Nantucket, 8/17-19/08

Jackie and I took a ferry to Nantucket Island to spend a few days staying at our new friend Ruth's garden shed. Neither of us had ever been to the island, and we did not exactly know what to expect. After a long and lovely boat ride from Hyannis, we landed in what one might consider a "quaint New England town," if one discounts the deluge of teeming cars with "ACK" bumper-stickers and people in ugly vacation clothes. Mercy me, mercy me. Ruth, our hostess, was indisposed until later in the evening, and we needed to escape this saturation of pink polo shirts and khaki shorts. So we, after being totally befuddled by the archaic local bus system, headed south on foot. The main town is on the north side of the island, and we navigated the maze of ancient windy roads and 19th-century architecture, making sure to take plenty of rests in the soft, dark green grass in between picket fences and the sidewalk. We made it to Surfside Beach after a leisurely two-hour walk. By now the sun was setting, and we climbed up a lifeguard tower and waited for Ruth to call. Eventually she did, and after some logistical wrangling she arrived with two Britons, an Argentine and a Bostonian. We spent all got to know one-another in the dark of the beach before heading home to eat the chocolate & coconut cream pie that Jackie had made for the trip.

The next day after sleeping-the-heck-in, Jackie and I went walking to try and find a bus, as Ruth was at work and we had no bicycles. For anyone who is thinking about or visiting the Cape or the Islands, BRING BICYCLES. We tramped through some interesting dilapidated house parts(roofs, walls, porches, etc) in a field, down some rural side roads all the way to Nantucket Memorial Airport, aka, ACK. We took the first bus that we came across, which brought us back into town. Unencumbered by the heavy backpacks that we left at Ruth's, we were able to actually enjoy walking about. I wrote some silly postcards, one to my own apartment, one to Ruth, one to my band, and one to my mum & dad. We hung out at the library, which was excellent. We saw some bunnies at a marsh outside of town, which was excellent as well. We met up with Ruth and headed over to a beach called The Steps for a picnic at sunset with a bunch of folks and a cool dog. Score.
The next day, Ruth and her friend Christina spent the whole day with us. We went to the farm where they both work and picked up some edible supplies for an adventure. We drove over to the Windswept [organic!]Cranberry Bog, and went for a walk. We sat in and around this amazing and giant tree, ate food, and had a lovely conversation about our teenage years and plans for the future. We spent what seemed like several hours, but no one knows for sure. It was very calm, relaxed, and zen. I'm not sure I'm using the word "zen" correctly, but that's how I think of the term. Mmm...zen.
After coffee drink at The Bean and some more zen-like time at the library, we said goodbye to Christina and headed over to the ferry station with Ruth to catch our boat. The weather was cool on our ride back, which felt quite nice. Overall, the Nantucket adventure was a success. If I ever go back, however, I AM BRINGING A BICYCLE.


See also:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nantucket
http://www.steamshipauthority.com/ssa/

Current reading: "The Day Four Towns Died" by J.R. Greene.

Current listening: "Carousel" by Victory at Sea.

Current eating: Seitan stroganoff.

Current drinking: Almond milk(plain).

Summer of Worcester 8/7/08

Today was a really great day. I got the chance to sleep the eff in, which felt great. Yes! We have been hosting a(really great!) guest from Wisconsin(Oshkosh, to be precise) for a few days, so we wanted to really live it up, Worcester-style. We took a quick drive over to Bancroft Tower, which is this replica of a small castle, complete with perimeter parapets and watch tower that was built in 1900. Anachronistic; awesome. Emily, Matt, Mary, and I had a long and satisfying conversation about collective living, sustainability, and the break-down of law and order and the ensuing social upheaval and anarchy, as well as our escape plans to hole up in the tower as our fortress against the hungry, teeming masses. Also, how similar to a zombie movie that seems. As we talked about a potentially frightening future, a huge crack of thunder jolted us from our stone seats and the rain began to come down in sheets. We would've waited out the storm, but one of us really had to urinate, so we hastily retreated to the van. Of course, my window was still open.

After hitting up the Bean Counter for some drying off over warm caffeinated goodness and more great talks, we went to the local junk shop, HBML, to part of a remaking of an episode of The Cosby Show, starring any and all store patrons. We parted ways with Matt, went home, and made dinner, a wondrous stir-fry featuring tofu, sprouts, bamboo, peppers, green onions, mushrooms, celery, carrots, snow peas, okra, and flat noodles. Super delicious. We then played a game of soccer(of sorts) with my roommates, an upstairs neighbor kid(who almost upstaged us all) and our landlord.

After dinner and soccer, we went over to local collective house Distant Castle for a basement show. Sloppy Worcester punk, sweaty-dance-groovin', and a gypsy-polka-punk band from Mexico. Possibly the most fun show I've been to this summer. 'Twas an unrelenting dance and mosh-fest. Covered in sweat and beer and surrounded by lovely local folks made for quite the splendid end to a pretty great day in the Summer of Worcester. I'm pretty happy, and about to zonk out.

See also:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bancroft_Tower
http://www.hbml.org/
http://www.myspace.com/madrecomezon




Current reading: "The Rise and Fall of the British Empire" by Lawrence James.
Current listening: "Warehouse: Songs and Stories" by Hüsker Dü.
Current eating: Nutritional yeast & maragarine on a sesame bagel.
Current drinking: H2O(tap).