Wednesday, December 1, 2010

I Suck At Commuting

Yesterday was my last day in the quaint little town of Marblehead. And while I will miss the scenic beauty of the town, I will most definitely not miss the commute from Norwell to Marblehead. Yes, it's true. I suck at commuting.

My office is moving from the town of Marblehead to the town of Danvers, which is yet another location on the North Shore that I know nothing about. Named for Danvers Osborn, a colonial governor of New York, the town of Danvers is apparently known for the 1692 Salem witch trials.

One would think that Salem is known for the Salem witch trials. It turns out that there is a historic landmark in Danvers related to the Salem witch trials. Rebecca Nurse, one of the convicted witches, has a house that still stands in Danvers.

In addition to the historic landmark, Danvers is also apparently known for its asylum, the Danvers State Hospital. Danvers State Hospital is also known as the State Lunatic Hospital at Danvers, The Danvers Lunatic Asylum, and The Danvers State Insane Asylum. It is believed that the Danvers State Hospital was the inspiration for Arkham sanatorium from H.P. Lovecraft's "The Thing on the Doorstep", which in turn was the inspiration for Arkham Asylum, the psychiatric hospital known to many Batman fans.

Anyway, it almost seems fitting that on my last visit to Marblehead, the commute home would drive me crazy. Clocking in at two hours, the commute from Marblehead back to Norwell definitely made my bum fall asleep. I am hoping the new office location will be better for my sanity... and my butt cheeks.

And to celebrate, of course, Karen and I ended up going out for dinner at Not Your Average Joe's in Norwell. We briefly visited Karen's grandmother as well, just to make sure she was doing well since the passing of Karen's grandfather. But after our visit, we were too lazy to make dinner. Hence, Not Your Average Joe's.

Not Your Average Joe's, by the way, was delicious as usual. I'm afraid the last time I went to Not Your Average Joe's, I did not particularly enjoy my meal which was no fault of the restaurant. The last time I went to Not Your Average Joe's, our baby daughter (Briana) was not exactly too happy. Consequently, I ate my meal after calming her down. And eating a cold burger is definitely not the same as eating one that is nice and hot.

7 comments:

  1. At the time of the witch trials, Salem was known as Salem Town (the commercial district where the trials occurred) and Danvers was known as Salem Village (the rural district where most of the accused lived). Danvers distanced itself from the event by changing its name, but Salem embraced its history for reasons of tourism.

    Marblehead was Lovecraft's second-favorite town (after his hometown of Providence) and his first visit to it in December 1922 prompted his writing "The Festival". Here's an article I wrote about Marblehead that appeared in Lovecraft Studies:

    http://www.hplovecraft.com/study/articles/mrblhd.pdf

    Although Lovecraft knew of (but probably never visited) Danvers State Hospital, he did visit the Rebecca Nurse Homestead. He also visited the Jeremiah Page House at 11 Page Street (about three-quarters of a mile northeast of where I believe your new offices are) and the Captain Samuel Fowler House at 166 High Street (just over a mile east of your new offices).

    I hope your new commute's an improvement!

    Donovan K. Loucks
    Webmaster, The H. P. Lovecraft Archive
    http://www.hplovecraft.com

    ReplyDelete
  2. i like your post,
    your posted article "The Festival" i like, that is informative

    ReplyDelete
  3. nice info and post you put here, i like this one and going to save. thanks

    ReplyDelete