Thursday, May 25, 2006

Brief Moment of Regret? Worry? Followed By "Things I Won't Miss About the Suburbs"

I went out to dinner with my mom, sister and my mom's friend last night after she spent a bunch of time taking pictures of the house and "staging" for showing the house. This apparently consists of putting a LOT of fake flowers, plants and vases (brought over from the Bonnie and Doug basement where knick knacks go to die) everywhere and putting on a nicer bedspread -- one that doesn't show so much cat hair. The place looks good, although I'm almost afraid to touch anything.

Anyway, we were eating dinner and watching the baseball game on the bar's t.v. Yankees vs. Red Sox. Yankees up by 2, but bases loaded in the bottom of the 8th and David Ortiz coming up to bat. Yikes! Watching the screaming fans at Fenway and listening to the always-audible chants of "Yankees suck," I had a brief moment of wondering what the hell I'm doing and where it is that I'm moving to. I'm going to live among these people? I live and breathe baseball. I love the Yankees, I go to games, I read the books, I tolerate Michael Kay, I've been to spring training multiple times....I am a FAN! But those Red Sox fans? Truly, a different animal. :-)

Topic shift.
File under Things I Won't Miss About the Suburbs: The new Walkmen album came out earlier this week. I had to go to 3 different stores before finally locating it at a mega-Borders. NN got me into these guys a few years ago. At first I was unimpressed and didn't understand her undying devotion, but they grew on me and I went through a phase of listening to only Bows + Arrows for about 3 months straight.

I won't miss not being able to find the "good" music I like to listen to. On the flip side, I've never had a problem locating the following out where I live: Ultimate Manilow, REO Speedwagon's Greatest Hits, Glam Rock Hits of the 80s, Poison's Greatest Hits (which KF and I belted out at the top of our lungs driving down the FDR a few summers ago), Bonnie Tyler's Total Eclipse of the Heart, and the soundracks to every nerdy movie, including Fame, Grease, and The Wedding Singer, I've ever seen. So there you go.

Wednesday, May 24, 2006

Public Service Announcement

Seriously, what the fuck is wrong with this country? Do what you can.

The Senate is scheduled to vote on the Federal Marriage Amendment the week
of June 5th.

The text of the proposed amendment to the
Constitution is as follows:

"Marriage in the United States shall
consist only of the union of a man and a woman. Neither this Constitution or the
constitution of any State, nor state or federal law, shall be construed to
require that marital status or the legal incidents thereof be conferred upon
unmarried couples or groups."

The HRC is delivering postcards
to congressional offices stating opposition to this amendment. Let
your elected representatives know that a vote for the FMA is a vote
against your friends and family by sending one: http://www.hrcactioncenter.org/campaign/fma_postcards.

Monday, May 22, 2006

Maybe Not Homeless (Except for 2 Weeks)

Up in Cambridge/Somerville area for today and tomorrow and I think I may have found someplace to live. I looked at six different apartments today. The first one I saw could have worked. It was in a big house, right near Tufts, and could have definitely fit all my stuff, but it was a little ragged looking -- lots of orange carpet, 70s'-style kitchen, and drafty windows. I thought to myself, "I could live here," but I didn't love it. It was less than a mile from Davis Square, though, so a good location. Everything else in Somerville that I saw was "charming" (read: small) -- lots of places I would have loved if this were my first apartment post-college, but since it's not, I have a hard time rationalizing spending $1650 a month for someplace that wouldn't hold ANY of my furniture.

I sort of fell in love, though, with a place right in Cambridge. Way more expensive, but very modern with 2 bedrooms, walk-in closets, two off-street parking spaces, and a POOL! It's walkable to all 3 squares and easily commutable. The only issue is the move in date -- July 1. My job starts on June 20 so I will be living out of a suitcase for 2 weeks. Kind of sucky. But with a mortgage (someone please buy my house) and rent, this might not be that bad. We'll see. I'm looking at a few more places tomorrow, but if none of them top this place, I'm going to take it.

On the move: I had lunch at a nice place and then got a pedicure -- a perfect day to feel really content about moving up here. I spent last night with YG and the MG too, and we had fun. She's a riot and is constantly giving me shit about liking the Yankees. They are supposedly "mean." The Red Sox, on the other hand, are "nice." Overall, I'm happy to be coming up here.