I’ve been in San Francisco and New York and Washington in the past few weeks, and now I’m in Boston. Mostly I have spent my time agog in art museums into which I have mercilessly dragged my protesting relatives. It’s making me want to change my major. Today: the Boston Museum of Fine Arts, the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum, and the Fogg Art Museum — if we can still stand by then.

I’m going to San Francisco in seven hours. This is exciting.

Austin and I went to the Cake show downtown last night. It was very hot and crowded, someone spilled beer on me, and I was nearly squashed by insane crowd-surfing people, but it was totally brilliant. The band played “Building a Religion,” which is my second-favorite Cake song (after “Love You Madly”), and caused me glee. It is a good song!

Summer is still glorious. As it happens, I am a terrible plant caretaker and periodically forget to water my bonsai sprouts for days at a time. Two of the three have survived, surprisingly. I’d like to have a plant in college. I could name it Jefferson and we could share a mute camaraderie until I start withholding water out of spite.

I think everyone should see Howl’s Moving Castle, which I liked better than Spirited Away.