Results tagged “Boston” from Mike Sager

I just accepted a new job up in Boston. It's a little bit surreal that I went for it, especially considering how much I liked my old job. But ultimately, I have dreamed of living in Boston for many years, and this has given me the opportunity to actually do it while staying within my chosen career path. There have been several times in my life where I've picked up and moved to another city - I honestly didn't think I'd be doing that for a while again. And yet - here's my chance to live in a place I love... I couldn't say no.

My family is from Boston originally, and I grew up a Red Sox fan since there was no team in DC. I wish to emphasize that the Sox have been in my blood my entire life - I was too young to be crushed in 1986, but I balled in 2003 when Aaron Fuckin' Boone hit that damn homerun off Wakefield. I understand that Boone is very personable, but I still booed him every time he can to bat when he was on the Nationals last year. Loudly. People would stare at me and not understand. I didn't care. Grrr... I was wearing my Sox hat last night, and a friend of mine from Philly accused me of being a bandwagon fan - it was a friendly jab, but I let him know in no uncertain terms that I have always lived and died with the Red Sox - and anyone who's known me a long time knows that.

As I'm wrapping up here in DC, I've been taking more pictures with my relatively recently purchased Nikon D60 - hence the photos that I've posted on this post that are completely unrelated to Boston. Just wanted to add some imagery to the entry.

So apparently new albums by ...And You Will Know Us by the Trail of Dead and National Skyline came out on my birthday, and I was COMPLETELY UNAWARE!!! I have since rectified this, and loaded them onto my iPod courtesy the Amazon Music Store. Apple's decision to charge me to remove DRM from music I've already purchased has made me decide that all of my music purchasing from this point forward is happening from Amazon. And yes, I buy my music.

Last night I watched Game 3 of the World Series at the notorious Democratic and Red Sox hangout, Stetsons.  Stetsons has long been a Washington favorite of mine - good beer, fun atmosphere, and cheap food. 

After a long day of apartment hunting, I had a few hours to kill before the game (all the apartment offices were closed at this point).  I thought about going back out to VA, but it seemed silly to go out of the city just to return an hour later.  So I stopped off at the National Museum of American Art and National Portrait Gallery.  Aside from the preamble written in license plates to the right, the highlight of the museum for me was a video display that including Brian Williams describing the absurdity of Burt the Turtle and Duck and Cover.

I was also amazed to find
an art installation using Vari*Lites!   For those of you don't know, I used to work in stage production.  VLs (as they are known) are my favorite kind of moving light - they're graceful and bright.  See below the grainy shot of the VL5s hanging in the museum (I didn't see where their Smart Repeater was...)


Following that brief sojourn, it was off to Stetsons!  As soon as I walked into the bar, I knew I was in the right place as I got cheers and applause for walking in wearing a Sox hat.  Suddenly, I regretted not bringing my jersey with me.  As we got closer to the game, more and more Sox fans poured into the place giving it an absolutely Fenway-like atmosphere.  People would walk in, see everyone with Boston gear on, and turn around and walk out.  The place roared at every Sox hit.  Pandemonium took over when Daisuke Matsuzaka got his first major league hit, a 2 RBI single!  And the bar grew quiet during the Rockies 6th inning rally, only to grow loud again when the Sox brought the score back up. 

I found myself in a conversation with the people who were sitting next to me - turns out they too work in the political realm, and we quickly discovered we had many mutual friends.  It was a bit of the ol' Jewish Geography, Workplace Geography, and since it was a Sox game - Newton Mass geography (Waban??  No way!).  I even got into a conversation over whether or not the Star Market in Fenway was now a Shaws.  This disturbs me, as I have not actually lived in Boston - rather my parents did & grandparents did.  And yet, I can talk about local grocery stores.