Deer Island is neither a Deer nor an island.
There are other placenames that are problematic. Commonwealth Avenue, for instance, is certainly an avenue with trees and what not lining the street, but it seems highly unlikely that it is a commonwealth. Admittedly I have only a vague idea of what a commonwealth is, despite having lived in at least two (Massachusetts and Virginia) because from what I can see they are just states. So we'll let that one slide.
What really irks me is Porter Square. Okay, it's in Cambridge and not Boston. BUT. It's not a ******* square, and I don't even mean in the literal geometric sense. Obviously you don't expect that, but I'm looking for at least some sort of symmetry. Take Carrollton, GA. It has a square that is a geometric square, cut right out of the center of town where two roads cross. Same thing in Davie County, NC, in whatever town that is in the middle of Davie County. Mocksville. Alright, fine. But I'm not even taking that as a requisite.
I'm saying to be a square you need this symmetry--at the very least, a crossroads. And look at Porter Square in Cambridge, Mass. Not a crossroads. Not a geometric square. It's one road coming in from the side to intersect with Mass Ave (Massachusetts speak for "Massachusetts Avenue," which is clearly too long a name for a people renown for their rapidity of speech). It's a T-intersection, fittingly outfitted with a T-stop (Massachusetts speak for "subway station"). A freaking T intersection is not a square. It doesn't even come in at anything close to a 90° angle, which might at least give the town founders a shot at a different definition of "square." You might as well call an orange a football field.
Meanwhile, at ACS Boston, Marsha Lester and Laurie Butler spoke back to back, and Butler totally called Lester out for not being as good as her and not using enough spectroscopic probes and over-simplifying her energy equations. I love Butler.
ReplyDeleteAlso, it just took me 1.25 hours to commute back from ACS via the Silver and Red Lines.
ReplyDeleteIt might have taken you longer to walk. Maybe.
ReplyDeleteThings wrong with Boston, continued.
ReplyDeleteThe new convention center is in a really useless part of town. I get that it's shiny and huge, and easy to get to. But the whole conference ends up eating lunch at the crappy food court because there are a total of 3 restaurants within walking distance. And one bar. Not counting the ones in the Westin, I guess.
It's a lot better than it was 2-3 years ago when ACS was last here. But it still hasn't developed nearly enough to support a conference this large.
I warned people I knew who were going specifically about this issue. They were shocked and disbelieving. I was like, "Just wait. You'll see."
ReplyDeleteAnd have you been praised since for your wisdom?
ReplyDeleteNo, I'm still waiting for everyone to come back from Boston.
ReplyDeleteMaybe they're not coming?
Well, *I* wouldn't move back south at this point. For a variety of reasons. Several of which probably don't apply to the people you're talking about.
ReplyDeleteMy intelligence suggests that you did not, in fact, visit my student at her poster at ACS Boston. One wonders what could have arrested your attention during that time.
ReplyDeleteThat's not entirely true. I stopped by twice, 15 minutes apart. Once with a former gymnast in tow. But both times she was talking to the same vaguely cute ~24 year old, so I decided not to interrupt.
ReplyDelete