Field Trip

We had a mission. We had a plan. We had a destination.

And so we went on a Field Trip.

Motley?

Oh, we were motley.

We were the motliest crew in all the land.

And yes Mom, we did remember to bring the boy-child.

After oohing and aahing out the window, smooshed into our early-morning-bar-car-booth . . .

. . . we arrived in the big city. Boston!

Okay, okay, not the biggest city, but still.

Did I mention we were motley?

After admiring Copley Square, we hailed a giant taxi to head toward our ultimate destination . . .

So Renee. So Orion.

 

No, honey. You can't peel it off. The Kat Murphy is attached.

Oh, man, this child . . . this kid . . .

Anyway. Our destination? . . .

The Harvard Museum of Natural History . . .

. . . to where, obviously, all roads lead.

We were a crew, motley or no. We were together. We went in the side door as one . . . and yet? We lost Mistah. More accurately, he left us. And we missed him terribly while he was gone.

Apparently, this is what he saw:

I know, right?

Awwwww . . .

But the reason the Harvard Museum of Natural History was our go-to goal? The reason we were there? The Glass Flowers. Specifically, The Ware Collection of Blaschka Glass Models of Plants. Becuase who doesn't spend 49 years replicating flowers in glass? And who doesn't go to Cambridge to see them??

. . . and yes, we do have a photo -- one photo --
to prove we were there.

And then, our duties done, off we went . . .

. . . okay, yes. Yes, I sprained my ankle. Yes I was on crutches. Yes I fell down phone-first two days earlier. Yes. Yes, it's all true. Did it stop me? No it did not.

But man, is that Harvard quad a long walk . . .

But then?

. . . Luncheon!

This was the best clam pizza in the history of the universe . . . I know, I know. I'm from Connecticut. New Haven's down the road. New Haven is famous for having the best clam pizza on Earth . . .

. . . but I'm sorry, Pepe's. I'm sorry, Sally's. I'm sorry, Modern . . .

Russell House in Tavern in Harvard Square wins.

Oh how we love the House of Russell . . .

. . . and how we love Harvard Square.

 While Renee and The Boy were here in New England, the weather was 50° and sunny . . .

. . . sunny!!

How did those Floridians do that? I do not know. Because the thermometer this past weekend?

The Floridians very specifically and very fully nailed it.

But anyway, back in Boston . . .

. . . our next stop? Another bar.

Because we're us. Motley, motley us.

This kid, man. This kid and his dodo bird . .. 

And then we took yet another taxi out of Cambridge, across the Chahles back to Boston propah . . .

Shorts!

Architecture!

We call this one: "Rejected -- No Babies Here" . . .  

. . . but Dillon's loved us . . . 

. . . I mean, what's not to love? . . .

. . . irresistible, motley us.

And then? That sad, inevitable Walk of Shame back to the train . . .

. . . Hmm. Boston looks different than it did in the morning . . . 

. . . When people saw us? They thought, "Man, I wish I could be that awesomely motley."

Would you follow me around all day? No, I wouldn't either. Renee and Michelle did, though . . .

And then the train home . . .

. . . the train! . . .

Hmm. New London looks different than it did this morning . . .

Sigh. Home.

Our trip to Boston was all about our goal . . .

photo cred: Renee

. . . those inimitable glass flowers.

But it ended up being all about this kid . . .

kid cred: Renee

. . . the inimitable Baby O . . .

. . . and all about our Spectacular Crew of Motley.

an exciting update

I wasn't going to recycle a post today, I swear. I was going to link to an old post because I have *such* an exciting update to report. But then I located and read the old post and it cracked me up, because I am my own biggest fan and this was a pretty good story for a turkey sandwich.  Let's review together before I share the exciting update:

FRIDAY, APRIL 29, 2016

and then i found ten dollars

With 15 minutes left in the so-called work day before I left for an eye exam on Thursday, I emailed my family:

“Did I ever tell you the extreme, 3 foot long turkey sandwich about my recent strife with the library? They are such bastards. Friendly, smart, bookish bastards, but still. Ooh i have nothing to blog about tomorrow, maybe I'll tell this extremely boring story. “

I love the library. Loooooooovvvvveeee it so much that I wish there were more letters and/or syllables in the word to exploit. I do lots of reading on my Kindle, especially now that I have such a fancy and sassy model after my strife with Amazon did not result in them replacing the 2nd generation model that I was so irate had up and died after like 8 years. 

Look at this bad boy, though…

Ain't it grand? The cover rocks my socks.

And on the inside, it lights up without being backlit. Don't ask, it's voodoo magic. *dork for scale 

I lurve.

The kindle travels in my purse and is easy and flexible and finally well lit, but I also keep a hearty list of reserved actual books on file at the library. These are usually highly recommended and/or newish books that I don’t want to pay full kindle price to purchase. I tend to go through cycles where I ask for book recommendations, get a million, then ask for 2 million titles through the library. Then they all come in within a week of each other and I have to quit my job and hide in a cave in order to get though even a fraction of them before their due date, because they are coveted titles thus ineligible for renewal. Why’s life so hard, you guys? I don’t have time to read the free books that were delivered to my local branch and placed on a shelf with my name on the spine so I can run in and use the self-service kiosk to check them out without even needing an actual parking space? Whaaaaa.

Aaaanywaaaay. I do tend to rack up fines from time to time, but whenever I pay them off (before it gets above $5 and they suspend my borrowing privileges and I have to go IN PERSON to fix it) I think and say out loud that I’m Happy to Make this Donation to the Library.

There have been a few notable exceptions to my contentment at having to pay the fine I so clearly brought upon myself. One time we checked out a book on CD for a road trip that didn’t work for shit and turned into the devil’s tongue every 5 minutes starting with the 3rd CD. We gave up and went back to music. I ejected disc 3 and stuck it into something that made it back into our house, unlike the rest of the CDs or their cover which ended up lost in the black hole of horror and doom that is the driveway exodus before returning a rental car. I brought that broken CD into the branch IN PERSON and explained that although I *had* lost the case and the other CDs, we had been unable to listen to the satan story as evidenced by this here lonely and defective disc. And the lady did one of those side mouth tsk tsk isn’t that a shame things then used HER devil voice to say NO. I had to pay like $30 plus a replacement fee and it was such bullshit. I’m still pissed.

Then Clara checked out Silver Linings Playbook and put it on the table when she finished. We all saw it there. Then it was gone. But I had learned, so I ordered a brand new ISBN match off of amazon and only had to pay the $15 replacement fee, which I did with full knowledge that this was our fault and we were Happy to Make this Donation to the Library (bastards). That same day, as I made good on my debt, I asked about a weird thing I'd noticed on my account that said I had a book overdue, a book that I had definitely returned to this very branch. The same side face smirk lady tilted her head at the computer screen then told me that the book in question, A Spool of Blue Thread, had been marked as water damaged upon return and flagged for replacement. This was a brand new hardcover book, and I was not having that shit.

I asked to see the book. Let's assess this alleged damage, shall we? But nnnnOOOoooo, that wasn't possible, because the book had already been sent along on its way back to the branch who owned it. Or something. I'd have to contact that other branch. Me: blink blink blink blink blink. "Okay, do you have that number so I can CALL them on the PHONE because I love talking to strangers with that device?"  Hmmmm, she said. Tilt, went her head.  That branch is closed for the next 3 weeks because the carpet is getting replaced, went her mouth.

Honestly, you guys. This is what actually happened. She renewed the book until after the grand reopening carpet extravaganza. The book wasn't even that good. It was fine, it's Ann Tyler, I'd read her grocery list and get sentimental. But I wasn't keen on purchasing a possibly water damaged hardcover of this book I'd already read, plus an ISBN match and replacement fee. My benevolence apparently only runs a little deeper than the kiddie pool.  

Clara asked about it a few times over the next month, and try as I did to wish the whole sordid thing into the cornfield, it lingered on the edge of my consciousness until too many days had passed and I had to accept the fact that would be forced to deal with it.

I had to call my branch first, because I couldn't remember where the stupid carpet jerks were located. Dragged the whole thing out with them, yada yada. Got the number and called. The librarian who answered was so nice that it was a real challenge to maintain my asshole cred. She listened and she heard, and then she put me on hold for 10 hours.

10 hours later, the librarian came back on the line and filled me in. She couldn't exactly locate the allegedly damaged book, and this whole thing had been handled a bit strangely, in her humble opinion. If a book is reported as damaged, the receiving branch is supposed to hold it and call the borrower so they can come in to inspect it. If it is indeed damaged, the borrower is financially responsible for replacement. They do, however, get to keep the damaged copy. Since they could not produce stupid farking book, there was no way to verify whether or not it was damaged. The lady said, and I quote: "This is stupid. I'm deleting it."

The End.

moral of the story: I love the library EVEN MORE.    

Are you still with me? Are you ready for the exciting update? Okay, buckle up.

The other day, I cleaned out my car because I'm trying to unload it before it combusts. The clean out included my glove box.

So clean!

 Later that same day, I had reason to check the owner's manual that lives in that cute little vinyl pouch. I secretly loathe that vinyl pouch, because although it looks cute, it's not cute. It's sticky. I try to never open it. Who reads owner's manuals, anyway? But I needed an answer, so I opened the dreaded sticky notcute pouch, and found

boom

And then I found ten dollars*.

*not really 

Filtered Kauai

It's hard to believe it was less than a month ago that I was in Kauai! It seems like a looong time ago. Probably because pretty much all it's done here in San Diego since I returned is rain. It's also cold, and it's also February (oh wait - it's March 1!). I also still very much dislike my 9-to-5 job and I currently have no refrigeration.

So, let's go back to Kauai, k?

Let's go back to Kauai with filters.

You've already seen these top two photos if you read my last post, but hey, they look different.

Birds of paradise

Swimming with whales warrior 3

Aaron, Suzie & Aq, who all go way back.

Me, Sparky & Aquilino. Sparky owns Coconut Coasters - He let us borrow mountain bikes for the afternoon. The view from the bike path in Kapa'a? Stunning!

View of Donkey's Beach from said bike path

The obligatory feet-in-paradise photo.

Opakka'a Falls. You know, just the view as you drive up the hill to the Super Bowl party.

Surf side

A maybe too close close-up. Hello!

Bike path photo-op

Closer up photo op, one way...

And another.

Half Aq - half zebra beach shot

Through the tunnel

Icon8 is the app. It is so much fun!!!