Boston is dark and cold and weird.

Ok, that's not fair at all.  I've only been here since it's been dark, and it's only cold because I'm staying in some lady's house and I don't want to turn the thermostat up too high.  I found this bed and breakfast on AirBnB, which I highly recommend if you're traveling somewhere and want to find a nice, homey place in your price range, but it turns out the place I'm staying has no one here until Saturday night.  The lady was super nice - she left me a key in a lockbox, the code for the internet, bagels and cream cheese and coffee for breakfast - but she also left her thermostat at 65 degrees and I'm not sure whether that's because she's been out of town for a while or she wants to save money.  But 65 degrees is kinda chilly in a drafty house in Boston.  So I just turned it up to 68 and I hope I don't cost her a fortune or anything.  I guess I'm paying to stay here, so I should be able to turn up the heat a little bit...?  (And isn't it a little weird that she just trusts people to come into her house and hang out while she's gone?  She seems really nice and normal, and I guess I probably seem nice and normal, but I don't think I would let strangers into my house when I'm not there.)

Anyway, another weird thing about Boston so far is that when we were flying in, the sun was setting over the land instead of the ocean, and that made me realize I've been living in California for long enough that it's weird to me when the sun sets on the opposite side of the horizon as the ocean.  Funny how new little normalcies creep into your life without you realizing it.

Another weird thing is that the people look different here.  It's subtle enough that it's not particularly alarming or anything (the majority of people look approximately the same in most places in the U.S., probably), but the predominant style is clearly somewhat different.  Far fewer hipsters, for one thing.  Much less plaid. A lot more tweed, and shoes that have actually been shined.  (Shoes that are actually shineable, in fact.)  More people who get their hair cut regularly.  Fewer tattoos.  I forgot that the "preppy" look existed, to tell you the truth.

So I'm not judging you yet, Boston, since I've only known you for about 5 hours, and pretty much all of that time was spent in the dark, on public transit, but I don't think I like you as much as the west coast, I gotta say.  I don't do well with uptight.

Speaking of uptight, I should probably get back to practicing my conference presentation.  It's at 11:30 in the morning and I want it to be over so I can enjoy the rest of this conference.  I also want to go for a long, long run, either on Saturday or Sunday morning, to work out some anxiety.  What a weird week!  I sit for a while, and then suddenly I'm in San Diego.  And then I sit for a while longer, and suddenly I'm on the exact opposite side of this huge country, on the east coast, where it actually looks and feels like November, which is simultaneously comforting and off-putting.  It's like, "oh right, seasons", but at the same time, it's like coming out of a time warp where you've been trapped in la-la land fog-and-sunshine cycles for some indeterminate amount of time.  And I also lost 3 hours today with the time change, so I keep looking at the clock and going, "what??" because I'm not even remotely tired.  I have no idea how I'm going to get to sleep.

Weirdness abounds, friends, weirdness abounds.