It's the third day of steady rain in Boston. I can't complain too much, because I know it rained all last week in MD and DC, but still, it's not conducive to me exploring the city. I haven't ventured out much, but I have gotten to know a few of my new classmates.
Tuesday night I hoped to check out a local music place with a student who lives two blocks away, but when we got there we quickly decided it was not our scene. Luckily, it was near Doyle's, which we had both visited and liked, so we stayed there a for a while and soaked up some local flavor.
Wednesday I hosted a group of students to talk about an assignment for our first class: imagine you are part of a group forming a utopian society. You are in charge of the legal system (courts, prison, etc). What sort of system would you set up, and why?
It's a pretty intense assignment, with flexibility to go in almost any direction. It was neat to have six people, and six different opinions, talking it over. It's also nice to have a few faces I'll recognize when I start orientation on Monday.
It's so strange to think orientation is almost here. There's a networking site - a "fake facebook" that I've been using to meet other students, looking for housing, etc. The home page of the site has a big countdown X days X hours X minutes X seconds until Northeastern Orientation!
When I first was accepted, it was 150 days. Now, it's 4 days, 10 hours, and change. It's weird to be so close! I've got a lot of reading to do before then, as well as go back to to RMV to get my plates, get my books, and a bunch of things I'm sure I'm forgetting...
Wednesday, August 25, 2010
The Revolution is just the beginning
That was the tagline from North Bridge, which I visited on Thursday. I went to Concord, home to "the shot heard 'round the world" and the beginning of the American Revolution. It was pretty neat, and Izzy and I had a good time walking around. I'm looking forward to exploring more of MA's historical spots.
Wednesday, August 18, 2010
Exploring JP
Today I wandered around Jamaica Plain, or JP, for a while. It has a reputation as the most diverse neighborhood in MA and being very friendly and liberal. It's similar to Columbia Heights (where I used to live in DC) but bigger and nicer.
Izzy and I explored SW Corridor Park in the morning. It was supposed to be a run, but we kept stopping to say hi to other dogs. I talked with a bichon frise's owner, who has lived in the area for twenty years, for quite a while, and found out about a dog park off Beecher St. The park is awesome - fully fenced, lots of toys and water, about 8 blocks from my apt, and Izzy loved it. He also told me about Centre St, which is like Main Street in JP.
I headed there in the afternoon. It's only a mile away and has many fun shops! I went to Ace Hardware (mousetraps and key copies), Gadgets, Boomerangs (thrift store), Goodwill, and a few others. I now have a VHS player (to watch gametape) and ice cube trays. Between Gadgets and the thrift stores, I could get any possible kitchen item I could ever desire, from kitchen torches to a monkey wine bottle holder.
I also went to the grocery store, which wasn't as awful as I thought it would be. Going to the grocery store is up there with checking voicemails on the list of things I hate to do.
I mentioned how nice the people in JP are. It's directly in contrast to how the rest of the state drives. The nickname "Masshole" is well earned.
I also mentioned mousetraps. There's a strange hole in my bathroom, so I knew this might be a possibility. And several times when I have come home and let Izzy out of her crate, she'll ignore me and immediately begin a dedicated search of the apartment. Last night I watched one run along the baseboard of my bedroom. So, I have a mouse. I now have poison-free repellants and between that and Izzy's German Shepherd capabilities, I am sure we will be just fine.
I'm waiting around for Comcast tomorrow morning, and then hopefully venturing out to Concord to make a beer delivery for Justin and check out the beginning of the American Revolution.
Izzy and I explored SW Corridor Park in the morning. It was supposed to be a run, but we kept stopping to say hi to other dogs. I talked with a bichon frise's owner, who has lived in the area for twenty years, for quite a while, and found out about a dog park off Beecher St. The park is awesome - fully fenced, lots of toys and water, about 8 blocks from my apt, and Izzy loved it. He also told me about Centre St, which is like Main Street in JP.
I headed there in the afternoon. It's only a mile away and has many fun shops! I went to Ace Hardware (mousetraps and key copies), Gadgets, Boomerangs (thrift store), Goodwill, and a few others. I now have a VHS player (to watch gametape) and ice cube trays. Between Gadgets and the thrift stores, I could get any possible kitchen item I could ever desire, from kitchen torches to a monkey wine bottle holder.
I also went to the grocery store, which wasn't as awful as I thought it would be. Going to the grocery store is up there with checking voicemails on the list of things I hate to do.
I mentioned how nice the people in JP are. It's directly in contrast to how the rest of the state drives. The nickname "Masshole" is well earned.
I also mentioned mousetraps. There's a strange hole in my bathroom, so I knew this might be a possibility. And several times when I have come home and let Izzy out of her crate, she'll ignore me and immediately begin a dedicated search of the apartment. Last night I watched one run along the baseboard of my bedroom. So, I have a mouse. I now have poison-free repellants and between that and Izzy's German Shepherd capabilities, I am sure we will be just fine.
I'm waiting around for Comcast tomorrow morning, and then hopefully venturing out to Concord to make a beer delivery for Justin and check out the beginning of the American Revolution.
Tuesday, August 17, 2010
My first day alone
I'm making some progress - still surrounded by boxes, but I've assembled a few things, finally received my proper keys, and turned in the original lease. I hit another road closure coming back from the management office, but successfully found my way back home. Izzy and I explored Franklin Park today which was pretty cool.
I also found a really helpful Boston Neighborhood website. That one says I live in JP. USPS says I live in Roxbury. My lease says Boston. All three appear to work as the city/town in a mailing address, but it's a little tricky.
Just made a run to the CISP office and got a textbook for $25! I'm excited about that, because the rest of my books will be closer to $150. I tried to pick up my T pass at the cashiers office but it's not ready yet. I wandered around campus for a while which was fun - I haven't really seen Northeastern besides the law school and gym, and it has a really pretty campus, especially for a city school.
I made plans to go to Maine this weekend with BrandonB and his friends - I'm so excited. 3 days of beautiful Mt. Desert Island, hiking, boating, etc, with Izzy too.
I'm trying to plan what else to do- these two weeks are going to go so fast! I have to go to student health and get a tetanus shot :( I was hoping to check out the Museum of Fine Arts, which is right next to campus, but tickets cost $21.50! I guess I've gotten spoiled with DC and all its free Smithsonian museums. Just checked the Franklin Zoo - another $14.00. Ugh. I will splurge for the Aquarium, which is $21.95. I have totally gotten sucked in by these great ads all over the city with penguins and I really want to check it out.
Time for more IKEA assembling...
I also found a really helpful Boston Neighborhood website. That one says I live in JP. USPS says I live in Roxbury. My lease says Boston. All three appear to work as the city/town in a mailing address, but it's a little tricky.
Just made a run to the CISP office and got a textbook for $25! I'm excited about that, because the rest of my books will be closer to $150. I tried to pick up my T pass at the cashiers office but it's not ready yet. I wandered around campus for a while which was fun - I haven't really seen Northeastern besides the law school and gym, and it has a really pretty campus, especially for a city school.
I made plans to go to Maine this weekend with BrandonB and his friends - I'm so excited. 3 days of beautiful Mt. Desert Island, hiking, boating, etc, with Izzy too.
I'm trying to plan what else to do- these two weeks are going to go so fast! I have to go to student health and get a tetanus shot :( I was hoping to check out the Museum of Fine Arts, which is right next to campus, but tickets cost $21.50! I guess I've gotten spoiled with DC and all its free Smithsonian museums. Just checked the Franklin Zoo - another $14.00. Ugh. I will splurge for the Aquarium, which is $21.95. I have totally gotten sucked in by these great ads all over the city with penguins and I really want to check it out.
Time for more IKEA assembling...
Monday - day 3
First we dropped off the Penske van. While 16' was annoyingly big, it was pretty comfortable to drive/ride in. It was across the street from Puritan ice cream. On Saturday night I wanted to order their black raspberry chocolate chip ice cream at Doyles but they were out. So I really wanted to try it but the shop wasn't open yet.
We headed out to DD for breakfast. At the corner we saw two cops, and were curious about all the blocked roads the day before, so I asked if anything had happened - was there a parade? The cop replied, "Yes, something had happened"...and took a long dramatic pause before continuing, "five people were shot."
Apparently it's gang violence, they don't target random people, just other gangs, it was a planned reprisal from last week's shooting (?), and the cops were out in force trying to prevent it, because there was a big Dominican festival on Sunday, but it happened anyways. We talked to the cops for a while and while some of it wasn't great to learn, overall I do feel better about my neighborhood. That might sound counterintuitive, but at least I know what my neighborhood is like, which is better than an unknown, and the cops were pretty nice.
Time for even more shopping - this time of the curtains, couch cover, pillows, cleaning supplies variety. Surprisingly, all together it was even more expensive than the IKEA trip. Also, a few more causualities- I've now run my toe into an IKEA cart and ripped part of the nail off, cut myself with scissors, and have a scrape and a bruise from a box at Target falling and hitting my leg.
I dropped my mom at the airport - I have now gotten to/from the airport without getting lost TWICE!!
I've been craving ice cream all day so I got it with Dan in Back Bay late at night at Emack & Bolios. They had a "purple cow" which was black raspberry with bits of blueberry and white and chocolate chips = delicious!
We headed out to DD for breakfast. At the corner we saw two cops, and were curious about all the blocked roads the day before, so I asked if anything had happened - was there a parade? The cop replied, "Yes, something had happened"...and took a long dramatic pause before continuing, "five people were shot."
Apparently it's gang violence, they don't target random people, just other gangs, it was a planned reprisal from last week's shooting (?), and the cops were out in force trying to prevent it, because there was a big Dominican festival on Sunday, but it happened anyways. We talked to the cops for a while and while some of it wasn't great to learn, overall I do feel better about my neighborhood. That might sound counterintuitive, but at least I know what my neighborhood is like, which is better than an unknown, and the cops were pretty nice.
Time for even more shopping - this time of the curtains, couch cover, pillows, cleaning supplies variety. Surprisingly, all together it was even more expensive than the IKEA trip. Also, a few more causualities- I've now run my toe into an IKEA cart and ripped part of the nail off, cut myself with scissors, and have a scrape and a bruise from a box at Target falling and hitting my leg.
I dropped my mom at the airport - I have now gotten to/from the airport without getting lost TWICE!!
I've been craving ice cream all day so I got it with Dan in Back Bay late at night at Emack & Bolios. They had a "purple cow" which was black raspberry with bits of blueberry and white and chocolate chips = delicious!
Day 2
We wandered around and checked out the green space near the Stonybrook T and looked for good places to walk Izzy. We also got breakfast at Ula's, a popular bakery that is next to the Sam Adams R&D brewery. Then it was time for IKEA, my favorite store in the world.
We hit a bunch of road closures and got massively lost. After about an hour in the store I had to leave to take Justin to Logan, and then back to IKEA for part II. We got lost leaving IKEA too (apparently, reversing directions we didn't understand the first time pretty much guarantees getting lost). But when I got back, my mom and I got so much stuff, and didn't have to pay any sales tax!
BrandonB met us in the evening to help load a couch from an apt in Beacon Hill, and that was it for the day. We sort of forgot to eat lunch and dinner.
We hit a bunch of road closures and got massively lost. After about an hour in the store I had to leave to take Justin to Logan, and then back to IKEA for part II. We got lost leaving IKEA too (apparently, reversing directions we didn't understand the first time pretty much guarantees getting lost). But when I got back, my mom and I got so much stuff, and didn't have to pay any sales tax!
BrandonB met us in the evening to help load a couch from an apt in Beacon Hill, and that was it for the day. We sort of forgot to eat lunch and dinner.
Moving to Boston!
I'm starting a little blog, probably just for the two weeks before school starts, to keep you updated as I discover Boston.
The drive up is best described in numbers:
5:45 am - when we left
3 people, 2 vehicles, 1 dog
1 - stop in New Haven to see Anita and have awesome pizza
10 - hours for the drive
$100+ paid in tolls
0 - number of keys my realtor had ready
800 -number of sq ft in my 1 bed apt!
2 - walk in closets in the bedroom
6 - people helping move in - my mom, Justin, and his family drove up to help. We got dinner at Doyles Cafe afterward - definitely will be going back there.
11 pm - how late the liquor store across the street is open even though the sign says 10pm
So, that's Saturday. I'll try to do a quick recap of each day.
The drive up is best described in numbers:
5:45 am - when we left
3 people, 2 vehicles, 1 dog
1 - stop in New Haven to see Anita and have awesome pizza
10 - hours for the drive
$100+ paid in tolls
0 - number of keys my realtor had ready
800 -number of sq ft in my 1 bed apt!
2 - walk in closets in the bedroom
6 - people helping move in - my mom, Justin, and his family drove up to help. We got dinner at Doyles Cafe afterward - definitely will be going back there.
11 pm - how late the liquor store across the street is open even though the sign says 10pm
So, that's Saturday. I'll try to do a quick recap of each day.
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