Hoowah.
So my brother and the kiddos left this morning. I spent at least 45 minutes lying in bed reading to them while Chris packed up everything and took it out to the car. That was a lot of fun! As a result, I got to work a bit later than I would have preferred. But, just in time for a 10:00 AM call, luckily.
I accomplished what needed to be accomplished today, which involved sending a bunch of e-mail and actually getting some coding done. WOO coding! I like coding. Coding is fun. Coding is special. YEAH!
Ahem.
I left work at approximately 5:00 PM so I could get home, get some practice, and remind myself what West Coast Blues is like. Swingin' song. Oh, and I had some cereal. Oh, and I took an hour or so to re-arrange my furniture again. Not that I'm making it different than it was, but rather that I'm arranging it in its old positions again. 6' by 6' tents, you know. They take up room, and I had to move stuff all out of the way.
Following the lesson, which went okay, though I feel like we didn't have a lot to bring to the table today, I came home, had a Corona, and ate some trail mix while cleaning up my inbox. 1600 messages from last February? ARCHIVED, biotch!
Umm. ... yeah. Uneventful - I'm going to go catch up on some sleep.
Thursday, February 18, 2010
Wednesday, February 17, 2010
The next blue line train to WONDERLAND is now arriving
Children are exhausting. A pair of four year old twins are downright comatosing. It's a word, now - for reals.
The day began promptly at At Least An Hour Before I Usually Wake Up AM. In laymen's terms, probably around 6:30 AM. I don't even know if I have words for all this. A great deal of time was spent running into and out of the tent in my room, zipping it up, unzipping it, trying to get in while it was zipped, trying to keep the Monster out (Daddy), running in and out, squealing, rolling around in blankets, and making Uncle David nervous about someone catching their hair in a zipper.
Then we got dressed and went to breakfast.
The Deluxe Town Diner was everything I recalled it being - I had pancakes and coffee, Chris had an omelet, the boys had bagels and juice. We had to go back to the house once, prior to sitting down, to fetch the bag of kid-supplies, including emergency food-allergy medicine that we forgot at home. Oops.
Following breakfast, we came back to my place again and the boys immediately stripped down to their underwear and continued their earlier game. We were planning on going to the aquarium.
An hour or so later, after the boys and I had a parade through the apartment (Lucas, I think, ringing a bell the whole way, me playing guitar, and Nathan, I think, just dancing along), we finally got our act together, walked to the T in Porter, and took the Red, Green, and Blue lines to Aquarium. Nathan was apprehensive about the trains, even while he loved them. They are, after all, huge and loud.
At the aquarium we spent a bunch of time looking at penguins, had lunch in the cafe (during which the boys ate none of their pizza), and then returned to walk around the giant ocean tank for a while. Eventually, around 3:30, we left, and took the T back to my place.
My brother and I, upon arriving, promptly dozed on the couch while games-in-the-tent continued.
Dinner consisted of a trip to Christopher's, which turned out pretty well. Except we forgot the supply bag again, this time just in the car. I had some blackened cajun tofu - Chris had a veggie burger, the boys had grilled cheese and pizza. And juice/milk.
Following that, we went home, and the boys promptly, promptly fell asleep at 7:30 PM. Not a peep from them after that. They were absolutely exhausted by the time we were leaving Christopher's, to the point where they could barely stand up.
And that, laddies and gentlewomen, is how you tire out some kids (and adults).
After they went to bed, Chris and I lay on the couches for 15 minutes staring at the ceiling, then watched Thank You For Smoking. I'm not really sure what to think of that movie - the message was kinda confusing to me. Well, at least, in my current state. I'm not really sure what the takeaway was outside of, "Yeah, cigarettes are bad." If that was it, the story was a very strange vehicle for it.
Tuesday, February 16, 2010
Little Miss Sunshine
I got four hours of sleep last night.
Somehow, this didn't really seem to have any effect on me today. So, you know, yay!
It started snowing this morning almost immediately after I woke up. By the time I felt even vaguely awake, there was already like an inch. By the time I got to the office, I vaguely resembled a snowman. Today was one of those days that involves a bunch of random scattered tasks. I'm not sure if there was any one, overarching thing that actually defined my workday. Guess you have those sometimes.
I left work around 5:45 PM to book home in time to meet my brother and nephews here. Instead, they met me at Gourmet Express in Porter. We ended up going to Jose's Mexican Restaurant for dinner, which was delicious. I had a Burrito con Mole. Booyah. And an Autentica margarita. Chris had a chimichanga. And an Autentica margarita. The boys had cheese quesadillas.
Upon returning to my apartment ("Boys, can you say swinging bachelor pad?" I asked. "SWINGING BACHELOR PAD!" they responded.), we started moving furniture out of the way in my room to make room for the tent.
Yes, the tent.
There is currently a 6' by 6' or so tent in the middle of my floor. It barely fits. The boys are sleeping in it. I'm not sure if Chris is going to as well, or if he's going to take my bed, pushing me out to the couch.
We just watched Little Miss Sunshine, which was an excellent movie. It had the freaky preacher dude from There Will Be Blood as a teenager. He was decidedly less freaky.
And now, bed.
Somehow, this didn't really seem to have any effect on me today. So, you know, yay!
It started snowing this morning almost immediately after I woke up. By the time I felt even vaguely awake, there was already like an inch. By the time I got to the office, I vaguely resembled a snowman. Today was one of those days that involves a bunch of random scattered tasks. I'm not sure if there was any one, overarching thing that actually defined my workday. Guess you have those sometimes.
I left work around 5:45 PM to book home in time to meet my brother and nephews here. Instead, they met me at Gourmet Express in Porter. We ended up going to Jose's Mexican Restaurant for dinner, which was delicious. I had a Burrito con Mole. Booyah. And an Autentica margarita. Chris had a chimichanga. And an Autentica margarita. The boys had cheese quesadillas.
Upon returning to my apartment ("Boys, can you say swinging bachelor pad?" I asked. "SWINGING BACHELOR PAD!" they responded.), we started moving furniture out of the way in my room to make room for the tent.
Yes, the tent.
There is currently a 6' by 6' or so tent in the middle of my floor. It barely fits. The boys are sleeping in it. I'm not sure if Chris is going to as well, or if he's going to take my bed, pushing me out to the couch.
We just watched Little Miss Sunshine, which was an excellent movie. It had the freaky preacher dude from There Will Be Blood as a teenager. He was decidedly less freaky.
And now, bed.
Monday, February 15, 2010
FDGCFDGCFFBbGFGGC
I did two things today. Well, maybe a few more than two, if you want to starts splitting hairs, or if you want to include things that happened today before I went to sleep.
I think I was reading last night until 4:00 AM. I mention this so that you'll understand why the following statement is at least somewhat reasonable: I woke up this morning at 11:30 AM. After getting myself together and out the door, I walked down to Harvard Square to sit in Dado for the third day in a row. This time, however, I spent the entire time (from approximately 1:00 PM to 6:45 PM) working on some stuff for work, trying to make sure this project doesn't accidentally get behind. I mostly finished off one of our widgets - it just needs a bit of branding and should be done.
Randomly around 3:00 PM, I look up to see Julia waving at me on the other side of the glass. "Hi," I wave. "Hi," she waves back. "Hi," waves the high school friend with her (Sean? Shawn? One of the two!). The pair of them come inside and we chat over the heads of the other patrons for a few minutes. The place was, by the way, completely packed today almost the entire time I was there. It was really surprising. I just barely got a seat at all when I showed up. After our brief chat, she and her friend left, and I went back to work.
Following my time at Dado, I got on the Red line and took it down to Park, following the trip with the all too familiar wait for the Green (E) line, and the generally-packed trip out to Symphony. We didn't have Jazz Theory tonight - just Ear Training. All in all, the class went really well, I think. I had a few issues hearing random chords near the end, but for the most part I was on it. It felt pretty good.
After class, I hopped back on the Green line to head home, saw an Annalisa doppelganger get on the train at Copley, and eventually arrived home around 9:22 PM. At least, that's what was on my clock when I walked into my room.
Since then, I've had salad with balsamic vinegar and some Wheat Thins, cheese, and hummus for dinner. I am currently drinking a Tsingtao. I think, now that I've been drinking it for a bit, that it's unfortunately my least favorite of the various Asiatic beers out there. Kirin is good, 33 Vietnam was pretty tasty, and Sapporo has its days. Tsingtao is just sorta... Hmm. It's okay.
Anyway! I'm now going to try to relax for the next hour and a half before I go to sleep. Seems like a good idea.
I think I was reading last night until 4:00 AM. I mention this so that you'll understand why the following statement is at least somewhat reasonable: I woke up this morning at 11:30 AM. After getting myself together and out the door, I walked down to Harvard Square to sit in Dado for the third day in a row. This time, however, I spent the entire time (from approximately 1:00 PM to 6:45 PM) working on some stuff for work, trying to make sure this project doesn't accidentally get behind. I mostly finished off one of our widgets - it just needs a bit of branding and should be done.
Randomly around 3:00 PM, I look up to see Julia waving at me on the other side of the glass. "Hi," I wave. "Hi," she waves back. "Hi," waves the high school friend with her (Sean? Shawn? One of the two!). The pair of them come inside and we chat over the heads of the other patrons for a few minutes. The place was, by the way, completely packed today almost the entire time I was there. It was really surprising. I just barely got a seat at all when I showed up. After our brief chat, she and her friend left, and I went back to work.
Following my time at Dado, I got on the Red line and took it down to Park, following the trip with the all too familiar wait for the Green (E) line, and the generally-packed trip out to Symphony. We didn't have Jazz Theory tonight - just Ear Training. All in all, the class went really well, I think. I had a few issues hearing random chords near the end, but for the most part I was on it. It felt pretty good.
After class, I hopped back on the Green line to head home, saw an Annalisa doppelganger get on the train at Copley, and eventually arrived home around 9:22 PM. At least, that's what was on my clock when I walked into my room.
Since then, I've had salad with balsamic vinegar and some Wheat Thins, cheese, and hummus for dinner. I am currently drinking a Tsingtao. I think, now that I've been drinking it for a bit, that it's unfortunately my least favorite of the various Asiatic beers out there. Kirin is good, 33 Vietnam was pretty tasty, and Sapporo has its days. Tsingtao is just sorta... Hmm. It's okay.
Anyway! I'm now going to try to relax for the next hour and a half before I go to sleep. Seems like a good idea.
V-Day; it's kinda like D-Day but with less guns. Kinda.
Today turned out pretty well, all told.
I woke up around 10:30 or so, got myself together, and found myself sitting in The Dado by around noon. I had a scone. I had some coffee, which turned out to be large even though I'm pretty sure I ordered a small. Both of the kind girls behind the counter were wearing red shirts; presumably in honor of the day.
I made a point not to wear any, given my mood this morning.
For two hours or so, I sat in Dado and slowly wrote the beginning of a song in Noteflight. Good job, Joe B. It's a really cool app. Around 1:45 Julia called me and asked if we were still on for a run at 2:00 PM. I said "Ahh!" and asked if we could push it to 2:15 PM. Kindly, she said, "YEP."
I hightailed it back home and got myself ready to go, and got outside to find her waiting. We ran from my place down to Harvard Square, across the Western Ave. bridge, back across the foot bridge, and back through JFK park. Then we took a pleasant walk back to her place, had some tea and muffins (thanks, Paul!), and chatted for a bit. Then I took what would turn out to be the first of three trips, on my part, between Craigie and Richdale, and the only one during which I ran. It was cold, and I was wearing shorts - I kept warm by running. Prior to leavin, she invited me back for pizza with Paul and Marley around 7:00 PM, I happily accepted.
Upon returning home, I took a quick shower, then bummed around and read some more of Knife of Dreams. Around 6:45, after waking Julia up with a phone call, I walked back down to Craigie - all bundled up against the cold - and we had a lovely dinner of pizza, delicious dips for the copious crust, and beer. Awesome. The pizza was totally delicious - cheese with squash.
Around 8:30 or so Julia and I headed out for this shin dig down on Comm. Ave. It was at the apartment of a dude she met on the bus back from New York City one time (I know, right?). It was his roommate's birthday (Ike), along with someone else's birthday whom I don't think I ever met. I did, however, meet many people. I met a Nadia, a Julia, a Stuart, an Amanda, a Sam, an Eric, an Ike, a John, a Brendan (I think), and a bunch of other folks whom, were I to meet them again, I would have to apologize to for forgetting their names. Jessi Dub showed up after a bit, and we hung out. It was good to see another familiar face. Outside of talking to Jules and Jessi, I spent a good chunk of the evening talking to Nadia, who, it turns out, is from Siberia. At midnight or so Julia and Jessi planned to leave, and I regretfully didn't allow my new Russian friend to convince me to stay longer. It seemed like it'd be a good idea to actually catch the last T back into Boston. Julia gave her her card, somewhat on my behalf. It's a weird, weird world we live in. I'm not much of a "Hey, can I get your phone number?" sorta guy. That's way more forward than I'm capable of.
But, anyway, back to the T. Unfortunately, we missed it, as we were informed by a trolley driver dude headed in the opposite direction.
Walking from Washington St. to Harvard Ave., we considered trying to catch a bus for a good 15 minutes. No buses were forthcoming. Eventually we gave up and hailed a few cabs, Julia and I in one headed back towards Cambridge, Jessi in the other headed back to her place in... Brookline, I believe.
We took the cab back to Julia's place, and I had a lovely walk back to mine (the third trek of the evening). I didn't feel like dealing with splitting the fare in some weird way after letting her off. Besides, it was a pleasant night.
And here I am. Not bad. My hand still has a blue "X" on it from last night.
I woke up around 10:30 or so, got myself together, and found myself sitting in The Dado by around noon. I had a scone. I had some coffee, which turned out to be large even though I'm pretty sure I ordered a small. Both of the kind girls behind the counter were wearing red shirts; presumably in honor of the day.
I made a point not to wear any, given my mood this morning.
For two hours or so, I sat in Dado and slowly wrote the beginning of a song in Noteflight. Good job, Joe B. It's a really cool app. Around 1:45 Julia called me and asked if we were still on for a run at 2:00 PM. I said "Ahh!" and asked if we could push it to 2:15 PM. Kindly, she said, "YEP."
I hightailed it back home and got myself ready to go, and got outside to find her waiting. We ran from my place down to Harvard Square, across the Western Ave. bridge, back across the foot bridge, and back through JFK park. Then we took a pleasant walk back to her place, had some tea and muffins (thanks, Paul!), and chatted for a bit. Then I took what would turn out to be the first of three trips, on my part, between Craigie and Richdale, and the only one during which I ran. It was cold, and I was wearing shorts - I kept warm by running. Prior to leavin, she invited me back for pizza with Paul and Marley around 7:00 PM, I happily accepted.
Upon returning home, I took a quick shower, then bummed around and read some more of Knife of Dreams. Around 6:45, after waking Julia up with a phone call, I walked back down to Craigie - all bundled up against the cold - and we had a lovely dinner of pizza, delicious dips for the copious crust, and beer. Awesome. The pizza was totally delicious - cheese with squash.
Around 8:30 or so Julia and I headed out for this shin dig down on Comm. Ave. It was at the apartment of a dude she met on the bus back from New York City one time (I know, right?). It was his roommate's birthday (Ike), along with someone else's birthday whom I don't think I ever met. I did, however, meet many people. I met a Nadia, a Julia, a Stuart, an Amanda, a Sam, an Eric, an Ike, a John, a Brendan (I think), and a bunch of other folks whom, were I to meet them again, I would have to apologize to for forgetting their names. Jessi Dub showed up after a bit, and we hung out. It was good to see another familiar face. Outside of talking to Jules and Jessi, I spent a good chunk of the evening talking to Nadia, who, it turns out, is from Siberia. At midnight or so Julia and Jessi planned to leave, and I regretfully didn't allow my new Russian friend to convince me to stay longer. It seemed like it'd be a good idea to actually catch the last T back into Boston. Julia gave her her card, somewhat on my behalf. It's a weird, weird world we live in. I'm not much of a "Hey, can I get your phone number?" sorta guy. That's way more forward than I'm capable of.
But, anyway, back to the T. Unfortunately, we missed it, as we were informed by a trolley driver dude headed in the opposite direction.
Walking from Washington St. to Harvard Ave., we considered trying to catch a bus for a good 15 minutes. No buses were forthcoming. Eventually we gave up and hailed a few cabs, Julia and I in one headed back towards Cambridge, Jessi in the other headed back to her place in... Brookline, I believe.
We took the cab back to Julia's place, and I had a lovely walk back to mine (the third trek of the evening). I didn't feel like dealing with splitting the fare in some weird way after letting her off. Besides, it was a pleasant night.
And here I am. Not bad. My hand still has a blue "X" on it from last night.
Sunday, February 14, 2010
Be a good person.
I reminded myself today to just be a good person.
Be a good person.
It's an interesting thing to ask of myself. Regardless of what happens in life; be a good person. Regardless of how shitty you feel, you can take solace in the fact that you are, you're pretty sure, a good person. But for it to be meaningful to be a good person, in mind as opposed to simply actions, doesn't that mean you have to think you'll be judged on it at some point? I'm not entirely sure it matters. The universe and I have an understanding, but I'm not particularly sure the universe cares. So why the hell do I care?
I guess it's all just a matter of perception. Of all the people doing the perceiving. Be a good person and you'll be rewarded. But will you? In what way? Subtly, the universe is going to conspire to make good things happen to you? Is this karma? I'd like to think that's something worth believing in, but my faith is feeling a bit hazy right now.
So... I'm supposed to be a good person. I'm supposed to try, even if nothing notices or even knows. I guess so. I'm not even really sure what I would do if I didn't try. I guess I'd just be an asshole. That doesn't seem very rewarding.
I sat around and read Knife of Dreams today from around 11:00 AM until 5:30 PM. I did some laundry in between. At 5:30 or so, I left the house to go to this Hansel and Gretel Re: Imagined thing down at MassArt. It was at 7:00 PM. I met Julia at Dado around 6:30 (I got there a bit early, and sat and had some coffee). We took the Red and Green (E) lines to Longwood Medical. We wandered a bit to try to find the performance. We accidentally bought tickets to some Night Music performance, and then got our money back. We went to the thing, and found Jason and Katherine there, along with one of Jason's co-workers (also a Jason). We hung out for a bit. Jason and Kat departed, Julia's friend Alex showed up. Eric showed up. We hung around till the end, when the performance converted to a dance party. Eric stayed for a bit; Julia, Alex and I got pizza and some beer. Then I took the T home.
Now I'm here, after a long walk home in the cold. I walked from Harvard to Porter on a whim, and listened to Digital Ash in a Digital Urn on the way. At least I'm getting better at whims. I think they're wonderful things.
It has been, ultimately, a pretty empty day. Some days, I despise being a ghost. Be a good person.
Be a good person.
It's an interesting thing to ask of myself. Regardless of what happens in life; be a good person. Regardless of how shitty you feel, you can take solace in the fact that you are, you're pretty sure, a good person. But for it to be meaningful to be a good person, in mind as opposed to simply actions, doesn't that mean you have to think you'll be judged on it at some point? I'm not entirely sure it matters. The universe and I have an understanding, but I'm not particularly sure the universe cares. So why the hell do I care?
I guess it's all just a matter of perception. Of all the people doing the perceiving. Be a good person and you'll be rewarded. But will you? In what way? Subtly, the universe is going to conspire to make good things happen to you? Is this karma? I'd like to think that's something worth believing in, but my faith is feeling a bit hazy right now.
So... I'm supposed to be a good person. I'm supposed to try, even if nothing notices or even knows. I guess so. I'm not even really sure what I would do if I didn't try. I guess I'd just be an asshole. That doesn't seem very rewarding.
I sat around and read Knife of Dreams today from around 11:00 AM until 5:30 PM. I did some laundry in between. At 5:30 or so, I left the house to go to this Hansel and Gretel Re: Imagined thing down at MassArt. It was at 7:00 PM. I met Julia at Dado around 6:30 (I got there a bit early, and sat and had some coffee). We took the Red and Green (E) lines to Longwood Medical. We wandered a bit to try to find the performance. We accidentally bought tickets to some Night Music performance, and then got our money back. We went to the thing, and found Jason and Katherine there, along with one of Jason's co-workers (also a Jason). We hung out for a bit. Jason and Kat departed, Julia's friend Alex showed up. Eric showed up. We hung around till the end, when the performance converted to a dance party. Eric stayed for a bit; Julia, Alex and I got pizza and some beer. Then I took the T home.
Now I'm here, after a long walk home in the cold. I walked from Harvard to Porter on a whim, and listened to Digital Ash in a Digital Urn on the way. At least I'm getting better at whims. I think they're wonderful things.
It has been, ultimately, a pretty empty day. Some days, I despise being a ghost. Be a good person.
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