Day 19

I was behind this Prius with state tags on the highway this morning. It made me very curious as to what state agency has hybrids. I guess I shouldn't be that surprised in Massacusetts. You can be pretty sure it wasn't an unmarked police car. Having driven one of those things, I know for a fact nobody wants to be involved in a pursuit in one of them.

Oh well, when I put the camera down and passed him, there were no other insignia on the car, just the official license plate.

Day 18

This time, you have to click on the image to get the large version. I tried zooming in and this was all I could get. This hawk was cruising on the thermals over our parking lot when I came out of work this evening. I love hawks and falcons. That's one of my top picks if I could be reincarnated.

This guy was just riding the updrafts and terrifying the songbirds below.

Day 17

I'm feeling a little bit grizzly this evening. I definitely need to shave and trim my beard tomorrow. I don't know why I'm in a bad mood. I've got my favorite shorts on (I almost posted a picture of them, I like them so much), all the company is gone, and the house is quiet.

That picture behind me is from a set of three abstracts that were one of my best scores when I was moving furniture. They're all about 3x5 feet, framed, and fucking cool. I can't believe I got them for free. Two of them are hanging in my office/loft/landing type area, and the third is hanging in our basement storage space. Pretty soon, we're going to be all out of wall space, especially if we keep buying books. That's right, we got two more bookshelves from craigslist this weekend to house our expanding literary collection. Between bookshelves, art, posters, and postcards, you can hardly see any wall at our place at all.

Day 16

We went up to Salem with all the guests yesterday. It was fun walking around. Except that Nikki's stepfather whines more than any grown man should. He complained about doing boring things, walking too fast, walking too far... Anyway, I had been up there last year with Nikki, and we had fun. This time was fun again, mostly. This picture is of a 17th century headstone in the old Salem cemetery. I love the old death's head stones that you find in the cemeteries around here. There are plenty in Boston, but I am way too cool to stop and take pictures like some idiot tourist. Luckily, up in Salem I am an idiot tourist, so it doesn't matter.

Later that evening, I accidentally kind of told off Nikki's stepfather at Cold Stone Creamery. I didn't really mean to, but he wouldn't shut his big mouth. Oh well, a friendly game of Scattergories made everything right.

Day 15

Nikki's mother, stepfather, and stepbrother are here for Memorial Day weekend. That's a lot of people in this little apartment. There is stuff everywhere and never a moment of silence. Maybe this is how you can tell that I was an only child. I am just not fully prepared for a small apartment with six people crammed into it. It's the noise, mainly. They all talk. Often.

Day 14

I know it may look like junkies have taken over my house, but this is the paraphernalia I now need to care for my cat. Due to all his ear issues, I have to use the skinny syringe to put stuff in both his ears twice a day. The fat syringe is to get a cc of milky goo down his throat twice a day. The ear stuff is a cleaner and the milky goo is antibacterial. The idea is to get the irritation to go down enough to find out if he has a ruptured eardrum, cancer, or any of the other horrible possibilities that the vet told us to expect.

Day 13

The asian art looks good now that we cleaned up around it.

Our dining room is full of Chinese and Japanese art. We have a porcelain relief, several prints of watercolors, fans, and this little display here. We had to get straightened up before Nikki's mother gets here, and we found several of the small objects that weren't on display any more. Now that this little section is looking good, I may try to find a place to display my name chops, ink pots, and stone reliefs that are just sitting in boxes on the bookshelves.

Day 12

I'm feeling wicked antsy today. It's nice out, and I want to go out and play. I took this picture on the patio behind my office, while I was outside definitely not working. If you look closely, you can see the eggs and nest. I scared momma bird away with my antics, but she'll be back.

Update:
Last time I was out there, momma bird was back, but I can't tell what kind she is.

Day 11

That's right, this is a picture of the worst athlete's foot in the world. If Nikki can post a picture of her warts, I can post a picture of my nasty foot. This foot causes me more grief than I care to think about. We're talking about a case of athlete's foot that is well into its second year now.

My feet are a little weird in general, what with the prehensile toes and the pinkie toe that curls under the others. The little toe rests so far under the others that it forms a triangular shape from constantly being squashed under there. The rest are normal enough, except I can pick stuff up and manipulate small objects dextrously with them.

I hope you didn't look at this before dinner.

Day 10

If you set a box of Ranch flavored Wheat Thins next to these two items, this picture would have all my staples. I swear, I must contribute more to Jumex's bottom line than any other Anglo in the country. When I took this picture, I was very glad to be back in my home. I spent the previous night in Jersey in the midst of stretching the trip back from WV from a 1 hour flight to an 18 hour tribulation.

Day 8

This is the road to my mother's house. When I was driving home on Saturday, I ran into a woman about a mile behind where this picture was taken. She flagged me down as we attempted to pass each other on the narrow road. Apparently, she had followed signs for a yard sale from somewhere in Maryland, and was now hopelessly lost. She was on the verge of panic, with no idea where she was and the feeling that she was beyond the limits of civilization.

I gave her directions to the nearest town she had heard of and laughed all the way home.

Day 9?

I will post day 8 when I get to a computer.

5/21 update:
Things are getting a wee bit out of order here. I have a picture to post from Saturday, but I haven't gotten to a PC to post it yet. I was stranded at the Philly airport overnight last night, and came straight to work this morning. I don't have the cable to my camera here.

This picture is Sunday's picture. This is the church where we had the funeral service for my grandmother's partner of 15 years. He died last week, technically of a stroke, but really of old age.

This is the Laurel Glen Church of the Brethren. I'm not a believer, but if I were I would belong to this church. Google them and learn more, but they are a very interesting denomination. Closely related to the Amish and Mennonites, historic peace church, etc. My mother grew up in that church.

I chose this picture for another reason, too. I think it illustrates one of the reasons I just cannot understand the Catholics. Look at this simple white church. Cinder block walls, no stained glass, no shimmering gold and gems. Simple, the way Jesus would have wanted. This is the way all the country churches are where I come from. Simple, unadorned. I just can't understand the palaces that the Catholics insist on building. Do they not realize that they are an affront to the God they believe in?

Day 7.5 (RBG extra)

Would you rather have
a Lexus?
or Justice?

(Sorry, I listened to Dead Prez all day long, had to throw this in.)

Day 7

I have a serious CD problem. I can't seem to ever walk out of Newbury Comics without buying at least 2 or 3. When we moved in here, I put hundreds of CDs in the basement and didn't make any arrangements for shelving them upstairs. Then my iPod broke, and listening to tunes has been a pain. I'm limited to my 5gig iPod mini, my laptop, or a few CDs I have laying around the house.

I'm excited about these records. The last major Dead Prez release I hadn't already picked up, a newer Bad Religion album, an un-remixed (don't ask) Transplants album, and The Coup. So far, I've only had a listen to The Coup, which is really good. It's ultra-militant, black power hip-hop like Dead Prez, but very danceable. I should get a chance to listen to the rest in my rental car this weekend.

Which brings me to the reason I'm about to go to bed at 9:30 on a Friday night. I have to get up and catch a 6am flight tomorrow to go home to West Virginia. My grandmother's "boyfriend" of fifteen years, also an old family friend, died at home earlier this week. I'm going to be in WV for the viewing tomorrow and funeral on Sunday, then fly home Sunday night.

Usually when I go home, it's for fun reasons and I get to see my homeboy Chris and other friends. I don't know if I'll get the chance this time. I'll barely even be there for 24 hours, and those will be some fairly busy hours. If I don't get to see him, there's always next month. I'll be down in WV again for a few days in happier circumstances then.

Day 6

Stu has an ear infection, which means that Stu has to get ear drops twice a day. This is Stu cowering in terror after we did his ears this morning. He has been getting better about hiding from us when it's time for the drops, but I (almost) always manage to drag him out. He's going back to the vet on Saturday, while I'm out of town of course, and I hope he's going to be okay. He's a good cat, and he doesn't need all the irritation in his ears.

Day 5

I've been obsessed with this lighter since Friday. It's stuck flush in the tar in an expansion joint on Centre Street. I guess someone dropped it on one of the hot days we've had, and it landed just right so when it got run over it sank instead of shattering. I've been meaning to take a picture for several days, but traffic never stops in the right place. Today, I finally just stuck the camera out the window on the way by.

Day 4

Today's Boston Globe reports that Boston is the third in the nation for road rage. I've gotta say, I'm disappointed. I know I'm doing my part, the rest of you need to step it up. Did you let somebody merge today without flipping them off, yelling, or actually ramming them with your car? Stop that shit, how are we supposed to be number one if you keep that up?

This is a picture of me doing my part to keep Boston driving angry. That's right, I'm going down Centre Street at the height of rush hour taking pictures of myself. This was, ironically, right before I heard the story about road rage on the radio. I really do exemplify the Boston driving ethic. I speed, cut people off, scream obscenities at the other drivers, and never yield an inch.

That being said, I do drive with courtesy. I know that sounds delusional after the last paragraph, but I know when it's my turn and when it's not. I come to a full stop before taking my right on red, let pedestrians cross at crosswalks, follow the rules in rotaries, and never pass on the shoulder. All I ask in return is a little reciprocity.

If people would stop passing me on the shoulder in the rotary I have to go through every morning, my life would be a happier place.

Day 3

This is my desk at work, as seen at the happiest time of the workday... time to go home. Notice that I am surrounded by pictures of happy times and places. I consider myself a hard worker; I always have been. Right now, though, it's tough to try that hard. I am having all the typical office grind without the travel and adventure that has made this job enjoyable so far.

Perhaps it's because I spent so long working with my hands, but I get much more satisfaction out of training the customers than I do out of working on tasks in the office. The common thread, of course, being that at the end of the day I can stand back and take stock of what I accomplished. Once upon a time it would have been building a wall or loading a truck, and now it is imparting knowledge. While I'm stuck in the office, there is none of that. The only tangible effect of my effort is a slightly reduced list of things to do the next day.

In February, I made my discontent known, and the powers that be offered me a new project with potential for the kind of work I find satisfying and enjoyable, and in return I agreed not to leave the group or the company. In the back of my mind, I told myself I would give the new project six months to take shape, then reevaluate. I know it's only been about two months so far, but it doesn't look very promising. I do want to stay with the company, but it has to be in a position with more potential than what my current one seems to promise.

We'll see, I guess.

Day 2

This picture represents one of the only redeeming features of life in the suburbs. That's right, I have three (count 'em... three) charcoal cooking implements out back. I've got the itty bitty Thermos brand grill, my Brinkmann smoker, and the Weber. This time of year, the Weber becomes a major factor in my weekly diet. I grill whenever there is time, rain or shine.

I know the folks two houses down probably look down on me for using charcoal, but I prefer it. If I wanted to cook over a gas flame, I'd go upstairs and turn on the stove. I enjoy making the fire, smelling the food mingling with the smoke, the idea that getting the proper cooking times and temperatures is a bit of an art... basically everything about cooking with charcoal.

Tonight, we had a small steak, a porkchop, garlic-chicken brats, italian sausages, grilled plantains, and potatoes cooked in the coals. I want to experiment with more grilled fruits and vegetables as the summer progresses, and if I can find a cheap one, I'd like to get a dutch oven for cooking in the coals.

As I stand back and look at this picture with a stranger's eyes, I have to laugh a little bit. Yes, our backyard is all-concrete. How Boston is that?

This picture also represents my discovery that blogger lets me send pictures directly from my phone to my blog. That's a cool little piece of software, but I don't know how much I'll use it. I would end up paying more for messaging and I can't exactly type one of these little missives on my phone's number pad. Still, as the year progresses, it may come in handy.

Day 1

Nikki and Sharon both have Project 365 blogs going, so I think I'm going to try this out. The idea is that you post a picture every day for a year. I can forsee two problems with this project. Number one: I'm armed with two substandard cameras. An old 1.3 megapixel clunker about the size of a brick and my Verizon Razr. Number two: I'm a lazy bastard, and it's very unlikely that I'll do anything at all every day for a year.

This week, spring finally got here. We had to dig out the air conditioner, grilling has been good. Today, Nikki and I went to the Watertown Library. It's a mediocre collection, but a great facility. I could see myself spending many a winter Saturday in there, reading in the sun. Afterwords, we walked up the river to get home. I saw some big fish in the Charles. They may or may not have been carp.

This picture is a cherry tree on the corner of our block. The blossoms were so thick and heavy that it didn't look like it could possibly be real.