Happy Birthday Chuck

For more fun stuff see: https://picasaweb.google.com/113500384056871252807/ClipartAnimals

Damp Lunch

Steve, Sue, and I went to the Cellar for lunch.  Steve got me lunch as payment for my sewing up his kitchen curtains.  He also gave me some  Thymes mandarin coriander soap and hand lotion.  They smell wonderful!  It rained heavily as we walked back to work.  Sue's shoes got soaked.

Seven for Drinks Only

Last night seven of us went out to toast JB's 58th birthday.
First we went to First Printer.  Since we didn't want dinner, they said we could only sit at the bar.  We wanted a table, so we could all face each other.
Next we went to the Russell House Tavern.  Since we didn't want dinner, they said we could only sit at the bar.  We wanted a table, so we could all face each other.
Diane suggested that this was a "dry crawl" rather than a "pub crawl."
We didn't have all night: JB had said he needed to go home at 6 and clean the house and get groceries.
Steve suggested OM, which most of us had never been to.  At last we had a place to sit down.  We got an alcove of comfy benches and coffee tables hidden behind a bead curtain, just like in the movies!  We had 2 bottles of wine, and JB had a martini.  The vegetable dumplings we got were not enough to prevent inebriation.  We convinced JB that he didn't have to go home at 6.

Afterwards Julie and I went to Sue's house to wait for Dave and drink water.  Then when Dave came, he asked us how we spelled "dilemma."  I've always spelled it DILEMMA, but everybody else remembers spelling it DILEMNA.  Interesting.

SOS Sunday

Today Rosemary and I decided to check out Somerville Open Studios.  We took the T to Davis Square* for starters.

Consuelo Perez makes art out of recycled stuff.  Since these 2 pieces were outside, I thought it would be OK to photograph them.

The Museum of Modern Renaissance was easy to spot.

The Davis Square neighborhood is full of huge old houses with character.

 This is an especially nice bird house along the bike path.

It says "BRYANT CHAMBERS" in stone.  You'll just have to trust me.

*When I moved up east, I was surprised to find out that a "Square"  was an intersection and an undefined area around it.  I expected a Square to be square, like a Plaza.

A General Update

 Now that it is warm again, everything is blooming like crazy.  We've had such wild temperature swings: I hope these hopeful buds don't get zapped by another drop.

 JB brought in a bunch of treats, including gluten-free and gluten-rich muffins.  This is just what we need to get us over that Wednesday hump!

 A robin built a nest in the Pusey pit tree.  The best views are from Map Collection offices.  The mapsters will be making videos when the chicks hatch.

 JB also added to his rotted fruit sculpture, which he now claims is a totem pole.  Anthropologists of the future will be puzzled!

Reading Has Sex Appeal

Some class is having students do papers on Harvard University as a brand.  This reminded me of my small collection of old advertisements for the Harvard Classics.  This first one was one of the earliest, and I stupidly did not take down the source.  Since then, I've used all the indexes that include ad text, but I still can't track it down.  I was able to find a better copy in a book*, but the book gave no source information.  I love this ad, because it touts the Classics as a marital aid.

(For a larger image go here.)

I have other, less racy examples too.

 Life, September 28, 1922 page 27
(For a larger image go here.)

Life, Novemeber 23, 1922 page 27
(For a larger image go here.)

*Those were the good old days: a happy look at American advertising, 1880-1930, by Edgar R. Jones, Simon & Schuster: New York, 1959, page 310.

Easter Parade

This Easter Sunday, Rosemary and I wanted to get an eyeful of Easter finery, so we headed out to the Anime Boston convention. (Although I don't follow anime, I respect most costume-based activities.)

We encountered these three ladies from Quebec on the Green Line.

 

People  were happy to pose for us.

Some shots were more casual.

Check out all my photos at my Picasa Web Album.