Today was an important day.

I woke up thinking it was going to be one I would just want to get through and be done with. I had an 8:30 appointment at the oral surgeon to look at a spot that has been on my pallette for at least a year. There was the possibility of a biopsy, but I was hopeful that it was nothing and he’d send me on my way. Then there was the memorial service for a friend of Matt’s.

Read more »

Inspired by Heather’s comment, I photoshopped (or rather “shopped” as they say) one of my parking lot images. I just quickly edited the image, without grabbing the original, so there could be some noise as a result. Check it out after the jump. Thanks for the suggestion, Heather!

Read more »

Matt and I broke down and registered, because his family asked us to. We definitely didn’t want to, because we felt we have everything we need for the most part. As much as we wanted to do this getting married thing our way, we had to acquiesce to a few demands. This particular demand wasn’t so difficult to give way, because it’s pretty enjoyable to walk around with a scanner (the scanners at target are terrible, though.) and shop for things that would be helpful/fun to own.

If anyone at all still links to my old typepad address, please stop doing it. Some spam company parked there. I’m not going to link to it here, but it’s sighclub dot typepad dot com.

Pretty please?

We’ve been taking to walks on Ashley Reservoir (three times in the past week-and-a-half). I’d never been there until this month, which is an unbelievable factoid. Other factoids:

1. Matt and I have devised a rock-kicking game. The object of the rock-kicking game is to kick a rock down the path as we go along. Whoever kicks the rock into the water loses.

2. The one thing I hate about Ashley Reservoir right now is the bug-swarming problem.

Read more »

I grew up in Central Pennsylvania. For many of my teenage years, I was on a bowling league. My record high game is 225, which is respectable.

Despite this, I’m alright with Obama’s bad bowling skills. He’s running for a job that doesn’t require much in the way of bowling prowess, or hunting experience, or whiskey-drinking abilities.

I’m alright with Obama’s gutter balls.

I’m excited to see this new BIGY2GO grocery shopping program. It’s not at a store near me yet, but I hope the idea catches on and other stores start to do it.

The basic idea is this: For a flat rate of $10, Big Y will shop for groceries for you. Four hours later you can go pick up your groceries at the store.

This concept appeals to me on so many levels. First of all, I’m online all the time and happen to love online shopping. Think of it this way. If I research a recipe online, I can order ingredients right then and there. I don’t have to print out the recipe and take it to the store with me. That’s awesome.

Second of all, I have so little time these days to enjoy life outside of work. Chores like grocery shopping can sometimes fill up a whole night for me. $10 isn’t all that much to me these days if it means I can save time.

The downside is that Big Y is so much more expensive than Stop & Shop. I generally prefer going to Stop & Shop, too. And, of course, the program is not available - just yet - at a Big Y near me.

I applaud a relatively small family-owned chain like Big Y taking a chance with this forward-thinking idea, because it shows that they’re willing to try new things and that they are keeping their customers in mind. Now if they could just come down on their prices, we’d all be much happier.

This weekend we have a couple of fun things going on. First up is a show at Smith College with Bob McGrath and one of my favorite kids in the whole world - Maddy.  Despite the fact that her mother is pumped about the idea of her daughter getting to perform in a show with Bob from Sesame Street, Maddy was not quite so psyched as of a couple of weeks ago. Her mom thinks it’s because she has to dress up in a not-so-flattering duck suit (if I am remembering this correctly). And Maddy confided in me that she hopes none of her schoolmates will be in the audience. I’m sure the opportunity to be on such a big stage in front of a big audience will turn her around. She’s quite the showperson.

Sunday is the St. Patrick’s Day Parade in Holyoke - arguably the city’s biggest day of the year. The weather is supposed to be real nice and it’ll be a great photo subject. Plus, we’ll have Pat’s dog with us. How nice to be a dog owner for a day!

This is one of my very favorite photos that I’ve ever taken. I am attracted to color when I shoot so this was a great subject for me. This is Matt’s grandma’s pantry. I shot this photo last summer.