April 29

My doorman Ennio could have been an interior decorator.

In the lobby of the building where I work, we have a low fireplace with a large mirrored mantle over it. The space spans about 7 by 7 feet, so it's difficult to fill effectively. My manager wanted something to go there, though, so Ennio took on the challenge. He hacked off some pear tree branches with buds, selected a tall vase, worked his magic and voilà! A pretty -- and free -- lobby decoration that effective fills the 49 square foot space.

With all the straight lines and modern decor, it's nice to have something organic to break up the severity of the lobby. And, of course, it's great to have somebody like Ennio around who can work this kind of magic.

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April 28

My downstairs neighbors and landladies have an impressive collection of tulips in the backyard. Today's heat -- it was 90+ degrees -- had some of the flowers looking a little peaked, but the backyard tulips seem to be tolerating the heat just fine.

For my part, I kind of liked the heat. It's a welcome change from the frigid winter we lived through this year. I feel bad for Pogo, though. I have to talk to Boyfriend about getting him groomed and thinning out his coat a bit for the summer. His half-husky heritage definitely works against him when the temperature goes up. Fortunately, we're getting more seasonal temperatures overnight, and the rest of the week won't be quite so miserable for the little guy.

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April 27

St. Botolph Street in Boston's Back Bay is lined with blooming trees -- apple blossoms, I think -- that form a canopy in places.

This spring has caused all of the trees to bloom beautifully, and the result has been stunning to see. My neighbor has a pretty apple tree that is also blooming, and the trees in my backyard are bright yellowy-green with new leaves. Everywhere you look, things are blooming.

I noticed the bright white arch over the street as I drove in to work today, and I have to admit that it made me smile. It's almost enough to make it worth surviving the winter when the spring unfolds so magnificently.

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April 26

I didn't have a lot going on this afternoon, so I called up my friend Anna to ask if she'd like to go to IKEA with me. (Yes, my social life is that pedestrian.) Anna had just met up with Brandon, our friend from National Novel Writing Month and Script Frenzy, so I gamely invited him along as well. (I just cleaned out my car today, so there was actually room for all three people.)

And away we went.

IKEA is a fun place to go when you're feeling aimless. There are arrows on the floor to guide you through the showrooms, you can see neat things and make fun of them, and the food at the restaurant is pretty cheap and filling. There's also the people watching; that one turned on us when we saw the slightly saggy overweight woman wearing the low-rider jeans. There had to have been three inches of butt crack showing, surrounding by sagging cellulite. Brandon might be scarred for life.

And that is the high point of my day. I amuse myself, and fortunately, when others are laughing, they're laughing with me, not at me.

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April 25

I'm friends with a jewelry designer. Keith designs distinctive, one-of-a-kind jewelry, and in a mutually beneficial quid pro quo, I photograph his designs in exchange for custom pieces of jewelry (usually for my mother).

Keith specializes in making jewelry specifically for people. When he made a lapel pin for my mother, I gave him a photograph so he could see who he was designing for. The result was perfect.

The necklace above was made for a colleague of Keith's -- a businesswoman. Keith has been working on this one a while, so when it was done I got the call to photograph it. One of the hallmarks of a truly stunning piece of jewelry from Keith is that it's easy to photograph. This necklace practically photographed itself.

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April 24

I had a pretty photo of my landlady's "miracle flowers," all lined up for the Photo of the Day today. Then, on my commute to work, this lady walked by.

Oh. My. God.

On the spot, I decided that today's POTD would be fauna, not flora. I drove by this woman and stopped at the red light, three or four cars back. Then I got my camera and waited, hoping for once that the light wouldn't change too soon.

Our fashion victim strutted past. Yes, strutted. From her attitude, it was obvious that she thought she was lookin' goooood in this outfit. It was fascinating to watch, really. I know a new outfit, a new hairstyle or even new accessories can make you feel good, but I've never seen an example quite so heinous as this ensemble have that effect.

My friend Sean describes this look as "the Great Wall of Panty Line," topped by "the Golden Gate Bra." I couldn't have said it better myself.

As for the Photoshop, I was playing around and liked the effect on the right side. While it didn't make her dress look better, per se, it at least made it less startling in context.

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April 23

My neighbor has an apple tree that blossoms beautifully every spring.

She has a green thumb and ... let's call it eclectic taste .. when it comes to landscaping. Her yard is an ever-evolving experiment in unlikely combinations of plants -- sometimes deliberately planted, other times not. Wildflowers ring her fence line and grow halfway out over the sidewalks, and anybody allergic to bee stings treads carefully when visiting or passing by.

When the tree blossoms, it's really quite beautiful, though the fragile blooms don't last very long. It's always a special treat to walk by and see it in all its glory in the springtime, and usually it's the first true harbinger that warm weather is on the way.

Besides, it makes for a very pretty picture.

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April 22

It's street cleaning day on Castleton Street in Jamaica Plain, and the meter maids were out in force today. There were seven cars on one side of the street, which runs about the length of a football field, and six of them had parking tickets. Thus is the joy of on-street parking in Boston.

These cars are lucky. In heavily-populated areas like Boston's Back Bay and South End, the cars wouldn't have just been ticketed, but towed. Those poor car owners get to pay for the ticket, plus the cost of towing and impound, before they can get their car back.

Fortunately, I live on a street without any posted street-cleaning days, so I don't have to do the on-street parking shuffle, because it can be a giant pain in the butt.

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April 21

The weather in Boston, which isn't cold but decidedly rainy and kind of clammy-muggy, put a damper (pun intended) on my photographic inspirations today. That, and taking my camera out in the rain is a non-starter. So I'm fobbing you off with a screenshot today.

Here you see me planning my trip out to Illinois next month. My dear friend Ruth is graduating from college, and I'm going to attend the event, take some photos, and spend some time with her and her family. The ticket costs dropped fairly dramatically over the past week (down by 35 percent), so the trip is within my budget.

I'm looking forward to the trip, now that I know I can take it. :-)

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Thank you, Mrs. Cianci, for not stalking us! (I fixed the problem and appreciate your pointing it out.)

April 20

The not-at-all-exhausted looking lady next to me here is Kathryn Nixon. I have trouble making myself presentable most mornings, yet she looks beautiful after having run 26.2 miles in a marathon in 3:52:37.

Kathryn is a former resident in the building in Boston's Back Bay where I work. She and her family moved a few years ago, but she ran the Boston Marathon again this year and dropped in for a short visit with Ennio and me. It makes me feel good that people leave with fond memories and, indeed, visit us occasionally.

Indeed, with all the hassles of driving to work today, with closed-off streets, little or no parking, and thousands more pedestrians than normal, Kathryn's visit may be the best thing about Patriot's Day in Boston.

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April 19

I missed my grandmother's birthday.

It wasn't on purpose, however. She didn't receive her card, though, so I put together a new card for her. Most people would send just the card, but when your grandson's a photographer, you don't get off that easy. I had a year or so of catch-up to do, so she's got a couple of dozen photos in her card.

She'll be especially glad to see my shorter hair -- she's been going on about my looking "like a hippie," since I began growing my hair out a couple of years ago. My friend Brandon took a great photo of me yesterday, so I added it to her card to round out the package.

The card may be late, but the new haircut just might make it worth waiting for. :-)

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April 18

Compare and contrast: Something is different about today's photograph.

I decided to have my hair, which I've been growing out for a couple of years, cut off today. I've been growing it out partly out of vanity, but after finding out about Locks of Love, an organization which makes wigs for children, most of whom have a condition called alopecia areata that causes total hair loss, I had a goal: Grow ten inches of hair out so I could donate.

Good intentions being what they are, I kept growing more and more frustrated because my hair just wasn't long enough. Caring for it was taking more and more of my time -- just washing and drying it could waste half an hour of my day. Out of desperation, I went to the salon today. My stylist, Denise, shrugged and told me that the hair on the back of my head wasn't nearly long enough, but the hair on the top and sides could be used. I'd decided the hair was coming off anyway, but that just made my decision easier.

Now I feel lightheaded. :-)

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April 17

Normally I don't go in for self-portraits. They're just not my thing. But today, a convergence of factors made me decide to go for one.

This is the first really pretty day of Spring we've had, and with the temperature set to drop dramatically over the next few days, it makes you want to make the most of it. I was also having a great hair day, which is a precious and rare thing in and of itself. And, having done laundry, I had the most appropriate shirt to wear for the weather -- a light cotton shirt described by my friend Scott as "both great and extremely queer." Boyfriend brought it back for me from India, and I think it's awesome.

So with everything having fallen into place so beautifully, I hauled the tripod out onto the sidewalk, plonked my butt on the front steps and used my remote control to get the photo. It came out pretty well, didn't it?

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April 16

I normally try to space out my commute photos to every other day or so, but today's bumper sticker was so freakin' perfect, I had to use it.

I've always associated the word Masshole with Massachusetts drivers and their habit of offensive driving. I hadn't really realized that it was used in other contexts -- perhaps because I've only lived here for ten years or so. It's something people around here seem to take perverse pride in. "Masshole," is the perfect example of taking a pejorative nickname and turning it into something you're proud to be.

Thus, seeing this bumper sticker on a car en route to work today, I actually made a point of going back and getting the photo. I've never seen this particular bumper sticker before, but now, I want one for myself. To use the local slang, it's wicked pissah.

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April 15

Tony Bennett may have left his heart in San Francisco, but some unfortunate driver left his (fill in the blank auto part) on Hyde Park Avenue in Jamaica Plain today.

Now I know a little about cars. I can change my oil and top off my fluids, but that's about it. I am pretty sure, however, that leaving bits and parts of your car on the street can't be a good thing. Boston's streets have never been perfect, but after the extended periods of snow and frigid weather we had this winter, we have more potholes than I've seen in my ten-plus years in the city. Road crews have been out filling the most egregious examples, but it's impossible to keep so many miles of road in pristine shape. So sadly, it's not uncommon to see hubcaps and various car parts along the city's thoroughfares. The trick is to make sure they're not various parts from your car.

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April 14

For most of the year, our house is home to two families. In the spring and the summer, though, it gets a little more crowded when the house sparrows come out. We usually end up with a nest in the window by our air conditioner upstairs (this drives Pretty Boy crazy), but now they're establishing a new tradition of building a nest in our porch light.

Alas, getting a good photo of a porch light with a half-built nest isn't as easy as it might seem. It's just not that interesting. So you're going to have to settle for this photo of a happy couple of birds hanging out on the tree in the front yard.

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April 13

I was stopped at a light on Huntington Avenue today when this beautiful retro bicycle caught my eye.

A couple of summers ago, I commuted to and from work on my bicycle. Often, I could ride the five miles faster than I could drive them (which speaks volumes about Boston's notorious traffic). It was a great opportunity to save on gas, to get some exercise, and to be nicer to the environment, all while accomplishing something useful (moving from point A to point B). I really enjoyed the experience, right up to the moment the car hit me.

Fortunately, considering the injuries I could have sustained, I got off with a couple of broken ribs. With both my bike and my body bent, I didn't ride anywhere else that summer. But now I'm feeling up to doing the commute again, once I get a new bike (a project I need to put some more thought and energy into). Seeing this pretty blue bike, with the wide whitewall tires and the rack on the back, made me realize I really want to get back on a bike again -- hopefully remaining uninjured this time.

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April 12

Happy Easter!

A resident where I work (and one who has a dog I like very much) gave me Godiva chocolate eggs for Easter.

At the building where I work as a concierge, there is a no-tipping policy in place. We are expected to refuse gratuities, the idea being that whatever tasks we perform are all "part of the service." In essence, we're expected to treat everybody equally, and they don't want us being nicer to the more generous residents in the building. It makes sense in a way.

It's pretty common for us to be offered meals, or candy, or sweets. I've always told Ennio, my doorman, that when your residents offer you money, you can't be sure whether they're just doing it because they're grateful for your help or because they think it's expected. But when a resident feeds you, you know they like you. And that's a great feeling.

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April 11

If you're wondering why Belynda is hiding behind a drinks menu ... well, join the club.

Belynda had a birthday last week, and Marion (of Script Frenzy fame) decided that she needed a little birthday party. After batting around various ideas (visiting the IMAX theater, Jasper White's Summer Shack, etc.), we settled on going to Longhorn Steakhouse for chicken parts and assorted dinner stuff.

We took two separate cars to get there, and our original party of five expanded a bit with the anticipated arrival of Tom's girlfriend. After originally requesting a table for seven, we hurriedly revised it to eight after I realized that, being a liberal arts major, I couldn't count straight. (I rarely do anything straight.) Eventually, eleven people showed for the party -- and honestly, I couldn't have had more fun while remaining sober.

Our waiter Jason (nicknamed Spunky almost immediately) was pure eye candy. A nearby waiter, Duane, was nicknamed Studly for similar reasons. When Sparky the Waiter appeared, and one poor unattractive man we called Scary, we had a virtual platter-carrying boy band on our hands.

I got Mary Anne, who is very shy and says she's sexually frustrated, to leave her number on a napkin for Spunky, with the entreaty to call her. We very nearly got Marion, who has a thing for somebody else, to leave her number for the cute waiter Studly, but she demurred. Happily-married Belynda settled for pressing her girly parts into me for a couple of minutes (eat your hearts out straight men!), and to coin a phrase, a good time was had by all.

Considering the widely-held opinion of Script Frenzy and National Novel Writing Month participants as socially-awkward, it's amazing how much fun we can really have when we let loose. :-)

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April 10

I probably pass a dozen of these signs on my commute daily. Every time I see them, with the pictograph of the running boy, I read "DRIVE SLOW," then mentally add "RUN FAST," to the sign. It's probably a subconscious desire on my part to run down pedestrians or something, since I've taken the Massachusetts tradition of offensive driving (the opposite of defensive driving) somewhat to heart over these past ten years.

I was hoping for something prettier, or more momentous, or even just noteworthy, to mark the occasion of my 100th photograph in my Photo of the Day series. I guess this will just have to do.

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