City No. 8 and 12: Boston, Massachusetts, or, “Boston is a cluster-f_ _ _ (you fill in the rest)”

Our Honeymoon, or, How We Got to the Midwest One Interview at a Time:  The Northeast Cities According to Me, the One Who Wanders the Cities While Peter Completes the Interviews
 
Disclaimer: This should by no means be used as a real resource to the northwestern cities.  While I am an observant person, I have no background in city development, nor do I have expertise on the cultural or historical background on these cities.  For the most part, I am reviewing these cities based on my personal preferences, as we will be moving to one of these cities in the spring.  And, if you are hoping for a lot of artwork (as this is my art blog), sorry to say, but you will be sadly disappointed if you continue to read this blog in the upcoming two months.  Apart from my photographs of the cities, I doubt I’ll get to very many art and craft projects. 

The coolest picture I could have ever taken in Boston.

Well…so here we are.  Boston.  And if we’re going to be straight here (which we are), I would like to just say that Boston is not all it is cracked up to be.  It is quite large and over-populated—much like New York.  Now I know there are many people who disagree with me, but let me put it another way:  We just heard someone speaking about rent prices in the city.  Guess what it was for a two bedroom.  C’mon!  Guess!  Nope.  Too low.  Guess again.  Ok.  You got it.  $2400.  $2400 for a two bedroom. 

Anyway, I should explain why Boston is city No. 8 AND 12, though it is pretty straightforward.  We went to Boston, stayed there for two nights, and then went to Binghamton, NY to have Thanksgiving dinner with Pat and Corie—our friends from Asheville that just moved to NY.  Then we turned around and headed back towards the direction of Boston but first stopping in Albany (hotel), and then in Blanton where we stayed at a cute cute CUTE Bed and Breakfast.  Actually, though I said “cute” three times, it may not be the correct word.  Quaint and beautiful may be the better descriptive statement.  Then, we were back in Boston. 

While in Boston, we saw snow, didn’t ride the train, saw two American Apparels, and discovered the maneuver that we call the “Boston Shuffle.”  Let me describe it to you by telling you a personal story.  Peter and I were on our way to one of his interviews and we were on a two-lane street and waiting at a red light.  Now it had been one of those situations where it was a yellow light and Peter decided at last minute to stop instead of speed through—so we had stopped a little over the line.  Not wanting to hang out in the intersection, he looked into the rear view mirror, and over his shoulder to make sure he had a little room to back up a little bit.  He was clear.  Or so he thought. 

Suddenly we heard a honk, and we looked around befuddled.  We were in no way near the car behind us, so it couldn’t be them…who, then?  I looked over my shoulder, and looked down onto a tiny little black sports car sitting directly in our blind spot (it was so short you couldn’t see it in the mirrors) —doing the Boston Shuffle!  See, the Boston Shuffle is when you turn a two-lane street into a three-lane street for your own personal pleasure.  See, the third lane is typically the shoulder, or even just a little bit of extra room in the right hand lane.  Sometimes there’s room for another car, sometimes there’s not.  But always—ALWAYS will this person cut you off.  It will be sneaky and therefore you may never see them until it’s happening.  In this case, our man honked, or otherwise we would never have known that he was there.  And sure enough, when the light turned green, this guy sped past us in his personal lane, past the next guy, and the next until he cut in front of the car first in line. 

And there you have it.  The Boston Shuffle.  The dangerous, dangerous Boson Shuffle.  Seriously, you can pretty much always bet that there’s someone in your blind-spot in Boston.  Always.  And this makes driving in Boston pretty sucky.  That, as well as the fact that there are just too many people on the road, no matter what time of the day it is.  And, the streets are extremely confusing as well.  Perhaps that is why the traffic is horrible?  Everybody has just missed all of their exits, and are trying to turn around and get back on track.  I wouldn’t be surprised…There are streets upon streets going in all different directions, some have no lane lines, some streets go down to tunnels that last for minutes (we lost GPS satellite connection because we were in a tunnel for 4 minutes!), it’s crazy.  Anyway, I’m just complaining now.  On to other things.  

Another thing to note about Boson is the Trident Booksellers and Café, as well as Raven Used Books.  Awesome places to find good political, cultural, and design books.  That’s it for Boston.  I really wasn’t too impressed.  Too crowded, too expensive.  I don’t think I could ever find my niche here as it is much too saturated with ideas and competition.  There’s no blank slate here to be creative with.  Sorry Boston, thumbs down, but I doubt you care.  You seem to have good self-esteem.