John Baker says Beacon Hill is broken, I say it's just snobby

Alright, there's no denying that I've been neglecting the blog the past two weeks. I've been preoccupied and adjusting, but I don't want to be the Gilbert Arenas of blogging. Or anything really. 

I'm not going to discuss the Celtics loss, it's too painful. But over the past few weeks I've learned a lot about my new city. Mostly, I'm picking up a lot of new vocab...

1. The Pru: The Prudential Center. It's a really tall skyscraper, I'm not sure what its purpose is besides changing colors to let people know how the Celtics and Sox are doing. There are shops in it too.

2. The Public Garden: Or "Gahden." It's a specific part of the Common, the big pond where the swan boats are. It's in a Good Will Hunting scene, and a lot of bored people hang out there on weekdays and feed the ducks.

3. Dunks: Not Nikes. Dunkin Donuts. Boston loves Dunkin more than Seattle loves Starbucks and hippies. Dunkin might actually own Boston, which means Dunkin might be run by the mob. I don't feel that I'm jumping to irrational conclusions here.

4. BHP: Stands for Beacon Hill Pub. This bar is sort of hard to describe, everyone seems to be sort of embarrassed to admit that they drink there, but everyone secretly enjoys it. It's a fratty little dive bar where they have arcade basketball games and a bartender who looks like a skinny Will Ferrell. 

5. Southie: South Boston, synonymous with land of Casey Afflecks and Leo circa The Departed.

I will try to be more diligent with my little blog, the SFBA continues (Search For Ben Affleck).

BAWSTON

Here it is, my first post from Boston. I've been here for almost a week now, and not surprisingly I am really liking it. Boston is sort of like DC but with less humidity, better sports teams, less politico banter, and taller guys. So I guess besides beautiful old buildings it's not so much like DC at all.

It's fun to be a transplant after having been a DC area native practically my whole life. The people in my neighborhood are pretty friendly, plus Alaska and I's TV on OnDemand has episodes from the first season of The OC.

I do have a lot to learn about being new in a strange city. For example, on Saturday we went out on Beacon Hill, and Alaska and I ran into some very intoxicated people on the street. One was an especially bizarre guy who gave us a business card that literally just said "Oliver" on the front with a phone number on the back. Alaska and I thought it would be funny to text this character the next day saying "Hey there Oliver." Well, our sassiness backfired. He proceeded to call me 3 times and send me some intense text messages, which is scary considering he definitely has no idea who Alaska and I are. I think I will try to refrain from any antics that could gain me a stalker. Although I could use someone who knows their way around the city.

College All-Time Top 10

Because I'm 4 days out of college and consistently reflecting on how amazing it was, I'm going to make a LIST post! Here it is, my top 10 moments at GWU:

10. The Night Before Junior Year Started: This is just one of those nights that I'll always think of when I talk about college. It was supposed to be just a few of us and some guy friends hanging out and having a couple beers, but somehow we shredded 4 phonebooks and "made it snow," engaged in a shaving cream fight, turned the kitchen table into a slip n' slide, and threw parts of the sofa out the window into the street. It was a good way to start off my second half of college.

9. Snowpacolypse: Is there much explanation needed? 10 days without school, limited lacrosse pre-season, and mounds of snow all over DC. I've never seen GW look so beautiful.

8. 2009 4th of July: I never thought that my freshman year 4th could be beat, but this one did it. Between my friend Baxter passing out at 11 am during Logan's annual "dramatic reading of the Constitution" and 12 hours of BBQs, fireworks, and bars, I would say independence day has definitely gotten better during the Obama administration.

7. Thurston 5th Floor: Where can I begin...I often tell people that living in Thurston was one of the greatest experiences of my life, and that feeling hasn't changed. I met some of my favorite people in that madhouse, and there are so many memories from there that I had to lump them all into this one number on the list. Playing hockey with empty skoal cans at 3 am after a night at the Exchange? Thank you, Mable.

6. Epic Mansion Party: This was the house party to top all college house parties. Brendan wore a green snuggie outfit and got into a fight with Mark at 4 am, and general mayhem filled the mansion. All was right in the world. 

5. Lax Winning Streak: Freshman year, we were virtually unstoppable in the A-10. I couldn't totally appreciate it as a freshman, but the feeling was amazing, ending with an appearance in the conference finals. "We Takin' Over" will always hold a special place on my ipod.

4. Inauguration: It was freezing, Brendan and I both got dumped, but there was Nooshi. It was a whirlwind time but I look back on it fondly. Despite what else was going on, Obama finally moved to DC and I got to wear a pretty dress and dance to "Proud Mary."

3. Commencement Week: Everyone said it was the best week of college, but I didn't completely buy it until I experienced it first hand. Senior night after senior night, it was the ultimate degenerate marathon. I may be giving it extra credit because it was last week, but I don't think I'm hyping it.

2. Senior Year Halloween: Glowsticks, a Maryland flag, and Lovett dressed in a children's Elmo costume. The Chemical Brothers' "Saturate" made it onto our warm-up mix purely because of the simple joy we got from hearing it at DC9 last halloween. Brendan dressed as a creepy baby. There is no overrating this night, the only way it could have been improved would be adding Jumbo Slice.

1. Election Night: This was truly the most amazing moment of my college experience. Mobbing Penn Ave and chanting outside the white house can't be topped. I saw people dancing on top of cars downtown and generally felt ecstatic the entire night.

Commencing

It's been a little while since I've posted, and really I have no excuse because Lord knows I haven't done anything productive this week, unless you consider deciding to read aloud at 4 am to practice my "reporter" voice after I've come home from the bar productive. Commencement week has been wonderful, especially now that Snooks has moved out. 

Honestly, I'm only blogging right now because I'm watching Julie & Julia and it's making me feel guilty about neglecting my little Mego Blog. This movie is not really impressing me that much so far. I don't like to cook and I don't really care about French people, unless they are making a dress I want to wear. I really wanted to watch Paranormal Activity but being alone in my place in Ivory is sort of creeping me out (when I'm sober). Amy Adams has never eaten an egg in this movie. That's it, I can't relate.

I don't really feel like blogging about my feelings on graduation, as they seem to change every 10 minutes. I'm excited to wear my graduation dress, but not my cap and gown. I forgot how hideous and awful everyone looks in these things. We are going to look like a bunch of giant black crows descending on the ellipse. What a nightmarish vision at 7:30 am. This will probably be my last post as a college student; I'm getting sort of sick of all these "This is my last _______ as a college student." I guess I should start packing my stuff up...sometime soon...watching this movie still beats going through my pre-kindle book collection.

Good Lord it's May

...2nd to be exact. All year long professors talk about "May" and when "May rolls around." Well now it's here, and I spent it well this weekend. I lobsterized Saturday and Sunday, so hopefully that turns to a tan soon and there is minimal peelage/skin cancer/hair turning more ginger-y.

I've spent a lot of time outside - not just because the weather has finally gotten nice, but because Ivory tower smells horrible. I mean seriously, my friend Liz "Lemon" was contemplating about whether someone maybe smeared feces on the walls as a senior prank. We found out last night that there was a sewage spill in the garage of the building. In true GW fashion, they tried to cover the smell up with some kind of citrus spray, which is like spraying your dog with febreeze after he gets into a skunk's nest (I know about that one from personal experience). Only 2 more weeks in this building, I need to get all the egg and cheese bagels I can. Also, does it say anything about me that "Fever Pitch" is the only romantic comedy I can really get into?

Mama Said Knock You Out

Lacrosse has been over for a week now, and I've begun exploring new fitness options. This has led me to...boxing. Some girls do yoga, some girls like zumba classes, and some girls like to hit a 150 pound bag for an hour with Nas playing in the background. I enjoy bikram yoga, but boxing really beats the hell (pun intended) out of sitting like a tree for 90 minutes. I've gone to three classes at LA Boxing and I'm completely hooked (pun intended). My favorite part of the class is watching the 55 year old Italian guy next to me slugging away on a bag like he's about to go into his 2nd heart attack; I just picture him in his mind thinking, "I coulda been a contendah."

GROSS

This week I am bogged down with paper after paper (which is exactly why I'm blogging).  It's irritating, because I sit there thinking, "I'm graduating in 3 weeks, I do NOT care about this paper, this is bullshit." And as my professors talk to my senior classes about these papers, I can see it in their eyes, they're thinking. "These kids are graduating, they don't give a shit about this, this is bullshit." I just want to jump up in class and say "Let's stop bullshitting each other! Soon enough I'm joining your world of 9-5 and parties where it's inappropriate to take shots of goldshlagger and dance on the host's coffee table to Thriller!" Which I guess I'm actually not, thank you Grad School.

Adrienne!!!!

Making Moves

Lacrosse season is officially over, and this is the last full week of classes. It would be the real last week of classes, but I have a few make-up classes from the week that God vommed snow all over GW, probably to punish us for throwing glowsticks at Shaun Kingston. Or to reward us.

My blog lately has focused a lot on graduation coming up, and I realize how repetitive that is, but the ball is really rolling now. I'm signing my lease for Alaska and I's new apartment this week, and hunting for jobs to pay the rent while I attend BU. 

With lacrosse over I should probably focus on the papers I have due next week, but instead I am spending that free time blogging and going to bikram yoga. Bikram is awesome - you do 26 exhausting poses in a 105 degree room that smells like my dog's breath. Definitely better than say, happy hour and wings. Yeah.