A Special Thanks, and A Promise of Adventure

It came to my attention that throughout my blog I have given shouts out to my girl, my brother, and my God, but I have failed to mention in detail the three people who have helped support me in many ways over the last couple years. These three have given me shelter when I had no where else to go, fed me when financial aid was being a dick, given me shots when life gave me lemons (the shots, by the way, were much more useful) and have just been good friends. Without their support for the last two years, I wouldn't have been down the path to Boston, and this blog wouldn't be a thing. So David and Bry Wellman, and whatshername, the other one, um  Rochelle? Raquel? Roberta? Rosanne? Ragina? The one that lives with David and Bry....um, Rachel? No that can't be right. Anyway, this is for you guys. When you come out to Boston, this is where I'm taking you.


1. The Freedom Trail. The Trail takes the visitor to 16 historical sites in the course of two or three hours and
covers two and a half centuries of America's most significant past. A red brick or painted line connects the
sites on the Trail and serves as a guide.

The trail begins around Boston Common and visits sites such as the Old North Church and ends at Breed's Hill, across from the USS Constitution, the country's oldest active duty warship.

 Old Ironsides

 Breed's Hill, where a smaller revolutionary force held out against a larger, superior British Army until the militia ran out of ammunition. 

2. Fenway Park. Home to the Boston Red Sox, it is one of the oldest functioning ballparks in the United States, with Chicago's Wriggly Field being the other. No other team in the MLB has such an identity with a field as the Red Sox do with Fenway. It holds the record for the most consecutive sold out games in the history of the MLB, a record that is growing with each season. I love baseball, and I love history, so it's only fitting that Fenway be a stop along my adventure.

3. Boston Harbor Fest. When I originally planned on visiting Boston for the 4th of July, I found that the city of Boston goes all out for their Independence Day celebration. Instead of just one day full of fireworks and fun, they dedicate two to three weeks to commemorate how awesome they were at defeating the British. Fireworks, reenactments, you name it, they do it.

4. The Chowder (pronounced Chow-dah) I've heard great things about Boston Clam chowder, and when I was a kid, southern style clam chowder was my favorite soup. In 1976, after bootlegging a truck load of Coors beer into Atlanta, the Bandit drove on up to Boston for some of this infamous chowder. If only I knew where he got it.

5. The Bell in Hand. America's oldest drinking establishment. Founded in 1795 by Boston's last Town Crier, the same man that spread news of the Boston Tea Party and the birth of a new nation. The Bell is proud of keeping it's doors open continuously throughout it's 200 year history except for a little break during this thing known as Prohibition. Paul Revere drank here, so did Daniel Webster. This one is for David since it traditionally hasn't sold hard alcohol, only ale, though the girls can enjoy a good meal in the country's oldest tavern.

6. The city of Boston. I'll just fill up the last part of this blog with pictures of the amazing city that I will be calling my home in four short months.The history, the art, the music....Boston has it all. Here's to making you jealous and sharing with you guys the new home that is possible in no small part because of you. Thank you, and come visit.

My School

My new home

And Rising From the Ashes, a New Beginning

"Dear Wesley,

Congratulations on your acceptance to the College of Liberal Arts at the University of Massachusetts Boston for the 2012 Fall semester. We believe you have demonstrated the academic ability and personal determination to be a successful student at UMass Boston."

When I saw the size of the envelope, I knew I had been accepted. What rejection letter would be sent in such a large package? But it wasn't until I read the second sentence of my acceptance that I got really excited. I had been worried for what seemed like an eternity, but was actually only five nerve-wracking days, that I would not be accepted since the requirement for an academic recommendation letter had been waived. This concerned me quite a bit so I immediately emailed the Office of Undergraduate Admissions to ask what had happened. Their response was a textbook example of need-to-know,

 "At times our admissions team will make a decision on an application even when we have not received a recommendation letter. This is neither a bad sign (n)or a good sign. It simply means that our staff felt comfortable issuing a decision on your application without receiving a recommendation."

This almost convinced me further that I had lost out on this great opportunity. To cope with it, I began trying to look on the bright side of denial, like all the money I'd been saving for travel could now be used however I saw fit - xbox, desktop upgrades, bus passes for summer school, etc. I began to fill my summer with fun events to take my mind off of the pain of not knowing. For five days I did this. It almost became bearable. Then Thursday night I was at work for what amounted to about my tenth hour on the clock (Thursdays I start at 6am, get off at 11:30 go to school at 1:30, get back at 4:40, and clock back in a 5 until closing, usually around 9 or 9:30 pm) when I got a phone call from one of my room mates claiming that there was an issue with Property Management and I should come back that night to deal with it. Having been awake for about fifteen hours, the last thing I wanted to do was deal with seemingly complicated situations, especially in light of my imminent refusal from my dream school. Taking Kathy along for moral support and advice if needed, I got to the apartment around 10 o'clock at night. Still committed to giving me a hard time, Bry started talking about some nonsense about cats and whatnot. Tired and confused I allowed this to go one for a few minutes until David got impatient and handed me the the large (approx 9x12) envelope from UMass Boston. I immediately knew I'd been accepted and when I read the second sentence I knew that I had been accepted to the school I was meant to attend. All the hard work and effort I had put forth over the last year had finally paid off. The celebratory shots were waiting in the freezer as I immediately logged on to facebook to make the first of many going away events for the summer and planning all the things I want to see and do in my new home.

I'm shipping up to Boston!