Beast of Burden

I'm listening to the Rolling Stones - more English contraband - and I have to say, this is really the perfect summer music. It makes me want to make a strawberry margarita and sit on the back porch with my sunglasses on and throw the ball for Sam. Oh how I miss my little house.

In exactly ten days, we will pack the truck and hit the road for Boston. I'm excited, of course, but terrified at the same time. Have to find a new grocery store, have to figure out the best way to get to work (as I have to start work two days after we get there) and get acquainted with the
T and such. Boston is a great city - I think I've finally figured out where I belong as a musician in the US who doesn't like New York. The fiancee and I were having this conversation last night - I think a large amount of my wanderlust is fueled by the fact that the last two places I've lived were Bloomington and Hattiesburg, neither of which conjure up images of culture or an exciting atmosphere. Every year, I know a bunch of opera singers who get this bug to live in a big city. They sell their furniture, go in together on a studio in Manhattan and spend 12 hours of their day waiting tables in hopes that, by being there, they will somehow get absorbed into the opera scene.

I am too much of a creature comforts person to do this. That and I don't really like New York. It's a great place to visit, but I wouldn't want to live there. Or near there. It's too crowded, the buildings are too tall and I always feel a little claustrophobic there. The three or four times I've been to Boston, I always feel like I belong there. New Orleans will always be home, but Boston could definitely compete. I like the notion of only using my car when I need to go to the grocery store or get out of town. Public transportation is really my idea of a dream - I can sit on the T and read my book on the way to work, I don't have to drive, I still have to leave 45 minutes early, but I don't have to find a parking space let alone pay for it, I don't have to deal with the psychos that drive in Boston (yes friends, only drove in Boston once and thought I would surely perish) and when it's snowing, I only have to get from the curb to the platform and I don't have to de-ice my windshield or dig my car out at 6:45am. *sigh*

Hope everyone has had a fantastic weekend!