Ice Cavern Studios

I\'m currently back in Princeton. I\'m having a pretty good time. It feels to be good to be back again. Hmm, maybe we should all come back down more often.

Life and Times

Hmmm…this was a really nice weekend. It was restful. I got stuff cleaned. And I was even social for cheap. I’d say it was a really successful weekend.

Friday night was very exciting beyond getting myself stuck in Salem due to extreme weather. What happened? Strong winds knocked power lines or trees or something onto the train tracks, so all outbound and inbound trains on the line I take were shutdown. This lasted for a few hours, but it happened to be in the late evening, so I ended up waiting around in Salem for a bus to take me back to Cambridge. That kind of put a dampener on my evening, as I was so tired and hungry when I got back (around 9:40) that all I wanted to do was eat and sleep. Which is precisely what I did.

Yesterday, I went up to hang out at Fort Somerville. I was actually up there because there is a Guitar shop close by and I needed to pick up some strings. But I decided to spend my afternoon lounging around with the guys of Porter, as well as Melissa who was up for the weekend. Around six, they had to leave for a dinner at a friends, so I packed up and rode the T with them down to my stop and then returned to my apartment where I proceeded to eat and clean.

Let me stop right there. I clean a lot. A whole lot. I’m not sure why, but I’ve felt compelled to be cleaning when I’m at home. Seriously, if I’m not out doing something with someone, I’m probably back at my apartment cleaning. I’m not sure how long this will last, but for right now, I find it incredibly relieving to clean stuff, so that’s what I do. I’d say it was a boring life, but currently, if I have any energy at all (and sometimes even when I don’t) I find myself filled with the desire to clean. Hell, I haven’t played video games since I moved because I don’t feel doing that when I have cleaning to do. At the same time, this is the most unpacked and organized I think I’ve been since I left college, and possibly since I left for college.

Today was slightly different. Today was all about cooking. I woke up this morning, and due to my current lack of cereal, decided that it would be more prudent to make waffles. This is something I haven’t done in a long time. Seriously. The guys I lived with in Seattle would attest to this. If I woke up and realized I didn’t have any cereal, I’d just go drive and buy some. Or I’d drive to IHOP. But now, I don’t want to spend the money. So I cook instead. And that’s what I did. What’s funny, for some reason, I don’t remember waffles being as easy as they were. It took me all of 30 minutes, and I had enough waffles to last me through at least tomorrow.

Then, this evening, I decided I was going to cook spaghetti, but before I was going to begin, I got a call from Josh. Our friend Dave is in town, and they wanted to do something for dinner. Since I was already going to be cooking a large amount of stuff, I just invited them over. I ended up cooking a large spaghetti dinner for six guys, and it was awesome. I was not only social, but I was also frugal. It was sweet. Plus, I had excellent company and was social all evening.

But yes, so far, things are going well. I really like my apartment, and I’m settling into a routine that I’m really enjoying. Now all I have to do is buy a decent TV and some more furniture and I’m set. Boo-yah!

Life and Times

Sorry for not having posted much this week, I’m still digging myself out from underneath all of my stuff. (I’m much closer btw) But, yes, things are going well, and this past weekend was definitely a blast.

On Friday a bunch of us met up to go see the Princeton – Harvard men’s basketball game here in Cambridge. In a word, it was awesome. Not just because we won, but how we did it. Nothing says awesome like last minute heroics in away games. But the game as a whole was a good time. Most of us in our group were bandies, and while we were small, we actually were as loud as the entire Harvard…”cheering” section. It was awesome. Especially because we had Harvard people, but young and old, taunting us. The best was when a middle-aged Harvard alum screamed that Princeton sucked at us just after the first half buzzer. It was sweet.

After the game, and the win, we all attended an alumni function after the game. It was definitely an upbeat affair. (We did win and everything) Free food and drinks always make for a good time. After a bit, we all decided that we wanted to go out and grab a drink of the alcoholic variety, and thus we ended up in some bar (I don’t remember the name) in Harvard square, drinking, laughing, and looking rather out of place in all of our Princeton gear. (Kudos to Kratville for wearing the Harvard Sucks shirt despite going their for law school)

Saturday was Nicole’s birthday (Happy Birthday!) and with that came a fun party for her and our friend Josh (who’s birthday was the 6th). It was an interesting mix of Princetonians and non-Princetonians. We determined that Ben and Josh needed to make more friends so they could properly fill their house with people, but there were a good number of people, and the quality definitely made up for the quantity. Now don’t get me wrong, the place wasn’t empty, it’s just that the house is HUGE and we definitely weren’t filling it.

After the party, Nicole drove the boys from porter and me back home. Now what’s interesting was that this was just as a major nor’easter was starting up. Now, when we left, the conditions weren’t bad. Nicole was taking here time, but it wasn’t anything crazy. As the night wore on, however, things changed. When I woke up, there was snow everywhere. It was piled deep. And it definitely made for a fun walk back from Nicole’s apartment where I had crashed the previous night. Thankfully, I had brought a change of cloths since we had anticipated possibly getting snowed in out in Waltham. Still, walking back was quite fun.

But yes, I have in fact survived my first nor’easter. To be honest, it really wasn’t that big of a deal to me. I wasn’t trying to drive anywhere. I was already in the city near my apartment; and I have a really good set of cold weather clothes. (I do ski, after all) But yeah, it’s definitely cool to see all this snow on the ground. I know it’s only a matter of time before it gets dirty and turns gray, but for now, everything is white and pretty. So all is well.

Anyway, my stop is the one after this next one, so I should get moving. Yeah, this train thing is still pretty sweet. I like not having to actively think while commuting. Correction, I like not having to worry about avoiding people while driving. Plus I’m saving a crap-ton on gas. It’s awesome. Plus, it forces me to get up on a regular schedule. Anyway, time to go. Lates.

Life and Times

Dude, I actually have furniture. Well, I always had some basic bedroom furniture, but now I have an apartment’s worth of it. Yeah, since I last wrote, I’ve had quite the week.

Firstly, I started living in MY apartment in Cambridge on Wednesday. I’m now officially no longer living in the boondocks. I’m actually living in the city near my friends. Well, not like down the street, but I now just live down various lines to my friends places. Mind you my place still isn’t totally settled, and I’ll be cleaning and unpacking all this week as well, but I’m living in the City. Boo-yah.

Next, I went to Ikea on Friday and purchased a great deal of furniture. I bought two tables, a sofa, a wardrobe, rugs, end tables, chairs, and a bookshelf. And what’s even better, is that everything but the bookshelf was assembled by the end of Saturday. Mind you, I got a lot of help from two of my friends (Thanks Dan and Kratville!), but my apartment is no longer bare,

Yesterday, I discovered the Costco. I’d go on, but well, all one generally needs to know is that a Costco has been visited, and the rest can be filled in by the mind.

Finally, last night, I attended a really nice Super Bowl Shindig at Dan’s place. A bunch of us Princetonians and a bunch of his friends from work got together and we all watched game and ate. It was a really good time. Dan’s coworkers are hilarious and we all had a good time making fun of various things including the game, each other, and some of the commercials. The best part, I didn’t have to race to get to North Station by some inconvenient time to get back to my Apartment. In fact, I walked Nicole back to her apartment and walked from there to my apartment. It’s so nice not having to cut my social engagements short so that I can make a train.

But as you can see, I’m really getting to a good place. I still have household goods to put away. Rugs to lay down. An office to set up, and a Piano to get moved, but I’m getting to a place where I can finally just live. It’s truly wonderful.

Life and Times