july 2024 donation

bit late with my july donation. but i finally did it. :)

last night j and i went to a free concert at the hatch memorial shell. it was so nice! we brought a blanket to sit on, leftover pizza, and some other foods. we listened to the music and stared up at the darkening sky and we each saw a shooting star!

the concert was presented by the Boston Landmarks Orchestra and the Rivers School Conservatory. I donated to the first (mostly cause they asked for it, and i didn't even realize the rivers school thing until i looked it all up online today in prep for making this post)

it was great! kind of like being at a more intimate hollywood bowl. with much much much more goose poop, lol.

impressions: boston

minivan school buses (rather than the usual yellow school buses)

so many colleges and universities; few locals. also so many hospitals.

radiator in every room, even a mini one in the bathroom!

lack of parking lots, very few drive thrus

streets are rarely on a grid. so many curves and offshoots and rotaries (roundabouts) 

so many toll roads, but at least they aren't expensive

both more aggressive and more courteous drivers

quick to honk when light just turned green. but also a lack of honking cause they seem to get it when you fuck up cause it's difficult to navigate here; people are happy to just drive around you

often inaccurate google maps

scooters and motorcyclists regularly run very red lights. wear very little protective gear either.

cops seem particularly inept

differently colored emergency vehicles (orange striped ambulances, highlighter yellow tennis ball fire trucks)

rains pretty much every week

top down bottom up windows, but only one window screen which is damn hard to maneuver

11pm to 7am noise ordinance

lots of red brick buildings

lots of pedestrians and bicyclists

single windmills

very large black ants! weird silverfish looking guys in more of a flesh-tone than silver. also HUGE centipede/millipede guys

cherry blossoms, dogwood flowers, and so many varieties of hydrangeas

yellowish tap water / toilet water

dumb alcohol laws, even grocery stores don't always sell wine / beer. obviously liquor is more tightly regulated.

expensive produce. $7.99 a lb or peaches in august!! $1.29 for a single lime!!! 2 regular sized kiwis for $5!! (these are not the prices at every grocery store, but each of these WAS the price different stores. and these aren't like erewhon type grocers, just regular places like h-mart)

more bland (under-seasoned) food

so much history all over the place. so much city pride too.

 

funny story. j and i were at a pool party and there was a kid called ethan there. someone said they call him ethan allen sometimes. i was like "like the furniture store!" and they were like "no, like the revolutionary."

impressions: montreal

bad roads, but also a lot of road construction

so many parks

so many mosquitoes :(

residential trash bags, but recycle and compost bins

citywide system of paid parking

lots of murals / art. even in fonts and signage. also a lot of graffiti tagging

large abandoned buildings

brick buildings (not all red)

residential architecture!! large windows, windows in nearly all front doors, metal staircases and many balconies, double staircases. 1st story no stairs, with exterior stairs to 2nd story. interior 3rd story stairs

seems like relatively few single family homes. mostly triplexes.at least in the city proper

french everything, and not everyone is fully bilingual in english either

lots of trees and hollyhocks (and also hydrageas)

so many bicycles and cyclists

liquor only sold at SAQ store (which is owned and run by the govt, and also has less extended store hours than govt law permits, lol)

impressions: maine

freeway center rumble strip (rather than on sides of road)

lobster everywhere in everything

ice cream everywhere

absolutely do not know how to navigate 4-way stop intersections

june 2024 donation

 

i donated a bit early this month because i was buying tickets to the moth event at wbur, which asked if i'd like to donate, so i did! wbur is a public radio station in boston that i'd actually heard about from my many podcasts, lol. i think they do a number of events out here? anyway, g&t are coming to town in june, so we're all going to a moth event, which j really likes and i think are pretty cool. the best part about the moth is that you never know what you're going to get at a live event!

impressions: japan

radio: much talking, less music, weird variety of music on same station

few actual raised sidewalks, more like raised curb that separates street from sidewalk which is same flatness

ped xing sign man has a hat one, and crossing signs have a countdown of sorts

little school aged kids in yellow hats!! and other random fancy school uniforms

the salary man unifirm is a real thing. only navy and black. very little grey or any deviation. women have more variation (cream) but it's also very very standard and uniform

everyone backs into parking spots

no farm animals in the countryside? not even chickens?

no trash cans, but very clean streets

van life is easier here (assuming you have a shower system), because of the plentiful and clean michinoekis

gas stations (not sure about major cities) close at night and don't open super early

dead quiet on public transit

people stand outside convenience stores in groups drinking beer at night

self bag groceries tho there are assisted checkouts

lots of clear umbrellas (personal, not rentals)

so much chinese food influence: gyoza, different noodle dishes

so much chinese writing (makes road trips easier, that's for sure)

lack of napkins, even in restaurants. the napkins they do have are the small weird plastic feeling ones

much longer tp "squares" 

lots and lots of beverage commercials on tv

everything has a mascot

laundromat doesn't sell extra laundry powder, tho they do sell dryer sheets, etc. shoe cleaning and drying machines that work super well! safe enough to leave stuff there for hours

bidets everywhere, even at michinoeckis and konbinis

very small establishments of few seats and/or little navigational room / the SMALLEST of bathrooms 

go to places VERY EARLY to avoid crowds (like before 7am)

osaka is noisy and dirty

kyoto is overcrowded with tourists