October 06

Mosby, pictured here, is a 12-week-old Wheaten Terrier who lives near the building where I work.

Folks who know me, and probably any regular readers, know that I am a dog person. I like dogs, I like petting them and talking to them and interacting with them, and I photograph them whenever the opportunity presents itself. (Today I got photos of two dogs in my building, Pepe and Jake, having a confab in the lobby, for instance.) So when I met Mosby three weeks ago, he was about half this size though just as sweet.

Mosby's human was kind enough to let me photograph him today. It was a great opportunity; how can you go wrong with a photo of somebody so darn cute?

279/365 -

September 30

Jake here is one happy puppy dog.

He lives in the building where I work, along with his human. Jake is blessed with one of the most pleasant and easygoing personalities I've ever encountered in a dog.

He likes to play ball, but unlike other dogs, who run and leap and chase a thrown ball down, Jake just sort of ambles off in the ball's general direction, knowing it'll stop eventually and he can just pick it up without going to all the trouble to run. And once he has the ball, he's content to chew on it for a minute or two before giving it back to be thrown once more.

I've always said that dogs are some of my favorite people, and Jake is one of my favorite dogs.

273/365 -

September 25

At my day (well, night) job, I deal with the public eight hours a day, 40 hours a week. I'm really not sure what other companies with employees on the front lines are doing to combat the spread of the flu -- especially the H1N1 "swine flu" -- this small notice on our bulletin board seems like a pretty tepid response.

This has been on my mind of late. I plan to get a flu shot, and if possible, the second shot for the H1N1 strain, this year. I get the flu remarkably easily, and even with flu shots I'm susceptible to winter illnesses. Sinus infections are the bane of my life from October to May. Piling influenza on top of the other problems I experience in the winter just seems foolhardy.

Having apparently incubated a cold recently, I'm in the right frame of mind for getting a flu shot this year. Now it's just a question of scheduling the thing!

268/365 -

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.

265/365 -

September 08

This isn't sunset proper, but it is an interesting view of the sun silhouetting the dome of The Church of Christ, Scientist, in Back Bay this evening.

This church is the Mother Church for the Church of Christ, Scientist -- the first and foremost church of the denomination -- and is part of a large complex. A plaza with reflecting pool and various church buildings are a popular place to gather in the summer, with children playing in a fountain on the property. It's an ornate building, with the large dome and the smaller spire from the original structure, and it has one of the largest pipe organs in Boston.

Whatever your thoughts on the tenets of the Christian Scientists, the complex is impressive and beautiful from many angles, and certainly photogenic enough from almost any angle.

251/365 -

September 04

It's an interesting day that starts off at the Registry of Motor Vehicles and ends up with a steak dinner, cake, and two birthday cards.

My driver's license expires on my birthday this year, which happens to be Sunday. I should have been thinking about this all summer, but in my usual way, I delayed taking action until the last possible moment. Fortunately, for an RMV experience, it went well.

At work, my doorman and I have coincidentally close birthdays; Ennio's birthday is tomorrow and mine is Sunday. This combination of dates sticks in people's minds, so we were given dinner by one resident -- a delicious dinner, I might add -- and birthday cake from a second. (I had already put my camera away by the time the Boston Cream Pie from a third resident arrived.) There is a no-tipping policy at our workplace, but our residents treat us to dinner and desserts from time to time. It's really very thoughtful of them.

Today is the perfect day, really, and is going out on a high note.

247/365 -

August 25

Seeing a crumpled-up parking ticket tossed to the sidewalk in frustration isn't that unusual. Seeing a blank parking ticket, however, is unheard of.

It's a bad habit of mine to pick up discarded parking tickets and read them. It's morbid curiousity, I guess -- I like to see what other parking miscreants have done -- and between this and my own collection of the things, I'm almost able to recite beginning to end the various citations, what they mean, and how much the fine is for each.

What I'm really waiting for, though, is the chance to see someone get tickets for littering after throwing their parking ticket to the sidewalk in disgust. That would be worth paying to see.

237/365 -

August 24

It was a beautiful, sunny day in Boston ... except for 15 minutes this afternoon when the skies opened up.

I work in the lobby of a high-rise in Boston, so hearing the rain from my desk is an unusual occurrence. When I went over to the windows to look out, it was a torrential downpour. Honestly, it was the kind of rain that goes through umbrellas. I had dark thoughts about the long walk to my car to move it when my meter expired, figuring I was going to get soaked through on the way.

Fortunately, the rain left and it was again a beautiful, sunny day in Boston.

236/365 -

August 19

"... qu'ils mangent de la brioche."

Often -- and mistakenly -- attributed to Marie Antoinette, the phrase "let them eat cake," has a pejorative ring that is completely at odds with my experience at work tonight.

A resident is leaving us for the west coast, and his colleagues threw him a going-away party today. He's always been a very generous guy, and showed this by leaving the employees here the remainder of his cake (a quite substantial hunk of white cake with delicious icing). It made for a great dessert, especially when washed down with one of the cans of Coca-Cola another resident gave us, just as a thank you for being so nice to them.

It's nice to be appreciated.

231/365 -

August 17

Some people say happiness is the smile of a child, or a butterfly (thank you Mr. Thoreau), or two lovers walking on the beach, hand in hand, watching the sun set.

With all due respect, especially to Henry David Thoreau, those kind of saccharine musings make me think the people spouting them are full of crap.

Happiness, you see, is when your friend comes back from a break and brings you a large iced chai on a hot, humid, muggy day -- and not because you requested it, but because he knows you like it and he just did it.

That, my friends, is happiness.

*Happiness can also be the resident who asks you what kind of ice cream and toppings you'd like, just because she's headed that way.

229/365 -

August 12

Part of me finds it obnoxious that the driver of this stretch limousine parked at not one, but two, parking meters this afternoon. The other part of me marvels at the good parallel parking job he did. His most remarkable feat, however, was in finding two adjacent parking places to claim.

I had to make a few circuits of the block to find my own parking space, which is about a block further down the street from where I work. So naturally, I felt a brief surge of annoyance when I saw it. In fairness, as I walked by, I checked, and the driver had put money in both meters, so at least he wasn't being a complete jackass about it.

I suppose that stretch limo drivers don't have many options for where to park the 20-foot-long monsters in Boston. And whatever else I feel about it, I still admire his skill at parallel parking.

224/365 -

July 31

Believe it or not, I really don't mind the rain.

The city got inundated with showers and thunderstorms this afternoon. With rain coming in diagonally, though, umbrellas don't do a lot of good. The blurry figure in the foreground is my doorman Ash, who was trying valiantly to hail a taxi for the gent with the bumbershoot. I have to comment Ash for his dedication; getting a taxi in the rain in Boston is a little like finding a four-leaf clover: it can be done, but it requires a lot of effort and not a small amount of luck.

Tomorrow is my first day of vacation. Hopefully the storms won't cause too much of a commotion at the airport tomorrow.

212/365 -

July 28

Jake is one of my favorite puppy dogs. He likes to stop by my desk after his evening walk for a pet and a kiss and a chat most evenings. I think it might be one of the highlights of both our days.

He's a real sweetheart, and though you couldn't tell it from this photo, a cheerful fellow. He is just an extraordinarily laid-back creature; very mellow and blessed with a gentle temperment and sweet disposition. Bring out a ball, though, and he transforms into a playful puppy, completely content to bound after the ball, catch it, and throwing it to himself again.

Dogs are very instinctive creatures. When a dog likes you, you know you have something redeeming to offer.

209/365 -

July 27

The reason I usually keep a camera in my passenger seat when I drive is that there is occasionally something worth photographing.

I was waiting at a red light on Huntington Avenue when this car pulled up next to me. The brightly-crayoned window definitely caught my attention -- and held it. I studied the colors, the composition, the creativity expressed, and wondered whether this parent was raising an artist or a vandal.

This strikes me as a bad idea for a couple of reasons. I can't imagine a child in a car seat or booster seat, or even one properly belted in, could color a window so completely. That would imply the child was bouncing around the back seat unsecured. Then you have to wonder what this does for the driver. When changing lanes, I always briefly look back to see if there's a car in my blind spot. Could this driver even see I was back there?

Still, despite being of questionable utility or safety, it was still cheerful to behold that bright swath of pink and the blue "sky" on the inside of the window. Maybe it's not so bad after all.

208/365 -

July 24

It's so tempting to just whisper "Rosebud," and leave this entry at that. Alas, I've never owned a sled.

My friend Marion brought her sister Rebecca to meet me today. It was interesting. I'm not often around young people, but I enjoy the chances I do get to meet them. Rebecca was a charming young lady, and an aspiring photographer. When I'm too interested in conversation to take many photos, you can tell I've been charmed.

Marion and Rebecca had roses with them, so this photo of Marion's rosebud is the best photo of the evening. "Marion's rosebud" ... does that sound dirty?

205/365 -

July 23

I'm not a morning person.

What I am is a dedicated employee. Late last night, when my coworker called out of work for this morning, we only had one shift to find somebody to cover her. A few frantic phone calls later, the only way to cover shifts today was for me to cover the morning shift (7 am - 3:30 pm), with a coworker covering my shift for me.

Thus, I had the misfortune to catch the sun rising over the skyline this morning as I drove in to work. At least it netted me a photo of the day.

204/365 -

July 22

Making lists usually helps me to be more organized. Today, instead of being a tool to create and foster order, my lists became a force of entropy.

I started off the day with two lists: one a punch list for my upcoming vacation to Daytona Beach, the second a more general to-do list for today. By the time I was done, I had four lists and various printouts scattered all over my desk.

In order to work out what to do and where to do it, I needed to make a vacation budget. But when I went into my budget to double-check my figures and balance my checkbook, there was a discrepancy. My planning for this trip hinges on my having money; effective planning requires I know how much money I've got.

Inevitably, my lists began to overlap. To-dos for today matched stuff on the Daytona list. Unfortunately, while some items were redundant, other's were not. I was spending more time looking at lists than accomplishing tasks by the time it was over.

By the time I had two highlighters out to check stuff, I knew it was time to step back and start over. It was the right decision. While I'm only a little closer to being done with my to-dos today, I'm a lot closer to being able to make progress. And small progress is better than none.

203/365 -

July 17

Can you guess what this is?

It's been a weirdly unproductive day today. I woke up late, I didn't get much done this morning (although I did what I could to help a neighbor in need), and once at work, I got the necessary tasks out of the way without getting a lot accomplished otherwise. On the plus side, the night has passed pretty quickly. All these factors combined explain both why I'm posting a photo so late -- I had trouble getting one that I liked -- and why the one photo I chose is difficult to interpret.

The photo, by the way, is a close-up of the Murano glass chandelier in the lobby of my workplace. Pretty, isn't it?

198/365 -

July 16

I live a life mostly free of conspiracy theories (and conspiracy theorists). So it was with some surprise that I pulled this single from my wallet this afternoon and saw the stamps some conspiracy theorist had festooned it with:

The Federal Reserve is
Privately Owned
This money is backed by
Nothing

All righty, then.

I showed it to my friend Anna, who graciously did a pseudo-Norma Desmond impression for me holding the worthless little piece of paper in question.

One has to wonder if the person who bartered to have the stamp made (since money is worthless) only crusades about the Federal Reserve Bank. I'm left wondering whether he also rails on about the New World Order, or chemtrails, or the idea that the moon landings were faked.

On reflection, I suspect not. Conspiracy theorists are loyal to their theories, and this guy (I can't imagine it's a woman) gets his jollies telling the rest of us about this theory -- and stamping money in the process.

197/365 -

July 09

Today's Photo of the Day was selected with the advice and sage counsel of my friend and doorman, Ennio.

Some days, it's easy to get a great photo. Other days, you kind of have to pick from the best of a mediocre lot, perhaps photoshop it a bit for an artsy-fartsy effect and hope your readership (all five of you) will give you a pass. When you get a day sort of in the middle, with three possibilities, all dodgy, you have to call in your arbiter of taste -- in my case, that's Ennio.

Ennio thought the fuzzy, through-the-windshield shot of the man with the questionable fashion choices was "too weird." He found the photo of the statue of Athena atop the Cambridge Athenæum "unmoving." So it fell to the DUKW --pronounced "duck" -- to carry the day.

190/365 -