I made it out of Boston (and only left a little bit of a mess for my roommates to deal with) on Saturday. Look for an update in a day or two – in the meantime I’m hanging out, relaxing, and enjoying the lack of rain in northwestern Connecticut.
Well, I’m heading westward in just two (!) days. Fortunately, I have a brother who’s a cartographer – I’ll never be lost.
I forgot how much of a hassle packing up is. I had imagined my last weeks as a bucolic, work-free time, but the reality of boxes has taken over. There are boxes everywhere. And, since I got my packing supplies from the liquor store, I can tell that the people who visit me in these last few days are wondering if I really did consume that case of Natural Light (the water drinker’s light beer).
First few stops on the trip: Connecticut, Ithaca, and Fergus, Ontario.
Caleb and I were discussing whether or not you can bet on the weather. The forecast earlier in the week predicted no rain on Saturday, which also happens to be the BUDA spring league tournament. We thought we could cut our losses by betting on rain, since it always turns out to be a crappy day. If we lost our money, at least we’d play frisbee. Turns out you can bet on the weather (apparently something ski resorts do), but we’re too late, since the forecast has already switched to predicting rain. Poo.
It was a warbler-ful day at Mt. Auburn Cemetery – I saw magnolia, parula, black and white, black-throated blue, yellow-throated, and black-throated green warblers. I also saw an ovenbird, oriole, hermit thrush, veery, and a heron. Check out a couple pictures here.
I got the latest alumni magazine from my college recently, and as I was thumbing through the Class Notes section, I came across this gem:
[Name witheld] is training to compete in the 2006 Ultimate Fighting Championships. When not training, [name] writes a bimonthly column for the midwest regional newletter (the Beef ‘n’ Chatter) of a semi-national chain of roast beef restaurants and works as a policyholder insurance coverage attorney with the Chicago law firm of [lawfirm].
Holy crap, what have I been doing with my life?!
I finished the USB storage device project and put up a couple more pictures – check ’em out here. It’s a tiny bit bigger than I’d like, but I like how different it looks.
I also installed the auxilliary audio input in my car this morning. All went smoothly, and I didn’t even have to remove the radio, only the panel that has the cigarette lighter plug on it. I did find that I needed to attach the ground cable that was included – the instructions say you should only do it in certain circumstances, but I couldn’t get decent sound out in any situation without hooking it up.
It’s been a nature-y week for me – Mt. Auburn yesterday and Great Meadows NWR this morning (early!). Check out the pics. I was psyched to finally find an approachable wood duck, and the grosbeak was a surprise at the end of our walk around the lower pool (it was so windy, we’d pretty much given up on seeing anything else). And I think I’m headed back to Mt. Auburn tomorrow, but just for walking, no pictures.
I had a good visit at the Mt. Auburn Cemetery this afternoon and got some good bird/nature shots. Check ’em out here.
Well, it looks like I’m not gonna have a chance to hold a last Craft Day before I leave town. Thanks so much to everyone for all the great Craft Days passed, and look for announcements of CD-WC (that’s Craft Day – West Coast) in a few months.
I started a new project yesterday to turn a cheap flash-based MP3 player (a gift I received) into a unique USB storage device. Your input is requested.
It didn’t take long to think of a few more things to add to my “to-do before leaving Boston” list:
- one more visit to the MIT Museum
- a trip to the Peabody Essex Museum
- lunch (not dinner) at O Cantinho
It’s my last day of work today. Next is three weeks of packing up and finishing up in Boston, then I hit the road for two months of vacation – not bad!
There are a few things I’d like to do before I leave town, notably:
- go to Chez Henri one last time
- have one more Craft Day
- finish the light machine
- possibly modify my car to add a line-in jack to use with my new iPod
- install a skylight with Rif
I’m sure I’ll add to the list in the next couple weeks.
I finished scanning in a roll of 120 size film from the Rolleiflex last night – there’s a picture from New York and a couple from the Somerville Open Studios opening reception a few weeks back. Check ’em out here.