Moose tracks

we have this great little ice cream shop close to our house (not pictured above, it is not so photogenic; this one is in nantasket). one thing americans certainly are good at; delicious ice cream! and you get lots of it. the first time we went there we made the mistake of ordering a medium-sized ice cream. we didnt have dinner yet, and we didnt need one anymore after that.... i did not eat anything else the entire evening and was soooo full! i think a small ice cream here is still a lot bigger than a large ice cream in the netherlands.. (and you can take TWO flavors in a small..! 2!!). my favorite flavor is moose tracks. yum yum yum yum. not a flavor i would have choosen myself, but a real american colleague recommended it to me.. and i didnt want anything else ever since. it is vanilla icecream with chocolate fudge and tiny cute peanut butter cups. hmmmm.. want one now!! however.. most ice cream shops (including "ours") closed this weekend; its getting colder..... although today it was another sunny day, we even had lunch outside!!

Welcoming visitors

as seen at park street/downtown crossing. on the other side of the street is boston common, with the brewer fountain. nice! :)
yesterday we went to new hampshire, and upon entering that state we saw the following welcoming sign: "live free or die". we made jokes about that the rest of the day. we also imagined that being the welcoming sign to the netherlands ("leef in vrijheid, of.. sterf!!!" hmmm). right after that, there were state-owned liquor stores on either side of the highway, with a huge sign: "no tax, stock up and save!" now isnt that a warm welcome! then we climbed a mountain and enjoyed the fall colors (very nice, nicer than in boston, actually) and beautiful views. we didnt meet any NH people, luckily, what if they would determine whether we were free or... ?
today i caught up with my wikipedia reading and learned that "live free or die" is NH's state motto, adopted in 1945. the phrase comes from a toast written by general john stark in 1809. and yes, every state has a motto! the one for mass is: ense petit placidam sub libertate quietem that you ofcourse immediately translate into: by the sword we seek peace, but peace only under liberty. but i like californias motto best: eureka!!!

Too sleepy

to write anything of interest or to pick a nice picture.. i didnt take any interesting ones today... not many people around where we went... :) oh yes, we climbed a mountain, or.. we went "hiking"; i always find that a very funny word, and it sounds very active; indeed, it was a bit tiring for someone who comes from a country thats entirely flat.... and yes, the view on top was nice and all, but im not good at capturing such beauty (but it really was pretty!).
im best off sleeping now, i guess, and its about time! tomorrow another day of work.. (and for those who might think otherwise; this is not a selfportrait!!)

Wedding shit

today was yet another amazingly sunny day (it is october!!). we had a walk in the forest, drove around, landed on this beautiful beach in rockport with a lot of dogs and a bride & groom.. they were there for their wedding photos, i presume. there was a lady with a huge camera, their dog, and his parents (i think). the lady was directing them to run along the water together, he had to lift her up and she put her leg perfectly up in the air. after those cliche pictures were taken, the photographer put them down in the dunes, and finally she made them walk with the dog along the beach. beeeuuuughhhh!! who wants such pictures?! what do you do with such pictures? what does it capture? your perfectly orchestrated moments after the wedding?! ah well, i guess i am not suited for wedding photography. the only time i really became interested was when the dog took a shit and the groom immediately got down to put it in a plastic bag (pictured above). well, that finally was a true and spontaneous moment! the bride was looking the other way, while her husband was doing what he was supposed to do. and at that time ofcourse the wedding photographer with her enormous camera was nowhere to be found... (in fact, the only thing she said, was "gosh, you 2 made that dog soo nervous!! and then the poor dog was handed back to their parents and the photoshoot continued)

Downtown crossing

one of the many entrances to downtown crossing. but one we hadnt seen so far, and currently is rather hidden due to some fences and construction work. too bad, because it is sooo beautiful!! especially since it was yet another sunny day... marvellous... :)
we went to the watchhospital for my broken watch, but like last saturday it had a note on the door, "sorry, we are closed this saturday". then we found some (i think) pretty weird jewelry shops upstairs in some building, but the watch maker as well as the jewelry-repair shop said that only the manufacturer could repair such damage... anyways, i didnt really want to give my watch to any of them... :(

Big glasses

this man is sitting at one of the benches surrounding the fountain on the boston common. he caught my eye because of his camera and his enormous glasses. both made me wonder... was he giving his camera a rest? was he filming the fountain? was he secretly picturing other people posing in front of it... ? he did notice me taking a pic of him but i didnt dare talking with him, somehow..
this fountain is usually surrounded by tourists but why was never clear to me. a little googling around taught me that this fountain is 142 years old, and that makes it the oldest one of the 21 fountains in boston. last year it underwent repairs costing more than 630,000 dollars!! in fact, it comes from europe, and it is the only known surviving copy of the original featured at the 1855 paris world fair, where it got a gold medal. it was imported from switzerland by gardner brewer, a wealthy merchant, who gave it to the city of boston in 1868.
maybe he was just thinking about all that.. while sitting there... :)

Bandit mask

oh yeah, they look very cute and all, with their blackish coloration on the front of the face resembling a bandit's mask, and their black-ringed tails... but these raccoons like to rummage around in the waste receptacles (i really like that word, it was in the rental contract we signed) at our perfect apartment complex. living here comes with many pleasures (24 hr gym, a pool in the summer, free internet at the club house, a movie room), but also with many rules (the perfect green lawns should stay that way, so no one can park their bike outside, children cannot forget their toys on the grounds and if you have a balcony, only official outdoor furniture is allowed on it, besides, you cannot put your name or whatever on your front door or paint your own walls). but what about the raccoons?! the first time i heard something around the large wastebin, i thought it was a mouse or so. next time we saw 3 raccoons staring at us while driving past, and one took time to pose for me (see above). 2 days ago i was about to throw my trashbag into the container, when i suddenly saw 2 eyes staring at me from within, my goodness, it made me scream! i had almost thrown it into its face and already was imagining what would happen next; the raccoon would swiftly catch the bag and throw it right back in my face... and thus tim had to come and throw away the trash for me....
indeed, raccoons are not that nice, just read this: "A raccoon typically attacks birds by biting the head or upper neck area. The heads of adult birds are usually bitten off and left some distance from the body. Raccoons have been known to mutilate poultry in cages by pulling heads or legs off."

Sculpture park

on sunday we went again to the de cordova sculpture park. we were there less than a month ago, but enjoyed it so much (as well as the way driving towards it; especially now with the fall colors), that we went again. also, the museum was now opened, AND it was the first weekend of the month and thus free for us with our BofA-card :)
unfortunately it was not allowed to take pictures inside the museum; there was a nice exhibition concerning gigantic objects of rubber by martha friedman. there was also some rubbish i didnt understand, but it must have cost the artist a lot of time to create. then we toured the park, until i spotted the bubble man and forgot everything else; the perfect happening to test my new camera!! in this pic the boy was following the bubble with his hands until it burst, while i was following the boy until we almost bumped into each other, both so focused on what we were doing, and well, above you can see the result.. :)
i already posted 3 bubble pictures before, now in the back you can finally also see one of the sculptures, perfectly surrounded by the bubble....

Cutest couple

now isnt that just the cutest couple you ever saw?!! (im not talking about the accidental selfportrait here in the window ;)) while walking on boylston (yup, yet another picture taken on my birthday), we passed by this cafe/restaurant and saw a bee and a bird having an early dinner/late lunch. they invited me to take pictures and so i gladly did! yes, everyone posed for me.. :) i needed tims explanation why they were dressed like that (as usual), although they gave us a card and said we should visit the website increaseyourchances. just had a look and apparently many bees and birds swarmed around boston last weekend, they were there to make people aware that 1 out of 8 couples have difficulty conceiving, and that often this is treatable. for another very nice pic of a bee; click here.
by the way, in dutch its flowers and bees ("bloemetjes en bijtjes"), which actually is more logic from a biological perspective, right?

Everyone poses

i actualy wanted to post another picture for today, but somehow blogger does not want me to... (recently i had this problem quite often, and i do not understand it) arrghhh! this pic is from saturday, in/at the boston common. the dog clearly was enjoying the sunshine, as well as posing for me. this was the most funny one, but unfortunately also the one that is not entirely sharp... :( practise practise!! it really did seem all my subjects were cooperating this weekend, most likely because of my new fancy camera!! :)

So sunny

saturday the weather was really sooooo perfect! i couldnt stop saying that... above people are waiting to cross the street, many holding their hands to see something in the late afternoon sun. coming from the boston common, on the other side is the public garden. there were no clouds, the entire day!! tim and me did this walk so many times, but every time i enjoy it, coming from downtown crossing, through the 2 parks, then on boylston, passing the public library (and the hancock tower), hopping into anthropologie to see what fancy and too expensive stuff they have for us to marvel at this time.. and then to prudential to buy the best cookies i had so far in the US of A at paradise bakery. this time we had visitors we dragged along with our walk, i hope they enjoyed it as well... :)

October 2

this is at oak grove, orange line, on october 2nd as you can see on the MBTA message board. and this lady was my first model with my new.... yesssss..... new camera!!!! every year on october 2nd since a while now, i become a year older, and yesterday it was that day again. tim didnt ask me what i wanted, and just gave me what i most desired...! great, i didnt have to choose and most likely i would have gone on saying for another year that a better camera... but now i have it! i now can write on the side of this blog.. "i shoot with a... blablabla" HAHAHAHA. but, i am very very happy. i do have to practise, because it is quite different (and more heavy). surely i forgot to remove the lens cap several times yesterday, for one thing.. but luckily the manual really really starts from the beginning; they warn you to take some test shots before going for the real thing.

ofcourse there is still my fear of photographing people, although i like that most. but this lady most likely was hired by tim or so. she was dressed very stylishly and she was walking very slowly, and from behind you wouldnt say she was at least 60 years old. so she stood there for me, turned around slowly, and i took pictures.... :)
i think tim also arranged the weather; it was amazing... october, and sooooo sunny and warm!!

Perish all

this is at Downtown Crossing, orange line station. usually it is very hot there. this was back in august, suddenly a man came with this big board about jesus. he was also talking, screaming, about jesus. on the other side the board said "jesus saves". he went into the train and continued his loud monologue there. he also distributed some printed text, but most people didnt want to take it. i read it and it was depressing. all will perish, everyone is doomed, we are sinners and only through prayers and devotion to jesus will we reach heaven.. ah well..... when he got out at the next station many people seemed relieved.

im a bit frustrated right now. i think it would be a lot of fun if this man would come into the lab with his board and start shouting here we are all doomed. perish all! im wondering what everyone's reaction will be. but somehow i think after hes gone and i will say to my colleagues "well that was weird", they will answer "what was weird?"

Self portrait (6)

today i wanted a picture of a phone, and since i didnt post a self portrait for a while, that was the easiest thing to do... :)

from today on, it is forbidden to text while driving in Massachusetts (i looked up how to write this, im glad that most people say just Mass, as i cannot spell nor pronounce this word. another funny thing: people from the Shire (New Hampshire) think Mass people cannot drive and therefore call them Massholes in traffic). here they dont use the term SMS (short message service), so in the beginning, when i said to a us colleague, ah, i will sms u, he had no clue what i was talking about. here they "text", which now you cannot do anymore while driving. teenagers also cannot call, but above 21, calling is still allowed. so there comes the trouble, critics say; how to prove that you were texting?! maybe you were dialing! in netherlands both is forbidden, which would solve this problem, and is more safe anyways, i think....
on my shirt: thats an MIT shirt. however, i am not working at MIT. so am i allowed to wear this?! i think so, as when i look in the mirror, it just says tim!! and when do i see it but in the mirror? but... i wore it now 3 times, and 3 times someone on the street or at work said something about MIT (ah, great, MIT. u from MIT? nice! MIT!), and each time i have no clue what they are talking about... :)

Extremely sad

so, there are stupid people. very stupid people, and extremely stupid people. and then there is me.... last night, just before going home, i put on my watch. i dont wear it while in the lab as i dont want to damage it. so i thought i put it on, but next thing i hear is a very loud crack, and there it was, on the floor, shattered...... buuuuhuhuhuhuhuhuhuh. then i had to tell tim and in the orange line back home i felt so awful i had to cry.

i got this watch from tim for my PhD. it has an inscription with the date of my defense as well as CaT, yes, thats for Cat and Tim. he gave it to me the morning of the defence, but my wrist waas bigger than the watch, and so wearing it, it looked like i had a sausage-arm. thus couldnt wear it during my defence, about which tim was very sad. the exchange for a bigger size then took another month or so!! and now its broken.... :((( hopefully they can fix it. we goto the watchhospital in boston this saturday, to see what they can do....

the green note comes from prudential center. one day each table in the food court suddenly had such a note. we found that very funny... some tables even had 2, and we found that unnecessary and thought our apartment could use one as well.. so its on our big fancy table there.. now with my broken watch next to it..... isnt that ironic... :((((

Ordinary street

just an ordinary street in Allston.... but i found the name funny, no?

yesterday evening we did not goto the gym, and while sitting lazily on the couch i realized i dont like how our amazing furniture is arranged in our 3 months old new place. so we moved it all, and now i think it looks much better (besides, on sunday we finally hung some pictures on the wall. or rather, tim did; looks sooo great!!). ah, btw, we had to trash our pet, not enough flies present.. :( actually, when we just got our free couch, some people warned us about bedbugs and i got all freaked out but we are bedbug free! :) then... today i read that actually the NY Victoria secret store has/had bedbugs!! yegh....! (link here). how did they get there? arent all these panties coming straight from the factory? what does it all have to do with the above pic? nothing... just all as ordinary.. in other words, nothing special going on here.. :) and its raining!!

Something wrong

read in the news today that the owner of Segway -from the segway scooters pictured above, died while using one. he fell off a cliff and was dead immediately. that is sad.... :(

bush also once fell off, almost, i read somewhere, but he managed to jump off just before falling, and apparently this marvellous stunt made these weird scooters kind of famous. here is a link to a site where someone analyzed into (too much) detail why and how bush fell off, and that he should have worn a helmet. you see these things also a lot in malls; policemen use them to avoid walking (im pretty sure they also dont wear a helmet, btw). i always think it looks totally ridiculous. and why should they be on such a thing? some policemen obviously could do with a bit more exercise.... (maybe someday, when i dare, a pic of that as well...)

the pic above was a few months ago, it was raining quite heavily (this pic was a little before), but they were going around as if it was a perfect summer day. i took a picture as the guide was so busy showing things at the boston harbor, but the 3 tourists were more into the scooter itself, driving around the guide displaying not much interest in his stories. somehow this pic is not ok, i didnt manage to upload it but with some trick performed by tim, resulting in a loss of quality. ah well, it seems they are jinxed, no?

Enjoying as..

.. long as it lasts.... amidst so many people this man was just lying there in the sun on saturday. listening to the music at the jazzfestival... :)

sunday it was more grey indeed, and now it is raining... maybe it was the last day of summer ? but i have been thinking that during every sunny day in september, and the weather keeps surprising me.

Beantown festival

it is september 25. and it was HOT today. i guess 30 degrees? in fact, its almost 2 in the night now, and it is still pleasant out... amazing...

today was the end of the jazz festival going on in boston since a week. but today was for free (oh, the dutch!) and we didnt have to work, so... we arrived rather late and saw two performances, from grace kelly (pictured above; shes only 18 yrs old!! the shoes looked real cool on her) and the jon baptiste trio from new orleans. both were goooooddd! although the first ones were better... it was really nice, also because of the weather, and it was great to see everyone enjoying it so much. we took a lot lot of pictures....
this picture shows the frustration when arriving late, and all good spots are already gone. it was especially annoying since those music stands did not need to be there... (in the next performance they indeed removed them). but i also liked it, as we could see the sax and her shoes... nothing more needed! :)

Lazy today

im lazy. so just a pretty picture (or so i think). this was last sunday, at revere beach.
guess what, its really warm right now, a little too warm, even, because of the humidity. and the pool really really is closed... some stories about that it is too cold during the night resulting in too cold water during the day (well, can i decide for myself?! sometimes it feels like we rent an apartment in an elderly home...), and then something about a wrong composition of chemicals in the water right now.. well, then just take out all water; now its sooo tempting!!

we were sooo excited, today the first episode of the big bang theory would be on CBS. so off to the movie room to watch it (no tv or internet at home)... turned out it was already yesterday.. :( buuuuuh! i want to see sheldon...