The Scavenger Hunt
Jul. 17th, 2008 11:00 pm![[identity profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/openid.png){kind=small}
chaiya.livejournal.com posting in ![[community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/community.png){kind=small}
davis_squareBelatedly, my housemate finished the scavenger hunt we put together for him, so here you go!
Okay, it's not necessarily *good* poetry. But for our new housemate Benn (aka![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
yuggoth), we decided to put together a poetry-laden scavenger hunt to show him where good/cool/important places are in the area. He moved here from Ithaca, and hasn't lived in the area for years.
It got kinda long, so we had to cut out some (like the MFA, and the Museum of Science). But here's what we gave him. Most of them are within walking distance of the house. The first clue led to the location of the next, etc. Can you figure it out? (Some are context-based and easier to figure out if you know where the previous location is.)
(Google is helpful in many cases.)
ONE:
Travel around town.
Follow the clues to each place.
Give them but your name.
Here is your first clue:
In the Porter shopping read
Nearly nearest books.
TWO:
I may be too muddy for notice,
Hardly a flat surface have I,
Close by and decorative,
I'm ___ ____ _______.
THREE:
Chris is local and homemade,
Chris has vegetable stew.
Chris gives good (beer) head,
Chris has your next clue.
FOUR:
Repair for a chair,
You can sit down in this shoppe.
Do not bring a cane.
FIVE:
J.P. can eat some fat.
J.P. can eat some lean.
J.P. can scoop it out,
Or lick the bowl clean.
SIX:
Local geeks know that
My comicbook store can beat
Your comicbook store.
SEVEN:
His first name or last?
Popular just once a year,
Go here with tax woes.
EIGHT:
Long before the Internet
This was where you had to go
For reference, or better yet
(When abstruse research made you sweat)
To take it easy, take it slow
And curl up with a book, I bet.
Setting out from Davis Square
You turn towards the garish ticker
And trudge uphill towards the College
(Where else to go in search of knowledge?)
Although you might have found it quicker
To take the 94 bus there.
Be quiet! say the posted signs,
And if you have been less than swift
In bringing back what is not yours
What you took from within these doors
To keep the staff from getting miffed
When leaving, kindly pay your fines.
Isn't that one fab?hakamadare wrote it. The destination is more obvious than some, but directions help him get to the particular branch required.
NINE:
Beware of Mayor Tow!
This is where he lurks.
Behind the counter are helpful people
(Though some of them are jerks.)
Our laws are all a-jumble
And you might start to panic
Should you chance to stumble
Upon chambers aldermanic.
TEN:
O, I've never known his Irish
Son, but I would gladly kiss him.
Up and down the block we'd go,
Leaving behind the kitchen.
Lest his father tempt us back,
Inventing new burger toppings.
Verily, I say, he grills each day
A new culinary height.
(Not kosher are his kitchen's delights,
So we only partake on treyfe nights.)
Note: This location was the only one to throw out the clue before Benn got to it. They were real bastards about it, too, when I asked if they would participate. I should've known they wouldn't keep their word. Benn sat down to a full meal while waiting for them to look for the envelope they'd already thrown out, only a week into the scavenger hunt. They didn't even seem sorry about it.
ELEVEN:
Am I at the corner of Beacon and Cambridge?
Or Cambridge and Hampshire?
Or Hampshire and Beacon?
Clearly I need a massage!
TWELVE:
You can follow your ears or your nose
To these Bollywood tastes and shows.
THIRTEEN:
Within Cambridge lie
Many Oxford namesakes
This one claims to relax you
But instead will feed you fish steaks.
FOURTEEN:
(The actual clue is to this webpage, but for the less geeky of us, this is the poem without all the programming.)
Of the four of us (those living in the household),
Two of us work here.
One's office has your clue.
FIFTEEN:
There's no sushi here -
Only live ingredients,
Look, but don't eat them!
According to some,
It's the best in New England.
Don't walk to this place.
We cut this one because of the distance and its tendency to be in any tourist brochure.
FIFTEEN (originally not included):
One might enter the zone with this song:
"I have often walked down this street before,
But the pavement always stayed beneath my feet before."
You'll need a cuppa tea before long.
SIXTEEN:
Hearts open, many enter.
Edited to add: Some may wonder at the reason why we've included a couple of these locations. Most of these are landmarks or jumping-off points, but a couple are places we've found useful for furniture, taxes, and tea. And one is just because I have gotten to know the owner, and he's tickled pink to participate. ;)
Okay, it's not necessarily *good* poetry. But for our new housemate Benn (aka
yuggoth), we decided to put together a poetry-laden scavenger hunt to show him where good/cool/important places are in the area. He moved here from Ithaca, and hasn't lived in the area for years. It got kinda long, so we had to cut out some (like the MFA, and the Museum of Science). But here's what we gave him. Most of them are within walking distance of the house. The first clue led to the location of the next, etc. Can you figure it out? (Some are context-based and easier to figure out if you know where the previous location is.)
(Google is helpful in many cases.)
ONE:
Travel around town.
Follow the clues to each place.
Give them but your name.
Here is your first clue:
In the Porter shopping read
Nearly nearest books.
TWO:
I may be too muddy for notice,
Hardly a flat surface have I,
Close by and decorative,
I'm ___ ____ _______.
THREE:
Chris is local and homemade,
Chris has vegetable stew.
Chris gives good (beer) head,
Chris has your next clue.
FOUR:
Repair for a chair,
You can sit down in this shoppe.
Do not bring a cane.
FIVE:
J.P. can eat some fat.
J.P. can eat some lean.
J.P. can scoop it out,
Or lick the bowl clean.
SIX:
Local geeks know that
My comicbook store can beat
Your comicbook store.
SEVEN:
His first name or last?
Popular just once a year,
Go here with tax woes.
EIGHT:
Long before the Internet
This was where you had to go
For reference, or better yet
(When abstruse research made you sweat)
To take it easy, take it slow
And curl up with a book, I bet.
Setting out from Davis Square
You turn towards the garish ticker
And trudge uphill towards the College
(Where else to go in search of knowledge?)
Although you might have found it quicker
To take the 94 bus there.
Be quiet! say the posted signs,
And if you have been less than swift
In bringing back what is not yours
What you took from within these doors
To keep the staff from getting miffed
When leaving, kindly pay your fines.
Isn't that one fab?
hakamadare wrote it. The destination is more obvious than some, but directions help him get to the particular branch required.NINE:
Beware of Mayor Tow!
This is where he lurks.
Behind the counter are helpful people
(Though some of them are jerks.)
Our laws are all a-jumble
And you might start to panic
Should you chance to stumble
Upon chambers aldermanic.
TEN:
O, I've never known his Irish
Son, but I would gladly kiss him.
Up and down the block we'd go,
Leaving behind the kitchen.
Lest his father tempt us back,
Inventing new burger toppings.
Verily, I say, he grills each day
A new culinary height.
(Not kosher are his kitchen's delights,
So we only partake on treyfe nights.)
Note: This location was the only one to throw out the clue before Benn got to it. They were real bastards about it, too, when I asked if they would participate. I should've known they wouldn't keep their word. Benn sat down to a full meal while waiting for them to look for the envelope they'd already thrown out, only a week into the scavenger hunt. They didn't even seem sorry about it.
ELEVEN:
Am I at the corner of Beacon and Cambridge?
Or Cambridge and Hampshire?
Or Hampshire and Beacon?
Clearly I need a massage!
TWELVE:
You can follow your ears or your nose
To these Bollywood tastes and shows.
THIRTEEN:
Within Cambridge lie
Many Oxford namesakes
This one claims to relax you
But instead will feed you fish steaks.
FOURTEEN:
(The actual clue is to this webpage, but for the less geeky of us, this is the poem without all the programming.)
Of the four of us (those living in the household),
Two of us work here.
One's office has your clue.
There's no sushi here -
Only live ingredients,
Look, but don't eat them!
According to some,
It's the best in New England.
Don't walk to this place.
We cut this one because of the distance and its tendency to be in any tourist brochure.
FIFTEEN (originally not included):
One might enter the zone with this song:
"I have often walked down this street before,
But the pavement always stayed beneath my feet before."
You'll need a cuppa tea before long.
SIXTEEN:
Hearts open, many enter.
Edited to add: Some may wonder at the reason why we've included a couple of these locations. Most of these are landmarks or jumping-off points, but a couple are places we've found useful for furniture, taxes, and tea. And one is just because I have gotten to know the owner, and he's tickled pink to participate. ;)
![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
no subject
Date: 2008-07-18 03:44 am (UTC)And only a little relatedly: I know Richard James has been good to you, but he was ... less than responsive getting our taxes done, needed a lot of prodding, and ultimately misinformed us on two important points. This latter has already cost us $400+ in fines.
Totally not holding you responsible for his actions, just thought I'd let you know.
no subject
Date: 2008-07-18 02:42 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2008-07-18 05:03 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2008-07-18 02:16 pm (UTC)I like your clue for 11!
no subject
Date: 2008-07-18 02:40 pm (UTC)It's not like a small envelope with a single piece of paper in it was taking up much space. I thought I was doing him a favor in sending him a new customer. I'll never do that again! :(
no subject
Date: 2008-07-18 05:06 pm (UTC)