Sorrow Foundation

          I rose late and did my UPP homework in short order, finishing a half hour ahead of schedule. In class, we broke into small groups to try and tackle Boston's talent retention issues. Among other recommendations like housing price fixes and allowing the nightlife to run later, we came up with these suggestions: 1) accelerate global warming and encourage other cities in Massachusetts to do the same, so the Boston winter isn't so forbidding; 2) build giant battle robots and pit them against droids from New York to enhance Boston's unique brand; and 3) annex Cambridge. We also had another guest presentation, this time from a high school history teacher and friend to our professor. (I can't find his name anywhere!) He gave an engaging talk on the history of Boston, ranging over such topics as the shifts in its geography, its growth via annexation, the way different sections of the city developed, and its storied sports history. For example, did you know that Copley Square, originally called Art Square, was the cultural capital of the U.S. for some time? The original Museum of Fine Arts, a grotesque building that just had to go if Boston was to retain any dignity, was built there. Another fact: Tremont Street draws its name from "Tri-mountain," an appellation from when Beacon Hill was the tallest of three "mountains" (more like bumps.) Trimountain >> Tramount >> Tremont, capiche? Mr. Guest filled us in on the origin of Storrow Drive -- the Storrows donated a bunch of money to renovate the waterfront amenities with the stipulation that no road be built there, and the city was graceful enough to wait until Mrs. Storrow passed before immediately building a road with the endowment. Also, fun fact: social inequality is currently worse in the U.S. than it was in pre-Revolution France!
          The cherry on top of a great class was getting out of it early. An essay flowed out of me after a few hours of writer's block, and then I could relax. Nathan ate a brownie(!) while Alaric and Kofi joined me on a flight to Fiji; joined by Sean, we then watched the timelessly good The Princess Bride. After giving up at last on finding my iPod and putting music on my phone, I went for my first nighttime run in a while. The Wire was my agenda for the rest of the night; during this time, thanks to HBO's propensity for sex scenes, I discovered that Littlefinger's ass is hella flat.
          Quotes of the day:
"They built it in this really terrible style and were like, 'This is awesome!' And then 30 years later, they were like, 'We gotta tear this down. It's nasty.'" - Mr. Guest, re: the original MFA
"The interesting thing about Braves Field is it was originally called the Wigwam. We were very
culturally sensitive at the time." - Mr. Guest

Playoff section:
Stanley Cup Final:
CHI v. TBL: 1 - 0          Hawks win 2-1 after the Lightning turtled with a 1-0 lead. Why...

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"Beer needs baseball -- baseball needs beer -- it has always been thus."

- Cincinnati Red Reporter

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"You're not even worth the skin off my knuckles, Junior."
- Lester Freamon