a few pics...
ps- here's the rest of the pics...
g-book
8.23.2008
island hopping in the harbor...
ok, i've been made a believer. if today was any indication of what the rest of them are like, the islands of boston harbor could quickly become one of my favorite things about living in b-town. on a whim, j.mo and i headed out this morning to spectacle island, 20mins on the T and a quick 20 minute ferry ride from downtown. today was beyond perfect as far as summer days go- plenty of sunshine, not too hot, a lovely breeze. i packed us a picnic lunch before we left the house and we had the best day trekking around and enjoying the gorgeous scenery. in the city, the waterfront was a eurotrashclusterfuck, all climbing over one another in a non-deodorant haze to get on zee trolley to zee boston trail... but once we got to the island and hiked away from the dock it was fabulously quiet.
a few pics...
ps- here's the rest of the pics...
a few pics...
ps- here's the rest of the pics...
8.16.2008
friday afternoon sandcastles
yesterday i left work early and headed up to salisbury beach to spend the afternoon with my sister, her hubby, and my nephews. the weather was perfect and the kids were a blast- having my toes in the sand and a beer in my hand at 1pm on a workday is something i need to do more often ;)
a few pics:
cody & uncle g
a little gritty
jacob & cody working on our masterpiece:
the money shot:
a few pics:
cody & uncle g
a little gritty
jacob & cody working on our masterpiece:
the money shot:
8.12.2008
(soggy) stuff
1) i don't normally mind the rain. but getting rained on three times in one day? i had to towel off after walking the dog this morning. i got properly re-soaked on the walk from harvard sq across the bridge to work. and then i ducked out mid-dinner-prep to get some wine and half way to the neighborhood liquorama it started to rain. again.
2) ollie williams is defintely one of the best characters on the family guy:
3) a new music discovery. thanks to my owen station on pandora i now know of this guy, kyle andrews:
so friggin good.
4) j.mo and i are going to hawaii for xmas & new years. sand, sun, & beer. i'm all set.
5) hot olympic divers.
that is all. carry on.
2) ollie williams is defintely one of the best characters on the family guy:
3) a new music discovery. thanks to my owen station on pandora i now know of this guy, kyle andrews:
so friggin good.
4) j.mo and i are going to hawaii for xmas & new years. sand, sun, & beer. i'm all set.
5) hot olympic divers.
that is all. carry on.
8.08.2008
8.07.2008
in an effort to offset rising oil costs
certain airlines have begun taking alternative fuel sources more seriously. while it's still going to be a while before the first soybean-powered A380 sputters its tofutastic way to heathrow, one technology that's already gaining ground is the use of LPP (little people power):
why waste valuable fuel on those lengthy ground maneuvers when you could harness up some LPP and have a jetfuelfree taxi service?
the cost of oil- $135/barrel. the cost of LPP- $50/barrel.
you do the math.
(ps- special prize for the first person who spots the rosie o'donnell mini-me lookalike)
why waste valuable fuel on those lengthy ground maneuvers when you could harness up some LPP and have a jetfuelfree taxi service?
the cost of oil- $135/barrel. the cost of LPP- $50/barrel.
you do the math.
(ps- special prize for the first person who spots the rosie o'donnell mini-me lookalike)
8.03.2008
it's back...
i had to buy a new insert thing for my sneakers since the batteries were dead in the last one. 7 miles today and home just before the downpour. hopefully i'll be back up to half-marathons by the fall.
8.02.2008
i-heart-dot (mostly)
sometimes i don't quite know why, but i really do love dorchester. after growing up in the boonies, living in australia for 3 years, trekking all over the world, and wandering from apartment to apartment in a few other parts of boston & surrounds (somerville, hyde park, bridgewater, hull), it's the place we settled on when it was time to buy and stay put for a while.
for reasons i've yet to understand, i completely forgive (and often enjoy) so many of the local quirks that you might be tempted to label 'shortcomings.' it's a transitional part of the city- not the greenest, prettiest, most manicured. 93 runs through parts of it, many houses have the requisite couch on the front porch year round, everyone drags a tv to the curb on trash night, it rivals paris in sidewalk dog poo, cars get broken into, houses get broken into, the media loves to remind us every time someone is shot or stabbed it probably happened in dorchester. it's a regular thing to see/smell drugs. music is often loud. as in 'just turn off the TV since we can't hear it anyways' loud. sometimes the ghettophone is ringing hot, as the 'ladies' of neighborhood yell to each other from their front porches.
but it's also truly diverse. in dot there's at least one of everyone. all kinds of people, from all kinds of places, speaking all kinds of languages. and no one bothers john and i as our street's token gays. hard working, kind people are in the majority- the best kind of neighbors you could ask for. and that's just the start of the good stuff- we've got a beach or two, UMass is around the corner. it's a quick trek to work thanks to the neighborhood t stop. a few years ago, we could actually *afford* to buy a place in a city that was pretty unforgiving as far as home prices went.
and it's a good thing it has got these redeeming qualities because of run-in's like this-
friday afternoon after work i walked out the front door to take frankahs on his afternoon walk. all was well, we were happily moseying along until we ran into the yellow police tape, blocked off streets, and the scene that was this law enforcement extravaganza:
fire trucks, police cars, ambulances, several blocks crawling with SWAT guys, and of course a small army of curious onlookers. it was hard to tell if it was a hostage situation or another methlab discovery (there have been several). either way, i didn't want to stick around to find out, so we trotted home at a brisker than usual pace. turns out this is what happened (from the Boston Police News Website)
Armed Suspect Barricades Self after Robbery
Yesterday, August 1, 2008 around 3:49PM, officers from District C-11 (Dorchester) responded to 1365 Dorchester Ave./Maxim Pharmacy for an armed robbery.
While numerous units were en route to the store, a detective unit observed an unknown white male running frantically from the direction of the armed robbery. The officer observed this individual run behind a store and then come back out having removed a t-shirt that he was wearing before he ran behind the store. At about this same time, officers received a matching description of the individual that had just run behind the store and it matched that of the suspect that just robbed the pharmacy. Officers also learned that the suspect had passed a note indicating that he was armed with a handgun, and had stolen several bottles of the prescription drug, oxycontin.
Officers, based on the above information, officers followed the suspect but lost sight of him as he turned onto Bay St. from Auckland Street. As officers attempted to determine where the suspect had fled, a concerned citizen flagged down officers and pointed them in the direction that the suspect had last been seen, running down Savin Hill Ave. toward the MBTA station. As officers continued to go in the direction that the suspect had last been seen running, officers were once again flagged down by another concerned citizen who told officers that he had just observed a person fitting a description of the suspect run into the front entrance of 15 Saxton Street.
Officers attempted to gain access to the 15 Saxton St. and discovered that the door, which is usually unlocked, according to the owner, was locked. Officers, now believing that a possibly armed suspect may be barricaded inside, set up a perimeter around the house and awaited the arrival of the Boston Police SWAT team and hostage negotiators. Officers again were approached by another witness, concerned citizen while clearing nearby residences of occupants that a male matching the suspect had been seen inside 11 Saxton Street.
After attempting to negotiate and getting no response from 15 Saxton St., the SWAT gained entrance and found no suspect. The process was repeated at 11 Saxton St. where the suspect was located hiding on a second floor apartment closet hiding in a plastic container covered with clothes.
The suspect, Gerald T. Comerford, 20, of Whitman was arrested and charged with Armed Robbery, Unlawful Possession of a Firearm, Unlawful Possession of Class B, and Breaking and Entering in the Day Time, Resisting Arrest, and Trespassing. During a subsequent search of the apartment, officers found several containers of oxycontin that had been stolen by the suspect, as well as the shirt worn by the suspect during the robbery. The note passed by the suspect to the store clerk indicating that he had a gun was also recovered from the store.
The suspect will be arraigned at Dorchester District Court on the above charges on Monday, August 4, 2008.
i love that he was hiding in a plastic container. so all is well that ends well, right? i can smile and say 'see, it's not soooo bad here.'
well yeah- except that when i came home i had to reassemble the brick wall j.mo and i painstakingly put together a few months back. we've been having an ongoing issue with the neighborhood kids sitting/climbing on the wall and knocking it all to pieces. and crushing plants in the meantime. no amount of asking them not to seems to have worked. i know it has gotta be hard sometimes to grow up in the city and not have a lots of places to hang out/play, so i'm more than sympathetic, but c'mon- show a little respect. i was sweeping inside when i heard the upstairs neighbor leave the house and ask the kids sitting on the wall to clean up before they left (empty soda cans, empty chip bags etc). when i went outside to water the plants they all started to take off (we've had words before), leaving all of their crap behind. i completely snapped. for the next 5 mins i turned into some kind of crazy cat food eating old man yelling at the kids.
'hey you shits, get back here and clean up!!'
two of them came back, and my most detested nemesis took off (when he came back later, the neighbor grabbed him by the t-shirt and bitched him out for a good 10mins for being a disrespectful little pig). with two of them standing there with their mouths hanging open i asked them what their problem was, why they insisted on making a mess in front of our house all the time? no good answer. i told them to clean up and piss off.
they opted for pissing off without the cleaning up part. so, now in a complete rage, i picked up every piece of trash i could find, loading up my arms- most of it wasn't even from them. i walked right past them as they headed to their home across the street- when i got to their front stairs, the two of them lagging behind me i simply said 'since you didn't want to clean up, i thought i would help you out' and tossed it all on to their front porch. the best part was the sound of all the empty bottles and cans hitting the stairs. second best part- watching their mom standing in the doorway completely confused.
despite the neighborhood fugitives and pain in the ass kids, i-do-indeed-heart-dot.
for reasons i've yet to understand, i completely forgive (and often enjoy) so many of the local quirks that you might be tempted to label 'shortcomings.' it's a transitional part of the city- not the greenest, prettiest, most manicured. 93 runs through parts of it, many houses have the requisite couch on the front porch year round, everyone drags a tv to the curb on trash night, it rivals paris in sidewalk dog poo, cars get broken into, houses get broken into, the media loves to remind us every time someone is shot or stabbed it probably happened in dorchester. it's a regular thing to see/smell drugs. music is often loud. as in 'just turn off the TV since we can't hear it anyways' loud. sometimes the ghettophone is ringing hot, as the 'ladies' of neighborhood yell to each other from their front porches.
but it's also truly diverse. in dot there's at least one of everyone. all kinds of people, from all kinds of places, speaking all kinds of languages. and no one bothers john and i as our street's token gays. hard working, kind people are in the majority- the best kind of neighbors you could ask for. and that's just the start of the good stuff- we've got a beach or two, UMass is around the corner. it's a quick trek to work thanks to the neighborhood t stop. a few years ago, we could actually *afford* to buy a place in a city that was pretty unforgiving as far as home prices went.
and it's a good thing it has got these redeeming qualities because of run-in's like this-
friday afternoon after work i walked out the front door to take frankahs on his afternoon walk. all was well, we were happily moseying along until we ran into the yellow police tape, blocked off streets, and the scene that was this law enforcement extravaganza:
fire trucks, police cars, ambulances, several blocks crawling with SWAT guys, and of course a small army of curious onlookers. it was hard to tell if it was a hostage situation or another methlab discovery (there have been several). either way, i didn't want to stick around to find out, so we trotted home at a brisker than usual pace. turns out this is what happened (from the Boston Police News Website)
Armed Suspect Barricades Self after Robbery
Yesterday, August 1, 2008 around 3:49PM, officers from District C-11 (Dorchester) responded to 1365 Dorchester Ave./Maxim Pharmacy for an armed robbery.
While numerous units were en route to the store, a detective unit observed an unknown white male running frantically from the direction of the armed robbery. The officer observed this individual run behind a store and then come back out having removed a t-shirt that he was wearing before he ran behind the store. At about this same time, officers received a matching description of the individual that had just run behind the store and it matched that of the suspect that just robbed the pharmacy. Officers also learned that the suspect had passed a note indicating that he was armed with a handgun, and had stolen several bottles of the prescription drug, oxycontin.
Officers, based on the above information, officers followed the suspect but lost sight of him as he turned onto Bay St. from Auckland Street. As officers attempted to determine where the suspect had fled, a concerned citizen flagged down officers and pointed them in the direction that the suspect had last been seen, running down Savin Hill Ave. toward the MBTA station. As officers continued to go in the direction that the suspect had last been seen running, officers were once again flagged down by another concerned citizen who told officers that he had just observed a person fitting a description of the suspect run into the front entrance of 15 Saxton Street.
Officers attempted to gain access to the 15 Saxton St. and discovered that the door, which is usually unlocked, according to the owner, was locked. Officers, now believing that a possibly armed suspect may be barricaded inside, set up a perimeter around the house and awaited the arrival of the Boston Police SWAT team and hostage negotiators. Officers again were approached by another witness, concerned citizen while clearing nearby residences of occupants that a male matching the suspect had been seen inside 11 Saxton Street.
After attempting to negotiate and getting no response from 15 Saxton St., the SWAT gained entrance and found no suspect. The process was repeated at 11 Saxton St. where the suspect was located hiding on a second floor apartment closet hiding in a plastic container covered with clothes.
The suspect, Gerald T. Comerford, 20, of Whitman was arrested and charged with Armed Robbery, Unlawful Possession of a Firearm, Unlawful Possession of Class B, and Breaking and Entering in the Day Time, Resisting Arrest, and Trespassing. During a subsequent search of the apartment, officers found several containers of oxycontin that had been stolen by the suspect, as well as the shirt worn by the suspect during the robbery. The note passed by the suspect to the store clerk indicating that he had a gun was also recovered from the store.
The suspect will be arraigned at Dorchester District Court on the above charges on Monday, August 4, 2008.
i love that he was hiding in a plastic container. so all is well that ends well, right? i can smile and say 'see, it's not soooo bad here.'
well yeah- except that when i came home i had to reassemble the brick wall j.mo and i painstakingly put together a few months back. we've been having an ongoing issue with the neighborhood kids sitting/climbing on the wall and knocking it all to pieces. and crushing plants in the meantime. no amount of asking them not to seems to have worked. i know it has gotta be hard sometimes to grow up in the city and not have a lots of places to hang out/play, so i'm more than sympathetic, but c'mon- show a little respect. i was sweeping inside when i heard the upstairs neighbor leave the house and ask the kids sitting on the wall to clean up before they left (empty soda cans, empty chip bags etc). when i went outside to water the plants they all started to take off (we've had words before), leaving all of their crap behind. i completely snapped. for the next 5 mins i turned into some kind of crazy cat food eating old man yelling at the kids.
'hey you shits, get back here and clean up!!'
two of them came back, and my most detested nemesis took off (when he came back later, the neighbor grabbed him by the t-shirt and bitched him out for a good 10mins for being a disrespectful little pig). with two of them standing there with their mouths hanging open i asked them what their problem was, why they insisted on making a mess in front of our house all the time? no good answer. i told them to clean up and piss off.
they opted for pissing off without the cleaning up part. so, now in a complete rage, i picked up every piece of trash i could find, loading up my arms- most of it wasn't even from them. i walked right past them as they headed to their home across the street- when i got to their front stairs, the two of them lagging behind me i simply said 'since you didn't want to clean up, i thought i would help you out' and tossed it all on to their front porch. the best part was the sound of all the empty bottles and cans hitting the stairs. second best part- watching their mom standing in the doorway completely confused.
despite the neighborhood fugitives and pain in the ass kids, i-do-indeed-heart-dot.
7.27.2008
nearing completion....
i'm pleased to report that j.mo's momma's deck is nearing completion. just a few last things to take care of (lattice etc) before we can stain it and call it a day. considering we're 100% amateurs in the deck-building arena, i think we've done pretty well. i'm thrilled no one has been seriously injured. and now that we're all BFF's, the staff of our local lowes will be joining us for thanksgiving this year. a win-win for everyone.
the happy workers, feeling fresh at the end of the day:
everyone's favorite job-site supervisor:
last weekend i had the urge to shave all my hair off. for years and years i had super short hair. then, a little more than a year ago i started to let it grow out. and while it was good fun to buy 'product' and have hair that 'did things,' i kinda missed my fuzzhead. so i thought it over and busted out the clippahs yesterday. justin may have brought sexy back, but i'm bringing velcro back-
the happy workers, feeling fresh at the end of the day:
everyone's favorite job-site supervisor:
last weekend i had the urge to shave all my hair off. for years and years i had super short hair. then, a little more than a year ago i started to let it grow out. and while it was good fun to buy 'product' and have hair that 'did things,' i kinda missed my fuzzhead. so i thought it over and busted out the clippahs yesterday. justin may have brought sexy back, but i'm bringing velcro back-
7.16.2008
would you prefer an aisle or window seat?
and have you considered optional MANPADS protection for you upcoming flight?
from cnn.com:
Passenger plane flies with laser-system that repels missiles
(CNN) -- The first passenger plane equipped with a system to repel shoulder-fired missiles successfully completed its flight, a British defense and aerospace company announced Wednesday.
The system aims to protect against fire from missile launchers like these, which were used to fire at an Israeli plane.
1 of 2 The "JetEye" infrared missile-defense system was tested on an American Airlines flight that took off July 11, according to a statement from BAE Systems.
The plane flew from New York's John F. Kennedy International Airport to Los Angeles International Airport in California, the company said.
The JetEye system works by detecting the heat-seeking missiles and then firing a laser, which diverts the missile.
American Airlines refused to make the system mandatory on all trips, but agreed to cooperate with the tests.
The flight represents the final phase of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security's Counter-Man-Portable Air Defense System (MANPADS) program, designed to test the suitability of missile-protection equipment for commercial aircraft.
you have to be kidding?? of all the potential acronyms out there, homeland security settled on MANPADS. MANPADS? ugh.
from cnn.com:
Passenger plane flies with laser-system that repels missiles
(CNN) -- The first passenger plane equipped with a system to repel shoulder-fired missiles successfully completed its flight, a British defense and aerospace company announced Wednesday.
The system aims to protect against fire from missile launchers like these, which were used to fire at an Israeli plane.
1 of 2 The "JetEye" infrared missile-defense system was tested on an American Airlines flight that took off July 11, according to a statement from BAE Systems.
The plane flew from New York's John F. Kennedy International Airport to Los Angeles International Airport in California, the company said.
The JetEye system works by detecting the heat-seeking missiles and then firing a laser, which diverts the missile.
American Airlines refused to make the system mandatory on all trips, but agreed to cooperate with the tests.
The flight represents the final phase of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security's Counter-Man-Portable Air Defense System (MANPADS) program, designed to test the suitability of missile-protection equipment for commercial aircraft.
you have to be kidding?? of all the potential acronyms out there, homeland security settled on MANPADS. MANPADS? ugh.
7.13.2008
7.08.2008
a day for goodbye
i am blessed to be a witness
some have flown away
and can't be with us here today
like the hills of my home
some have crumbled and now are gone
gather around for today won't come again
i am blessed to be a witness
-ben harper
a few pics
7.06.2008
7.04.2008
saying goodbye
yesterday morning the phone rang and it was the news i had been both expecting and dreading for a while now. one of my favorite persons and closest friends passed away. i'm going to miss my grandma more than i can explain, but i know everything is how it should be now.
i love this pic of the three of us:
and this one too:
Thich Nhat Hanh says-
Let us meditate on the birth of a cloud. The cloud was water in an ocean, lake, river and heat from the sun gave it birth – the moment of continuation. Rain is a continuation of the cloud. When I drink tea, it’s very pleasant to be aware I am drinking cloud.
It is impossible for a cloud to die. It can become water, snow – it cannot become nothing. It is also impossible for us to die. Speech, action and thought continue in the future. When we pronounce a word that is compassionate, good and beautiful that is our continuation. The person who dies still continues- They continue in us and around us.
Rain is a continuation of the cloud.
I'm feeling a little sad and quiet, but I'm happy it's raining today.
i love this pic of the three of us:
and this one too:
Thich Nhat Hanh says-
Let us meditate on the birth of a cloud. The cloud was water in an ocean, lake, river and heat from the sun gave it birth – the moment of continuation. Rain is a continuation of the cloud. When I drink tea, it’s very pleasant to be aware I am drinking cloud.
It is impossible for a cloud to die. It can become water, snow – it cannot become nothing. It is also impossible for us to die. Speech, action and thought continue in the future. When we pronounce a word that is compassionate, good and beautiful that is our continuation. The person who dies still continues- They continue in us and around us.
Rain is a continuation of the cloud.
I'm feeling a little sad and quiet, but I'm happy it's raining today.
6.28.2008
what the world needs now...
is a little extra g.coleman in our lives. i've decided to start my day with a iced soy coleman latte:
i better get that patented, otherwise it will be the next overpriced thing to show up on the stahbies menu. i can see the mini-vans double parked across america, with soccer moms lined up, frothing at the mouth for their skinny colemans, half-caff colemans, extra hot double cupped colemans... endless possibilities.
enjoy
i better get that patented, otherwise it will be the next overpriced thing to show up on the stahbies menu. i can see the mini-vans double parked across america, with soccer moms lined up, frothing at the mouth for their skinny colemans, half-caff colemans, extra hot double cupped colemans... endless possibilities.
enjoy
6.22.2008
deckathon08, part II (alternate title: another sore sunday)
just a quick progress report- yesterday was a perfect summer day to be outside banging on some wood ;) the day finished injury-free and we left with the 20 fingers we came with.
slowly but surely
and how impressed are we all with those custom-cut angled pieces?
j.mo swinging his tool
it's getting hot in here
slowly but surely
and how impressed are we all with those custom-cut angled pieces?
j.mo swinging his tool
it's getting hot in here
6.18.2008
today's the day...
it was 2 years ago today that j.mo and i tied the knot at our fabulous surprise wedding a la dirtydot bbq.
happy anniversary mistah... i sho do love you :)(:
happy anniversary mistah... i sho do love you :)(:
6.14.2008
working wood
i gotta say, for a couple of amateurs, j.mo and i are pretty handy around the house. well, in this case, we're handy around his momma's house. last weekend we pulled apart a section of wickid old fencing and replaced all of the boards ourselves. while john was busy demolishing the old fence, i was in the garage on assembly duty with all the bits and pieces that eventually became a table saw. (you know i quadruple checked that shit- the visions of switching this testosterone fueled wood chomping contraption on and watching j.mo take a flying saw blade to the head at 4,000,000 rpm's was something i was hoping to avoid).
with the fence (plus swivel gate, i might add) under our construction belts, it was on to the deck. jmo's momma's deck could give you a splinter if you looked at it the wrong way, let alone set foot on it with bare feet. gray, rotted, splitting old wood... after a measuring session, we had lowes deliver a truckload of new wood and did a little demolition work on the old stuff... today we really stepped up the pace, both with tearing the old crap up and getting started with newdeck08. no major injuries to report- j.mo did get hit in the side with a large piece of wood that rocketed off the saw and his leg did get scraped, but there were no emergency airlifts to the ER. i got a splinter and in true gurlscout style, managed to suck the poison out.
before we get started, everyone's tetanus shots are up to date-? we got a whole lotta rusted nails up in there:
check out the g.diddy supastah safety goggles:
the deck re-build is simply not enough, gotta add another set of stairs too:
g+saw
j+saw
pretty impressed with ourselves we are ;) oh yeah- i got out of the shower a few mins ago and j.mo was like 'what's that red splotch all across the top of your ass?' uh, yeah, that would be my sexy sunburn a la plumber's crack:
amazing how becks and i look the same from behind, huh?
here are all the pics from today's adventure in carpentry. hope y'all are having a good weekend...
with the fence (plus swivel gate, i might add) under our construction belts, it was on to the deck. jmo's momma's deck could give you a splinter if you looked at it the wrong way, let alone set foot on it with bare feet. gray, rotted, splitting old wood... after a measuring session, we had lowes deliver a truckload of new wood and did a little demolition work on the old stuff... today we really stepped up the pace, both with tearing the old crap up and getting started with newdeck08. no major injuries to report- j.mo did get hit in the side with a large piece of wood that rocketed off the saw and his leg did get scraped, but there were no emergency airlifts to the ER. i got a splinter and in true gurlscout style, managed to suck the poison out.
before we get started, everyone's tetanus shots are up to date-? we got a whole lotta rusted nails up in there:
check out the g.diddy supastah safety goggles:
the deck re-build is simply not enough, gotta add another set of stairs too:
g+saw
j+saw
pretty impressed with ourselves we are ;) oh yeah- i got out of the shower a few mins ago and j.mo was like 'what's that red splotch all across the top of your ass?' uh, yeah, that would be my sexy sunburn a la plumber's crack:
amazing how becks and i look the same from behind, huh?
here are all the pics from today's adventure in carpentry. hope y'all are having a good weekend...
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