and internally greasy.
.I didn't write about any of this. But I might.
Some bullet points:
.Went to OCMD - dug some clams. got some burns. made some loves. Was really impressed by the ease with which my girlfriends finagle shots out of young men. I have much to learn. Also, wild horses (and their babies), and mosquitoes.
.Went camping in Knoebels - took a nap outside on a sofabed! Under the trees, in the sun. Kinda sweaty. Mostly sweet. Found more evidence of rural PA's unbearable and uncomfortable creepiness when a fraction of our party attempted to get breakfast on the way home. I've never seen Deliverance, but I feel I've lived it in some small way.
.Going to see mewithoutYou on Friday @ the TLA. Hot dog.
.Went to Steak Night at Lower Frederick Fire Co. Saturday night. I know, I know. A vegetarian at steak night?! Trust me, every hickey em-effer there was just as confused. The woman "manning" the salad station (ie, salad, potato salad, macaroni salad, slimy cantaloupe, etc) WOULD NOT let me use the "good paper plates" because they were saving them for the steaks. She tried to get me to use a small bowl for the salad. I gestured to the whole spread and said, "This is all I'm getting." She said there are separate bowls for the soups, and I had to explain how I didn't want soup, and I need more than a bowl because I wasn't eating anything else. She made me get out of line and get a regular paper plate. When I got back up to her she said, "Just rabbit food, huh?" Sorry I'm not interested in eating a slab of meat that is 95% fat. Sorry I wanted to use the good plates for rabbit food.
.Drank 5 Coors Lites at said Steak Night. Felt really confused all night because I was drinking a lot, but not feeling drunk. Did a shot of Jack and a shot of something red that someone bought me (kamikaze?). Switched to Lager. Woke up the next morning still confused as to whether or not I was hung over. Turns out I was just tired.
.No, it's not hard being vegetarian. It is hard sitting in a redneck bar listening to my new friends sing 'Paradise by the Dashboard Lights' and pretending to not know them. I considered asking the stranger next to me if I could try his cigar. (Sometimes a cigar is just a cigar.)
.I need to start taking more pictures of these things. Everything feels so strange sometimes, and I can't explain how. It's like forgetting and remembering at the same time. Like movies. Everything feels immediate and nostalgic.
.Started packing dishes and other kitchen items today. Broke a glass I didn't want. I didn't realize how much crap I was living with that I didn't want or need until I put in a position to travel light. I'm considering my life in terms of want/need, need/don't need. I'm so light. It hurts.
.Considering a dabble with veganism after noticing how cheese makes me feel: somewhat off and internally greasy.
.I didn't write about any of this. But I might.
Monday, August 2, 2010
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