4.1 Alexander moves to Boston

I moved to Somerville, Massachusetts the beginning of this month. This is located in the greater Boston area, on a central subway line. I got a job near my house, at the UPS Store. While this job requires me to gain a great deal of technical knowledge over the course of a very short time, the job itself is very low stress, and I leave feeling unscathed and restful. Depending on how long it takes to close, I sometimes walk out to see the night’s sunset. I came to Boston on the Megabus, which only lets you check one bag. I left the rest of my things, including my bike, all my shoes but one pair, and nearly all my books, in New York. Those things are still there now, and I plan to get them eventually. I brought an air mattress that deflates so much that the fitted sheet often comes off by morning. The air mattress took up much of my one checked bag.

I chose to come to Boston by a process of elimination. I didn’t want to live abroad anymore, nor in Texas, nor the South, nor the Midwest, nor the West Coast. I wanted to live in a big city. I didn’t want to live in New York, where people seemed to me terribly self-involved. I think this self-involvement is the perverse result of the hysterical value New Yorkers place on self-sufficiency. I remember being on the Boston subway system once. A crazy man started screaming, and people were staring frankly at him. It was so refreshing. In New York, they would have all totally ignored it. Little things like that are what make New York so off-putting to me.

So I tentatively chose Boston. This decision became more and more definite as several friends, for one reason or another, decided to settle in the Boston area as well. I think my contentment in a place is directly influenced by my sense of community there, so it all panned out very well.

Though I am happy with my choice, I don’t think I will ever settle permanently in New England. Too brittle, too milquetoast, too gauche caviar. I refuse to be satisfied with anything, and much prefer to travel this wide old world, aloof from and contemptuous of everything I see, shrinking from touch, resenting what little love I am given, building walls around me which my soul can press against and be cradled by.

Incidentally, Josh Levin and I are starting a band.