February 09

I guess you could call this photo "getting a jump on the day." As I didn't take a lot of photos today, this is about as interesting as today's selection gets.

Frigid cold temperatures will often bring out weaknesses in marginal car batteries, and my car was no exception. Although the battery shouldn't have died, it did. I had it jumped a couple of weeks ago -- thank you AAA -- but the battery wouldn't hold a charge and was in need of replacement. With everything else on my plate, I just didn't have the time to go sit in a dealership waiting for maintenance, and since I had ready access to another car I didn't rush down to the parts store to buy a replacement (you have to dispose of the old battery at the same time, which is environmentally touchy).

However, with Boyfriend home from his trip, I had both the time to take care of this and the need, since he wanted his car back. These battery chargers (cost about $50) are pretty nifty, by the way. You can charge them overnight in your house, hook 'em right up to your battery and jumpstart yourself without help.

40/365 -

February 08

Boyfriend arrived home from his six-week overseas trip this afternoon -- earlier than expected.

Most of the time, I plan to be at the airport when the plane lands. Then I end up sitting -- well, standing, actually, staring at the doors the arriving passengers exit when departing customs -- waiting for about an hour while boyfriend collects his luggage and clears customs. So today, since I slept late and didn't feel good anyway, I decided not to rush to get to the airport. Of course, today is the day that the United States Customs Service was at its most efficient and the luggage belt was running perfectly.

Poor boyfriend was left waiting about 10 minutes for me to arrive. On the plus side, we weren't parked long enough to have to pay, so I saved $4 there.

And it's nice to have boyfriend home; life just got a lot more pleasant.

39/365 -

February 07

I got my hair done today.

I'm still sick, but going to the salon and getting my hair cut and styled left me feeling very good. And, not for nothing, but I'm very happy with the results. I haven't had a haircut since July, so I had collected a lot of split ends, and my hair was tangling easily (especially in the back). I went in with no particular hairstyle in mind, only asking the stylist to lose the split ends, to take off as little length as possible, and to shape it a bit so it would look nicer.

Offhand, I'd say that Denise more than met the brief. At the risk of living a cliché, I have to admit it: I feel pretty. :-)

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February 06

There comes a scene in almost any movie with a wrongly-convicted person where they're led to their prison cell, protesting their innocence all the way, even as the door shuts with a mighty final clang.

Pretty Boy must have felt something like that when he got put in the box today to go for his annual physical exam at the vet. He certainly turned on the vocals, yowling on the way to the box, yowling as he was put into the box, yowling from inside the box all the way to the vet, at the vet, and all the way back home. After we got home and he was released, he gave me some dirty looks and a few yowls and mews for effect. Pretty Boy does not like the box; he was one pissed pussycat.

Good news from the vet, too. Pretty Boy is fit, has no obvious ailments, and even has excellent teeth. He's a perfectly healthy 13-year old kitty cat, and (according to Dr. Segal) a charming one at that.

P.S. I was going to title this shot "Pussy Behind Bars," but thought better of it.

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February 05

I bought some stationery a couple of weeks ago, and got a new fountain pen on January 24th. The combination of the two inevitably leads to my writing letters to people. I find a certain ineffable satisfaction in putting pen to paper and composing a personal letter. The result may not be as polished as something I've composed, typed, and copyedited -- my letters are replete with crossed-out words, misspellings, and the occasional illegible parts -- but they take on a certain elegance that a word-processed block of text lacks.

For this letter, I picked run-of-the-mill Crane & Co. stationery and a Pelikan M200 fountain pen with a medium nib. It's a good combination.

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February 04

I've got a cold.

As a person who has the sniffles year-round and feels chilly from September to May, I'm used to being a little snuffly. This, however, is a full-blown, hacking, coughing, sneezing cold. As I've had the flu already this year, I'm grateful that it's only a cold, though I sincerely wish it would just go away.

Theraflu Warming Relief is wonderful stuff when you've got a stubborn cold. I'm sure it's essentially the same stuff as Dayquil/Nyquil, with minor variations in color and taste, but it's been the most effective cold medicine for me for a couple of years now. To me, Nyquil resembles nothing so much as the fluid you see in airplane toilets, so taking a capful has never been a particularly appealing experience. The Theraflu syrup, on the other hand, looks and tastes more akin to the poison that Snow White's stepmother used on the apple -- not great, but infinitely more palatable.

The important thing is that the Theraflu is effective, and manages to beat down the symptoms of the cold well enough for me to function. It doesn't taste great, but it works beautifully.

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February 03

"Nuisance snow." It's the only phrase to describe what Boston is getting today. The snow is wet and sticky, clings to everything, and is treacherously slippery on roads and underfoot, which means it requires action to clear it and keep it roads and sidewalks passable. However, it's not accumulating enough to shovel or use a snowblower on, but it's too sticky for a broom to move effectively. You can lay down salt and sand, but the falling snow covers it without it doing much good. Clearing the snow involves a lot of pushing and shoving for not too great an apparent return. It's a real inconvenience.

No, scratch that. It's not an inconvenience, it's just a pain in the ass.

34/365 -

February 02

It was an almost-springlike day here today. The temperature got up to 47°F today, the sun was out, and everything was squishy because of the snow melting away. It's the kind of day and the kind of weather that makes you want to go outside and just spend some time in the sunshine.

Meanwhile, according to Groundhog.org, the official website of Punxsutawney Phil, we have six more weeks of winter coming. Drat! I've been complaining about the cold weather and the snow since before it really hit, and I'll complain some more tonight when another weather system brings more snow in (1 - 3 inches, per the forecast).

But today was just too pretty to complain. It was the kind of day that keeps your spirits up enough to tolerate the rest of a long, cold, dreary winter.

33/365 -

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 31

As of this afternoon, I'm now fortunate enough to have a double-hung window in my bathroom. Here's one of the landladies working on the installation this afternoon.

Our landladies remodeled our bathroom while we were on vacation last year. Unfortunately, certain aspects of the remodel did not go according to plan. They took out the window to reglaze it, but were not able to rehang it immediately. Fortunately, the storm window kept us from having a gaping hole in the wall over our bathtub, but it did lack that feeling of completeness that is so important in the room where one spends so much time naked.

The window was done months ago, but the windowsill had gotten damp and swollen, so the window didn't fit anymore. Finally, today, with some effort, the landladies were able to wedge the windows back into place. I thought it was noteworthy enough to photograph -- easily the most interesting thing that happened to me today.

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January 30

I've never met a person who hasn't wanted to peek into a purse or bag occasionally. I lump the impulse in with the urge to look in medicine cabinets and dresser drawers that all children seem to be born with and adults struggle to control.

So here you go: My bag, which pretty much accompanies me everywhere.

From the upper left, clockwise:

My laptop bag, a brown leather courier bag from Benetton. It was a gift from my boyfriend last Christmas. On it are my checkbook, for paying bills and making deposits to the joint checking account, a piece of mail I should have dealt with last week, and a DVD of "The Queen," which I got on sale for $5.99 at a 7-Eleven.

Next to it is my laptop, replete with National Novel Writing Month stickers.

Below that is the legal pad and clipboard that I try to keep with me at all times -- you never know when you're going to need to take notes. On the notebook is a small, flexible-neck flashlight (handy for blackouts), a fountain pen (my preferred writing implement), a ballpoint pen (for when I have to make carbons, etc.), and a Staedtler Proportional Scale, known in graphic design parlance as a "whizzy wheel," used to calculate dimensions for cropped photos and images.

To the left is my cords bag for my laptop and other electronics. It contains a mouse, network cable, power cord and A/C adapter, mousepad, and other assorted cords in a self-contained bundle that zips closed. When you're ready to go, your cords go in and the bag goes into the briefcase/attache/camera bag.

All in all, this is my self-contained office on the go. Some contents change, i.e., mail comes and goes, but for the most part this is it.

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January 29

I've used a couple of my recent posts to complain about the surfeit of snowfall Boston's received over the past month. There's likely to be more complaints -- many more complaints -- in the weeks ahead.

Not everybody in my household shares the same aversion to snow, however. While I'm pretty sure my cat, Pretty Boy, is on my side, Pogo (my dog, a Border Collie - Husky mix) just loves playing in the snow. I let him out into the backyard this morning and grabbed my camera to snap some photos. He didn't disappoint; as soon as he was done with more pressing matters, he headed right for the soft snow and proceeded to roll merrily in the stuff.

Pogo is 13 years old now. He's diabetic, going deaf, has a ventricular arrhythmia (heart murmur), and in the past year had a small tumor removed from his belly. He spends a lot of time napping. So when I get to see him frolicking in the snow, having pure, unadulterated fun, it brings me a lot of joy.

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January 28

Up until last night, Boston has had 44.5 inches of snow this winter. This morning, more fell -- four more inches, by my measurement.

This storm, however, didn't just bring snow. First it was snow, then sleet and freezing rain, then plain rain. The snow fell heavily enough that the plows and sanders didn't actually finish their jobs before the sleet and rain arrived. Sand and salt added to snow being wet by rain makes for a cold, viscous, slushy mud that's really quite gross. Depending on the weather, being behind one of these trucks can be a blessing or a curse. Blessing in icy weather, because you get better traction, and curse in this kind of weather, where the mud on the roads gets just about everywhere.

It's not too cold right now, and the rain will end soon. The best word to describe the current weather is "gross." And statistically, February is Boston's snowiest month. I'm trying very hard not to dwell on that bit of awesome, cheery news.

28/365 -

January 27

Two slightly-scuffed cordovan shoes. Unremarkable, until you find out that they're on my feet, and that I'm wearing two shoes instead of one shoe and an orthopedic boot for my foot injury. My healing process has been slower than I had hoped it would be. I can sum up all the technical information in one sentence: My right foot still hurts!

That having been said, it doesn't hurt nearly as much as it hurt a month ago.

I'm getting back into the swing of everyday activities that had been closed to me while my mobility was limited -- exciting stuff, like long trips to the grocery store and filling up a cart with stuff, or shoveling snow, or just taking Pogo for walks that go past the backyard gate and actually involve getting all the way around the block.

It just occurred to be that one of the reasons I've been feeling so stressed out of late is, that with one bum foot, I really have been as busy as a one-legged ass kicker.

27/365 -

January 26

It's been a snowy and chilly winter in Boston. Tomorrow's forecast, into Wednesday, is calling for snow and winds and other assorted nastiness. With the current temperature at 12 degrees Fahrenheit, it's long past time to quit wishing for warmer weather and get down to the business of staying warm. This means wearing coats, long johns, gloves, scarves, and a hat.

So here I am, modeling my new winter hat. It cost the princely sum of $12 at a booth in Back Bay Station. Considering its modest price, fake fur and polyester construction, it's surprisingly warm -- warm enough that I'm willing to go around looking like Nanook of the North wearing the thing.

I think I'm going to continue to wish for warmer weather, though. Spring arrives on March 21st, so it's only 53 days away. Only 53 ever-lengthening days.

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January 25

True confession time: I cook for my dog.

Since we found out that Pogo is diabetic, we've had to make a lot of adjustments to our life. Giving him a two insulin injections a day, for instance. Cooking is another change. Pogo got a stomach bug, so we put him on a bland diet of brown rice and oatmeal. Well, he loved his new food, so we decided to keep him on the diet, figuring that it was worth it to keep him healthy and happy. The vet instructed us to add protein to this new diet, and gave us some other recommendations to make this a better-balanced diet.

Pictured above is an assortment some of Pogo's favorite foods. I base each meal on oatmeal (in the canister) or brown rice (in the small glass). To that I add protein, usually cooked hamburger or chicken, usually with some carrots or apples cut into very small pieces. To all this, I add a couple tablespoons of wheat germ (which I forgot to squeeze into the group above). Rounding it all out is a children's chewable vitamin, to give Pogo the vitamins and minerals he needs to remain healthy.

Since changing his diet, the amount of insulin Pogo needs to regulate his blood sugar has gone down substantially. While doing all this cooking is a lot of work -- especially on the weekends, when I do a lot of prep work for the rest of the week -- it's worth it to keep my puppy dog healthy.

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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 23

This has been a busy -- even hectic -- week for me. My usual method of coping with busy periods is to make to-do lists and then stick to them. Unfortunately, this week, capricious fate keeps lobbing new stuff at me, meaning that I can't concentrate on what I need to get done because I'm busy juggling the new stuff that's come up. And while I'm doing my best imitation of a swan (calm on the surface, but paddling like hell underneath), stuff I've meticulously added to my to-do lists just isn't getting done.

It's intensely frustrating.

Either I'll get caught up this weekend or I'll default to my secondary method of stress relief: decompensation. Which, on the plus side, will at least be entertaining for onlookers.

23/365 -

January 22

Here's a scene from my commute today -- the corner of the Riverway and Brookline Avenue in Boston. Note the car in front of me, which has stopped halfway into the next lane of oncoming traffic. Note that I couldn't go forward, even though I had the signal, from cross traffic blocking the intersection. All of the confusion here was accompanied by the discordant blaring of car and truck horns from drivers on both streets, pedestrians crossing the street against the lights, and other assorted mayhem.

With scenes like this, it's no wonder that Massachusetts drivers have earned -- deservedly -- the nickname "Massholes."

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January 21

This photo is of a Hamilton "Glenn Curtiss" mechanical wristwatch from 1931. It has no crystal on the front, probably hasn't run in years, and is in dire need of restoration, yet it was distinctive enough to catch my attention immediately.

I'm good friends with a local artist who specializes in jewelry design, and visited him in his studio this afternoon to get photos of his latest creation. As I packed up my equipment, I noticed this wristwatch on one of the tables, among an assortment of "found objects," that he uses in his jewelry.

I have a passing interest in mechanical watches, but I've never had the time to delve into the topic as deeply as I research fountain pens, cameras, typewriters, etc. However, even with my slight knowledge of the topic, I recognized the Hamilton name and snapped this photo so I could do some research.

This watch is a rare and beautiful timepiece, and I hope to see it restored someday. There's just something satisfying about seeing something so elegant restored to vital functionality.

21/365 -

January 20

I watched, transfixed, the inauguration of President Barack Obama this afternoon. I snagged this screenshot of the White House web site when it changed over at noon. For this historic occasion, I've decided a screenshot is the most appropriate way to commemorate the day.

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January 19

A photograph of a photograph. It's hardly original, but there is a story behind it.

Pogo's veterinarian (Dr. Ilene Segal of Parkway Veterinary Hospital -- I can't recommend her highly enough) has done a super job keeping him healthy and keeping us informed on his progress, how to care for him properly, etc. The vet's lobby and exam rooms have some framed photos of dogs and cats for decoration, and as a little thank you for her hard work, I decided to give her a photograph (with the hope that she'll decide to display it).

The photograph shows Lola and Riley, two King Charles Spaniel pups, in their Sherpa bag, ready to go for an outing. You can see the original photo on my flickr account. Lola and Riley's human lives in the building where I work, and she's been gracious enough to let me take pictures of these delightful little doggies a few times.

Of course, having my name out there on the photo (discretely signed on the mat in the lower right hand corner) doesn't hurt, either.

19/365 -

January 18

Snow, snow, and more snow. I know I'm probably imagining it, but it seems like this winter has been one of the snowiest I remember in New England.

This is the view from my front porch this morning, during the last of the snowfall. The original photo was so dull and gray, I considered (and experimented with) rendering it as a black-and-white image. Ultimately, however, I ended up increasing the color saturation a bit, just to bring something out of the eye-catching yellow house on the corner, and the red of the stop signs and my neighbor's hat and gloves.

There is one good thing about the weather today: it's warmer than its been in more than a week. I don't like snow, but it's marginally better than having highs in the high teens and lows nearing zero. When air is that cold, it can't even hold enough moisture to snow.

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January 17

While I was in the Navy, I was fortunate enough to be stationed in Portugal for two years. While I lived there, I had the very good fortune to be introduced to ginjinha, a liqueur popular in Lisbon. It's usually served in a shot glass, which probably accounts for its reputation as a potent drink.

As I'm not a big drinker, I only partake of this truly excellent drink occasionally. I usually take it in a schnapps glass -- a SVALKA glass from IKEA -- and I sip it slowly instead of taking the whole shot at once. It's not the traditional way of inbibing the drink, but it keeps me from getting totally tipsy.

Today's pic is of a bottle of good ginjinha from Obidos, one of the ginjinha-producing regions of Portugal, and the glass. A friend who visited a few years ago brought the bottle, and I've been husbanding the thing carefully.

All in all, a lovely way to end the day.

17/365 -

January 16

This revolving door (caught in motion) brings people into and out of the lobby where I work my day job. I'm sure this photo could be seen in a metaphorical light, perhaps even in a philosophical light. However, the truth of the photo is, I was very busy in an unphotogenic way today, and this was the only technically-interesting idea for a photograph I could execute in a timely fashion. (The stitched panoramic shot of the desk where I work, which is wide and curved, just didn't come out very well, despite multiple attempts at it.)

This is actually two photographs layered and blended. Both were shot with a tripod from precisely the same position. The first was an eight-second exposure of the door in motion, while the second was the door while stationary. I placed the stationary shot on top of the in-motion shot and reduced it's opacity to give an idea of what you were looking at, without losing the dynamic energy of the moving door.

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