I am writing this from a motel room in the heart of Boston, while Karen, and William are sleeping, Danny is fighting off sleep while watching "The Sound of Music" on TV, and Thomas is at the Hynes Center attending Anime Boston. As I write he is at a big party which is expected to last until well past midnight, when I will go and pick him and a couple of his friends. Across the street, there is some kind of alarm going off at Fenway Park. At first there was a recorded announcement to the effect that everyone should please proceed immediately to the nearest exit. But there is no one to proceed to the nearest exit, as Fenway Park is currently empty.
Thomas became a legal adult yesterday, and although with Karen working late and preparations for the trip we didn't have a big party (we will have a special dinner later), he did get to spend the day with his girlfriend Julia, and he did have a rather memorable evening. You see, part of going to Anime Boston is something called "cosplay," which is short for costume play. Tom wanted to play a character with dark hair, and did not want to wear a wig. So Julia dyed his hair.
For some reason, it didn't work exactly as she expected, though she has dyed her own hair many times. When Thomas went to rinse the excess dye out, there was, shall we say, a lot of excess, and it went everywhere. Tom spent a fair amount of time last night cleaning the shower. And washing the blue-black dye off of his hands, and neck, and feet. Julia, too, had bluish hands for the rest of the night. Fortunately, she got them cleaned up in time for Anime Boston.
Driving in Boston is an adventure no one should miss. Well, actually, it's an adventure not worth having. My advice for those who plan to visit parking is to stick to public transportation and walking. Boston has a good transit system, very expensive parking, and absolutely crazy drivers. It is also a great place to walk, as long as you avoid following the crowd across the street only to discover that they've crossed against the light and walked right into traffic. The pedestrians are crazy, too.
Karen and the boys and I spent the better part of the day at the Boston Museum of Science, which I wish was easier to get to and closer to home and less expensive to park at, because it is a museum that is much too big, diverse, and interesting to take in in a day. Perhaps when we return from California we will get a membership and make a point of coming down every couple of months to explore a particular section of the museum.
Boston has the world's largest air-insulated Van de Graaff generator, which they use to do a fascinating show about lightning. They create some huge sparks and teach about ways to protect yourself if you are caught in a thunderstorm, a realistic concern in the Northeast. They also have a Univac I computer, and the control panel from one of the Apollo Command Modules. Neither of those held nearly as much interest for my two youngs some as for their computer-geek, child-of-the-space-age father.
Well, the alarms have shut down at Fenway, and Daniel has finally fallen asleep. Thomas should be calling in about an hour and a half, which is about the amount of time I have left on my laptop battery. I think I will take advantage of the high-speed connection in the motel here to get a few things done online, and then transfer William, currently sleeping next to my lovely wife, into the bed with Daniel so that I can sleep with Karen for the few hours I will be asleep. Something in the night as well, the Easter Bunny needs to pay a visit to the room.
And I can't make up the sleep tomorrow night, because I have a rehearsal which I expect will run a little over, because we're running the whole show. We call this a run-through, which is also a sword-fighting term, and sometimes how we all feel on a Sunday night after three or so hours of practice.
Insanity indeed.
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