Days remain

A lot has happened. I'm sorry to inform you almost none of it has to do with Obama's visit.

I have three days left on Martha's Vineyard.

I decided last weekend that moving to New York is the best decision, regardless of job prospects. The day after the decision, I had my third interview with GQ and was told, "We'd love to have you aboard." The next day, I was officially offered the internship. I'll be an unpaid intern on the internet side of GQ, which is especially exciting as it means more writing opportunities (for web-exclusive content, mostly, I'm sure) and being able to be part of the company while they launch a brand-new website in mid-October. I'll be living in Brooklyn with two friends from Maine, which will be a huge breath of fresh air after living with 11 strangers in Oak Bluffs and making few real friends over the summer. Much more to come in a new blog after the move to the city.

Yesterday my coworker Gilbert, the 60-something-year-old French waiter at Mediterranean I've deemed the best friend I've made on Martha's Vineyard, knowing it might have been my last day at the restaurant, gave me -- GAVE me!! -- his original "Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band" record as a parting gift and a souvenir of the summer. He said he listened to it the day before and it still sounds great. After a summer of hitting my stride as a Beatles fanatic and listening to their albums around the clock (halfway through disc two of "The White Album" as I write this, and no, I'm not exaggerating, I've hardly listened to anything but the Beatles and one new EELS album since June) and talking endlessly about the Beatles history, trivia, songs and styles with Gilbert, I was close to tears at this gesture. Incredibly kind and generous. Gilbert, who spent years in New York in the '60s and '70s, is soon to become my pen pal once I settle down in the city.

Okay, you want that Obama news. The most entertaining part of his visit came in the form of brief stories from the New York Times. He was in my neck of the woods a few times, but I never saw him. He ate at The Sweet Life on my street, but I was at work. He got takeout from Nancy's, not far off my street, but I wasn't around. He golfed at Mink Meadows, a course I was assigned to write about this week for the newspaper, on the same day I'd planned to go and interview some folks there. I lost my motivation to bike over and found out within an hour that Obama was golfing there. Other than that, the only other sign Obama was here for a week was an influx of satellite-dished news trucks, congestion on Circuit Avenue and the high point of the Obama merchandise zeitgeist. I originally had a photo blog planned for just this, but the New York Times beat me to the punch with an article a couple weeks ago. A few photos showing the zanier side of the Presidential preparation below.

The new aquarium on Circuit Ave welcomes the Obamas, later paints offer for free admission for Sasha and Malia.

Sharky's has been, without a doubt, the most ardent dreamer for an in-house Obama visit.

Scores of T-shirts like this are everywhere.

Front page of the Obama-themed Vineyard Gazette from Friday, Aug. 21, two days before the First Family flew in.

Every ad in the front section of the newspaper was geared toward the President.

Celebrified

Martha's Vineyard has been called Hollywood East, but for the better part of 14 weeks on the Vineyard, it has failed to sum up my experience. Although my friends have waited on Steve Carell at Giordano's, rung up Meg Ryan at the Katama General Store and seen Redman of Wu-Tang smoking THAT GANJ outside my restaurant, I hadn't seen anyone noteworthy until recently.

So: Spike Lee walked into Mediterranean the other night. It was awesome. He supposedly lives nearby.

Spike Lee peered into the bar at Mediterranean with something like this surly look.

A few weeks ago, Skip Gates, a Harvard prof and recent participant of the four-man White House Beer Summit, ate at Mediterranean. On the same night, I asked Gilbert how he was doing, and his reply was, "Ahh, the Belushis, always needing something..."

For the record, I've never heard a Vineyarder say anything nice about Jim Belushi or Spike Lee. I was still intrigued to see both, enough so to do a little main dining room creeping to scope them out eating, being normal people. The coolest celebrity experience thus far was Belushi taking the stage with Johnny Hoy and the Bluefish, the band at Med that evening, and singing a few blues songs with them. On the final track, Belushi busted out a harmonica and dueled with the harmonica wizard Johnny Hoy. Super cool.

Rewinding to Skip Gates, I just dug this up on Travel and Leisure's website: Gates's testimony as to why Martha's Vineyard, and Oak Bluffs in particular, is his favorite place. I like reading sentimental writing about the Vineyard.

Keep your eyes peeled -- I've got a flurry of blogs coming as August winds to a close and the prez's vacation draws nearer.