Saturday 3/16 – Sunday 3/17 Boston MA
Thus far, it seems insomnia and insufficient nutrition may be the greatest threats to the vanish life. Without sleep I am a vegetable, without vegetables my lover wishes to consume weak minds. Unfortunately, we are not particularly good at slep nor munch, and our road life habits have only worsened this problem.
Yesterday morning was point in case. We’d planned to follow the Boston Freedom Walk, essentially a tour of significant grave stones. As plans do, this produced pressure to up and out in the morn rather than loaf around and allow our tanks to fill. Thus, when stumbled down the stairs to meet the day, straights were dire as any dire weasel summable by level four and above spellcasters. Some frustratingly standard bike problems did nothing to turn our frowners downer and forced us to head to a bike shop rather than downtowner. This took us inadvertently into MIT campus.
I’ve always found city locked campuses really appealing. This is probably mostly a product of growing up in one, but I also think la ville setting can really contribute to a school. I prescribe to the idea that higher education is supposed to produce a societal good, both by teaching punks important things for being good citizens, and providing space for sciency people to try and think up solutions to societal ills. I think social isolation hinders both. It’s just harder to think about the wider society when you’re so far from it. Cornell feels out of touch to me in alot of ways, and I think its relative geographic isolation contributes to this. This is not to say that wider society is better represented by Boston than Ithaca, just that Cornell isolates itself from the town, and I think it’s probably harder for MIT to isolate itself from Boston.
Anyway, I thought MIT seemed pretty groofy, besides trying to charge us for entrance into their campus museum, and while getting pretty lost biking around it, our moods distinctly improved. Eventually we found our way into the Boston Commons, feeling less committed to Freedom. We chomped some properly greasy street lunch and walked around the pahk a bit.
There is a sizable section of the Norther bit of the Commons which was clearly once a lily pond shiny fishe floating baroque guitar oversaturated wedding photos kiss the girl swan boat kinda spot, but is now just short of entirely waterless. Its fountain babies, with no wa wa left to spit, now lounge in mud, schmaking their fat fingies in the squishy. The duck locals inhabit puddle island nations, completely isolated till enough rain falls that they might brave the next frontiere, speak their solemn goodbyes to their ancestral homes, and swim into the unknown, exotic lands of their nearest neighbors.
Nearby mud boi is a monument commemorating the MDCCXLVI discovery that “inhaling ether causes insensibility to pain.” At its top is a passionate renaissance sexy rendering of the event – sagely cloaked beard man crying out, eybrows fully contorted, as he caresses naked muscle man, who’s head back, palm up, legs long, mouth agape in a ‘woahhh man tripipippy’ equivalent.
Following the recommendation of our host, we walked a couple blocks to Brattle Book Shop. I have a love for used book stores that is as powerful as it is cliched, and this place scratched the appropriate spots on my chin – cramped, warm, book smelly. There was some quality content to peruse, particularly some phat artsy boys, an instructional for crochet taxidermy, and an honestly stunning rare book section which included signed photos of Lincoln and Gandhi, original printings of Fredrick Douglas articles and Suess books, and the journals of Robert E. Lee.
We returned home to chef up our go to couch crash thank you – savory pie. Tonight’s variation was lentils, mixed veg, and a sizable quantity of tajin (notably, my travel sized yellowbird and tajins have been actually life saving, shoutout Shelly). Pie time avec lovely hoste and above average Spotify generated playlist was spiritually restorative. As anyone could have told us, the best parts of this trip so far have most certainly been those spent with the good persons, and Ty fits this description like Kendrick fits a Terence Martin track, or a rescued bat fits a fuzzy burrito cocoon hammock.
Blessed by full bellies and the lord’s presence, our Sunday morning went much smoother. Our next stop was hardly a day’s ride, so some pre-departure dwadeling seemed in order. We and T spent that dawdle time on a lovely stroll around Somerville and Hahvahd yahd, playing best house, best woofer, and best free collectible find. Highlights included an intriguing street side spider man meme (see funny signs page, link above), a discarded photo book of miniature figurine life, and a man who so perfectly blended in with his front porch that Hunter Hayes’ Invisible became stuck in the mind of any and every passerby.
We left in the early afternoon, and took our drive at a scenic pace. We listened to a spectacular radio lab episode about autism and Disney movies (All yee blog lovers, this is very much worth a listen, the episode is titled ‘Juicervose,’ go use that www), and passed through the usual northeastern gradient of burb and farm. We stopped at Walden Pond, which has a nice one room exhibit on Thorea’s various isms, and a lovely quiet beach where one can hear the trees and watch beautifully eccentric older folks meditate, but which charges $20 for parking and $50 for civil disobedience T-Shirts.
We’re hanging out at the Pond now, got about an hour left of driving aujourd’hui. It’s really nice to get this little bit of neature. Seeing all the good people of the North East has been lovely, but I’m itching to head down to where the sun’s a’shining and the camping’s not a’freezing. We haven’t too many stops till then, and then a whole new leg of the vanish life will begin. Anyhway, I’ll catch yall next time. Music rec of the day – Denzel Curry’s Triple J cover of Rage Against the Machine’s “Bulls on Parade.”
Van-ish 