October 10

A resident where I work moved out at the end of September, leaving what can only be described as a monumental desk in our loading dock.

Technically, they gave it to one of my colleagues. She accepted it, with the intention of giving it to a charity or other good cause. It was a laudable goal, though it didn't pan out. So when the boss threatened to bust it into pieces and toss it in the dumpster, I asked for the chance to find somebody to take it.

This desk is big; L-shaped, six feet wide by seven feet long, it would take 42 ft. sq. of floor space. I thought about taking it home myself, but there was no way I could shoehorn the damn thing in. I put it together in the loading dock, photographed it carefully, and set about posting the photos online, planning to advertise the thing on Craigslist and Freecycle. My friend Scott messaged me while I was doing this, so I asked him if he wanted a ginormous desk.

He did.

This is the way the desk looked once we loaded the heavy desk into his father's enormous SUV. I'm sure that we were quite the sight as we drove up I-93. Regardless, we got the desk to Scott's home, unloaded it, and managed to get it inside. I'll be sore tomorrow, but it'll be worth it.

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September 22

Jake (the blond) is one of the many dogs that live in the building where I work. He's also one of my favorite dogs ever.

When he goes for his evening walks, he always comes over to say hello to me. This is very nice. Jake is blessed with one of the most pleasant personalities I've ever seen in a dog. He's just a sweetheart. Even by Golden Retriever standards he's pleasant.

It really is one of the highlights of my evening when Jake comes around to see me. I've always said that if a dog likes you, you have to have goodness in you somewhere. So Jake being my buddy is good for my self-esteem.

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July 20

It's good to have friends, and I'm fortunate to have some pretty great friends in my life.

My friend Brandon snapped the photo above (see original here) on one of our photo walks out to Castle Island in June. Anna is one of my best friends in Boston, and the sense of camaraderie we feel when together is remarkable. Brandon managed to capture that in this photograph; it's one of my favorite images.

Anna's birthday was last Saturday, so I didn't get the chance to give her a birthday gift. With the current precarious state of my finances, buying anything worthwhile was out of the question. However, I have a photo printer, glossy inkjet paper, a frame, and a wonderful image to work with. I desaturated the image and put a black hairline around it to define the edge, then set it off with a broad white margin to give it a classic dignity. I'm pretty proud of the results; it's playful and fun, while having an elegance that most photos of me lack.

Now that I've made one for Anna, I'm going to make another print for myself. It's going to occupy a place of honor on my office wall -- along with other images I collect of all of my great friends.

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June 27

Today's photo walk took us outside the city limits -- to fabulous Newport, Rhode Island.

In the finest tradition of my photo walks, I had no clue where we were going to end up, other than somewhere outside of Boston, until late in the process (last night). My original plans were to go to Fall River and Battleship Cove, but those plans were tabled when the idea to visit Newport popped into my head.

So today, in a whirlwind of planning, Anna, Keith, and I got in the car, stopped at a market en route, and put together an impromptu picnic. Anna brought some really lovely bamboo plates, a frisbee, etc., while I grabbed a blanket, a couple of throw pillows, and other assorted accessories. Keith mentioned knowing a pretty place to picnic right on the beach, so we went with his suggestion (gut instinct), and ended up spending most of our time at the rocky beach at Brenton Point.

We left Brenton Point Beach with two bags of rocks, one depleted camera battery, some remnants of picnic food, etc., and pooped. God what a great day!

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June 05

There's a perfectly rational explanation for this photo. Really.

Late last night, my friend Anna stopped by my workplace after going to the nearby Barnes and Noble. As she had today off, and I hadn't had dinner yet, she proposed that we go out and dine after I got off work. Easier said than done, considering I get off work at 11:30 pm.

Not to be deterred, we decided to go to IHOP, the old reliable 24-hour standby. When we pulled into the parking lot, we spotted this poor Boston Globe box -- sad, neglected, upended. I briefly opined about metaphors and the toppling of the print newspaper industry before telling Anna to go stand there and pretend she killed it. Hey, at 12:01 am, after a long day's work and no dinner, that's funny.

OK, so not perfectly rational, but still funny enough.

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May 16

It's been a day of academic accomplishment in Lincoln, Illinois today. Ruth's family had a big celebration today because of all the graduates. From left to right:

Shannon (Ruth's daughter) completed eighth grade, an accomplishment Ruth takes particular pride in because Shannon is homeschooled.

Jimmy (Ruth's father) received his college degree today, almost 30 years after he began working on it. He didn't have the benefit of a high school education when he started, so this accomplishment is doubly impressive.

Whitney (Ruth's niece) graduated from high school and will start college on Monday. She's camera shy and, judging from the speed with which she plans to get started on her own higher education, a glutton for punishment.

Ruth received her degree in the same ceremony as her father. She hasn't been working on it for as long as Jimmy has, but she's justifiably proud of the accomplishment of getting her degree while homeschooling children and working full-time. I suspect her biggest desires are to get lots of sleep and rest.

Between the graduation, the cake, the party, the photo ops, and hanging out with friends, it was a busy day. I'm glad I made it here.

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March 22

This was nearly the edit-in that wasn't.

I've been lazy about showing up on time at National Novel Editing Month events, since I'm not actively participating. I'm there more for moral support than any real editing purpose. Nonetheless, I'm usually there.

This afternoon, I was running a little late. Life interfered, and I took care of life first. While I was taking care of life, about 45 minutes after the edit-in was scheduled to begin, my phone rang. Anna was on the line, telling me to tell everyone that she was on the way. I chuckled at her naïve assumption that I was there, and we began making phone calls -- only to discover that nobody we knew was around.

Marion, meanwhile, was there, but wasn't sure there was an edit-in, since nobody else was at the restaurant. So she went to our other usual venue and discovered nobody there, either. Marion spent a considerable amount of time running to and fro, trying to find the edit-in. Finally, she thought to call me to find out what was going on.

I arrived at the event about a minute before it was scheduled to end, and thanks to Brandon's arrival two hours later, I was not the last person to arrive. Having friends like this is pretty darn cool. For once, I'm among people who are just as screwed up as I am.

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March 03

I'm fortunate to have very thoughtful friends. Out of the blue, I got this card from my dear friend and confidante Ruth today.

Ruth and I have a very close and special relationship (as I described a little here), so getting this card was a pleasant little surprise. It's a sweet little card, with a short message inside. It's certainly nothing extraordinary, but seeing this in the mail was the high point of my day.

I'm going to visit Ruth and her family in May, when she graduates from college. She'll be sharing the stage with her father, who's getting his degree from the same institution, and her cousin Walt, who's graduating from Seminary. To be invited to the graduation is a privilege, and to be invited to the family party afterward is quite an honor.

Many gay people refer to one another as "family," and it's something of an axiom that gay people have the families they're born with, and the families they choose (meaning their closest friends). Ruth's family, while a little unusual, forms a kind of surrogate family for me, and I'm closer to Ruth than I am to many members of my biological family.

I consider myself fortunate to have such wonderful and thoughtful friends. However, "fortunate" doesn't begin to describe my feelings about being close to Ruth. It's more than good fortune ... I'm lucky to have her in my life.

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March 01

Dinner with friends -- my friends, at least -- may not be elegant, but it's usually entertaining.

My friend Anna is running National Novel Editing Month, and held an edit-in to kick off the month. The group was small but fun. In front is Marion, one of the municipal liaisons for Script Frenzy next month, and Anna. I'm in the back (going for Marion's neck) with Randy, a stalwart of National Novel Writing Month for the past few years. Our friend Belynda (the other ML for Script Frenzy) was feeling icky and wasn't able to join us. Still, we had fun.

We met up at Subway for the edit-in, and moved the party over to the Longhorn Steakhouse for "chicken parts," as we've dubbed the Crispy Chicken Trio appetizer they serve. (It's excellent, and definitely worth the trip!)

I'm not usually a social butterfly, but I have to admit that I have some great friends and the few times I hang out with them, I really enjoy it -- as you can see.

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February 17

I don't send a lot of snail mail these days. All of my bills are paid online, and aside from the occasional personal letter (which I write too seldom), I only send cards for special occasions.

Coincidentally, a special occasion is coming up on Saturday -- Ruth Halpin's birthday.

To call Ruth a friend doesn't even begin to describe the complex and convoluted relationship we share. To call her my ex sounds too pejorative. She occupies a special little niche of her own in my life, having known me for more than half of that life. She's closer to me than many members of my biological family, and to me, she's one of the few constants in my life. So her birthday is certainly a special occasion, and definitely merits a snail mail salute.

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February 01

Here I am, surrounded by beauty and brains. Belynda is in purple, Anna in orange, Marion in blue and me in front. Belynda and Marion are taking over the municipal liaison duties for Script Frenzy (SF) in the Boston region. Neither Anna nor I have done well with SF, and while I actually enjoy setting up events for National Novel Writing Month (NaNoWriMo), the scriptwriting competition just wasn't as interesting for me.

We all met to chat and catch up, since Belynda and Marion are NaNoWriMo alumni and both a lot of fun to hang out with. Of course, Anna and I were also there to offer advice and support for our replacements, and also to coordinate sharing of certain materials useful to both NaNoWriMo and SF (since duplicating our purchases would be wasteful).

The photo itself isn't really POTD material. It was taken without tripod by crowding around a table and setting the camera right on the Cold Stone Creamery countertop. It does capture some of the fun of the afternoon, and that's the important thing, isn't it?

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January 24

When you go to KFC with an artist and a sharpie in your backpack, the unexpected will happen.

Harland David Sanders, better known as Colonel Sanders, founded Kentucky Fried Chicken. His face is synonymous with the fast-food chain, and his cartoon image adorns buckets, cups, and signs at the restaurant. However, my friend Keith (the artist in question) decided that the good colonel needed a facelift. In Keith's able hands (kooky, perhaps, but able), ol' Harland got a perm, edgier facial hair, and noticeably hairier eyebrows.

While I'm sure other people have interesting lives and more exciting ways of spending a Saturday night, I doubt they're as entertained as I was by this little bit of impromptu artistry.

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January 07

I helped my neighbor today. She left this for me as a little thank you. It's a very nice, soft scarf -- perfect for these chilly winter days. Unfortunately, the camera didn't show off the pretty white flecks in the material. I didn't want to open it, because the presentation was so nice and ... well, ribbony.

I'm pretty much cold from September to June, so any gift that keeps me warm is something to be treasured and saved forever.

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January 04

Occasionally I have something that resembles a social life. Here's my friend Anna at Longhorn Steakhouse in Boston's Landmark Center.

My friend Anna and I went out to dinner tonight. She wanted steak, and I rarely turn down the chance to work on a big hunk of red meat. Anna and I work together on National Novel Writing Month, the novel-in-a-month writing competition, and in the course of three years volunteering together, we've become pretty good friends.

It's not a great photograph, but it shows the most fun I've had all weekend; dinner and great conversation with a good friend. And posted with 10 minutes to spare!

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