i can haz beret?

Tonight I found a knitting designer who makes hats for cats:

This cat knows how good he looks.

One more from the road.

Here's a picture I forgot to include with the trip photos. We saw this truck on the way into Massachusetts. From far away I thought it was a magician and I was really excited.

Can't you see it? All the magic? What would a magician truck hold? Top hats? Trick rings? The Aztec Tomb?

Reality was that is was for Price Chopper food store, which has shrimp falling down from the ceiling, which makes people really happy:

It's kind of hard to see, but the entire side of the truck is covered with giant people insanely smiling and sticking food in their face. Either Price Chopper is overselling a tad, or "buying food from Price Chopper" is east coast code for methamphetamine.

Sometimes moving across the country sucks.

The last couple of days have been frustrating. To start, our stuff has still not arrived and the due date seems to stretch even father into the distant, tantalizing future each day. This morning Don and I discussed building furniture out of the one overabundant renewable resource we have at hand: bunny poos. Enviromentally friendly material! I guess it's a learning experience. Here's what I've learned that I need with me at all times, not packed away in a storage facility in Arizona.

1. COFFEEMAKER!! We bought instant coffee, so our survival is assured, but the first few days were brutal. Dunkin Donuts is a far walk.

2. Ummm, actually that's it so far. A bed would be nice though. We went yard sale shopping for furniture and other neccessities, and we bought a book, some picture frames, a wine cozy, and a mandolin. We obviously need a better handle on the idea of neccessites. Wine doesn't even require a cozy.

3. I have been irrationally missing are all my knitting supplies. Even though I have stuff to knit with, it doesn't seem to matter, I NEED it ALL. Just in case.

In addition, I had someone steal a printer sent to me from work from the mail area in my building. To try and find this package, I made the mistake of calling the post office. Did you know that FedEx and the post office aren't the same thing? And therefore, nothing FedEx delivers will ever, EVER be at the post office? I thought this had happened before, but according to Wally the postman, I was WRONG! Thanks Wally! Your condescending tone helped me figure it all out!

Other than that, it's just general hardships and sad sack stories. Everything in Boston is similar to San Diego, but weird, somewhat rude at times, and closes earlier than you would think. I will adjust, but not sleeping 2 inches from the floor would be helpful.

All Gone to look for America

When I first saw exactly where Boston was on the map, I was a little shocked at how far away it actually was. I had always placed it more Virginia-ish in my mind. But no, it's up there. We couldn't have picked a farther place if we tried. Here's some pictures of our cross country spree with Frisky in tow. Don has lots more on facebook and myspace. If you really want to see our entire trip, just stare at each picture for approximately 3 hours.


First, we took a last dip in the Pacific, at Ocean Beach.


Arizona: Arizona is actually a beautiful state, once you get as far away from Phoenix as possible.

New Mexico: I don't know much about New Mexico- we drove through it at night after a late start through Arizona. Here's all I know- for some irrational reason, there is nothing to eat open at 11 at night. We ended up at some hideous place called Country Fare, which managed to make grilled cheese inedible. I can therefore safely say: New Mexico sucks.

Texas: We drove all through the night and got to Amarillo by morning. (Did you know "Amarillo by Morning" is a song? I do, Don was singing it as we drove, to Amarillo, to get there by morning.) We actually spent the majority of our non driving time in Texas. Amarillo has an awesome roadside attraction off the 40, the Cadillac Ranch:

Cadillacs stuck in the dirt, in front of a field, spraypainted with people's names. Texas. Everyone brough spray paint and painted their names:

Even Paul McCartney!

Don't I look happy here? That's because this is the only time during the trip when I wasn't covered in rabbit fur. Speaking of furballs, how did Frisky like traveling? Not at all. Rabbits don't understand cars and why they're moving and how it's not a giant predator, and they don't listen to reason. Though overall he wasn't too freaked out, we needed to have safety breaks:

Here is Frisky in my lap, covered in a towel and sitting in an aluminum roasting pan (for accident protection for my legs). He loved it. These were his favorite parts of the trip. Otherwise he was in a cage in the back seat, shooting us looks of "you have got to be f-in kidding me" whenever we told him that everything was going to be all right.

Largest cross in the United States on the side of the road, or something like that. Texas.

Oklahoma: After all the cadillacs and crosses and Paul McCartneys of Texas, Oklahoma was boring. Really boring. And we drove through it for a long time. They also have the most confusing toll roads where you have to pay to get off and on, and we ran out of cash and I had to write a 3 dollar check to a toll booth operator. Also, one of the tollbooths freaked Frisky out and he tried to jam himself in the safety zone between the door and the passenger seat. Only one of them though. Maybe the toll booth operator was a hawk in disguise or something. So Lessons From the Road #2- Avoid Oklahoma toll booths, humans and rabbits alike. (Lesson #1- Don't eat at the Country Fare Restaurant in New Mexico.)

Here's some buffalos ignoring us in Oklahoma.

Missouri, St. Louis: Missouri was less boring than OK, but not by much. We stopped in St. Louis for the night, but nothing interesting happened. I drove through ~3/4 of Missouri and through St. Louis, and that is all the driving I did the entire trip. Don is a champ.

Illinois, Indiana, Ohio: These states all look the same. The only exciting part was when we crossed a state line. Then we would cheer and yell "State #7!!! yeah!!" Then lapse into silence again.

Pennsylvannia: Another night time state. It also went by really quickly, and we were in New York! Which is right next to Massachusetts! We were almost there! New York is really pretty, with lots of farm land and trees:

It also is a lot longer of a state than you would think. Seven hours of trees and farms when you want to see cities and apartments is hard to take. (Lesson #3- New York is HUGE. The map is lying to you. ) But then we were in Massachusetts! And then, Boston!
We made it! The ending was pretty rough, because we had to pick up the key to our place, and the broker office was closing in an hour, when we were 30 miles outside the city. So Don had to book it while I gave him directions which I was only half sure about. Don ended up having to navigate his first traffic circle, which is not something to attempt under stressful circumstances. We ended up making it with 1o minutes to spare. Boston drivers are totally nuts. There are no rules, no lane lines, no MERCY.

After we got the the place, we went to a nearby pizza place for dinner. It was straight up Boston. Red Sox game on, delivery drivers talking shit to each other, "Can I help you?" said in a semi-threatening tone. Welcome to our new home.

Toes in the Atlantic Ocean, Carlson Beach. (We told some natives we met that we went to this beach, and their eyes got real wide, and said "You didn't go swimming, did you?" No, no we didn't.)

Next post I'll add pictures of our current living situation. Here's a hint: Sparse.

A dawn of a new era.

Hello everyone. I'm going to be using this to stay in touch will all of you, and to share my hilarious attempts to blend in with the East Coast and not freeze my ass off when I leave the house in a snow storm wearing a cardigan and a jaunty beret.

And there will be pictures! (PICTURES, Crystal!) Here's a picture right now!

This is Davis Square, in the city of Somerville, where I live. I didn't take this picture. In fact, this might be the best picture I post, just for that reason. It's all downhill from here, guys.

Next up: Pictures from road trip across the entire country!