71 hours and 59 minutes, 71 hours and 58 minutes, 71 hours and....

...and we're back! It was a long weekend involving mini golf, my birthday, and worms, followed by a long start to a short week, involving meetings, car rental, and not walking to work.
Bike season has officially begun, and this morning I saw this bike ticket. So the 72 hour countdown has also begun. If you know how to pick a U-lock, head on over and hook yourself up with a sweet ride! (Now before you get a bee in your bonnet- I'm no bike theft proponent, but I also don't think the PRC should get such a nice colorful set of wheels for free)

climate: sunny, high 60's
shoes: fantastic new argyle patterned flip flops
ipod: none. no battery, yo

one way

The effectiveness of this sign at directing traffic is doubtful, but it seems to function very well as a vine support. Also, for reasons unbeknownst to me, it reminds me of Sam the Bald Eagle from the Muppet Show.
I don't know why I think of these things, I can't help it, I just do.

climate: sunny, mid 50's
shoes: brown flip flops
ipod: George Michael (yes, I saw the American Idol finale, and I've been listen to GM ever since)

love it

I see this heart all over the greater Central Square area. The artist must have some meaningful explanation, but I like to think the intention is to spread the love, renegade style. Its like a real life emoticon in international tagger slang!

climate: sunny, high 50's
shoes: gray keds
ipod: The Beatles

move it ladies!

Looks like some ladies were let loose on the driveway with sidewalk chalk. Ashley, Tia, Angela, and one other name I couldn't read, to be exact. They have used the popular sidewalk chalk medium to announce to the world that they are The MCG's, and that they have the moves. (My pink arrow points out their claim "We Got The Moves".)
And I'm sure they do.

climate: sunny, mid 50's
shoes: brown and pink sneaks
ipod: random shuffle

TV time

This has the makings of a bad joke:
...so three TV's and a microwave are hanging outside a parking lot. One TV turns to the microwave and says....

climate: sunny, high 50's
shoes: brown and pink sneaks
ipod: The Beatles

what is this?

These were on the same street! The same philosophical, ponderous street. Less than 20 feet from each other.
And what is anything, really? What is this street? What is field report? And you may ask yourself- how did I get here? And you may tell yourself.... oh, never mind.

climate: overcast, high 50's
shoes: brown and pink sneaks
ipod: The Beatles

booty call

Ah, the boot. Apparently you get them for unpaid parking tickets, but my conspiracy theory/ Law & Order loving suspicions make me think that its really a trick, and a way to catch criminals of far more heinous crimes. You know how it goes- the perp calls the po-po, "what's up with this boot, I don't have no unpaid tix!" The men in blue respond, "must be a mistake, stay right there, we'll come take it off..." then BAM, you're under arrest for (insert your own heinous crime here- possibly even one I've depicted in this blog.) The police didn't even have to look for you, you called them! Well, it could happen...
Anyway, bad news police- I think this guy is on to you because the car has been here for a week now. So could you please remove the boot and tow the boat? This thing takes up two parking spaces!

climate: overcast, mid 50's
shoes: black kitten heels
ipod: none. I'm sick and my ears are so plugged up I wouldn't be able to hear it anyway.

free to be you and me

There is a certain amount of homogeneity in dwelling, I guess. We all have windows, siding, garden hoses, and trash cans. Some of these common elements of home have more variety than others- front doors, for example, have more options then really necessary (and therefore many people seem to make poor front door purchasing decisions. Do you need a window in your door that is shaped like a pelican? No, you do not, you're being ridiculous. Put that thing back on the shelf and walk away.)
This trash can owner obviously felt the urge of individualism and expressed it D.I.Y. style with little wood cutouts of cute flower pots with snails and flowers on them. It seems they ran into some trouble getting them to stick to the plastic lids, so in the case of the heart, they resorted to red duct tape. (I would have recommended avoiding adhesives altogether and use a small carriage bolt system. Be sure the bolt and nut are galvanized or stainless steel, otherwise they'll rust.)
Good show, can owner! Way to be free to be you and me!

climate: sunny, high 50's
shoes: gray keds
ipod: random shuffle including Toto.

no parking baby (on the dance floor)

Sometimes the good ol' PRC's best efforts just aren't enough. Its those times that private citizens have to take things into their own hands- like this guy did with a home made "no parking" sign and some yellow paint. The amazing thing is that this is so obviously not a real sign, but people still adhere to it- the guy never has anyone parking within 4 feet of his driveway. Good work, no parking guy!

climate: sunny, windy, low 50's
shoes: brown and pink sneaks
ipod: the strokes

signs, signs, everywhere the signs

This sign was posted on a Harvard owned building near a bike rack. In case you can't read it, the sign says: Temporary Bike Rack 2 Hour Limit.
Now here's what I want to know, Harvard:
1. Is there some sort of crazy bike parking going on where bikes are just piling up all over the place and people are leaving them there for days, weeks, months? If this is the case, which I don't think it is, because I've been walking by this for 4 years, and I assure you I would have noticed this rampant abuse of bike parking, but if it is the case, have you considered adding to the 2 small bike lock up bars that are there? Because there's plenty of room here. You could get two more racks in, easy. And-
2. Do you enforce this? Is someone out there with a timer, cutting locks and impounding bikes in violation? Do you leave tickets on the bikes in hopes that some sucker will believe that you know who they are, so they pay the fine? Is there a bike pound somewhere on campus that houses hundreds of them?
The answer is no. Your sign is ridiculous. There's no way to enforce it, and by posting it at all you make a mockery of yourself. Harvard should encourage bike riding, and therefore bike parking, not limit it. Power to the (bike riding) people!

climate: overcast, mid 40's
shoes: burgundy sneaks
ipod: random shuffle in the jazz genre

lost in space

This morning on my way to my coffee shop pit stop before going into the office (If I'm already late, what's another hour for coffee and a bagel, right?) I had an alarming interruption. The guy in the photo stopped me and asked if I knew where Magazine Street was. I answered, because I'm polite like that, but as he walked away I had to take this picture. From where we were standing there are not one, not even two, but three, ladies and gentlemen, THREE signs pointing to Magazine Street. (Circled here in hot pink for your viewing ease). I can't help but notice in the photo; he still looks like he's heading the wrong way.

climate: overcast, low 50's
shoes: brown flats
ipod: shuffle including Neil Young and Weekend Players

thanksgiving in may

Its raining and I got a ride to work, so I don't have any exciting pictures to share. Instead I will show you a picture I took of a turkey that landed on the low roof adjacent to my office. The picture is crappy becuase its through my window screen. But you can still tell that its a turkey!

climate: raining, low 60's
shoes: gray keds
ipod: car radio: led zeppelin

trashy!

Here's some peeps that took their spring cleaning very seriously this year. There was so much crap piled high on the sidewalk that it would have taken me hours to catalog it all for your reading enjoyment. I'll tell you the highlights though: a bronze (looking) unicorn statuette, that pink tub of various tupperware things, some vintage-ish soda bottles, and several packed suitcases (what was in them? more suitcases? more trash?)

climate: sunny, low 60's
shoes: gray keds
ipod: funkstar deluxe bob marley remix

dancing machine

Here in the People's Republic of Cambridge, we know how to celebrate arguably the best month of the year. That's right, its May, its our party, and we can dance if we want to.

climate: sunny, high 50's
shoes: black kitten heels
ipod: men without hats (of course)

fresh air party scent

I see a lot of trash on the streets and sidewalks, but most of it is lottery tickets, cig butts, and food wrappers. And then there's the occasional item(s) of interest, that I have to wonder: How did that get there?
This is that. A double dose of car air freshers freshly mashed with a party noise maker. Genius!

climate: sunny, low 50's
shoes: gray keds
ipod: no ipod, but I had that stupid cake song stuck in my head-
I need you here with me
Not way over in a bucket seat...

harvard square blew up

Originally I had a different post all ready to go up, and then I got to work and found out that Harvard Square may or may not be under attack by either "terrorists" or NStar, (which, according to some are the same thing). I walked down there to check out the scene- not much to see, I guess I missed all the action by hours. You may or may not remember the last time Harvard Square may or may not have been under attack by either "terrorists" or Comedy Central or hippies. (The first and last of which, according to me, are the same thing).

climate: overcast, low 50's
shoes: burgundy sneaks
ipod: corinne bailey rae

this blog is brought to you by the letter H

Today I noticed that my neighborhood is a screen door alphabet soup. I only snapped pictures of two doors, but I also saw an "M" and a "B". I didn't realize that this was such a popular trend. Now I want one!

climate: sunny, high 40's
shoes: gray keds
ipod: lemonheads