Summerville

Inman Square

I received a message in a bottle from Wisconsin today. Sorry to disappear, my friends. Now I'll tell you more than you ever wanted to hear.

Items:
-Everything in Boston is laid out in squares. Kendall Square, Harvard Square, Porter Square, etc. The thing is, the squares are actually more like octagons- six to eight different streets feed into each other and people honk and buses run into bikers and Jesse pretends not to be scared as he scurries across.
-I am close to Inman Square. I love walking in my neighborhood because people sit on their stoops and kids play ball in the park and flower petals fall from the trees. There are lots of Portugese and Brazilian people in this neighborhood, which means, among other things, that I get cheap Portugese beer and wine from Prospect Liquors. (By the way, I don't believe the liquor store in the above photo actually exists anymore. In fact, it's not a very clear or accurate portrayal of Inman Square. But what it lacks in truth, it makes up for in pretty.)
-I am on the wrong side of the tracks, apparently. Inman Square is in Cambridge (home of Harvard, hipsters and hoity-toity hooey.) If you walk one and a half blocks down to my house, you are in Somerville. My friend Jenny lives one and a half blocks in the other direction from Inman. Because she lives on the Cambridge side of the divide, she pays almost twice what I do for rent. I'm pretty sure it's jealousy and resentment that prompts Jenny and her Cambridge cronies to call my hood "Slummerville." I'm laughing all the way to the bank.
-I live with three guys. I had never met them before two weeks ago, but some of their friends knew some of my friends. Ramsey is Egyptian and he works as an IT guy at a non-profit agency. Vic builds underwater boats at MIT and he taught me how to play Bocci this weekend. Ben is in a rock band and he rides his bike everywhere in the city. They all enjoy:

• beer (they have a special little beer fridge, which Bethany said was a good sign because it means their real fridge is filled with food. True.)
• cookouts
• computers
• poking fun
• houseguests

I was going to talk about how I had a newspaper interview on Friday and how I'm temping at Houghton-Mifflin Publishing starting tomorrow, but now it's late and I have to get up soon.

Boa noite, a Portugese good night to all.