riding on the metro-o-o

It's the tiny details of life that I always find amusing. This is my favorite part of my ride on the T (which is the subway, FYI). My line is mostly underground which means that the scenery consists of random sparks that fly off the top of the train, wires attached to a concrete wall, and kids with Ipods waiting for trains that haven't come yet. My little moment of joy comes when we pop up over the Charles river and get to look at the city. This lasts only for a minute or so before we go back underground. The pic is a little fuzzy because I was taking it from inside the T car. It was kind of stormy today, hence the clouds. The other side of the river has a building that is shaped and painted like R2D2. I'm not joking. I think it's part of the Museum of Science. I'll try to get a picture of that on my next ride.

It's like MTV cribs, but not really.

I'm sick of describing what my room looks like, so here are some pictures! Next time you ask me what my room looks like, I'm just going to refer you to this handy description.

Notice my bed is right under the window. I can see into my neighbors windows and they can see me too. Kinda creepy huh? As many of you know, I was sometimes awakened by my neighbor (Sara, haha) late at night. Luckily she moved.

Also notice that hot LOST poster that was given to me by two special Laurens last year for my b-day :)

Here's my messy desk. The door on the left goes into the entryway and the one on the right is my closet.

I think i've got at least one thing from everybody - whether it be international art (thanks Karlie, Zach, and VA) a big crab hat (Jason & Elaine) or a tiny replica of Cutler Hall (hello to my favorite OU ladies). All of that stuff definately makes me feel more at home!

And the other wall. Not too fancy. That other door leads into the little alcove near the kitchen. Yes I have two doors to my room. No, I don't use both of them.

What else of note have I done this week... Oh! I met one of my new doctors and she was wonderful, which is very important, we're a team afterall :).

I started my job at Pier 1 and I'm already not too jazzed about it. I hate trying to make people buy crap that they don't need. My manager even said "there is nothing sold in Pier 1 that people actually need". So I just have to pretend that I'm super excited that I'm working there, which I can do (I worked at the mall, remember?).

the playlist

i am easily distracted by good music:
(in no particular order)
Enjoy the Silence (Depeche Mode)
shook me all night long (AC/DC)
livin' on a prayer (Bon Jovi)
I need a Hero (Bonnie Tyler)
It's all I can do (The Cars)
just what I needed (the cars)
golden path (the chemical brothers)
train in vain (the clash)
should i stay or should i go (the clash)
boys don't cry (the cure)
me myself and i (de la soul)
groove is in the heart (de lite)
faith (george michael)
baracuda (heart)
don't you want me (human league)
people who died (jim carroll band)
ring of fire (johnny cash)
deceptacon (le tigre)
TKO (le tigre)
bohemian rhapsody (queen)
under pressure (queen & david bowie)
blitzkreig bop (the ramones)
it's the end of the world (r.e.m)
just like heaven (the cure)
friday i'm in love (the cure)
goody two shoes (adam ant)
cruel summer (bananarama)
red red wine (ub40)
mr. big stuff (jean knight)
tainted love (soft cell)
instant pleasure (rufus wainwright)
man it's so loud in here (they might be giants)
move this (technotronic)
push it (salt n' pepa)
surrender (the proclaimers)
into your arms (lemonheads)
not that kind of girlfriend (smoking popes)
our house (madness)

Job, etc.

Today I interviewed for, was offered and accepted a part time job. The job pays 23.50 an hour and I would only have to work two nights a week. The tagline for my job was "Must feel comfortable wearing provocative clothing". HA!

Just joking. I actually got a job at Pier 1. It's only part time, definately doesn't pay that much and I think I just have to dress business casual. Which most of you must realize what a problem that will be for me. I'm just happy that i'll have another source of income besides loan refunds.

Tonight after class all of the Health Comm. kids went out to a sweet place downtown. It was nice to finally get to socialize. In the process I found a fellow Le Tigre fan who told me about a special dance night that sounds like it's similar to "A Danceable Solution"!!!! I guess a bunch of us are going to go sometime soon! Hurray!!! I can spread my terrible dancing all across the United States. I"ll just have to get some of you guys to come and rip it up with me. Boston needs to be let in on some of VA's breakdancing and Zach, I can't do interpretive dancing without you!

In other news, Rachele randomly ran into some of the guys on that show "Rescue Me" (the firefighter one w. Dennis Leary). It's her favorite show and she was freakishly excited about it :)

Tomorrow i'm going to listen to people talking about the healing power of art. Maybe art can heal PMS. What do you think?

Froggy

Frog on the North End. The North End is where the "Little Italy" of Boston is. The city looked like this pretty much all weekend. Effects of tropical storms. Blah!

P.S. I don't have any idea what those buildings are, so don't ask. What do you think, I live here or something?

I found it!

(The ocean, that is.)

So on Monday Rachele and I decided to take a field trip to the ocean. It only takes an hour to get there from our apartment, which is not too bad considering we're riding the T the whole time. The beach we went to wasn't very glamorous, but I was paying more attention to the water than the sand. The water was really calm when we arrived, as you can probably see in the picture. It was a tad chilly but it felt wonderful to have the sand between my toes!

I called my folks to brag that I was wading in the water. While on the phone with my dad, I placed the receiver near the waves and asked him to guess what the sound was. He said, "it sounds like a toilet." I laughed so hard I almost dropped the phone. Mom replied to a similar phone call with "Oh thanks a lot, I'm at work and you're in the ocean." We didn't get to swim b/c we couldn't find a place to change, but maybe next time. I plan on making the trip quite often, as I have never seen the ocean in the winter.

I started my Emerson class yesterday. This whole graduate thing is going to be a lot of work! :) I also started my assistanceship, which turns out to be pretty great. My grad program is assisting the city of Somerville on this huge health initiative so helping with that. Right now I'm just interviewing a bunch of people.

I'm still looking for a part-time job, and I have a few interviews at the end of the week. One of them is too funny to mention, unless I actually get the job. In that case, I'll tell you guys all about it!

The weather: 73 and T-Storms. Right now it's pouring b/c of Ophelia. My first of many rainy days in Beantown.

Our house in the middle of our street...

Ta da! Check out our very purple residence! We live on the second floor so we have the front porch with the oval shaped window. Our neighborhood is quiet, or as quiet as it can be living this near to the city. It's actually quieter than the Foster residence in Athens, a.k.a less screaming and bottle breaking by intoxicated individuals.

The only bummer is the lack of air conditioning. Apparently, the Pilgrims weren't to hip to the idea of central air. I shouldn't complain tho - I have been told that in a few weeks I will be praying to see the sun.

You may also notice the tree in the picture. The only green space in Boston not littered with crackheads... *sigh*

Orientation & such

Those of you who have been bugging me for pictures of my house will have to forgive me. I seem to have left the cord that connects the camera to the computer at home. I will have mom send it soon. I had orientation on Thursday. It was really long and pretty boring until we met the people in our program. There are 12 other kids besides me; Eleven of them are chicks. They all seem pretty cool as of now, but you never know! The head of my program is really great. In case you didn't know it's a collaborative Health Communication program between Emerson College and Tufts Medical School. Basically, I'll graduate with a degree from Emerson, but I got a sweet student I.D. from Tufts that says "Medical Graduate Student" on the bottom :).

On the Emerson side I get to do this great consulting project with any healthcare organization in the Boston area. That project kinda counts as my thesis. It's basically like another GLC (ask me about glc if you don't know what the hell i'm talking about) project but w/o the groupwork. That's at the end of my program though.

After our director explained all that jazz, we went to our first class (Introduction to Clinical Medicine). Our prof. was great, and class was really interesting. I also found out that towards the end of the semester I get to go to the Gross Anatomy Lab (a.k.a. the Cadaver lab!!). I have to keep a pretty high G.P.A. to keep my assistanceship so I'll be spending most of my time doing homework. That's not really a big stretch from my usual school routine so I should be fine.

Thanks to everybody so far who's been super supportive of my big move: I love and miss you all!

The weather today (Sunday): Partly cloudy and 70

So I'm here...

Sorry it took so long to update this damn thing, but we've basically had a fight to the death with Comcast. Anyways, I made it to Boston after a 15 hour road trip on Friday. Two things I could not have made that trip without: 1. my Dad 2. Simon & Garfunkel's Greatest Hits (haha). My apartment is great and the move went fairly well. I was pretty sad at first but then I quickly realized how dumb that was considering that I now live in BOSTON. My roommates are Kat and Rachele and are two nice ladies from New York and Ohio, respectively. I live right across from the Somerville Hospital, a block down from the fire department, and next door to a cop. I think we're ready for just about everything. We spent the day today navigating the ins and outs of the Boston Public Transportation system. We only almost went the wrong way once, so you'll have to wait for a good "Robyn gets lost" story. I've got my orientation on Thursday and start class the same night at Tufts. Tomorrow I go to meet with my advisor/teacher/head of my program/assistanceship guy, so I hope we get along.

The weather: beautiful sunshine and mid-70's. Very comfortable for my jeans & t-shirt style.