.::|TheDish|::.

How to Diagnose the Rattle in Your Car

Both my mom and I are Volvo owners, so we are very familiar with those little rattles, taps, ticks, etc in our cars; and there is nothing that drives us crazy more! So when I recently started to hear this thumping/tapping noise in my car whenever I pressed on the gas pedal and accelerated at higher speeds, I decided to go online and see what I can find out before heading to the mechanic. Now, you may say that this equates to a hypochondriac going onto WebMD and doing a little self-diagnosis, or someone watching a drug commercial and subsequently going to their physician and telling her that they need the drug they saw on TV, but I do sometimes wonder if a mechanic is taking advantage of me and finding *something* to fix so it couldn't hurt to see if other Volvo owners have experienced the same thing. Well, in the process of doing so, I came across this decision tree for diagnosing ticking noises when the car is running, from ifitjams.com, and it's actually pretty helpful and also pretty funny:

They also have diagrams for when the car won't start, brake problems, and more. I am not sure that it's properly diagnosed my S40 (a possible transmission tick) but it was great for a laugh.

Beautiful Flowers To Brighten The Day!

From the boy, and the Boston Flower Market:

Some Feel The Pain @ The Pump More Than Others...

-- sent from my mobile device --

Red Sox Mike Lowell @ Barnes & Noble

He's book signing here. It's a big day for big events in Beantown!

-- sent from my mobile device --

Apple Is Open

These people are nuts!

-- sent from my mobile device --

The Back Bay Apple Store Opens Today

There will be thousands of people right here on Boylston Street in Boston, at 6pm tonight, to be the first to set foot in the store!

-- sent from my mobile device --

Cute Little Girl Gonna Kick Monsters Ass!

Earth Hour

Today, March 29th, 2008, between the hours of 8pm and 9pm in your local timezone, please turn off your lights in recognition of Earth Hour. Across the globe, people will be doing their part to combat the climate crisis that is affecting us all now. So start here, do your part to help fight global warming today; even Google is making a statement and showing their support today by turning their lights off (well, sorta, as best they can!), if you haven't already noticed:

In Celebration of Spring: The Sutton Garden Club

You may not feel it due to the chilly temps in the Northeast today, but it is the official first day of spring! And in the spirit of my favorite season, I'd like to introduce to you the newly launched Sutton Garden Club blog!

If you haven't heard of Sutton, it is a small town about 34 square miles in size, with a population of 8-9,000, and is located about 50 miles (1 hour) southwest of Boston, MA; it's also my home town. The Sutton Garden Club, founded in 1997, is dedicated to the following objectives: to encourage interest in all phases of home gardening, promote better horticultural practices and use the acquired skills and knowledge of the membership to benefit the town and residents through community projects and to promote a spirit of good will. The blog highlights Club announcements, such as the 2008 Sutton Garden Tour, award-winning gardens, scholarship information, plant sales, and more!

If you have a green thumb, or if you just need a quick hit of color and cheer from time to time, be sure to check out the blog, leave a comment, and join the gardening community. I'd also strongly suggest you take a short, leisurely trip out to Sutton on June 21st for the tour, and enjoy a stroll through the breathtaking gardens, mingle with artists and artisans, and embrace all the beauty that Sutton has to offer.

The City Car, by MIT

This adorable, itsy-bitsy City Car was designed by the MIT Media Lab and is coming to the streets of Boston near you, very soon! The shared vehicle boasts a few great environmental and technological (and convenience) advancements: an electric motor; no tailpipe emissions; it's almost silent; omnidirectional robotic wheels (think O-turn instead of U-turn); foldable and stackable design; compact frame, about 8' long, and under 5' folded. I feel both excited and somewhat concerned about this little guy, and here's why:

The pros:

• Ultra-compact yet *roomier* - same front cabin space as a BMW 3 Series
• Space saver - folds up like a baby carriage and stacks like a shopping cart
• Makes parallel parking a cinch - the wheels rotate 360 degrees!
• Energy Efficient and almost silent - leverages "green" technologies like solar panels & energy cells
• Equipped with GPS navigation and helpful traffic advice delivered from the Central System
• Software that changes the color of the cabin, sets your preferences & the dashboard look & feel
• Designed in Boston (well, Cambridge!)
• Super cute!!

The potential cons/concerns

• How safe is this thing? Looks like it could be a total death trap amongst Boston's inadequate driving population!
• It's almost silent, which adds to the bullet above; they'll never see or hear you!
• How many City Car rechargeable stacking stations will there be peppered throughout the city? I am always in a rush and convenience is key.
• Will people use it and embrace it or will they opt for famliar taxi, train, foot, or their own car over the City Car?
• How much does a spin cost?

Apparently GM is a believer, and is funding part of the $6 billion/yr R&D budget on MIT projects such as this. I am excited and eager to see the launch of the City Car in Boston, but as you can see, I have some reservations.

What do you think? Feel free to leave your comment here!

[Images and content via]

A Winter Storm Haiku

An evening snow--
The strumming of his guitar
and the heat of wine

(Ha, I haven't written one of those in years!)

Renters Insurance - A Must Have

I have been a renter now for about 10 years and I have never had renters insurance; I thought about it - often - but never took the time or energy to really look into it. Well, I now think of it like that inspection sticker that sits in the lower right corner of your car windshield, with a bold number corresponding to the month you need to get your inspection completed. You see it. Often. But forget about it, and if you are like me, you are often reminded that its expired when you receive a bright orange City of Boston sticker on your windshield, sigh.

Well, don't let that be your experience with acquiring renters insurance, as it was ours. Our not so gentle & quite frustrating reminder of how ignorant it is to not have renters insurance was the flood in our condo a month ago. We were lucky, as our personal property suffered very minimal damage, but thats what it was: luck. If our electronics, furniture, valuables, etc had just been positioned somewhere else in the condo, we could be looking at thousands and thousands of dollars worth of damage, as well as quite a bit of emotional bane. I have learned a lot post flood that will serve as valuable lessons if we own a condo some day, primarily how complex the legal and insurance process can be after a catastrophe before repairs can even begin, and how imperative it is that you, as an owner, read the fine print in the condo docs when you sign on the dotted line. But as a renter, I have learned most importantly how naive and straight out lazy it was to not have renters insurance. The entire process has taken about 2 hours of my time, and will cost us a mere $35 a month total to protect our personal property (and thats on the high end).

If you have car insurance, go through your same insurance company and you will receive an additional 20% off. If you chose to not follow through with my recommendation, well, I hope that the "orange sticker on your windshield" is never, ever orange flames in the window of your condo.

For some great information on renters insurance, check out this site.

[Image courtesy of Apartment Ratings Blog.]

How Well Do You Know Your World?

We all cringed during the 2007 Miss Teen USA pageant when Caitlin Upton of South Carolina attempted to answer the question about why many American's cannot locate the US on a world map (see video here if you dare!). So, let's play a game, and see how well you know your world. Click here or on the image below to play the game... enjoy!

Real Holiday DRAMA

The falling Christmas tree is now far from my definition of holiday drama; I have experienced the real deal! Saturday afternoon, I was out and about completing my holiday shopping when I received a frantic call from my neighbor instructing me to get home... NOW. To make a long, and rather painful & dramatic story short, a sprinkler was ruptured by a contractor doing renovations to a unit upstairs from ours; the result was a massive flood of the forth and fifth floor units. Unfortunately, our unit suffered the most damage of all 10 or so affected (at least that's the consensus at this time).

I was not there during the better part of the flood (but trust me, I have seen enough). Apparently, my overly generous neighbors were in our place with buckets, pots, pans towels and mops busting their asses to get the water out the front door, awaiting the crew of firemen who arrived shortly thereafter; fish could swim comfortably in our entranceway and the ceiling became a series of shower-heads steadily gushing water, if that paints a picture. It's a complete disaster area.

Special thanks to Tim & Renee (and to Renee's brother & sister-in-law who b-lined for our Christmas gifts under the tree and saved them all!!!) as well as Patricia, Kevin, Peter and Amy and to everyone else who helped dry us out that day. Thanks to Jay and Zoe for putting a roof over our heads last night, and to Jane for offering-up her place to Mike tonight (I am comfy at home with the folks!!). Where we will be living post-holidays, who knows!!

I will never forget this Christmas, and those of you who went out of your way for us; in times of need, you always know who the good peeps really are.

Here are a couple post-drama photos that I think provide some real color to the amount of damage our unit suffered.

The Best First Dance At a Wedding - Ever!

Thanks for passing this on, Ash! How hilarious!!!!

One Gargantuan Gourd

The weekend before last, the beau and I traveled out to Palo Alto, CA to attend a wedding in the hills. After the fabulous festivities, we selected the more scenic route to San Francisco, and made our way through the winding mountain roads, twisting and turning towards the Pacific Coast Highway.

As with most scenic routes, time is inevitably sacrificed for beauty, but you wouldn't expect to hit traffic on the rural mountain and coastal roads. Well, we found ourselves growing increasingly frustrated as we sat in bumper-to-bumper traffic for an hour plus, inching forward slowly through the small town centers peppered along the coast... to find out the cause was not a catastrophic accident, the President was not in for a rare visit, but the culprit was a 1,524lb pumpkin!! The winner of the 34th annual Safeway World Championship Pumpkin Weigh-Off in Half Moon Bay, California, stay-at home-dad Thad Starr from Pleasant Hill, OR, was displaying is gem of a gourd at the Half Moon Bay Art & Pumpkin Festival. His secret recipe? Organic compost, consisting of fish fertilizer, seaweed, nitrogen, potassium and phosphate, plus  "yards and yards" of chicken manure and, as Starr states, a lot-o-love:

You'll see me kiss all my pumpkins. It kind of sounds corny, but you develop a bond with your pumpkins. ... They're almost your friends.

Awww. No, I did not see the pumpkin, as it was hidden behind an over-sized wall *sniff*. I want to know how they are going to carve that bad boy for Halloween next week? :)

The Luckiest

To those of you who feel like you are the luckiest person around - for reasons of love, happiness, or whatever your personal reason is - here is my favorite tune in celebration of just feeling....lucky. No video, just lyrics and melody, by Ben Folds.

Peter's Park - Dog Recreational Space Update

For those of you who are wondering when the Peter's Park Dog Park, located on Washington Street in Boston's S End, is going to be complete... its looking like this Fall! I have been eagerly awaiting this day, not because I have a dog here in the city (though my Mom & Dad have in fact indefinitely adopted my dog, Bailey), but because I cannot wait to see the little munchkins frolicking around in their new arena.... my back yard! So, its great news that they have apparently raised over $100K since my last post in April, just $30K shy of their $300K goal.

For those of you who are not familiar with this project, its the first officially sanctioned dog park on city land.

Want to give a little to help them reach their mark? Then donate here!

Also, be sure to check out the events in and around the neighborhood to benefit the dog recreational space; there was a great one tonight with special guest Mayor Menino, and sponsored by local shops and restaurants like my personal favorites The Butcher Shop, Brix Wine Shop, Oishii Boston, and the South End Buttery.

Hovis London Freewheel

Boston is known to have terrible drivers. Those drivers, from my perspective, fit into one of two categories. They either don't know how to drive - you know, they switch lanes without a blinker, swerve, cut you off, etc - or they are one of the aggressive road-rage types, who are so outraged with the don't-know-how-to-drive types that they ride everyone's bumper, honk the horn, and drive at excessively dangerous speeds through our cow-path streets. So its no wonder that cyclists are never a majority at any time on Boston city streets. And if they are, then they are among the brave ones. Its really a shame that we all don't accept bike riding as a preferred means of transportation; after all they are easy to navigate the terrible streets, easy to park, good for the environment, and even provide quite the cardio workout.

So I was jazzed to see what London is doing to boost bike-use in the city. The event is called The Hovis London Freewheel. The city is closing down 9 miles of  traffic-heavy streets and allowing only cyclists to make their way through. As noted on the Freewheel site, "All Londoners – from mums on shoppers to old folks on rusty relics – will be coming from far and wide to ride down the city’s most famous roads, seeing sights like London Eye, Big Ben, Buckingham Palace and Tower Bridge". No cars, no traffic, and no bad drivers! And when you tire of pedaling, there is a secure area to leave your bikes and wander around the Freewheel Festival with demonstrations, maintenance centers, and entertainment. I don't know that Boston would ever embrace cyclists like this, but it sounds like it could be so much fun and a great (safe) reason to dust off your otherwise abandoned bike for a day.

Hurricane Dean Hits Jamaica

Jamaica holds a dear place in my heart for many reasons: the culture; the people; the beauty; and most of all, the memories. Tonight, the beloved Caribbean island is getting pummeled by Hurricane Dean, what's believed to be a Category 4 storm with 145 mph winds and what may be the most cataclysmic storm to hit the island in almost 20 years. My thoughts & prayers go out to all the friends I made there: Floyd and the guys at the Pelican Bar; Myron, Marshall and Castro, our scuba masters; Dougie and the entire staff at Jakes; the wonderful folks at the Rockhouse; and all the amazing people of Jamaica.

Rooftop Pool @ The Colonnade

For just $30 you too could be at the rooftop pool at the Colonnade hotel right now* * big grin**!!

Human Tetris

Just a little silly humor to get you though the week!

Scuba Diving: Natural Beauty, Elegance and Adventure

Quite a few friends and family have said that they think I am crazy for loving to scuba dive, and often what it really is, is that they fear what may be down below the sea's surface. Well, yes, you never really know what is down there until you get down there, but when you dive you are diving with an experienced dive master who knows all the dive sites like the back of his hand. They are experts and you need to trust them. The masters won't take you somewhere they know sharks may inhibit if you aren't ready for that (I am not quite ready for that)! The truth is that once you become comfortable with the equipment and how your body works under water, and once you dive a couple times and discover how safe it is if you are educated, its not scary at all.

What you can count on to be down "there" is beauty, serenity, and wildlife; its like nothing I have seen (except on Discovery Channel HD) or experienced before. Here is a video of still photography I discovered on the Scuba Channel (keep the volume up for the funky music), that captures the natural beauty, elegance and adventure that's the source of my passion for diving.

Scuba Channel

PADI Confined Water Dive Sign-off

Last night, we officially had our first entry in our PADI dive log books! We have successfully completed our 4 confined water dives and all class work. Hats off to our Master Scuba Diver Trainer & new friend, Scott, who is truly a passionate, incredibly skilled and adept diver and a stellar instructor.

On to the open water dives...

PADI Cert Status

I passed the PADI written test with flying colors last night, and completed the first 2 of 4 confined water dives. Mike was stuck at work, so he has not taken the test yet (though I am sure he will ace it per usual!), but he too completed the pool dives. All that's left now are the last 2 confined water dives, that we are hoping to complete on Thursday if we can confirm pool time, and the 4 open water dives over 2 days in Jamaica.

Overall, the skills we completed in the pool were fine, though I had some difficulties with filling & emptying my mask as I have the natural tendency to blow out my nose, so the water does not have the chance to flood my mask. I am sure this will get easier with practice and familiarity, though I prefer to never have to clear my mask while diving. We are so excited and eager to get to Jamaica for the real diving :)

Sun Divers in Negril

Just booked our 4 open water cert dives (2 days) at Sun Divers in Negril, Jamaica. Figured it would be great to complete the certification on day 1 and 2, and have the rest of the trip to either chill out, or perhaps do our first dives as certified divers in Treasure Beach if there is PADI.

PADI Class #2 @ PG Dive

Last eve Mike and I attended another PADI scuba class, this time at the PG Dive shop in Waltham. We are getting the classes free of charge, however me must purchase some basic gear through the dive shop - fins, mask, snorkel - in exchange for the pool time for the confined water dives next week. All I have to say is the PG store kicks ass, and apparently has a quite a reputable following in the local scuba community. The staff are friendly and they definitely know the gear inside-and-out, and most importantly, they are not trying to over-sell to customers (love that).

Here's our new gear:

My Fins (in blue) Mares Superchannel	Mike's Fins Atomic Splitfin
My Boot The Stealth Fin Sock:	Mikes Boot Pinnacle Apex Boot:
My Mask Cressi Matrix Glasses	Mike's Mask Atomic Aquatics Subframe
Our snorkels Oceanic Worldwide Snorkel

PADI Scuba Classes

Tonight we attended our first PADI scuba diving class, in preparation for our trip to Jamaica in less than 2 weeks. I fell in love with the recreational sport of scuba diving about 3 years ago when I dove for the first (and only!) time, while on a trip in the Caribbean. I have always wanted to get certified, so that I am not tethered to just the resort dives, but I have never wanted to sacrifice a few days of my valuable beach vacation time for the classes and cert dives. Alternatively, diving in the chilly, murky New England waters is not even a slight consideration of mine, at least as a beginner diver!

Tonight's in-class session was different than other intro PADI classes, unless dinner and wine in the comfort of a friend's home is characteristic of most :). Well, Scott is a friend of a friend, and is teaching a select few of us the certification course at a discount rate, so we got quite a few perks alongside the training. Most importantly, he is an uber-experienced diver (can't recall his exact level but he threw about 8-10 PADI cards on the table detailing his climb up the scuba certification ladder including search and rescue and underwater photography), with approximately 1200 dives under his belt.

We have one more class session because we socialized a bit too much tonight to get through the main sections of the course book, and then 2 confined (pool) dives where we will practice our drills and skills, followed by 2 open water cert dives in Jamaica to get our PADI certification. I am so excited!

It's Spring In Sutton

Just returned from a fabulous Mother's Day celebration with my family, in my hometown of Sutton, MA. It's spring time, and my mom's breathtaking gardens are starting to bloom (alas!). Being around family, surrounded by natural beauty, and a healthy dose of sunshine created an excitement and a sense of well-being; its going to be a fabulous summer! Here are a few photos I took of my mom's gardens today:

A Little Monday Humor

A little giddy Monday humor, to all the other peeps who have been completely consumed by the digital world:

 

Hee hee :)

SoWa Alert: Peter's Park Dog Recreational Space

To all the dog lovers out there (like myself) I recently walked through the new Peter's Park Dog Recreational Space (DRS), and construction is well underway. I came across the Friends of Peter's Park Website (it's a great site, check it out), offering a wealth of information pertaining to this doggie paradise to-be. The park will feature separate sections for large and small dogs, dog water fountains and water spigots peppered throughout the property, a dog "Walk of Fame", and benches, covered trash receptacles, gardens and more.

The DRS ribbon cutting event is slated for the fall of '07, but the organization still needs to raise some additional funding to reach the $300,000 mark & complete the project; DRS is funded entirely by donations from the local community, so if you want to contribute, please make a donation today.

What a fabulous project, so suitable in a neighborhood that really treasures and embraces it's 4 legged friends. Here are some links for additional information on the project:

• DRS Design Plan
• Calendar
• The Rules
• Donate

This is only feeding my temptation to get another dog!!!

Beach & Lobster: Spring is Here

Finally, spring is here! 70 degrees, warm sun, and a light breeze; its paradise in Boston. I can't think of a better way to spend the day than to visit the north shore of Massachusetts. We left prior to noon, without a destination in mind, and found ourselves just a short hour or so north, on Harbor Beach, in Gloucester, MA. The beach had suffered from the strong winds and high tides of the recent nor'easter, most apparent by the remains of a plank bridge that connected beach visitors from the rocky coastline to the sand and dunes. But it didn't stop most determined beach goers from finding a creative means to reach the shores; we had waited long enough for this day. I was shocked to see a large group of passionate surfers, riding the frigid swells, well geared with thick insulated wet suits (brrrrr!).

As we wound our way back up the coast, we kicked spring off right with a half-dozen raw oysters, an over-stuffed fresh lobster roll and a cocktail at The Gloucester House. Its so amazing what a little fresh air and sunshine does for the mind and the soul.

A Little Google Humor

A little humor for this dreary day (jeez, why do I feel like I broken record!?):

• Go to Google Maps
• Click on "Get Directions"
• Type in "Boston, MA" to "Paris, France"
• Check out step # 9

Funny.

Congrats To All 2007 Boston Marathon Runners

A congratulations is in order to all the intrepid and able-bodied runners who made it out today despite the high-winds, rain and nasty nor'easter residual for the running of the 111th Boston Marathon! Special hats-off to Kenya's Robert Cheruiyot (2:14:13) and Russia's Lidiya Grigoryeva (2:29:18) who captured the men's and women's crowns, respectively, as well as Japan's Masazumi Soejima (1:29:16) and Wakako Tsuchida (1:53:30) who found victory in the men's and women's wheelchair races, respectively.

Here are the detailed stats for the top 3 winners across all 4 categories, courtesy of Boston.com:

Naomi Campbell: Mobile Maddness

Thanks Engadget Mobile, for providing a little more Naomi Campbell humor. For those of you who have  not heard or just need a mind refresher, Ms. Campbell has been charged once with throwing her unidentified "jeweled" cellphone at her housekeeper, and a second time with attacking her personal assistant w/ her Blackberry. Well, today she began fulfilling her community service sentencing, at a NYC Lower East Side Sanitation Department warehouse, where she will scrub & clean for 5 days. Why does that just make me chuckle :)

I can't help but think that this would make a solid marketing campaign for Blackberry, as long as the device held up from the Naomi abuse.

EIL All-Stars

We all deserve to brag a little bit, eh? I did a Google search on my name (as I do every now and then and I know you do too, hee hee) to see what comes up, and found that my prep-school has published, on their site, a list of all athletes who were named the Eastern Independent League Player of the Year in the school's history; and there I am, listed for soccer (1992) and basketball (1993)! This brought back a lot of memories and pride, as well as made me realize that I am the oldest one listed (*sigh*). How time flies.

Urban Dictionary

If you are looking for a little bit of afternoon humor, check out the Urban Dictionary. Its a hilariously entertaining wiki!!!!

I Toronto

This week, business brought me to one of the most amazing North American cities: Toronto, Ontario, Canada. This was my first visit, and I absolutely LOVED it! Perched on the northern shores of Lake Ontario, it's a cosmopolitan, international metropolis, with trendy fashionistas on the city sidewalks, restaurants galore, high-end retail space, and a flourishing economy.  The city is very New York-like visually, but with more of a Chicago pace.

The coolest feature of Toronto by far is the PATH, a 16-mile network of pedestrian tunnels snaking below downtown office towers. And what's in this immaculate and upscale "tunnel" other than about 100,000 daily commuters? You got it: shopping! There's about 1,200 shops, from clothing stores, restaurants & shoe shiners, to flower shops and fresh produce markets; apparently, about 5,000 people are employed in this underground city.

Just think about what this does for the economy of the city. Take the retail space on the above- ground level, and more than double that! Additionally, it provides Toronto residents and tourists a means to navigate the city in weather-proof conditions (and man, its cold up there). When we commuted with the locals during AM rush-hour, flurries of professionals marched through the PATH hallway like a NYC sidewalk. Above ground, the city bustles still, but in a sleepier state.

I can't wait to go back to Toronto! An added bonus, my #1 favorite store has three locations in the city!

A Fulfilling Life: Bradford Washburn

I don't know much about Bradford Washburn beyond what I read tonight on Boston.com and on Wikipedia: he was the founder of the Museum of Science; and a "world-class mountain climber in the 1920's through the 1950's"; he "pioneered the use of aerial photography in the analysis of mountains and in planning mountaineering expeditions"; he "has been responsible for some of the finest maps ever made of mountain regions"; and he died Wednesday, January 10th of heart failure, at the age of 96.

But what I do know, is that I fell in love with the photo of Bradford and his wife, Barbara, on the front page of Boston.com the moment I saw it (photo above).This has nothing to do with the fact that both Bradford and Barbara are Beaton family names, its much more simple and straightforward. The photo tells the story.

Drumroll... My Best of 2006

Below lists a few of my personal noteworthy bests of 2006 in areas that interest me. Although some of these were not necessarily new this past year, they undoubtedly had an impact on me or are are of particular interest to me, in one way or another...

RESTAURANTS::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::

Stella Modern Italian

Toro: Spanish/Tapas

Oishii: Japanese/Sushi

MUSIC:::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::

Justin Timberlake: FutureSex/LoveSounds

Beck: The Information

FASHION:::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::

1980's Style: Belts, layers, and gold

Skinny Jeans: Sexy and feminine

Flats: Perfect for us tall peeps

TECHNOLOGY::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::

Second Life The virtual world game & its impact on brands & marketing - wild.	Social Networking Connecting you, me + everyone like never before.	The blogoshpere The birth of TheDish and the beginning of an addiction.
Google Earth: Free downloadable virtual earth program; zoom in anywhere in the world!	Skype: Launch of mobile VoIP service w/ mobile operator 3; will we say bye to big phone bills?!	Nintendo Wii Wireless remote that can detect motion and rotation in three dimensions - so cool.
Netvibes The best aggregator on the market, complete with a tabbed UI and drag and drop feature	Gmail Despite the latest bad rap, still my webmail of choice b/c of 2GB storage and conversation grouping	Wikis For collaborative website authoring such as my fav Wikipedia

I could go on and on, but this post is getting far too long :)

Newbie Syndrome

Being a newbie is so liberating, yet so nerve-wracking. It gives you a chance to start-over, wipe the slate clean, and re-set those first impressions. You can take all the knowledge and learnings you have gained in your career(s) over the years, and even the mistakes, and use them as a baseline from which to grow and develop - exciting! Of course you don't have the solid support of friends and peers that respected your talents, ability and smarts, so starting down that path - again - can be quite a task, and honestly, pretty exhausting. So, on my fourth day at my new gig, I am not yet in a position to post about "how things are" overall, other than the simple fact that I am having fun & experiencing "newbie syndrome". Yes, a holiday party on day three helps to smooth the transition and the introductions (and no, I did NOT drink heavily!!); but net/net, I am still a newbie, and I am alright with that... I am doing just fine :)

Winston's Perfect Orchid

I received the most beautiful orchid (my favorite flower) from Mike, as a welcome gift at my new gig. The plant, from Winston's Flowers, stretches about 3 feet tall, the buds are young and vibrant, and it has received so many oooh's and ahhh's on just the second day in it's new home. If you are looking for something to light-up someone's workspace (and their life!) I strongly recommend sending and gift from Winston's.

Trust

I have quite a wide-range of taste when it comes to music. From Deep House and Lounge, to Rock and Pop, to Alternative and Indie, Folk, Jazz... to you name it. But like any other chick out there, I am struck by lyrics or a chorus, that may hit-home or have special meaning in my life (don't deny it, you are too!).

Not to get too mushy here, but while making dinner, I decided to play some Tori Amos (no, I clearly am not a man-hater!). And there is one line in the lyrics from Jamaican Inn, off "The Beekeeper" album, that hits home over-and-over:

The sexiest thing is trust

I just love that line! I feel that trust is the core to every relationship; without it, you had better cash in your chips.  When you have it, its the coolest, sexiest feeling to have. Thought I'd share (and be corny for a moment)!!!

BMW 3 Series

Announcing a new addition to the family :)....

 

The Abandoned Little Island

This past weekend, we escaped the city and visited my folks for a night; yesterday was a crisp, fall day, and so suitable for the hour or so hike we took around the lake area. Growing up on Lake Manchaug, in Sutton MA, I had always been curious about this little island off the shore of our beach property. I never saw anyone out on the 50-yard radius plot of land, abundant with tall evergreens and various trees and greenery, and always wondered who owned it. The lake, according to my Dad, was being drained to accommodate some necessary repairs to a dam on the other side; I had never seen it this low, so low that we could walk out to that curious little island:

Once we circumvented some rather muddy spots, and navigated our way out to the island, we found an old, red log-cabin; the windows were securely boarded yet the door was wide open. We peeked inside to find a cleanly-swept floor, some stacked chairs and a bunk-bed of some sort; other than that there was no sign of inhabitants. Truthfully, it was a bit eerie; it felt like the set of a creepy horror flick, and we therefore left rather quickly.

Apologies to the owners, as I am sure this constitutes trespassing, but I now know what lives on that not-so-distant island: nothing! I am surprised that the cabin has weathered the winters without care, and that teenagers haven’t found this the perfect retreat to do some partying on! Regardless, I personally think it’s a shame that someone hasn't done more with it. Even if it were to serve as a secluded camping ground for its owners, or if its natural beauty had been preserved by nothing being done to it at all, at least it would be serving a purpose. I'd like to think that someone has a plan in the works for this little island; right now, its beauty is marred by its abandonment.

A Little Friday Humor

This is good for a laugh or 2; turn your audio on:

Good Luck!

Good luck Mike, on the Internal Medicine Boards today! You have worked so hard over the last few weeks to prep for today; you are going to ROCK!!!

Record Store Cats

The record store cats really know how to get down... this is absolutely HILARIOUS!!! Click on each cat to see it animate...

Deep House Cat:

Hip Hop Cat:

Stevie Wonder Cat:

Techno Tim Cat:

For more laughs, check out more record store cats here...

Italy Rules!

I am SO JAZZED that Italy just won the World Cup!!!!! What an amazing tournament, coming to a close in nail-biting penalty kicks! 

For those of you who haven't known me for years, soccer has been my passion since the weeee age of four years old. I grew up in the small town of Sutton, MA, where if you drink the water, you'll be a soccer player. I played, under the guidance English born Martyn J. Bowden (who's favorite words were "Oh bloody hell!!!), for the Fuller Hamlets, now a legacy in East Coast US Soccer. Anyway, this sport is finally catching on in the States at a national level - just saw a clip of City Hall, crowded with fans - and it's about time!!! Wohooooo!

One Year Down!

Congratulations to Mike for completing year one of his fellowship TODAY... Wohoo!!!