"At His Peak, Manny Ramirez Accounted For 27% of Boston's GDP"

Part I:

I spent twenty minutes at a bar in The Fenway during the Celtics v Lakers game protesting the above point with strangers.  I am fairly certain that, by the end of the night, I had acquired fairly robust support for this view.

... and thus was the motif of the few days spent running around the smaller of the two corrupt US Irish/Italian Catholic cities.  I should note that the bulk of my time was spent with a friend that we will refer to as junior investment banker (which is probably the least anonymous handle I could give him for anyone who knows my group of friends).  This statement will serve as instant and exhaustive proof as to how my trip included (but was not limited to): playing golf in a thunderstorm, drinking champagne in a bar above a fried-dough shop in coastal New Hampshire... at ten in the morning, having to endure extensive Lady GaGa (I'm not really positive on the capitalization convention there) in the backseat of junior investment banker's dub-complete HSE, as well as the usual junior investment banker bar performance ("...oddly enough I was on my way to yoga as well... what are the odds?).

Net-net it was a good weekend (as most outside of Los Angeles prove to be).  I will expand on the above at a later date with mercifully minimal photographic evidence.  I promise.

I do, however, have a photo for your Los Angeles data-point of the day.  To the left you will find the car that, as of my return from Boston, resides in the neighboring parking spot in my building.  I will note that this spot belongs to my neighbor and his girlfriend; a struggling musician and graduate student, respectively.  There is nothing terribly shocking about finding a $119,000 MSRP car parked in my parking garage.  Alas, despite being solidly in the top 1% of income earners in the wealthiest country in the history of, well... history -- I am unequivocally the poorest white person to ever live in Los Angeles.  The real surprise comes when you consider that, up until yesterday and today, they drove a red Honda Civic that they were incapable of parking appropriately between the two white lines.  I know what a lot of you are thinking:  there must be some plausible explanation that doesn't involve them suddenly trading in the Civic for a super-charged Mercedes.  I am going to do the leg-work to clarify that concern, but I would beg of you to note that I do live in Los Angeles... where that exact scenario is actually the most probable reality.

Los Angeles: 5,376 -- I Heart Palindromes: 0

Finally, I briefly draw your attention to the result of what I can only imagine is the single least accurate mailing list ever executed:

Speechless.  "Friend!"

That is, unfortunately, where the fun ends in this one folks.  Prepare for some self-reflection (now would be a good time to instead direct your attention to the awe-inspiring genius of http://brosicingbros.com/)

Part II

"To be always fortunate, and to pass through life with a soul that has never known sorrow, is to be ignorant of one half of nature." -Seneca 45 AD

While the trip to Boston could be roundly described as a success.  The last twenty-four hours or so could, perhaps, be best correlated to a Kanye West song with a stolen beat and retro-refrain (largely predictable but none-the-less disappointing and distinctly painful).  While it would appear that my willingness to share things with Mr. Interweb has grown exponentially from "nothing" to "my sarcastic remarks about people that are different than me" I don't think we are good enough friends yet for me to be anything other than obscure for the moment.

The thoughts that I do want to write down, in an effort to not allow time and hindsight to marginalize them, are the following:

1) I love my family and will miss them dearly when they are no longer here
2) I would do anything for my three best friends (The Hammer, The Delorian, and The General)
3) Boondock has been and will likely always be one of the most influential people that has ever come and gone in my life
4) At times, all of the loyalty and commitment in the world will not be rewarded by fate
5) There is a certain power in embracing an uncertain future
6) I would not trade the last two years of my life for anything for the sake of how they have changed me for the better
7) It is possible to both disagree with a decision and yet still respect it

All of these things, I am more aware of than I was yesterday, and for that I am grateful.

I believe that exceeds my self-imposed melodrama limit for the year.  That is good news for all parties involved.

Looking forward to the 'Hawks game this evening (GO HAWKS!) and some time in the non-Los Angeles-parts-of-California with friends this weekend.

I'm Spent,

-I Heart Palindromes