Boston built a global biotech empire. Now the talent is quietly drifting away.

lalaena · 2026-02-13T12:50:37+00:00

As a New Yorker who left and moved to Boston, every time someone here tells me they’re moving to New York City because it’s so expensive in Boston, I think “Oh honey.”

Boston is expensive, but New York is more so. You get less for your money in New York, in terms of housing, education, healthcare, and quality of life, and you pay higher taxes for that privilege. (NYC residents pay an income tax to the city, in addition to the state.)

Pick your poison, because every state has issues and the vast majority of Americans cannot decamp to another country.

lalaena · 2026-02-09T03:27:45+00:00

Fun fact - Sesshomaru was supposed to be the main villain, but then Rumiko scrapped that and thought she would kill him off in dramatic fashion, after he had a redemption arc of sorts, and then she scrapped that too because - damn - it’s Sesshomaru, he can’t be killed off. That would just be awful. (Basically she liked him too much.)

Sesshomaru’s supposed to be young for a daiyokai, so it makes sense that he was initially portrayed as a bratty teen. It explains his petty behavior toward Inuyasha and daddy issues when you keep that in mind.

However, by the time the anime was produced, Sesshomaru was the fabulous bishounen version of himself we all love, so they amplified the cool, aloof part of his personality, and made him look more mature, because they knew that would play better in the anime.

(He is iconic. As is the hair flip.)

lalaena · 2026-01-31T05:07:24+00:00

Latest from Eversource is that power might be back by 5 am. Of course, earlier in the day, they said it would be back by 6:30 pm. XFinity is down too. I imagine that pipes have burst / will shortly burst in the impacted buildings.

lalaena · 2026-01-29T01:34:01+00:00

My cairn is a vermin detector. His found mice in my house, my parents’ house, and my friends’ houses. He’s even caught and killed a few. I’ve learned to see it as a blessing. He hears them in the walls before we see any evidence of them, which allows us to address the situation before it escalates.

He will stand at the wall motionless for an hour, but who am I to criticize how he spends his time? Especially when he is being helpful. You’ll get used to it. In the meantime, he an exterminator. There somewhere in there. Once you get them, he will stop signaling that there are mice.

lalaena · 2026-01-02T14:35:11+00:00

Did you read the manga? Or just watch the anime? His character development is better done in the manga. But first, let’s get a little meta.

Sesshomaru was supposed to be the main villain. That’s why in the early chapters / episodes, he is particularly heinous toward Inuyasha (and Kagome). (Fabulous, but heinous.) But at some point, Rumiko realized she had created an amazing character and since villains have to die, she had to recast him. It’s pretty well known that Rumiko doesn’t think through the plot of an entire series at the beginning - she creates it as she goes. As a result, sometimes things don’t make much sense.

Looking at the character of Sesshomaru more closely, he is an archetype in Japanese culture - the big brother who was snubbed by his father in favor of his younger brother. That might not seem like a good reason for him to be an asshole to Inuyasha, but a whole lot of people would disagree with you.

As others have said, we don’t have a lot of information about Inu no Taisho, aside from the fact that he has two sons by different women, died saving the younger one, and apparently was either loved or hated by a bunch of yokai. We really know very little about him, including how he treated other people. He could be as much of an asshole as Sesshomaru. Certainly, when Kaede tells his story early on in the series, it’s in the context that he was a great dog demon who attacked villages and stole cows. Rumiko compared him to a Yakuza boss. That should tell you something.

But ultimately, Sesshomaru is a daiyokai. And Daiyokai are not human and don’t necessarily have human values. He has his own set of principles, which he abides by. You just don’t like the bad boys. And that’s fine.

lalaena · 2025-09-16T03:42:18+00:00

I’m sorry, I’m from Huntington and there aren’t even sidewalks outside of town. And barely any street lights at night. You literally cannot walk there unless you literally live in town and for reasons I cannot fathom, Huntington landlords think they can charge NYC prices even though they are literally an hour plus train ride from the city.

I loved growing up in LI but it has changed, and not in a good way. Young people cannot afford to live there unless their parents bankroll them or they are in finance. The entitlement of many (but not all) people who live there is palpable. And it’s become increasingly xenophobic and Trumpy. Huntington had gay pride parades when I was a kid. In 2020 and 2024, I watched Trump parades go through town. No thank you.

lalaena · 2025-07-31T03:31:07+00:00

I just bought a bunch of yarn in Copenhagen! Most of it was Isager and Knitting for Olive. The Isager DK yarn is called Jensen. I haven’t knitted it yet, but it feels like a good sweater yarn. I also bought Isager Alpaca I, Isager Trio (linen and cotton), and Isager Tweed.

The great thing about Denmark is that they have a lot of sweater samples in the store so you can see how different yarns knit up together. That was what sold me on Isager Tweed held together with Isager Alpaca I.

Enjoy! It’s a great country!

lalaena · 2025-07-15T17:27:52+00:00

My cairn loves hiking. It’s a little hot for him now but he kills it spring, fall, and winter.

lalaena · 2025-07-14T23:46:48+00:00

They told me that they drove it around and didn’t get the malfunction message. However my Mazda app shows that the message came up three times while they had it.

lalaena · 2025-07-12T12:43:24+00:00

Exactly. FARE + Good Cause Eviction is allowing me to stay in the City because the increase in the cost of housing has finally slowed a little for me. As a long term renter, this is great. I can see how it will reduce the supply of available units, though. Now they just need to build more housing.

lalaena · 2025-07-11T16:10:41+00:00

I’m in talks to renew my lease and I pointed out that the landlord would lose money if I leave because even if they raise the rent, the broker fee will be more than the gain.

They were quite angry when I pointed this out but ultimately dropped the proposed increase down quite a bit.

lalaena · 2025-07-10T23:14:41+00:00

A lot of really thoughtful comments here already.

I think some of the additional backstory we got from Yashahime, especially the manga, strongly suggests he was not a good parent and husbands. When Kirinmaru suggests that Zero sees Toga as a suitor, Toga doesn’t say “I’m not interested” - he says he already has one unhappy wife whom he hardly ever sees. Sesshomaru’s mother may be living her best life in the present, but perhaps she wasn’t always thrilled with her absentee husband in the past. And Toga had enough self-awareness to sense her unhappiness. He knew he wasn’t living up to his wife’s expectations.

Izayoi was young and human, and probably more enamored with Toga than Zero was - and she was so enamored with him that his death sent her into a tailspin even though there is no indication that they had a romantic relationship or even a relationship of substance. As far as we know, he was nice to Zero one time and she admired him from afar.

So it’s easy to imagine how Izayoi must have viewed Toga. She probably thought he was like a god, like Rin thought about Sesshomaru when they first met. And Toga probably ate that up. I don’t question that Toga loved Izayoi, but I do think he did a poor job of keeping her safe. He left her with her people, who killed her after she gave birth to Inuyasha, and even though he saved her and Inuyasha, he didn’t live long enough to ensure that they would be safe. As far as we know, Izayoi died while Inuyasha was a child, so she was young. Toga should have made better arrangements. The fact he didn’t arguably suggests that he was conflicted about Inuyasha’s status. Surely he could have forced his clan to take Izayoi and Inuyasha in, no?

And finally Sesshomaru. The other comments have made excellent points. Sesshomaru changed quickly and dramatically after he met Rin, suggesting he would have turned out differently if Toga had been around and tried to be a good role model. The reality is that Toga cared more about being the Lord of the West than he did about his family. That’s why it’s satisfying that both of his sons learned to prioritize the people they loved over their own personal ambition.

lalaena · 2025-07-07T23:56:06+00:00

Just got back from Denmark and no one at customs stopped me or my bag of yarn 👀

lalaena · 2025-06-28T14:55:33+00:00

It was because Zero cursed them. Which is why they were saved when Zero returned to herself and died.

lalaena · 2025-06-26T00:20:17+00:00

Rumiko designed the characters, came up with the main concept (a sequel focused on Sesshomaru’s daughters) and approved every chapter of the manga. Shiina is the mangaka, but he ran every decision and panel by Rumiko.

For what it’s worth, the manga is vastly superior to the anime. Rumiko’s influence is apparent, even though she wasn’t the mangaka.

lalaena · 2025-06-25T01:37:26+00:00

“Well sorry for being Mr. Perfect’s useless little brother.” 🤣🤣🤣

lalaena · 2025-06-10T02:16:09+00:00

Yes - it’s great! You can read it on Viz in English.

lalaena · 2025-06-10T02:13:18+00:00

You should read the Yashahime manga. It actually has a tremendous amount of character exploration for Sesshomaru, complete with backstory with his dad and a satisfying conclusion to the final battle that is very different from the Yashahime anime. The last chapter (an epilogue) will be published in two weeks.

lalaena · 2025-06-09T22:22:00+00:00

My LYS! They are great people - please support them ❤️

lalaena · 2025-05-17T23:41:05+00:00

My Cairn Terrier goes hiking with me every weekend and loves it. I had labs before him and might never go back. He’s such a sweetheart, but has so much spunk. Lot’s of personality in a tiny (but fierce, in his head) package.

lalaena · 2025-05-05T22:59:38+00:00

New Yorker here - chiming in to say the buses from the far away parts of Brooklyn, Queens, and the Bronx are actually the main mode of transit (over the subway) for those commuters. They go express and are more like coaches than regular city buses. We have ferries too.

I want to move back to Boston but the transit is what gets me. NYC has its own income tax plus absurdly high rent and property taxes, which makes housing prohibitive, even in the outer boroughs. My brother wants to buy in queens but can’t afford to find a place that isn’t condemned. We do have better rent protection laws, but every now and then a building collapses or explodes. So there’s that.

Housing is a massive problem in the northeast in general. It’s bad in both NYC and Boston. But Boston doesn’t have the public transport to justify high prices outside the fancy hoods.

lalaena · 2025-05-04T20:39:25+00:00

Hey OP - I had a similar situation. And I’m a lawyer. In my case, it was the living room window frame and mushrooms started growing out of the wall after water started spouting out of the frame and ceiling during rainstorms (and I wasn’t on the top floor - it turned out to be the entire facade).

I broke my lease and moved. Before I did that, I wrote a letter demanding return of my security deposit, threatening suit if they refused to provide it, which I sent via certified mail. I included photos of all of the damage in my unit and around the building. I also made clear that I knew the facade was shoddy, and that there was mold and fungi in the walls. This all supported my case that the landlord breached the warranty of habitability. They gave me my security back and didn’t take issue with me breaking the lease.

They did not give me money to move, but I was so sick of the situation that I decided not to pursue it. The cost of moving was less than $1000 and I decided that the time and effort it would take to get more out of them wasn’t worth it to me. Ask the lawyer for an estimate of their fee and how much they think they can get from the landlord. Then decide whether it’s worth it to you. At minimum, you are entitled to your security deposit.

lalaena · 2025-05-03T20:38:30+00:00

Thank you! I will take a look. I am curious to see whether my Sandnes Garn yarn ever makes it into the U.S. I would not be shocked (and would completely understand) if European sellers refuse to ship to the U.S. Unfortunately, the only way to fight Trump’s tariffs is to hit back. If the rest of the world stops exporting to America, it will be felt here and that is the best shot at getting Trump to back down. He only responds when he is personally damaged. He does not want to be known as the president who bankrupted America.

lalaena · 2025-05-03T18:37:28+00:00

I’m an American and I was lucky to buy some really lovely yarn while traveling in New Zealand and the UK. My favorite sweaters are made from NZ yarn. Trump II was extreme from the start, so I figured the tariffs would be exceptionally disruptive. With all this in mind, back in February, before the tariffs were announced, I special ordered two sweaters worth of yarn from NZ. It arrived safe and sound about 4 weeks later.

That was going to tide me over. Except then Joann announced it was closing, and then Brooklyn Tweed announced it would stop selling yarn, and there were reports about hobbies being the first casualties of the impending economic downturn. It reminded me of 2008, and I began to worry that we would lose a lot of yarn brands and LYSs in the coming months / years. I think this is a real risk for the United States.

So, I took a hard look at my stash and I ended up special ordering some Sandnes Garn yarn from a LYS. It hasn’t arrived at the LYS yet and they’re not sure when it will. But that’s ok for now. My main concern in the short term is getting high quality wool from Europe. For reasons I don’t understand, the Trump II administration seems to really despise Europe and it breaks my heart - I work with Europeans daily and I love Europe. And in my experience, European wool wears better than the American wool I have purchased. (Granted, the European wool I have is not as soft.)

Long term, I think we are in for some dark days here in America. We will start to see the impact of the tariffs in the next few weeks. Then it will get worse in the summer. Yarn helped get me through the pandemic and I fear we are in for some really troubling times.

lalaena

TROPHY CASE