(Cross-posted to LiveJournal)
Wandering around Salem with Melissa and Lisa yesterday, it began to grow overcast in the late afternoon and early evening. As we headed back to the depot so Lisa could take the return train into Boston, the rain picked up some force and drenched us.
Standing on the platform under the overhang, the rain was still slanting at us, but it wasn't quite so miserable out of the wind. Then, I noticed it was growing brighter towards the West, the thunderheads rolling away to the East--half angry-gray, and half brilliant blue, and I remarked, "This looks like rainbow weather."
Sure enough, maybe five minutes later:
Showing posts with label weather. Show all posts
Showing posts with label weather. Show all posts
01 June 2009
sunshowers
01 April 2009
everyone's a comedian
(Cross-posted to LiveJournal)
Getting much better at headstands. Why are you doing headstands? I dunno, just felt inspired to improve the quality of my headstand (having full carpeting in a room helps, because who wants to do a headstand on a hardwood floor?). Jon Stewart and Aasif Mandvi--yes, they're just as funny upside-down. On a related note, laughing while you're doing a headstand is not something I recommend. Also, whenever I do my craptastic headstands, I think of this:
Must stop staying up when I know I'll just want to die in the morning when the alarm goes off in the dark.
I just really wanted to get my laundry done--because everything that I should've done over the weekend is getting dragged out over this week's evenings. It's the same thing with grocery shopping. There's no reason I couldn't have gone on Saturday or Sunday. I just didn't--and then had a wonderfully anxious time driving there and back through rush-hour sunset traffic (a million cars and pedestrians that you can't see with the sun in your eyes: AWESOME).
On a positive note, I have clean clothing and food, so life can't be all bad ...
It was dark and overcast this morning, whatever Weather.com has to say about it. Oh, it's 29° and sunny! No. First of all, it was in the 30's. Second of all, it was not sunny. Weather.com should be above April Fool's (though that's probably giving them too much credit--knowing what the actual weather is and deciding to say something else in an attempt of [albeit dull] trickery).
The cover of weeklydig is pretty good. It's an apology from AIG that begins: "We're really, really sorry!"
Gmail's April foolery is one-upping itself from last year:
Autopilot by CADIE: The easiest email could possibly be.
YouTube thinks they're brilliant, too. And they are, sort of. When you're on the main page and you click on a video link to watch, it sends you there but everything's upside-down. Go look! I'm not kidding (that would be a lame April Fool's, anyway--"made you look! I'm so clever! I can lie on the internet!").
Also on YouTube, there's a new video from TheJokerBlogs--but it is also a prank (of course):
I need a haircut. Pronto.
02 March 2009
but ... I'm already AWAKE
(Cross-posted to LiveJournal)
Snow day ... This never happens.
Not that I'm complaining, obviously; it's just weird. How much did we get, anyway?
So ...
I guess this means I go back to bed. Maybe.
Yes?
30 January 2009
had to happen eventually
(Cross-posted to LiveJournal)
Of course, one doesn't fall down on what is obviously ice. One falls down on what would appear to be dry ground--but is, in fact, icy ground--because one lets down her guard and takes confident steps where she should've been sliding along as usual.
Oh, well. I still managed it fairly gracefully, since I felt it happening almost immediately. I'm pretty sure I muttered something along the lines of: "Balls..." as I went down. The lady walking half a dozen yards ahead of me turned around to ask if I was all right, and also to share that it had looked like a perfectly dry patch of ground to her as well.
Nothing bruised or broken. Just somewhat annoyed.
It needs to get warm enough and dry enough to get rid of this nonsense soon. I'm sick of taking fifteen minutes to navigate the pitfalls between home and the depot, when it should really only take about seven to make the trip. I'd also like not to fall down again.
23 June 2008
and kicking
My downstairs neighbors (at least, I think it was my downstairs neighbors, since I don't imagine anybody else could've come in the front door, and wandered upstairs) left me a welcoming present from their favourite neighborhood bakery--croissants and danishes and bread. I think they must have dropped it off some time on Sunday, but I didn't notice until I walked out the door this morning. I feel kind of bad about that for a few reasons. One, I don't know how well the goodies will be now when they're not fresh. Two, I still haven't seen my neighbors. And now three, I really ought to thank them, and wish I had done yesterday ...
Anyway, I put the box of baked goods in the fridge before I left, so I hope I didn't spoil them by letting them sit out there on the landing overnight. I'm putting my faith in the preservative properties of sugar.
Damn it. I'm already a bad neighbor, and I haven't even talked to anybody yet.
I was trying to get everything out of the cardboard boxes, and didn't leave the house at all. On one hand, good for productivity. On the other hand, it would've been nice to wander my new stomping grounds. Oh, well. There will certainly be time for that.
Saturday night discovery--the cable is still hooked up. On a whim, I plugged in the television just to see, and now I'm wishing I already owned a modem. Still... That will be installed on Friday.
Turned on AMC for a background--The Last Samurai and Alexander being heralded as "Future Classics," with which I take some umbrage--while unpacking and then having dinner.
I had intended to sleep in yesterday, and I had left my iPod in the Sound Dock overnight for a sense of familiarity. And then, at around 0830, I awoke to a strange blend of Lunasa coming from the speakers, and swinging big band music--coming from outside. Think more casual New Orleans big band, rather than rigid marching band, and you'll have a good idea of the sound. And it would've been irritating, except that it was actually quite good. So I opened more of the windows and the deck door to let the music breeze in and through the house.
Timed the walk from my door to the station. It's a little under ten minutes at a very leisurely pace. I left about fifteen minutes sooner than necessary for my 0627 train. I think I'm going to pick up a 12-trip pass for the remainder of the month this afternoon, just to save time.
It's raining now. I hope my leaving the windows open a few inches wasn't a mistake. Guess I'll find out when I get home ...
02 June 2008
Happy June!
We seem to have skipped Spring, as per the usual for Boston weather. Cold, cold, rain, cold--muggy and unbearable! Really, there ought to at least be two or three weeks where I can leave the windows open in the morning and come home to a pleasantly cool room. No such luck.
New-home stuff moves along. I need more boxes.
No, Turbo, I'm not still holding my breath ... but I'm not jumping for joy yet either. Because I'm afraid of jinxing myself.
Finished reading Part II of Anna Karenina. Anna and Alexei's marriage is going down the drain, so that Anna can pursue her relationship with the other Alexei--Vronsky. Kitty isn't depressed about Vronsky anymore, but latching on to a kind of Born-Again-ness inspired by her trip to Germany. Aaaannnnd ... Levin is being a surly farmer.
I know it's epic and fabulous, and I really was drawn in by Tolstoy's description of Vronsky's doomed race horse. But ... well, I'm bored. The only reason I even bothered to tear through Part II was because I knew I'd be reading Funke and Pratchett when I was done. And now I'm reading Inkspell.
Speaking of Pratchett ... I have [ashamedly] been reading Teatime fan-fic. I blame Marc Warren and that neurotic part of me that falls for creepy men who probably smell nice.
Netflix delivered Tron and Turtles Can Fly. Tron was broken, so I've notified Netflix, and am mailing that back today. I still haven't sat down to watch Turtles Can Fly. It's not a movie you can watch while doing something else, because it's a Middle Eastern film with subtitles; and, yes, I could half-heartedly read every other subtitle while doing something else, but that kind of inattention will probably only lead to confusion and much rewinding.
Watched most of Season One of The Sopranos over the weekend on surfthechannel.com. Except that the second part of the season finale wouldn't load, so I'm left hanging. Maybe I can get it to work for me today. Tony's mannerism remind me much of my grandfather (who actually looked more like Paulie, but ...), except that Tony is actually more socially evolved than my grandfather ever was. Fear and distrust of psychiatry is spot-on, except that Tony moves beyond that and has a psychiatrist. My grandfather never got beyond that distrust--which was unfortunate for his kids, because more than a few of them have serious unresolved issues. Also, Junior looks a lot like my Great Uncle Pat.
It's fun to compare pronunciation of Mid-Atlantic Italian with actual Italian. Everything is a little mutated.
03 December 2007
snow, for what ails you
If you don't know about my location history, here's a short rundown. From birth until the summer of 2000, I lived in Pennsylvania. From my Senior year of high school through graduation from Boston University, North Carolina was my official state of residence (though I wouldn't call it home). Now, in my mid-twenties, Boston is home.
It's snowing here today, so maybe it's fitting that today's Holidaily prompt is asking for a snow story. But my snow story is set in my first home, my home of the first seventeen years of my life ...
Back in the 90's, I was a kid; and, during one particularly nasty snow storm, I had a fever.
I was maybe twelve or thirteen at the time and school was canceled for inclement weather. My parents did their usual thing--they knocked on my door when they heard the announcement on the radio, told me to go back to sleep, left for work, and I woke up again a few hours later.
On this day, however, I was sweating bullets. My bed was too warm, my room was too warm, the house was too warm, and every freaking thing I put on was sweaty and gross within ten or fifteen minutes.
And, as I stood in the living room, sweating with fever in a pair of summer shorts and a tank top, I looked out the picture-window at the front lawn. The snow was coming down in giant fat flakes, there were already several inches of the stuff on the ground, and I had a brilliant plan: I would go outside, just as I was, and be comfortable.
And so I did. I put on a pair of my father's sneakers to act as snow-shoes (more weight distributed over a wider surface--I could be a clever kid), a T-shirt for better coverage (because I didn't want my neighbors freaking out too much), and a pair of gloves. And I went out into the snow to make a snow man.
Weirder still, my plan worked (and no sarcasm here at all). Even with the temperature where it was (below freezing), I was perfectly comfortable in shorts and T-shirt for about half an hour. After that point, I started to feel the chill and went back indoors.
And voila! No more fever. I felt better, I wasn't sweating anymore, and my temperature was back to normal.
That, ladies and gentlemen, is the magic of snow.
26 February 2007
holding out for a ...
I didn't get much done yesterday. I woke up late, re-watched episode one of Heroes (since I hadn't seen it since its first air date).
Then I made a press of coffee and a brie toastie.
And continued to watch Heroes ... I really just watched Heroes all day in my jammies until everyone else got back from the joint degree. By then I was at the latter half of the sixth episode.
Then I went out and sat in the living room in an effort to be social--but I really just felt grimy since I was still in my pajamas and everyone else was nicely dressed from being at the degree and the dinner after.
Somehow I decided that I'd go to the meeting at six, which prompted shower-time and the wearing of actual clothes. But after my shower, I was back in my room watching Heroes again until it was time to leave--because that show has me hooked.
And what did I do after we got back from the meeting? Some jump-ring attaching, the progress of which you can see here:
And more Heroes, of course, until I was completely caught up (it only took me until quarter past midnight to be right up to the point where
I love Mohinder. And Peter. And Isaac. And Hiro (but not romantically--just in the "awwww!so-adorable!" sense). And really, even Sylar is creepylove. The show is just full of ridiculously handsome men.
Then, this morning I finished watching The New Kids, which I had started watching on Saturday night after Mel had dropped me off at home. I'd paused it midway because it was giving me anxiety, and anxiety isn't something you need when you're intending to go to bed some point in the near future.
It's a really stupid movie that only affirms my loathing of small towns. And rednecks. And really, the majority of America. Actually there are a fair few movies out there that have helped this loathing grow--Snake Eater and any of its sequels (scarred, scarred for life, I was), Deliverance, and certain episodes of Highlander, The A-Team, and Renegade (actually, every other episode of Renegade).
What these films and shows teach us is this: "homeland" America is not charming. Andy and Opie are lying to you. Country-folk are retarded, inbred, crazy, and dangerous--and we're all better off avoiding them as much as may be.
I mean, I've heard Pennsyltucky, but this was Floribama. Joe-Bob and Chad-Bob (can we get some more [your name here]-Bob?) and Gideon (of course, "Gid"). And why the hell was James Spader playing a messed up hick? And blond? Why the uber-blond? Bleah.
Short summary: 1985 (that's when it was released, so I'm guessing that's the setting as well), boy and girl lose their parents in a car wreck and move in with their aunt and uncle in Bumfuck, Florida and immediately get harassed by a gang of rednecks (led by James Spader). There are fights, acts of vandalism, shootings, the setting of people on fire, electrocutions, and beheadings.
Where are the parents? It would appear that none of these assholes have parents.
And, in the end, after a super-massacre of the rednecks at the uncle's Santa's Funfair (or whatever the hell that place was called) there's only this little kid left over, and the parting shot is the boy staring creepily after "happy-ending" boy and girl driving off into town. What the hell was that supposed to be? Sequel warning? Like this slop would get a sequel?
What drove me to watch it in the first place? James Spader. And, yes, he's creepy and doesn't disappoint as a crazy villain.
I also received Dare mo shiranai (Nobody Knows) on Saturday, but between Heroes and the freaky hillbilly movie, I never got to it. I'll watch it this evening.
Oh, yeah. It's snowing.
And there was a car accident as I stepped off the T at Babcock. I didn't see it happen, but I heard the resounding *crunch* of the giant white truck smacking the little black sport car sideways. And then watched in amusement as moronic pedestrians still decided to dodge out into traffic during a green light, in spite of the obvious (as demonstrated by said car accident) slick on the road.
Massholes. But I'm not surprised.
15 February 2007
I pick things up; I am a collector. And things, well, things--they tend to accumulate.
I should've left earlier than I did yesterday--my own sentiment and Sharon (who generally comes in at the same time I do, and left an hour and a half earlier yesterday afternoon) agrees. Maybe if I had, getting home wouldn't have been such an ordeal.
By 3 o'clock, the trains weren't running between Kenmore and Washington due to electricity problems.
Instead, there were green line shuttle buses carrying sardine-can-squashed passengers from stop to stop in between. I splashed across Comm. Ave. at the last minute--through a foot of sludge--in order to get on one of these shuttles; and, in spite of there being other people behind me who would've liked to get on the bus too, the driver shut the doors and drove away without them.
And when he let us off at Washington to wait for the T to Boston College, the driver parked the bus in front of another slush puddle. Yay.
By the time I got home, my shoes and socks were soaked through and the cuffs of my khakis were filthy and wet. My extremities were basically frozen.
I changed into pajamas right away when I got in the door and spent the rest of the afternoon and into evening thawing.
No. I didn't vacuum.
But I did help Michelle take apart the lego couch and then put it out on the curb for trash-pickers or garbage-men to take away. And then we moved the futon from her room to the living room. So that was something productive for the evening.
--in addition to chibi-Strife's pants.
I didn't work on them during lunch yesterday--I just kept getting distracted by looking out my window at the snow and sleet coming down. So I had to finish sewing the front panels; cut out, pin, and sew the back panels; and then sew the front and back together. actually, I left the upper seams opem to make it easier to fit the waist. I have it safety-pinned on both sides right now, and I basically know what I'm going to do with it.
Getting him into those pants wasn't as difficult as I'd thought it might be. But I didn't over-stuff his legs, so they're pretty squeezable and will fit just about anywhere with careful handling.
I was split between starting his boots or his gloves today, but I think I'm going to go with gloves. After the 12-piece pants, I'm just not ready to deal with the boot/shin-guard-process yet. But then, those gloves are supposed to be kind of patchy too. Maybe I'll just hem the shirt and pant cuffs today.
Blah. I'll decide what I'm doing by lunchtime.
16 January 2007
snow!?
I was just checking on weather.com, and read this:
I know it seems like nothing if you don't live in the Boston area, but we've not had proper snow since ... November? December? And even then it wasn't anything that actually stuck to horizontal surfaces.
It's been a sad, sad winter season for Boston.
05 January 2007
deterred, in a few ways
--by weather.com.
I had all my credit card info entered into American Airlines' web-site. And then the thought occurred to me: It's January, and I'm thinking of going to London.
So I visited weather.com to check on the forecast. Rain. And rain. And--here's something new!--more rain.
I'd like to walk around and take pictures when I visit the city. That's likely to be impossible if it's raining all the time. And I should've expected that kind of weather initially, but I just wasn't thinking about it before. I'd feel better if there was a forecast of clear skies (or if I'd made these plans a month ago, and there just happened to be inclement weather, and I couldn't do anything about it), but that just isn't the case. I haven't paid for the tickets yet, and I don't have to go when the weather is shit.
It might be a rotten reason not to go, but no. I'll wait until the weather is improved, and I've a better chance of actually enjoying myself while there--not shut up indoors the whole time.
Or should I just buy a poncho and go with it? ...
Even regardless of getting around London without getting drenched, weather could prove a problem with flying (there and back). I'd rather not get stuck somewhere and end up trying to explain to my boss by long-distance phone or confusing e-mail why I can't come to work on Tuesday, thanks.
FedEx has the most obnoxious office location they could possibly have relative to where I live.
They tried to drop off my iPod AV kit yesterday at around 9:45 AM according to their tracking web site. But because I wasn't there to sign, they wouldn't leave it (just as well since the thing was expensive, and I'd prefer not to lose it or have it stolen). Instead, they left a door-hanger asking for me to sign for it indirectly or come and get it--at their hub in South Boston. My other option was that they would attempt to deliver it again today (with no clue as to when that is going to happen either).
Hi. I work, like normal people who have a rent to pay are wont to do. Don't try to deliver a package to me in the middle of the morning on a work day, and don't expect me to be home. Also, why can't FedEx have more delivery-holding offices around this city? It's not like they don't have the business to support it. Or why can't their main hub be in some central place--maybe near the Government Center? And, I know, South Boston has more warehouse space. Blah, blah, blah. I don't care. They could afford to have local offices (as the USPS does) if they wanted.
But, this rant aside, my flat-mate offered to drive me over there after work if they fail to show up at a more reasonable hour today.
So hopefully I'll have this thing by tonight; and hopefully it'll work with my television too.
04 December 2006
sounds of Yule
Yesterday's prompt regarded a preference between snow or sun; but, as is my way, I flaked and forgot to address it at all. I was reflecting on that choice this morning, making my way carefully from my doorstep to the T stop through the would-be snow. I say would-be, because it was not quite frozen, more like sleet really.
Given the choice between snow and sleet, I'll take snow by the feet. But sun or snow? I see no reason why one shouldn't have both, snow on the ground and sun in the sky. Really, it's best if the snow comes during the night or early in the morning and allows the sun to have its time throughout the day. That would be my preference for holiday weather.
I'm also still callous enough to think that ice storms are pretty--callous because I know what kind of damage ice will do to powerlines, tree branches, and life as we know it, and yet I still like it. One of my favorite memories of winter in Pennsylvania included ice storms--snow trapped beneath a thick sheet of ice and dozens or hundreds of leafless trees encrusted in glistening ice, glimmering in the sunshine. It's something truly spectacular to see; and while I know it was killing life and breaking weaker branches, I can't help but remember that vision fondly.
--------------------
On the subject of holiday music, if I'm hearing it before December (or, at least before Thanksgiving has come to a close) it might make my ears bleed. But as December wears on, and as the weather becomes more appropriate--like today's wintry mix, for example--I look forward to the classics. And some not-so-classic classics as well.
As a child of the 80s, I was brought up on television- and pop-culture-based holiday records. Sesame Street. Muppets. Star Wars. Cabbage Patch Kids. Rainbow Brite. They all had holiday records and my parents were indulgent. What does Rainbow Brite have to do with Christmas? Nothing. It had a Christmas record for the same reason the others did: because that decade was a time of shameless consumerism. We have action figures, dolls, movies, television series, clothing, bed linens, breakfast cereals--what else can we feed these little imbeciles to make us rich? The answer is holiday albums, of course.
So I will probably listen to those, as I have for the past two decades-plus of my life, along with some Rankin & Bass and Peanuts downloads. I also have the Frank Sinatra, Bing Crosby, Nat King Cole, and Elvis mainstays. Choir music, of course. The Trans-Siberian Orchestra. Peter Ilyich Tchaikovsky.
Then, there are there are the stranger choices on my iPod--Bad Religion's rendition of "Silent Night." The Vandals' "Oi To The World." And South Park's "Merry Fucking Christmas" and Cartman singing "O Holy Night" while getting poked by a cattle prod.
Don't get me wrong. If I had to listen to this music any other time of the year, I would probably stab somebody.
But 'tis the season.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
