Saturday was pretty much the nicest day of the year so far, and Aimee and I enjoyed it by visiting some local destinations we’d never been to, for whatever reason. We started off (after a Super Size Me-inspired healthy breakfast at 1369) with a drive on 2A to Lexington, where we visited the Battle Green, […]

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Inspired by the recent fashion spread he did in this month’s Boston Magazine, we paid a visit to Little Joe Cook and the Thrillers at the The Cantab. I hadn’t been there in a few years, and hadn’t seen Little Joe, now 82 years old, since he’d had a stroke and had to cut back […]

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I completed a trifecta of renewals this week: a new passport, a new driver’s license at the CambridgeSide Galleria Mall RMV, and a new title for my car. The passport had traveled with me to Reykjavik, London, St. Petersburg, Ljubljana, Dubrovnik, and Prague, among other places, but it was finally time to say goodbye to […]

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Aimee and I enjoyed an early evening event with Andrei Codrescu, reading a passage from his new novel Wakefield, at the Coolidge Corner Theatre, put on by Brookline Booksmith. The man himself was witty, dry, and charming, and the book sounds entertaining and exceedingly well-written. The real impression left from the evening, however, was another […]

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Today I came across two interesting maps that describe cultural differences around the country. Enjoy. A color-coded map that notes the endings of words used to describe people from each state, such as “Mainers,” “Texans,” and “New Jerseyites.” A color-coded map that notes the way people across the country refer to soft drinks in a […]

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Sometimes people just get it. And retroCRUSH got it exactly right with this one. It’s the only song of his I can stand, much less turn up in the car and drive around in a parking lot if the moment hasn’t come yet. If in only still had a radio in my car.

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More people than I’ve ever seen at work showed up for a screening of Control Room tonight, which was heartening, but overkill. We seat about 200, and at the moment we announced we were sold out, the line of people still waiting to get in was all the way around the main floor perimeter, out […]

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In what ended up being a fruitless search for reviews in English of the Pixies show I went to in Iceland, I came across this blog that had something to say, and also happened to link to what seemed to be a David Hasselhoff video, which I naturally watched, since I couldn’t do much with […]

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You may recognize the banner image on the homepage of Háskóli Íslands, aka the University of Iceland, the next time you find yourself visting their page. I took the photo, as well as the image on their main English homepage, last week, and Ásdís passed on a request for some of my images from their […]

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Fifteen years ago this month, I flew from Anchorage to Philadelphia, my first solo trip, I’m pretty sure, and was met by a college student in the airport with a sign that said CTY. I ended up spending three summers in Carlisle, PA, as a student, and two more in college as an RA, making […]

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I visited my friend Jay at work today, cleaned house, and solved a mystery, all in one fell swoop. He works for The (Cambridge Dept. of Public) Works, at their Recycling Center, a mere three blocks from my house. I’d never seen it before, and I’ve got to say, it has pretty poor visibility. But […]

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After the Pixies concert on Wednesday night, to which we arrived, I must say, uncharacteristically late and about which I showed remarkable restraint considering I’d flown across the Atlantic expressly for that moment, Ásdís made some about the fact that I wouldn’t have to worry any more the rest of the trip, that I’d done […]

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A full Iceland update will follow, but first, something that happened this morning. David Sedaris‘ new book was released today, and the Brookline Booksmith, in order to sell books and promote Sedaris’ June 15th reading and book signing at their store, gave away free tickets to the appearance with the purchase of a book, one […]

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