London, week one.

After a hectic plane trip, where both Picker and Ben almost got sent back to the States (me and Singer were fine, by the way) we finally got to our dorm/hotel. Its really nice and roomy. Ben, Singer, and I are in a triple, on a floor with mostly girls! Fine by me, cause its clean! ha ha

The first day I felt pretty nasty. I don't know if it was jet lag (I wouldn't let myself sleep for too long) or I was just dehydrated, but I felt like I was going to die. Once I slept it off, we had lectures. Lots of lectures. It wasn't until day three where we got to explore.

The first day we actually went out, we got taken by boat to Greenwich, which is nice and quaint. Above is a pic of the four of us on our way there! woo

Greenwich is where Elizabeth I was born (and lived for a couple years) and where Henry Tudor was born. Acutally, a lot of Tudors come from there. Its also where Greenwich Mean Time (GMT) is. So we got to stand on the Meridian line, and be half in the west, half in the east. It was awesome.

After Greenwich we went downtown, to see Big Ben, etc. But it was pouring rain. So we went home pretty quickly. This is our Underground stop, Gloucester Road. Overall, it was a fun first day with a lot of walking, a lot of sightseeing, and a lot of nonsense. More to come this weekend! Tomorrow is our first day of class, then we're going to cruise downtown and see more sights.

Harry Potter

Yesterday was a long, long day. I woke up very early so I could get all my visa nonsense for London. That was easy. As I wandered around SoHo looking for a subway to go to work, the idea that I would see some of the cast of Harry Potter hit me. I had to find shade and read a chapter of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, which was conveniently in my bag at the time. Perhaps it was because I was sweating too much and needed to cool down, but I like to think I was too overwhelmed.

I stayed late at work, to earn a little more money, to eat free pizza with the staff, and because I had nothing else to do. On my way to meet everyone at The Museum of Natural History, I accidentally went 5 stops too far because I was engrossed in HP7, again. Oh well.

This is us hanging out, waiting.

I arrived at the museum a little late, changed, and hung out while we waited for everyone to get there. The movie ran late, so me, Megan, my grandmother, and my grandfather (the architect behind bringing me) hung out outside. There were two groups of onlookers, mostly girls, that got to see only two celebs (the HP stars went in through the back). Joey from N*Sync showed up, as did Melissa Joan Hart. Curious guest list, Harry Potter. Very curious...

Once everyone arrived, I made a b-line straight for the candy bar (A CANDY BAR!). Then the Hogwarts cake, which by the way was smoking. See below:

After that, I spotted a photo booth. A HARRY POTTER PHOTO BOOTH. Literally, my two favorite things. So I basically dragged Megan to go with me. They had props, and made us look like the poster. I wish I did it by myself and was seriously, like the posters, but it was still really fun and cool!!!

How it was set up was there was an upper level, with couches and a harry potter video game in a corner, and the dj. then on the lower floor was the food, bar, couches, etc. It was super swank, with black curtains blacking out all the exhibits.

This is the party. In the whale room. Two floors of awesome.

When I decided to wander around, Megan found Ron. Right away. And she couldn't look away. But I preferred Neville, and my amazing grandmother was bold enough to push her way to the front to get a picture. Unfortunately for us, she doesnt know how to work a camera. So, heartbreaking as it is, the pictures are blurry. I did the best I could to save them. I did. And it still is amazing.

I wandered around a lot by myself, hanging out upstairs watching the party. The DJ was actually very good, and it was a lot of fun! I watched Emma Watson dance with her friends. But I was way too mortified to talk to her. She was just as beautiful in person as I imagined, and seeing her was great! On the way out, I spotted Alan Rickman!!!!! aka Snape. It was really really awesome. He looked so cool. And he had grey hair. That was weird.

My grandparents leaving, in the hallway. The museum went all out

All about S.I.

I woke up this morning extremely exhausted. Between being really nervous, addicted to Tina Fey's Bossypants, and being sad about something no one cares about, I got very little sleep last night. And waking up to Luca is not easy.

Waking up to this is not easy.

After hopping on the train, then the subway, then walking, I arrived at my new place of work, the Time Warner Building.

This is my building. Floors 31-33 are Sports Illustrated.

When I got there, I got my temporary badge and went up. I was given the tour, which included the archives, photo room, and everything else in between. It's pretty awesome in there. Then I snuck into the Intern meeting, which I was not supposed to be at. My boss said I should go, so I lied and said I was an intern, but my paperwork hadn't gone through yet. Easy as pie.

After that, I got to my desk. Funny enough, the two posters around the four desks are Notre Dame and Boston College football posters. Two of my three most hated enemies. (UCLA was not there, thank god). F Doug Flutie.

Thats my desk!!!

So finally what I am supposed to do! I am in charge, along with an intern Blair, of organizing and cataloging the amazing work of Neil Leifer. You don't know who that is? Well let me show you!

The last one is my favorite. It is blown up big on the wall, and it really is just amazing. Back to my job. Mr. Leifer recently sold his work to S.I. for 10 years, so he sent it all over. Well, he sent it to me [us]. Today we went through about 3000 of his best photos, sorting them for future processing. We are not even half way done. But its really awesome to see all his stuff. He is extremely talented. Wikipedia dubbed him the most talented sports photographer ever, so it must be true. It must.

More to come, but thought I would give details on my first day!!
Tomorrow I'm sitting in on a really cool meeting. Woo

Summer at last

Well, my first post has finally arrived. Finally my one reader, my grandmother (hi nanny!) can catch up on my doings in Boston.

To start, I intern at the State House. Its cool. High ceilings. I work in the west wing, which is really neat since that show is just great.

This building also reminds me a lot of the Titanic (see right). All fancy and junk. There is this one staircase, the Grand Staircase, that houses a lot of events. Its goes from the basement all the way up to the top floor, past the Governor's office and everything. It is really cool to walk up them.

This week is my first full week, and I've already done pretty cool things. I went on the road with the Governor to a hospital, which was really good. I get to go on tours with him, get to see things he sees, and its pretty amazing so far. I'll post my favorite pictures so far, hopefully you like them!

Thursday, May 19, 2011 -- Governor Patrick joins Acme Packet employees and leadership for an announcement relative to company expansion and job creation.

Thursday, May 19, 2011 -- Governor Patrick tours the Lahey Clinic and highlights his Administration’s health care cost-containment proposal while meeting hospital staff.

Monday, May 23, 2011 -- The Governor is presented with the Paul McDade Focus Award for Distinguished Leadership by Janet LaBreck, Commisioner of the Massachusetts Commission for the Blind.

And guess what. NO CAPTIONS FOR YOU! Ok, fine I added captions.

This blog is mostly for my fall excursions through Europe and London, but I thought I would get it started early because I am some free time (still have 45 more minutes!) in between events.
Dont forget to follow me on twitter @michaelcummo, so I can retweet a lot of what you say, not because I am funny or creative on twitter. I really am not funny or creative. Check out the gov's flickr (massgov) to see my stuff!