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Moving Month

 


Packing up my old apartment took a while because I did it in tiny little pieces. I had the time and fortitude to put a handful of items in a box at a time. I moved into my new place in Cambridge with friends two weeks ago and I am haven't opened every box I packed. 

I packed in tiny, unorganized chunks. There were no labels. Every box was 'my stuff' and I had a lot of it. I have been motived to re-evaluate and spend less time on money and things. Instead, I should invest in good experiences, good people, and good investments for my future desires. 

Not that much of what I packed was particularly valuable, it simply is unnecessary for me to have a half-working printer (when I have another fully working one), an old set of electronic parts, or some tarnished cookware I rarely use... 

I'm happy in my new place. I am living with five other friends in the larger half of a duplex near central square of Cambridge, MA. It's a good position for me given the upcoming excitement of graduate school. I will be taking robotic mechanisms and dynamics graduate courses for the fall semester. I will be working part-time at Physical Sciences in the meantime and I am looking forward to being engrossed in a wide range of engineering work that is very interesting to me. 

My guinea pigs Juniper and Bear are sitting next to me in their cage by my desk in the house. They are chomping on hay and a pear while I type away. I think this will become our new routine. They are good buddies to keep me company and you know what they say about working with someone else, it keeps you honest... if I start to slack off and play too many video games they will totally judge me into sticking on my work.





My old living room, right before the big move.


Juniper wearing my glasses


A tiger swallowtail that sat outside my new apartment sipping water from a droplet


The liminal space of my former apartment hallway


My new grill and a beverage


The menu at Riverside pizza, which I will probably begin to frequent as a neighbor


The dirty dining table when we moved in


Myself, Conrad, and Hadrian settling in


My mess of a room immediately after assembling the bed


This past weekend I went up to New Hampshire. I didn't visit the border store, but I almost always notice the signs


I got lost for a minute on a trail near Crawford notch, all good now



View from Harvard bridge a few weeks ago


My brother visited near the end of May


I went to the Boston Robotics Summit


I also went to a Kali Uchis and Raye concert


and got a sunburn


and saw a Red Sox game, which they won over the Mariners



Lastly, an Owl!

Crawling Up a Mountain

 

Yesterday, I endured one of the hardest hikes of my life so far. It was grueling and it really did not need to be that way, if only I had brought the right gear.

I was a bit naïve. I thought that there would be a bit of snow and ice at the top part of Mt Jackson, but instead, half of the hike was on icepack and loose snow. It was brutal and I fell dozens of times, especially on the way down. In this foolishly humorous endeavor, I brought along my brother Tyler and friend Noah. I had told them that we would need boots and warm clothes, but not micro-spikes and poles. Thankfully, nobody got hurt and we all had a good laugh. This experience was a wake-up call that I shouldn't be so cavalier with my hiking decisions and planning carefully can avoid myself some unnecessary bruises.

On our way back, we stopped at the Tilton House of Pizza and got a couple slices and brews. The cold beer and warm cheese made up for the sore wounds and small cuts. I am looking forward to a good summer season of adventures and excitement. I browsed a couple sites last night for good equipment and I'll put out a review on this blog later when I inevitably break all of it through excessively loving usage. 



With Tyler in town, we have been going out on the town. We took the T to get downtown and I noticed the transit maps have changed with the addition of the green line extension. It's cool to have been in the area long enough to witness the city changing with the times. I feel like a Bostoner, a transplant for sure, but a resident of the city for sure. We went to Bova's bakery last night and got some pastries. We sat in the park and heard the revelers yelling into the night. Life is good.

Today is EC day on campus. I noticed that the Fire Proof Warehouse on the edge of campus was gutted, it's surprising to see this landmark change so drastically and furthermore shows how the area evolves as the time passes me on by.




My next purchase will probably be a grill for my rental house near Central Square. Got any recommendations?


My garden has started with tomatoes and peppers. Beans and peas to come along next. Then herbs, berries, and flowers.



Here are some more photos from the hike. It was very impressive to see Mt Washington looming over us while we sat on the summit of Mt Jackson. These mountains are intimidating and breathtaking at the same time. It is a good reminder of the smallness of an individual in nature.

Be careful holding out a nut in your hand, a bird might try and steal it.




Whirlwind of Thought



I feel like I have jamming at life a bit lately. I'm not singing one song, but improvising somewhat as I tumble along. I have made one big decision that is not part of this jamming. I placed my enrollment deposit to start my PhD at Northeastern University this coming fall, I have accepted that offer, and I have to think a lot about how much work with PSI and other obligations I should be carrying. There are a lot of daily, weekly, monthly, and potentially years long engagements that I have decisions to make for. I don't mind this decisional jamming, in fact I am probably doing better off playing around with all these opportunities than picking something for the sake of having stability. I have been thinking about stability as well. Do I say 'yes' to too many people for the stability it brings? Saying 'no' can bring stability as well, stability in the emptiness of one's schedule. The opportunity cost of saying 'yes' is freedom. That freedom, which leaves one's mind to wander and fill the moments with reflection. Too much of that reflection can actually turn into a bad thing though. 

That's what I mean about jamming, I've got a lot of thoughts rolling about up there.

I have had a great year so far and I think it will only continue to be well. I am practicing songs to play at an informal event in Somerville in a month. I have been engaged with activities of the WMBR radio station. And I have been trying a few new meals, activities, and social engagements. Life is good. 


Finally back at the station.


In one of these social engagements, there was someone in allergic distress. I had the privilege of helping them to the emergency room on a Sunday night. In the waiting room, I happened to have time for a chat with another friend who was there for supporting the person under distress. It was a good chat. We went over the struggles of our interpersonal relationships and it's funny how those great conversations hit you at the oddest of places and times.


I ran along the Merrimack last week. I found this flower's fleeting bloom.


I want to run a half or full marathon in the fall. I did some stadiums at Harvard two weeks ago.



I went skiing for the first time a few days after my last blog post. I will go again. It was a blast.

Plans for the Coming Year

 


In my last blog post I wrote "I have the potential to start March in a suddenly different place in life.". This turned out to be true. I have accepted a PhD in Mechanical Engineering at Northeastern University and I will be moving into a new apartment with some friends near Central Square in Cambridge, MA. In addition to this, I have kept up a gym habit, started swing dancing at a VFW nearby on Wednesday nights, and I have also been doing a bit of music on the side. While I have good plans laid out for the next year or two, I do wonder as much as the next person about what life has in plan for me. What is going to come my way that I cannot foresee? What things beyond my control will shake my stability or worldview? If I knew, I would certainly have a better staked financial portfolio and I would tell my friends about where to place their bets, but psychics and fortune tellers are not perfect and neither can I see entirely what is coming my way. 

Last week, I went to the Museum of Fine Arts (MFA) with a friend I met at the Wednesday night swing dancing event. It was a good time at the MFA, I was reminded of many forms of art and aesthetic tastes I have. I should get and make more art.  


Last month, when I visited Northeastern University, they treated the prospective applicants very well. We got nice tours and fancy meals. I randomly met up with two students who were transferring from University of Washington. I did not realize until later that their doctoral advisor is the same guy that I will be working under at Northeastern, what a coincidence. 






Here is some photos of art at the MFA that I thought was neat.

Waiting for Life to Change

 



The next couple weeks are slated to be a wild time. I have been going to a couple graduate school visits, seeing friends in NYC, a couple concerts, and expecting to hear back on a few grad school applications. I have the potential to start March in a suddenly different place in life. This is intimidating and maybe I'm making a bigger deal of it than I should be. Either way, this year is shaping up to be one of significant change in my life.

Standard Roughness Gauges
Friends and I in the WTC mall at night



At the NYC public library private exhibits


abstract expressionism


my art fav


Wii bowling late at night



Another picasso


Washington Square park near west village


At liberty state park



The sun falling on Boston


Friends at a show



The guinea piggies in their home





Wedding in the Family

  Last week I was in Austin, TX, for an academic conference and the weekend before that I was at my mom's wedding. Only one more wedding...