Alcatraz

A year in review.

2012-01-30T20:12:00.001-05:00

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.

2011-07-27T15:39:00.004-04:00

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

2011-06-30T21:03:00.008-04:00

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.

2011-05-10T12:09:00.001-04:00

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.

2011-04-12T17:22:00.011-04:00

Do blondes really have more fun?

2010-05-11T17:53:00.022-04:00

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...

2010-05-11T17:14:00.013-04:00

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.

You have a blog?

2010-04-27T23:37:00.013-04:00

A while back my wife and I were discussing the existence of my blog (or rather its non existence)...

Me: Look, I'm a fair weather blogger, okay?
KA: No, you're not a blogger at all.

It's true. I've abandoned my blog out of shear laziness. Actually, I hate writing so I'm not sure why I thought I'd be able to (or even want to) maintain a blog! Though lately I've been thinking that this might be a good outlet for me to discuss certain things that others might be tired of hearing me talk about. Okay, I'll be honest. By things I mean bikes and by others I mean KA (and possibly the majority of my facebook friends).

Speaking of bikes, have you met ~~Jude~~ Richmond and Lucy?

~~Jude~~ Richmond is a 2008 Bianchi Axis cyclocross bike. Why do I have a cross bike if I don't race cross? Well soon I hope to "race" cross but in the meantime it makes a fantastic commuter bike. I'm hoping to knock off those knobby tires for the summer and put on some faster ones.

Lucy is my baby. She's a Nishiki Marina 12 speed that was manufactured in April of 1982. She came to me through my wife who was about to sell her when I asked politely (whined) if I could keep her. She's now my main squeeze and I'm hoping to convert her to a single speed/fixed gear soon... which will probably be the topic of my next blog entry.

Hopefully I will have other things to talk about besides bikes but I can't make any promises.

Anyone can play guitar (but I just want to play my xbox)

2008-09-29T12:30:00.006-04:00

Sept 2nd, 2008, some time after 9:30pm: I turned on my xbox only to have my eyes burnt by the three flashing red lights.

Sept 2nd, 2008, 10 minutes later: After many google attemps to try and recover my dead xbox I called overstock.com to figure out what to to next. I purchased their Two-Year Platinum Protection Plan so I figured that all I'd have to do is send it into them and have it taken care of. I was told that I would have to send it to Microsoft because the RROD is a Microsoft recall and they are responsible for the repairs. Oh yay, looking forward to calling Microsoft.

Sept 2nd, 2008, another 10 minutes later: Hung up with a Microsoft "agent" who told me they'd get right on it and would be sending me an email along with a box.

Sept 3rd, 2008: Feeling uneasy about the prior call I decided to call Microsoft back just to make sure the idiot I spoke to the prior night had my info right ( Since I had to repeat myself several times as well and tell her she forgot important information like asking me for my zip code and such). Good thing I called the man said because "your service request was never processed". About 1 hour later I got an email with a shipping label. Confused as when I started (because am I NOT getting a box?) I started with my rabid googling and found out that MS doesn't send boxes anymore! YAY?

Sept 3rd, 2008, probably a couple hours later: Josephine from Microsoft informs me that no, they don't send boxes anymore. I then inform Josephine that she is going to send me a box. She agrees. I then ask her if I'm supposed to take off my hard drive because NO ONE had given me any directions. She apologizes and then tells me I should've been informed of the process but I, of course, wasn't so good job Agent #1 and #2. Not only did you want me to find a box and package it myself but you didn't even give me proper instructions on doing so. Another, F YOU, Microsoft.

Sept 5th, 2008: MS ships the box

Sept 9th, 2008: Box comes with instructions and I package up my xbox. Sans hard drive, of course.

Sept 11th, 2008: KA ships out my xbox

Sept 17th, 2008: My xbox arrives in Mesquite, TX where I'm assuming it's being fixed up! YAY! (A little side note: the delivery was delayed because of Hurricane Ike!)

Sept 22th, 2008: My xbox leaves Mesquite, TX!

Sept 27th, 2008: My xbox comes home! As soon as I get home from work I take him out of his box and get ready to plug him in! Before all this I pull out a piece of paper sitting in the bottom of the box. It reads, at the top, "Not worked on", or something to that effect. I stare a little bit longer in disbelief. I might've stopped breathing, I'm not sure. Long story short, they didn't fix it because it's a refurbished xbox and they DON'T FIX REFURBISHED MACHINES.

So why didn't overstock know this? WHY? All the sell is refurbished xboxes! And you can't tell me mind is the first to experience the RROD. Bullshit.

Sept 27th, 2008: I call overstock and ask them WTF? The lady apologizes and says she has to look into it. A few minutes later she comes back on the line to tell me that yes, it's written "here" that Microsoft won't fix refurbs. She then apologizes again and says, we didn't know. HOW could you NOT know? Again, you only sell refurbs! So now they are sending me a box to begin the process again and I'll probably have to wait another month.

And it burns, burns, burns, that ring of fire...

2008-09-04T14:15:00.004-04:00

Oh wait, I mean, red ring of death or as microsoft calls it, the three flashing red lights. I personally prefer the red ring of death.

Tuesday night I retured home at 9:30pm after a particularly stressful day and just wanted to play a little Tony Hawk. Is that too much to ask? Apparently so.

Step one: Freak out.
OMG no fucking way can I live without my XBOX! Even though I have a Mac Book, an old school super ninetendo and a PS2.

Step two: Google "Three flashing red lights" and "Ring of Death" in a last attempt to figure out how to fix this.
Aside from the suggestion of overheating your xbox by wrapping it in towels and letting it run for 20 minutes I figured out it was doomed and decided to call about the extended warranty I have on the system.

Apparently the RROD is under manufactures recall and trumps the protection plan I bought when I got my xbox and now I have to call Microsoft! YAY! I got the RROD on Tuesday night and have spoken to three different "agents" from Microsoft on three subsequent days (I called on the 2nd day following the 1st call because the woman I spoke to was a moron. Good thing I did because apparently she never put in the work request). After all that, I'm finally getting a box mailed to me so that I can send my little one away for repairs. I hear it can take up to 3 weeks... Sadness.

Oh and after reading online it's apparently MS policy now not to send a box but only email a shipping label. This is why I called the third time. Hell no I am not finding a box and packing this up myself. They are now sending me a box. Thank you, Josephine (I'm pretty sure that's not her real name).

America has no room for Atheists!

2008-04-24T13:28:00.006-04:00

I have to hand in this powerpoint in less then two hours(imagine that, work at work) so I have to be brief.

Anyway...

One of the many reasons I love Kelly Alice so much is because she feeds my Atheism. She sent this clipping my way this morning. This little "Letter to the Editor" is hysterical. Oh Alice Shannon from Soldotna you're so... American. I bet you're sitting in your rocking chair, in your little house in the middle of no where, Alaska, knitting another jesus sweater for your cat and just being the godly person you are. Practicing evil? The only evil I'm exposed to are the splicers from BIOSHOCK...

The good thing about America is that I can choose to believe or not to believe whatever the fuck I want so if you don't like it why don't you get the fuck out, bitch.

Did you get Jesus' new CD yet? It ROCKS!

2008-03-05T16:42:00.001-05:00

The lovely Kelly Alice sent me this AMAZING picture a couple of days ago of a fellow T rider and I kept meaning to post it here because of its shear blogability...

If you can't read what's written on the head scarf it says I <3>

Why do people feel the need to profess their love for Jesus? It's almost like Jesus is an awesome rock band and people feel the need to tell everyone else that they listen to Jesus and that makes them cool. I guess it's no different then wearing a Winger t-shirt. Actually now that I have actually given this some thought wearing a Winger shirt is actually worse then wearing a Jesus shirt.

Ha, Winger. Ha.

Movin' on up, movin' on up..

2008-02-28T09:20:00.001-05:00

For over two years I sat here. Yes, I'm serious.

Now I sit here and life is just a little bit better.

Don't drink the water, there's blood in the water

2008-02-20T19:24:00.000-05:00

This entry has a point, believe it or not but let me begin with an irrelevant rant.

I'm currently in my Immunology class, waiting for lecture to start. From the start of the first class I located a lone seat all the way in the far far back of the class and decided at that moment that that's my seat. I normally rush from my graduate literature section to class to set claim to this seat since I know its appealing qualities are enough to make the nerdiest nerdlinger to the slackiest xbox playing slacker drop to their knees. Okay, most likely the latter but I digress. You have to understand though, this seat is amazing. It's all alone. No one to the left of you, no one to the right. Plenty of room to kick back and relax. So today after lit seminar I head towards class when I get distracted by my nicotine addicted pal Chris who asks me if I want to chat outside while he has a smoke. Now I'm think, "no you idiot! i have to stake a flag in my seat!" but my manners got the best of me and we head outside to discuss things that have to do with class which I won't bore you with at the moment. Upon return to class I spotted something that made my blood pressure rise and my blood boil. There is was like the brightest star gleaming in the darkest sky. It was a red coat drapped over MY chair. MINE! For a hot second I debated charging the chair and throwing the coat to the floor and declaring war over invasion of my land but then I remembered this is Immunology class, not Israel, and I'm sure I can deal. So now I'm sitting in front of "red coat" and am seathing at every word she speaks. Her and her stupid foreign accent. She's not even American! Fucking immigrants coming in and taking what's mine!

Anyway like I said, this entry had a point but class is about to start so it'll have to wait...

Away, away, you have been banished.
Your land is gone, and given to me.
And here I will spread my wings.
Yes, I will call this home.
Whats this you say, you feel a right to remain?
Then stay and I will bury you.