Springfield, MA

"Oh, you're from Boston?"
"No, no... the forgotten half of Massachusetts, the western half."

It's true, pot holes take longer to fix around these parts and public transportation is worse than L.A. for being the fourth largest city in New England. Though I've never lived in Springfield, I think I have a pretty good sense of the city because my friend and I didn't avoid it.

Way back in the day you'd have to dress up to visit Springfield, but like most manufacturing cities after WWII, it went into decline after deindustrialization:

• 1953: Closing of Indian Motorcycle (America's first motorcycle company)
• 1960's: Closing of Milton-Bradley factory (makers of Chutes & Ladders, Life, etc. board games)
• 1968: Closing of Springfield Armory (primary arsenal during Revolutionary War)

No jobs + rise of drugs in the 1970s = crime, a lot of crime. Springfield is like a U.N. Assembly of gangs, everyone is representin', and of course, why it's generally avoided. I think more so now than then, then as in before the internet blew up. My friend and I knew Springfield was sketchy, but every town or city has those parts, so let's just go? Let's! We went to house parties, shopping, dancing, and eventually, on my own for my first job, then college. Through the years I learned how much history this forgotten city has, and how little it brags about it. If I invented basketball (no lie), birthed Dr. Suess, the American motorcycle, and pulled George Washington (yeah, our country's first president) out of retirement after the American Revolution -- I'd be the loudest mouth in Boston. I would've yelled 'NO!' to the plan that would scar my waterfront with a freeway to reach Boston faster, 'NO!' to nonsensical redevelopment plans (e.g. a huge gym next to a three level Mexican restaurant -- I never got it), and 'NO!' to a casino...

Many in the community were hesitant to bring in more money when the city has a history of organized crime circling back to the local government. On the other hand though, something, anything, had to be done before things got any worse. And they have since back in my day. I just hope MGM doesn't demolish the things that make Springfield cool in my book -- signs of its rebellious, unorthodox, spirit.

Student Prince & Fort Restuarant 
(John Pynchon didn't follow norms and wanted to live in peace with the natives. Alas, he had to build a fort on this site b/c they rebelled... don't you hate it when good intentions royally fail :/ ) 

Somerville, MA

Friends, I have reached a milestone in my life. My name is in Urban Dictionary. Normally this wouldn't be a cause to celebrate, not when the virtual dictionary defines every idiom and name in the English language. But that's just it, I don't have an English name. To the three people who added their three lovely definitions -- VIP bottle service for all y'all.

Only another wanton deed can justify yesterday's narcissism, procrastination. I had to double check (double check? good lord) the meaning before beginning to write -- and everyone else's. To my amazement, the ten people (<-- nerd alert) I researched embodied their name in a profound way. Are names just words or something more? The data is mixed. My theory, when a name represents a place, we instinctively form attributes. What comes mind when you see a town called Hazardville on the highway? What comes to mind when you learn there's a Somerville in New England? See, you're already smiling.

Interlude

And it looks like I have to apologize for the silence again. I wish it was due to research, in a way though, my recent silence is research. I stepped away from writing in this blog to see how much it meant to me. Did I forget about it? Did I miss the torture (writing is not easy)? Did something else excite me? Of course I experienced all those emotions, but in the midst of the mix (awww snap, that was a good one) I realized this blog is my anchor. Come spring, this site is going to get a whole lot of action just like its author...

::crickets chirping::

Connecticut River Pioneer Valley, MA

Boston, MA

In the subtle (but oh so significant) ways relationships change you, I feel the same applies to where you live. You won't notice it right away, true to relationships, you'll notice it after three or four years in the middle of the night on the toilet -- the seat of all life altering realizations. (Take a moment, press rewind. It's totally the truth.)

But in order to determine how a place influences someone, we can't use you in Pawtucket and me in Timbuktu in this equation. We need to begin with a common denominator and use substitution. So let's take your stereotypical sexist boar for the equation: Pr*t + P. Where Pr stands for person, t for time and P for place.

Does  * 4 years + Boston  =  * 4 years + New York City? 

In my opinion, no. Stuck at a watering hole with both swines, I can actually imagine myself having a pleasant conversation about tea and red coats with the one from Boston.

One of these things is not like the other...