A year in review.

On February 1st, 2011 my life would be forever changed. It was around midnight and I was half asleep on the couch. My brother was calling to tell me Mom fell, that he had to go over to help my Dad pick her up and put her on the couch. She had a black eye and a bloody nose. Not really understanding what was going on or comprehending the gravity of the situation I asked for him to put her on the phone. I talked to her, tried to convince her to go to the hospital but she was adamant that she was fine, that she fell because she was wearing her fluevogs and tripped. We both giggled because she loved those shoes; she bought them the last time she was in Boston and the plan was for her to come back so she could buy another pair. She convinced me she was okay so I told her I loved her and hung up the phone. A few hours later she'd be rushed to the hospital and a few hours after that she'd leave this earth. I wouldn't make it home in time to say goodbye. That will always be my biggest regret.

How was I to know that was the last time I'd hear her voice. It's amazing how your life can change in an instant.

The 1st few months of my Mom's death felt surreal; as if I was stuck in a nightmare and I just kept waiting to wake up. It felt unfair. I started to resent my friends that still had a Mom and I was angry most days. I felt cheated. She was only 65, I was supposed to have more time. Of course with time (and therapy) I started to accept the inevitable. She was gone, forever. I can now realize how lucky I was to have had her for 33 years of my life because some people don't even have that. On Wednesday I will do my best not to mourn the loss of her but instead I will celebrate her life. I will toast to all the memories I have of her and I will do my best to remember her smile and her laugh. She really did have the best laugh.

We are all going to die some day. It's a very harsh reality that I think you don't realize until you lose someone so abruptly; so cherish your life and don't take it for granted. Don't let money/societal pressures dictate it for you because you only have one. And please cherish the people close to you because really, you never know.

[Yes, everyone once and a while I still get really angry. I think the hardest thing I had to learn since going through all this is acceptance because it's easy to get angry but it doesn't help the pain of not having her here.]

Oh my sparrow it's too late
Your body limp beneath my feet
Your dusty eyes cold as clay
You didn't hear my warning

Facebook interaction gone wrong.

What started out as conversation about football turned into the garbage you see above.

M and E are two facebook friends who support opposing football teams. I should note that I am fb friends with E but not M. I do not know M at all. During the conversation (which did not include) M refered to E's team as "a bunch of girls" or "homos". This goes on for several comments and at this point I decide to crash the party (see 1st comment). I cut out E's comment because this doesn't really involve them but let's just say E is agreeing with me and M's following comment doesn't yet address me, per say, but it's more directed towards E... until I interject again.

My point in all of this was to try to educate this person that being a homo or a girl should not be an insult. As you can see, I failed. I'm proud of myself for staying calm and not resorting to name calling as opposed to M, who feels the need to refer to me as and idiot or an asshole several times.

My question is, should I not have gotten involved? I admit, this conversation did not involve me and maybe I had high hopes of trying to educate someone who has influence over the life of a small one to understand that what they are saying is indeed homophobic and also a little misogynistic.

Am I being way to sensitive? Probably, but I'm tired of this type of trash talking. It's trite. Come up with something new. Or better yet? Let the players do their job and support your team. End of story.

Firefly Bicycles

They are doing some AMAZING things over there at Firefly.

Stainless steel XCr bike built with internally integrated wiring for Shimano’s top of the line gruppo, Dura-Ace Di2. It uses a battery to power the front and rear derailleurs. If that wasn't enough they hid the battery system within the frame. What.



Check it out here

Maybe Sparrow.

Oh my sparrow it's too late
Your body limp beneath my feet
Your dusty eyes cold as clay
You didn't hear my warning

Rest in peace, Mom.

Do blondes really have more fun?

I guess I'll find out soon...





















Many thanks to Andrea at Biyoshi salon for turning my black hair blond (it took serveral hours). Also I should thank KA (and La, in a way) for putting Manic Panic's toner in my hair to help get rid of some of the yellow. It looks rad now!

Rani does not agree.

Chose your bike route carefully...

When I took this job at BU I knew I was going to shave off ~4 miles round trip from my commute and in addition it would be less hilly; but I wasn't excited. Sure, my commute was going to be shorter but it was also going to go through a less savory neighborhood on a bike path. Either that or I could bike on Huntington which is also the route of the 66 and the 39 buses, along with the E line. Hurrah!

So I usually chose the bike path, sometimes taking Huntington if it's really dark as the SWC is not well lite. As an aside, I did report the lack of lighting to the Mayors office which they replied, "Sorry, the SWC is not under the jurisdiction of the city. We'll report your complaint to the State". Yeah, that issue never got solved.

I hate bike paths. Especially bikes paths like the Southwest Corridor. Why? Because even though it generally has two designated paths, one for bikers and one for pedestrians, the pedestrians rarely ever pay attention to this distinction between the two. In addition to the pedestrians I have to worry about intersections along the bike path at which cars are known to run reds, take turns without looking for bikes (or pedestrians) even when we have the "walk" symbol, or just block the intersection forcing me onto Columbus so I can cross. Awesome.

Lately those two routes just got even more depressing as both contain memorials. On huntington a ghost bike stands as a memorial for Eric Hunt. A young cyclist who was killed in April when he was hit by a MBTA bus.



The second memorial is on the SWC, near the Jackson Square T stop. It marks the site of the death of a 14 year old boy who was shot repeatedly the Saturday before mother's day.



I wish there was more respect for the lives of others. I also wish I didn't have to bike past these sorts of things on a regular basis. It's just fucking sad.

I also wish Boston has the cycling infrastructure of the Netherlands... it's all wishful thinking.