Braintree on the Red Line

Okay, it hasn't been THAT long since I've updated. *guilty face* Ever since I was a child, I was that strong willed curious one who walks long and far, and by the time I remember to look back, I don't know where I am. No one is around anymore, because I forgot to ask anyone to walk with me - the landscape is just so breathtaking.

Well, Happy New Year. Since it's been about half a year, of course the world has changed into unrecognizable proportions again. While I haven't had the resources to travel to any new destinations, life has thrown a few waves for me to surf over, and I'm still riding, uncertain of when I would crash. What animal year is it according to the Chinese zodiac? Ah yea, Year of the Horse.

About a month before my contract with Americorps and Phoenix Charter Academy is over, I had quit. I still have a small window into some students' lives through social media. A temp agency had snapped up my resume from the internet wilderness and presented me with Broadband Repair Analyst at Granite Telecommunications. I just received my quarterly review. I'm happy so far.

Despite how perilous financially it is, I've moved out from living with my mom and Annie, and now I live in Cambridge. The art scene is strong here, and I'm surrounded by people around my age, which is nice. Not that I really interact with any of them, but I appreciate their presence. I live in a studio apartment, with my cat. I bought and built all my furniture myself, excluding the two folding chairs that mom gave me. Two pieces of furniture belong to the cat. There are 3 closets. The dining table folds into the wall. Laundry is in the same building. I haven't done much decorating, because I wanted to think it through and take it slow.

Mom and Annie want to take a cruise to Alaska in June. I'm planning for this as well. Meanwhile, I'm kicking myself in the butt at work. The only thing this has to do with an English degree is the attention to detail and the detailed notes we take for each case. I'm not close to anyone yet, but I have found people to hang out with at work during the breaks. There are people to talk to around me when a telephone company puts me on hold for too long. My supervisor is good to our team, the guy I'm dating lives three blocks down from me, and, for the first time in my life, I am happy and continuing to strive.

Ford and I are also planning a trip to some rave music event named Mysteryland. This will be the end of May, in Bethelwood, NY. I had gone to Brooklyn, NY, to play some board games. I had gone to Connecticut to visit with Jared and Angela, and wrote them a thank-you letter afterward, but it's still in my purse, because I'm apparently too absentminded to mail objects. Boyfriend speaks admiringly of Colorado because there are awesome ski slopes there. I plan to keep traveling, but can't foresee a point beyond these plans when I would have enough money. I've become too interested in computers to become a travel writer anymore, but this is not a failure - just a shift in perspective.

Maybe the world will change over a few times more in the next half year again. Hopefully it will be for the better, though I'm plenty happy now.

Austin Plus News

The trip to Austin had been Ford's idea. He wanted to visit UT Dallas to see the campus, seeing as he was applying there for graduate school. (He got in.) While he toured that campus with his quiet brother and parents, Joey and I were driving around Austin, sampling different parts of its cuisine.

There were food trucks. In fact, more than half of the food industry was made of food trucks arranged in various lots. We tried out donuts, subs, cupcakes, but occasionally, we did hit an actual restaurant for their delicious steak, some big sandwiches and alcoholic drinks. Everything was plus sized and spiced much more richly than New England could ever bear. Also, MA was still cold at this time, and TX was up in the 70s-80s. Perfect early spring trip.

We also visited some odd museums at my insistence, because I can't just keep eating. There was an arts museum downtown that had two floors but some pretty but simple modern art. There was the Museum of the Weird which was very entertaining, even though I'm pretty sure most of it were hoaxes. Believing in it was more fun, but the skeptic in me grows stronger nowadays.

For the last night of the trip, Ford, Joey, his brother Jack and I went through the Austin strip of clubs and bars. Ford wanted techno and house music, whereas Joey wanted only hard rock. We even tried to dance. We're so terribly inept... But we had so much fun.

Now, the news. I had gotten a new job that will start in twelve days. It's temp to hire, so I don't know how long I'll be there. It's a call center in Quincy servicing Fortune 500 companies' internet and broadband. They do more, but the department that I'll be in will be doing that. After my less than a year stint at Phoenix Charter Academy, this came as a welcome surprise. More to come.