why everything is for sale

the main point of this blog is to record the daily process of fulfilling my grant. before, during, and after. this is important to me for two reasons: first, keeping in touch. its like a super deluxe mass email, only its at-will, and wont fill your inbox. second, i can use it to create my mandatory monthly reports, something im sure i would rather do last minute, but would be better with piecemeal observation. these benefits outweigh my instinctual reluctance and apprehension to 'blogging' so i hope i get in the habit of making an effort. and because these reasons are more or less self-serving, i hope to make it a good show.
also, i learned some good tips from past grantees blogs and hope to make this somewhat useful for whomever is in my position next year.

anyway, right now things are mostly chaotic. pre-departure organizing has been an adventure in communications and paperwork, and thats just the bureaucratic side of things. the to-do list is tiring and long. one task of this weekend is to purge. you would be surprised at the interest in a moving sale on a weather-threatened saturday morning.
its not just me, 'home' home is moving too.
packing lightly is always a good thing, and double relocating is all the more reason. just as long as the 'trash and give away' pile remains bigger than the 'keep' pile, its progress.


maybe not everything though.

snowed in

after the last two years of boston winters under the influence of global warming and spending the majority of this years on a west coast beach, it was nice to wake up to this:



the forecasted blizzard was actually nothing but 6 inches of soft pretty mess. doctors and shots were still open so i can check hep A off the list. according to the cdc, its a good idea to get lots of shots before you go on a trip like this. while my doctor may not agree, id rather be overly safe. hep A breeds in places with unsanitary conditions, fancy bars in new york, and is quickly passed through food and water. at the least it will screw up your liver. so my left shoulder takes one for team healthy.

with love, from mom

its time to start packing. or at least unpacking things to pack. this is my favorite so far:


i really cant imagine another situation in which my mother would so enthusiastically gift me a set of hypodermic syringes.