Sunday, June 14, 2009
Valley Forge NHS
My trip to D.C. didn't work out for this week (soon! soon!), so I decided to go to another one of our nation's capitals. I live by the first one, New York City, which was the capital for a year. This weekend, I headed down to Philadelphia, our country's second capital (from about 1790 to 1800). First stop, though, was Valley Forge, just northwest of Philly.
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Saturday, June 13, 2009
"We Hold These Truths..."
On my last full day in Boston, I headed into the center of town, Boston Common. I gave in and took a tour with someone dressed in period clothing. During this whole trip, the only re-enactors I came across were at the DeCordova Museum (ironic, right?!), so I thought this wouldn't brand me as too geeky. I'm totally fooling myself, right? Well, I took a two-hour walking tour nonetheless. It lead us through the Granery Burying Ground, north of the Common, over to the Old State House (site of the Boston Massacre), finally over to Faneuil Hall, where colonials like Sam Adams whipped up public sentiment against the Crown.
As with so many things in life, the roots and the history of the American Revolution are complex and not nearly as succinct as our national mythology would lead us to believe. For instance, the notion that it was a struggle between slow, Old-World military tactics and the rag-tag, go-for-broke rebels with an unheard-of guerrilla fighting style is not true. There's lots of evidence that we not-so-much won the conflict, as Britain gave up because of the incredible fiscal and political pressures it was finding itself in Europe.
Another myth is that the American colonists were fighting to combat 'taxation without representation'. Again, evidence is very much against this. In fact, there were overtures to having the colonies send Parliamentary representatives. This would be very bad though, as they would constantly be out-voted and not able to used the 'taxation without representation' line. A great deal of the colonists, some of them we come to call our Founding Fathers, wanted to be seen as English gentlemen, something that would never happen due to to class and geographical distances.
A good example of the myth-making we engaged in (and still do) is evident in
the fact that in the Granary Burying Ground has two headstones next to each other. Actually, the headstones do not correspond with the actual graves, as everything had been moved from different places. However, these two particular markers are for Paul Revere, a silversmith (and occasional dentist - what?!). In the photo here, the right shows the original tombstone. On the left, there's another marker for Paul Revere, this one conspiciously added after the publication of Henry Wadsworth Longfellow's 'Paul Revere's Ride', a case of myth-making at its purest. Here are the opening lines:
None of this, absolutely none, makes me less awestruck at what 'we' accomplished. More to the point, it doesn't make me any less proud to be an American. This country is made by war and suffering and slavery and oppression, no doubt. But it's also made by an idea, a myth. As we continue to evolve, that myth grows to include women, African-Americans, the destitute, the marginalized. It's being done unbelievably slowly, criminally so, but it is being done. Indeed, myth doesn't mean lies, not when you have knowledge. My favorite writer, Joseph Campbell said that myths are 'transcendent truths'.
Like the truths we hold self-evident.
As with so many things in life, the roots and the history of the American Revolution are complex and not nearly as succinct as our national mythology would lead us to believe. For instance, the notion that it was a struggle between slow, Old-World military tactics and the rag-tag, go-for-broke rebels with an unheard-of guerrilla fighting style is not true. There's lots of evidence that we not-so-much won the conflict, as Britain gave up because of the incredible fiscal and political pressures it was finding itself in Europe.
Another myth is that the American colonists were fighting to combat 'taxation without representation'. Again, evidence is very much against this. In fact, there were overtures to having the colonies send Parliamentary representatives. This would be very bad though, as they would constantly be out-voted and not able to used the 'taxation without representation' line. A great deal of the colonists, some of them we come to call our Founding Fathers, wanted to be seen as English gentlemen, something that would never happen due to to class and geographical distances.
A good example of the myth-making we engaged in (and still do) is evident in
the fact that in the Granary Burying Ground has two headstones next to each other. Actually, the headstones do not correspond with the actual graves, as everything had been moved from different places. However, these two particular markers are for Paul Revere, a silversmith (and occasional dentist - what?!). In the photo here, the right shows the original tombstone. On the left, there's another marker for Paul Revere, this one conspiciously added after the publication of Henry Wadsworth Longfellow's 'Paul Revere's Ride', a case of myth-making at its purest. Here are the opening lines:Listen, my children, and you shall hear
Of the midnight ride of Paul Revere,
On the eighteenth of April, in Seventy-Five;
Hardly a man is now alive
Who remembers that famous day and year
None of this, absolutely none, makes me less awestruck at what 'we' accomplished. More to the point, it doesn't make me any less proud to be an American. This country is made by war and suffering and slavery and oppression, no doubt. But it's also made by an idea, a myth. As we continue to evolve, that myth grows to include women, African-Americans, the destitute, the marginalized. It's being done unbelievably slowly, criminally so, but it is being done. Indeed, myth doesn't mean lies, not when you have knowledge. My favorite writer, Joseph Campbell said that myths are 'transcendent truths'.
Like the truths we hold self-evident.
Minute Man NHP
After Walden Pond, we headed north to Minute Man National Historical Park. It's in pieces and cuts through Concord, Lincoln (I think) and Lexington. Concord and Lexington is, of course, considered the opening battles of the American Revolution. About 700 British army regulars were sent to Concord to take away the militia's supplies. Colonials tried to stop them at Lexington, but the Redco
ats pushed west and met their match at Concord. This is where the westernmost part of the National Park site is located, at a place called North Bridge (you can see it in a few of my photos). The militia beat the Regulars back to Lexington and, with more and more reinforcements from the colonials, eventually all the way back to Boston.
Ralph Waldo Emerson immortalized the conflict at North Bridge as 'the shot heard 'round the world' in his Concord Hymn. Personally, I first knew about this place from the Schoolhouse Rock episode of the same name. God - those things were so damn great. Even then, I liked the American history ones more than the others.
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ats pushed west and met their match at Concord. This is where the westernmost part of the National Park site is located, at a place called North Bridge (you can see it in a few of my photos). The militia beat the Regulars back to Lexington and, with more and more reinforcements from the colonials, eventually all the way back to Boston.Ralph Waldo Emerson immortalized the conflict at North Bridge as 'the shot heard 'round the world' in his Concord Hymn. Personally, I first knew about this place from the Schoolhouse Rock episode of the same name. God - those things were so damn great. Even then, I liked the American history ones more than the others.
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Neck-Beards and The Butter Rebellion
Jamie and I headed for Walden Pond today (Saturday, 6/6/09). It was pretty great to find this place on the map as I was looking for other places. It's located west of the DeCordova Museum and southeast of Concord - North Bridge, where I'm heading next. Walden Pond is most famous for being the site where Henry David Thoreau set up a cabin and lived the natural life, depicted in Walden. The first sentence of his Wikipedia entry reads as follow:
The title of this post comes from the fact that, apparently he sported one and thought that women would be all about it. However, Louisa May Alcott supposedly told Ralph Waldo Emerson that Thoreau's facial hair "will most assuredly deflect amorous advances and preserve the man's virtue in perpetuity." That awesome diss (!) brings up the fact that the Concord area was teeming with authors and thinkers at this time. Besides Emerson, Thoreau and Alcott, there was Nathaniel Hawthorne (also from Salem, MA), Margaret Fuller and Ellery Channing. Just a few miles north of Walden is a house called The Wayside, also called The House of Authors (I went on Monday - closed).
Another part of his legend states that, even though he attended Harvard, he refused to pay the $5 to receive his diploma, saying "let every sheep keep his own skin". The best part of the story is that there was no academic merit to the diploma, since Harvard College offered it to graduates "who proved their physical worth by being alive three years after graduating, and their saving, earning, or inheriting quality or condition by having Five Dollars to give the college." Adding to the lore, his maternal grandfather supposedly led the "Butter Rebellion" at Harvard, where students reacted to the bad food. A quick jump over to Wikipedia also talks about the "Bread and Butter Rebellion of 1805" and the "Cabbage Rebellion of 1807". Those proto-Transcendentalists were all about their food!
There's a lot more interesting stuff to know about Thoreau, so I suggest you pick up a book about him. He was one of the first Americans to support Darwin's theory of evolution. He was also a stalwart abolishionist. In fact, the reason he gave for not paying taxes was the Mexican-American War and slavery. The fierce abolishionist John Brown was derided at first for his actions at Harpers Ferry, where he led a raid on a U.S. arsenal to help cause an armed slave rebellion, only to be crushed by a Col. Robert E. Lee. However, because of Thoreau's speech on the matter, Brown came to be accepted as a martyr for the cause. People even started singin about John Brown's body to a tune we know better as 'Battle Hymm of the Republic'.
Maybe most interesting is his influence on later thinkers. Mahatma Gandhi once told a reporter that:
It's a long quote, but when Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. tells you who influenced him - well...I think it says a lot about a man who embraced 'simple living' for two years by a pond.
Henry David Thoreau (born David Henry Thoreau; July 12, 1817 – May 6, 1862)[1] was an American author, poet, naturalist, tax resister, development critic, surveyor, historian, philosopher, and leading transcendentalist.Pretty awesome first sentence. The area is now a state park and seems to get pretty crowded. There are a few swimmers in the lake (looking like they're training) and we ran into quite a few people on the paths. The cabin you see in the pictures is a recreation, located by the parking lot. The cabin site is about 3/4 of a mile from there, with nothing there except stone posts where archeologists say he lived. He was there for two years and, contrary to what I thought, wasn't living in the total wilderness. He was on the edge of town and the family home was 1.5 miles away. In my mind, however, that takes nothing away from his attempt at simple living.
The title of this post comes from the fact that, apparently he sported one and thought that women would be all about it. However, Louisa May Alcott supposedly told Ralph Waldo Emerson that Thoreau's facial hair "will most assuredly deflect amorous advances and preserve the man's virtue in perpetuity." That awesome diss (!) brings up the fact that the Concord area was teeming with authors and thinkers at this time. Besides Emerson, Thoreau and Alcott, there was Nathaniel Hawthorne (also from Salem, MA), Margaret Fuller and Ellery Channing. Just a few miles north of Walden is a house called The Wayside, also called The House of Authors (I went on Monday - closed).
Another part of his legend states that, even though he attended Harvard, he refused to pay the $5 to receive his diploma, saying "let every sheep keep his own skin". The best part of the story is that there was no academic merit to the diploma, since Harvard College offered it to graduates "who proved their physical worth by being alive three years after graduating, and their saving, earning, or inheriting quality or condition by having Five Dollars to give the college." Adding to the lore, his maternal grandfather supposedly led the "Butter Rebellion" at Harvard, where students reacted to the bad food. A quick jump over to Wikipedia also talks about the "Bread and Butter Rebellion of 1805" and the "Cabbage Rebellion of 1807". Those proto-Transcendentalists were all about their food!
There's a lot more interesting stuff to know about Thoreau, so I suggest you pick up a book about him. He was one of the first Americans to support Darwin's theory of evolution. He was also a stalwart abolishionist. In fact, the reason he gave for not paying taxes was the Mexican-American War and slavery. The fierce abolishionist John Brown was derided at first for his actions at Harpers Ferry, where he led a raid on a U.S. arsenal to help cause an armed slave rebellion, only to be crushed by a Col. Robert E. Lee. However, because of Thoreau's speech on the matter, Brown came to be accepted as a martyr for the cause. People even started singin about John Brown's body to a tune we know better as 'Battle Hymm of the Republic'.
Maybe most interesting is his influence on later thinkers. Mahatma Gandhi once told a reporter that:
"[Thoreau's] ideas influenced me greatly. I adopted some of them and recommended the study of Thoreau to all of my friends who were helping me in the cause of Indian Independence. Why I actually took the name of my movement from Thoreau's essay 'On the Duty of Civil Disobedience,' written about 80 years ago."Another civil rights leader said this about Thoreau:
Here, in this courageous New Englander's refusal to pay his taxes and his choice of jail rather than support a war that would spread slavery's territory into Mexico, I made my first contact with the theory of nonviolent resistance. Fascinated by the idea of refusing to cooperate with an evil system, I was so deeply moved that I reread the work several times.
I became convinced that noncooperation with evil is as much a moral obligation as is cooperation with good. No other person has been more eloquent and passionate in getting this idea across than Henry David Thoreau. As a result of his writings and personal witness, we are the heirs of a legacy of creative protest. The teachings of Thoreau came alive in our civil rights movement; indeed, they are more alive than ever before. Whether expressed in a sit-in at lunch counters, a freedom ride into Mississippi, a peaceful protest in Albany, Georgia, a bus boycott in Montgomery, Alabama, these are outgrowths of Thoreau's insistence that evil must be resisted and that no moral man can patiently adjust to injustice.
It's a long quote, but when Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. tells you who influenced him - well...I think it says a lot about a man who embraced 'simple living' for two years by a pond.
Sunday, June 7, 2009
DeCordova Museum and Sculpture Park
I'm staying with my friend Jamie for most of this trip (see first post). She just got her Masters from Tufts in Museum Education and even though she has a full-time job at another institution, she still works part-time at DeCordova Museum and Sculpture Park, located in Lincoln, MA. It was founded in 1950 by the will of a Boston-area businessman named Julian DeCordova, who was an avid art collector. The museum is his former home with a modernist glass entryway, and is surrounded by 35 acres filled with artwork.
This piece, entitled The Musical Fence, created in 1980 by New York City born artist Paul Matisse is fascinating to be around. People naturally want to interact and make sounds with the work, which to this musician is more than fine. It's also interesting to me that it's a linear work, at least along one axis, which to me reflects music. Anyone can write down notes, or play them, but when laid out a certain way and you follow it along one axis, it's Beethoven' Seventh Symphony. Or your daughter's piano recital.
Jamie wanted to go this particular night especially, because it was the opening of their new show The Old, Weird America, which is, in their words, 'the first museum exhibition to explore the widespread resurgence of folk imagery and mythic history in recent art from the United States.' Furthermore...
Due to the open bar portion of the evening (not to mention the summer sausage and Minute Men re-enactors), I didn't see the whole show. What I did see was funny and surreal (Greta Pratt's Nineteen Lincolns), vaguely unsettling (Aaron Morse's works, like The Good Hunt) and extremely disturbing (Kara Walker's 8 Possible Beginnings or: The Creation of African-America, a Moving Picture). All were probing and moving, none more than Walker's work.
I hope you enjoy some of the sculpture park artwork that I took photos of. Nothing does the place justice, so try to make it a priority to visit the DeCordova in your travels. This is one tableau, though, that you might not see when you're there...
This piece, entitled The Musical Fence, created in 1980 by New York City born artist Paul Matisse is fascinating to be around. People naturally want to interact and make sounds with the work, which to this musician is more than fine. It's also interesting to me that it's a linear work, at least along one axis, which to me reflects music. Anyone can write down notes, or play them, but when laid out a certain way and you follow it along one axis, it's Beethoven' Seventh Symphony. Or your daughter's piano recital.
Jamie wanted to go this particular night especially, because it was the opening of their new show The Old, Weird America, which is, in their words, 'the first museum exhibition to explore the widespread resurgence of folk imagery and mythic history in recent art from the United States.' Furthermore...
The exhibition borrows its inspiration and title—with the author's blessing—from music and cultural critic Greil Marcus' 1997 book of the same title that examines the influence of folk music on Bob Dylan and The Band's seminal album, The Basement Tapes.
Due to the open bar portion of the evening (not to mention the summer sausage and Minute Men re-enactors), I didn't see the whole show. What I did see was funny and surreal (Greta Pratt's Nineteen Lincolns), vaguely unsettling (Aaron Morse's works, like The Good Hunt) and extremely disturbing (Kara Walker's 8 Possible Beginnings or: The Creation of African-America, a Moving Picture). All were probing and moving, none more than Walker's work.
I hope you enjoy some of the sculpture park artwork that I took photos of. Nothing does the place justice, so try to make it a priority to visit the DeCordova in your travels. This is one tableau, though, that you might not see when you're there...
Salem Maritime National Historical Park
(National Park Service photo, circa 1900)
After the JFK Library, which is south of Boston, I headed to Salem, which is north of Boston. I took the interstate through the Big Dig, the giant tunnel beneath a major part of the city. Salem itself is famous for the witch trails of 1692, a history that the city embraces wholeheartedly as seen by the witch and broomstick silhouette on the police cars and the Witchcraft Heights Elementary School. Within the last 40 years or so, as the economic and manufacturing base went away, commerce came to the city in the form of New Age and Wiccan business, as well as kitchy Halloween-type attractions.
However, I came to Salem to visit the Salem Maritime National Historical Park. Turns out, it was the first NHP ever designated, which is extremely fitting since it was an incredible center of trade in early America. America's first recorded millionaire was in Salem, a man who made his fortune by having his ships go far and wide for trade. There is a fantastic place, the West India Goods store, where you can buy a lot of the items that traded through the port. For good cooks, it's worth a stop to check out their spices. I brought back a few different teas and some coffee to try out. A NPS tour by the waterfront take you to two neighboring, but decidedly different houses. First is the Narbonne house, built in the 1675. The NPS site says that it housed successful businessmen, but it's overwhelmingly bleak to witness. Supposedly, the house was lived in until the 1960s, which is ten times more bleak, as it hadn't seemed to change much in the 300 years.
The other house was magnificent. This was the Derby house, home to a successful merchant Elias Hasket Derby and his (young and, apparently, bored) wife Elizabeth Derby. It's a great example of Georgian architecture. In the photos that I'm going to post after this, take a look at the banister molding, all hand-carved and each one unique.
I don't have many regrets from this trip, but if I had to identify one, it would be that I didn't find the time to get to the Peabody Essex Museum. Originally the Peabody Museum of Salem, in Salem, Massachusetts is the oldest continuously operating museum in the United States, and holds one of the major collections of Asian art in the US; its total holdings include about 1.3 million pieces, as well as twenty-four historic buildings. It was founded in 1799 as the East India Marine Society by a group of Salem-based captains and supercargoes. Members of the Society were required by the society's charter to collect "natural and artificial curiosities" from beyond the Cape of Good Hope or Cape Horn. Something for next time!
J.F.K. Presidential Library and Museum
Went to the John F. Kennedy Presidential Library and Museum today. It's located on a peninsula called Columbia Point, which is mostly taken up by the University of Massachusetts. It's a striking location with its views of the harbor and Boston to the north. However, the building, designed by I.M. Pei, is the most breathtaking aspect of the institution. I hope my photos can give even a glimpse of his genius. For those not familiar, Pei also designed the East Wing of the National Gallery, the Jacob Javits Convention Center and, for those Dan Brown fans out there, the Louvre Pyramid.
As I mentioned in my first post, it's been a desire of mine to get to this place for a long time. I found that I had already known a great deal about the Kennedy era and its politics, which didn't surprise me. This country and, indeed, the world was thrown into a deep shock after his assassination. However, these particular facts and stories were new to me:
The picture is taken from the broadcast during which Walter Cronkite announces the president's death. That particular photo captures a momentary flash of emotion, a 'lapse' in professional journalism, but certainly a indication that even the great Cronkite was one of us, a man who is overwhelmed by sadness. Click here to see the video; Mr. Cronkite announces the death around at around 4:55 into the video)
For whatever your think of Kennedy's politics, his history and his administration, it's awe-inspiring and moving to see how this man, and especially, this country, generated such positive feelings from around the world. I left the museum with a renewed sense of similar positivity. When you're done walking around the exhibit, you exit to the glass-enclosed pavilion (pictured at the top of the post and in the photos I'm sharing with you after this entry). At the corner of this space, you'll find the Profile in Courage Award, given by the Kennedy Foundation to people who have acted based on their conscience in opposition to their own self-interest. Past winners include Senators John McCain and Russ Feingold, civil rights leader and U.S. Representative John Lewis and a joint awarding to the New York Police Department, the Fire Department of New York and all military who assisted in saving lives on September 11, 2001. What a fitting way to end...
As I mentioned in my first post, it's been a desire of mine to get to this place for a long time. I found that I had already known a great deal about the Kennedy era and its politics, which didn't surprise me. This country and, indeed, the world was thrown into a deep shock after his assassination. However, these particular facts and stories were new to me:
The death of the President was still fresh in the hearts and minds of the American public and by March of that year [1964, AFN] $4.3 million had been pledged, including 18,727 unsolicited donations from the public. Large donations came from the Hispanic world with Venezuela pledging $100,000 and Governor of Puerto Rico, Luis Muñoz Marín offering the same...Some notable donations include $900,000 handed over to the Postmaster General, John A. Gronouski on July 9, 1964. It was the sum of a campaign encompassing 102 Federal agencies. Gronouski said many of the Federal employee contributions were in the form of a $5 withholding each payday for a period of three years. The next day the Indian Ambassador to the United States, Braj Kumar Nehru presented Mr. Black with a check for $100,000 during a ceremony at the River Club. Mr. Nehru said that the Indian people were hit by a “sad blow” when the President died, and that they held him “in the highest regard, esteem and affection.” He desired for Indian students abroad in the US to utilize the library, at the time, still planned for construction at Harvard along the banks of the Charles River.
from Wikipedia
(click here to see whole entry, including references)
The picture is taken from the broadcast during which Walter Cronkite announces the president's death. That particular photo captures a momentary flash of emotion, a 'lapse' in professional journalism, but certainly a indication that even the great Cronkite was one of us, a man who is overwhelmed by sadness. Click here to see the video; Mr. Cronkite announces the death around at around 4:55 into the video)
For whatever your think of Kennedy's politics, his history and his administration, it's awe-inspiring and moving to see how this man, and especially, this country, generated such positive feelings from around the world. I left the museum with a renewed sense of similar positivity. When you're done walking around the exhibit, you exit to the glass-enclosed pavilion (pictured at the top of the post and in the photos I'm sharing with you after this entry). At the corner of this space, you'll find the Profile in Courage Award, given by the Kennedy Foundation to people who have acted based on their conscience in opposition to their own self-interest. Past winners include Senators John McCain and Russ Feingold, civil rights leader and U.S. Representative John Lewis and a joint awarding to the New York Police Department, the Fire Department of New York and all military who assisted in saving lives on September 11, 2001. What a fitting way to end...
Thursday, June 4, 2009
Adams National Historical Park
I left Jersey around 7:30am. Rolled into Quincy, MA around 11:45am, which isn't bad. I spent my first day at the Adams National Historical Park. John Adams was a founding father, our nation's 2nd president and an amazing man. The park consists of three houses, two of them right next to each other. Those are John Adams' birthplace and, right next to it, John Quincy Adams' birthplace. JQA was John's first son and the 6th President of the United States. The third house, a trolley-ride away, is called the Old House. John Adams moved in with his family to this larger house when he came back from Paris (he was minister to France, sent to negotiate commerce with them). This third house is amazing because it was in the family for four generations and reflects all that history, including two presidencies.OK - now I love history and don't wish to perpetuate falsehoods. I'm going to put this out there with a large grain of salt. Located in front of a fireplace in the Old House were two poles with what looked like shields on them. The ranger (who gave an excellent tour, whether or not this story is bogus) said that they were face shields, adjustable for various heights. According to her, in the era of smallpox, people who survived, but pockmarked, uses beeswax to fill in the crevices and holes. The shield was used to protect their faces from melting the beeswax, hence - wait for it - 'mind your own beeswax' and 'saving face'. We all bought this hook, line and sinker. There was even a 'ooohhhhhh' from the tour group. However, I've since done some internet investigating (itself, a suspect activity) and found one reference debunking the 'beeswax' scenario and nothing else. I feel a little foolish, as I 'oooohhhh'ed the loudest. Ha ha!
In the very next post, I'm putting up photos from today's visits.
Tuesday, June 2, 2009
introducing Buddy Bison
Buddy Bison at Federal Hall in New York City
I'm taking a friend on this trip named Buddy Bison, who I got from my friends at the National Park Trust (www.parktrust.org). In their own words:
The National Park Trust is the nation’s only organization dedicated to the completion, and the full appreciation, of the American system of National and State Parks through the identification of key land acquisition needs and opportunities. Moreover, we’re not content with merely building out the system of parks; our vision is based on the belief that there is a necessity to get people to visit parks, and a particular necessity to get young people to have an American Park Experience.
Buddy's at the heart of their new program called, 'Where's Buddy Bison Been?', which is intended to get children and their families outside and into an American Park. Photos of Buddy and stories of the park visit are collected by NPT and shared through their website.
I am all about parks, especially national parks. The fact that Ken Burns' next opus is 'The National Parks: America's Best Idea', is totally awesome to me. So it's a no-brainer to help support this new initiative. Look for Buddy photos from various NPS sites on this trip.
Why Beantown to D.C.?
Let me start off by saying that I should be in Japan right now. I've been to Japan three times over the last six years and I was looking forward to my fourth trip. However, stuff happens and I'm in the position of having a great, inspiring journey without sitting in a half-sized plane seat for 14 hours straight. In fact, I think things worked out exactly as they should have.
But why Boston? As a die-hard Yankee fan, Boston has frequently been the object of my...enthusiastic sportsmanship. Also, I consider Boston's 'More Than A Feeling' to be one of the best rock songs ever written. I even dig the cream pie.
However, the two reasons I'm ostensibly going to Boston for are Jamie and JFK. The latter is the reason I took interest in politics at an early age. I grew up thinking the world of President John F. Kennedy and his brothers. I still have a fascination with the Kennedy legacy, though I've come to embrace its complexity. The JFK Presidential Library has been high on the list of places to visit. It will also by my fourth presidential library visited, including Franklin D. Roosevelt's up in Hyde Park, New York, Lyndon B. Johnson's at the University of Texas at Austin and Harry S Truman's in Independence, MO.
Jamie, on the other hand, is not a U.S. president, nor does she have a library and museum. However, I don't have much doubt that she could one day if she wanted to. She is, however, a wonderful friend and former co-worker. She lives up in Massachusetts and a good portion of this trip is to spend some time with her to catch up.
But why Boston? As a die-hard Yankee fan, Boston has frequently been the object of my...enthusiastic sportsmanship. Also, I consider Boston's 'More Than A Feeling' to be one of the best rock songs ever written. I even dig the cream pie.
However, the two reasons I'm ostensibly going to Boston for are Jamie and JFK. The latter is the reason I took interest in politics at an early age. I grew up thinking the world of President John F. Kennedy and his brothers. I still have a fascination with the Kennedy legacy, though I've come to embrace its complexity. The JFK Presidential Library has been high on the list of places to visit. It will also by my fourth presidential library visited, including Franklin D. Roosevelt's up in Hyde Park, New York, Lyndon B. Johnson's at the University of Texas at Austin and Harry S Truman's in Independence, MO.
Jamie, on the other hand, is not a U.S. president, nor does she have a library and museum. However, I don't have much doubt that she could one day if she wanted to. She is, however, a wonderful friend and former co-worker. She lives up in Massachusetts and a good portion of this trip is to spend some time with her to catch up.
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