Right now, I am sitting and blogging live from Boston's amazing new Apple store on Boylston Street. Although the store's actually less than a mile from my fraternity house (according to GoogleMaps), I got here by a far more circuitous route. Specifically, I started my day by having some delicious dim sum with friends in Chinatown. After gorging ourselves on dumplings, pork funs, and other "heart-touching" delicacies, we wandered around downtown Boston to do a little shopping (which had the added benefit of helping us avoid food coma). I ended up spending quite a bit of time in the downtown Borders (walking away with Ringworld, The Left Hand of Darkness and a few others) before splitting with the group and heading back down Boylston towards Skullhouse.

All was going well - I was nearly to Mass Ave, practically in view of home...and then I got distracted by the giant glass Apple store, which I had never visited, towering three stories above the street. The rest, as they say, is history.

So, here I am, just a few feet away from the giant Apple sign, mooching off the free wireless and free Photoshop to bring you a blog entry about another set of weekend antics - specifically, last weekend, when my friends Caroline '11, Stunes '11, and I headed to Harvard Square to go book-shopping and see The Dark Knight.

First destination: the Kendall Square T stop at the eastern end of campus, which helps connect MIT to the greater Boston area. Did you know that there are bells inside the Kendall Square T stop?

After two quick stops on the Red Line, we found ourselves in Harvard Square. Knowing we had a long day in front of us, we resolved to fortify ourselves with some nutrition before heading into the wilds. Which meant, of course, a stop at Crazy Dough's, one of Boston's many fantastic pizza joints, which is part of a larger mall complex called The Garage. After ordering, we found ways to amuse ourselves until our pizzas were ready.

Pizza devoured, we headed for dessert at Ben & Jerry's. Stunes and I decided to share a banana split. I was going to say we were going to split a banana split but that just sounded awkward.

Next, we headed to Newbury Comics, the store that sells practically anything a geek could want. From Dr. Who to Magic: The Gathering, it's all here.

We also stopped briefly in Hootenanny, a punk/emo store.

Finally done with The Garage, off to find books!

Our book-hunting mission accomplished, we headed to the theater, where Teresa '11 joined us to watch The Dark Knight.

Now pardon me, I'm going to play with the iPhone 3G for a few minutes, and then I think some of my female friends are going to drag me to Mamma Mia. Oh well, how can I resist?

Comments (Closed after 30 days to reduce spam)

點心 means less "touch of the heart" than it does "a selection from the heart." Just for the record.

Posted by: Efolse '11 on July 26, 2008

I love Pythagoras at Kendall. It was made by Paul Matisse, Henri Matisse's son, but the inbound side has fallen into disrepair and the lever no longer works to strike the chimes, alas. It's one of my favorite parts of riding the T.

Posted by: Sondy '07 G on July 26, 2008

I have yet to understand the hype behind visiting Apple stores. Maybe it's because I haven't been to one yet?

Mamma Mia was amazing!

Posted by: Noelle on July 26, 2008

Paul - did you get the new iphone!? I'll be really happy if you did

Posted by: Omar on July 26, 2008

@Noelle: Yes, it's because you haven't been to one yet. Discovering there was free wireless and near-unlimited computer access on the third floor has kind of changed my life. ^_^

@Omar: Alas, no, I only tried it out. A few of my friends have them and I am thoroughly jealous...but my Treo will suit me just fine for the next little while.

@Efolse: Thanks for the clarification! I still like the heart-touching connotation better though. :D

Posted by: Paul on July 26, 2008

SPOILER ALERT: Dark Knight is freaking awesome.

Posted by: Karen on July 26, 2008

1. You didn't photoblog Hootenanny?!
2. You might have mentioned that that store complex is called "The Garage"
3. You go to good places (not a fan of Crazy Dough's though...)

Posted by: Li'12 on July 27, 2008

1) There was actually a "no photos" sign in Hootenanny, so I played it safe and didn't take any pictures. Sad, I know.
2) Good point, I've clarified it a little.
3) Blasphemy! Crazy Dough's is fantastic. Although Sicilia's is better...

Posted by: Paul on July 27, 2008

Paul! That's what cell phones are for!

And the bells work? I thought they were broken.

Posted by: Piper on July 27, 2008

In the last picture, did you intentionally misspell "mandatory"? If yes, I don't get it....

Posted by: Connie '12 on July 27, 2008

I love the way the knelling photo shows how HUUUUUGE my arms are getting due to the lifting I've been doing this summer to prepare for POLE VAULTING awesomeness this year.

Piper - they're only broken on the inbound side. They work on the outbound side though. The sheet thing way at the end works on both sides, and the metal ring in between doesn't work on either side. Someone should fix. =(

Posted by: Caroline '11 on July 27, 2008

Connie: ...oops. (No one ever said MIT students were perfect! :D)

Posted by: Paul on July 27, 2008

You do realize that you banana split had
33% Chocolate Fudge Brownie
33% Phish
33% Coffee

According to Newton's little known law of conservation of flavor, your banana split can only be 99% delicious until you provide proof of an extra 1% being in your split.

Posted by: Alex '12 on July 27, 2008

Seemed like you had fun. Which store do you like better: Borders, or Harvard book store?

Posted by: Alex on July 27, 2008

I'm going to take *forever* to figure Boston out.


I want Pizza.

@Karen: agreed :D

Posted by: Aditi on July 28, 2008

@Alex '12: The "missing" 1% was contributed by the bananas, whipped cream, and mini M&M's. :D

@Alex #2: The Harvard Book Store had a more homegrown, almost rustic sort of atmosphere - plus its selection of used and older books was unlike anything you'd find in Borders. I was impressed by the Borders, though; it fits right in with downtown Boston, plus it has a very nice cafe on the second floor.

@Aditi: Don't worry, you'll get the hang of it soon enough.

Posted by: Paul on July 28, 2008

paul, this is off-topic, but i had a request for a future post. actually, an old entry about your urop made me think you might be a good person to write about this. do you think you could talk about the differences of studying science and engineering and how one might decide if he's more inclined to be a scientist or an engineer? thanks.

Posted by: 0 on July 28, 2008

@Anon: I remember the post you're talking about. Thanks for the suggestion, I'll definitely keep this in mind for the future!

Posted by: Paul on July 29, 2008

@Aditi: The easiest way to figure out Boston is by using the T. Also, once you figure out how to get to Boston Commons, you're pretty much set. Once you get there you're pretty close to everything else in Boston. In Cambridge, just follow Mass Ave and you'll end up at Hahvahd Square.

Posted by: teresa '11 on July 30, 2008

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