315/365 Survivors

315/365 Survivors
Originally uploaded by tallasiandude.

Last strip clubs remaining of Boston's old Combat Zone nestled between renovated areas and construction.

250/365 Sunset at Logan

250/365 Sunset at Logan
Originally uploaded by tallasiandude.

185/365 Not Proud -- GRATEFUL

185/365 Not Proud -- GRATEFUL
Originally uploaded by tallasiandude.

We watched the fireworks with the crowds from the middle of the Mass Ave bridge. It's been a few years since I've come into the city to see the show, but I have to say, it seemed like it was one of the best fireworks shows I've seen yet. (always interesting to see how they improve the technology year over year.)

So, regarding the title of this post, I kind of have a THING about the "Proud to be a ..." stuff.

I'm not a religious person, but, y'know -- one of the seven deadly... And in my mind, the list of sins does have value in a secular context: avoid these things and you're probably improving the odds of being a good person. And when I think about being a citizen of this country, I'm not so much proud, but really, really grateful that I had the good fortune to be born and raised here. The fundamental principles of its founding, the standard of living, the opportunity, the diversity. Nothing is perfect, but it sure is a lot better than some other places in this day and age.

Anyway, I'm not really one to get all patriotic or anything, so I'll just leave it with: Happy Fourth, UnitedStatesians!

180/365 With a Twist

180/365 With a Twist
Originally uploaded by tallasiandude.

We made last-minute dinner plans with friends at Icarus in the South End -- a Prix Fixe dinner menu before they close their doors for good.

The bartender at Icarus apparently likes to make his Manhattans with bitters (he said as much), which walks the line of actually being an old fashioned. But s'cool.

And yes, dinner was excellent.

165/365 Chinatown Stop

165/365 Chinatown Stop
Originally uploaded by tallasiandude.

A quick stop for some takeout at Vinh Sun on our way home from the airport after our trip to ABW. This is the building that's kitty-corner to the restaurant. The main store front is a market, but I usually never notice the units upstairs.

We had called ahead, but there was some confusion about which order we had come to pick up. When they asked the SOOTTAD if she was there for the fried rice, they apparently pegged the nerdy white girl for the chicken fried rice order that came after us, and not the fried rice with dried scallop and egg whites, dou miao and congee with pork and preserved egg. Oh well.

75/365 State House at night

75/365 State House at night
Originally uploaded by tallasiandude.

Passed by the State House on the way to a very late dinner at No. 9 Park. We had friends who got a last minute reservation for restaurant week at 10:15PM and another couple had backed out.

NOM. But we are oh, so going to pay for it tomorrow morning.

74/365 Northern Ave Bridge

74/365 Northern Ave Bridge
Originally uploaded by tallasiandude.

Another beautiful weekend day, and probably in the high 50s.

Kind of exhausted -- up early for two clients this morning, bal practice in Southie, and a lot of walking because we took the commuter rail into town and walked to and from the stations at both ends. And that after maybe 4 hours of broken sleep because of an attack of heartburn late last night.

The heartburn thing did not manifest in its usual way, but given the rather heavy and spicy (but delicious) Sichuan dinner we had, followed by what may have been a slightly sketchy pie (even though it was from whole foods), I'm not going to give my body a hard time for exacting punitive measures. The one constant* is the recovery, which always seems to kick in almost instantaneously sometime around the 5 or 6 o'clock hour.

Perhaps it's just a distorted time perception due to the fatigue, but it really feels like the body does a magical hard reset and suddenly systems are back to normal and I can finally get some sleep. (Except for the part when you have to get up less than 2 hours later.) The SOOTTAD has been reading The Mood Cure and thinks it may have something to do with a circadian rhythm of seratonin production. I'll have to check out the book when she's done with it.

* Excluding effective mitigation procedures (exercise, which can't be effectively utilized at 2 in the morning)

Ingredients...

...for a good time. (for starters)

Wedding Present from the MBTA

We thought it was bad enough when we discovered that the MBTA had closed the Arlington Station Entrance and exits for renovations through 2008. It happens to be the station closest to our wedding venue. Thankfully people can still use the Berkeley entrances, but it's a slightly longer walk, and doesn't open up right at the public garden. But at least people will still be able to use the station.

Today, JBar forwarded this gem published on the Globe's local news site:

Summer repairs on Green Line will halt D branch trains
"The shutdown will commence on June 23, 2007*."

Great, thanks guys.

At least there are supposed to be bus shuttles and extra express buses. And the notice says something about "distributing materials and making other preparations for the major production work activity." Hopefully that means the lines will still actually be running. But who knows?

We'll cross our fingers and hope that peeps will still be able to take public transportation and get to the ceremony on time.

UPDATE: just called the MBTA and it's confirmed -- they're shutting down the D line from Riverside to Reservoir starting on the 23rd. Yeah, thanks Boston, we love you, too.

* For those that didn't pick up on it, that's the day we're getting married.

Holy Maps, Batman!

Looks like GoogleMaps has been updating their databases and rendering engines. You can actually see buildings at the higher zoom levels of Boston, including the parking exit structures on Boston Common. Crazy cool.