I’m at the airport, and the lack of wireless access is killing me. Sitting in the food court, I’m drinking a decidedly terible cup of coffee and eating a very sweet cinnabon, which is strangely satisfying.

So far, this has been a pretty long day of travel. I’ve been in transit since 11:00, which on the East Coast at least is 6 hours ago. The dread Thanksgiving Travel Rush hasn’t really made itself manifest to me; it took me all of five minutes to check in and make it through it security, and all of my flights have been smooth.

This PowerBook has a particular feature that I hadn’t entirely expected; it draws attention. It is very difficult to keep a low profile while sitting behind 15 inches of sleek, ultra-styled aluminum. For one such as myself who has developed the practice of being unobtrusive into an art, it is most unsettling. I am certain that I take the technologically literate oasis of Cambridge-Somerville for granted, where even someone walking around with computers strapped to their body like a cyborg would barely warrant a passing glance.

For most of the trip I’ve been engrossed in Tomas H. O’Connor’s history of Boston, The Hub. Boston is an old city, and has a very twisty and multifaceted story to it. I’ve enjoyed watching its construction and development from a few shacks and a cow pasture to the strange cosmopolitan place that it is today.

I am particularly taken by the Useful Knowledge Society, co-founded by one of my very distant ancestors Nathan Hale. I cannot think of a better reason to form a society, with the possible exception of the Useless Knowledge Society.

More topical perhaps is the strong resentment to the War of 1812 that the ruling elite of Boston held; their polemic against James Madison (”Jimmy’s War”) is hauntingly similar to what’s been in the papers in the past few months. I suppose that underneath it all we as humans don’t really change, and appreciate history books such as this one that bring into view the conflict that all important events and decisions had. History was and is not a series of unaminous agreements after another, but a constant process of struggle and discourse.

Enough nattering about historical development. My coffee has been put of its misery and it is time for me to amble back to the gate for boarding. I will post this when I get back to a welcoming wireless access point, and will backdate the time to the particular flavor of now I am presently experiencing.