End of Extreme Blue 2004

So here I am sitting in the Logan airport waiting for my plane I was supposed to fly out at 5:45 to Chicago, but I am on standby for the 2:30 flight instead. That way I will at least make sure I am in Chicago for my fligh to Minneapolis/St. Paul. Paul is waiting for me at MSP so we can go down to Rochester on the first leg of our trip out to Oregon. Guster is playing on my iRiver...

***

Ben, Jeff and I are enroute to the Guster, Ben Folds, Rufus Wainwright concert. Jeff is only slightly familiar with the three bands while I am a Ben Folds addict and Ben really knows Guster.
South Station is the closest T stop to the Fleet Pavilion.
"Look there is a shuttle bus to the pavilion", I say, in reality it was just an old school bus."
"That will be a lot easier the walking."
"I still need to get some food" reminds Ben.
There are no restaurants in sight so we board the bus.
The pavillion is right along the water. Once we arrive there we notice there is nothing to eat besides in the Pavillion. We go inside and Ben gets some food. Rufus Wainwright starts singing...

***

Its amazing all the awesome music I was able to listen to this summer. The Boston Pops on the 3rd of July, the Last Dispatchh concert, Rent the musical, street musicians, and Cirque De Solei Veraki, the aforementioned concert, and the Boston Gospel fest.

***

Christina asked on Friday who would be interested in going to a gospel concert on Sunday evening. Sunday afternoon I received a call from my brother Carl.
"Steve, when are you planning on coming out to Oregon?" he asked.
"Well, Paul and I will be leaving shortly after I arrive in Minneapolis on the 14th".
I hear Christina in the hall talking with Matt. It is a few mintues before we are to leave.
"I am going to a gospel concert" I mention to Carl as I go out in the hall and meet Christina. We walk down the hall toward the stairs. I finish up my conversation with Carl while Christina and I go to catch the T.
"We are meeting Ryan at Gov't Center" mentions Christina.
"I then would like to pick up a Red Sox hat for the game on Thursday."
We make it down to Gov't Center and we are greeted by gospel music as we leave the station. Ryan meets us at Quincy Market where Christina is able to get a hat with very little trouble.
The three of us meet Christina's frend from California and we go to the gospel concert. This was my first real gospel concert people were very emotional with all kinds of praising which made it a very unique experience.
After the concert we walk to the North End and go to Mike's Pastry. This is the one and only time I went to Mike's Pastry while in Boston. The chocolate covered strawberry and biscottti were delivious. We walk back to
Park Street in the brief period between showers.

***

Besides all the concerts I went to over the summer I was able to go to many other enrihing/interesing activities. I went to a small magic show, a comedy club, the Boston 4th activities, Six Flags NE, watched some movies, went to a club or two, a Red Sox game, and the Museum of Fine Arts

***

To make the 4th as interesting as possible Joel and I decided to visit the MFA. It was the first time I had been there or to a museum of its size.
The Museum has a very extensive collection. Joel and I were able to get to about half of it. By far the most interesting exhibits were those by 1400 & 1500's painters and the musical instruments exhibit. We spent two hours in the MFA and were just getting warmed up when it was time to go play Ultimate Frisbee

***

The Few times we played Ultimate were very exciting. Ultimate is one of my favorite team sports. Two hour Ultimate games were very exhilirating and a nice release from the many hours of work.

The summer was awesome. At work my team of Arnab, Christina, and Shikha were able to architect, design, and implement a solution we could all be proud of. Our team had good chemistry and Arnab's techincal knowledge along with Christina's enthusiasm and skills made for a very enjoyable experience.
Then to have our work validated and congratulated by the many visitors at Expo made for a good ending to the summer.

I have memories of everyone that was part of EB2004 in Cambridge. We made EB Cambrdige end on a high note which will never be topped.

Thanks, Christina, for finding things to do in busy Boston and for the many trips and conversations back on the T in the late evening. I hope the summer was enjoyable for you as it was for me.

Thanks, Arnab, for being an awesome team memeber and making our project a sucess it wouldn't have been the same without you.

Thanks, Joel for being our own resident magician, the tricks and memories will last forever.
Card nights were always very enjoyable with everyone who played and I can now play hearts with reckless abandond.

I am going back to my "uncorrupted" ways changed forever.

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