Vacation!

I had opted out of WizardWorld Chicago this year because I had wanted to save money, but after moving, I decided that I did need to get the hell out of Ohio for a bit. Despite the fact that I’d taken four days off to move, anyone who’s done so knows that that is nothing approaching a vacation. I looked at my options, and given the fact that it was summer, I decided to postpone going out west. Instead, I turned my attention to Boston, home of my dear friend Jeanine.

I’ve known Jeanine since my junior year of college, where we met in an acting class. (She’s exceptional, by the way. The world is really missing out because of her desire to stick to a more academic profession rather than an artistic one.) After that, we were also both in a class about British sitcoms, and we’ve pretty much kept in touch since then. Unfortunately, I moved to the Northeast Ohio area right when she moved away from it to attend grad school in Boston. That’s where she’s been ever since, except for whenever she comes back to visit family and friends during the holidays.

This past Thursday marked the first time I’d been on an airplane in over a decade. The last time was when I went to Florida with my high school’s band and choir. Surprisingly enough, I wasn’t freaked out about it or anything. I remembered not having a problem the first time around, so I figured it couldn’t be that different. Obviously, there are the heightened threats of terrorism and all, but I just comforted myself with the thought that Cleveland, Philadelphia (where I had to get a connecting flight) and Boston probably weren’t top priority for anyone wanting to blow up airplanes.

Paul graciously dropped me off at the airport about two hours early. The line for security was actually fairly quick. After confirming that I wasn’t carrying any explosives or other weapons, security allowed me into the main area so I could look for my terminal. Since I had some time to kill, I decided to grab a sandwich at The Great American Bagel. The guy who prepared my food kind of freaked me out a little. He had a low, mumbly voice and a blank stare much like the guy who was just arrested for the murder of JonBenet Ramsey. I got the feeling that he probably thought of the knife he used to cut my sandwich as his friend.

Both flights went just fine, and I finished the Doctor Who novel I’d bought especially for the trip. (Luckily, I had another book with me for the return.) I arrived in Boston around midnight of Thursday (technically Friday) and met up with Jeanine at the baggage claim. She’s all fit and stuff now, since she’s been jogging for several months. I’m rather jealous. Fucking Achilles tendon…

There weren’t any extra bedrooms at her apartment, but the couch was just fine. The only unfortunate thing about sleeping in the living room was the fact that I was kept company by her roommate Lisa’s two cats. I like cats, but as mentioned before, I’m not crazy about the hair. Also, cats tend to jump on you while you’re trying to sleep. Luckily, I remembered to bring earplugs with me, so that allowed me to get a lot more sleep than I normally would have under those circumstances. (Seriously, guys, I know there are a lot of you who don’t think you could sleep with earplugs, but they work wonders.)

On Friday, Jeanine took a half day from work, and I met her at Harvard Square. (I took the T, Boston’s rapid transit train, which seems fairly similar but superior to Cleveland’s Rapid.) We visited the Fogg Art Museum, the Peabody Museum of Anthropology and Ethnology, and the Harvard Museum of Natural History. Of the three, I enjoyed the latter the most, what with their extensive collection of taxidermied animals. (Unfortunately, they didn’t have the squirrel dressed as Robin Hood that I’d seen at the Allen County fairgrounds when I was a kid.)

On Saturday, she took me downtown, and we pretty much just walked around so I could see all the buildings. Boston is definitely a beautiful city. The amount of old structures that remains really gives you a great sense of the history the place has. It’s sometimes easy to forget that people lived in that area before the 20th century, let alone before 1776.

Saturday was also when actually began what I surprisingly found to be the most fun part of the trip, clothes shopping. I didn’t used to enjoy it. I’m not what one would think of as a very fashionable person, and whenever I’d gone out to shop for clothing in the past, I’d always gotten frustrated and given up fairly quickly. Recently, though, I started to realize that the same old things I’d been wearing for the last several years just weren’t working. (See the blog entry entitled “Fashionably Late?”) I decided that what would be best would be to get one of my female friends to help me pick stuff out. After all, females are whom I would ultimately want to impress, so it’s best to go directly to the source, right? I mentioned this to Jeanine before I finalized my plans to visit, and she said she’d be more than happy to assist. She began to keep an eye out in the men’s departments whenever she went shopping for herself, and she already had some ideas by the time I got there.

The first amazing discovery that I made when we began our epic shopping journey was the fact that I’ve been wearing clothes that are too big for me for at least the last couple years. I was wearing an extra large T-shirt that day, and she informed me that it was way too big. She grabbed a large T-shirt and had me try it on. As I looked in the mirror, I thought to myself, “Hey, this looks pretty good!” But feeling it was still too large, she handed me a medium. “Are you sure?” I asked, to which she replied that she was. So I tried it on, and I then found myself thinking, “Hey, this looks even better! I can wear medium-sized T-shirts!!! Who’d’ve thought???? "

As if that weren’t enough, I also discovered that I can wear pants and jeans with a 34” waist. When in God’s name did that happen? It wasn’t that long ago that I had to wear loose fit jeans with a 36” waist! And corduroy! Apparently, I look good in corduroy! And I’m not just talking about the pants! Jeanine had me try on an outfit that consisted of a pair of brown pants, a blue collared shirt and a dark blue corduroy blazer. As I looked in the mirror, I thought, “Wow! I would totally make out with myself!” (I suppose it was a less vulgar version of what Buffalo Bill from Silence of the Lambs was saying to himself in the mirror whilst preparing to do his tucked-in dance to “Goodbye Horses” by Q. Lazzarus.)

All told, I bought four button-down shirts, six T-shirts, two pairs of jeans, two pairs of pants (one brown, one beige corduroy), and two pairs of shoes (both Skechers). Unfortunately, this just isn’t enough. I really need to start totally phasing out all of the clothing in my collection (save underwear and socks, although I’ll need more colored socks to go along with the new shoes). (I suppose I’ll have to ask my friend Anna if she’d like to hit up some outlet stores in the near future.)

Sunday evening was rounded out with dinner at the Cambridge Brewing Company and a showing of Little Miss Sunshine. I got the pan-seared swordfish at the CBC, which was very good. It marked the first time I’d tried swordfish, and I imagine coastal cities are probably the best places in which to eat seafood. The movie was very pleasant and enjoyable. The acting was great all around, and it managed to be sweet and endearing without being too saccharine or cloying.

I left on Monday morning. I had to make room in my baggage for the new clothes, so I took some out to donate to the Goodwill near the train station. This was still not enough, so Jeanine let me borrow one of her duffel bags. (This turned out to be just barely enough room.) Taking the train to the airport was somewhat of a nightmare, due to the fact that everything I was carrying was extremely heavy. (My shoulder is still pretty sore from where the strap of my bag had dug into it.) Also, the combination of expending such effort and the amount of people in the train made me start to sweat uncontrollably. It was quite disgusting. Thankfully, I had applied a goodly amount of deodorant that morning.

The flight back was uneventful, and I spent the entire time reading James Ellroy’s The Black Dahlia. (So far, it’s pretty awesome. Can’t wait for the movie.) The time in between the first flight and the connecting flight was a little shorter than I’d expected, so I didn’t get to finish the bottle of water I’d purchased. Of course, I totally could have taken it on board the plane with me. It’s not like they’ve added a security check in front of the terminals or anything.

So now I’m back in Cleveland and actually a little bummed about it. I think it’s just another sign that I’m not really meant to live in Ohio. Doesn’t mean I’m meant to live in Boston, but I certainly wouldn’t be adverse to that.

Pictures to come. I’ll post a link as a separate entry.