moving – Page 2

Midwestern Pit Stop

October 13, 2017 by Taco

It’s time for another “move” story, this one is more of a pit stop than a true move (no, not that kind of pit stop). So gather round the fire, or Himalayan salt lamp, either or – and prepare for a story!

After graduation, a lot of last-minute Boston adventures, and a bar exam trip to Albuquerque, SB and I’s time in Beantown had come to a close. Now, in an ideal world I would have had a little more time to decompress after the bar exam, but alas, this is not an ideal world. So I ended up only having one day between the end of the most important exam in recent memory and needing to GTFO of my dwelling. As such, while most of my former classmates were now gallivanting off around the world on 1+ month long bar trips, I went home and got started on this.

Actually, now that I look at it, that was the start of it. It got much worse from there. As someone who has moved several times in their life I find that you always have way more crap than you realize when it comes time to move. Even for the relativity small amount of stuff that SB and I own it really adds up – and we even spent like 1.5 months selling stuff! The good news is that even though we felt like we had a lot for us – we didn’t really have that much in comparison to some people. So, in a very familiar series of events we found ourselves renting another box truck to retrace our steps back to the homeland. The good news there is that we got really lucky insofar as weather was concerned on the day we went and picked up our Penske – it was neither raining nor overly hot, two common things in summertime Boston.

Though we had stuck with Penske we were using a different location this time around, so rather than having to get up to Medford we only had to cross the Charles down into Allston. There, after some paperwork, we met Lucy!

Lucy was the exact same kind of Penske as Lillian was and she also had Indiana plates! This lead SB and I to go on a knowledge adventure to figure out why so many Penske trucks have Indiana plates. The answer is fairly straightforward though easy to overlook.

After picking up Lillian, SB – yes SB – drove us back up to our apartment. In a sort of “full circle” moment we crossed over the same bridge entering Cambridge as we had three years ago.

We then got Lucy all settled in front of our apartment in one of the spaces we had paid for. Yep, you have to pay to reserve a space for a moving truck, but its so so worth it.

From there it was getting down to the bloody business of the day – literally for Little Friend. Sadly Little Friend is just so dang big that he won’t vertically fit into the back of a moving truck. However, last time with Lillian I had made the mistake of putting Little Friend near the back which meant he also had to be under the rear door. That in turn required him to be even shorter, so this time I put him all the way in the front of the back of the truck which meant I didn’t have to chop off quite as much.

Despite looking rather stylish with his new hair cut he was not pleased with me. We’ve been through this a few times now, so while I’m getting better at not getting the ever-loving shit poked out of me, Little Friend still got in a few good jabs. After getting him all cropped down I had to carry him down 4 floors to the street, which was honestly one of the more difficult parts of the entire move. He is feckin’ heavy and also really tall and awkward. However, we prevailed and eventually he found his way to the front of Lucy’s bed – which at the very least he seemed to enjoy as he caused no further issues for the entire trip.

Little Friend was actually the third thing we had loaded, fourth if you count the box springs and mattress as two different things – which for the purposes of being carrying down cramped stairways they most certainly are. Our stairs were ehm… not really suited for moving. In fact when we last did this – that time the direction was up – we vowed never to do it again. I guess we sort of kept our word because we weren’t technically moving anything up – which would have cost us $500 for help 3 years ago. However, even though the direction was down it was still a lot of work. The good news is that we had sold a lot of our stuff, namely behemoth objects like Philip, so while those were difficult to get down they were at least done individually over the course of 1.5 months, rather than all in one day. HOWEVER, as mentioned, you always have more than you think you will, so what we anticipated as being an easy move ended up being much more stressful and rushed than expected.

If you’ve moved with tight deadlines before you’ll probably know that “oh my god the apartment must be spontaneously generating objects” feeling that comes when the rooms just seem to refuse to empty and you were supposed to have left an hour ago. We had that moment, for sure. As a dig to SB I blame her for inadequate preparation because I was taking the bar exam. 😛

Still, we managed, as we always do in one way or another and despite being like 1.5 hours behind schedule it was soon time for me to take the final walk through.

I always think it’s kind of interesting how different your home looks once it’s empty. It’s like you get so used to seeing it with all your stuff in it that by the time you strip everything out it doesn’t even really feel like the same place you’ve spent the past few (or many) years. In the case of our Cambridge apartment I had also forgotten just how much things echoed without the rug (which had been with us for 7 years) and all the furniture.

Traditionally I’m always the one to do the last walk-through of SB and I’s apartments. We’ve had 5 apartments so far and I think I’ve been the one to close the door on all of them. Not sure there is really any reason for that other than that if we’ve missed some minor detail that I’d probably be the one to notice it. It’s always kind of a somber experience – even when you’re most definitely ready to move on. I’ve had places I was very glad to leave, yet that final “goodbye” always feels kind of discontenting. I suppose it’s just the classic specter of change rearing its ominous head.

After heading down the stairs one last time – I joined SB and everyone else in Lucy. One thing we were doing differently this time around was that SB actually started the trip in the Captain’s chair! I started off as the assistant co-pilot to get us out of the city. I say “assistant” because the primary co-pilot was naturally a certain dinosaur (who happened to sit on the snacks in order to ration them as he saw fit).

Once we were out of the metro area and into Connecticut we stopped for gas and I took over as pilot. Earlier I said we were “retracing” our steps and I meant that more metaphorically than literally. Not only was out route more “south” this time, we weren’t even going to the same destination. However, the general state-to-state route was the same, though this time we managed to avoid a lot of the tolls we had hit previously. We had worried that we were going to get hit with a bunch of electronic polls on the Massachusetts Turnpike (which had recently been totally converted to e-polls) but fortunately that didn’t happen.

The start of our trip had clear blue skies and the Boys (and SB) were well-behaved.

Lucy also did her part, I think she was ready to get back to her home-state!

The first night we were treated to a really nice sunset as we neared our destination.

Our stop? Alaska! No, not that Alaska – Alaska, Pennsylvania. Yes, it exists. The hotel we stayed at happened to be right next to a McDonalds, so we had McDonalds for a late dinner and then the next morning the Boys creepered out the window at all the McDonald’s people (to their dismay we ate crappy hotel breakfast food, because it was free).

After that we were back on the road.

This time around we were doing the trip with only one overnight stop, whereas last time we did two. A lot of that had to do with logistics. On our way out we knew we had to unload and return Lillian all in the same day, so we stopped just outside of the Boston metro on the second day so that we could get into town earlier in the morning. On this “return” trip we knew we could just unload and park Lucy at FIL and MIL’s house, which meant a later arrival wasn’t a big deal. Now, that said we still had some Boys who were anxious to burn up the road.

While Tristen liking truck travel isn’t a surprise, Pig and Valentino are fans as well.

The Boys move around the cab a lot. They tend to alternate between the dashboard, SB’s lap, my lap – or, most frequently – right on top of all the food. Animal instincts and all that.

The trip went really well until we got to Indiana. Once we got to Indiana it started pouring rain, I found out I didn’t get a job, and traffic got backed up. Fortunately thanks to SB’s phone (Hail Google) we were able to pass up the worst of the traffic, though even our Google Overlords couldn’t do much about issues 1 and 2. Still, by the time we actually got to our destination the skies had mostly cleared up. It was also extremely humid and after a stint in New Mexico I was feeling that humidity hard. Lucy, however, was ready to take a load off (literally) so we ended up using the fact that we had made good time to our advantage and got everything unloaded that first night!

Little did we know that unloading Lucy would be the easiest part of the whole affair. The worst part was yet to come and involved organizing our entire life over the next week – a job which SB and I agree probably amounted to at least 40-50 hours (and it’s not like that is all we were doing). Of course not all was busy-work, one of the best parts about being “home” is getting to see family! The Boys made quick work of that!

The only person missing at first was Meem, as she had went straight from New Mexico out to California for work, but she caught up with us eventually!

We did have to part ways with Lucy, which like Lillian was kind of a bummer but I always like when we are actually bringing them home (kind of like Beckett!) and Lucy had a lot of brothers and sisters waiting for her!

Also, in case you were wondering – all of our plant buddies (Little Friend, Three Amigos, Rosita, Bonsai Buddy Jr.) made the trip just fine. Some of them had some “post-move depression” but MIL moved them to a sunnier spot and now they are fine! Little Friend for his part was a trooper as usual, considering we’d chopped off parts of his body and all. As a reward all of his buddies got cleaned for the first time in ages.

One does not simply mess with Little Friend’s friends.

But yes, despite the craziness of unpacking, organizing, downsizing, moving, and repacking all of our worldly possessions we found plenty of time to see family. We got to spend time with Meem, Daryl 1, DBH, FIL, MIL, BIL, my Dad, Stepmom, and Daryl 2 – as well as some extended family. I also got to see the only two non-family friends I really have anymore. That was pretty awesome since I hadn’t got to see them in over 1.5 years (largely due to a very late train). We went and saw Spider-Man: Homecoming, which was better than expected. Meem, Daryl 1, and I also went to see the Dark Tower later on, and it was eh.. not better than expected.

In addition to food, movies, and booze we did get to spend some time in the great outdoors with my Dad, Stepmom, and Daryl 2. One nice day we all headed to Spring Mill State Park – staple of many an Indiana elementary school field-trip. By my (probably wrong) calculations it had been at least 15 years since I’d been there, possibly longer.

It was a great day to visit. It was busy but really the only spot that was “crowded” was the store which sells candy (go figure).

For those of you who have no idea what Spring Mill’s schtick is (and I’m not sure why you would), it’s basically a recreated settler village (using authentic but mostly relocated structures) which has been built around an authentic and not-relocated watermill.Like most settler villages it also has reenactments complete with actors and various things up for purchase, to make yourself, or watch being made. When I was younger I was a big fan of the blacksmith, I always liked the smell.

If you look at the little blue buildings in the next photo, the one on right is where the candy is. It was swarming with people when we first got there and by the time we made it inside the candy was slim-pickings, though make no mistake I still got candy. 😀

A short drive away from the village is a cave (Donaldson Cave) that I’m pretty sure I’ve never been to – or if I have I definitely don’t remember it.

I really wanted to explore a bit, but as the cave is wet I most definitely did not have the right kind of shoes. I like my Sauconys (even if I have to put guerilla tape in them to get my big toe from busting through them) but they are in no way shape or form good wet environment shoes. They can handle long hikes in dry weather just fine, but wetness? No so much.

On our way back from Spring Mill we passed a Sinclair gas station, something I didn’t even know existed in Indiana! I have a special affinity for Sinclair stations.

In fact, so strong was that affinity that we picked up a special friend for Meem! But we’ll introduce him in a moment.

The next stop on the agenda was another thing I hadn’t been to in a long time – and something to which SB had never been to – a demolition derby! Yep, I’m busting out the Wikipedia article on that one because there are people I’ve met who have no idea what a demo is, so perhaps someone reading this blog with benefit from some dango’ knowledge.

The demo was, as expected, a lot of fun. We all really enjoyed ourselves – and I’m not just saying that because of the festival food. One thing I had forgotten about demos – or maybe I was too young to fully register it before – is how funny they are. Yes, I get how it can be frustrating for the drivers themselves, but for a totally unaffiliated audience member such as myself some of the shit that went down was outright hilarious. SB and I were especially fond of the purple and white car on the right in the photo below.

While he sadly did not win, you gotta give the dude props as he was the third from last left standing and as you can see there was essentially nothing left of his car by the time it was over.

That night we ended up staying out pretty late due to the demo so we weren’t able to give Meem her new friend right away. However, to be totally honest I think Tristen was totally ok with that because the new friend was Sinclair, the Brontosaurus!

While Tristen has a quite “manries” exterior, those who know him will not be surprised that he was very worried about Sinclair being stuck in the bag and had to make sure that he could breathe. Sinclair came through just fine, dinosaurs are tough after all! Meem got to meet Sinclair the next day and everyone took to Sinclair right away. It’s not often that we introduce new “friends” to our family and we are very picky about our company, but Sinclair fit in just fine!

Pigsten got to share some rock stories with Grandma Meem and swap some rocks for their collections. Pigsten and Grandma “Reem” are big fans of rocks and minerals.

Pigsten has a rock collection that literally spans 5,500 miles – and that’s just in a straight line, I could only imagine what his coverage would be if you calculated the square miles.

On the topic of friends, Sinclair wasn’t the only “new” friend we made, however I put “new” in scare quotes because the two other additions weren’t really new at all. In fact, they were quite old!

One of the many things we did while we were “home” was to consolidate a bunch of our stuff – which meant traveling to the different houses and going through things. During this massive excavation I uncovered a bunch of old stuffed animals and of all of them we were drawn to two little itty-bitty bears, a polar bear from Meem’s and a brown bear from my Dad’s. I think choosing the smallest things was the compromise between baby Taco not wanting to get rid of his stuffed animals and adult Taco who realizes they have no more space. So our silly few increased by two! Hey that rhymes, neato.

Towards the end of our time at “home” we went out to eat with a bunch of the family, which turned into SB and I drinking way too much both there and later at the local bar. SB got it much worse than I did and so the next day she spent pretty much the whole day recovering. 🙂

I felt pretty much fine the next day after getting some water in me, so I got to go spend some time with my Dad and see his cabin. It’s a luxurious cabin mansion set on a 3,000 acre estate, inclusive of a large swath of top-tier riverfront property. That might be a slight exaggeration, but it’s still a cabin and I still like it. Plus it’s nice to get out an see some of the areas that I don’t really get to see anymore.

That it was such a nice day made it all the more pleasant.

That evening, which was our last in town, we spent the majority of our time at Meem’s house and we all made dinner with Tristen carefully watching over the ricken’ to make sure it was to his standards (things must be perfect for Grandma Reem after all).

All the Boys played with my (and later Daryl 1’s) old car mat, which has seen some shit in its day.

It was one of the many things we re-discovered when we were going through the (literal) piles of stuff we had gathered to sort/discard/etc.

When it was getting close to bedtime we headed down to FIL and MIL’s since they were the wants trudging us all the way up to Chicago the next day since flights were far more affordable out of there. At that point Valentino formally named our two newest buddies, they are “Roland” and “Jake” which will make sense to you if you’ve read one of the best book series of all time (just forget about the movie, pretend it doesn’t exist). Roland and Jake did not come to Iceland with us, they stayed behind with all our other buddies (Old Bear Buddies, Squirrel Buddies, Sebastian & Serendipity, Pig Buddies, etc.) because they needed a bit of stability after emerging from like 2+ decades worth of hibernation. Valentino made sure they were all snuggled up before we left.

Pigsten photo-bomb with the new friends!

The next day was pretty much defined by the car ride up to Chicago. It was a full car, between FIL, MIL, SB, Me, the Boys and four suitcases plus an assortment of backpacks. Lest you judge me over being a fat Murkan traveler, those suitcases were our entire life for the year to come. We didn’t even up shipping anything except for a desktop computer (and just that, no monitor or accessories) because shipping + customs was so expensive. Basically it was WAY cheaper to pay extra for luggage then suffer moving it all around for a day or so than it was to use other methods. Believe it or not Iceland is not easy to get stuff too.. who would’a thunk’ it?

Anyways, the arrival in Chicago is a good starting point for next post, whereas it’s a good ending point for this post.

All in all, SB and I really enjoyed our trip home and our time home. Yes, it was hectic – and yes, it was stressful at times, but on the whole it was mostly nice to get a chance to see the family (and finally some friends!). I’m also thankful that Lucy gave us zero issues whatsoever (Penske 4 lyfe) and that FIL and MIL are allowing us to store most of our stuff at their house while we are going, something which saved us an undetermined number of months worth of storage fees!

In hindsight I wish that the bar exam + move + move (again) hadn’t been so scrunched together, but we managed it like troopers – all with a little help from our friends.

What’s kind of crazy is that despite how busy all that seems, it was actually a “pit stop” for us in the sense that it came between two very big events, with the Bar Exam + Leaving Boston on one side, and the whole Move to Iceland bit on the other.

Just what did that next step look like? Well, that’s a post for another day. 🙂

Until next time,
-Taco

I’m Still Here

October 5, 2017 by Taco

So, for those of you who might have been wondering, yep I’m still alive.

This has been a doozy of a hiatus here on Dinosaur Bear, though be fair I did sort of say that was going to happen. In fact I think this might have been my longest break from blogging since.. June 2014. Anyways, as is normal for me this doesn’t necessarily mean that I’ve been sitting around twiddling my thumbs. Quite the contrary in fact! Indeed, I’ve gone through a few major life shifts since we last met.

But here is the good news, I’ve actually got some posts queued up about those shifts. Check it out, I have not one, not two, not three, not four, but five posts (six if you count this one). I’m not exactly sure on what the timeline will be for those posts you know.. actually getting posted, but they are here and ready to go. The first one should drop next Monday (the 9th), which just so happens to be the same day as my first Icelandic exam (yeah sarcastic excitement)!

Half the battle has just been coming up with enough time to write the darn things. Well, pictures can also be kind of a pain in the arse when they are spread across multiple devices. Namely because they get all out of chronological order when you combine them (even with sort by date selected) so then you get to go through them at a snail’s pace to sort them all out. Anyways, slight digression there.

Point is, I am here, I am alive, and while I am no longer as easy to reach as I was once was I still plan on keeping the blog alive. I’m not sure exactly what my posting schedule will look like, but that was also sort of in flux before I even moved. Oh, about that, I live in Iceland now (if the exam comment didn’t make that obvious). Like I said, life shifts.

So, at some point in the coming days after this my first post will go up (should be Monday), and then from there the next four will trickle out in some yet-to-be determined fashion. It’s been a fairly large hiatus, yes, but I’ll make up for it by slamming out some posts.

With that said, I’ll get off here and get back to editing a paper I need to turn in this week. Fun stuff that. 🙂

Enjoy the forthcoming posts! In the meantime, if you haven’t checked out the “About Me,” “Who’s Who?” or “Rules of the Blog” pages recently you might take a gander at those as they have been substantively updated – especially the rules since I’ve recently changed my photo format to compressed/lower quality photos on the blog due to storage issues. The plus size is that a post which was once about 465 MB is now only around 25 MB, so that’s definitely a good thing – even if the quality is lower (ask me if you want a high quality version of a photo).

Until next time,
-Taco

P.S. enjoy a nice photo of a park near my home. That was back when we still had sunshine.

A Summer Interlude

July 24, 2017 by Taco

Greetings,

Welcome to Dinosaur Bear! This is going to be a short post (yes, an actual short post from Taco, believe it or not!). Basically I just wanted to post that I have no idea when I’ll be posting next (lol). Well, actually that isn’t true, but more on that in just a second.

I’m getting ready to go through a bunch of changes. The bar exam, job interview(s?), moving (déjà vu), moving again, starting a post-doc program (in another country), and so on and so forth. There are a lot of unknowns in this process which means that I have no real firm timeline on a lot of things (for instance, as of right now I still don’t have a place to live abroad). As such, I don’t know when I’ll have a time to make another Dinosaur Bear post, but rest assured I’ll definitely be generating content for that post whenever it does come.

In fact, on the day this gets posted I’ll be on my way to take the bar exam, which is effectively the beginning of my “blog blackout” period that could last upwards of a month (or longer). However, have no fear, I can guarantee at least one post in the interim. It’s going to be my “Boston Post-Game” post, which, unsurprisingly, covers pretty much the exact opposite of my “Boston Pre-Game” post from (what seems like) a lifetime ago, and is the third subject I talked about posting here.

That next post (which is a doozy, as it covers everything that happened from New Orleans to me leaving for the bar exam) should drop on August 1st and give you something to chew on until I get around to posting about the bar exam, moving, and really starting what is by most accounts a practically new life.

Anyways, if you still can’t believe that I’d write something this short (e.g. a normal sane-person type of post) then I suggest perusing some of the Dinosaur Bear archives. You can either just do a random search (see here if you are confused by wizardry), or go with some of the following suggestions by some people who appear on the blog regularly. I asked Meem and SB to pick a post they really liked (they both ended up choosing two), whereas I asked the Boys to pick some older posts that they thought didn’t get enough traffic or were just silly. I also tossed in a personal pick which I haven’t referenced in awhile and need to follow up on someday (plus a bonus full of some silliness).

SB’s Picks: North to Alaska [Part 4 of 4] and To Salem, then Danvers, and Back Again
Meem’s Picks: The Beginning and Moving Voyage: Stage 3 – Carrying Things & Settling
Tristen’s Pick: Scotland – 1, Umbrella – 0
Valentino’s Pick: Pickin’ Bluebarrahs (he also asked me to link this one: Happy Hollow and “Rushi”)
Pig’s Pick: LaCroix y u do dis?
Pigsten’s Pick: Denver Check-in #3 (Toys)
Taco’s Pick: “Top 10” – Albums (with a shout out to that “silly offspring” of the Alaska series, North to Alaska [Bonus Post])

So there’s some random posts for you to revisit (or explore for the first time). If you like posts to be suggested, I’d also check out my “5 Years of Dinosaur Bear” post if you haven’t already.

With that said, I bid you adieu for now. If you have some good vibes to spare, please address them to Taco over the next week as I could definitely use some cosmic encouragement.

Look for my Boston Post-Game post on August 1st! After that, well, time will tell. 🙂

Until next time,
-Taco

A very happy Valentino giving you a preview of the next post! 🙂

5 Years of Dinosaur Bear

July 6, 2017 by Taco

On June 6th, 2012 Dinosaur Bear entered the world with its very first post. Sure, the name has changed twice since then, but the general purpose of the blog remains the same. So, although it’s over a month belated – Happy Birthday Dinosaur Bear!

Why the Danish flag? Well, that’s because in many ways Copenhagen is the birthplace of Dinosaur Bear!

Since last time, I’d mentally decided on the next three posts. First, I wanted to address “5 Years of Dinosaur Bear,” second, I wanted to discuss graduating on a bit more of a personal level, and third, I wanted to talk a little bit what I’ve been doing these past couple of months (aside from studying for the bar). Being a fan of efficiency – and realizing that the topics were closely intertwined – I’ve decided to combine the first two posts into one – this post. The third, on the topic of my busy summer, will come later in July (hopefully).

Let’s start with the topic of Dinosaur Bear being five years old. That’s kind of crazy. I have no data, but my guess is that most blogs are abandoned long before they turn five years old. Similarly, I’d imagine that a fair number of blogs that have been around longer than five years have attempted to monetize themselves. While it’s true that Dinosaur Bear hasn’t been generating content for five straight years (there was a hiatus), it’s never been down for any significant period. I’ve also made no attempt to make money from this blog. Some people have suggested it, but I simply have no desire to do so. This blog, was, is, and likely forever shall be, a story to some future version of myself. I’m not particularly vested in generating traffic, and in fact, I’ve made some posts less attractive to search engines in order to decrease the number of people who find them (a few posts have generated a somewhat incredible number of visitors). This is not to say that you are not welcome here, anyone who might be reading this, but rather that money, plus a large readership, are not the goals of Dinosaur Bear, nor have they ever been.

My guess is that a lot of people wouldn’t be able to guess what they are going to be doing in five years. Sure, some people could, but I doubt most of us can say with much specificity what we’ll be up to in five years (either due to personal choice or plinko). However, I think I’m in one of the higher percentiles of “Are you freaking kidding me?” The person I was five years ago scarcely resembles the person I am today (and not just in good ways, but life seldom gives you a bag of apples without a few rotten ones). I can safely say, that even just five years ago (let alone 10, holy gawd) I would have very likely never have guessed that I’d still be using this blog (thanks again Meem), and I sure as HELL wouldn’t have guessed what I’d have done in those five years that was usual in generating content for it.

But, as someone much more poetic than I once said, “life is odd, with its twists and turns.” Truer words are seldom written (or spoken). As a result, the past five years have, without a doubt, been the most unexpected, craziest, and adventurous of my life. I’ve learned a lot about myself in the process. I’ll spare you the 50,000 word metaphysical treatise on what I mean by that, but the gist of it is that I think I’m getting much better at listening to “me, myself, and I” and, consequently, telling the rest of the world to “eat shit.” This isn’t without its drawbacks. I’ve found that I care about far fewer people than I used to, but care about those who are left even more. I’ve also lost a lot of empathy – though in real talk I think law school contributed to that. I’ve learned that what I care passionately about, is not what a lot of people I know care passionately about, and I’ve also learned that I don’t care. While I can completely understand your doubt if you don’t know me personally, if there is one thing I can say about the past five years – particularly the past three – it’s that I’ve spent a lot of time ignoring advice, both well meaning, and ill-informed, and, it’s worked wonderfully for me. This is not to say I’m all-knowing. Oh lawds I am not. I tumble, fall, pout, cry, rage, fail, and fail some more – but in the end I’ve made it, and I’ve “made it” in every single thing that someone told me I couldn’t. You might say I’ve defined myself as an anti-cookie-cutter, and yes, for my fellow anti-cookie-cutters out there, I’m sure you realize that doing this severs a lot of your relationships. It certainly did for me. Maybe I just happened to be surrounded by a larger-than-average contingent of people who don’t understand my desire to be different (or, possibly even more accurately – don’t want to understand), but the end result is that my “sphere” has massively diminished.

But, the thing is. I’m happier – my sphere might be smaller, but the bonds are stronger.

And, it took me a long time to realize that – much longer than five years – but I think that is my connection style, and I’ve yet to see any reason why I should should have suppressed it for as long as I did.

How is this relevant to Dinosaur Bear? Well, for one I am Dinosaur Bear. 🙂

But more pertinently, it’s relevant because if you read between the lines of all these 193 posts, you’ll see the growth of the person I now am. And, I guess if you are good at such things, probably even a prediction of the person I will become (and who knows, maybe I’ll be making a “10 Years of Dinosaur Bear” post – stranger things have most certainly happened). This is not to say that every post is philosophical, of course not. In fact, a lot of them are just me whining, and I like to think of myself as an exquisite cry-baby. Others involve nihilistic overtures of a colonoscopy, or such random topics as what kind of scissors I like, not to mention a nearly endless number of beer discussions. But, if you step back, you’ll see Taco – probably a whole lot better that most people ever will. So yes, dear internet stranger, if you follow this blog regularly you probably know more about me than most people who have known me in-person my whole life but who don’t read this blog. But, give a man a mask, and he will tell you the truth – and all that. 🙂

This is all to say that I’ve changed, this blog has changed, and likely you’ve changed. I’d like to think that there has been an upward trend, and the good news is that I think Dinosaur Bear supports that hypothesis.

Which brings me to my next point, graduation. It would be hard to distill “law school” from “Dinosaur Bear,” and in fact one could make a very strong argument that Dinosaur Bear was – at least by implication – a law school blog. If it was, I don’t think it is anymore, but perhaps it was. It was most certainly a blog about me complaining about law school (and other such random topics as people needlessly cutting you off in a foot race), but I think if you go read a blog that is really about law school, you’ll see that Dinosaur Bear is not, and was not one. Regardless of what theme Dinosaur Bear adopted (regardless of the author’s intent – a favorite author of mine, Stephen King, speaks to this much more eloquently), I’m now graduated, and can at that little “J.D.” to the end of Taco if I so wish. Taco, Juris Doctor – or is it Taco, Doctor of Jurisprudence? Maybe both. Who knows, I certainly don’t. What I do know, is that I feel categorically, wholly, undisputedly – no different than I did before having the degree. This is odd, because in the past I felt quite a bit after getting a degree, and you’d certainly think that a J.D. from Harvard would give you some feely-feels. At least, I thought it was odd at first. What do I mean by that? Well, that requires an examination of what brought me to law school in the first place. And yeah, don’t worry, I’m not about to write my memoir here – plus there is no concise and tangible answer as to why I came to law school. And that is actually more of an answer to the question than anything of substance.

Confused? Don’t worry, it’s kind of odd and confusing at the same time. The truth is that I didn’t go to law school because I was driven towards it, and law school was not an end in and of itself, but rather a stepping stone to the future, but oddly enough, not a legal future. Just what future? I didn’t know – and still don’t entirely know. Does that motivation bother you? If so, see the paragraphs above. 🙂

Now this doesn’t mean that I haven’t found some purpose beyond a stepping stone. Of course not. If you’ve read this blog for more than a post or two, you’ll know that I’ve actually grown pretty invested in a few things – most of which I was resoundingly told to avoid as being too “nontraditional” – but so far I’m rocking a pretty good success streak. No, what this merely means is that unlike someone who knew they wanted to be a lawyer, or maybe even more specifically knew exactly what kind of lawyer they wanted to be – where law school was a means to that end, for me, law school wasn’t necessarily a means to any particular end, insomuch as it was a chapter in and of itself.

As such, that I don’t feel a whole lot different because of the degree really isn’t that surprising. The fact is that I feel different because of the experiences that occurred as part of law school, almost all of which were extrinsic to the school itself. Further, I’ve refused – and I mean utterly refused to get “off track” while in law school. This might sound totally, impossibly crazy to you, but at Harvard, it’s easier to get a job with a $180,000 salary and $15,000 bonus, than it is to get the kind of job I want which will literally pay 1/4 (at most, possibly less) of that. And that 180k is a starting salary mind you, it goes up each year (so does the bonus). If your initial inclination is to call me an “ungrateful shit” at turning down such an opportunity (that’s an exact quote, by the way) I can’t say I entirely blame you, but it also shows me that you have no real insight into what I meant by “staying on track.” And – that isn’t something I’m going to explain, the answer lies within this blog if you are really curious. But, I will reiterate, the hardest part of law school, or at least my law school, was – in the words of Gold Five, to “Stay on Target.”

But I did. In fact, I knew it would be a challenge – though I didn’t understand just how big of a challenge it would be, as literally everything pushes against you. But, as I knew it would at least be a challenge, I wrote a “manifesto” to myself prior to starting law school. Of course I’m not sure a “manifesto” is the best title for it since I didn’t revisit it for three years. In fact I promptly sealed it away in the bowels of Gmail and intentionally didn’t open it again until after I’d graduated. However, I didn’t forget about it, nor did I forget about its purpose.

And – I have to say, I upheld my charge to myself. For all I didn’t know when I wrote it, I knew enough about myself to set a high bar, and I most certainly did – but I also most certainly surpassed it.

I won’t share the whole manifesto here, it’s decently long, and this is going to be a long post as-is. But I will share a segment of the penultimate line of the manifesto, as it mirrors this post quite prophetically – despite predating it by three years:

“Law is phase in my life, a brief branch in the trail. My reasoning might not make perfect sense to others, but it is my reasoning to make.”

And, true to my desire to not let THE LAW define me. I kept one little piece of pre-law me very close to the chest, and I’d like to share a brief story about that.

Ask most any law student, or law student-to-be, and they’ll say that probably the most exciting moment in the whole process is when you get the acceptance call, e-mail, or letter. In my case, I mostly got calls which were followed by e-mails and/or physical mailings. Regardless of the format, an acceptance is a wonderfully exciting moment if its a school your invested in, and even if you aren’t, its still a nice bit of affirmation. Likewise, rejections are the exact opposite – and I know those just as well. But, returning to the point, that bit of correspondence (be it digital or physical) is like a small little time capsule that forever enshrines what you felt when you got it. Maybe you don’t remember them all, but my guess is that there are at least two that you’ll never forget. I have two, and I chose to attend one of them. With Harvard, the call came first (and if you include my pre-acceptance interview, I kept that a secret for over a month from everyone except SB – which was also fun), but just before Christmas 2013 I received an email which confirmed that the phone call was real and not in my imagination (a more common thought process than you might imagine with places like Harvard and Stanford, or really any school to which your mind is blown that they actually accepted you). The e-mail, which was itself later followed by physical goodies, was mostly administrative – it’s central purpose was just to send me my ID number. But, the email was more than that. It was, right there, a “Victory” sign to me in a lot of ways. However, over time, something strange happened. The e-mail became less of a “Victory” symbol, and more of a reminder – of the person who got that email – of a person who wouldn’t take that e-mail for granted, even when it got old and law school became mundane, frustrating, and – at times – downright unhealthy.

But, for the Taco who opened that email over 3 and a half years ago, that email was a victory. At the time it was a gigantic “fuck you” to people who no longer matter, though in the ensuing months it become more of a testament to my self ability and less a middle-finger to others (though let’s be real, that can be a fun thing to think about). But, the point is, it was awesome, it was unimaginably, incomprehensibly, amazing. It was, by any stretch of the imagination, a victory – a hard earned victory – but an unexpected one nonetheless. Yet, we are fickle creatures. All those feelings would have normally faded, but I wanted to be sure that they didn’t. So I didn’t let them.

I didn’t delete that email. I didn’t archive that email. I left it right there in my inbox. The first email I ever received at my Harvard address.

And it’s still there.

And it will always be there. I will never delete that email. It will always be the little email sitting at the bottom of my inbox. Because I cannot, will not, compromise who I am.

For at the end of the day, I’ve realized that I am Harvard, but Harvard is not me.

And that email, in its own little way, reminds me of that.

And I won’t forget it.

Because to categorize me as Harvard, loses all of my nuances – it typecasts me into a mold that I’ve sadly learned is not that off-base, but the key word there is that. As law school has taught me, the exceptions prove the rule – but there are always exceptions.

So, while I may be Harvard, that’s just one chapter in my story – and, as I alluded to above, I feel as though my story is one that gets better and more fulfilling as the pages turn onward. I had said that Dinosaur Bear supported that hypothesis – so let’s take a step back and look at these past few years together, shall we? To keep the size from ballooning out of the control, I’m only going to sample one thing from every five or ten posts – but of course the ole’ search bar is right over there if you desire more. 🙂

Over the past five years, Dinosaur Bear has chronicled:

My climb of Vor Frelsers Kirke in Copenhagen.

Some Danish children and I bonding over (their first) marshmallows during Sankt Hans aften – despite not understanding each other’s languages.

My exploration of Edinburgh Castle (in the haar no less!).

A “new beginning” much like this one!

My first food festival.

My very first post devoted entirely to beer.

Getting to visit some wolf friends.

My final visit to my most favorite zoo.

My first visit to Salem, MA – subject of many legends, and more than a couple of theses. (the photo has significance, read the post)

Another 5 Year Anniversary.

SB and I’s first “solo” Thanksgiving.

My many medical escapades.

A lot of posts about the Blizzard of 2015.

The first time I ever had mead.

Its 100th post and the end of 1L.

Tristen and I’s running of the “Big Gay 5K” in Denver, Colorado.

REDЯUM.

SB and I walking the “Battle Road” that gave birth to our nation.

An extremely in-depth (and massively trafficked) post about The Brave Little Toaster.

Me and Valentino going to the Supreme Court of the United States.

“Beersgiving.”

Pig, Pigsten, and I’s arrival in the future home we didn’t yet know was ours.

A whole lotta’ sports.

A Tale of Two Brothers (and a Dinosaur).

A Cape Cod adventure and SB’s BC Graduation.

My literal and figurative climbing of mountains.

A warrior’s conquest of a castle.

Us getting to see Old Faithful.

Our trip to the Arctic Circle to see wild polar bears!

A lighthouse’s 300th birthday.

A whirlwind New England extravaganza with Meem. (we remembered the face of our fathers)

The waning hours of law school.

And, of course, my own graduation from Harvard.

And that’s only about 17% of the posts on Dinosaur Bear – and the post count is only going to grow from here.

That’s pretty crazy, and pretty awesome.

So yes, I’d like to think that things are getting better, a little better all the time. 🙂

~~~~~~

And on that note, I think it’s a good time to wrap up this post.

In parting, I’ll share one final thought.

After graduation Harvard sent out a questionnaire which asked a lot of things about our collective experience at the school, be it academic, social, professional, etc. Unsurprisingly, two of the most prominent questions were, first “Did you enjoy law school?” and, “Knowing what you know now, would you still go to law school?”

I – perhaps with appearance of paradox (or masochism) – answered “No” to the former, and “Yes” to the latter.

In actuality, the answers make perfect sense.

See, I didn’t enjoy the law in law school. Frankly a lot of law school really sucked – a quick search will reveal just how bad law school is for a given individual’s health. The law aspect of law school is not something I’d recommend. So much of that difficulty is needlessly created by the system itself and doesn’t reflect actual practice (which I enjoyed) – and on that topic you can find many an in-depth post on this very blog.

But the thing is, my law school experience was so much more than a law school experience. If there is one thing you’ve probably garnered from reading this far, is that I never viewed law school as a be-all, but rather as a chapter in the larger story of my life.

And in that regard, if Taco from three years ago said “Should I go?”

I would answer with an unequivocal “Yes.”

Because law school as a chapter – has been the most demanding, most frustrating, most stressful.. yet also, most wonderful, most powerful, most emotional, most liberating, eye-opening, mind-blowing, all around…

…greatest experience of my life.

Thanks for tagging along with me.

~~~~~~

Here’s to five more years of Dinosaur Bear – and the crazy roads that two adults, three dinosaurs, a polar bear, and a pig may travel.

Late night on a road along the Syrian border – Dinosaur Bear gets around.

Until next time,
-Taco

Boston Pre-Game

October 5, 2014 by Taco

[Warning: Lots of pictures in this post]

So, its been awhile since SB and I moved to Boston. As I write this post we’ve been about a month and a week. By the time you read this it will be more in slighty-over-two-month range. The point being, we’ve been here long enough to get past the “settling in” phase and have moved into the “life” phase. With this phase comes work and school. However, before those two things started we spent a lot of time doing fun stuff around Boston. The biggest highlight of this period was undoubtedly our Salem trip (forewarning, if you haven’t read that post yet its really long, but you should read it). Salem wasn’t the only thing we did though. We did exploring from right around out apartment, to some of the further reaches of the Boston area. The idea was simple, does as much as possible before school starts since we knew we would have very little time to do such things once it did. The basic premise of this post is to give you a very abbreviated run down of some of the things that we did. I’m limited by a couple of things. First, is time. As I start to write this its 10:45pm on a Saturday and I’ve already had two beers (Bud Light Lime, so nothing worth mentioning again). Second, is memory. Its been long enough since we’ve done some of these things that I don’t have enough details to make individualized postings. Plus, on top of those two things I don’t think I have the stamina for another Salem-esque post right now. So, keeping that in mind, lets go through a very quick run down of some of the stuff we did for our “Boston Pre-Game.” If you would like more specifics about something I mention, or have questions about something I don’t mention but likely did, drop me a comment below. There are a lot of pictures I’ve left out, primarily for the aforementioned reasons. I’ve also linked articles explaining some of the stuff I talk about in order to prevent me from going off on my typical tangents. You can either click or ignore these, dependent on your level of interest.

Our adventure starts near our apartment, at Harvard Square:

Beyond that road and gate lies one of the best (likely the best) universities in the world. Only smart people can go there, or rich people. I’m not bitter about my rejection though, I’m quite happy at Cleetus’ College of Law and Learnin’. This spot is actually about a 10 minute walk from where we live, so not too bad. Its part of the larger area of Harvard Square, which is one of the more popular squares in Cambridge.

That’s a bookstore near Harvard Square. Its not actually a Harvard bookstore, but boy do they sure push the Harvard theme.

Cambridge is actually known as the “City of Squares” which does not mean its a city full of boring people. There are squares everywhere. From where we live, if you go the other direction from Harvard Square, you get to Inman Square. Inman has a lot of cool little places, such as the Druid. One of the coffee shops (1369) had a board outside with Doge on it, so we had to stop, it was very good.

In addition to our immediate area, we headed out to Chesnut Hill to check out SB’s school, Boston College. I have to say, they have a very impressive campus.

Gasson Hall is sort of their “centerpiece” and it is a very awesome building.

In fact, many people credit Gasson Hall with the revival of Collegiate Gothic style and other universities (such as that TTT Yale) have copied it. Pretty cool. When we first entered, it was pretty epic. There was an ensemble playing music in a nearby room, so we walked into a big fancy hall with powerful classical music playing, it was pretty much straight out of a movie.

We also visited the Boston Commons. Which were actually very pretty for a commons (compared to some, which are just a field).

As you will notice above, they actually have a public area to play in the water. I wouldn’t go quite so far to call it a water park, but it has a fountain and it is totally free. I’m sure its half urine, but that is beside the point. One cool thing is that near the common there is a “Capital One Cafe” which is a PEET’S coffee that Capital One has made behbehs with. We got free fancy coffee drinks because we have Capital One accounts. Score.

Next to the commons are the Public Gardens.

They were freaking gorgeous. For the sake of space I only include one environmental shot here, but they have ponds, swan boats, statues, streams, trees, flowers.. you name it. They were the first public gardens in the Unites States and were obviously modeled after the European Style. They are SERIOUSLY worth visiting, plus they are free. They also include the famous “Make Way For Ducklings” statue.

Its normally crawling with children (and me) so they never actually have to polish it, all the people keep it clean. Love it.

After the parks we started the ole’ Freedom Trail.

If you are too lazy to click the link above, the Freedom Trail is basically a brick trail that runs by a lot of historical stuff in Boston. Its actually really cool.

One of the first stops is the Massachusetts State House (seen in the background above). Its a cool building, and yes, that is actually gold on the dome (which covers copper supplied by none other than Paul Revere). Inside we checked out the House and Senate Chambers, the house is seen below.

Shortly after that we passed through the Granary Burying Ground, seeing the grave of none other than Samuel Adam’s himself.

We also saw the grave of the woman who possible inspired Mother Goose.

Though to be historical, its very unlikely that this was the Mother Goose, as references to her go back to at least 1650. However, its possible that this was a local iteration of Mother Goose.

We also saw the grave of Paul Revere, which was covered in pennies (the exact origins of the practice are unknown, but he was a copper/silver smith, which might at least partially explain it).

Of course I left a penny, for both karmic and respectability reasons.

Another stop along the Freedom Trail was the spot of the Boston Massacre.

There was a couple making out pretty much right on the spot, I mean totally eating each others faces. It was kind of a weird choice of location, but I guess stuff such as the Boston Massacre happened so we would have such freedoms.

As we traversed the trail (which is about 2.5 miles, but you will walk a lot more than that) we were afforded a few nice views of the various Boston skylines (Boston doesn’t seem to have a “single” skyline, it has several).

We passed by Paul Revere’s house, but didn’t go in. It was a very hot day and SB wasn’t really feeling exploring an old house. I wasn’t especially sold it on, so we moved on, but we did check out the outside extensively, and of course by we I mean I.

Speaking of Paul Revere, we also walked by the Old North Church.

This is the famous “One if by land, and two if by sea” lantern church, if you have horribly forgotten your American history.

In addition to all the historical stuff we passed by some modern things, such as TD Garden, home of the Boston Bruins. (Valentino loved this).

One of the highlights of the Freedom Trail is the USS Constitution, or Old Iron Sides, if you prefer that name.

We actually timed our trip so that it was during one of the free days, which meant we got to see both the Constitution and its museum for free. Plus, we later found out that it was going to go in for three years worth of renovations just a week or two after we visited. So yeah, talk about good timing.

This area of the harbor offered up some good views of the city.

Docked adjacent to the constitution was the USS Cassin Young.

The end of the Freedom Trail is at my beloved Bunker Hill.

Why I like Bunker Hill so much is a really silly story involving video games, so I’ll spare you. The monument marks the end of the Freedom Trail.

I should note there that I cut out a lot of the stuff on the Freedom Trail, but that just gives you a reason to go walk it yourself 🙂 .

Another thing we’ve done is visit Pleasure Bay, which despite having a rather risqué name is pretty tame. Its actually just a crescent shaped bay which a couple of really nice beaches.

An interesting thing about Pleasure Bay is that planes fly right over head at they head to the airport. I mean, right overhead.

It’s probably annoying if you live next to the beach, but it was really cool for us visitors.

Out at the mouth of the bay is Fort Independence.

It was free and had a lot of historical value, so I had to check it out. It actually had some pretty nice views from the top.

You couldn’t actually explore the fort on your own, you had to take one of the free tours which was kind of odd. However, since it was free there wasn’t really much to lose so we did.

Back on the Cambridge side of things we explored some of the older areas of town, including Tory Row on Brattle Street, which was where a bunch of supporters of the English Crown lived. The Longfellow House is on this street, for reference.

Near Tory Row is Radcliffe College (now owned by Harvard), which was one of the original Seven Sisters colleges, we went and checked that out too.

A little further away is the “Radcliffe Quad” which was once housing for Radcliffe and is now undergraduate housing for Harvard (part of their House System). We didn’t actually visit the Quad on the same day, but I’m putting it here for topical purposes.

While coming back from Tory Row we ran across a street entertainer, they are slightly classier in this neck of the woods.

And yes, I tipped him, if you were wondering. I figured I probably should since I took his picture.

In this same general region is the Harvard farmer’s market.

That really isn’t the best picture of it, but it was the best I could find without digging. We’ve went there several times, getting everything from vegetables to a maple-bacon donut (yes it was awesome).

Another thing we did was take a morning run along the Charles River Esplanade.

I’m not sure what an esplanade is, but a dictionary tells me it is the same thing as a promenade, or a long open area. Either way, it was beautiful and I am really displeased that it isn’t easily accessible to us (requires taking public transit) and that my legs are in a state of dying.

Speaking of the Charles River, we went kayaking on it, which was bunches of fun. I resisted the urge to tip us over, I think SB would file for divorce.

We also saw the other famous school in Cambridge, MIT.

But more importantly, we saw the Oscar Meyer Weinermobile.

I really do think that is the first time in my life that I have seen one.

Speaking of firsts, we also took a ZipCar for the first time ever. Her name was Sharla. She took us to Target to get a mirror.

[Administrative Note: So right after I posted that last image our power went out. It was weird because it was about 12:15am and the storms had passed about 3 hours prior. We have no idea why the power went out. Anyways, the power came on about 1 hour later, so they fixed whatever it was relatively quickly (It was isolated to our building, the buildings around us still had power). By that time I was too tired to continue though. So, between the last sentence and the next one, about 22 hours has passed. Anyways, without further ado:]

Another milestone was visiting the original Samuel Adam’s brewery.

The tour is actually free, they just request you give a donation, which they give to local charities. How cool is that. Almost as cool as seeing the entire mass market Samuel Adam’s lineup.

But not nearly as cool as seeing Samuel Adams being born in the aging barrels.

And undoubtedly not as a cool as getting free Samuel Adams beers, straight from the freakin’ barrel.

Overall the tour was outstanding. I’m not sure it would be worthwhile if 1. You hate beer (or don’t drink) AND 2. You have no interest in learning about beer. Outside of both of those things, there is really no excuse not to go, because its free (excluding the donation, but that is for karma, not entry). A cool thing about the Boston brewery is that it is where they test out experimental batches of beer. So whenever a new flavor goes out to mass market, it was tested and improved at this brewery. That also means you can buy fresh growlers of the experimental batches. I did, but you’ll have to wait for the beer blurb to hear about that one. 🙂

A little closer to home is the Harvard Museum of Natural history. SB and I waited to go until I had my student ID, which allows me and one guest to get in for free. One of the highlights of the museum is is gigantic class flower collection. I’m not botany enthusiast, but it was mind-boggling how intricate and lifelike the flowers were.

The pictures really do not do them justice, it was crazy cool. The museum also houses a wide variety of creatures, including creature bones, such as this humongous Kronosaurus skeleton (Tristen Approved).

The museum was set up in sections that corresponded to different areas of the world, the Asian section had a Siberian Tiger, one of my favorite kinds of naminals. It was dead of course.

They also had a pretty impressive mineral collection, including giant geodes that made me think of Meem.

Then, right before school started my Aunt came to see us and spoiled us rotten. She took us out to eat at places we can’t afford and whisked us around in Taxis. We even got to go on a sunset boat ride down the Charles.

So, all in all, we were definitely busy. Like I said at the start of the post, I left out a lot of the smaller details and heavily truncated those that I kept in. The general idea was a speed run through the month prior to classes started and with that goal in mind I believe this post succeeded. Its interesting that by the time this is posted over another month will have passed, but this is nice summary of our Boston Pre-Game. I hope you enjoyed my fast-paced reminiscing.

Until next time,
-Taco

Midwestern Pit Stop

I’m Still Here

A Summer Interlude

5 Years of Dinosaur Bear

Boston Pre-Game

Search all of Dinosaur Bear

Disclaimer:

Subscribe