Random Mobile Update (6.23.12)

Duxbury is awesome. Pat, Matt and I caught an early train down to Kingston and Diane picked us up around 10:00 AM. We got a quick driving tour of the town, and then we went to their house. Their house has a primetime overlook of the Atlantic and some beautiful green marshes. After helping Sherm and his son load a 76-year-old boat on to a trailer, Pat and Matt and I made sandwiches and listened to some music while overlooking the marshes. It was so relaxing! After lunch we took the old Ford to the beach. Duxbury has the largest wooden bridge in the USA. We drove onto the beach and slept for a few hours, read, went in the water, and then headed back around 4:00 PM to wash up before dinner. We showered and then played croquet I their backyard, while Sherm's son cooked steaks. We watched an enormous storm front approach. We shot a potato gun at the marshes. It started raining just in time to move into the screened-in porch to eat corn, steak, and other assorted food. We all talked a lot. Diane and Sherm are going to Italy so I told them some stories about our adventures in Belforte a few years ago. Pat and Matt also had a great time today. Tomorrow should be fun too! Photos.

The Hoyts' backyard overlooking the marshes.

Season of Life, a really good book. And marshes. 

Storm brewing.

It bright out. 

M*A*S*H

Duxbury beach.

Random Update (6.17.12)

So what I'm doing this summer throws me at the public, one person at a time. I talk to people. Lots of people. The people I talk are not (all) dumb. They are full of stories and opinions. I am going to write about them. Not all of them. If I wrote a sentence for each time someone said 'no', I could be a widely published author. These people, however, were more memorable than those who merely shut door on me.

The Canada Hopeful

This old guy listened to my little memorized speech, and then told me what he thought. He believes that solar energy will only work from the top down. The federal government should do it, and no one else. Since New England and Canada are more progressive than the rest of the United States, the only logical outcome is for the two to combine. Yes, he firmly believes that New England will leave the Union for Canada within the next forty (40) years. I believe that change at the federal level happens if there are existing, positive examples of support in multiple states. That's what I'm a part of, expanding a solar energy program in Massachusetts. Maybe a similar program can be part of something bigger, but getting it to work here first is important.

The Electrician

He works with energy and power. Solar panels don't make sense. They require so many special materials to manufacture and leave a huge carbon footprint. They need replacement parts after a few years.
Mac and Cheese House
A really awesome couple. They were very calmly yet excitedly interested in what I had to say. I told them all about the issue, and they were all for it and gave a really generous lump of money! I talked to them around 4:30, and the wife drove by me again around 8:00. She invited me to get some Mac and Cheese because she was amazed that I was still out there. So I stopped and had some Mac and Cheese!
Wednesday Night Magic Director
I was looking around a house while a guy was filling out a contribution form, and I see a hefty stack of magic cards. His wife plays every wednesday and organizes the Boston card group or something like that. We bonded.
Old Coots
I probably spent twenty (20) minutes talking to these two old conservatives about politics, life, and the why the world is the way it is. They were not fond of government/politicians tampering with utility companies and their ways of doing things. The first thing they asked me was "Are you a liberal?". We talked about how important voting is. They remember when a certain huge electric company was split up by government on the grounds of monopoly (I think). This company worked so efficiently and well, it made little sense to them why it was broken up. It's easy to see why people do have different opinions. As someone once said, there is nothing more dangerous than a man convinced beyond all doubt that he is right. Talking to other people and playing devils advocate in my mind is very educational. The husband was (is) a marine and looked like Uncle Doug. The wife was pretty standard looking, I don't remember her much. They were lovely people and it was nice to disagree nicely.
Babe Ruth (Mrs.)
Went to this one house, and the nice lady told me that I was standing in the former... um... gentlemen's retreat of Babe Ruth.
The Tracker
Talked to this guy, and he said he was moving in a month to california, and that he was really busy doing something. He tracked me down later in his car and wrote a check! He felt bad.

Random Mobile Update (6.7.12)

Best week of work, by far. I've taken a crew of folks out to Harvard, MA each day this week, and it's been a good time. It is not the Harvard you're thinking of. It's the county an hour northwest of Boston. And it has an awesome cheap pizza place we stop at for "lunch" called Pizza Bella (although I bring my lunch). I say "lunch" because we eat around 3:00 PM. Then we 'canvass' for 4.5 hours, and head back to the office. Canvassing is going door to door, saying a memorized speech, and basically selling our idea to people. We want lots of money-giving members to fund advocacy, research, and public outreach. And I have to plan where people go, get people where they need to be on time, and make sure they are awesome at raising political support and money for this cool solar energy campaign. Harvard has been great. I took my crew to this awesome lookout I found before heading back today. It made us 15 minutes late, but I'm sure you can see why that didn't bother anyone.

Random Mobile Update (6.3.12)

Pat, Pat's friend Pat, Alex, and I drove down to Mansfield, MA in the silver car loaded with Dr. Pepper, donuts, Devil Dogs, and roast beef sandwiches from Amato's on Tuesday afternoon. We met Nick, Emma, and some of their friends in a big parking lot outside the big Comcast Center where the concert was being held. We got seats on the lawn and chilled while the opening band opened (Photo 1). Radiohead played well. It was a privilege to see my favorite song of all-time played live (called Reckoner). They ended the show with it. 

Emma drove Nick, Alex, and me back to our summer-rented apartment. Alex and I decided to just stay up all night because we had to get up at 5:30 to catch a 7:00 bus to Washington DC via New York City. We made the first bus in ample time. While trying to enter Manhattan, a big boat wanted to go up a river on the Bronx side, so the Madison Ave bridge was closed for 30 minutes. This almost ruined our day, because instead of arriving at 11:00 AM for our 12:00 PM bus to DC, we arrived at 12:13 PM. I say almost because we were the very last two folks to walk on the bus (Photo 2) So, after traveling for 10.5 hours, we arrived in DC and ate food around 4:45 at a nice Chicago pizza place. Alex was not impressed by the shortness of DC. I tried to explain that no building could be higher than the Washington monument (up for debate) but he simply did not like the mediocrity of shortness. After food, we walked to the Metro and took it out to FedEx field. Our cheap seats were not very good. So we snuck up and got an amazing view for the entire game (Photo 3). Security was not too heavy, thankfully. We had to leave around the 75th minute to catch our bus back. Unfortunately the game was over by then anyways, Brasil 3 USA 1 (They scored 1 more to make it 4). We got off the Metro around 10:30 PM and ran just over a mile to catch our 10:45 PM bus. We made it. The bus was overbooked, we got the last seats, barely. So then we got to New York around 4:45 AM and proceeded to be exhausted, smelly, hungry, and smelly until our 7:00 AM bus to Boston. We were late to Boston. We got a taxi back to my house, Alex showered, and then I said bye. He had a 3:15 PM flight to Sao Paulo through Miami to catch.

I worked Friday. I went swimming and watched MIB 3 on Saturday. I played basketball and bought groceries for the week today. These updates take a while to type on an iPhone.

Random Update (5.29.12)

It's a bittersweet long weekend. Let's start with the bitter and get sweet. The house I'm staying at this summer was robbed on Sunday night. I was not there, but I'm told that my laptop is gone forever and ever. That made me sad, we had been together for two years and I had hoped to be for many more. All my files and music and videos and photos are safe because my backup drive was not stolen (I think) and also I use this nifty internet syncronization site called Dropbox.  So thanks to the internet, the most concerning of the robbery was, well, the fact that our house was robbed. It was Memorial Day weekend, and the rapscallions chose their target wisely. There were four (4) or five (5) folks in the house when it happened; my roommate Nick and I were both gone. So, any shiny piece of electronics was taken from our room and the living room. I'll be filling out a police report this Thursday, everyone else already has.

The reason I haven't been around Boston is because I'm in Maine, the self-proclaimed Vacationland of the US of A (according to ME license plates). What is there in Maine, you might ask. There are two of my best friends, nice beaches, and a nice city called Portland, I might answer. Alex is a soccer-playing Brazilian from Sao Paolo, and Pat is my direct roommate for sophomore year. I bused up from Boston after work on Friday (and after getting my first paycheck!), arriving in the Concord Bus terminal around 1:30 AM. Pat and Alex showed up a few minutes later in a Camry and we went back to Pat's house. Pat has a big family, both individually and collectively. His older brothers and dad are between 6'3" and 6'5". There is Benjamin (24?), David (22?), Michael (20?), Patrick (19), Timothy (16), Elizabeth (12?), and Mary (10), along with mom and dad. It's a full house. Mary reminds me of Jane; I think they would be friends. Plus they have the same glasses. I met everyone the following morning. 

The afternoon I tried to remember all the names on the way to the beach. It was is tough. We stopped and got some sandwiches from Amato's for later, and then drove in the big suburban to Higgins beach. I kicked around a soccer ball with the senyors, jumped into the freezing Atlantic, and then slept in the sun. We packed up and went to watch Tim throw javalins at his track meet. Then we returned to the beach. After the beach, we went back to the house, cleaned up, and went out to Buffalo Wild Wings for egregious amounts of boneless wings before watching Game 7 of the Celtics-76ers series later that night. Saturday night I read a lot of The Sparrow by Mary Doria Russell. Sunday morning I think Pat got up early for church, then came back and slept until lunch time. Pat and I went running through the trails along the Once Alex got up (he sleeps absurdly late. I was told he scared Mrs. Jerome once when he woke up at 6:00 PM) we left for Pat's grandparents cozy house on the lake. Alex, Pat and I went kayaking for about an hour, and then came back and dried off before heading over to Pat's other grandparents' house for some yummy food, like chicken, salad, mac and cheese, a little bit of steak, ice cream, cake, watermelon, and sugar-topped raspberries. After dinner we played half-court basketball against Pat's brothers Michael (called himself Dirk), Dave (Dirk called him Blake), and Tim (just Tim). The hoop was low. It was a dunk-fest. That night Pat and Alex and I watched The Prestige. That's one worth watching, folks.

Finally, Memorial Day was a relaxing end to a relaxing weekend. We got up, ate some hot dogs, and listened to the end of Frank FM's top 1000 classic rock countdown. Stairway to Heaven won. Dream On was a close second. Then, beach! Except we went to Scarborough beach instead. I mostly just slept this time. After, we went to Five Guys downtown. That evening we watched the Celtics in Game 1 against the Heat, and played Tripoli. 

Today and tomorrow, we are going to see Radiohead in Mansfield, Massachusetts, and the USA play Brazil in Washington, DC, respectively. Pat has work, so he couldn't make the long bus rides to and from DC. But Alex (did I mention he is from Brazil?!) and I are very excited. 

Random Update (5.22.12)

Last weekend was very necessary. I thought about going up to Maine to hang out with Pat and Alex, but I really needed to clean my room, well actually house, and relax for a bit. Charae invited about ten (10) folks over for our friend Rachel's birthday, so Saturday night was a good time. I was just very happy to have organized my room. It was a mess, and I don't have a picture of it because I was angry at it inwardly. So basically after a cleanful and funful Saturday, I had a do-nothing Sunday. I mean, I did go running and go to the Plex because it was gorgeous, but basically I did nothing. I got ice-cream with Zach and Najee, two senyors living in Radnor at the moment. Funny story: Najee has seen M*A*S*H, is Lebanese, is from Toledo, and has had dinner with Jamie Farr. He wants to be a surgeon. Zach is a good bit shorter than I am, and he can dunk. That made me very motivated to increase my pathetic white-chico vertical leap. 

 Bed, rug, Dempsey, soccer ball. The bascis.

TV, Marilyn, and oodles of other stuff. The not basics. Well, you could make an argument for Marilyn.

Last Monday has nothing on today. It was my third time going out as field manager, and I was ready. We call it "F.M.-ing". Isn't that cute? I organized five (5) sets of streets in Newton Upper Falls for my team to canvass. This involves drawing maps of streets, finding 'renewal' cards for each person's set of streets, transporting everyone to the canvassing location, and then sending everyone off well-prepared with a goal. We started, of course, only after eating lunch at Bob's Subs. Bob makes good subs. Although I assume the Asian woman who made my sub was not, in fact, named Bob. So yeah, then after five (5) hours of walking around and talking to folks, we meet back up and I check-in with everyone. They tell me some basic numbers ($ raised, # of conversations, # of postcards signed, # of yeses) so I can quickly tell the folks in the office how our night went once we get back. I also was training a girl named Tyler the entire night, who also turned out to be a rising sophomore at Boston College. Anywho, the night went smoothly and well. My goal was to get an average of $175 per canvasser. We raised $875, so that was spot on. No annoying decimal places or anything. Oh, and I get paid on Friday! That's exciting and new

Random Update (5.16.12)

After the second day of work I'm a little surprised that I'm typing this update. I'm exhausted, but I think that I don't want to forget everything that happens. Here is the scoop on what I do.

=scoop=

I take the subway (the "T") around 40 minutes before work starts, which has been 12:30 and 11:30 on Monday and Tuesday, respectively.

I get off at Park St. station near Boston Common. 

I was to the Environment Massachusetts office, on the 4th floor right by the stop.

I say hi, check in with the office director(s), and I get my clipboard ready.

=info=

I am a 'canvasser'. We go in groups of five or six to different parts of Boston. We walk around specific neighborhoods and streets on our own. Our street assignment is our own 'turf'. We knock on doors and say our 'rap', a memorized speech that presents the problem, our solution, and is designed to get contributions very carefully. Basically we are working on getting support for a bill that expands a solar energy program called 'net-metering' so that is becomes bigger and more effective and so that MA becomes even more energy efficient. We have a quota of $120 per night. Nights over $200 are 'hot nights'.

=scoop=

We have announcements at 1:45, where people with 'hot nights' are announced with a single-clap per name. 

I am assigned a field manager.

I practice my 'rap'. 

I leave for Enterprise to rent a car for the day with the group, and we drive to our location.

We have late lunch, and plan out our routes.

The field manager gives everyone assignments, like target money goals, and other other related goals (like how many people to talk to, how many postcards to fill out, etc.)

=personal info=

I raised $255 dollars the first night by myself. It was fun. It was rainy. I talked to a bunch of interesting people. Most people were all business or wanted to mind their own business. Some were friendly and sympathetic to young folks out in the rain. One thing is certain, however. And that is that my good com'pat'triot named Bamber was correct in describing my job as professional begging. Yes, it is paid (well!). And yes, it is begging. But I am outside every day, I'm meeting new people, and I'm seeing what makes democracy work.

=scoop=

After five hours being out on 'turf', the team meets up back at the car around 8:45.

I organize my money and contribution forms ('con' forms).

I debrief with the field manager, letting him/her know about my day and how it went, whether my goals were met, etc.

We drive back to the downtown office to 'cash out', which means documenting everyone's money. This takes about an hour. 

We go get food to relax and have a good time.

=end scoop=

There's a lot going through my mind. 'Canvassing' is a learning experience. I learn a lot about an issue. I learn how to get people's money. I learn how to smile at annoying people. I learn the streets of Boston and its surrounding area. I learn that rain is no fun. I learn that UBurger is a delicious establishment. I learn a way to make democracy work. I learn from the people I talk to. And I see a lot of houses. A lot. Tons. Loads. Oodles. Many. So many. Very many. 95 per night (ish).

Random Update (5.11.12)

This is the last update of freshman year. Everyone's year ends next Tuesday, and mine is officially over once I upload my Spanish paper on Saturday. During finals week, people tell themselves two things: 1) I need to study 2) My test is in X hours, I need to study, where X is less than eight (8) (you don't say that last bit. or this parenthetical statement). Thankfully I only had two exams. And quite honestly, the majority of the work in those classes had been done already. For Western Cultural Tradition, I had just finished a big research paper the previous week, and for Physics I had studied a lot for the previous tests so it was mostly just recall.

Newton Campus in Spring. iPhones have nice cameras.

It's bittersweet, and I usually like to either pick bitter or sweet. The two together is just... too confusing. I'm talking about the way summer hits you. Sweet in the end of school stress, bitter in the departure of an enormous support group of young people. If you don't let change happen, however, you're doing something wrong. There are ways to get around the absence of Boston College, such as Skyping its students, going to Radiohead concerts with its students, and of course, texting its students. Also, reuniting with long lost family members is required. That will occur at the latest on my birthday and continue in the month of August.

I've played a lot of soccer this week. It helps me relax and concentrate. And the varsity field is gorgeous.

Let's get a nice review of how school is going. I love my Spanish classes, and I'm definitely doing a Hispanic Studies minor (might do a major). My honors class was ok; the discussions were dry some days; the papers were good learning experiences though. I picked out a better (at least more interesting) teacher for next fall. Physics was very ok. At the moment I am continuing it, although majoring in Physics I will not be. The ratio of how much I like Physics to how much a strain the major requirements would put on my schedule was not favorable. So as it stands, I am looking to minor in Physics. Because I like it, but I want to go abroad for a full year and study other things besides Physics. Finally, I will be taking two Economics classes next fall, and it looks like Economics will be my major, if the classes go well. Economics sounds interesting, upperclassmen have enjoyed it, and the requirements are reasonable. We shall see how this goes.

I think I like this college thing. As for now though, it's time to enjoy a nice, long summer.

Random Update (5.1.12)

School is almost over. Study-days begin this Friday and my first exam is on next Tuesday. My last final is on Saturday the 12th. I actually only have two finals. However, I have two research papers and a normal paper to do within the next week. It's a lot of work, and instead of being with people I won't be seeing for 3.5 months, I will necessarily be stuck in a library or my room reading, writing, and ruing. But, I can't really complain too much. Last weekend was really great, in a sort of boring way. Some folks saw last weekend as the last weekend to "go out". So shananigans occured. I, however, was unaware. On Friday afternoon I haphazardly organized pickup soccer, which I'm getting better at with practice. I'll miss Newton campus next year because the convenient soccer field will be long gone. Usually we get a good little 7v7 game going. Friday night I hung out in the quad (4-person dorm on my floor) and played Balderdash with Pat and 4-5 other friends. I had just had a week of tests and papers and homework, so the laughs and friends were greatly appreciated. On Saturday I played paintball with the guys from Freshman League, a first-year club for guys to go do fun stuff. This activity fit that description. I got to hang out with Jeff, for once! We have bizarrely busy and opposite schedules, so any time together is celebrated with feast and festival. You'd think that living in the same room would mean lots of interaction. But you'd be wrong, of course. Saturday afternoon, after paintball, I went with (edited) and Gina to see "A Midsummer Night's Dream", a BC theater department production. The play was Bollywood inspired. As it so happened, (edited) and I had ordered lots of Indian food from this delivery Indian restaurant called Curry House right before the play. She pointed out how cultured I was becoming. I pointed out how much I love naan. On Sunday morning I left to meet Kei Masuda for lunch at Harvard Square. I had told my friends that the first thing Kei would say would be something about my height. I was correct! I'm a prophet! He walked me around campus and showed me his dorm while we talked about lots and lots of things. We learned that we are both staying in Boston for part of the summer, so hopefully we'll hang out more soon. Also, Harvard is really stunning. There is no reason not to want to go there. Here are some random photos!

 Gasson in the Spring. iPhones take good photos.

 Kei and I on top of the science building. It was quite the view up there. And it was a really nice day, to boot.

 The famous 'Newton Bus Burger'. It has two cheeseburgers, onion straws, lettuce, tomatoes, mozzarella sticks, bacon, and ketchup. So. Darn. Good.

Requested Update (4.25.12)

My Tuesday ironically began writing the last blog update. It was so well-written and inspiring to my loyal readers, they requested more. I humbly obliged. The school day breezed by, I had to get up for a 10:00 AM recitation of a passage from Paradise Lost, which went well. The afternoon saw another class on Plato's Republic, which is far more stimulating than Dante and his Divina Commedia. Thank (ironically?) God! After class I went back to Newton and, instead of napping, the lovely weather inspired me to go running. After running, I met some amigos in Carney Dining Hall, not Mac, for dinner. Then I did some work on upper campus. Boring day over. Engage "Lost" night.

I began, being the lovely human being I am, by texting my friends Sam and Matt to see if they wanted anything from Carney Dining Hall, not Mac. Sam responded, "Get milk! I bought cookies and popcorn". He neglected punctuation on the final sentence, which made me think he was more excited for the milk than the other snacks. Had he finished with an exclamation point, I would have let it slide. But no punctuation was just awkward and I felt really pressured to buy the right milk. So I asked him what kind: "Low-fat? Skim? Soy?". Note the punctuation. Sam responded "Exactly!". Although now containing punctuation, I was ironically even worse off than before! Haha! So I bought 2% to make 'im as fat as Hurely. Matt then responded very politely, saying he didn't need anything. However, I knew he wanted a banana with peanut butter. Upon offering, he accepted. I placed the milks, the banana, the two (2) peanut butter packets, and my mango fruit drink into a plastic bag, and set off down College Road towards 14 Lake St. I crossed Commonwealth early, 1) because the intersection of Lake St. and Comm Ave. is a mess, and 2) because I got Lake St. and Algonquin St. mixed up in my head. After a brief detour and a brief mental punching of myself for being ridiculous, I finished the trek to 14 Lake St. I was greeted at the door, having rung the doorbell twice, by a pleasant surprise! It was a classmate from my Milton class! How nice. I mentioned the coincidence to him; he kept to himself. Darn. Sam said hi first, and we walked to his and Dennis' room. I made a joke, saying "Can I set my bag down here?" and motioning to a pile of stuff. It was funny because their room is a bit cluttered. I think they enjoyed my witty comment. We started watching Episode 8: "Solitary". When it was over, Sam popped two (2) bags of popcorn for us. The we watched "Raised by Another" and "All the Best Cowboys Have Daddy Issues". Dennis joined us for the final episode! Actually he walked in at the very end of the second, which frightened me; it was an intense scene. After finished the episodes, we shot the breeze. We reminisced about Backyard Baseball characters, discussed our quack political inclinations, and threw Cranberry Lemonade bottles at the wall. The latter was a solo effort by Dennis. Soon the conversation moved on to the names of my family members. Matt knew Jim, Jane, and Mitch through story and song, so he tried to guess "Emily". I said he had a hard time because Emily was a rather uncommon name these days; Sam disagreed. Sam's OCD also disagreed, so he sent me two (2) links about baby names. Did you know, in 2008 Emily was the most popular female baby name? Fascinating stuff. Thanks, Sam! Matt and I then left 14 Lake St. to return to our own dwellings. I was left with the strange sensation of having a 6-8% decrease in my insulin levels...

Quote of the night: "Take your cat out of my sock drawer."

I did my best to fix Sam's right eye. Sorry, Sam. Note the size of Dennis' left leg to his right. That's because he enjoys hopping around campus on alternating legs; left leg in the Fall, right leg in the Spring. Sam (center) has two thumbs up. And Matt is enjoying his 2% milk. Notice the absence of the Cranberry Lemonade bottle from 1) the table and 2) Dennis' hands.

Random Update (4.24.12)

I did not go to class last Tuesday, I was so sore. I have been sore before. But never debilitatingly so. My quads were punctured by phantom needles whenever I applied the smallest pressure, my calves would not raise my torso for proper steps, and unfortunately my back was really sore from the inability to move correctly during sleep.

 However! I'm quite a bit better now. In fact, I'm fantastic. My hip and ankle have recovered completely from their lagging injuries that never really had the chance to heal properly under the marathon training regimen. I've also been playing soccer as much as my schedule and weather allow (the weather is not, I've found out, mine). This past weekend was gorgeous, 70 degrees with fluffy clouds and sun, which gave me the impression that it was mine. Today it was cold and rainy, so I learned it was not. But! Saturday I enjoyed the interesting festival of colors, called "Holi". You wear white, you eat good food, you go nuts and throw powder at your friends. It was a good time. Just look at the photo evidence!

Random Update (4.16.12)

The pre-race: I went to bed at 9:30 last night and got up at 5:20 to catch the bus over to Hopkinton, MA where the Boston Marathon starts. The BC team got there rather early and everyone was amazed at the amount of port-a-potties on the scene. There must have been hundreds! Matthew and I were resting out legs for a few hours and having a wonderful time asking each other if we would rather have muffins for feet or pickles for fingers. Before heading on out we partook of the free water, bananas, gatorade, and aforementioned port-a-johns. We walked 3/4 of a mile to the starting line, awkwardly without a numbered bib. On the way, we very luckily ran into three other folks from our BC "team", Mark, Gina, and another male whose name slips my mind. Anywho, we tried to start a  little earlier than 'fake' runners do, so as to avoid the heat. The Boston Marathon staff were silly and wouldn't let us through. So instead of starting the race at 10:20 with people running at our pace, we started at 10:50 after all the old folks and costumed fools had left.

The race: I thought I started out slow, and instead I ran a 6:45 first mile. This was no good, and I slowed it up so that by mile three (3) I averaged about a 7:15 pace. I also must mention that Mark, another friend named Roberto, and myself all had to zig-zag our way past the silly slow people. Back to running, this pace was still a little quick, but I figured that I should run a little quicker while the heat was still manageable. Wall #1 came at mile nine (9). Having coasted my way to this point during shorter runs, the acids in my legs were used to my stopping and showering. Instead, I ran more in the hotness. So my legs got stiff and my energy went away. BUT. I inhaled a strawberry-banana "Gu" and got a boost of energy and carbs and sugar! So I actually felt very good up until the half (1/2) marathon mark at mile and then Wall #2 came. This was a psychological wall. We ran by some lakes. I thought how nice it would be to jump in and end this madness. Then there were those thoughts that go something like, "You can stop now. It's ok. No really, you can." and then the counter, "No, Self! Not today! You are running a marathon and you are gonna like it! Now go." The latter won. It also helped that I told basically the entire BC community I'd be running by campus at about 1:00... couldn't let them all down! So yes, mental warfare was fought from about mile thirteen (13) to mile eighteen (18), upon which Wall #3 hit: my small cows started cramping (known as calves to normal people). This was the start of the dreaded Heartbreak Hill. This hill is doable in normal conditions. But my legs were really hurting from the heat, so I would stop and walk at each water stop, and also stretch the occasional cramp or onset of a cramp. The third wall lasted until I crossed Centre Street in Newton, the street on which I live this year. I was excited to see my friends cheer me on, and this was the hardest hill on the course, who(m?) I wanted to show who was boss. I did, in fact, show the hill that I was the boss, contrary to what he might have thought, with his being a mean big hill and all. As opposed to the three walls, the mile or two running along BC was fantastic. I was cruising at a great pace and I didn't cramp at all. Pat and Alex ran about half (1/2) a mile with me, and so many awesome people I knew and didn't know were yelling at me! It's an experience, I can't really describe it in words, because words usually just beat around the proverbial bush of the experience. However I will say it was awesome and fun and great and worth the training. Wall #4, however, was not part of my training. The last five (5) miles were painfully slow. Both quads, both calves, and my left hamstring all cramped up very frequently. I had to straight-up STOP about five (5) or six (6) times to stretch and yell out in pain. After stretching I would walk, and slowly jog some more, because my cardio system was in tip-top shape. I just ran out of water for my muscles (despite stopping an every official station and grabbing random other people's stations' water!). This was frustrating, because I wanted to just finish, but I could not, and it was a pain-filled "could not". I managed to run the last full mile without stopping. That was a great feeling. I got through the downtown finish line, and gave a fellow runner a high-five because we knew we were both awesome at that moment for finishing.

Final Time: 3:47:19

The post-race:  I rather delusionally made my way down the stretch of free things given to runners. These things included an aluminum-looking blanket, a medal, endless gatorade, and a pack of snacks and food. Then I, again, made my way rather delusionally to the Marriot hotel to meet Matt and his parents. As it turns out, Matt did not have the best time out there. He finished, but after he vomitted quite a bit and was taken to the infirmary for an IV and other safety precautions against heat induced dangers. So I took the subway (T) home to Newton instead of getting a ride with Matt and company. But Matt just called about an hour ago and he's good!

Fun fact: I beat the defending Boston Marathon champion, because he dropped out at mile 18 with leg cramps.

Thanks to Angela for the photos!

Random Update (4.15.12)

Easter break has come and gone. I'm on the home stretch to finals, meaning little work and much enthusiasm to see as much of my friends as possible before the summer.

And now, for something completely different. I'm running the marathon tomorrow. It's gonna be hot, folks. I'm not running under 3:00:00. But I am running.

The uniform. With identification to help strangers tell me I can do it and to help friends see me.

Random Update (4.2.12)

I've been on quite a few highs this weekend and past week. I got back my physics test from last Thursday, and it turns out I aced it. That was freaking sweet. Friday night I went to the 50th floor of Prudential center with (edited's) sister's boyfriend, Greg, and his mom. There was a gathering of auditory doctors and equipment for a large conference they were holding. This makes more sense if I tell you Greg is studying auditory something-or-the-other at Syracuse. It was a clear night and from the top we could see Gasson Hall (the central and always lit building on campus) seven (7) miles away on BC campus. That was freaking sweet. Saturday involved recovery running, ping pong, basketball, and at last a gathering of children (the guys I'm rooming with next year + respective lady cohorts) in the quad before Newton Prom, a freshman event/dance that night. The whole night was great, unfortunately two of my favorite people, Pat (direct roommate next year) and Laura had to leave rather suddenly after getting to the event because the latter fell ill and the former is a gentleman.


Sunday was the greatest Sunday of the year. On Thursday friend Ben mentioned that the band Dispatch was filming a new music video in Rhode Island all Sunday, and said he could drive anyone up who wanted to go. I, of course, emailed the band to confirm my attendance (which was later confirmed), and we (Ben, Ben's friend Sam, and I) left on Sunday morning at 10:15 AM. After an hour drive in Ben's grandma's Honda Civic, we dismounted and fenagled our way into some rather important scenes! It really came down to pretending to know what we were doing around a group of excited, but confused, fans/extras. We met all three members (Brad Corrigan, Pete Heimbold, and Chad Urmston) and even shared a few cans of Arnold Palmers after lunch with Bradiggan (the first's nickname). After filming all but one of the scenes, Dispatch performed four (4) songs, including "Bang Bang" and "The General". It was a day to be remembered. We left at 7:00 PM.

Ben (left), Sam (center), and me (right) all in the Sparkler shop selling sparklers to the other extras for one of the scenes. The music video was western-style, if you're curious.

Random Update (3.27.12)

The brunt of my marathon training is over. We had our 21-mile run on Sunday along the real Boston Marathon course, and I finished under my target time with a 2:25. This is exciting because I will be extremely close to breaking the 3hr barrier if I keep that pace! Race day is Monday, April 16th. Also, I "ate" those gu packs that runners are supposed to use during marathons. They are an elixir (or gelatin?) or life, tasting good and giving me energia. Other events from this weekend include guiding (edited) to South Station on Friday evening to pick up her best friend, shuffling with Sam and Matt and Dennis at the Mediterranean Ball, and going to the ALC Showdown. The last is a huge dance competition held in the hockey/basketball arena. Quite entertaining!

Just this evening some female comrades at dinner were talking about flatulence. Hence the comment card:

Random Update (3.19.12)

Our intramural team is the twenty-sixth (26th) seed of twenty-eight (28) in the Men's Intramural 7v7 Indoor Soccer league. There were seventy-five (75) teams in all divisions combined at the start of the season. We just upset the seventh (7th) and tenth (10th) seeded teams this evening and are now playing in the Quarterfinals on Monday night, against the second (2nd) seeded team! I must say, this is so much fun. We are taking a team photo after our last game, so hold tight, parental units.

[Update]

The Cinderella run ended last night, with a 2-0 loss. Here is the team! 

Alex, Freise, Jose, Zach, Pat, Charles, JM, Mike, and meself.

Random Update (3.13.12)

 Monday at the PA state capitol building.

 

This is the courtroom. There was an intricate painting that depicted both 'L-O-V-E" and "L-A-W" in a beautiful unison of idea and art, via wordsearch. Alas, I have not a photo of the painting itself.

 The house of reps. Go government!

 The Triplex, where I worked most of the days. It is the future home to the Garcia, Mitcheltree, and Eliot families.

 

Hammerin'

Barrelin' with Sam (right) and Matt (rear). Sam was emotional support, obviously Matt and I did all the heavy  lifting.

Ok. This photo ended up being absolutely ridiculous. I look like a giant lumberjack.

 

Dave, our fearless leader.

From right to left: Sam (leader), Caroline, Ashley, Caroline (not the same one, obviously),  Arjun, and myself.

The guys from left to right: Dave, Nick, Arjun, Matt, Sam, Craig (Habitat guy), me, Matt, and Connor (leader).

Group picture of guys with size 32 waistlines. It was a joke photo, but true. Same, Matt, Arjun, me.

This is the creepy white altar boy murderer in his element: praying in a pavilion at midnight. Kudos to Matt for the photo.

We stopped at Bass Pro Shop the last day, just for kicks and giggles. There are people in this photo, believe it or not.

Kitchen duty! With Eric (crazy cook) and Dave.

The fruits, er, vegetables, of my labor.

The whole gang!

Random Update (3.12.12)

My deepest apologies for not updating my blog within an hour of my return. I was doing things and stuff. My week of service with Appalachia was honestly the best week my college experience so far. I didn't think that thirteen (13) random BC students would become so close in such a short period of time. But it happened. And here are some main events.

Sunday was a travel day. Our group leaders Sam and Connor had plans to leave BC in vans at 9:30 AM sharp whether or not everyone was there. We left at 10:00 AM and had a nice drive. We found a hidden Burger King, slept sporadically, and switched between the 'Top 40' and the country stations for jams. We arrived safely and were pleasantly surprised by a quaint ministry house with carpeting (to sleep on). We played Mafia and solved riddles from Samuel and Matthew.

Monday was a slow day, because our work with Habitat for Humanity actually began on Tuesday. We got up around 9:00 AM, ate, and went to the Harrisburg capital building. It is an impressive feat of architecture, and the tour guides are very knowledgeable and cultured. We went to the mall for lunch before going to the Bethesda Mission Soup Kitchen to help set up, serve food, and wash dishes. That was a good time. The hurt on the guests' faces was tough to ignore, but their smiles helped push some of that atmosphere aside. I remember one of the main guys organizing it all quoted Monty Python when he rudely claimed, "Your mother was a hamster, and your father smelt of elderberries!". Which brings me to my next point, Shabu. She is a freshman, she is from Korea/Long Island, and she murdered a sweet little hamster in a microwave when she was seven (7). Enough on that.

Tuesday we got up at 7:00 AM for our first day with Habitat folks. Our first impression was that the headquarters needs work and the staff needs more members and more organization. Nonetheless, I was kept busy along with half of the group by organizing hundreds of sheets of house paneling, breaking down the wooden storage apparatus, and then loading those organized sheets of house paneling back onto the new apparatus. It was satisfying to finish all that, and the backyard of the headquarters was looking mucho mejor that afternoon. That night we played the Game of Things and Pictionary on paper and white boards, respectively.

Wednesday we got up at 7:00 AM for our second day with Habitat folks. We loaded up the pick-up trucks and drove uptown to the triplex, a housing unit for three families, hopefully to be finished by September. We worked on foam insulation (cutting pieces, nailing them in snugly). Lunch every day was PB&J with a banana, granola bars, and a banana. That afternoon Sam, Matt, Connor, Nick, and myself went running around scenic northeast Harrisburg. Afterwards (it was really nice outside) we chilled and had a really good idea for a prank. Every night we had 'reflection' where we reflected on the day by sharing our highs and lows, then doing another activity involving looking inwardly and so on and so forth. No mirrors were involved; this was a symbolic reflection.

Thursday we got up at 7:00 AM for our third day with Habitat folks. These folks include Dave, Craig, Dick, and Lapidus. This day we accomplished many more insulation across the front of the house and around the sides, up to about eight (8) feet. Dinner was delicious; a guy named Eric cooked a whole bunch of food for the volunteers in the Church next to the ministry house we were staying at. And Thursday late at night we executed the prank to perfection, which basically involved me putting on a white altar boy cloak and standing outside in lit pavilion with Matt for company while two other guys pretended to go 'missing', and the rest of the pranksters in the house played with the fear and drama of a creepy guy in white approaching the house. We did, of course, feel bad for scaring some of the ladies. But the caliber of the prank overcame those emotions, and everyone was laughing about it the next evening.

Friday we got up at 7:00 AM for our fourth and final day with Habitat folks. We got to the triplex and discovered that someone had broken into the locked and boarded up room of supplies to steal a heater, a propane tank, and a first aid kit. That put a damper in our spirits, I think. The fact that someone would steal from people trying to help their own community is depressing. But we nonetheless put up paneling and made framework and hammered things and had a good time while working hard on the site. Friday afternoon we went to the Amish fresh market. The Amish can prepare food very well. Especially pretzels, milkshakes, sandwiches, and smoothies.

Saturday we got up at 7:30 AM and drove home. We stopped at the Amish market again to pick up lunch for later. That was a good idea. Arjun, Sam, Matt, and myself played 'Abstract I Spy' where you spy things like "monotony" or "restlessness" instead of "radios" or "windshields". A brilliant invention, that game is. We got back at BC around 5:15 PM, everyone unpacked and showered and such, and then reconvened in Sam's (female leader) room at 7:30 PM for our last reflection. It was a good end to the week and a good start to the rest of the year.

Today I ran 18 miles with Matt, then went to lunch with him and Sam (male), then went home to Newton, saw some amigos, said "how was your break?" and "mine was awesome!" a lot, then ordered flatbread pizza with (edited) and her friends, then did a lab report, then did more homework, and now I bid all of you goodnight.

Expect photos.

Random Update (3.3.12)

February officially broke the land speed record for how fast a month can go by. And she even ran an extra day. This is all terribly impressive and frightening, which it makes me want to carpe my diems even more in the coming months here at Boston College.

My classes ended at 11:50 yesterday and I had lunch with (edited) and her friends Heather and Sacha in Mac. Afterwards, Pat and I had plans to go undercover in the Chocolate Bar (a coffee/sweets shop) to spy on our friend Angela during her date, plans that we carried out. We held up newspapers and sat mysteriously across the room. We actually did not bother them at all, Angela and Chris (her date) had a very nice time, just to put any worries to bed. After an hour or so of chatting, I started seeking out friends who were leaving for spring break. I said bye to Charae (California), Matt (Manhattan), (edited) (New Jersey), and Christine (New Jersey), which felt accomplishing, I did not expect to see them all in such quick succession before they left on planes and trains.

Last night Angela, Anne, Hannah, Elisao, Eric, Ben, and myself all went downtown to Longhorn Steakhouse and then to the movie theaters to see the 9:45 showing of Wanderlust. I had a salad and finished everyone else's steaks. This allowed me to eat steak and still be not too full to eat movie theater popcorn. I was proud of my strategy. The movie was great! Not a movie for mom or Jane (it's about hippies... use your imagination), however it was really great fun. Highly recommended.

Tomorrow I leave for Appalachia at 9:30 AM. Wish me luck, I shan't be randomly updating for a week or so.

Random Update (2.28.12)

 

Spring break is almost upon us up here at Boston College. I didn't really have a plan; the family all has different spring breaks than I do, so going home would involve sitting and watching everyone else be productive. That's no good. So, instead I signed up for a service trip with a group called Appalachia. They send 33 groups of about 12 student volunteers each to places all over the Appalachian mountain region, and I believe we work with Habitat for Humanity to build or tear down stuff. I'm leaving on Sunday morning in a van to Harrisburg, PA. It should be interesting, I'll take notes and there will be a blog update within an hour of arriving back to school the following Saturday.

Random Update (2.24.12)

So, I have about two weeks to catch everybody up on. Here we go! Two Saturdays ago (the 11th) I attended a very interesting seminar/lecture/talk about leadership. I signed up on a whim, the event lasted from 11:00 AM to 3:30 PM. A very successful Boston College graduate, Mike Del Ponte, was the keynote speaker. He is a big entrepreneur-and-social-justice-businessman-with-a-theology-degree guy. He started a company called SparkSeed, which takes in applications for new social justice ideas from college students, and hands folks with big ideas big lumps of cash to actually do something meaningful. It is a very moving story, and it made me want to find something to be passionate about (I here this is an important thing to do at some point in your life). I also met two new amigos at the meeting, Taylor and (edited). They are much cooler than I am, and I've been seeing them a lot since that Saturday which is great. On Sunday, all the fellows I'm rooming with next year (did I mention my rooming situation? I am rooming with 7 other guys from my floor. Hopefully we get one of the sought-after "8-mans". Otherwise we will split into two quads. Long parenthetical statement, sorry.) performed in the SASA cultural dance show with about 8 other gorgeous female Indian dancers. Since I appeared to be the only guy from the 8-man not dancing, and since (edited) appeared to be the only gorgeous Indian girl not dancing, we made a big poster and cheered them on. It was a good time (the sign read "Occupy White Pants", all the guys were wearing white pants). After the show, my dancing friends changed and we played our intramural 7v7 soccer game. I hurt my ankle, but not too badly. It was all better by Wednesday.

The next week started with a very, very long Monday, as usual. Yada yada yada, five hours of classes, no lunch until 2, and then 4Boston from 5 until about 9:30. Yahoo! The rest of the week was pretty uneventful, namely full of physics tests, Milton papers, and other sorts of labor. But on Friday, Mitchell and Dad came up! I believe they toured Northeastern, Tufts, and Boston College (of course). We went to the hockey game (win, 4-2) and had a good time. Those two were pretty exhausted after the game, so they went back to town to the hotel to sleep. I went to ice cream with some hockey amigos, and then played Balderdash until 2:30 AM. It was a blast. It started out with about 6 people, and by 2:00 there were about 16! Crazy stuff. Good game, Balderdash is. Saturday I went to a play called Medea for my honors class with Pat (one of the eight roommates for next year). The play finished at 4:45 and we hustled downtown to get to Blue Man Group with Dad and Mitchell at 5:00. We made, maybe missing a minute or two at the beginning. The show was entertaining, I recommend it. We went to dinner afterwards, then Dad and Mitchell went to the hotel and Pat and I went back to BC on the T (subway in Boston). Sunday was the Boston College-Duke basketball game! That was really fun, I went with Christine, Pat, Alex, and Ted. At one point we were winning 13-7. It was loud, and Duke's players looked confused. Then they called a timeout and eventually won 50-75. Next year... next year...

Anyone who has made it this far gets a cookie. This week I continued marathon training and soccer. Although being busy meant I didn't run as much (no running Wednesday to Friday) and perhaps that is also why we didn't win our must-win soccer game on Wednesday night. Oh well, no playoffs this year. Next year... next year...

Here's a photo I enjoyed:

Random Update (2.10.12)

After a long week of marathon training, Spanish tests, Boston Symphony Orchestras (2nd time!), John Milton's poems, electromagnetism, and 400 meter races, it was quite a wonderful Friday afternoon and evening. A 3 and 1/2 hour nap (to catch up on the 4 hours of sleep from the previous night) was much enjoyed. I sported my amazing red one-piece long johns, which make me feel like Hawkeye Pierce from M*A*S*H. Tonight Christine and I watched Remember the Titans and an episode of M*A*S*H. I forgot to tell her who Klinger was, and she was thoroughly confused when the hairy man in a dress entered the operating room. That was a good laugh.

An aside to mom: your cinnamon bread is quite possibly the most popular baked good on the Boston College Newton campus. No pressure, but, you know, any time you wanna send some more... the two loaves are invariably gone within three days!

Random Update (2.7.12)

So, it is actually past registration for the Boston Marathon. I will be running with a charity group on campus instead. Going on long runs is a very efficient way to learn the outrageously poorly laid-out downtown of Boston. I managed to find my way to the Prudential building and back today, that was fun. School is normal, I'm finishing my work somewhat earlier than last semester, which is a good habit, I guess. Highlight of last week was definitely getting back my paper in Western Cultural Tradition! I got a bunch of check marks throughout the pages, some check marks more enthusiastic than others, and at the end a 'Kudos' and big, fat 'A'. Right now we are sorting out housing for next year. I'm pretty much deciding between an 8-man with some folks on my floor and an 8-man with friends from other places. By Friday. I'm exhausted from my run, and I have work to do. Adios!

That is Erin. She lives in the same dorm as I, and I didn't know she existed until the 48 hours retreat last weekend. We have cool glasses.

Random Update (1.31.12)

1/12 of the year is already gone. 

Sunday: went to sleep at 4::30 AM, woke up at 9:30 and wrote my essay until a little after 11:00. Then I caught the 11:30 bus to mac and met Charae to run with her to work while she rode her bike. We got to the mall early and walked around, looking for a present for Matt's new bro, Constantine. After her work started, I ran to B&N and bought, quite fittingly, a book called 'Running and Philosophy'. Then I ran to Super Cuts and got s haircut. Actually I got them ALL cut. The woman's name was Fiona, I believe. She is from Montevideo, Uruguay, and we spoke in Spanish and became friends. Next I ran back to main campus and took a bus back to Newton. I lifted weights and did core, showered, and stuffed myself silly at Stuart dining hall because my calorie intake was way too low for the amount of mental and physical activity I experienced. I went to my room after eating and napped for an hour. I met Charae and others at Mac dining hall for dinner, and then Charae and I met Matt at Bapst Library to do some hardcore hw. It was truly an awesome day.

Monday started by getting up at 7:45, then classes from 9 to 2 back-to-back-to-back-to-back, eating exorbitant amounts of food in punitive amounts of time, napping for 45 minutes, playing ping pong for half an hour, going to 4Boston (community service) from 5 to 9, coming back, eating exorbitant amounts of food in reasonable amounts of time, talking with Garrett at dinner about life, whom I had been meaning to talk to for a while, then running down the hill to my dorm, throwing off all clothes, changing into soccer cleats and shorts and shirt, and running back up the hill with soccer-playing amigos on my floor to play our intramural game, which had a kickoff time of 11 PM. We lost, 0-1. I got back, showered, talked with Jeff, Christine, and Angela about housing for next year, and read some Dante's Inferno and finished neglected hw by 3:23 AM.

Today I woke up at 11:45, ate lunch, and went to class for two (2) hours. My friend Bamber got a 3v3 pickup game together, we played for thirty (30) minutes or so. Then I did my installment of marathon training (8 miles @ 7:30 pace) with added core and upper body stuff. Then I ate dinner. Twice. Now I type my blog. And in about thirty (30) seconds, I will jump in the shower and napping.

I justify my ridiculous days with the idea that someday I will miss everything here terribly. There is so much to do at Boston College!