I'm a New Englander

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Living in New England

I was born and raised in western Massachusetts. With visions of greener pastures, I spent my freshman year of college in Virginia; quickly, I learned that the Northeast was for me. Central Mass was where I spent the rest of my college years. Then I moved to southern NH - all over southern NH. And there was a stint in Burlington, VT.

I know and love New England. So I thought I'd share some of my favorite things in the Northeast.

You might be from New England...

if you can't talk more than 30 seconds without someone asking, "Where are you from?"
if you have ever gone sledding off your roof.
if you think 60 degreee ocean water is warm.
if there are only 25 letters in the English alphabet.
if you think "barbecue" is a verb meaning to cook outside.
if you use "wicked" as an adverb.
if you have ever driven 70mph....within 6" of the guy in front of you....in a blizzard.... while shaving.
if you can pronounce "Worcestershire Sauce."
if nobody outside of New England can pronounce or spell your hometown. Here's how.
if you have ever beaten someone up for mentioning the year ****.
if you know what year **** is.
if you name your pets after Celtics or Bruin players.
if you learned to ski and ice skate before you learned to walk.
if you have ever prevented someone from getting in front of you on the highway by making it physically impossible to get between you and the guy in front of you.
if you have ever passed on the right (especially as they're entering the highway).
if you have ever used the sidewalk as a passing lane (since it is paved).
if you have ever used someone's front lawn as a passing lane.
if you have a strip mall in your backyard.
if you think 6" of snow is a dusting.
if you get a foot of snow, and still have to go to school.
if you are related to the Mafia.
if when someone is being nice to you leads you to believe they are from out of town or want something from you.
if you think a yellow light means to accelerate.
if you think a red light means to accelerate more.
if you have ever seen an inverted intersection: cars move on red, stop on green.
if you know how to drive in a rotary.
if you think using turn signals is a sign of weakness.
if you "bang a left" the instant the light turns green, cutting off the oncoming traffic.
if you greet people by saying "hihowahya."
if you have to repeat what you say three time, slowing down each successive time, before anyone can understand what you're saying.
if you walk twice as fast as everyone else.
if you flash your lights to pass when you are stuck behind a guy only going 80.
if someone calls you a masshole, and you take it as a compliment.
if the curse of Bambino was taught in public schools instead of the Civil War.
if you think that crossing two or more lanes on a single lane change is "going with the flow."
if your sole aim is to get there as fast as you possibly can while preventing others from doing the same.
if you got yelled at by at least three grown-ups on your street as a little kid for hitting their windshield with a snowball.
if your friends took you to Montreal on your 19th birthday.
if you think church is just a social event.
if you own a snowblower....and have broken it after four blizzards.
if you have ever driven to New Hampshire on a Sunday just to get beer.
if you root for the Red Sox, but know that they will lose.
if you have ever intentionally forgotten to brush the snow off your car before you went to work.
if you honk your horn at the guy in front of you if he doesn't move within 0.1 seconds of the light turning green.
if your friends from the South are afraid to drive with you.
if the only time you have seen prayer in public schools is when the school board was considering hiring a guy from Virginia to be the new superintendant. (He'll cancel school at the very mention of flurries!)
if you think 6 inches of snow is a dusting.
if you drink water from a bubbler.
if you eat ice cream in the winter to warm up.
if you have ever shoveled after a snowstorm and found a car.
if you don't think 4 feet of snow is an excuse for being late to work.
if you read the entire Wall Street Journal on the way to work.
if you know at least 1 guy either named Sean, Pat, White, Red, O.B. or Seamus.
if you know where you were when Bucker missed the ball.
if you go to the Cape during the summer.
if you think three straight days of 90+ temperatures is a heat wave.
if you don't know the meaning of "compromise."
if you have ever skiied down your street before the snow plows got to it.
if you think ketchup is spicy.
if you eat fried chicked with a knife and fork.
if you don't consider "guys" to be gender specific.
if you think "goose bumps" at the beach are normal.
if you think NASCAR stands for the North American Society for...(something).
if you need to have Jeff Foxworthy's jokes explained to you.
if the last time you smiled was when you prevented someone from getting on the highway.
if you define summer as three months of bad skiing.
if you freak out when someone talks to you on the subway.
if you're not afraid to drive on a pond in the winter.

My New England Lenses

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Bert and I Story - Bob Bryan

Bert & I is the name given to numerous collections of humor stories set in the "Down East" culture of traditional Maine. These stories were made famous and mostly written by the humorist storytelling team of Marshall Dodge and Bob Bryan in the 1950s and 1960s, and in later years through retellings by Allen Wicken.

While many of the more prominent stories center around the title characters (Bert, and the narrator), others are stories of fabricated characters which communicate a quirkiness of rural New England and Maine culture. The stories are told in the traditional folksy New England storytelling vein, with a dry wit, of the sort generally considered as "humor," though not comedy in the common sense, akin to that of the (later) Lake Wobegon stories.

A number of well-worn sayings and rehashed jokes have their roots in Bert & I stories. One common phrase, sometimes said in a New England accent, "You can't get there from here" (or, with accent, approaching "You cahn't get theyah from heeah") was the punchline to the story Which Way to Millinocket? (not to be confused with Which Way to East Vassalboro?, which had a different, anti-urbanite theme.) [via Wikipedia]

 

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Book of New England Wisdom

Common Sense and Uncommon Genius from 101 Great New Englanders

Book of New England Wisdom, The

Amazon Price: $4.00 (as of 06/02/2012)Buy Now

New England in the News

New England Roundup: Connecticut
Roger Brown is a staff writer for the New Hampshire Union Leader, and publishes the New Hampshire Football Report (www.nhfootballreport.com). He has reported on high school sports throughout New England since 1992.
John Terry and Gary Cahill new England injury worries for Euro 2012
John Terry and Gary Cahill will both undergo scans after picking up injuries in England's 1-0 win over Belgium at Wembley. Roy Hodgson has already lost Gareth Barry and Frank Lampard from his Euro 2012 squad, and now faces an anxious wait to see if the ...
New England Revolution to host Chicago Fire
By MIKE SCANDURA FOXBOROUGH ? Perhaps New England Revolution coach Jay Heaps said it best regarding his team's approach going into Saturday's home game against the Chicago Fire with a 2-6-0 record in MLS games decided by one goal.
New England Weekend Soaker Continues
By Kristina Pydynowski, Senior Meteorologist Soaking rain will continue to crawl through New England this weekend, heightening concerns for flooding and ruining outdoor plans. The rain that caused the weekend to start on a dreary note across New ...

More New England Info

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Have you been to New England?

  • wilfredpadilla Sep 29, 2011 @ 5:56 am | delete
    I have never been there.
  • StudioElysee Sep 22, 2011 @ 2:14 pm | delete
    Cute lens! I lived in Massachusetts for a little while as a kid. Being from southern Louisiana, never could get used to the cold, never mind 60 degree water! Still can't really get in if the water is below 85! Met a lot of great people up there, though, and still think everything is "wicked" to this day!
  • UKGhostwriter May 11, 2011 @ 1:31 pm | delete
    Great lens, I've been to Boston and Salem. One of my ancestors was a founding father of Jamestown and signed the Third Virginia Charter on March 12, 1612 - does that count?
  • ohcaroline Apr 15, 2011 @ 1:29 pm | delete
    I've never been to New England...hope to some day. Although after reading your list above I don't think I would care to drive there. :)
  • ftuley Feb 25, 2011 @ 10:54 am | delete
    Enjoyed the read.
    Fatima?
  • vallain Dec 28, 2010 @ 4:14 pm | delete
    I've lensrolled this to
    Cooking New England Style
    You Know You're in New England....
    New England Christmas Ornaments
  • Yourshowman Dec 8, 2010 @ 9:10 am | delete
    No but I want to.
  • JaguarJulie Dec 6, 2010 @ 12:19 pm | delete
    Well, how-dee doo to you! Yes, my dear ... not that many times, but we all went to Vermont, New Hampshire and then finally Maine on summer vacation one year. I remember it all ever so fondly!
  • chrissuard Nov 17, 2010 @ 12:51 am | delete
    Closest I ever got was Washington D.C, I live in California. Thanks for making the lens, it was really enjoyable to read.
  • reasonablerobinson Sep 28, 2010 @ 1:25 am | delete
    I have always wanted to visit New England. My previous work took me to California, Nevada, Florida, Texas and Illinois. Your lens has inspired me even more to want to visit the East Coast. Cheers RR (Olde Englande)
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My Other New England Pages

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New England (Eyewitness Travel Guides)

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Native Plants of the Northeast: A Guide for Gardening & Conservation

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Lonely Planet New England Trips (Regional Travel Guide)

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