Bostonia Rantida

Potholes and Potholes

2011-07-11T12:38:00.001-07:00

I'm getting more and more used to the commute despite the potholes. I think knowing where the trouble spots are in advance helps a lot. The other thing? Not leaving my locks at the bottom of my milk crate. Der.

Bike Woes

2011-06-20T09:26:00.001-07:00

Someone needs to repave Boston Street, not to mention Dot Ave north of Columbia Road until it hits about B street. Man. I feel like I'm going to die biking those pothole-strewn courses lately. I hope they put in some north-south bike lanes, too. They have them locally but nothing on a commuter course. I'm going to try a new way home tonight though; dump myself through Roxbury and see what happens. I won't miss trying to bypass 93 or the railyard. Always annoying. Also, hills.

Anyway, we'll see how the little hybrid does on the rougher terrain. Kind of missing the ol' mountain bike, except when I carry the bike up and downstairs, of course. That part of the commute kind of sucks.

Moved!

2011-06-10T11:22:00.001-07:00

I moved back into Boston proper (well, I was only 50 feet away before, damnit!) and am very, very happy right now. Yay!

Sunbathing Season

2011-05-26T11:47:00.000-07:00

On the Common ... no weird stories yet, thank God. I'm feeling a little pink; I think it was too hot today, but I thought I'd get 20 minutes in before the serious heat this weekend.

What a gorgeous day.

BOO State of Massachusetts

2011-03-18T12:13:00.000-07:00

I love this city, but dear god, now Mass just sucked ALL the fun out of Groupon. Fuck you, goddamn stupid liquor laws. WE NEED HAPPY HOUR DRINK SPECIALS. Let's get on this, fellow Bay Staters!

Frotterage at Haymarket! Or something along those lines.

2010-09-03T14:21:00.000-07:00

Some old man in running shorts rubbed up against me while I was paying for some squash at Haymarket. I didn't realize what was happening until I was picking up my produce and said "EXCUSE ME" very loudly while pushing my way out of there. No, it was not crowded. Yes, it was raining and the stand was under a tent, but I was the only person at the stand then. Anyway, if you see some nasty old guy rubbing his penis against people at Haymarket ever, please kick him in the junk on my behalf. Thanks. I almost didn't come back to work after, I was so disgusted. Ugh.

One Stop Shopping

2010-09-01T08:42:00.000-07:00

I realize there are some conditions that are invisible, but a very young guy took the 57 bus one stop this morning and I was very annoyed. It was not that hot yet, and the guy cut in front of me while I was letting people off, what's more. Douchebaggerous!

TOO HOT

2010-08-31T08:39:00.000-07:00

I saw this last night when I picked up my new, $20 minifridge! Hahahahaha.

I'm Allergic To BU Undergrads

2010-08-30T11:33:00.000-07:00

My nose is runny and my eyes sort of puffy/tired in that way they can get. I think I'm allergic to BU students. Well, with the exception of the grad student there that I dated last year. But he knew how to negotiate crosswalks appropriately, so he had that going for him.

Seriously, I drove just down to Packard's Corner and literally anytime I had to stop for a red light, kids (and their parents!) would be jumping into traffic during the walk signs, sure, appropriate ... but not looking/stopping/etc. when the BIG ORANGE HAND stopped flashing and became solid.

My bad, driving out in the sea of red-shirted humanity, but still. I mean, when I was an undergrad in Ann Arbor I crossed streets rather cavalierly, but A-deuce is a sleepy midwestern suburb (albeit a fun one); Boston is a major city, and Comm Ave. is five lanes and two train tracks.

Yeesh.

Drunk Pass

2010-08-30T09:18:00.000-07:00

I have to stop buying 7 day T passes for the train home when I am hammered.

Circumstance

2010-08-25T12:31:00.001-07:00

Maybe I wouldn't be on a "what up" basis with the bouncers on La Grange if I could walk down Boylston without facing a fucking gauntlet of street harassment. That said, the one I say hi to seems nice, so all is not lost.

Cold Feet

2010-08-23T13:06:00.000-07:00

Okay, Boston, it's 65, not 35. You can leave the coats at home (unless they're raincoats, in which case you're absolved). I'm just saying I saw a fair few winter coats on the T this morning.

Streets In Chinatown

2010-08-03T08:09:00.001-07:00

Wait, which street is this?

Idlewild

2010-07-08T13:19:00.000-07:00

There were about 10-15 cabbies idling in the taxi/valet stand in front of the Park Plaza on St. James today ... half the drivers were outside talking to each other. I frowned as I was hit with the exhaust. So wasteful.

Diapers

2010-07-06T10:58:00.000-07:00

Why does the 39 bus always smell like diapers? Ugh. Diapers and something strangely, sickly sweet. Horrible.

As The Parade Passes By

2010-06-07T11:15:00.000-07:00

If those are the muskets they used in the Revolutionary War, no wonder they call it the "shot heard 'round the world" ... those things are loud!

Go Pick Me Out A WInner, Bobby

2010-06-07T06:43:00.001-07:00

I walked over to the Landmark Center today and noticed at least 10 big branches down -- the biggest was blocking the whole sidewalk on Beacon Street. I thought to myself, maybe I'll take one, make it into a bat, and hit a walkoff into the lights, cementing my place as a baseball legend as sparks rain down on the field.

Happy Bikes

2010-06-04T09:39:00.000-07:00

Another good biking day! Love not having any incidents to report.

Bike Incidents

2010-06-03T08:02:00.000-07:00

To the woman who let me cross Beacon this morning, I thank you. She was turning down the street I was going to be going down, but she didn't have to stop. Thanks, black SUV!

To the girl not looking while walking across Comm during a green light yesterday, well, sorry I scared you but you should have been looking -- it's not like I came out of nowhere, and you didn't have the light, I did. I'm sure she told all her friends "oh, a bike almost hit me this morning!" But c'mon, you were crossing against the light and not paying attention. And I was in control of things -- I saw you, and I saw that you weren't paying attention, and I knew I had enough space.

That's all for today's update on commuting via bike. I had nice rides the last couple days. Muy bueno.

Dirt

2010-06-01T09:02:00.000-07:00

Upon coming home from a Harbor Islands camping trip on Sunday, my roommate pronounced that it "smelled like dirt" in our apartment. I'd been home all weekend and didn't smell anything, so I just shrugged.

The next day, I read on uhub that there were forest fires up in Quebec that were blowing down into Boston thanks to strong northerly winds.

Aha!

Beacon Cabs

2010-05-28T07:45:00.001-07:00

I should add that I've never had problems with cabs while riding on Beacon -- everyone is actually pretty courteous on that street, which is nice.

Cabs Hate Me, I Hate Cabs

2010-05-27T07:58:00.000-07:00

I already won't take a cab anywhere unless I'm absolutely desperate (re: after the T stops running) or someone else is paying for it. Why? Too many extra special long rides.* In high heels one night walking from Washington Square to Brighton Center, I got sick of my sore feet and hailed a cab just before Comm Ave, asking to be dropped "just up at Washington and Cambridge." When the guy inexplicably took a right up Comm, putting the ride into "WTF" territory, I asked him what the hell he was doing (although I'm kind of a pushover so I said it nicer than that). He was going to take me to Government Center. Hey dude -- while that is where there is a Cambridge Street and a Washington Street also, they don't intersect, and I was WALKING UP WASHINGTON STREET IN BROOKLINE. I told him that his idea of a place wasn't real and had him turn around immediately, but the first place that happens is quite a ways down the road. Fuming, when we got to the ACTUAL CONVERGENCE of said streets, I gave him exact fare.**

There was a time when I got taken on a $20 ride going from Charles MGH to Broadway and Prospect. We were hammered and not paying attention (okay, making out) so I guess he thought it would be funny to take us for a ride!

I mean, these are just two of my stories, and everyone I know has tons of them -- the cab who takes you to South Boston when you wanted to go to the South End, the cab who takes Mass Ave from MIT to Davis. I mean, it's helpful if you know where you're going anyway, obviously, but a lot of people don't.

Anyway, cabs are my latest point of hate since, when I'm being a good little doobie and biking in the middle of the right lane -- being obvious so I don't get side swiped, plus also away from possible doorings. And this is on Boylston, the frigging widest street in Boston.*** This morning one taxi driver yells at me to stay to the right -- this keeps happening, and it's ALWAYS taxis (I should also like to mention the culpability of hotels in the enabling of cab craziness -- whipping across three lanes of traffic when you hear a whistle is not awesome either).

So here's what I propose: Mayor Menino, since you like biking so much, can you do something about the taxis that don't know I'm allowed to take up a whole lane? Distribute a memo, make it part of getting a commercial license, whatever. I don't know what you can do, but do something.

I'd also like to mention that I was right behind this very cab for the next two blocks, stopping behind him at two red lights. Clearly, he had somewhere to be and I should've gotten out of the way!

*Blah blah blah I'm sure some cabbies are nice but I never get those ones.

**Apparently there is technically another Cambridge and Washington intersection on the Charlestown-Somerville line (thanks Google Maps), but that wasn't where I was being taken, and anyway that's awfully obscure considering.

***Okay, probably not, but it's pretty damn wide for a one-way.

Love Tap

2010-05-20T09:17:00.000-07:00

I was at a red light and getting off my bike to walk it across the street to where I park it every day, when the light turned green. The van that was next to me turned right and hit me in the helmet with his mirror. WTF dude! It was just a tap, but keeerist!

Catch Me

2010-05-18T09:44:00.000-07:00

Today's Metro tells the story of a pathological con artist ex-Harvard student, calling it a "real life" Catch Me If You Can.

Uh, geniuses? Catch Me If You Can is already the real life version of itself, as it, you know, actually happened. Yeesh.

UpStares

2010-05-11T06:35:00.001-07:00

Dear Boylston MBTA workers who stand next to the staircase,
I can SEE YOU trying to look up my skirt, okay? Stop it. You're supposed to be standing there watching the fricking trains.
Ick,
Bostonia Rantida

BU Shuttles and Other Buses

2010-05-04T07:31:00.000-07:00

Man, they need to make some ACTUAL BUS DROP OFF SPOTS for the freaking BU buses. Either use the designated MBTA bus areas or create some and get rid of some of the parking spots along Comm Ave. Same goes for that Mass Art something or other on Beacon. Every day around five there's a shuttle bus blocking a whole lane ... I mean, there are parking spots there. Ice two of them, color the curb yellow, and make it a bus drop off area. It's not that hard, guys.

Aquapocalypso!

2010-05-03T06:39:00.000-07:00

Can't drink water? Then drink beer! I did :)

I have to say, I lived in Cambridge once upon a time, and I'd rather have Boston water and have to boil it for a week every year than always have to drink Cantabrigian water. Seriously. Cambridge water did not taste right to me.

Splash!

2010-04-20T11:06:00.001-07:00

This van splashed a bunch of people while barreling down Tremont in the left lane on Friday afternoon. Barreling down the left lane to get to ALL THE RED LIGHTS. Well done, jerk.

2012

2010-04-14T09:36:00.001-07:00

I just saw a Quidditch team with a "PALIN * VOLDEMORT" poster ... stuck on one of their brooms, no less. Ha.

P.S.-Check this out! It's at the top.

The Makeouts, The Makeouts

2010-04-12T13:42:00.001-07:00

My one regret is I currently have no one to make out for this.

I do have a shirt that says "makeout bandit," though. Yeah, I know.

Cabless

2010-04-11T07:21:00.001-07:00

This is partially my own fault, for not leaving the bar until like 1:30, but man, there were just NO cabs in Boston last night!

Red Light Cameras

2010-04-08T13:00:00.000-07:00

I'm in favor. After seeing countless cars run reds at certain intersections I regularly pass (some with a four-way walk and one in particular that, in addition to its four way walk, is fifty feet or so from The Massachusetts Commission for the Blind's offices). At said notable intersection, it's highly likely that those running said light will be stopped at the next red, which is a mere two (small) blocks down. So much for practicality.

Anyway, just saying. Saw a few people almost get hit on walk signs today and was thinking about it.

We Want Shegos

2010-04-03T08:04:00.001-07:00

This isn't really Boston-related, per se, and it was like a week ago, but man, Hockey East has the WORST refs. There, I said it. Thanks for the bullcrap call! BC, enjoy playing Miami, the pretend winner, in the next round. Ugh.

Wet in Boylston T

2010-03-30T12:31:00.000-07:00

Hit the outbound Boylston T stop earlier after I got sick of walking in the rain, and there was a half-food deep (at least) puddle outside of the entrance that you couldn't avoid ... I was surprised the puddle wasn't waterfalling down the steps, actually.

Now, this helped me realize that I had higher-up holes in my boots (apparently the puddles I stomped in earlier were too shallow to hit them), but I could've gone without having wet, wet feet on my lunch break. Oh well.

Luckily for you, fellow Green Line commuters, there was a crew shoveling the water out of the depression and down the small hill by the time I walked by again just now.

That said, the station is a drippy mess and the stairs are awfully wet, so watch your steps!

So You Get A Little Wet

2010-03-30T07:13:00.000-07:00

Car Havers are the biggest wusses ever about being out & about in the rain. Whine whine. A friend of mine from college is visiting a mutual friend in New York City and is bitching about walking around. This is Mr. "hates when it's randomly 50 degrees in the winter," Mr. "Awesome, a snowstor,!" Ha. True colors shine through, and his colors are those of a weather wuss.

I'll be out in my boots enjoying the fact that, this storm, it's at least not also 35 degrees and blowing 20 knots, thanks.

Aquageddon II: Aqua...i...er

2010-03-29T10:06:00.000-07:00

Well, probably not as watery, and certainly not as cold ... say what you will about the rain, but I enjoyed the uptick in temperature today, that's for damn sure.

Indochine

2010-03-27T05:50:00.000-07:00

There's an Indian Chinese place coming to Newbury street. I am super intrigued!

Colder Than Advertised

2010-03-12T13:01:00.000-08:00

I wore some awesome shoes to work today, but by the time I managed to take my lunch hour and run out to Haymarket I realized I just couldn't wear them out walking.

So I switched to some flops I keep at work.

My toes got a little cold but it was otherwise okay ... but man! Wasn't it supposed to be almost 50 all week? I checked when I got back and it was barely 40 out, plus the wind whipping through the produce stalls was a little rough.

Oh well. I got carrots, mushrooms, dill, and tomatoes so all is well!

Quality, Comfort, and Price

2010-03-09T20:01:00.000-08:00

I feel for the furniture mavens, I do. But was there a single person in the greater New England area that DIDN'T know that Phyl was sick? Not specifics, but yeah.

That said, I wish her and her family the best.

'Cause, I mean, that's nice.

Yeah, I did that.

1up on the Common

2010-03-04T08:40:00.000-08:00

Street Harassment

2010-03-02T12:59:00.000-08:00

I'm always at least a little dismayed by the sheer unimaginativeness* of cat callers. It's ridiculous. Animal sounds? Really?

Thank God for sunglasses and headphones, my only loves.

*I found this word in some free dictionaries online but I'm not really convinced it's legit. Whatever, though.

C'mon Ride That Train

2010-02-26T16:09:00.000-08:00

I got on the C Line today to hit up the Trader Joe's in Coolidge and the damn thing was absolutely full of attractive men.

Nice.

Sully Square Ladies of the Night

2010-02-24T06:54:00.000-08:00

Just another helpful notation from your local MBTA.

Arrested Development

2010-02-23T11:00:00.000-08:00

I think someone just got arrested outside of the radio station on Tremont. Yikes. There was quite a commotion.

Fares From $106!

2010-02-22T12:49:00.001-08:00

Orbitz, I'm sure you mean well, but I do not want to go to Baltimore. Especially not in the middle of the winter. Thanks though ... for the second week in a row.

Please

2010-02-19T12:54:00.001-08:00

Some rando orangehead on yelp just called me a "stupid bitch" for calling someplace in "ghetto." While ghetto is a word that I have been trying to use less as I'm not sure of its implications, the fact is the place is a little grimy. Not to mention that the sentiment is echoed in other, earlier reviews and that I gave it four stars ... plus the review is from like 3 years ago anyway! So apparently it's "typical of Brookline shit" or something. He'll get flagged off shortly but I think it's hilarious because, dude, my profile says my hometown, which is NOT Brookline (or MA, by the way), plus I have lived all over the Boston area at this point, anyway, in apartments of varying niceness (and newness).

Yeah, I'm not sure exactly what I think of the word ghetto. In this case I picked it up from the roommate who always took me there in his car lo these 7 years.

I hate the basic human mentality of 30 compliments but one criticism (or troll, in this case) and then you dwell on the 1 instead of the 30.

Oh well.

Happy weekend, Ranters.

Bus Routes and BU Bridge Closures

2010-02-19T07:47:00.000-08:00

So, they're closing the BU bridge nights from 9pm-5am starting tomorrow ... but there's no notation on the alternate route that the 47 at CT2 bus will have to take for this on the MBTA's website ... so what gives? Where will you be rerouting us? Mass Ave? River or Western or whichever one crosses the right way?

I don't take 'em much, but it'd kind of be a good thing to find out.

Creepy

2010-02-18T09:37:00.000-08:00

So I am on the train last night, and it's pretty packed. Annoying, but I manage to get on and snag a little room for myself in the doorway area. By the time we were three stops from home I'd been moved in by force and necessity, and was standing facing a woman who was reading a print out on normal 8 1/2 by 11 paper --it was one of the old trains, so she and some guy were standing in that well between the single seats with their backs to the window. Two stops from home and I realize that there's probably enough room for me to squeeze in on the other end of the well, next to the guy who also looks to be reading a printed sheet of paper, although his is somewhat folded and worn.

Well, I moved in, and I realized the guy wasn't reading but was staring quite intently at a well folded and refolded piece of paper that had a printed picture of a teenaged black girl in a cute top with one sleeve, capri jeans, and sneakers. He wasn't reading, he was just looking at it. And it looked like it had gotten a LOT of use -- the fold lines were well worn and it almost looked like it could have gone through the dryer or something.

The fact of the middle aged (or more), balding, bespectacled white guy who had been staring at the picture for at least five stops was funny or disturbing, or maybe both in equal measure. I started to laugh out of discomfort and the obviously bizarre occurence while attempting to read Media Farm and the Bean Counter in the Dig, and noticed as a taller gentleman directly in front of Weird Dude caught a glimpse of the photo and raised an eyebrow. I tried to catch his eye and make an "alarmed/WTF" face but no dice as I had to get off the train.

I'm just saying, if some teenaged girl gets kidnapped soon, the guy who did it was clearly on the C Line with me the other night. Yikes.

Commuter Wail

2010-02-11T17:33:00.000-08:00

I left a few minutes early today since I felt like getting out ... caught a green train right away, but it was rerouted to one of the lines I don't usually take home, and having walked a lot during the day, I didn't feel like walking all the way from that stop, so I disembarked at Kenmore.

Well.

I waited for about ten minutes and then went upstairs to catch a bus when I saw there were delays ... luckily I got right on but it was packed with people who were probably half normal bus takers and half regular B Line denizens.

Clearly I also could have walked from there, but did I mention I'd walked a couple miles in my boots already that day? Whatever.

Got home in about 30, which isn't really that bad anyway. Lucky I caught that last train out, really.

Hmmm

2010-02-11T09:02:00.000-08:00

That wasn't much of a blizzard.

Damn You, Snow

2010-02-10T08:08:00.000-08:00

Man, I was supposed to get the day off today! DAMN YOU, SNOW.

Stop Busting Through The Intersections!

2010-02-02T17:57:00.000-08:00

I walked in front of someone who was in the EXACT MIDDLE of an intersection today. When I gave her the "WTF are you doing?" hand shrug thing, she gave me attitude. Whatever, I am not the one in the middle of a very busy X intersection in her car (if it wasn't clear, this was during a 4 way walk sign, also).

Bastardos!

Dance For Us, Senator Brown

2010-02-01T11:11:00.000-08:00

"I want to introduce something to the floor. It's called, your panties."

Too freaking funny

Tip o' The Hat

2010-01-28T19:01:00.000-08:00

Some rando dude, cute though, gave me a hat tip today after I passed him near Park Street ... he was looking at me with recognition; I was looking cute because I was in cute glasses and socks.

I felt weird, like I should've known who he was.

Weird.

Vikings and Ducks

2010-01-27T09:30:00.000-08:00

I love Dhani Jones. I had a class with him in college. He's amazing. Anyway, he's got a show on Travel Channel where he is also adorable, and I just watched this clip.

The second Dhani "rawr-ed" to the person walking by, I was like "This must be Dublin's version of the duck boats."

I was right -- later they splashdown into the river! Heh.

Pete Bouchard Got Failblogged!

2010-01-21T07:11:00.000-08:00

I had heard about this, but I didn't know if it was on the net ... finally got to see it here ...

Everyone loves Petey B! Now we know why.

Browngover

2010-01-20T08:57:00.000-08:00

Ugh, we so just got Romney'd again, you guys. Mark my words.

And what's this dumb editorial saying he "deserves" my support? I didn't vote for him and he stands against most of the things I believe in and will vote for crap that I think is wrong. So, yeah, no support for this DB, sorry. Instead I would prefer to actively make sure his term ends abruptly in 2012, thanks.

Brown Is Not My Color

2010-01-18T14:28:00.000-08:00

Dude, enough with your commercials! Jesus Christ. Even if I would think of voting for you, which I wouldn't because you are a smug douche and anti-gay and anti-woman in your policies, Jesus H., enough with your insane amounts of commercials!

On this note, Nyquil, same deal -- enough commercials! The difference is, EVERYONE loves Nyquil! Nyquil is the only good part about being sick! Why do you even need to advertise?!?

I love Nyquil. I actively dislike Scott Brown. Consider this blog effectively in the Coakley camp.

Regarding That Bus ...

2010-01-18T09:36:00.000-08:00

The really funny thing was, the cops eventually helped the big bus back down the narrow street of Cambridgeport. Pretty hilarious.

Lights Out

2010-01-17T19:45:00.000-08:00

Northeast Brookline is sans power at the moment.

Thanks G-d for my tea light hoarding, although after this I need a trip to Ikea to replenish.

In other news, my apartment smells of cider. :)

Bus Route Issues

2010-01-16T21:47:00.000-08:00

If I was in a hurry, the rerouting and subsequent backing back onto the route with police assistance would have pissed me off, but not having anywhere to be, it was pretty much just a much more hilarious version of Austen Powers backing that little car into a corridor. Seriously. Some dude got out of the bus to try to direct it. It took a half hour. Not the T's fault, either -- some douche totally illegally parked at the turn. So yeah. Funny.

Automail

2010-01-11T12:38:00.000-08:00

Man, the Theater District/Chinatown post office really needs one of those automatic box mailers.

Or at least a stamp machine. They did used to have one but I don't know what happened to it.

Anyway, looks like my package isn't going out today thanks to the 20 person line at 2:30.

Gloucester Pregnancy Pact!

2010-01-05T15:32:00.000-08:00

Oh yeah, Gloucester pregnancy pact movie FTW! Lifetime, of course.

Premieres January 23rd (a Saturday) at 9pm on Lifetime! Awesome. Thora Birch plays the journalist investigating the spike in pregnancies in her old hometown and Nancy Travis is a conservative in the town who's bitching about Camryn Manheim's attempt to provide, you know, contraception NOOOOOO. Anyway, I might actually watch it if it's on another time. Heehee.

But basically, you know, this was totally gonna get picked up by Lifetime. Yeah.

DVD Loop

2010-01-05T07:28:00.000-08:00

My upstairs neighbors were bumping around in their kitchen kind of late last night. It doesn't usually happen, so I wasn't too bothered, but what was weird was the clear yet garbled music coming from up there. It sounded like a dramatic DVD main menu, looping and looping. Bizarre. Gave me weird dreams.

OH!

2010-01-04T13:46:00.000-08:00

It's ... unbelievable.

Happy New Year!

2009-12-31T17:54:00.000-08:00

Happy 2010 Boston!

I'm Home Again

2009-12-29T12:45:00.000-08:00

I flew in last night. My breath caught in my throat as the airplane turned a corner and the city skyline came into view.

It's good to be home.

Knee Socks and Me

2009-12-15T19:22:00.000-08:00

So, I wear a lot of tall socks. I like them; they keep my legs warm but not too warm since I am nothing but a 5'5" heat machine. However, they apparently inspire a lot of random dudes on the street to speak to me, which is okay when it's somewhat innocuous, like the elderly man who stopped me while wearing argyles, laughing, to tell me I reminded him of his school days. Other times, not so much. The argyles. Yeah, they're a particular draw for some reason. Weird. Anyway, yeah, so the socks get attention whether I'm looking for it (bar) or not (walking between work and C Mart to get basil, garlic, Japanese eggplant, and snow peas). I get that. It's not something I'm stoked about, but it's a reality of being a woman in a city.

Well, anyway, I had three people say "Nice argyles" to me today. I only left work once, at lunch, and it happened in three different places by three different men. It was kind of random -- and me, today, without my headphones because I biked in and forgot them. Huh.

No Cuts, No Butts, No Coconuts

2009-12-14T17:59:00.000-08:00

I went to the local C to grab a couple things this morning, and this woman totally cut in front of me in line! Lame! She slithered her way up the line subtly, slightly appearing to just be following her small child, and then, right in front, she cut!

Meh. I wasn't in a hurry anyway.

sNOOOOOOOOOOOOw

2009-12-06T19:05:00.000-08:00

Man, it finally hit what it's supposed to feel like at this time of year. I knew those breezy 50s high days were way too good to be true, unfortunately.

I just hope it doesn't snow like last year ... man. At least this year I won't be driving in that snow back to my parents' house, 650 miles away, with someone I kind of have started to dislike. Ah, nothing like the holidays and looooong car trips to exacerbate relationship problems!

But, I digress. I'll be flying out this year, and I'll only be there shortly, so I will be getting a whole week to myself once I get home. Boston during the day for a whole week ... can't wait!

Ice skating, cold weather walks on the beach, hot cocoa, clear winter skies full of stars, Irish coffee ... yes.

Boston winter, here I come.

Election

2009-12-04T07:48:00.000-08:00

So, I'm trying to decide who to vote for next week, and I've been leaning towards the gentleman above ... but I can't figure out if I like his policies and the stuff he's done, or if I like him because he pretty much looks like he could be the third Caffee brother on Showtime's Brotherhood

Hmmm.

Maybe the "C" Stands for "Christmas"

2009-12-03T08:36:00.000-08:00

圣诞快乐新年快乐
(Shèngdàn Kuàilè Xīnnián Kuàilè)

So, I was buying a few grocery items at C Mart yesterday and the tune of the music sounded familiar -- they play music in there, generally, but it being in an Asian language that I don't understand (well, I don't understand any of them, technically ... French is my specialty), I usually can't hazard a guess as to what the song is about. Yesterday, I realized that they were playing Christmas carols in another language. It made me smile, listening to children sing "Jingle Bells." Even though I didn't know the language, I knew the words. Sometimes I guess not knowing the language isn't really a barrier after all.

Weeds

2009-11-27T09:12:00.000-08:00

I'm pretty sure that Justin Kirk, aka Andy Botwin, was at the Pour House last night. That is obviously pretty weird, but weirder is that he's the second actor I've seen there -- the first being Tom Guiry, years ago. He and his girlfriend were eating there and I ended up chatting with them, but I pretended I didn't totally remember him from The Sandlot, no matter how badly I wanted to say "You're killin' me, Smalls."

Weird.

Thanksgiving Wishes

2009-11-26T12:58:00.000-08:00

Well, it's Thanksgiving, and I'm sitting here in a Barry Sanders jersey watching the Lions lose and eating homemade tofurky, stuffing, cranberry sauce, and roasted root veggies. Oh, and drinking a Newcastle, of course. I'm thankful for a quiet day to myself and for my friends and family.

And for Newcastle. Om nom nom.

And for Boston, my adopted hometown. I'm coming up on seven years here, and I still love it so.
Cheers,

Snowstorm

2009-11-19T12:57:00.000-08:00

From that snowy Sunday a month ago.

Back in Boston

2009-11-18T12:48:00.000-08:00

I took a little trip to LA to see the object of my affections and am happily back in Boston, free to walk around ... but, of course, a little bit colder for the trouble.

To put a post in here, though, I'll share some Goldenstash from Copley.

The First Ever Weekly "Pissah" and "HEY FUCK YOU!"

2009-10-20T09:36:00.000-07:00

Pissah to: The lady that picked up my chapstick and travel coffee mug, which had fallen when I was attempting to lock up my bike this morning. You're awesome.

HEY FUCK YOU to: the oblivious woman in the shitty grey station wagon who totally obliviously cut me off while trying to park on Boylston just past Clarendon as I was biking into work today.

Duckboat'd!

2009-09-30T06:59:00.001-07:00

I got cut off by the green duck boat the other day on St. James right in front of the Hancock. I mean, he was driving a little too close to the curb anyway (I mean, considering I was there next to him), and then I noticed him edge in closer, wedging me out.

I glared at the driver after they'd parked in front of the Pru, but I don't think he saw me. Too bad. My stare of death is pretty terrifying;)

Block Your Intersection

2009-09-15T06:34:00.000-07:00

As I was born and learned to drive in the Greak Lake State, where no one walks anywhere, I am certainly guilty of blocking crosswalks fairly frequently (well, when I drive, which is increasingly rare). I tell you this in the interest of full disclosure. Biking is my new transportation mode, and I like to think I'm a reasonably conscientious biker, but yeah, I sometimes run red lights (after slowing way down or stopping, thank you) or take turns that cars wouldn't be able to do.

Anyway, I didn't notice this problem when it was just "my feet and the T," but lately, riding around, Jesus, every goddamn intersection gets blocked! This is something that looks new to me, suddenly traversing streets instead of sidewalks, but it might be old hat. I am just shocked by the egregiousness of some people. I mean, when the hand sign is blinking, counting down from 3, maybe you shouldn't keep going when the cars in front of you are stopped. I know how the drivers are here -- I've been honked at for not taking off IMMEDIATELY as a light turns green. But seriously, it's pretty bad.

Maybe it's just a "back to school/autumn," thing, people getting used to more traffic and stuff. I don't know, but weaving in between stopped cars is actually pretty easy when you're a bike. I feel bad for all the poor bastard cars that can't sneak through when their light is green.

The moral of the story is, next time I drive, there's no way I'm going to be blocking anything. Yeesh.

Concerned Parent

2009-09-02T13:50:00.000-07:00

So, my bike got stolen. Blah blah no U lock chain lock I'm stupid blah blah I will kill whoever stole it. Anyway, I've been checking craigslist in case the intrepid thief (who for some reason left said busted chain lock in the milk crate (s)he took off my rear rack, which was still there when I got off work) decides to sell it there. Mom is scouring CL, but she's a CL n00b and for some reason can't remember the make/model of my bike, let alone its color, despite her visiting and riding it last week. Yeah, I love my mom, but attention to detail is not exactly her strong suit.

***

From: Madre@work
Sent: Tuesday, September 01, 2009 9:11 PM
To: BR
Subject: bike

http://boston.craigslist.org/gbs/bik/1352000533.html

This looks like your bike. Check out the kickstand when you look at
it because yours was messed up,
Madre
Mathematics Team
[redacted] Middle School

---------------------------------------------

From: BR
Sent: Wednesday, September 02, 2009 9:17 AM
To: Madre@work
Subject: RE: bike

Mom, I love you for looking, but for God's sake, my bike is blue, and it
doesn't look like that at all!

This is my bike!

RIP

2009-08-25T07:29:00.000-07:00

Edward Kennedy. He will be missed.

Dangerous?

2009-08-18T18:53:00.000-07:00

So, I'm hangin' in good ol' C-Square, my old, original Boston-area 'hood, and a tanker of liquid oxygen passed a tanker of gasoline on Mass Ave right in front of me. Should I be concerned?

Two Weeks Without ERC

2009-08-03T10:00:00.000-07:00

My local Espresso Royale is closed for renovations until the 17th, so I have had to improvise this week for breakfast. Yesterday I picked up Kupel's bagels, Tofutti, and made coffee last night.

Okay, it's not bad (actually, it's pretty good), but something about going in there every morning is comforting in its routine. And, holy crap, the coffee there has been straight up amazing lately. Sure, the bagel lines are always killer, but that's why you get the same thing every time and the guy who makes them starts yours right when he sees you come in!

Uh, or maybe a break is a good thing:)

Barbecue Trash Water

2009-07-01T13:08:00.000-07:00

I'm no longer a meat eater (well, fish, occasionally), but I still like the smell of barbecue. I mean, an occasional sniff, or the smell of sitting at RedBones, but apparently in Washington Square, it's all smoked pig, all the time.

This reminded me of my Parks & Forestry days ... here's why:

Back in college, I used to do city parks work in the summers, and those outdoor park BBQs were my hated nemesis. When combined with a day of rain and then high heat and humidity, they stench was just lethal. The trash water (aka trash juice) would be mixed with barbecue sauce and tossed-out meat, and then getting baked for a couple days in the sun? Oh my God, I've never smelled anything so gross. So, if the smell of the smoker on a muggy day is anything even near to that cloying, overwhelming barbecue smell (which I haven't sniffed in about 7 years, but is still causing my nose to wrinkle just thinking about it) of the trash water, then I don't blame anyone for complaining about the smell.

As an aside, trash juice often makes those plastic bags in the barrel too heavy to get out of the trash can ... so you'd have to stick something down there and let it drain out, or maybe tie it up and lay the can on its side, drag it out, and then poke holes in the bottom with your trash-picker (ours were shaped like big aluminum tweezers ... very handy for many Parks situations) and let it drain. Ugh. Sometimes I think all people should be involved in trash pickup at some point in their lives. Maybe you think twice about the state your trash is in, huh? Thank God for dumpsters in the city, man.

Then again, I have to imagine that any really pungent odor, initially yummy or not, would get pretty old after awhile, and after it had seeped into your clothes.

Cryptic Message

2009-06-22T13:55:00.000-07:00

But what does it MEAN?

Such strange things around town.

Helpfully, there's another sticker on the sidewalk on the other side of the bridge, so, coming or going, you know how to get in touch with Winn.

Scenes from Davis Square

2009-06-19T08:55:00.000-07:00

I get that this guy's last name is Lynch, but I think he should rethink his nickname. It probably sounds okay when it's said, but written down, it just looks so very, very wrong.

Let's Watch The Baseball Match

2009-06-15T10:46:00.000-07:00

It's nice to know that two guys can walk together in identical outfits, supporting different baseball squadrons, and totally still be bros.

To the Kids of Southie

2009-06-11T07:08:00.000-07:00

Just a shout out to the teenagers from Southie I met on the Coolidge Corner platform at 0100 last Saturday. I was banged up from a heels-related stumble, and one of them offered me some ibuprofen gelcaps, blessed child. When the conductor on the last outbound train warned us all that there were no more trains going inbound, we went our separate ways, but they were a fun group and eased my pain with glorious Advil.

Thanks, guys.

Up^

2009-05-21T07:28:00.000-07:00

Stopping on the Arthur Fiedler Footbridge as I biked into work, I noticed a whole lotta balloons. I'm not sure what it's doing there this particular weekend, but it looks pretty cool. (I know the photo sucks, btw, but my camera phone was all I had on me this morning:)

It's a plug for the new Pixar flick, Up, of course, if that wasn't clear:)

SWINE FLU AUGH

2009-05-12T09:48:00.000-07:00

Crossing the street to get to an outdoor T platform this morning, I noticed the guy next to me on the curb had on a surgical mask.

I coughed a few times, just to spite him.

Noooooooo!

2009-05-06T07:21:00.000-07:00

Yesterday around 6, I was walking West on Comm Ave when I noticed a whole lot of fire trucks, ladders up, had blocked off the eastbound lane just past the BU Bridge. It wasn't clear what was happening, but there was no smoke, at least.

All I could think was, Espresso Royale, NOOOOO! Happily, it was unscathed when I got a coffee there later. Phew!

Street Sweeper

2009-05-01T09:22:00.000-07:00

I walked to work the other day and was treated to this sign as I passed under the Charlesgate. Or through it. Or whatever.

I just hope the broom doesn't start singing "Don't you want me baby?" to the construction guys who put him there if he gets replaced with a Swiffer. Wah wah wah waaaaaah.

Govermonstrosity

2009-04-30T09:21:00.001-07:00

On a gorgeous 95 degree spring day, I can even be forgiving of our Brutalist City Hall. Of course, with the plaza around it not sitting empty, it looks less stark, too. Then again, those circus folk creep me out. Small hands, smell of cabbage. Can't trust 'em. Etc.

Macy's Hears Those Distant Drums

2009-04-22T13:01:00.000-07:00

I don't know what was going on in the basement floor of Macy's this afternoon, but it sounded cool.

Weird Face

2009-04-17T09:04:00.000-07:00

Just after my turkey encounter, I saw this on the wall at Sewall and Harvard in Brookline.

Random. Also looks a little like the guy I'm seeing?

Turkey Time

2009-04-14T08:48:00.000-07:00

I was biking down Kent to meet a friend when I saw two turkeys chasing this guy down the street at the Longwood light.

\

He was sort of shouting at them in hopes that they'd leave him alone. It wasn't working.

So I decided to jump the curb and try to scare them away with my bike/some weird noises I apparently use as my catch-all "scare wild animals away" noise. No dice, although they did back off him a wee bit. Luckily, a friendly man coming from Trader Joe's with a big bag of foodstuffs. He threw some cheese crackers at the turkeys, which they happily devoured.

Sated (I was surprised they didn't follow the guy that fed them, actually), they proceeded to saunter into the middle of the intersection, and then continued their merry way south on Kent Street. Au revoir, turkeys! God speed!

Up close, they are actually pretty impressive birds. I don't think I'd seen a wild turkey before, just a couple farm ones when I was a kid, so it was sort of a neat adventure for the day.

Green Screens

2009-03-18T07:13:00.000-07:00

Stuff ~~at Night~~ keeps plugging this new "green" cafe on Newbury. Apparently, because they use flat screens instead of paper menus to post the specials, they're extra green ... um, what ever happened to a chalkboard? Wouldn't that be the greenest option of all? I can't imagine that a coffee house using resources to power these screens during working hours -- and to purchase them in the first place -- is a "green" investment, but that's just me.

Goldenstash!

2009-03-12T07:20:00.000-07:00

Goldenstash is hanging out in Chinatown/Leather District near the C Mart! Btw, I love that C Mart. The bean sprouts there kick ass and since the Super 88 on Essex closed for renovations, the C Mart on Washington Street is just PACKED all the time. Check it out.

Trafficky

2009-03-10T06:16:00.000-07:00

Might lot of traffic on the Pike eastbound this morning! Usually it's moving pretty smoothly around 8:30, so I was surprised.

Pointy!

2009-02-11T07:59:00.000-08:00

My latest T pet peeve are people with those shoulder bags. You know, they're like those tiny purses you can wear on one shoulder, except they are HUGE. And instead of sticking it right under their arms, these people put the front end flush with their side and opt to stick the rest of the bag out in back of them.

And it pokes me.

And they seem to not understand the space their bag is taking up.

And it pokes me in the shoulder every time the train jostles, which as we know is a lot.

And it's pointy!

I hate you guys.