Monthly Archives: January 2014

Jan28

Wandering around Cambridge and Alewife

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Saturday, 25-Jan-14

So I’ve lived here for a bit over a year at this point, but I haven’t honestly taken the time to just… wander around.  I’ve taken the various dogs for long walks around town, but walking with a dog is always a bit different… for some reason, I can’t retreat quite as far into my own head when I’m walking the dog – probably because I’ve got to keep an eye out for other dogs, cyclists, etc…

So today, I just plugged in my headphones, put fresh batteries into the fancy bass-booster thing on the cord, and started walking toward the Alewife parks.  It was nice and relaxing, and a good reminder about just how much I enjoy hiking in the winter.

So I wandered for an hour or two, before heading into Davis to meet a friend for coffee.  Solid afternoon activity… and I got to see some rather cool stone placards!

Jan28

A family birthday

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Sunday, 12-Jan-14

Uncle Bill’s 60th birthday

  • Get a call from Aunt Irene early, who’s worried about ice and slipping… so instead of canceling everything, I just bring ice melt
  • Head to Lexington and pick my Grandma up, then we start the real part of the drive.  Yes, I had the top down driving to get her.  No, I didn’t leave it down after we left her place.
  • The drive is long, but pleasant.  The car’s GPS directs us cleanly, and we make it there without much trouble
  • Chatting with family, eating cheese and crackers, the usual family gathering things
  • My Aunt arrives, followed by my cousin.  My cousin Emma’s arrival was a surprise to my Uncle, and you should have seen his face when she walked in!  She lives in California, so who knows how they could have kept that trip a secret
  • People start arriving… my Mom and Steve are still not here though
  • My Mom & Steve finally arrive, after being in a full 4-car accident (not 100% sure about the first two cars), where they got stuck under the bumper of a huge SUV ahead of them.  The Civic was rather impressively damaged… but it was still running without any trouble
  • Relax and eat and drink and chat
  • Dinner – tell Mom and Aunt Irene about all of the gossip in my life; explaining everything always helps me focus my own life, I find.  I bet it’s a bit like how teaching someone else actually helps you understand it better
  • Speeches for the birthday!
  • More relaxing and chatting, but it is getting a bit late… Grandma starts to worry about heading home
  • I drive Mom & Steve home, since they’re leaving the Civic to get repaired.  Long drive to Medway, then a short run out to Brookhaven, before I can finally head home myself…
Jan27

A Sushi party

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Friday, 17-Jan-14

My friend Emilie is really into the Burningman scene – so she invited me along to a party happening up in Wilmington.  We brought Emma along, and drove up on Friday… I wasn’t really sure what to expect, since I haven’t been to a party like this in a while.  But I shouldn’t have worried – it was excellent, and we rocked out late into the night…

  • I dressed up for it – nothing special, but go a little bit higher class than normal.  It is sushi, after all, so I rocked nice-ish pants and a waistcoat / vest.  Not sure why I’ve been in love with them so much recently… but I like it.  Looks good on me
  • Emma meets up with me at my place, then we jump in the car and pick up Emilie at her place in Arlington
  • Drive up yay fun!  Pretty simple, just a straight drive up 93N… what else is there to say?
  • We get there almost exactly at the official start time… I guess I drive too fast, since we were aiming to be there about 30min afterward.  Since we’re so early, there’s not too many people there yet.  But we meet a few folks and start chatting about random things
  • I meet a lady named Kel, and we immediately hit it off and start planning out how to fabricate fire wings for her.  Another lady named Echo comes in at some point and starts helping… woo!  Awesome engineering projects are exactly what I need to keep me out of the house this winter
  • Sushi is consumed – I even get taught how to correctly roll sushi!  And… it’s actually quite delicious, I am not against this.  Time to start looking for a sushi kit for the house, I guess.
  • Hot tub time!  Emma and I jump in, and I chat with some of the folks in the tub.  They start telling stories… and I’m not 100% sure that I ever wanted to hear these stories. Thankfully, Emilie comes to rescue me after a little bit, so it’s not so bad.  I enjoy hot tub cuddling 🙂
  • Dry off from the tub, get changed back into normal clothes, then head outside to watch the fire spinners for a bit
  • Do a quick check-in for the studio in the garage – it’s soundproof, so they’ve got a whole rave party with a DJ down there.  It’s fun… but I don’t stay long
  • Find a drunk girl passing out on the coats.  The host and I take a bit of time convincing her that moving her away from the party and into an actual bed is the correct choice, and then give her some time to nap it off.
  • Do a bit of chatting and hanging out – meeting new people is excellent, especially when they’re in the burning man crowd… they just have the best stories!
  • Get into a massage pile while the party winds down… link back up with Emilie, and we head back toward Cambridge sometime around 3:30 or so