This is the first installment of the day when both my 23rd birthday and Thanksgiving coincide. There are a couple problems with the camera work, lighting, script (there is none) and such, but hopefully you will enjoy it, or at least be able to take part in my day, even though you aren’t here.

In the story writing process, I find creating lead-ins to be simplest, while crafting an actual story around it to be a difficult task. This morning I came up with the following, but was disappointed to find that the AP had done me one better:

bq. Jerrod Rines is a pickup owning, Mexican stomping, full-blooded American–one-quarter Irish, one-quarter Italian, three-eighths German, and Lithuanian the rest. Long ago he made a point to avoid reading anything except street signs and engine maintenance manuals. Because of all of this, Jerrod Rines faced this morning’s mail with great trepidation: a square and solitary alabaster envelope bearing, in black flowing print, the return address of “Mr J Singh and Ms. T James.”

bq. Jerrod Rines’ only daughter is getting married.

The following is what I read in the Metro, Boston’s premier rag (the Herald isn’t even fit for wiping). Written by an Associated Press writer, Ken Maguire, in one sentence it evokes in me many of the same feelings my writing above seeks to create.

bq. _*Five students with state ties to be Rhodes Scholars*_

*Boston* Amherst native Nicholas Juravich learned about the societal inequities he hopes to study as a Rhodes Scholar during his regular runs through Chicago’s neighborhoods.

For the record, I do not question Mr. Jurovich’s dedication to his cause, merely the way in way in which it is presented.

This morning, coming home from my gym I went down into the Chinatown T-stop ( here). For the past few months, the escalator has been out of service and over that period become increasingly dismantled. In my investigation of this I would find I had become (booming voice) a defender of democracy-ocracy-cracy.

I find most mechanical things neato, especially when large, dirty and taken apart. Due to this, I happily pulled out my camera and began taking a few pictures of the escalator husk because, hey, why not. Little did I know that I could be abetting… a terrorist.

Fortunately for myself and my nation, the T attendant came out of her box and asked, “Are you supposed to be doing that?”

Feeling a bit like Galileo, I hesitatingly replied, “Umm, no.”

“You can’t be taking pictures of that. There are terrorists and we need to protect the station. You will have to delete those pictures”

Rather than point out that terrorists could still just as easily take the elevator if they were unable or unwilling to take the stairs, I dutifully complied-they were dark and blurry anyway-thus cementing my place as a defender of democracy-ocracy-cracy.

Looking back on those times, I feel fortunate that I was dressed as my alter ego, average white guy, or else the my experience could have been, in the name of freedom, drastically different.

Despite my lack of new T photos, as a protector of all things American, I feel it’s my civic duty to post a picture from the archive. She’s proud; and what woman wouldn’t be to date a defender of democracy-ocracy-cracy.

I was down in Back Bay today and snapped this picture of the subway map.

These new maps were put up just a few months ago and as you can see, quite a number of people have placed their finger on the map and said “We’re here…”

Jessica sings in the Coolidge Corner Community Chorus, a non-denominational choir. They were out for First Light, a seasonal celebration where, as far as I can tell, musicians all over Coolidge Corner display their musical wares.

I work in Lowell, MA, an old mill city criss-crossed with canals. In New England, the Fall leaves are at first beautiful on the trees, then gross as they litter the sidewalks, roads, and as I found out, waterways as well. When I first saw this canal I thought there had been a chemical spill. Upon closer inspection, I saw that it was just Autumn leaves.

Length: 41 seconds Music: Josh Cook – Fishin’ Blues [Internet Archive]

This is a short video that I shot of my neighbor’s pool. Using my little Casio digicam and a camera mount consisting of a box of Trader Joe’s Green Tea, I taped some of the gusty winds we were getting today as they moved leaves around in the pool.

The original tape was 27 minutes that I then cut frames from (by about a factor of 50) to give a time lapse effect. If you watch the bottom right of the screen you can see the shadows shift as the sun moves overhead. I am not sure, but there is a quick round white reflection that moves across the pool that I think may be the moon.

Enjoy.