but hey, Flarf festival in NYC, Magic the Gathering Tournament in Bawston. Erin and I made the journey, to wit: commuter train to subway to shuttle out to Umass Boston, with Boston Harbour as backdrop. I love that there commuter train, I truly do. the bells start ringing at the crossings, then you hear the bell of the train, then the mythic creature hies into sight, then the whoosh as it decelerates, and we can board. and 2 minutes after embarking, there's Walden Pond out the window. which absolutely always excites me. at Porter Square we catch the subway. to reach the subway, one can take an absurdly long escalator down. I usually opt for the stairs but didn't this time. looking straight down it disconcertingly looks like we're moving horizontally. which causes a vertiginous wobble in my brain, I can't speak for anyone else. the tournament was at Umass's student union, this enormous new edifice, specifically in the cafeteria. it was a while before Erin's flight began, affording him plenty of time to survey the cards on sale. this stuff is fairly well out of my ken. I'm not a gamer by any stripe. Magic the Gathering throws me because for every rule, there seems to be a card that countermands that rule, and new ones always on the way. it's just too fluid for me. the crowd was older than I expected, college age more, with quite a few well older than that. and totally into it. while the temptation exists to think of a standard Magic type aficionada--you know: nerd--in sooth it's not that easy. yuh, there were quite a few there who look like they subsist on soda and don't get much sun, but there were many enough that don't fit the category at all. and there were a few females, so there's an outside chance that another generation of Magic enthusiasts may be born. sorry, just kidding. the common denominator was intense focus. those there to play can spend hours ogling cards, explaining to each other how particular cards work, and various strategic finepoints. once Erin got into his game I roamed. I had a notebook and just parked one place or another and wrote. eventually I stepped outside. I passed near a trash container, on which sat a seagull (herring gull). I was as close as 3 feet from it when it finally decided to move away a little. its confrere, bigger, was busy with a piece of trash. it would perspicaciously shake and chew the thing then drop it on the ground. finally a bit of food flew out, which the bird immediately consumed. the smaller bird watched in awe. the bigger bird went back to work on the rubbish until a much larger morsel, of a doughnut, became the prize. both of them continued at this work. they fluttered onto the trash container and snatched bits of trash out, to then be dealt with. it was like panning for gold. the larger one found something that rustled and I thought score!!!, but it proved to be a crushed cup with ice in it. I spent 15 minutes watching these 2 birds. I'm sorry they are eating doughnuts and french fries but it was fascinating to witness their endeavour. this reminds me of the botanist Edgar Anderson, a great deal of whose study into plants occurred in a vacant lot in St Louis. somewhere along the line a fellow asked if Erin wanted to trade cards. this is a feature of Magic card collecting. they went thru each other's available trades and picked out a few. they wrangled, discussed and came to an agreement. I'm sure there are instances of bad blood from these trades but my observation of this scene saw a sort of collabortive effort. I used to play a lot of pickup basketball games. no refs, of course, so if you felt that you were fouled you called it. it was surprisingly rare, no matter how tense the game, that anyone questioned such calls. I guess it's like that with these trades. Erin dashed off after completing the trade. after a while the fellow, who had remained at the table, said, hey where's he gone? he left his cards. this is an Erin trait, we're glad he brought his coat home. the guy handed me the box saying he'd lost his collection at one of these events. as Erin did last year. the guy could've horked them, as I was no more aware of their remaining there as was Erin. so that was nice. it was a fun trip, and we didn't even get lost.