Last night I played my first game of good old fashioned New England candlepin bowling. Believe it or not I’ve been living here for half a decade and have yet to play a single frame until now. Pretty sad, right? Sacco’s Bowl Haven in Davis Square, once a Somerville landmark, is actually now owned by the organic pizza chain Flatbread Company. However the pizza mongers made a wise decision to reserve most of the original lanes which are still going strong after almost 70 years of play.
Last week I made my first trip to Audrey Ryan’s loft in Somerville. Audrey is a one woman powerhouse singer songwriter who contributes to Somerville’s little known DIY music scene. When she’s not touring her and her friends will host indie rock, folk, and a myriad of other genre shows at a beautifully set up artist loft housed in a revamped factory.
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Many moons ago – actually I think it was over three years ago – I did what every Northeastern University kid with a fire under their butt to make sure they were employable after they graduated did. I went out and found me a co-op position. What the hell is a co-op? It’s a 6 month internship in which you take a break from classes and figure out if the career path you had in mind after school is right for you. It’s a chance to throw yourself out into the “real world” and get some serious work experience.
Even when students have a less than stellar experience on this 6 month preview of life without school, there’s still a lot to be learned. For me, I saw my co-op supervisor get laid off with a month left to go during my internship. I saw a company go on life support because of one too many bad deals and poor financial management before my very eyes. I got a lot of lessons in what NOT to do when running a small business. Sometimes you end up learning more from failures than successes, and I strongly believe that was the case during my co-op.
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At my parents home I have never once come home to an empty house because there was always a dog there. Dogs are family. When no one else in the world will give you the time of day your dog will give you a paw. And somehow, no matter how abysmal your day was that one innocent gesture makes the world a little brighter.
This is Raven, 8 years old and full of cancer. The kindest, sweetest soul you’ll ever come across:
If you’re reading this and your dog is nearby please hug them for me… mine is 300 miles away and I can only be lucky enough to hold her again before it’s too late.