As I sit here in Atlanta on a Thursday afternoon and watch the Mariners on MLB.tv, I feel like a castaway on a desert island. There isn't a person within 1000 miles of me that really gives a damn about this game, and here I sit filled with rage at the "arm discomfort" of Adrian Sampson. It's nice to have Twitter to share the frustration, but it's just not the same as watching with folks who care. Why? Because when I yell at Twitter or my couch or some other inanimate object, they don't yell back. They don't try to calm me down, or remind me that this isn't really a new feeling for Mariners fans, or anything. They just sit there, like couches do, and silently mock my pain.
**Also, the MLB App updates faster than MLB.tv shows the action. I need to turn off my notifications before Justin Upton hits another double that I know about before it happens, and preemptively yell. The couch is confused.**
Being a displaced sports fan is an interesting experience. I've done it before. When I lived in Boston I once got kicked out of a bar in the middle of the third quarter of a Husky football game. Not because I was drunk or loud or anything, but because it was closing time. There is certainly some level of personal pride or honor that comes along with being the only fan at a bar. It's like you are really proving to yourself that you are in fact the fan that you think you are. Which is pretty dumb, because no one cares and you don't get a medal or anything for it. You just get that smug satisfaction that you care so much even an entire continent won't detract from the passion you feel for your team.
Which brings me to my point...is being a Mariners fan just about smug satisfaction? Being a fan of any team really, but especially a fan of a certain type of team that just continues being frustrating and awful year after year after year. I openly admit that I feel like I'm a better fan, and in some twisted way a better human, because I am going to sit here and watch another disappointing Mariners season to the bitter end. We relish it, don't we? But at what point does that become crazy? I totally understand doing it in Seattle, where you can go to work the next day and complain to your co-workers, or go to a bar and drink it away with fellow sufferers. But does a fan make a sound when he complains in an empty apartment...3000 miles away from anyone who cares? If it's about smugness, who am I better than? The couch? At least the couch is doing its job. I don't even have a job. I am not better than the couch.
These are the types of existential crises that each Mariners season brings. It's a pretty predictable arc. Optimism, reality, frustration, May, Watching for pride, 4 months of stubbornness, season ends. But this year the arc was extended a little, which actually makes it even worse right now. Whatever though, I'll be watching. It's a "grind" as they say. Luckily Dae-Ho Lee is around to do amazing feats of chubby athleticism.
**I forgot to turn the notifications off. That McCann home run really sucked, twice. Now it's the couch that is smug.**
Thursday, June 23, 2016
Wednesday, June 22, 2016
I drove to Atlanta
It's super hard to start a blog. By that I mean, it's super hard to sit here and just start writing without giving 100 little prefaces or explanations about what I'm going to be writing about, or why I'm writing now, or why I haven't written in a long time. So if you don't mind, I'm just going to start writing about stuff that's happening in my life right now, without really connecting that many dots. As I write I think I'll probably cover some of the details, but really I just want to write. (This whole first paragraph is exactly what I just tried to say I wasn't going to do....see, super hard!!)
I live in Atlanta now. Very recently I lived in Portland, OR, and before that I lived in Seattle, Boston and also Seattle. Moving to Atlanta in June is a really great idea, especially if you are from a place that isn't usually all that hot. What makes June in Atlanta so great, especially for people from cooler climates, is that it's already hotter than hell here but everyone from here really wants you to know that "it's only gonna get worse, honey". They especially like telling you this when they find out that you're from Portland or Seattle. It really doesn't matter where you're from, everywhere has these little regional proving grounds. But in Atlanta in June, it's all about heat. I can't wait until it gets hotter!! Honey.
I don't have a job in Atlanta at the moment, and I hope you won't find this rude but I'm not going to detail that process very much. I have a number of reasons for not doing so, but mostly it's out of self defense in case the whole ordeal takes way longer than expected. The last thing I want is for this writing exercise to become pathetic. I'm already unemployed and sitting here sweaty and shirtless, so it's not that long of a trip. I will however flood this space with celebration when there is finally a reason, so until that happens let's all just assume I'm doing great and having a very mentally stable semi-sebatical.
What I really want to talk about today besides being jobless, shirtless and warmer than I'd prefer, is driving across the country. There are so many ways to get from one place to another in 2016, more than we've ever had before, so however you decide to get someplace, you're making a pretty personal decision. Usually the goal is speed. You want to get where you want to be as fast as possible. Effort also plays a role. I think that most people want to use as little effort as possible to get where they're going as fast as they can. Throw in cost, practicality and to some extent fear, and 99% of us usually choose to fly a distance like Seattle to Atlanta. I went the other way.
I'll get into some of the drive in a minute, but to be honest the details themselves are pretty boring. For hundreds of miles our country is flat and windy and empty. That was sort of the point of doing the drive however, but again I'll get to that in a minute. What I found really interesting in talking to people leading up to my trip, and even during my trip, is the romantic idea that so many have of driving across the country. I'd bet 4 out of every 5 people I talked to either said "Man, I've always wanted to do that" or "Can I come?" I was shocked by that response. Really? You've always wanted to drive for 10 hours through South Dakota and Minnesota? Why? I think Jack Kerouac tricked a lot of people. But also, if you really have always wanted to do it, then DO IT! We aren't talking about running a marathon or climbing a mountain. You probably drive to work every day. It's basically just that, but for way longer and sometimes you see dead deer.
Having now done the trip, all 2800 miles of it, I will say that if you want to drive across the country then you should. There are always excuses to not do stuff like that, but they are dumb excuses. You have vacation time at work. You can take your family with you, or not. It only takes a week. Gas isn't that expensive. You can survive eating out of a cooler for 7 days. It's pretty easy to do if you really want to, I just think that most people don't actually really want to, which is fine. I loved it. Eight days of driving and camping and swimming in the Mississippi River was exactly what I needed to transition into this next phase of my life. If you have a lot on your mind and you want to really make sure you're doing something for the best reasons, 30 hours alone is a pretty real way to check in on all that. I enjoy talking to myself though. I'm a good listener.
That really is a long time to sit and think, but the best part of the drive is that never once did I want to turn around. I was leaving Portland where I had a really cool job. If 14 year old me would have been asked to describe the perfect job he'd want at 31, I would have described this job. And I was driving toward a place I'd only been a few times, and where there was no certainty that a cool job like that was waiting. But about a year ago, for the first time ever, having that job wasn't the most important thing anymore. I would never have quit and started driving to Atlanta if I thought this was a passing feeling, but the fact that I only felt more sure the more I drove was exactly what I hoped would happen. And now I'm here - jobless, shirtless and sweaty - but it's exactly where I want to be.
There were a few times where the driving was broken up by stopping and sleeping, here are some of the highlights...
The first night I stopped in Spokane and stayed with my lovely cousin Kelly and her fiancé Nate. We had some awesome beer from Big Barn Brewing Company in Mead, WA, and then Nate made a camp fire in the back yard. What you can't see in the photo is my cousin/God Father Roger Green, Kelly's dad, telling amazing stories about seeing bears on various trips to Idaho and Montana. The next day I was set to camp in Montana. Thanks Rog!!
Night 2, I camped right outside of Big Sky, MT, and although Roger tried his best to freak me out, which is really easy to do, bears were not my biggest issue. I had a great campsite right on the Galatin River, I had a steak to grill, I had some tasty beer from a local brewery, all was great...
Until about 9 p.m. when the sun went down, and with it went the temperature. By about 10:30 it was down to about 35 degrees, and even though the beer was great, it wasn't enough to keep me warm. I slept about 3 hours that night as I tried to fight off frost bite. But at least I didn't get eaten by a bear!
Night 3 was spent in Rapid City, SD. And while South Dakota was my second least favorite state to drive through, I did see this hilarious shirt.
Nights 4 and 5 brought me to Rochester, MN, where I was lucky enough to stay with my great friends Jeanna and Zach. I was originally planning to stay with them for only one night, but that was before I was introduced to the Rochester night life!!
The extended stay was well worth it however, because we had a Sunday Funday on their friends boat on the Mississippi River and climbing up sand dunes.
Night 6 was spent in Kansas City, MO. Kansas City was on the trip for one reason, which is that I've always wanted to check out the Negro Leagues Museum. Totally worth the slight detour. I highly recommend the Museum for anyone who likes baseball or history, or both, or is just a human who isn't lame.
Night 7 took me to The Land Between the Lakes, which is a national park in Kentucky and Tennessee. Beautiful, quiet and filled with brave stupid frogs. These frogs are not scared of anything, including camp fires, which sadly means sometimes they die. This is was I woke up to in the morning however, RIP frogs.
The next day I arrived in Atlanta to this. I am a lucky guy.
Also, it should be on shock the Braves have 0 in that photo, they are awful. Go Mariners.
I live in Atlanta now. Very recently I lived in Portland, OR, and before that I lived in Seattle, Boston and also Seattle. Moving to Atlanta in June is a really great idea, especially if you are from a place that isn't usually all that hot. What makes June in Atlanta so great, especially for people from cooler climates, is that it's already hotter than hell here but everyone from here really wants you to know that "it's only gonna get worse, honey". They especially like telling you this when they find out that you're from Portland or Seattle. It really doesn't matter where you're from, everywhere has these little regional proving grounds. But in Atlanta in June, it's all about heat. I can't wait until it gets hotter!! Honey.
I don't have a job in Atlanta at the moment, and I hope you won't find this rude but I'm not going to detail that process very much. I have a number of reasons for not doing so, but mostly it's out of self defense in case the whole ordeal takes way longer than expected. The last thing I want is for this writing exercise to become pathetic. I'm already unemployed and sitting here sweaty and shirtless, so it's not that long of a trip. I will however flood this space with celebration when there is finally a reason, so until that happens let's all just assume I'm doing great and having a very mentally stable semi-sebatical.
What I really want to talk about today besides being jobless, shirtless and warmer than I'd prefer, is driving across the country. There are so many ways to get from one place to another in 2016, more than we've ever had before, so however you decide to get someplace, you're making a pretty personal decision. Usually the goal is speed. You want to get where you want to be as fast as possible. Effort also plays a role. I think that most people want to use as little effort as possible to get where they're going as fast as they can. Throw in cost, practicality and to some extent fear, and 99% of us usually choose to fly a distance like Seattle to Atlanta. I went the other way.
I'll get into some of the drive in a minute, but to be honest the details themselves are pretty boring. For hundreds of miles our country is flat and windy and empty. That was sort of the point of doing the drive however, but again I'll get to that in a minute. What I found really interesting in talking to people leading up to my trip, and even during my trip, is the romantic idea that so many have of driving across the country. I'd bet 4 out of every 5 people I talked to either said "Man, I've always wanted to do that" or "Can I come?" I was shocked by that response. Really? You've always wanted to drive for 10 hours through South Dakota and Minnesota? Why? I think Jack Kerouac tricked a lot of people. But also, if you really have always wanted to do it, then DO IT! We aren't talking about running a marathon or climbing a mountain. You probably drive to work every day. It's basically just that, but for way longer and sometimes you see dead deer.
Having now done the trip, all 2800 miles of it, I will say that if you want to drive across the country then you should. There are always excuses to not do stuff like that, but they are dumb excuses. You have vacation time at work. You can take your family with you, or not. It only takes a week. Gas isn't that expensive. You can survive eating out of a cooler for 7 days. It's pretty easy to do if you really want to, I just think that most people don't actually really want to, which is fine. I loved it. Eight days of driving and camping and swimming in the Mississippi River was exactly what I needed to transition into this next phase of my life. If you have a lot on your mind and you want to really make sure you're doing something for the best reasons, 30 hours alone is a pretty real way to check in on all that. I enjoy talking to myself though. I'm a good listener.
That really is a long time to sit and think, but the best part of the drive is that never once did I want to turn around. I was leaving Portland where I had a really cool job. If 14 year old me would have been asked to describe the perfect job he'd want at 31, I would have described this job. And I was driving toward a place I'd only been a few times, and where there was no certainty that a cool job like that was waiting. But about a year ago, for the first time ever, having that job wasn't the most important thing anymore. I would never have quit and started driving to Atlanta if I thought this was a passing feeling, but the fact that I only felt more sure the more I drove was exactly what I hoped would happen. And now I'm here - jobless, shirtless and sweaty - but it's exactly where I want to be.
There were a few times where the driving was broken up by stopping and sleeping, here are some of the highlights...
The first night I stopped in Spokane and stayed with my lovely cousin Kelly and her fiancé Nate. We had some awesome beer from Big Barn Brewing Company in Mead, WA, and then Nate made a camp fire in the back yard. What you can't see in the photo is my cousin/God Father Roger Green, Kelly's dad, telling amazing stories about seeing bears on various trips to Idaho and Montana. The next day I was set to camp in Montana. Thanks Rog!!
Night 2, I camped right outside of Big Sky, MT, and although Roger tried his best to freak me out, which is really easy to do, bears were not my biggest issue. I had a great campsite right on the Galatin River, I had a steak to grill, I had some tasty beer from a local brewery, all was great...
Until about 9 p.m. when the sun went down, and with it went the temperature. By about 10:30 it was down to about 35 degrees, and even though the beer was great, it wasn't enough to keep me warm. I slept about 3 hours that night as I tried to fight off frost bite. But at least I didn't get eaten by a bear!
Night 3 was spent in Rapid City, SD. And while South Dakota was my second least favorite state to drive through, I did see this hilarious shirt.
Nights 4 and 5 brought me to Rochester, MN, where I was lucky enough to stay with my great friends Jeanna and Zach. I was originally planning to stay with them for only one night, but that was before I was introduced to the Rochester night life!!
The extended stay was well worth it however, because we had a Sunday Funday on their friends boat on the Mississippi River and climbing up sand dunes.
Night 6 was spent in Kansas City, MO. Kansas City was on the trip for one reason, which is that I've always wanted to check out the Negro Leagues Museum. Totally worth the slight detour. I highly recommend the Museum for anyone who likes baseball or history, or both, or is just a human who isn't lame.
Night 7 took me to The Land Between the Lakes, which is a national park in Kentucky and Tennessee. Beautiful, quiet and filled with brave stupid frogs. These frogs are not scared of anything, including camp fires, which sadly means sometimes they die. This is was I woke up to in the morning however, RIP frogs.
The next day I arrived in Atlanta to this. I am a lucky guy.
Also, it should be on shock the Braves have 0 in that photo, they are awful. Go Mariners.
Sunday, August 4, 2013
Year One
I am less than a month away from completing my first full year in Boston. I flew out here on August 28, 2012, with my mom and youngest brother. So much has happened in the past 11+ months that I really can't believe that it's only been one year. Here is a blog post I wrote for the BU ComGrad Blog, talking a bit about what it has been like living here this first year, and what it's like living here in the summer.
http://blogs.bu.edu/comgrad/
One thing I didn't do well this year was keep this blog updated. I was having a lot of fun keeping it up through my first couple months, but then some things happened that I didn't know how/want to talk about on a blog where I tend to make jokes and keep it light. While this year has brought me an amazing variety of positive life "Firsts", there have been some first time occurrences that were not so great. The thing that really stopped me in my tracks, which happened just a few weeks after the last time I updated the blog, was the death of classmate and friend. Even now, this very second, as I type I am uncomfortable talking about this. I feel like a sentence, or a paragraph in a blog is total disservice to the person that we lost last December. He was a student, just like me, in his first semester at BU following his dream of being a professional journalist. And he was talented. And engaging. And he had an infectious personality that made you just want to be around him. And the fact that he's gone is completely unfair.
The thing that I took away from this however, was the strength of many of the people that I am here with in Boston. His family, while they had to be beyond devastated, showed such poise and grace in the weeks following the accident. They have since dedicated a scholarship in their son's name, to be given to an outstanding BU photojournalist each year. The administration at the school was just as poised, from our Dean to the Professors. And my classmates blew me away as well. It's hard to find a lot of positives in such a tragic situation, but one thing I can say is that I have been blessed to be surrounded by some incredible people thus far in Boston. Sadly, one of them passed away last December. I will do my best to "provoke thought and wonderment" with whatever I do professionally.
We also had the Marathon Bombings. Another event that shook my foundation. I feel bad not writing anything on this page for nearly 9 months, and then coming back with these topics, but these topics are the reasons that I haven't written. Again, I feel uncomfortable as I type, knowing that my account of that day does nothing to capture the tragedy the city witnessed. So I won't do that. What I will do is post the show we did the next day. The amount of work and emotion that went into this show was incredible for any group, let alone a group of students, many of whom were doing their first live broadcast. I hope that hard work is visible in the product.
While we are talking about bad stuff that happened, I suppose I should mention that my phone got stolen off of my desk at work and my apartment was robbed. I really do hope that whoever broke into my place enjoys that Jason Vargas autographed baseball as much as I did.
Enough about the bad. The fact is that I want to get back into the swing of things with this blog, and relaying to you some of the hard parts of year 1 in Boston should help me do just that. I didn't, and honestly still don't, know how to write about things like this. I feel like I am asking whoever is reading this to take pity on poor old me, which I certainly don't deserve or want. I think the lesson that I have taken away from the first year here in Boston is that you have to surround yourself with quality people. People that challenge you, and inspire you, and celebrate the good times with you. But even more importantly, you need these people to hold you up when things get tough. I've always had that in my family back home. But I can honestly say, that after nearly a year in Boston, I also have that in my new family out here.
So that's that. I'll try to be less mushy next time. Also, I will try to not to wait so long to write again if something bad happens. And I don't want to give a false impression. This year has been amazing. Probably the best year of my life. Thanks to everyone who played a role.
http://blogs.bu.edu/comgrad/
One thing I didn't do well this year was keep this blog updated. I was having a lot of fun keeping it up through my first couple months, but then some things happened that I didn't know how/want to talk about on a blog where I tend to make jokes and keep it light. While this year has brought me an amazing variety of positive life "Firsts", there have been some first time occurrences that were not so great. The thing that really stopped me in my tracks, which happened just a few weeks after the last time I updated the blog, was the death of classmate and friend. Even now, this very second, as I type I am uncomfortable talking about this. I feel like a sentence, or a paragraph in a blog is total disservice to the person that we lost last December. He was a student, just like me, in his first semester at BU following his dream of being a professional journalist. And he was talented. And engaging. And he had an infectious personality that made you just want to be around him. And the fact that he's gone is completely unfair.
The thing that I took away from this however, was the strength of many of the people that I am here with in Boston. His family, while they had to be beyond devastated, showed such poise and grace in the weeks following the accident. They have since dedicated a scholarship in their son's name, to be given to an outstanding BU photojournalist each year. The administration at the school was just as poised, from our Dean to the Professors. And my classmates blew me away as well. It's hard to find a lot of positives in such a tragic situation, but one thing I can say is that I have been blessed to be surrounded by some incredible people thus far in Boston. Sadly, one of them passed away last December. I will do my best to "provoke thought and wonderment" with whatever I do professionally.
We also had the Marathon Bombings. Another event that shook my foundation. I feel bad not writing anything on this page for nearly 9 months, and then coming back with these topics, but these topics are the reasons that I haven't written. Again, I feel uncomfortable as I type, knowing that my account of that day does nothing to capture the tragedy the city witnessed. So I won't do that. What I will do is post the show we did the next day. The amount of work and emotion that went into this show was incredible for any group, let alone a group of students, many of whom were doing their first live broadcast. I hope that hard work is visible in the product.
While we are talking about bad stuff that happened, I suppose I should mention that my phone got stolen off of my desk at work and my apartment was robbed. I really do hope that whoever broke into my place enjoys that Jason Vargas autographed baseball as much as I did.
Enough about the bad. The fact is that I want to get back into the swing of things with this blog, and relaying to you some of the hard parts of year 1 in Boston should help me do just that. I didn't, and honestly still don't, know how to write about things like this. I feel like I am asking whoever is reading this to take pity on poor old me, which I certainly don't deserve or want. I think the lesson that I have taken away from the first year here in Boston is that you have to surround yourself with quality people. People that challenge you, and inspire you, and celebrate the good times with you. But even more importantly, you need these people to hold you up when things get tough. I've always had that in my family back home. But I can honestly say, that after nearly a year in Boston, I also have that in my new family out here.
So that's that. I'll try to be less mushy next time. Also, I will try to not to wait so long to write again if something bad happens. And I don't want to give a false impression. This year has been amazing. Probably the best year of my life. Thanks to everyone who played a role.
Thursday, November 15, 2012
Wu-Tang Clan Is Nothing to Mess With
Yesterday I walked into my Journalism 721 class dressed the way I dress most days: jeans, clean Adidas, a nice sweater (yesterday's was light blue) with a button-up collared shirt on underneath. I looked sharp, in a very conservative way. My hair, while it needed to be cut, looked neat also. I was the stereotypical dude in a Starbucks at 9am on a Saturday. White as snow. I always have been, and there's isn't really anything I can do about it. I guess I'm not doing much to help myself by dressing the way I do, or wearing my hair the way I do, but for whatever culturally ingrained reason it's how I feel most comfortable. And I also think it is how I look best. Some people look great with a suit on, some people look best in sweats, I happen to look my best when I'm dressed like somebody at a Dave Mathews concert. You can't fight nature.
None of this is particularly interesting, except that I was also listening to music. This is the part that is funny. This is the part that makes this story worth writing in a blog post. This is the part that helps explain who I am much more clearly than trying to explain why I dress like Mitt Romney. I was listening to the Wu-Tang Clan. I love the Wu-Tang Clan. I have loved them since I first heard them in sixth grade. And the only thing funnier than a white 12 year old with a bowl cut listening to Old Dirty Bastard, is a white 28 year old in a sweater listening to Old Dirty Bastard. This means that for 16 years of my life, more than half of the time I have been alive, I've been bringing the mother*%$*ing ruckus. And I love it just as much today as I did back then.
There is a funny transition that happens in your mid to late twenties. You still get really happy when Saved by the Bell comes on TV, but you also have 4 episodes of 60 minutes on your DVR. You own things, you have savings, maybe even some investments, but you still dress up as a Ninja Turtle for Halloween. You get sore. Hangovers exist. Gray hairs show up...those jerks. But more than anything you start to figure out who you are. I'm always going to like Wu-Tang. Even when all my hair is gray, and I am that dude at Starbucks at 9am, I'm going to drive home drinking my latte listening to C.R.E.A.M.
------Other news--------
The Husky Men's Basketball team plays in Connecticut this weekend, and I will be there. Two games, one on Saturday one on Sunday, at the Mohegan Sun Casino. This is exciting for a handful of reasons. First, this the longest I have gone without attending a Seattle sporting event since I was 8. The last game I went to was a Mariners game in late August, so I am very excited to see a hometown team in person. Second, my buddy Mike Gastineau is calling play-by-play for the Dawgs this weekend. It is going to be great to see a friend from home, and he is getting me and my Boston pals free tickets. Thanks Gas. And finally, I will get to add Connecticut to my ever growing list of northeastern states that I have visited. I hear it's a real dump. I can't wait. I plan on putting all of my student loans on the craps table, let's hope the dice are hot.
It has come to my attention that the Huskies might suck this year. I listened to a lot of the Albany game on the radio, and from what I heard, this team can't guard a dead man. I hope Abdul Gaddy is ready to get an ear full if he can't keep the Seton Hall defense in front of him. Remember when Abdul was a McDonald's All American, and he was the second ranked PG coming into college, following only John Wall? Remember that?
------School Stuff-------
Here is a news report I did for school on a rib festival in Cambridge. It was really fun. Enjoy the video.
None of this is particularly interesting, except that I was also listening to music. This is the part that is funny. This is the part that makes this story worth writing in a blog post. This is the part that helps explain who I am much more clearly than trying to explain why I dress like Mitt Romney. I was listening to the Wu-Tang Clan. I love the Wu-Tang Clan. I have loved them since I first heard them in sixth grade. And the only thing funnier than a white 12 year old with a bowl cut listening to Old Dirty Bastard, is a white 28 year old in a sweater listening to Old Dirty Bastard. This means that for 16 years of my life, more than half of the time I have been alive, I've been bringing the mother*%$*ing ruckus. And I love it just as much today as I did back then.
There is a funny transition that happens in your mid to late twenties. You still get really happy when Saved by the Bell comes on TV, but you also have 4 episodes of 60 minutes on your DVR. You own things, you have savings, maybe even some investments, but you still dress up as a Ninja Turtle for Halloween. You get sore. Hangovers exist. Gray hairs show up...those jerks. But more than anything you start to figure out who you are. I'm always going to like Wu-Tang. Even when all my hair is gray, and I am that dude at Starbucks at 9am, I'm going to drive home drinking my latte listening to C.R.E.A.M.
------Other news--------
The Husky Men's Basketball team plays in Connecticut this weekend, and I will be there. Two games, one on Saturday one on Sunday, at the Mohegan Sun Casino. This is exciting for a handful of reasons. First, this the longest I have gone without attending a Seattle sporting event since I was 8. The last game I went to was a Mariners game in late August, so I am very excited to see a hometown team in person. Second, my buddy Mike Gastineau is calling play-by-play for the Dawgs this weekend. It is going to be great to see a friend from home, and he is getting me and my Boston pals free tickets. Thanks Gas. And finally, I will get to add Connecticut to my ever growing list of northeastern states that I have visited. I hear it's a real dump. I can't wait. I plan on putting all of my student loans on the craps table, let's hope the dice are hot.
It has come to my attention that the Huskies might suck this year. I listened to a lot of the Albany game on the radio, and from what I heard, this team can't guard a dead man. I hope Abdul Gaddy is ready to get an ear full if he can't keep the Seton Hall defense in front of him. Remember when Abdul was a McDonald's All American, and he was the second ranked PG coming into college, following only John Wall? Remember that?
------School Stuff-------
Here is a news report I did for school on a rib festival in Cambridge. It was really fun. Enjoy the video.
Monday, November 12, 2012
Weather
Hurricane Sandy happened. And then we got what is called a "Nor'easter" (Nahr-Eashaahh). Everything has a name over here. They are even naming the snowstorms now...I think what happened the other night was called Brutus. Et tu, Brute? I don't remember any rain storm ever having a name in Seattle, but that's probably because there aren't enough names for all that rain. Here is what my street looked like during the snow storm...
The fact is, the weather has been crazy over here. Lucky for us in Boston, Sandy took a sharp left turn at Atlantic City, leaving us relatively unharmed. It was windy, it was rainy, we got a day off school, but in the end we got very lucky. There is no doubt that everyone has seen and heard the horrible stories from New York City. The sea level was rising at about an inch per decade between 1900-2000, now it's rising at about 6 inches per decade. I am glad my grandparents had a pool when I was a kid, because we are all going to need to know how to swim in about 30 years.
Today it was nearly 70 degrees. So just to recap, in the past two weeks we had a hurricane, a nor'easter and what would have qualified as a decent summer day in Seattle. It's funny to live in a place where snow is no big deal. Brutus was the first snow of the year, and people here treated it like it was just another day. No one drives any differently, people don't immediately start freaking out...they just put on gloves and hats and keep on trucking. I made the foolish mistake of asking if we might get school off the next day, and my friends just laughed.
I am having similar run ins to my "Welcome to Boston" moments, when I complain about the cold. The majority of the folks who I hang out with from school are from very cold places. In fact, now that I think of it, aside from my one buddy from California all of my friends are from cold places. Some are from Boston and New York, a few are from Michigan, one is even from Russia. You don't get a lot of sympathy from someone who grew up in Moscow when you whine about a 35 degree day. But I'm a wimp, and I am not ashamed to admit that. I hear the exact same thing every time I mention how cold it is...."Just wait," they say. Or "This is nothing".
I suppose we are all proud of the characteristics of our home regions. Everyone I meet out here asks me if the rain in Seattle is really as bad as people say, and I proudly tell them that it's worse. Tell someone from Texas that you are hot, and they will tell you to visit Houston in August. Tell someone from Florida that it's muggy, and they will laugh at you. Well in Boston, it's the cold. And they are very proud of how tough they are. They wear their ability to deal with the cold like a badge of honor. I was talking to woman earlier this fall who has lived in Brookline, Mass for her entire life. She was talking about the major differences between Boston and New York, and someone asked her about the differences in fashion. She paused for a moment, and then sort of laughed. "In New York, they really care what they look like," she said. "In Boston, we bundle up and to heck with you."
She nailed it. Our professors here at BU tell us to "crystallize the lead", which means to tell the reader or listener the major piece of information in the first sentence of the story. This lady from Brookline crystallized the lead on Boston in one perfect sentence. So anyway, who's excited for this winter? Not me. Get ready for a bunch of whiny blogs from a freezing Seattle wimp.
Thanks for reading, talk to you soon.
The fact is, the weather has been crazy over here. Lucky for us in Boston, Sandy took a sharp left turn at Atlantic City, leaving us relatively unharmed. It was windy, it was rainy, we got a day off school, but in the end we got very lucky. There is no doubt that everyone has seen and heard the horrible stories from New York City. The sea level was rising at about an inch per decade between 1900-2000, now it's rising at about 6 inches per decade. I am glad my grandparents had a pool when I was a kid, because we are all going to need to know how to swim in about 30 years.
Today it was nearly 70 degrees. So just to recap, in the past two weeks we had a hurricane, a nor'easter and what would have qualified as a decent summer day in Seattle. It's funny to live in a place where snow is no big deal. Brutus was the first snow of the year, and people here treated it like it was just another day. No one drives any differently, people don't immediately start freaking out...they just put on gloves and hats and keep on trucking. I made the foolish mistake of asking if we might get school off the next day, and my friends just laughed.
I am having similar run ins to my "Welcome to Boston" moments, when I complain about the cold. The majority of the folks who I hang out with from school are from very cold places. In fact, now that I think of it, aside from my one buddy from California all of my friends are from cold places. Some are from Boston and New York, a few are from Michigan, one is even from Russia. You don't get a lot of sympathy from someone who grew up in Moscow when you whine about a 35 degree day. But I'm a wimp, and I am not ashamed to admit that. I hear the exact same thing every time I mention how cold it is...."Just wait," they say. Or "This is nothing".
I suppose we are all proud of the characteristics of our home regions. Everyone I meet out here asks me if the rain in Seattle is really as bad as people say, and I proudly tell them that it's worse. Tell someone from Texas that you are hot, and they will tell you to visit Houston in August. Tell someone from Florida that it's muggy, and they will laugh at you. Well in Boston, it's the cold. And they are very proud of how tough they are. They wear their ability to deal with the cold like a badge of honor. I was talking to woman earlier this fall who has lived in Brookline, Mass for her entire life. She was talking about the major differences between Boston and New York, and someone asked her about the differences in fashion. She paused for a moment, and then sort of laughed. "In New York, they really care what they look like," she said. "In Boston, we bundle up and to heck with you."
She nailed it. Our professors here at BU tell us to "crystallize the lead", which means to tell the reader or listener the major piece of information in the first sentence of the story. This lady from Brookline crystallized the lead on Boston in one perfect sentence. So anyway, who's excited for this winter? Not me. Get ready for a bunch of whiny blogs from a freezing Seattle wimp.
Thanks for reading, talk to you soon.
Friday, October 26, 2012
Where I Live
I don't actually live in Boston. I live in a dissolved municipality just west of Boston proper, called Brighton. I guess it's officially a neighborhood of Boston, but I address my mail Brighton, MA. None of this information is particularly important, except to say that when you visit Boston for vacations or business trips, you probably don't go anywhere near my apartment. I live on the B Green-Line of the MBTA, which is Boston's subway system. If you asked 100 people in Boston to name the worst train, they would all say the B-Line. It's the slowest train in the history of the world, and I refuse to hear arguments against that statement. I call it the "Old Green Snail". I have often ridden the train to school, and watched out the window as joggers keep up. Aside from the slow train it's a great neighborhood though. According to Wikipedia Michael Bloomberg and John Krasinski (Jim from the Office) were both born here.
--Can you believe The Office is still on by the way? Does anyone still watch it? Who do they think they are keeping that show on after Steve Carell left? I'm going to go the house where John Krasinski grew up and tell them how I feel, whether his parents live there or not, I think it's important that I take care of this.--
This is what my apartment looks like.
Things are getting a little busy in school, but this is a good thing, as we are learning all kinds of new exciting stuff. In my electronic news class we had to do an interview with a classmate about why they came to Boston to go to graduate school. Here is the interview that my buddy Alex did of me. Warning!! You may want to put on a life jacket, so you don't drown in my deep blue eyes.
Now, apparently there is some sort of "Frankenstorm" headed our way next week. But fear not, I have stocked up on all the necessities: beer, lots of candles, and more beer. So, I'll be fine. I do sort of feel like I need to knock off a few bucket list items just to be safe though, so if anyone has any "must do" ideas, please send them my way. For now I'll just hope this storm isn't too bad.
Thanks for reading, talk to you soon.
--Can you believe The Office is still on by the way? Does anyone still watch it? Who do they think they are keeping that show on after Steve Carell left? I'm going to go the house where John Krasinski grew up and tell them how I feel, whether his parents live there or not, I think it's important that I take care of this.--
This is what my apartment looks like.
Things are getting a little busy in school, but this is a good thing, as we are learning all kinds of new exciting stuff. In my electronic news class we had to do an interview with a classmate about why they came to Boston to go to graduate school. Here is the interview that my buddy Alex did of me. Warning!! You may want to put on a life jacket, so you don't drown in my deep blue eyes.
Now, apparently there is some sort of "Frankenstorm" headed our way next week. But fear not, I have stocked up on all the necessities: beer, lots of candles, and more beer. So, I'll be fine. I do sort of feel like I need to knock off a few bucket list items just to be safe though, so if anyone has any "must do" ideas, please send them my way. For now I'll just hope this storm isn't too bad.
Thanks for reading, talk to you soon.
Sunday, October 14, 2012
When in New England...
On Friday afternoon, I could have told you 3 things about New Hampshire: it's a swing state, the capitol is Concord (pronounced Con-kerd, not Con-chord, which I didn't know), and Matt Bonner, "The Red Rocket," is from there. But Friday was a long time ago, and after spending the majority of my Saturday in the White Mountains, soaking in the glory of the Granite State, I can now tell you 3 new things about New Hampshire. First, it's beautiful. See..
Second, they don't tax their liquor. Which means that the bottle of whiskey I bought was about half the price it would have been if I'd bought it here in Boston. This is a genius tactic for a state like New Hampshire, that generally doesn't have a ton to offer. I mean, while it was lovely yesterday, in about 2 weeks all those leaves are going to fall and the state will be frozen and miserable until spring. Why not lure Bostonians to your boring state by having a permanent happy hour?
Third, they have the best gas station food (at least at the gas station in Ashland) that I have ever had. Naturally after a nice long hike, food is the #1 priority. Well, it was priority 1B, 1A was finding a bathroom...some of my pre-hike carboloading didn't agree with me. TMI, sorry. Anyway, after that crisis was handled I was all about eating. And lucky for me, the gas station came through. I got a quinoa salad with roasted vegetables, and it was delicious. My friends got caesar chicken wraps, and by all accounts those were great too. I was expecting to have to settle for a soggy gas station sandwich, the ones where the tomatoes turn the bread into a pasty layer that coats some random low grade meat, but instead we were treated to a great lunch.
While the liquor and the lunch were nice discoveries, New Hampshire itself was clearly the best part of yesterday. If you close your eyes and imagine what a small New England town looks like in the fall, you probably see the same things that most people see: big trees with all different colored leaves, small shops selling maple syrup and lobsters, picket fences, pumpkins on porches...all that stuff. Well that was the town we drove through to get to the trail yesterday. It was the New Englandiest town ever, and it was great. I felt like a Kennedy.
The hike was great too. There is no doubt that I have been spoiled, living in Seattle, getting to enjoy all the natural beauty without realizing that not every place looks like that. At the old KJR studio at 351 Elliott, our studio was on the southwest corner of the building, and without doing anything but spinning in your chair you could see Puget Sound, Mt. Rainier, the Olympic Mountains and the downtown skyline. This was a sports radio studio, and it had a view that a postcard would envy. This is to say that in Seattle, you get so accustomed to being surrounded by this stuff that after a while you forget that you are so lucky. It didn't take long for me to realize that I missed these things after I got to Boston. So yesterday, getting out into the trails and the mountains was very therapeutic.
--Quick sidebar...in the last 3 paragraphs I have said nature is therapeutic, I romantically described a small New England town, and I admitted to eating a quinoa salad for lunch and loving it. The slow and painful transition into becoming a yuppie maybe complete. Somebody book my tickets to DMB at the Gorge next summer. Seriously though, that quinoa was awesome.--
One really funny thing that happened on the hike was the discovery of this piece of art work carved into a tree.
This is a photo of my buddy Justin and I, and some telepathic tree who know we were coming. What a coincidence. Serendipity perhaps. Whatever you want to call it, I felt like it was a good sign. The tree probably disagrees.
Oh yeah, one more thing about New Hammpshire. The state slogan is "Live free or die". That's 4 good things about New Hampshire.
-----Sports Time-----
I feel like I should probably say a word or two about living in Boston during the week of the Seahawks vs. Pats game. First off, no Patriots fan is afraid the Seahawks or of the 12th man. I have talked to tons of people out here, all of whom tell me the same thing about this afternoon's game. "The game might be close, but the Pats are gonna win." When I ask why, they almost all give me the same answer, "Cuz we're the Patriots." I guess 5 Super Bowl appearances in 11 years gives you right to some level of cockiness. Second, when you ask any fan of the Pats to explain how they will beat the Seahawks today, they can all give you the career numbers and highlights of every offensive player on the team..."Tawmy is supah sick, Gronk is a beast, Wes is healthy again, the run game is looking good," and on and on and on. They all fail to mention the same thing though...defense. Nobody has confidence in the Patriots D. And last I checked, defense is half of the game, and pretty important. Last, all anyone wants to bring up is the Seahawks vs. Packers game, and how lucky the Hawks are to be 3-2. Okay, we all agree that was a horrible call, no argument here. But, you can't ignore the fact that the Packers scored 12 points. TWELVE. That's a tiny number for such a prolific offense. It's also a fitting number considering what I think is among the biggest factors in today's game. The 12th Man. Tawmy maybe sick, but he's never heard a stadium like C-Link when it's rocking, and today it's going to be loud. I sure hope the Hawks can do something on offense, because the defense is going to keep them close. I'll take the Hawks 23-20.
Thanks for reading guys, it means a lot to me. Something like 600 page views on the first blog, which is insane. That's a lot of pressure, now I have to worry about being entertaining. Hope I came through here.
Follow me on twitter, @MrAndyBunker
Talk to you soon. Go Hawks.
Second, they don't tax their liquor. Which means that the bottle of whiskey I bought was about half the price it would have been if I'd bought it here in Boston. This is a genius tactic for a state like New Hampshire, that generally doesn't have a ton to offer. I mean, while it was lovely yesterday, in about 2 weeks all those leaves are going to fall and the state will be frozen and miserable until spring. Why not lure Bostonians to your boring state by having a permanent happy hour?
Third, they have the best gas station food (at least at the gas station in Ashland) that I have ever had. Naturally after a nice long hike, food is the #1 priority. Well, it was priority 1B, 1A was finding a bathroom...some of my pre-hike carboloading didn't agree with me. TMI, sorry. Anyway, after that crisis was handled I was all about eating. And lucky for me, the gas station came through. I got a quinoa salad with roasted vegetables, and it was delicious. My friends got caesar chicken wraps, and by all accounts those were great too. I was expecting to have to settle for a soggy gas station sandwich, the ones where the tomatoes turn the bread into a pasty layer that coats some random low grade meat, but instead we were treated to a great lunch.
While the liquor and the lunch were nice discoveries, New Hampshire itself was clearly the best part of yesterday. If you close your eyes and imagine what a small New England town looks like in the fall, you probably see the same things that most people see: big trees with all different colored leaves, small shops selling maple syrup and lobsters, picket fences, pumpkins on porches...all that stuff. Well that was the town we drove through to get to the trail yesterday. It was the New Englandiest town ever, and it was great. I felt like a Kennedy.
The hike was great too. There is no doubt that I have been spoiled, living in Seattle, getting to enjoy all the natural beauty without realizing that not every place looks like that. At the old KJR studio at 351 Elliott, our studio was on the southwest corner of the building, and without doing anything but spinning in your chair you could see Puget Sound, Mt. Rainier, the Olympic Mountains and the downtown skyline. This was a sports radio studio, and it had a view that a postcard would envy. This is to say that in Seattle, you get so accustomed to being surrounded by this stuff that after a while you forget that you are so lucky. It didn't take long for me to realize that I missed these things after I got to Boston. So yesterday, getting out into the trails and the mountains was very therapeutic.
--Quick sidebar...in the last 3 paragraphs I have said nature is therapeutic, I romantically described a small New England town, and I admitted to eating a quinoa salad for lunch and loving it. The slow and painful transition into becoming a yuppie maybe complete. Somebody book my tickets to DMB at the Gorge next summer. Seriously though, that quinoa was awesome.--
One really funny thing that happened on the hike was the discovery of this piece of art work carved into a tree.
This is a photo of my buddy Justin and I, and some telepathic tree who know we were coming. What a coincidence. Serendipity perhaps. Whatever you want to call it, I felt like it was a good sign. The tree probably disagrees.
Oh yeah, one more thing about New Hammpshire. The state slogan is "Live free or die". That's 4 good things about New Hampshire.
-----Sports Time-----
I feel like I should probably say a word or two about living in Boston during the week of the Seahawks vs. Pats game. First off, no Patriots fan is afraid the Seahawks or of the 12th man. I have talked to tons of people out here, all of whom tell me the same thing about this afternoon's game. "The game might be close, but the Pats are gonna win." When I ask why, they almost all give me the same answer, "Cuz we're the Patriots." I guess 5 Super Bowl appearances in 11 years gives you right to some level of cockiness. Second, when you ask any fan of the Pats to explain how they will beat the Seahawks today, they can all give you the career numbers and highlights of every offensive player on the team..."Tawmy is supah sick, Gronk is a beast, Wes is healthy again, the run game is looking good," and on and on and on. They all fail to mention the same thing though...defense. Nobody has confidence in the Patriots D. And last I checked, defense is half of the game, and pretty important. Last, all anyone wants to bring up is the Seahawks vs. Packers game, and how lucky the Hawks are to be 3-2. Okay, we all agree that was a horrible call, no argument here. But, you can't ignore the fact that the Packers scored 12 points. TWELVE. That's a tiny number for such a prolific offense. It's also a fitting number considering what I think is among the biggest factors in today's game. The 12th Man. Tawmy maybe sick, but he's never heard a stadium like C-Link when it's rocking, and today it's going to be loud. I sure hope the Hawks can do something on offense, because the defense is going to keep them close. I'll take the Hawks 23-20.
Thanks for reading guys, it means a lot to me. Something like 600 page views on the first blog, which is insane. That's a lot of pressure, now I have to worry about being entertaining. Hope I came through here.
Follow me on twitter, @MrAndyBunker
Talk to you soon. Go Hawks.
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