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Maps, Photographs, and Other Things Useful to Homeland Security

02 Sunday Sep 2007

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Boston: Day Three

My computer is up and running . . . for the first time, ever, I have high-speed internet access on my own computer, in my own dorm room. I have finally arrived in the 21st century. Whatever Pixies, Nixies, Boggarts or Brownies saw fit to patch up my ethernet allowed their benevolence to run out when it comes to Anna’zOn, since I can’t get the page-editing software to work today. However, other aspects of my multi-media communication arsenal seem to be functioning, so here is what I can offer by way of showing you a bit about my new environs, one weekend in to the adventure.

1) Photos, as so many have requested. I have uploaded pictures of my dorm and its immediate environs to to Picasa, which you can view by clicking on the link below.

North Hall

I also have an album up of photographs from the going-away party my friend Cara hosted last Sunday (good lord, was it only a week ago??) so all my Barnes & Noble buddies could wish me luck.

2) Check out this Google map of Anna’s Boston, which I was created last night. I’ll be adding to it as I enlarge my world (a little each day) . . . for you map freaks out there (and I say this with all kindness because I’m one of them. My room decorations current consist of four maps: NPR stations in the United States, a map of the world, a map of Boston, and a map of the campus), hope you enjoy it!

Today, I’m sticking close to “home” (the dorm doesn’t quite feel homey yet), making headway in the organization of my life–both internal and external–and preparing for Advising/Orientation day on Tuesday, at which (according to the published schedule) we will drink a lot and sign away our lives (academic and financial) on various bits of paper. Tonight, I have a hall meeting at which I will get to meet some of those people whom I live with, whom–so far–I have only met as shuffling bodies headed for the showers in the morning. I’m not up for much socializing at the moment, but they’re all Graduate School of Library and Information Science, or GSLIS Students (pronounced “GISS-liss” with a hard G as in gambol or gabardine), so chances are I will have some of them in classes and every repetition of names and faces helps!

I had my first meal at Bartol Hall, the main dining hall on the residential campus. La-dee-dah! It’s like the most expansive breakfast buffet you’ve ever seen (waffles? pancakes? bagels? oatmeal? cold cereal? egga? bacon? grits? fruit and yogurt? hot chocolate? coffee? fruit juice?). Suddenly, the whole monastic-like system of bachelor dons and bluestocking lady professors living in University quarters and dining in the Senior Common Room makes so much more sense . . . except, of course, for the fact that it’s made possible by a whole regiment or two of waitsstaff who bear an unsettling resemblance to the Scouts in Gaudy Night, except for (thank heavens!) the absence of frilly aprons and caps.

More about people and courses when I meet more of the former and attend more of the latter . . .

For Labor Day, I am going to take the T (subway) to Wonderland and get a look at the ocean!

Greetings From Boston! (day two)

01 Saturday Sep 2007

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Hi Everyone! Just a quick word to say I’ve arrived safely and am in the hectic midst of moving in–some of it fun, some of it not. I promise pictures as soon as I have my ethernet working at the dorm (it’s giving me problems . . . why can’t the magic computer faeries come and fix it??)

I moved in yesterday, somewhat hurridly, in order to get the rental car to Logan Airport by noon. I left the residential campus at 10:30, which turned out to be a good amount of time, since I got off at the wrong exit and ended up driving around East Boston for an hour, asking directions on three separate occasions (everyone was very nice, but either I’m bad at following directions, or they neglected some crucial detail). Boston is one of those cities that, once you’ve left the highway it’s virtually impossible to get back ON said highway unless you do so by accident (sort of like how you can only see certain magical beings out of the corner of your eye). But I did finally get to abandon the car, and am now the relieved owner of my very own CharlieCard MBTA pass for the semester. Hooray for public transportation!

Then I returned, after lunch at the Trident Bookstore and Cafe (why eat anywhere else when you can eat at a bookstore?) on Newbury Street, to begin the daunting task of unpacking and arranging my life.

The PROS of my dorm room:

A door that locks, to which only I possess a key
A tree outside the window
High ceilings
Only on the second floor
Located across the hall from bathrooms
It came with a its very own bookcase! (already filled . . .)
Next door to the campus gym
. . . and also to the Riverway park, which I ran along this morning.

A few CONS:

Air conditioning unit located right outside the window (noisy on warm nights!)
Linolium floors
North-facing window (Calliope is worried)
Wonky lock takes fiddling
Awkward confguration for furniture (if I believed in feng shui I’d be pissed)

All in all, I’m fairly confident I can make it feel homey.

I have my ID card on the requisite lanyard (though I spend enough of my time lanyarded at Barnes & Noble that I am resisting wearing it, and carry the thing around in my pocket instead). The photo is just the right amount of embarrassing. It’s just a little too weird being a student again, but I’ll get used to it. Particularly when I get to pay student-price admissions to museums and theater and other cultural events!

Today, I have a long list of little items to pick up at Bed, Bath & Beyond and Staples (yes, we have them here, too, right down the block . . .), and somewhere in there, some food to eat. The campus meal plan doesn’t kick in until tomorrow, so I can treat myself to restaurant food for one more day before feeling profligate with my pocketbook (I do have to eat, after all).

More soon . . .

Boston-Bound

25 Saturday Aug 2007

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I hit the road on Wednesday to make the two-day drive to Boston (overnighting in Buffalo, New York and detouring to Ithaca for lunch at the Moosewood Restaurant). On Friday I get to move into my dorm. I’ve been re-assigned to North Hall on the residential campus, which doesn’t promise as much historical charm (alas), but is closer to campus and still promises a single room–the most important aspect of the entire affair! I promise photographs, etc., as soon as I get my brand-spanking-new PC up and running and fully connected to the world wide web.

Three weeks from today . . .

11 Saturday Aug 2007

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. . . I’ll be moving into my dorm in Boston and trying to orient myself to the new normal of life as a grad student. Orientation (which seems to consist mainly of alcohol and socializing) is on September 4th, and classes start September 5th. I’m having minor freak-outs, but they seem mostly to be due to the fact that my body hasn’t caught of with the fact that I’ve planned and prepared for the transition.

Last week, with the help of Maggie I dyed my hair auburn in honor of Ginny Weasely, who deserved way more presence in Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows than she got, and also because messing with my hair is less drastic than getting a tattoo. It was either that or cut it short and dye it purple, which I am tempted to do, but thought perhaps wasn’t the best idea before starting a new job and life as a graduate student!

I’m spending the last few weeks, aside from working up until the 25th, cramming in as much fiction reading and friend-farewelling as I can. My friend Cara is throwing me a big going-away party for everyone at Barnes & Noble, which was sooooo sweet of her, and entirely unexpected. I don’t think I’ve had anyone throw me a party before, aside from my family (who count, but in a different way). When I’m not working, I have a heady schedule of luncheons and coffees and teas and dinners and movie dates to attend to. And packing will happen somewhere in there . . .

I’m equal parts thrilled and terrified . . . wish me luck!