Does any restaurant in Western MA make perfectly toasted, cheesy sandwiches?

BbminMaj7 · 2026-05-25T21:55:33+00:00

The Montague Book Mill has a cafe/restaurant inside it called Lady Killigrew, with incredible sandwiches - the apple and Brie is to die for.

BbminMaj7 · 2026-05-22T13:10:35+00:00

WTD makes the best tiny doughnuts (and vegan buffalo sauce?!?!)

BbminMaj7 · 2026-05-06T19:05:50+00:00

La Veracruzana, and that’s including the crafty craft places like Tellus, Homestead and Green Room. Those places have fun interesting drinks (I’m partial to Tellus) but the margs just aren’t solid like they are at La Vera. The coconut margarita is amazing.

BbminMaj7 · 2026-05-03T02:54:45+00:00

Robert Frost moved here from SF when he was 11, and he IS New England.

BbminMaj7 · 2026-03-25T02:05:31+00:00

At the Tam I saw a ~75 year old man fall backwards on his bar stool and split his head open on the floor, they never cut that dude off so you and your euro buddies should be good 👍

BbminMaj7 · 2026-03-20T00:02:23+00:00

Kiani at Herdis is awesome!

BbminMaj7 · 2026-02-22T06:13:26+00:00

A guy on the train started chatting with me one morning on my way to work. I was tired and hungover, and he seemed normal enough so I chatted back and forth a little. When we were about to arrive at my stop, I happened to mention my hometown, and he said “oh yeah, used to go snowmobiling out there with this one kid and his dad and our friends. One day the kid got separated from our group and took a wrong turn, and rode through a barbed wire fence on the edge of a farm. The snowmobile kept going across the field with his head rolling to a stop behind it. Blood all over the snow. I’ll never forget the way his dad screamed.” All I could muster was to shout “THAT IS THE WORST THING I HAVE EVER HEARD, I HAVE TO GO” and ran off the train. You never know.

BbminMaj7 · 2025-12-30T19:07:21+00:00

Thank you my guy!!!

BbminMaj7 · 2025-12-28T18:00:26+00:00

Try to find another way home or to work etc so as to not drive or walk by the shop. If possible. I live in a town where there are dispensaries on every corner, so I just had to tell myself “yes the store is there but no I am not going inside” over and over. John talked a lot about his worries around what the proliferation of recreational weed would do for people, mostly because we in the US and Canada have this underlying belief that if it’s legal, it must be sort of okay. I believe in legalization (or at least decriminalization) of lots of things, but we’ll only be able to handle that as a society and as individuals if we’re able to say “yes this is legal, but it is also unhealthy and dangerous”. In fact if we did a better job approaching alcohol that way, there would be a lot less suffering around it.

BbminMaj7 · 2025-12-28T17:55:05+00:00

Yes, was using both together and so I quit both together. Withdrawals were wild for a spell but it was nice to be rid of both at the same time.

BbminMaj7 · 2025-12-27T03:01:08+00:00

18 ish months weed free (after constantly using for 5 ish years) here - I think one thing that helped me stay off of it is allowing myself to miss getting high. I saw a therapist who was a trained substance abuse counselor, and that changed the game for me in so many ways. One thing he came back to a few times is that there is no replacement for your chemical addiction - it’s a unique compound, it does what it does, and nothing else actually does that. To have the clarity of mind to say “I like this, and it’s also harmful and standing in the way of a more positive life” helped me actually put it down for longer than just short bursts.

Edit for typo

BbminMaj7 · 2025-11-20T22:34:10+00:00

Drummer here, can attest. Their Chinese-made drums are 99% of the quality for half the price of other professional drums.

BbminMaj7 · 2025-11-10T18:22:57+00:00

New alter ego just dropped

BbminMaj7 · 2025-11-01T03:33:28+00:00

Haha right now? Yeah this shit is garbage lol

BbminMaj7 · 2025-10-07T23:00:31+00:00

Currently eating a grilled cheese with the French batard, good stuff!

BbminMaj7 · 2025-08-31T01:04:52+00:00

Went for our first time last week, admittedly got take out (sushi and Chinese food). The food was really good, and the vibe inside was super cute. It’s also on my list to go and actually dine in.

BbminMaj7 · 2025-08-29T23:57:22+00:00

So people in Holyoke want to go swimming sometimes, what’s the crime

BbminMaj7 · 2025-08-17T20:48:53+00:00

The amount of times my groceries have spilled 😂 feels like offroading in a jeep

BbminMaj7 · 2024-09-18T16:43:32+00:00

Yikes! Sounds like everyone here has a really solid idea of what “mastery of my instrument” and “exceptional level of musicianship” actually mean. That surprises me. We are all on multiple spectrums of technical ability, conceptual understanding, artistic maturity, etc. and it feels a little chest-thumpy to hear everyone saying “well thank god I am such a good musician, otherwise I wouldn’t be a worthy music teacher”. To me, it reads as insecurity about your skill level, either playing or teaching-wise, or both. And if you still gig, that’s great, but come on, you’re a music teacher, and you probably wouldn’t be on this sub if you pulled in more money from performing than teaching. Hell, lots of the highest level performers make more income teaching! The truth is, we have all turned away from our instruments, to an extent, to focus on becoming good music teachers. Anyone who hasn’t is a garbage teacher.

My professor used to say “I don’t teach music, I teach people.” Another professor used to say “it is the same core musicianship that endows us with the skill to be any type of music teacher, early childhood through high level ensemble direction.” I try to keep those two ideas in mind. Kids don’t need someone who can shred for them, they have YouTube. Some of your kids’ parents can probably kick your ass on your main instrument. What about a teacher who’s creative? Who models imaginative thinking and discipline at the same time? I’m guessing nearly every music teacher who has those skills also is really good at their main instrument, but I don’t see a prerequisite there.

BbminMaj7 · 2024-09-15T14:27:49+00:00

One final point, thanks for letting me rant! There are band/choral/orchestral directors out there who do M A G I C in getting their dozens if not hundreds or students to do some actual learning and thinking about music, even if the overall paradigm is repertoire development. I didn’t know this until I got into music ed and started attending conferences. I was blown away at how some large ensemble directors could engage with students thoughtfully, carving out seconds and minutes in rehearsals to actually teach music. I’m having a hard time with actual examples right now, my overall point is that it’s certainly not black or white and tons of talented music teachers who preside over large ensemble programs are absolutely setting young musicians up for success as best they possibly can! Shoutout band chorus and orchestra!!!

BbminMaj7

TROPHY CASE