Wanderlust

Summer 2009: Ipswich River Basin Hiking (MA)

2009-08-07T10:21:00.000-07:00

Summer 2009: Manchester, NH , and Singing Beach

2009-08-06T20:21:00.000-07:00

Summer 2009: One of the Boston Harbor Islands

2009-08-06T19:14:00.001-07:00

George's Island in the Boston Harbor.

Call of the Geek: New York Comic Con 2009

2009-02-10T20:16:00.000-08:00

Hopped a Bolt Bus that conveniently dropped us (me and Melissa) off a few blocks from the convention center.

A few photo highlights:

Japan: Ten Times Strong

2008-12-03T20:27:00.000-08:00

I just returned from my tenth trip to Japan.

My cousin got married, and I was able to take off work and go.

I was in Zushi, but made it to various locations in Tokyo, Yokohama, Mitaka, and Kamakura.

Photos to come, promise.

Not like that time I promised to post photos of my trip to Turks and Caicos.

"Not all who wander are lost..."

2008-09-12T20:43:00.000-07:00

I just saw that did not post 1 time during August.....

I guess I was busy wandering.

Eeeking out that last month of summer in between packing and moving, and those last minute projects at work.

I'll be attending the Boston Tattoo Convention this Saturday. I'll bring my camera and hopefully get some cool shots to post, or at least some entertaining(?) ones.

I'll revisit the beaches I made it to over the summer, some great, some good, some strangely brown.

I'd like to reminisce about Jamaica Plain, where I moved away from this past month.

These are my goals for this blog....let's see if I can stick to them.

Harvard Museum of Natural History, Cambridge, MA

2008-07-20T20:03:00.000-07:00

After some pancakes and bacon.....off to the Harvard Museum of Natural History!

Easily still one of my favorite places in the Greater Boston Area. I loved the first time I went there, and still enjoy it. I just don't get tired of the exhibits there, and I always learn something new.

Don't get me wrong, it is a small museum, but there are a lot of amazing things in it, that I haven't seen elsewhere. (Tapeworms from the stomachs of Boston Socialites!!!!)

There was a new permanent exhibit:
ARTHROPODS: CREATURES THAT RULE.

(Also known as "Creepy Crawlies!")

I loved it! I love BUGS! I always have. I would spend hours as a child both in Mississippi and Japan catching everything I could with my little net, putting it in my designed-especially-to-hold-bug carrier: an aqua blue camera! (Yes, a camera...go figure...those crafty Japanese!) It was like mesh, but plastic, and where the camera "lens" should be there was a plastic window to see the bugs closer, the front would slide open to put them in, and later to let them out. (I was an easily amused child.)

I was also thrilled to see the special exhibit that I had been dying to see for months: Sea Creatures in Glass. (By the same father and son team, The Blaschkas, that did the glass flowers that are on permanent display at the HMNH.)

Here is a blurb about the glass sea creatures:
Sea Creatures in Glass
Through January 4, 2009

Many years before they were commissioned by Harvard University to make the “Glass Flowers,” father and son artists Leopold and Rudolph Blaschka meticulously shaped glass and wire into lifelike models of marine animals.

This new exhibition features dozens of these spectacular glass animals, many on display for the first time since Harvard acquired them around 1878. Combined with video, real scientific specimens, a recreation of the Blaschka’s studio, and a rich assortment of memorabilia, these models of marine invertebrates offer intriguing insights into the history, personality, and artistry of the extraordinary men who created them.

I would recommend going purely for the sights they offer, and in this recent heat spell we have had, the A/C in the museum feels pretty awesome.

Crane Beach, Ipswich, Massachusetts

2008-07-19T19:42:00.000-07:00

Today, for a nice "day at the beach", I went to Crane Beach in Ipswich, Massachusetts.

A friend said that it was probably the best beach in the area, and after going there for the first time, I might have to agree.

This beach, as well as several other locations around the state of MA, are part of The Trustees of Reservations. Basically, some people with money started buying natural land around the state in order to preserve it for future generations. Great idea, and if I had the money I'd be doing the same thing.

I guess it technically wasn't my first time there.....last summer my friend, Ryan, got married on the Crane Estate/Castle Hill. Then I was pretty awed by both the estate and ground surrounding it, rolling green hills.

I guess the newest addition was to the boardwalks to the beach. They had painted poetry on each step.

"Poetry in Action" they call it, and the poem is titled "Align".

Align

This beach has a history of habits.
the moon, a constant clock,
has always given rise to tides
wave by wave
the water wakes and sighs
shortens the sand
lengthens a swim.

The wind
has always known
how to nudge
and urge
the sand into action,
setting a dune on
a blade of grass
a foothold for
more wind
tangling the memory of
a pitch pine’s roots.

The sun signals
the terns
to journey,
a compromise
for more daylight.
the birds adjust, nest in our tracks,
because it makes,
for a fledgling,
a future.

The lee of this chain
has been under the guidance
of the moon, the wind, and the sun
sage counsel to this,
our changing beach.
These are the habits
that a beach can honor.

*

Our habitat of habit is gilded
glossy and glaring,
we burn like the sun
assert like the wind
a pushy moon
sere and surge.

Our wrack line seedless
our water, a faucet left on
a cumbersome coil
an indirect route
a spill.

Our errands, bulked up
by consumer muscle,
not graceful and direct on legs
like the plover
nothing like the fleeting
shadow of wingspan.

Our thirst sharper than salt,
we need, buy, sell, discard
more

All
to get away
for a day like this
separate and splendid
from indoor life
to pretend proportion
and feel small against the sea.

*

To be small again,
let morning light illuminate you
wave water cleanse you
the breeze power you
and let your footsteps,
a simple shift
from sole to sand,
fall lighter on this earth.

Find a second life
for all
that you own
bury nothing,
but let it tumble
in a new
and useful way
bring home only what you need
need less.

Align with the sun, the wind and the moon
in their difficult work
to erase our footsteps
our surfeit
blend in like the plover
cast a shorter shadow
shift like the dune
adopt an inconvenience
so that we may keep
the sea
level.

Colleen Michaels
April, 2008

Chinatown, Boston

2008-07-03T12:04:00.000-07:00

I went to Chinatown for lunch today.

"DUMPLINGS" is the magic word.
Amazing, amazing dumplings.

I recommend going to "Wings Kitchen: A Taste of Shanghai".
(23 Hudson Street, Boston, Massachusetts)

Also they apparently opened a Dunkin' Donuts recently. The best part was that the real sign was in Chinese, while there was a cheap plastic sign in English.

I love you, Chinatown.

Nantucket: Revisited

2008-06-24T07:33:00.000-07:00

A little behind on the posting, but thank goodness for internet access at work.

During the first weekend in June, I went to Nantucket for my niece's wedding.

The first time I ever went to Nantucket was about 15 years ago, during the winter, and it was freezing! My trips after that were predominantly during the winter, as well. Finally, I made it to the island during the summer -- the place is crazy!

Talk about tourists all over the place! I took the Plymouth and Brockton Bus to Hyannis, then hopped onto the Hyline Ferry. The bus ride was a little over an hour, and I took the fast ferry, so that only took 1 hour to drop me off right in downtown Nantucket.

I usually stay at my brother's place, but for the wedding I stayed in the Jared Coffin House. Considering it is peak season, I got a pretty good deal -- $125/night for a single bed -- since I was only staying 2 nights. JCH is literally a five minute walk from where you get off from the ferry, plus it's on the same street as the only decent iced coffee, Island Coffee, plus a bookstore next door and food at the Den of Thieves, all on Broad Street.

A few photos:

Brant Point Lighthouse.

Compass street.

Almost all the houses have fresh flowers on their doors.

A boat near downtown Nantucket.

San Francisco: Remembered

2008-06-23T11:01:00.000-07:00

Panorama of the Golden Gate Bridge. (It had just rained.)
*****

I went to San Francisco in October 2007, for wedding.
(Yes, weddings seem to be my predominant reason for travel recently.)

I don't think I ever got around to posting photos of that trip, so here are a few of my better shots.

These babies are tasty!

Just some boats, I liked how they looked.

Redwood forest.

Sausilito.

Spelling optional?

2008-05-28T09:37:00.000-07:00

My friend, Henry, emailed me a great photo that he saw on his way back from his most recent trip. It is a HSBC sign he saw as he was de-planing in JFK airport.

I might have an account with HSBC.....might be time to close it. Here I thought I was "privieged" to have an account with them. HA! I think the proof-reader might have gotten fired for this one. I actually wonder if anyone has reported it yet?

Let's play Charades!

2008-05-19T08:03:00.000-07:00

I leave in less than 24 hours for the Turks and Caicos!

To get around the island, I will be renting from Avis a Daihatsu Charade.

I looks like a can for sardines, but what...e.v.e.r! I will be in the sun having fun!

YAY!
Wanderlust about to get fulfilled!

Wanderlust: A very strong or irresistible impulse to travel.

2008-05-17T13:22:00.000-07:00

How to say "wanderlust" in different languages:

Arabic: شَهْوَة السَّفَر
Chinese (Simplified): 旅行癖
Chinese (Traditional): 旅行癖
Czech: cestovní vášeň
Danish: rejselyst
Dutch: reislust
Estonian: rännukirg
Finnish: vaellusvietti
French: passion du voyage
German: die Wanderslust
Greek: λαχτάρα για ταξίδια
Hungarian: mehetnék
Icelandic: útþrá, ferðaþrá
Indonesian: keinginan bepergian
Italian: (desiderio di viaggiare)
Japanese: 旅心
Korean: 여행열, 방랑벽
Latvian: ceļošanas prieks
Lithuanian: kelionių aistra
Norwegian: reiselyst
Polish: zamiłowanie do włóczęgi
Portuguese (Brazil): paixão por viajar
Portuguese (Portugal): gosto de viajar
Romanian: pasiunea de a călători
Russian: страсть к путешествиям
Slovak: záľuba v cestovaní
Slovenian: veselje do potovanja
Spanish: pasión por viajar, ansia de ver mundo
Swedish: reslust, vandringslust
Turkish: seyehat, *yolculuk tutkusu