East Coast

So much has happened since I wrote last. I didn't cover much or any of Mom's visit, so here's some bullet points:

• We roadtripped in Massachussets. First we went to Salem with Melanie. We saw the House of Seven Gables, the birthplace of Nathaniel Hawthorne, the Phippen House (I'm descended from Phippens, but the gov't owns the house as part of the city of Salem, so we didn't go in), the memorial built for the 17 people who were convicted of practicing witchcraft in Salem and hung (or pressed to death), and some cool houses.

• We roadtripped North. Mom wanted to visit Joseph Smith's birthplace in Vermont, and I wanted to see if Maine exists, so we rented a car and went on a roadtrip. First we went up the coast of Maine. We saw Portsmouth, Rockport, Rockland, and some other places. The best lighthouse was Nubble Light in York, ME. We visited Bowdoin College in Brunswick, where we found the only gargoyle in the state of Maine and visited the arctic museum. After some good time in Maine we decided to try and make it part of the way to VT. So we took off heading west. It started to snow really bad in the White Mountains of New Hampshire, so we stopped at this place called the Town & Country Motor Inn Resort. The old guy at the desk talked and talked about his old days in Boston and the place was actually really nice. When we woke up we heard about the tsunami that hit Japan. Keep praying for those people. We woke up and drove to Joseph Smith's birthplace right by Sharon, VT. We had the place to ourselves other than the nice missionary lady that gave us a tour. It's quite the place and the obelisk is gorgeous and has an incredible how-I-got-here story.

Nubble Light - York, ME

The only gargoyle in the state of Maine - Bowdoin College - Brunswick, ME

My favorite inuit artpiece.
• We roadtripped South. The day after we got back from VT we piled in a car with Allison 1 and Mel and went to Newport, RI to look at some mansions. The mansions were freaking huge. Some people just have too much money. My incision was acting up by the end, but I couldn't not go see The Breakers (one of the mansions). The gate and the inside reminded me of the Palace of Versailles, which it turned out to have been based off of. The billiards room was the coolest. Absolutely crazy.

The Breakers

Captain Morgan pose in front of the awesome tiger-killing-crocodile statue

Allison 1, Me, and Melanie in RI
• We stayed in Boston. Mom's last day here I took her to Bartley's for my Boston hamburger experience. She got the Oprah and I got the Viagra (best burger in Boston, so far).

Now Mom is home and I miss her. Especially when I had to do my own dishes. I'm glad she came. Totally saved my butt.

Since Mom left I've done even more. More bullet points!

• The opera that Robert wrote had its American debut. He got me two free tickets to the full dress-rehearsal the night before it opened. Danielle Dobson came with me. It's called Death and the Powers: The Robot's Opera and was all sorts of craziness. There were robots controlled by MIT people who look exactly like you'd expect MIT robot-controlling students to look like (geeks), a part where the poor and starving attack the main character's daughter (it was a total zombie-esque scene and really well done), and even a man that sang super high and sounded like a woman. All in all I'd say that the words were fantastic and the music was just okay. But overall it was a good time.
• I went to Boston Restaurant Week. Essentially, it's a week when restaurants make special menus so that you'll go try their stuff. Nishan, Rich, Daniel, Darin and I went to an upscale steakhouse called Mortons. It's down on the waterfront. The waiters all wear tuxedos and the cheapest steak we were shown was $68. Enter restaurant week: big chef salad with anchovies, filet mignon with broccoli and mashed potatoes, and desert. All for $35. It was the ultimate man night.
• I went to Block Island, RI. Block Island is a tourist trap about an hour (by ferry) off the coast. It was me, Nishan, Danielle, Mel, and Dianne. Turns out it was still off season, so the place was deserted. Lucky for us we're all pretty chill, so we made an adventure of it. We walked around till we found a guy to ask for directions. He sent us to the grocery store (only thing open) where we got some food. Danielle found a number for a guy who rents out cars, so he came and picked us up in a Buick and we did some paperwork. Then we went all over the place. We walked out to the North lighthouse, had a picnic on the beach, skipped rocks, visited the anti-climactic "painted rock", checked out the South lighthouse, walked down to the bottom of the cliffs, and went to opening night at the one soon-to-be-open restaurant. We also found a human bone and talked a bunch about how much living there would be like an episode of The Twilight Zone. Dianne is a great photographer and got it all documented really well. Overall it was a blast.
• Rich, Nishan, Reed, and I went to Joshua Tree to watch the BYU game the other night. My bracket is so freaking screwed up (freaking Rick Pitino), but BYU is doing pretty well. As usual, I am happy that we win but don't care when we lose. Jimmer's pretty amazing though. If we beat Florida (not a chance) I might root for us for a game. Don't cross your fingers.
• I saw a racoon in Allston the other night. That was cool.
• Last night Dan called me up and told me that he had discounted tickets to the Bruins/Devils game at the TD Garden. His roommate was supposed to come but had bagged out. I'm busier than I ever have been in my life, but I really like hockey. So I went to the game with Dan. Dan's from New Jersey, so he was in a Devil's jersey. The guy behind us gave him so much crap. It was hilarious (to me). The Bruins won 4-1 and I was a happy camper. Although there were no fights, which was super disappointing. After the game I had to pee, so I went into the bathroom where there were lines to every stall. The guys there were so drunk but they were making fun of each other and it was so funny. My favorite was the jab at the guy that had his hand up on the wall and the dude that suggested we unzip our pants early so that we saved some time. Gotta love hockey.

So, yeah, that's an update. More has happened but I think that's the big stuff. I'll try uploading pics again later; the computer is being stupid as usual.

As Nacho Libre would say: My life is good. Real good.