About This Blog
Topic: Meta
Hello and welcome to my blog. You probably know the clich?, the one about the curious and incessant child who approaches the world eyes-wide and with a single word on his or her mouth: "Why". In the beginning, the questions seem rather easy, but confounded with the parade of "Why", the exasperated parent eventually resorts to the conjunction of last resort: "Because".

This blog is my personal quest into answering "Why". Not with "Why is the sky blue?" or similar questions of physics and the natural world, but instead with things a little closer to us and more easily overlooked: names. Specifically, I have always been fascinated with the names of places: towns, squares, subway stations, stadiums, you name it. Places we may live in or go to every day, with no thought as to why we call it what we do. Is it named for a person? A place? Does it mean something in another language? Why was this name important to the person doing the naming? These are the types of questions that I have been researching for my own personal curiousity, and I am documenting some of that research here. Eventually, I hope that I will be able to put this together in a book.

I admit that this type of thing may not be for everyone. But I hope that at least some of you may find some of these interesting.

NOTES:

At least initially, I am limiting what I post here to Massachusetts. There are more than 350 towns and cities in MA, plus dozens of villages and other places of interest, and that is more than enough to keep me occupied for the time being. Please also be aware that the things I post here are *drafts*. If I get something wrong, please don't hesitate to tell me about it, but be aware they they may not be perfect. My intention is to post about a different place a couple of times a week. Please come back often.