So, hey, TRASHionals -- the big reason I was so quiet there for a month -- came and went this weekend, and what few public comments there are thus far are positive. So yay us. Nice to see everyone again. I did get to compete in Dave Murphy's audio-covers theme round, which played to my strengths. I brought home an Elvis 5-disc boxset for my troubles. I would have liked to have played a few more theme rounds, but dinner awaited...



This long weekend (Thur.-Mon.) was also late Christmas; this being the trip that was rescheduled when my back decided it wanted a quiet holiday at home and a bunch of drugs. So that was okay. I'm a little peevish about the travel burden always falling on us when it comes to this side of the fam, but it was fine.



A couple of observations:

Flying to Boston is now an 8-hour venture, what with getting ourselves to and from each airport. About the same as driving to Minneapolis, only without a stop for tasty pie.



I seem to have lost most of any nostalgic feelings I had for Boston. I had a great time there in school, but now...meh. This is probably due to the places I went this time -- I was in a BU classroom building all day Saturday and part of Sunday. Friday night I went to the TRASH welcoming party across from Fenway. It had rained all day, and the home opener was delayed, then quickly called off, so Landsdowne Street was pretty much a sea of puddles and pulped newspapers. Don't get me started on Braintree. FWIW, the suburb my mom has relocated to is about 5 times worse, but she harbors no illusions about it, and at least it's laid out in something resembling a grid.



Coming from where I came from, Boston was appealing. Coming from where I am now, I can see why much of the luster is gone. Ironically, this was an open-house weekend at BU. I wonder if the deal was cinched for any of those high-schoolers when they wandered over to Nuggets and found some rare vinyl they'd been seeking for a few years...