Super Soaker

          I had the shittiest morning possible, as two of my roommates managed to lose all three of my umbrellas. When I got to work: wet computer, wet papers, wet socks that had been the "dry" backup socks in my bag. Something went wrong with my phone, maybe some water in among the side buttons, and it wouldn't lock, turn off or change volume. This frustration lasted for most of the day. At home, I smoked with Alaric, listened to the Rangers finish their preseason with a 3-2 home win against Boston, and did an essential load of dress shirts and underwear.

Bateman's Dating Someone From the ACLU

          Today, I drank coffee and learned what a "Chinese wall" is in corporate jargon. I made a reservation for a restaurant called Toscano and was reminded of American Psycho's Dorsia in the process. Jennifer was waiting when I got out, and we took the Red Line to Harvard Square. At Toscano, we shared some wonderful smoked salmon; I opted for the rigatoni Toscano, while she chose the mushroom risotto, and both were great. A television piping in news about Donald Trump and Syria prompted us to talk about the migrants, as well as religion and politics abstractly as topics for conversation. Our waiter remarked on my button, saying that he was feeling the Bern as well.
          Some excellent violinists were performing in Downtown Crossing on our way home. We got back to the apartment much quicker than I expected, where I showered, smoked and got ready for the radio show. My card didn't work at the studio (???) but we got in okay. The show was all right, though I was tired out by the end, and the walk back was a long one.

Lodi

          My coworkers broke my balls about napping at my desk during lunch -- I hit the wall when I eat. I went home, passed out and missed pep band rehearsal... shit. When I did wake, it was to enjoy an avocado and keep decorating; once I tried to sleep, I couldn't. Why is this so tough for me?

Stamper

          I woke up late and immediately resolved to skip volleyball. I walked over to the Phons to say goodbye to Sabrina and Peter, ate a few remaining scraps of breakfast, and returned home to do essentially nothing. (I did sort out the mess from the party -- spaghetti in water cups, etc.) Later, I watched Gotham with Alaric, listened to the Wild deep-six the Jets in an 8-1 rout, and then walked to the MFA with Jennifer to watch the super blood moon. We got a better view from the grass in the Fens, and I picked up food at College Pizza to make it a picnic. The moon was bloody as advertised, and with all the people outside, it felt like nighttime on the 4th of July.

Cotton Candy

          I slept in at Jennifer's, eventually roused by a call from Sabrina. After a few hours of preparation at the apartment, it was time for our traditional Bak 2 Skewl party. A couple of freshmen showed up early, and they settled out on the deck and talked; Dave and Regina came, and then everyone else waited 2+ hours to show up. I smoked with Johnny, Jules, and a freshman, Sean B; I also tended bar for a lengthy stint, and spent time with Maddie, Emily, Peter, Ryan L, Katharine F, Sabrina and Skrinski. People kept messing around with Dylan's spaghetti. Our landlord texted us that our neighbors were trying to sleep, and the party was tapering off by then. Some folks sat around and talked for a little while longer, but the festivities died off before long. We were out of practically everything.

Sleep Inertia

          Using twitter for work has had disastrous consequences for my productivity in the last day or two. After I got out, I headed to Allston for the Global Lukewarming Party, sort of a reintroduction to their apartment. On the way to the Orange Line I found a lighter with different colored lipstick marks printed on, and when I got off the Green Line at Harvard Ave, I found a small bag of weed, maybe an eighth. And all it took was looking at the ground! Cara and I smoked, and when she retrieved her "ash" tray I calculated it to contain at least 40% unburnt reefer... Kirk status. At the liquor store to restock, I taste tested a couple of whiskeys and picked up Newburyport beer, passionfruit vodka on sale, and a large Pumking craft beer. I hope this pumpkin flavor experience will be better than others have been recently. At the party, I spent time with Julia, Stephanie and Jennifer and got drunk just like I wanted.
          Quotes of the day:
"I'm so single! I am so single! I'm as single as they come!" - Lauren P
"Jacob made a huge mistake in telling me where the key to the candy is." - Kati
...
Me: "Did I leave anything behind?"
Jacob: "Just a bit of your soul."

ZUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUC

          I got up later than intended, but I'd prepared all my gear for work and the Ranger @ Bruins preseason game before bed. I got these tickets for something like $20 or $25 each from Matt T's friend -- a steal! It's common for Bruins tickets to run for more than $60, even in the preseason. I had to run to get in on time, but I did get in a shave and shower, so I felt ready to go. The lady at the food counter is super nice, and today we had a conversation. She's from Nepal, she's been here three years, and we were talking about trust between her and her regular customers. She also helped me out with change in the form of a whole roll of quarters, which I need desperately for laundry and have few means to acquire. (Be kind to everyone you meet!) All day I was basically tapping my foot in anticipation of hockey. Kati said that I have a great attitude, which caught me off guard, but I appreciate the compliment.
          I skipped DOC but hung around, read and unwound from the day with a pumpkin ale. (It continues...) All the younger people left together, and Emily C swiped me on to the Green Line at Lechmere for a change. I was relatively early in arriving at TD Garden and secured our seats in the upper bowl. I went to meet Jake C and provide him with his ticket, and Kofi and Iris were soon to be there. Both teams were in clear preseason form, with a lot of risks and slip-slidey plays; the Rangers went up 2-1 in the first off a sweet shot from Zuccarello; Kevin Hayes scored on the power play in the second period to make it 3-1, and then two Bruins scored in the third to force 3-on-3 OT, and no score there meant the shootout. Both Zuccarello and Boyle pantsed Bruins backup \Jeremy Smith for the Rangers, but our rookie goalie (Jeff Malcolm -- Jake C kept yelling, "Attaboy Jeff!") was beaten by the odious Brad Marchand after a few saves. We came close, anyway. And it's preseason where the rules are made up and the points don't matter.

American Philosophical Society

          Naturally I was zombie mode in the morning, and it took disappointingly flavored pumpkin spice coffee to get me awake. (I don't know what I expected.) My heart rate felt dangerously high. A taco truck parked outside the building saved me for lunch, but after that I just sat in the bathroom, half comatose. My body woke up eventually but my mind wasn't in form, and I couldn't concentrate on anything. The new allegations of evidence tampering in the Patrick Kane investigation are occupying my mind.
          At home, I unpacked more kitchen goods with Alaric, then left to meet Johnny on Parker. We went to the baseball field at McLaughlin Park, sat on the bleachers, smoked and talked about the 2016 presidential primaries for some time -- mainly listing every reason to hate the Republican candidates. We went home and continued this discussion, rambling from hypotheticals about Al Gore, D.C. v. Heller and the Scott Walker recall, to the Andrew Johnson impeachment. We also listed our ten best and five worst presidents, and these lists were startlingly similar. (Mine are in descending order below, so you can see me for the filthy liberal I am.) I think I forgot a few contenders for the bad list, though, especially pre-Civil War. Refer to Pierce. And maybe it was unfair to include Bush the Elder in there -- obviously my perception of his presidency is colored by my perception of him as a person.

Ten best (descending order)
10. Eisenhower -- Fought McCarthy, established NASA, predicted military-industrial complex.
                          NOT A FAN of his Iran & Guatemala coups.
5. Jefferson --  Dealt with Britain and tried to outlaw slavery, also doubled size of country.
8. Adams -- I might overrate him for his non-Presidential work, but I respect his commitment to
                  peace even when it was unpopular. He thought for himself.
7. Kennedy -- Cuban Missile Crisis. No one can ever know what it was to be in his shoes.
6. Obama -- Has navigated the post-Iraq world as best as could be expected. He's deft.
5. L. B. Johnson -- One of these days we'll get this socialism thing right.
4. Lincoln -- It took artful leadership to do what he did. Decisive involvement as commander in 
                   chief, powerful orator, and a diplomat of high order.
3. T. Roosevelt -- America's Renaissance man. Progressive. Trust-buster. Music to my ears.
2. F.D. Roosevelt -- The Borderlands 2 to Lincoln's Borderlands.
1. Washington -- This man's foresight was tremendous.

Five worst (descending order)
5. George H.W. Bush -- deregulation, War on Drugs, the Dukakis takedown. disgusting
4. Ulysses Grant -- turns out that great generals don't necessarily make great politicians
3. George W. Bush -- thanks for creating ISIS, bruh
2. Ronald Reagan -- trickle down economics failed and you shattered the middle class. sorry.
1. Andrew Jackson -- closest thing America has had to Hitler. sorry.

Pocket Accent

          Work was normal, with a companionable admin meeting to help the day pass. After work, I had Emily over to smoke, chat about band and shuffle through prospective decorations. We walked to campus for the radio show and met up with Jules there. In the studio, we said hi to the guys who operate Whatz Up Boston, the show prior to mine. These guys are always clowning on each other, it's funny to see. We smoked some heavy keef, and I didn't feel inclined to put effort into a playlist this week. We just played a couple of American Football songs and the entirety of Pops Staples's Don't Lose This. Afterward, Jules and I walked back to the apartment and talked to Nathan about band, Alien, and tropes from horror movies.

Lifted

          Back to work. There's pumpkin spice coffee in the kitchen today -- it begins. I forgot to bring money for lunch, but providence (a/k/a an executive meeting) brought me leftover sandwiches and salad. I took an Uber Pool home with a talkative Bruins fan for a driver, changed in a jiffy and headed to Fenway Park. It was deaf night at Fenway, Sox v. Rays, and Jennifer asked me to come along. The home team went down 3-0 in the first. It was a cold night. For a few innings, neither team showed any signs of life and neither pitcher was too impressive. Chilly and hungry, we left in the 7th inning with the Rays still up 3-1. We went home to eat pasta, back massage and pass out. (Bogaerts hit a grand slam in the 8th inning and the Sox won 8-7; plus the Rangers beat the Devils 6-3 in a preseason bout. Good karma?)

All the King's Men

          I woke up late and missed KKY's service day, then tore my room apart looking for my birthday present from Jennifer, without success. I went to Curry for an undermanned council meeting without Kofi or Elizabeth; there, we drafted a "letter of concern" regarding recent decisions from up on high, including de facto creation of new council positions (and appointments to fill them) and, in the email telling some drummers that they didn't cut it for drumset at auditions, the mention of a senior drummer being automatically re-included. These and other concerns have been weighing heavily on some of us.

The renovations in Curry are attractive, but not the most efficient with space.

          After the meeting, I went to Jennifer's apartment. She slept on my lap while I ostensibly worked on writing entries, but really just fell asleep to the bedtime music. (I think I got a solid sentence or two in.) Home eventually, I smoked, stayed up late, cried for no reason, and finally got on a roll with the decorating. It seems that I do my best work when everyone else is unconscious.
          Quote of the day:
"Top men are handling it." - Matt T, re: the pep band manifesto

Shaq & Decker

          Nathan and I turned into handymen today. We mounted an American flag that now waves gracefully off the deck, and walked down to the Heath Street projects to observe it from ground level. We nailed up the Believe in Boston flag to veil the doorway to the living room, then got that room in more workable order and generally cleaned the apartment. Later on, Iris and Kofi hosted a housewarming feast with chicken Marsala, Brussels sprouts, and roasted potatoes. The beer was on point too. Stuffed, I retired to the couch and napped for a while, eventually rousing to smoke and talk with fellow guests Mike, Jane, Lindsay, Kofi, Nathan, Alaric, and Michelle. I enjoyed a silly walk back to the apartment from Huntington, accompanied by a very blazed Nathan.

Underneath the Sycamore

          I found a seven of diamonds on the walk from Community College. With some apprehension I dove into a larger client project, but it wasn't too difficult and turned out to be a relaxing way to spend my Friday. For most of the day I was falling in love with Death Cab's Codes and Keys, mostly with "Monday Morning" and "Doors Unlocked and Open" on repeat. I think almost everyone likes this band to a degree, but I realized how cool it is that Julia and I are both into them, given the number of references to California and upstate NY. Another commonality!

          Jennifer came over and baked cupcakes in our kitchen, which offers some more room to move than hers. Alaric and I took shots and each converted a 2-liter soda into a traveling mixed drink for our jaunt down Parker. We walked to Shandana's for her birthday celebration, where I met a lot of new faces and helped operate a drinking game or two. After few bowls, a lot of laughter, and at least one shot with the birthday girl, I was headed home to a waiting Jennifer again.
          Quotes of the day:
"'Your gravy?' Just 'cause I'm from the South doesn't mean I do silly things like only eat gravy." - Jacob
"Next time I feel like having four vodka cranberries, I'll just eat 108 pieces of sushi instead." - Emily C

Least Resistance

          I busted ass on a new media audit all day, again. I missed DOC and drank at the desk again, then spent an extra hour on a random project, but I felt all right (if drained) at the end of the day. I was faced with the option of showing up late for another time-suck pep band rehearsal or showing up late for a screening of Mad Max on Centennial, and opted to go home. I just relaxed, discussed politics and smoked with Kofi, Johnny, Iris, and later Alaric and Nathan. And, of course, I stayed up past my bedtime again.
          Quote of the day:
Re: Clock Kid (with line breaks preserved for legibility):
"They knew right away that it wasn't a bomb, but instead of saying, 'oh, ok,' they got mad at him for making them afraid. That's a very bad emotion, being mad at someone for making you aware of how fearful you are.
So they almost immediately switched into 'it must be a bomb hoax,' and that's what the principal tried to bully him into confessing, that he brought it to make them afraid.
When he wouldn't confess, instead of saying, 'oh, ok,' they called the police to escalate the intimidation. Who may or may not have been required to follow procedure in arresting him, I can't comment on that.
But it is now known that the police interrogated him while denying him the right to have his parents present, which is illegal. And they found no grounds for charging him with having a bomb, or attempting to hoax the school.
Meanwhile, the damned and double-damned principal was issuing press releases doubling down on his terrible choices, and the mayor has issued press releases backing everyone up except the brown kid.
I really think it comes down to, 'We were unreasonably afraid, and we can't admit we were unreasonably afraid, so we must contort all reason to make it seem like we were acting with reason and prudence. Because nobody is allowed to admit they made a mistake, and nobody is especially allowed to admit they were fearful of nothing at all, because that is a sign of weakness.'
The whole sad affair reminds me of myself as a small boy, when I told a little lie, and then doubled down on that little lie, and with every additional lie, the cost of saying 'I've been lying the whole time' seems to escalate, so telling another lie seemed like the only way out.
We can forgive this in children. But these are not children, they are people charged with taking care of our children." - Reginald B., via facebook

The Walls of Jericho

          Today, I was worn out and took a nap in one of the lobby chairs at lunchtime. I had a restless dream wherein I constantly scurried through rooms: classes from my high school, Northeastern lecture halls, dorm bedrooms, and a few that looked more futuristic. In the end, I found myself traveling by van to an unknown destination. It was an uneasy, flickering sleep, but I felt better when I got back to work. I stayed late at the office, then stayed up for the moronic three-hour Republican debate, drunk tweeting throughout. Part of me sees this as a giant waste of time, and another part worries what happens when moderates stop paying attention to these fearmongers and hawks.
          Quotes of the day:
"And hopefully after that, this audit will die." - Sara G
...
Sara G: "Go ahead! I hate when you have to yawn during a meeting and you're just like..." [clamps mouth shut]
Aaron: "Yeah, and it comes out your eyes."

#DAHILL

          Tasks are beginning to reappear for me at work, though today I did have time to put up all my little sketches of faces from company meetings, real or imagined. I came home to find Jules still in the apartment, and hung out while she played Mario Kart. Jennifer came over and accommodated me while I dealt with the council situation -- Kofi resigned because he was fed up, and Elizabeth got pwnt by OSCCR for a semester of probation. (Talk about making an example...) Council seemed well-entrenched just a month or so ago, and now everything is up in the air again. We smoked out on the deck and ordered Food Wall -- their dumplings are pasty but huge and in supply, so everything I need. The big white table outside has been a constant target for permanent markers, and Jennifer stepped it up with a drawing of the Jamaica Plain skyline. In time I would fall asleep in her arms.
          Quotes of the day:
"I need a stirrer! What would MacGyver do?... Christmas light!" - me
"'Onion bialy, can you make that a sandwich?' Yeah, let me just slit my hand open and burn down the restaurant." - Jennifer
"Sucks to be them... I don't care about dead people." - Jennifer, re: In Cold Blood

Fun Fun Fun

          For work, I went over to Kendall to pick up and bring back a pushcart full of materials for a client, which was probably more fun than it should have been. To liven up the trip, I just threw on the headphones and listened to "driving music" (e.g. "Fun Fun Fun" by the Beach Boys.) After I got out, I went to Julia's place and helped her move a futon up the stairs and hung out for a little while, then ran to Curry, and then back to the Fenway Center for rehearsal. (Hey, we played actual music this time!) I stayed up later than is advisable with Nathan, Alaric and Jules, smoking and chilling. Aside: Emily found me in the NU student planner, in an old band picture that features me and two other trumpet burnouts. Momma, we made it!
          Quote of the day:
"That's a terribly written paragraph. Whoever wrote it should be shot." - Lauren P

Weather On the Eights

          I slept in until around noon and kept on decorating and getting papers sorted out. I went to Tasty Burger with Alaric, Molly, Jane and Lauren F, and then we went to the new Target to see what could be found. Alaric and I ran into Steve (awkward every time), Ryan H, and three freshmeats from band, which I hope was a positive interaction for them. Though Target has insidious powers ("Yes, I do need new towels!") I managed restraint, only purchasing ibuprofen, my favorite kind of deodorant and a bin for kitchen rags. I did consider a turntable, but a quick internet search showed many complaints about the model in stock; that's $100+ saved, right? We went home, smoked on the :20s and watched part one of the Rangers v. Flyers Road to the Winter Classic, in which the Flyers win every game and the Rangers reel hard.

Chopped

Ed. note 12/30/15: New York Rangers forward #13, Kevin Hayes, is currently benched for generally shitty play this season, making the timing of this post awkward. Oh well.

          I went home, relaxed and kept working in my room, and lent some help to Dylan and Sky in their feng shui-ing of the deck. I think I forgot to mention how much furniture the prior tenants left us: a big blocky table, a cheap little end table and a black pleather couch on the deck; an Ikea desk; a kitchen table with two chairs; a purple love-chair thing, two rocking chairs, and a massive wooden table in the living room. The aforementioned cheap table was actually peeling apart, so despite usually avoiding this kind of behavior, we elected to throw it off the side of the deck. It landed upside down, flat side first, and all of the legs imploded. That was funny. Also, I should share this:

Sabrina's 13-day count -- I went with my Bonnaroo tags.

          Devin came to do a deal with me and Alaric, and we smoked and sat in my room for a time, becoming increasingly quiet. Then Maddie, Kofi, Michelle and Anneloes showed up, and we were in party mode. Studies show that we went through a bottle of Complicated wine, several Coronas with lime, gin/OJ/triple sec, and tequila shots, so I don't remember too much. Maddie did some artful cooking and produced a lovely omelet (fancy with the side of lime juice and rind garnish!) Michelle and Maddie did impersonations of me with my hats. We watched Machete (a hit, as always) and smoked; around us, Dylan and his friends partied out on the deck, and the people upstairs continued to be obscenely noisy. I exchanged rare brotherly drunk snapchats with Ian, which makes me feel all fuzzy inside, especially since I took screenshots and am going to post at least one on facebook... sucker.
          Quote of the day:
"This is my plate for Chopped." - Maddie

That's What I Want

          I had my first "real" coffee spill at work; it happened while I was passing out due to not drinking enough coffee. The muscles in my left coffee hand went slack and it went all over my keyboard and wrist pad thing. That sucked to clean, but it was okay because today couldn't gget any worse than yesterday. At lunch, I went hunting on Amazon but was frustrated in my search for large, plain sports posters. Why don't they just sell posters of team logos or players on a simple colored field? Everything I've found for the Rangers and the Indians either has weird text, or is way too complicated with glitzy effects, or only shows part of the logo... I won the moral overtime victory with .25 hours' worth of extra pay after four days!
          I went straight from work to a full-band meeting at Cabot, where JL talked, and talked some more, and then the women's and men's basketball teams and coaches came and thanked us for our contributions, which was actually really cool. The council members were introduced as well, though Anne-Marie introduced Kofi as Malcolm and was a little bit flippant about it. We played "All Hail Northeastern" all the way through like three times, "Stacy's Mom," and "No Diggity," because I guess we need to appeal to the youngbloods. Then we did an icebreaker designed to show how a large group can click with some practice, but in effect all it did was waste a lot of time. At least we got to hold hands.
          I headed home with Nathan and transferred Red Son from my computer to his, and in the process I found a way to spill Dr. Pepper on my keyboard. That's two in a day! I turned my laptop upside down immediately to shake the liquid off, and luckily most of it didn't get in among the keys. I then left for Jennifer's on the 66, reading Hiroshima and listening to an endlessly screaming child two seats away. She got me unfairly drunk on gin and orange juice, we watched more Freaks & Geeks, and lemon oreos were consumed. I was vastly comfortable, if that makes any sense, and would be happy to stay.

All Good In the Hood

          One of the teams was doing a new business pitch, and required a one-day turnaround on a simply huge media audit. This was a big 'un. After waiting through a lame instructional meeting on PowerPoint at lunch, I dove into the work and didn't surface until 11 p.m. I missed DOC entirely. By the end, I swear to god, my fucking prostate ached from all of the American Cancer Society publicity I was combing through. For example, I had the privilege of reading this tripe: "The 'road to recovery' from cancer is literally paved with volunteers." Literally! The road is literally paved with them! A janitor took his sweet time with this floor today, and managed not to give a shit that I was the only employee there by choosing to hover near my workspace, talking loudly and playing music on his phone. Three thoughts were coursing through my brain: "holy shit shut the fuck up," "I want to finish and go home," and "wow I'm a hungry hippo rn." I called for Thai food since the company reimburses dinner if you work late enough, which was cool, though the guy on the phone was being a fuckboy when I gave him the spelling of "Athenaeum". The food was some xtra-greasy pad thai, as God intended, and some sushi that hit the spot. As I said, I left at 11, when the struggle was finally ended and I could say "good enough." I may clear 40 hours in this four-day work week.
          I was caught in an awfully cold rain on the walk to the Orange Line, which seemed to be speaking as it pat pat patted on my head and back and neck: "You will never be happy after this night!" Then an inkling of carpal tunnel pain in my hands and a fucking gale blowing in the opposite direction rose up in concert, and all of a sudden my eyes were watering up because I could finally let it out. The way to the Community College stop, that long, windburned walk up and through the mess of overpasses separating Cambridge from Charlestown, was rock bottom for me today. On the train I composed myself; the walk home was crappily wet but I could see the light at the end of the tunnel.
          When I got home, I found Johnny, Kofi, Jules, Nathan and Alaric watching The Late Show. Stephen Colbert was interviewing (still possible/probable presidential candidate) Joe Biden, and of course these are two funny and personable guys. The conversation turned to Biden's late son Beau, and Colbert handled it more delicately and with more finesse than I could have expected. It was touching, which I see as an unexpected bonus from the Report. This was cathartic. We then turned the catharsis machine up to eleven with the first episode of Mister Rogers' Neighborhood. There's probably nothing I can say about Fred Rogers that hasn't been said, but he is one of my heroes. "If only you could sense how important you are to the lives of those you meet; how important you can be to people you may never even dream of."

"You're not my neighbor, boi. LOL" - Fred Rogers

NU Confidential

          Summary of work: I helped Kati with a project tracker at work, and did a good job, I think. We also had an ice cream social, which was awesome and left us with tons of leftovers. I also printed and pinned this image up on the outer wall of my space:

discovery credit: Jules

          Ryan L bought a solid amount of the records I found outside of 1023 Tremont, closing a long-delayed transaction. I sat with Jennifer on the front porch and we talked for a while, and a friend  came along by chance. She didn't want to come in, or couldn't, and after she left I chilled with Nathan and hung all the larger posters in my room, aside from the Postal Service one. I'm still vibing things out to determine where that will go.
          Quote of the day:
"That's a weird place to get burned by an onion." - Alaric

Lean In

          I was informed today that as a co-op, I can only bill time that I work and therefore can't count the hours for Labor Day or our early release, which is fine except I wish I had been told ahead of time instead of being screwed out of it later. That way, I think I would have stayed a bit later. Whatever -- the day was otherwise a breeze. When I got home, I did laundry in the basement for the first time; this entails taking an iffily landscaped concrete path down to the back of the house, something of a death trap at night. It petrifies me when that door swings wide into the looming blackness of the basement, and I have to lean into it to reach the light switch. And then I remind myself that I need to continue to be an adult and do the laundry. It's coin-op but far cheaper and more private than the laundromat last year. Plus, I can do it whenever I feel inclined instead of business hours.
          Tonight, I smoked and drank with Alaric, Jason and Dylan. Jennifer told me about a book she's been reading about Hiroshima and about all the unthinkable horror we caused with the atomic bomb, and I asked to borrow it because I can't throttle my own intake of trauma fuel. Decorating, I placed the I❤NY map above my desk so I can always be reminded of beautiful places, and of course, my home and family. It's counterintuitive that as I've become more and more a citizen of Massachusetts, my roots in New York seem to run deeper, or crystallize, maybe. To the Massachusetts angle, I assembled six Red Sox Nation posters on the ceiling -- yes, the ceiling is now included in my plans -- such that including the light fixture, the whole setup is vaguely satellite-shaped.

G&G Pleather

          Jennifer came over and shared Moscow Mules with Adam, Nathan, Alaric and me on the deck. From here, the after-hours view of the lights in Jamaica Plain is almost better than the daytime scene, certainly more tranquil. I would clear a gin & orange juice, and then an Irish coffee before the night was out; Jennifer and I watched a third episode of Freaks & Geeks, which I am enjoying despite being stressed by Kim and James Franco's character. (Jennifer never fails to remind me how hot he is, though he's a tool in this show.)

Renegade Dads

          I skipped a second day of Welcome Week parking lot drudgery because I would shoot myself after another six hours of that mindlessness. In place of that, I drank a devil's brew of Don Jose, triple sec and orange juice straight from the tequila bottle and gamed out how new living space would be organized, for real this time. Deploying the flatscreen I found in the Burstein trash room, I laid out a new dual-monitor setup for movies on my desk; later on, I'd rewatch The Raid: Redemption with Kofi, soon joined by Alaric, Nathan and Jules (who kept covering her eyes, hehe. Not a fan of the genre, I think.) Afterward, I talked with Jules until my new bed put me to sleep. Lord, it is comfortable.

Bat Man

          I had to go to Welcome Week volunteering early after first making it home to change, and was greeted with free Hawaiian pizza and soda in the Frost Lounge. (I maintain that the Frost Lounge's name makes it sound way cooler than it actually is.) I then stood outside for like six hours in the North Lot, directing people with their luggage. In this new system, some guys contracted by the university take the students' stuff, the parents park elsewhere, and then they come back to retrieve and move in their belongings. A lot of these guys were horsing around, running around and yelling, talking smack to pass the time, etc. It was hot in the sun, and the day seemed endless. I tried to befriend the other volunteers, with minimal success. It was a pleasure to leave.
          Highlights of volunteering: running into a fellow Rangers fan and sharing a funny exchange about living in a hostile city; more free pizza; pushing out the invitations for our upcoming party. We're going huge this time. I went home, quickly made my space presentable and had Jared over for a movie. We watched The Raid 2: Berandal, which picks up where the first Raid left off, but stands alone as a slow-burn gangster thriller. The action is ramped up and the action sequences sprawl wildly; there are two characters that fight only with hammers and baseball paraphernalia. If you like the first one, you will probably enjoy the second even more (though the "all in one location" element is discarded); if you dislike the first, this won't be your speed.

Shear of Light

          The office closed early because of the long weekend, whooooo! I went to Jennifer's when I got out and helped her clean house. We went to Shanghai Gate, a Chinese place right on the corner of Commonwealth and Harvard Ave, a fine choice. Shumai must have impossibly high profit margins at like $1 per, but I will probably still eat them. I also did my (questionably racist?) "text Iris when mystified by something Asian" procedure, bemused this time by the "tree fungus" on the menu; in my defense, she's a first-generation American and did know about it.
          Jennifer and I drank wine and watched Gone Baby Gone, a bleak suspense/thriller in which Casey Affleck is directed by his brother Ben to good effect; the cast is low-key loaded with Ed Harris, Michelle Monaghan, Amy Ryan and Morgan Freeman, too. The twists and turns are clever, though the "make me a martini you fat bastard" bar sequence and heavy Boston accents alone make it worth the watch. (This is the most unfavorable portrait of Boston I've ever seen.) In the interim, the wine attracted and killed a bunch of fruit flies, which was sort of funny, macabre and disgusting all in one. We gave each other Sharpie tattoos and I tried on a gift, a leather jacket. It looks all right.
          Quotes of the day:
"If I chose the wrong bagel, it could ruin my entire day." - Lauren P
"Maybe you should have been born without eyes." - Emily A

"this bird u cannot change" - tom brady

          I woke up feeling like utter crap and considered calling in sick. I just dealt with it, gathered my shit up and took off running for Roxbury Crossing. Instead of transferring to the Red Line at Downtown Crossing and ultimately disembarking at Kendall, I opted to ride the train all the way to Community College -- no transfers, no moving once I get a seat -- and take the somewhat longer walk from there. It's a really simple path from the college to my workplace, but I somehow got twisted around and ended up under the highway, in desolate university overflow parking. Course corrected, I then ran like a madman to the office, arriving only seven minutes late and overheated. It could've been worse.
          There was free pizza for lunch (fancy that...) at the L&D meeting, where we were given an overview of CRISPR. I was bone tired for that, but the rest of the day was easy up through DOC. Instead of chilling with the coworkers, I continued to work with beer in hand, and the day tapered down nicely. I headed home via Community College for the first time, drinking Longboard out of a water bottle and savoring my avoidance of the stampede commute at Kendall. At home, I got my bed outfitted and napped for a while. Later on, I moved my desk into place and continued my work on the closet, testing out a new vertical storage system for my overload of free college shirts.
          Quotes of the day:
"Two recent headlines, both very subtle... 'Editing Humans'! And 'The End of Life as We Know It...'" - Greg, re: CRISPR
"It's unbelievable and elegant in its simplicity, that you can edit DNA this way." - Greg
"'Get flat abs in 4 fun steps'? I had abs. It is not fun." - Lauren P
"Yes, I recall how quickly the right's refrain of the Bush years, 'support the president or you're a traitor,' evaporated when McCain and his pet clown lost in 08." - Peter J. via facebook

Chokyo

          I was frustrated this morning when there was no pizza left for me, since I'd only had a bit last night and asked that some be left for breakfast. So, no breakfast; I suppose it's just as well to get into the habit now. At work, I had a peaceful shift organizing the periodicals. Kati congratulated me on my work product and attention to detail, though she did say that my enthusiasm for a website building project could have come through more clearly. My skills at interacting with people seem to evaporate when I walk into work, sometimes. I don't know what it is.
          Jennifer and I walked from the office to Central. We had dinner at Bertucci's, though she was only willing to eat a little bit, and we soon moved to a bench and sat and watched people go by. A dog was hanging out on the sidewalk, and it reminded me how badly I want my own dog. We sat in at a poetry slam at the Cantab Lounge, a dark, subterranean bar and stage. A variety of poets stood up and delivered, some great and some not so much. Several older poets performed, which was cool to see, and my favorite of the lot was a conversational guy later on in middle age -- "translucent beaks pecking at regurgitated questions."
          A slow, creeping panic forced me (us) to leave. My brain likes to agonize about problems and obligations at times when I'm in no position to deal with them. I wrote a poem to try and deal with it, which seemed to help. Jennifer was kind about it, and we split at Park for the evening. I went home and smoked with Jules, Alaric, Nathan and Dylan, then figured out where my bed would go (Nathan and Alaric graciously retrieved it from the parking garage for me.) With the bed in place and a general idea for the rest of the furniture, I started organizing the closet to clear some floor space. For the rest of the evening I listened to musicians like Andrew Jackson Jihad and Laura Stevenson, who like to root out their little neuroses and hold them up to the light for examination. I put up my first decoration -- a placard from the slam -- and so my own begins again.
          Quote of the day:
Jennifer: "Stalin's hot."
Me: "I don't think so."
Jennifer: "Stalin's really hot. I would break up with you for Josef Stalin."

On Eagle's Wings

          We swept and scrubbed, checked every crack for misplaced things, and left five keys and a glass doorknob on the kitchen counter. Jennifer had built a snowman out of discarded packing tape, and I said goodbye to him. 56 Queensberry would shortly cease to be our home, and everyone seemed ready for that. My father, Blaise and Scott came to help the three of us, and from the start we were more prepared than last time. We acquired a moving truck this year (and the storage unit, of course); there was no multi-trip BS this time, and no sitting around watching a pile of stuff while the others moved. We packed everything left at 56 Queensberry -- mostly furniture -- went to the unit and grabbed most of that stuff (the rest will be dealt with later), and then to 22 Fisher Ave.
          We hoofed everything up the single flight of stairs with relative efficiency, assigning things to our respective rooms, the kitchen, or occasionally the deck. Yes, everyone has their own room now, thank goodness. And speaking of the best possible upgrade -- our deck looks out over Jamaica Plain, and positioned as we are on the hill, the view is lovely. Dylan, who's subletting for Sean through December, arrived with his father and moved in a few things, evidently traveling pretty light. He also introduced us to his friend Sky and his turtle, Turtlebro. Turtlebro is a very social turtle. He hadn't opened his eyes before he was found, has never met another turtle, and consequently is only familiar with human company.
          After we'd all cleared out the truck, my father and I obtained groceries from a Stop & Shop a few blocks away, a quantity significant enough for those cheap plastic bags to cut into my hands. (One more reason to be green and use your own bag...) We also acquired pizza -- and a free 2-liter of raspberry iced tea! -- from Ugi's, an unobtrusive little joint just around the corner, at the bottom of the hill. Meanwhile, Blaise and Scott had acquired beer, and we shared in the food and drink on the deck. The sun was setting, and I was exhausted. I hit the sack on the floor; we'll be moving my bed in tomorrow.