Category Archives: Parties and social gatherings

Not strictly outdoor adventures, but sometimes parties take place outside! Or near a window! Thus: it counts.

Aug5

A weekend of shows and relaxation:

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A weekend of shows and relaxation:

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21-Jun-13 through 23-Jun-13

Friday, 21-Jun-13

Seeing Dylan Moran

  • Friday night, bike home from work quick and early
  • Take the T to the show
  • Long line to get in, and booze is $14 a cup… screw that
  • Sit down with Marla in our seats… cool Irish folks next to us!  Chat, laugh, show starts
  • Very good… doubly good when you picture him in the TV show Black Books
  • Intermission is chatting and flirting with the Irish girls… quite fun 🙂
  • Second act is just as good as the first, if not better
  • Head out afterward, and take the T to Cambridge Commons for beer with the Irish
  • Drink, laugh, and make merry with them and the table next to us.
  • Walk home to take Minor for a walks, and crash

Saturday, 22-Jun-13

Quick climbing day at Hammond

  • Nothing crazy, just a few quick runs up the climbs before dark.

Seeing Avenue Q

  • Meet Allison at my place ~7:15
  • Drive over with the help of a confused GPS
  • Sit down – small theater, but still pretty cool.  The set is really good looking!
  • Play is excellent!  The actors / singers are great, and they get the voices perfect.  The stage is amazing, and I almost get caught up in how well it’s designed (from a multi-purpose standpoint)
  • It’s over, hang out with Allison’s friend, and shoot the breeze for a bit
  • Home and crash

Relaxing around the house on a Sunday

  • Basically relaxed and nothing… good Sunday
Jul1

Teaching Crossfit how to climb

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20-Apr-13

 

The day after the Marathon bombers were encircled by what seemed like the entire police force of Massachusetts, Daniel and I drove to Quincy Quarries and taught some workout-nuts how to climb rocks.

The idea was simple: Some people from Daniel’s gym had expressed interest in doing some climbing, and he’d offered to teach a quick class about it.  And by “he offered to teach”, I mean “he volunteered me to help”.  But I don’t mind – it’s an excuse to go climbing, meet new people, and hang out somewhere that I enjoy.  So we planned to meet up at Quincy about an hour before the rest showed up, and set about building some anchors…

 

  • After a quick breakfast I start the drive down the highway to Quincy.  It’s early, 8:30 or so, and the drive is actually quite nice
  • After arriving and finding Daniel still on the road, I head in to do a quick recon of the area…
    • We’re going to be the only ones in our area, which is kind of nice.  A bit lonely though…
    • There’s a whole group of AMC folks in the area learning “climbing skills”.  It’s a bit strange… but looks interesting.  For example, in order to practice catching a lead fall they’re hoisting a chunk of pig-iron 80ft into the air, and then dropping it off a cliff.  The belayer has to catch it while anchored into the ground
    • Seems a bit… unique.  Everyone has tons of safety gear and is spending more time dicking with more ropes than I could have ever imagined
    • Safety is quite important, as is practice… but at some point you’re just overcomplicating things.  Safety lies in simplicity, nearly as much as practice.  Sometimes too many safety devices can just overwhelm each other and provide too many points of failure
    • Not that I’m arguing, but… dang.  That’s a lot of rope.  They were quite fun to visit with though, and we had some good chatting while I waited on Daniel
    • Once Daniel does finally arrive we start setting ropes and building anchors.
    • He leaves for a bit to grab people from the parking lot, and I finish up the anchors that we had been making.  After 10min or so Daniel returns with a whole entourage of people, and we give a quick explanation of anchors and standard safety tactics.
    • Climbing!  I mostly backup belay, but I do get a few interesting climbs in.  Unnecessary heel hooks!
    • Marla arrives around 2:20 in the afternoon.  She’d been training for a half marathon, and today was her final run.  When we learned that Quincy was almost exactly 13.1 miles from our house, she had to do it.
    • Around 3:00 Crossfit starts to leave, and Daniel and I take over doing some routes of our own.  We get a lead in, which is quite nice, before packing everything in and heading back to the city
    • We hit a Vietnamese place called Pho & I on the way home.  Food is excellent and the company is fun.  We all shoot the shit and relax before heading home for real
May4

15-Mar-13 – St. Paddies day with the folks from Artisan

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People say that you shouldn’t go drinking with your boss. That it’s dangerous and no fun, because you can’t drink too much around someone with that much control over your life.

People also say that I do things that I shouldn’t do.

They actually say that on a regular basis. Today was one of those times.

 

  • I left work a bit early, around 4:00, to drop my car off at home and jump on the T.
  • From there, I dropped my friends Allegra and Bridgette off at Government Center, and walked over to meet my coworkers at a cool pub called the Kinsale.
    • I arrived a bit late, but quickly got caught up with a round of Guinness
    • From normal Guinness to Black Lager
    • We mowed through a whole slew of wing orders
    • Dinner was had by all – I ate an amazing dish of Mac and Cheese with BBQ Brisket. I’ve since learned the recipe, and made it on multiple occasions. It’s amazing.
    • More drinks were had, Shots included.
    • We got kicked out of our table to make room for a huge party. In return, my coworker Csky got us a round of free shots.
  • After a bit we got bored of the Kinsale, and moved over to another bar downtown called The Harp.
    • Fun times getting in – some people had passes, while the rest of us had to pay a cover. We all split the cost once Csky had saved the day yet again by convincing the bouncers to let us all in at once, ahead of the line.
    • More drinks (Bass, or Black and Tans this time) were had by all
    • There was a dancefloor. We had a dance party. It was awesome
    • I hit my “ohh crap I’m loosing it!” moment
  • Once I hit that peak, I knew it was time to go home. So I quickly excused myself, grabbed my coat, made a quick trip to the bathroom, and hit the dusty trail…
    • Literally. I hit it. Faceplanted pretty quick, but I recovered admirably and made it to the T.
    • But I made it to the wrong line. In my state, I couldn’t deal with this, so I got off and walked to the correct line.
    • This part was horrible and I don’t want to remember it.
    • Finally arrive at Alewife, where Allegra and Bridgette are waiting for me, like guardian angels sent from heaven.
    • They help me home, put me to bed, and set me up to sleep off the nights adventures…