So sleepy!

days go by so fast... then its suddenly past 11 again and time for bed. i never want to goto sleep in the evening and never want to get up in the morning, like a little kid. but when i do get to bed early, i usually cant sleep.

ah well. this guy just dropped down in the park. homeless? drunk? both? it was a little weird. this was a week or 2 ago, i already forgot! but it was not too cold out.

this weekend was rather chilly, especially yesterday. this morning it seemed we would get a great spring-like day. until the sun disappeared again.... and is it really april again?!

Just cute

i have posted more often pics of this sculpture in the public garden (like here, here and here). i guess every time i go by there i take a picture. i think every single kid loves it and it is so cute to see!

sometimes people (who? just anyone? i dont know!) dress the ducks up a bit. sometimes for some sports game, for christmas, etc. or just to dress them up. but i dont think they need any of that. they are wonderful just as they are!

we went for some shopping today. a store was moving to another location and had huge discounts. i was very content with everything i bought, it was amazingly cheap (one of the blouses i got was just 75 cents! and a pair of hiking boots for 8 dollars (they were 150 or so? tim wanted them, but they didnt fit him, so he was very happy, but jealous at the same time, when they did fit me). but... somehow i walked out of that shop with a huge bag of stuff for a total of 60 dollars! yep, huge discounts, but had everything been priced normally i wouldnt have spent anything.... smart, those sales people....

Street wisdom

somewhere in boston.... 

awesome is a very american word, i think. its much used by the americans around me, but i never use it as i feel i cannot say it casually enough. my accent is wrong, too. here you can listen to the pronunciation, but it sounds a little off to me. the guy saying it defenitely forgot to be awesome..
(the shadow is of course the one and only awesome tim...!)

Virtual pinboard

the above picture was taken somewhere in new york, i think in the visitor center on times square. i mostly liked the colors and different shapes.

it also is a reason to write about my newest addiction; a virtual pinboard. ever since i use the internet, i never bothered to bookmark sites. so whenever i find an interesting site that i dont want to forget,i just leave the tab open. and then another tab, and another. and suddenly i have 3 or 4 windows each with too many tabs to count.... until my computer crashes and i loose them all. this week i joined "pinterest", a virtual pinboard where i hope to store all sites i find interesting (currently mostly recipe-blogs). it all looks so pretty with the pictures (as you can see here)! you can sign up "by invitation", or without, as i did, but then you have to wait a day or so before you can start pinning, because you are on some "waiting list" (which i found very annoying).

of course, there is a wikipedia about pinterest. the site launched in 2010, and is growing pretty fast recently. apparently, in the us, 83% of the users are female, and around 35-44 years old. probably posting recipes, just like me.... ;) they have some trouble with copyright, i believe, and some sites wont allow "pinning", like for example flickr. ah well. i hope it will be useful to me, and not a mere distraction from more important things.... (and i hope to stop those endless numbers of open tabs).

Every time...

... i see this pic i have to laugh. i had to laugh when i saw it for real too. this statue is next to a church in the south end, in boston. in combination with the bush, his head with the weird expression just sticking out from behind it... weird! (i also took a pic with tim next to it. somehow this statue looks really tiny, but when i placed tim next to it, it turned out to be slightly taller. hahahha)

no clue which holy person this is.... :)

Servant Frank

there are 2 very touristy graveyards in boston, very close to each other. although we live here now almost 2 years, we had not been to either one, yet we have passed them many, many times. the sheer number of tourists made us just walk past them, every time. even though i have always liked to visit cemeteries. i guess i just like to be the only tourist, instead of being surrounded by many others...

but this st patrick's day we finally went to both! the above marker is at the granary burying ground, close to the boston common. it is the final resting place of many important americans (thats why it is a tourist hotspot); paul revere, benjamin franklin's family (he himself is in philadelphia), samuel adams, and john hancock. to be honest. i know all these names, but i couldnt tell you exactly what they all did/why they are important. is that bad? perhaps so... do i want to know? yes! but not tonight... :)

anyways.. to me the most striking grave was the one above. frank. servant to john hancock. only that. googling just that gives you many hits, and similar photos as mine, as well as many questions about frank. who was he? was he married? was he happy? what did he do? but no answers... :( one thing i did not realize when i saw this grave; the fact that he is there at all is a sign that john hancock probably held him in high esteem (this was 1771!!). franks grave is right underneath the big obelisk for john hancock (as you can see here), which was erected 100 years after his death. moreover, john hancocks tomb does not say anything about him either. no "first signer of the declaration of independence", just this: "No. 16 tomb of hancock" (unfortunately i have no picture of that).

some other time more about the graveyard itself, perhaps. now its time for bed and tomorrow some history lessons through wikipedia for me.. ;)

more taphophile stories? go here!

Boston skyscrapers

march is not yet going into april and i already took almost 1000 pictures... i was just going through them, and hoped to find one to post. some were dismissed because they were ok, but not ok enough. some because i am too lazy to write something about the pic, but i dont want to post it without writing that something. some because it takes too much time to find info about it at this very moment. some because i cannot choose between several shots. some because my computer is too slow and does not listen to me.

i settled for this one. i liked the bare trees in front of the hancock tower (left) and prudential (right). to the left is the entrance to the park street subway station, and to the right is the boston common. the green fence is there because they are doing some major (re)construction to the park. since months already.... theres always a hotdog stand, and often other (fried) food as well, a stand that has boston t shirts, and there are quite some homeless people sitting around here, usually. i never bought a hotdog at a stand, and i think i never will. somehow i dont trust food from such stands, not even in new york! (or especially not in new york... ?)

One photo

actually... i took quite some more than one photo. either it turned out crooked, or a car came by, or tim was not posing the way i wanted.. 

now i see hes standing next to a patched up window or something...? hadnt seen that while taking the pics! ah, and another blossom tree. we drove around a little for those. but it was really cold (from 30 degrees C on thursday to 8 C or so today... ), and some rain too!

Blossom trees!

all around, and in, boston blossom trees are in full bloom, or about to.... its very pretty! this is at the cemetery behind our house..

perhaps tomorrow we should walk around boston, before they loose all their pretty flowers again. surely they are blooming earlier than last year, but if i remember correctly, april 1st it was still snowing...

Cemetery ghosts

as mentioned in my previous post, the forest hills cemetery has quite a lot of art! not only resting benches, but also these ghosts above. isnt it amazing?! i really thought it was beautiful, and it fitted so well there. not scary at all.... just amazing... :)

i took i dont know how many pictures, and just kept telling tim how great this was (he took quite some pics too!). they are right above a 19th century family plot (but i did not really look at that, as you can imagine). it is called "nightshirts" installed in 2002, by artist leslie wilcox, who lives and works in boston. this is what she herself said about this piece: "to me, this cemetery is a place full of people. i want to celebrate generations of extended families and friends that have shared these hallowed grounds for over 150 years. i choose these particular trees for their slender, life-size girth and random placement near an extended family plot, where several paths cross. it seems as if this group of figures almost flies above the fray, looking down at us as we look up at them."

i think the idea in itself is so simple, but it is sooo original. i really, really like it.... now i wonder how it would look like on a brighter day.. :)

Third day....

.... of spring!! and it was almost 30 degrees C!! (above 80 F). so yes.. we worked hard in the morning and hardly in the afternoon (tims legs and my foot are the proof!). it was too good to be true. and actually the very first time we went to a beach around boston (good harbor beach, close to gloucester), spread a blanket and took in some sun. i guess we never did that because in summer its too hot and crowded, and we have a pool at our apartment complex! 

today, some people (very few) even went into the water, but we didnt try. it was really crowded, the parking lot was almost full... (and still without charge as its not yet paid-parking-at-the-beach-season). tomorrow it will be less warm and then we are headed towards colder weather again. hmmpf. im hoping for rain on saturday so we are forced to stay inside and finally file our taxes (beeeeghh).

First blossoms

i saw the first tree coming to blossom this saturday in the public garden! that day wasnt so sunny yet, but sunday was. and so was monday, and tuesday, and today.... it is well above 22 degrees celsius! today it even was 25 C and we had dinner outside. it feels like summer, can you believe it, in march? it is so warm that i wake up during the nights... the blankets are still for winter temperatures. tomorrow its supposed to be even 28 degrees! 

this night it seems there is something else to distract me besides the warm weather; a car alarm is going off since at least one hour... buuuuhhh. i hope that stops, but the weather can stay as it is! (i read somewhere that in the state of california cars will be towed if the alarm goes off for more than a minute, to spare people the noise. here there isnt such a law.. but it is illegal, and you can be ticketed after the alarm goes off for more than 5 minutes. the fine is then 50 dollars.. perhaps i can file a complaint to the city?)

Resting bench

2 weeks back we went to the forst hills cemetery in boston. it is not too far from the very last subway stop on the orange line (forest hills), 18 stops from the very first subway stop (oak grove), where we live. luckily, we went by car. this cemetery is huge! there were big fields with graves, surrounded by paths of which most were accessible by car (this time we drove around a bit by car, it simply was too big). there were small and big graves, ugly and beautiful. a beautiful landscape, hilly terrain, many trees, a lake and a pond with waterfall, and several sculptures.

this cemetery was established in 1848. apparently inspired by the mount auburn cemetery, of which i showed you pictures earlier. this cemetery seemed so very different to me. even more spacious, and many beautiful graves. many angel sculptures, too. something i havent seen much around here in boston! not just the boring grey stones of which i have seen so many by now. each grave was different. only the weather was very grey and that made it hard for me to take good pictures. this was also the first cemetery that invited you to have a picnick (they even suggested the lake as one of the best spots), or to walk your dog, or just bike around. provided you are respectful, of course. i really liked that, as most cemeteries list those things as "forbidden".

i was very much impressed with the grave above. there were actually 3 of these tiny beds. there were 2 right next to each other, and one a little further away. however, there were no names, info or anything. i assumed they were as old as the surrounding graves, given their weathered look, and i was very touched by them. the little pillow on the ground, the young boy or girl their parents lost...  wrong! ....its contemporary art.. :( i just found out these 3 beds were placed in 2001, by artists lisa osborn and danielle krcmar. they are supposed to be functional benches. i dont know what they mean by functional. am i supposed to sit on them? they chose the bed for its central role in the life cycle, as it is the place of conception, birth, marriage, rest and death. hmpff... (thats all i have to say about it now, i still dont know what to think).

there was more art in this cemetery, something i had never seen before. and some i really liked! maybe i will show it to you tomorrow, or next week... :) surely it was a special cemetery and we saw only a small part of it, so we will go back, when the sun is shining. here a few more pics, and here are the other taphophiles!

Green mass

as you can see, there were quite some people watching the st patricks day parade yesterday (it was 3 miles long. some places were more crowded than others. the crowded ones were quite annoying to get through, but at some point we really just wanted to leave..)

this was the damage; 8 arrests and 244 citations for drinking in public... why dont they just allow public drinking?! i dont really get that. many were drinking anyways... if they catch you carrying an open can/bottle of alcohol, thats sufficient proof that you were drinking in public and you can get a ticket (so the police does not have to see you doing it... (the actual drinking)). only sometimes drinking in public is allowed, or only when its in a bag (like the brown paper bag you always see in the movies, haha). there are actually a few places in the us where drinking in public is allowed (here you can see where).

the police blogged about their arrests, if curious, you can look at that here. they describe the situation, as well as the full name, age and hometown of the arrested person. i especially like the title of their blog post: "if you got arrested at this year's st patricks day parade, you probably did something to warrant it." 

probably you did....

Saint Patrick

i guess saint patrick lost some weight and grew his hair, as compared to last year...

reading wikipedia, im not sure that the early years of his life were that great. when he was 16, he was captured from wales and brought as a slave to ireland, where he lived for 6 years, and then managed to escape to go back to his family.

today the weather was amazing! it was so warm i did not need a jacket and i regretted wearing stockings. i even got a little sunburn! we walked along the shore in dorchester, and then went to the parade for a bit. tim initially did not want to go, as we saw it last year already. and well, yes, it was basically the same. lots of parents with kids, and then many many young people walking around with lots of beers. pretending not to drink them, of course, since thats not allowed in the streets. it all reminded me a bit of queensday in the netherlands, but instead of green, everyone wears orange on that day (after the last name of our queen "van oranje", i.e. "from orange"). also, drinking is allowed and nobody cares about their trash; when the day ends you walk on streets newly paved by plastic cups (i dont really like that day.... and usually just went to do some work in the lab although its a national holiday).

ah well, we had our dose of real irish culture and boston tradition and so on..... and a lot of sun as a very pleasant bonus!

Irish culture

today its st patricks day. according to wikipedia, it is a cultural and religious holiday, celebrated on march 17, commemorating saint patrick (AD 387-461; he died on march 17). in the early 17th century, it became an official feast day, and gradually became a celebration of irish culture in general. on this day, you goto church, you wear something green, and the lenten restrictions on eating and alcohol are lifted.

now... if you just look around in boston during st patricks day..... you see more of the above. im so frustrated this pic not sharp, but well... you get the idea. im not sure those 2 went to church, or were celebrating irish culture that much.... it seems to me its just a day spent in the pub (or waiting in a long line to get into one), and getting drunk in a weird (or weirder) green outfit...

Free speech

i still dont get what the above message has to do with the particular company, i.e. storage, but.... the message is very true. and i guess, taken broadly, it represents one of the things dutch people value very much; do whatever you want to do, as long as it doesnt bother me. which leads me to another dutch trait i like; they are far more direct than for example americans. no "excuse me" in the netherlands; if you block someone's way, they will just say "i need to pass" ("ik wil erlangs"), or even "get out of my way" ("opzij"), and thats not necessarily meant rude, while the american "excuse me" is intended to be polite, but almost always sounds very rude to me (but that could very well just be me! i so far have never managed to say "excuse me" even in situations where it would be the only way to get someone out of my way. i just cant get these words out of my mouth).

anyways, i actually wanted to write about something else! we just found out that rick santorum, still in the race to become the republican presidential candidate, has made up some disturbing "facts" about the netherlands. according to him, 10% of all deaths in the netherlands are due to euthanasia, and 5% of these are involuntarily. because of that, he has said, dutch elderly generally wear a bracelet to let health care workers know that they do not wish to be euthanized, and many of them seek health care outside the netherlands as they are afraid to never leave the hospital again, but in a coffin. here you can watch what a more sane american has to say about this (she also invited a dutch reporter). and here you can see what rick santorum's press secretary has to say to the (same) dutch reporter when asked about his ridiculous and untrue claims (it also shows what santorum said in 2009 about this).

sometimes this country and some of their people really freak me out. once again, this man, or should i say lunatic, is in the race to become a presidential candidate, and thus intends to rule this country! how is it possible that a man with very twisted ideas and values has come this far? or can repeatedly say flat out lies about a country i doubt he ever visited? what else does he make up? america, the land of the free and home to the brave... are you kidding me..?
perhaps santorum should get the above sign in his office, so that every now and then he can ponder about it. maybe one day it would make him realize that just because he doesnt like something, he should forbid others to do so.... ?

Boston houseboat

somehow i thought houseboats are only something that you will see in the netherlands... then i saw one in/on the charles river in boston! i was really surprised.... then i found out through wikipedia that houseboats are seen in many countries (they describe them country by country here). yet i doubt they are as omnipresent as they are in for example the canals in amsterdam. and the above one is really tiny. you can also move it, which is usually no really the case with houseboats in the netherlands. yes, they are floating, but thats about it... i also doubt that houseboats here are used the way they are in utrecht, close to where i used to live; there was an entire strip of houseboats, all with a red light behind the window.... for each houseboat more or less 4; a total of 143 windows or "workspaces" as they call them! i guess you know what i am talking about.... they also have a website, but its in dutch (here). and guess what, those are not in some backward part of town. right next to the "workboats" are normal boats for families. when i finally (but when?!) visit home again, i should take some pictures there... :)

for more interesting wikifacts about red windows and so on in the netherlands, go here!

Female driver

sorry! one day too late. but finally, one more grave from the sleepy hollow cemetery. right next to a bush, are walter and anne bush buried (did they plant the bush on purpose? i thought it very funny, i hope it was on purpose.. :) ). anne was the first woman in the united states to receive a driver's license! i had no clue someone had this honorable title, and i also did not know she was buried in concord, but it was on the cemetery-overview of notable people buried there. of course we had to check out her grave when we saw "mrs walter bush, first woman with a drivers license". when walking to her grave we were joking a little; ah, probably she got her license because they thought she was a man,which woman is called walter bush?! but then we realized that this is how married women are called "mrs. theirbusband'sfirstandlastname". beeghh! she was the first woman with a drivers license, can she please be addressed by her own name?! we also wondered what her grave would look like. would the stone be in the form of a car? would it somewhere say she was the first (auto)mobile lady? i didnt expect that, but indeed it did, perhaps its not very legible on this pic, but here you can clearly see it! (im just wondering who put it there? her family? upon her request.. or?). 

anyways. anne french grew up in washington. her father, a physician, had a steam drive car that he maintained himself. he promised his daughter she got to drive it if she knew how to maintain it as well. and so she did. in 1900 she obtained her license, allowing her to operate a "four-wheeled vehicle powered by steam or gas." then she married walter bush and he took over the wheel. nope, no more driving for her. she later mentioned in an interview that he found that "driving is man’s business. women shouldn’t get soiled by machinery.” and even though she now and then reminded him she was the first woman with a license.. she remained in the passenger's seat. i myself still cannot drive. and tim is very annoyed about that. by now i cannot count the lectures anymore when he tells me how beneficial it would be, for the both of us, but especially for me, if i knew how to drive (i do prefer that over walter bush's view...)

one more cute thing i found: in 1952, the american automobile association (AAA) celebrated their 50th birthday. they tracked down anne and invited her to the celebrations. she had tea with the then-president's wife and did something she apparently always had wanted to do; she got to drive a fire engine!! all that just surprises me that she just let her husband do all the driving once she was married. perhaps she was afraid of what her mother once said to her, before marriage; “no gentleman would be interested in any lady who didn’t stay where she belonged and act like one", in reaction to her daughter driving a car....

theres so much more i wanted to write, regarding cars and women and what-not. but i leave it at this. maybe some other time! here some more photos from the sleepy hollow cemetery.

and go here for all the other taphophiles!

Spring day!

above was in miami, last december during our holiday. it was so weird to be in a place where it was really warm at that time of the year. but i liked it a lot... (and would love another holiday!).

and now, today... it was 22 degrees celsius (71 F) in boston!! everyone was walking around without jackets and some even had found their flip flops... interesting how quickly people dress right for a drastic change in the weather (im not that fast). i hope it will stay like this, if i cant have my snow, this is a very nice alternative!