So I went from this:

Suburban Upstate New York

To this:

Urban Cambridge Massachusetts

It's not called the Halfway House for nothing.

The Halfway House

It's been just a couple days over two weeks, and I'm doing awesome. Loving every minute, or close to it. I love the freedom of being out on my own, love having my own schedule, love dealing with getting my own food, even don't mind doing my own laundry. Not to say I don't love my friends and family too. But still.

Unpacking was fun. Apparently the person I'm subletting from played a tap-dancing stormtrooper in a student-written Star Wars musical. And there were... fun things left in the closet. And I couldn't resist, if just a little.

Stormtrooper

It was beautiful for the first couple days of being down here, but lately it's been not as good - muggy, hazy, too hot, etc. Though today was better than the last couple. Here's Boston from Cambridge, two weeks ago:

A Beautiful Day in Cambridge

My house isn't air-conditioned, but the Media Lab is -- so it works out okay since I spend the middle part of my day there anyhow. I've been thinking about getting a window AC unit, but the trouble with relying solely on bike, public transport, and foot to get around is that it's a pain in the ass to move around large objects.

I love the Debian scene down here too. There are some great people, and since the rest of my college class doesn't arrive until August, I've mostly been hanging out with them. There's this bizarre feeling of connection with other Debian people. Not to mention I'd already met some of them when I was down in April.

Last Friday I went out and biked around Boston with Boston's Critical Mass. It was pretty exhilarating and fun. (This is before; I didn't really feel like biking and taking pictures at the same time.)

Before Critical Mass Boston

And afterward there was an Acetarium sushi party which involved meeting Joe "Zonker" Brockmeier, who writes for Newsforge/Linux.com/etc.

Yesterday I went out to visit the Boston Harbor Islands with Mako and Mika (nobody else showed up -- too early or something).

Mika, Mako, and Me in Boston Harbor

They were pretty damn nice, if I don't say so myself. The weather held up as decent, and although the ferry out from Boston costs money, the inter-island shuttle is free for moochers who want to cruise from island to island around the harbor. The islands weren't even that crowded, which was surprising considering their proximity to Boston and abundance of pretty nice beaches.

Of course, come August it will probably become impossible for me to hang out with Debian people 5/7 days a week. So, gotta stock up... y'know, before they kick me out and stop feeding me awesome vegetarian food...