• 19:58 Starting the whole thing over and hoping I can remember my loudtwitter pw so I can turn that off #

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I just deleted all my 6+ month old tweets and put a box on the sidebar. I like twitter because I can send little updates about weird things I see in the street and want to blog about but always forget about by the time I get home.

Now I don't have to take a picture and send it via flickr!

Labels: blog business

Dear 104:

After a couple of months of early departures, it's nice to not have to get to the bus stop 10 minutes early. However, at least that was *A* schedule. Now you've given up and show up whenever. I'm convinced that they start new buses at Malden to mess with me. It sucks to get to the stop early, but to arrive at work as though I'd slept in an extra half hour.

To put it another way, I LOVE the new Hold Steady. Have it on endless repeat. But it should not be possible for me to listen to it twice on my morning commute.

No love,

The girl on the corner who refuses to thank you





Dear Male Commuters:

That's a very pretty necklace! Now will you button your shirt please?

Gross,

A Fellow Passenger





Dear Cranky Lady on the Red Line:

Nuh uh. You do NOT get to shove through the mob exiting the train, flop into a seat, and SIGH as though we decided to play Red Rover and not let you in. You wait or you suffer the consequences.

Enjoy your trip you rude wench,

The girl who glared at you

Labels: boston, observed around town, the t

I went out to return some pants and shop a bit. Then I thought it'd be a super idea to wander down Quincy Market way to find some cheesy Boston souvenirs someone. FAIL. I nearly killed 3 people, plus I still feel like crap so the walking from downtown to there was clearly too much for me and I was getting dizzy and weak.

So instead I sat down by the Holocaust Memorial because it's my favorite place to hang out/people watch/find some peace in chaos. It's a little removed from the touristmania of Quincy Market/Faneiul Hall but close enough that you can hear the crowd noise and street performers, and that people do come by, but far enough away that you're not stepped on and/or in 1500 pictures.

In the half hour or so that I spent there, I witnessed:

--4 or 5 kids with balloon-animal swords and ... sword holsters? around their waists. Much jousting to be had.
--A man try to explain the Holocaust to his 6-year-old son. I don't remember what he said but it was kind of touching.
--A woman crying silently and praying
--A homeless man dividing his bottle of Popov between three water bottles and two separate families reacting in a horrified manner before dragging their children away
--A man ask his mother what bestiality was. The whole family then debated the proper pronunciation.
--A homeless man ask another homeless man to tie his bandana for him.

Then I headed to Haymarket caught the train home. I'm spent.

Labels: boston, daily report, local, observed around town

Wow it's been a little while.

I did indeed finish the Corporate Challenge. I walked it with two coworkers and had a lot of fun. I did it in 51 real time (1:02, minus the 00:06 start and the 5 minute bathroom break for one of the girls I was with).

Been quite social this past week, doing the CC, going to the infamous 90s Night at Common Ground in Allston, going to a wedding, and tonight going to the fireworks. I've been doing these things with some local friends via a local message board. So the internet is pretty cool.

Now I gotta run and throw myself into the middle of the insanity. We're going to watch them from Memorial Drive, yipes.

Labels: boston, daily report, friends, holidays, local

I'm running my first 5k tomorrow. Holy crap. How crazy is that. It starts at 7:15 so I have to get through a full day of work first. I'm kind of nervous, but also excited. Fortunately, it's a run/walk event so I do have the option to walk. I just hope I don't finish last for our company team.

I never in a million years thought I'd be doing something like this. So much has changed in a year. I'm pretty proud of myself.

More tomorrow.

Labels: boston, couch-2-5k, gym, local

I often joke about how I almost died but the truth is, it still rattles me two years later. Yes, two years yesterday I was rushed to the St Francis ER with a blood sugar of 1300, a blown pupil, and with 30 minutes before total organ failure having thrown up 3/4ths of my body weight.

And two years later, I'm stronger for it. I take better care of myself, am more aware of my body's signals, less likely to shrug off not feeling right and tell myself it'll get better, I can handle it on my own. I'm even running a 5k in a week (holy crap).

But even I didn't want to tempt the fates when my building announced that there would be a BBQ on the plaza for lunch today. I'm sure the company that runs our cafe has much better food handling/holding procedures that won't result in allowing some nasty bugs to grow (thanks, microbiology, for giving me the words and tools to confirm what I suspect happened two years ago-- that cooking a burger =/= being safe from all microbes, especially when one is suceptible to pathogens) but I still couldn't do it. The timing was too much for me.

So I went to Chacarero for the Chilean lady that never lets me down. That was some good, safe eatin.

Labels: boston, diabetes, food, health, local, thinking

We took this one shortly before we left. I was so disoriented when I woke up this morning that I was looking for the balcony. But there was no ocean, and I had to put on grown up work clothes instead of a bathing suit and sundress. Sigh.

Labels: daily report, pictures, travel, vacation

Today was spent between the pool and the beach before the big rainstorm rolled in. We also rented boogie boards, hooray! I managed to ride a few waves in, but Nate mostly floated around, probably for the best with his back.



We started the day fortifying ourselves as only weary New Englanders can.



Then we went and waited out the rain and stuff and went boogie boarding for an hour. This is me afterward. Too bad you can't see my skinned knees cause they were pretty awesome.



Nate, post-boogie boarding



Self-portrait, post-boarding!



Me shaking the sand out of everything



Now onto the pool portion of our program.



It started pouring shortly after this, but gosh darn it doesn't he look happy?



Post-rain. Check out the rainbow!



Dinner at Maria Bonita's. Do you SEE the size of that margarita? It was half tequila. The food was equally large but delicious. Even if thinking of it right now makes me a little queasy because I am still SO FULL.

Labels: daily report, pictures, travel, vacation

Yesterday was the wedding. I don't have any pics of that but Nate does, obviously. Instead, here are some pool pictures!

I am going to cry looking at these once I get home.



Nate contemplates a mozzarella stick, then eats it.



The tiki bar over my shoulder? Where the magic happens.



Nate enjoys a frosty margarita from the magic tiki hut



Mmmmmm strawberry daiquiri! Want to know how magic the tiki hut was? The bartender today made "extra" with both of our drinks so we each got one free!



Hanging out on our balcony, where we have spent pretty much every evening.





Mmmmm ... tasty homemade ice cream.

Labels: daily report, pictures, travel, vacation

Yesterday we spent some time on the beach, then in the pool, then we went to the rehearsal dinner. After that, we mini-golfed.



Joe Nate prepares to charge into the volcano to rescue Meg Ryan armed with only a golf club.







FORE! (If I knew more about golf, these would all have individual hilarious captions)



A proof from my Ladies of Mini-Golf calendar shoot



Nate trying to escape from the Tree God's trap



It's very hard to putt accurately with a dinosaur breathing down your neck. That must be why I got 17 over par on this hole.



It's cool, though, cause I got a new friend out of it!

Labels: daily report, pictures, travel, vacation

A little diverse huh?

We're here! It was a long, long day that is ending nicely with some sweet MSNBC crime docs.

Highlights:

1. Getting a ride to Courthouse to grab the Silver Line to the airport instead of braving the 104 --> Orange Line --> Red Line --> Silver Line or --> Blue Line --> Shuttle with luggage, a gimpy husband, and rush hour.

2. My new computer! We took this at Logan waiting for our flight with PhotoBooth and the built-in camera:



3. Room overlooking the beach with mini golf across the street from the hotel.

4. Moonlit stroll on the beach after we checked in.

5. ARBYS!

6. Cows! Everywhere!

7. Free wifi!

All of this is almost enough to dull the depression of flying into Orlando but NOT going to Disney.

Now, we need some sleep that isn't sitting up in an airplane seat.

Labels: pictures, tech stuff, the t, travel

Two macs!

Yes i checked and the sign and the shelf tag are for the exact same product.

Click on the image to go to the associated article on boston.com

I'm very disturbed by Red Sneakers there. Logically, I know what's going on, but my mind goes to ghastly places every time I look at it.

Labels: baseball, boston, news, pictures, WTF?

Fruit stand outside one of the downtown CVSes

What a mess that all was.

I spent a good deal of time hanging around directing people to alternate stations, since many of the MBTA cops I saw couldn't be bothered to do it. It's great to direct people to Haymarket and all, but not when you're not telling them where it is. So there's my good karma. Hopefully I helped some people get home/wherever they were going. I know how bewildering it can be to wander helplessly in a strange city looking for the subway.

As for me, I managed to get on a fairly empty train at State. I also finally got the answer to the #1 asked question: "What if I want the orange line inbound? Do I still get on at State/Haymarket?" The answer was apparently yes, as I saw a train go through when I was heading for the outbound platform. It just, obviously, wasn't stopping at downtown. Oh well, Chinatown isn't that much of a walk and that's where I was sending people.

Labels: boston, news, observed around town, the t

DTX is entirely shut down at rush hour and this isn't breaking news? Wish i could get uhub to load on my phone