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Lynn, Lynn, city of sin

You never go out the way you came in.

Click here to see the set ...I've been meaning/wanting to take some photos in Central Square in Lynn for a while. It's such an interesting place. Beautiful old brick buildings, lots of wonderful details, rich textures, strong color and lines, great light ... but also gritty and tough and decrepid and dirty. I was there on Saturday for the opening of the PAINT! exhibit at Lynn Arts (My mom has three paintings in the show). I shot about 50 photos in a half hour or so and have posted 10 of the ones I like best in this Flickr set (click on thumbnails to view larger).

Central Square, rainy day

(Mosaics created with fd's Flickr Toys.)
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Green day


The dog feels it is her solemn duty to keep an eye on all the critters in my folks' back yard. Click to view larger.

This was an Adobe Photoshop experiment -- I saved the photo in web safe colors to see if that would make a big difference online. It looks a little green to me. But, to be honest, the original might also be a little green. For some reason a lot of my pictures come out a little green.

Meanwhile, here's one that I uploaded without doing a friggin' thing to it:

Hot dog
Father's Day, 2006: Recovering from a romp on a hot sunny day.

Good thing I went ahead and splurged on Photoshop. One of these days I am actually going to figure out how to use it.
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Week 10: I need a weight loss slogan

Ten weeks into the Weight Watchers program and I'm starting to lose my cynicism about the program. It's kind of hard to be snarky and sarcastic about something that's helped me lose 15 pounds so far.

Although I'm pretty sure I burned a few calories at this week's meeting trying not to laugh out loud at some of the positive affirmations the leader suggested. "I can do this," "I deserve to be thin," "I am my own best friend," and so on. I just couldn't stop thinking of Stuart Smalley saying "I'm good enough, I'm smart enough, and doggon it, people like me."

WW is big on this kind of thing. On the WW site there are message boards, and many of the people who post there have little slogans as part of their signature. Stuff like "Nothing tastes as good as thin feels" and "A moment on the lips, a lifetime on the hips," and "The only impossible journey is the one you never begin."

So in an attempt to be a more loyal WW member, I'm trying to come up with a slogan of my own. Something motivational. Something meaningful. Something that will ... Oh, who the hell am I kidding? Here's what I've got so far:

"Nothing tastes as good as thin feels. Except cake. But other than that."

"I'm throwing my boobs a going away party."

"I swear to God I am just big boned!"

"Never wear jeans on weigh-in day."

"Mmmmm, fat-free, sugar-free pudding."

Feel free to leave your weight loss slogan suggestions in the comments section. I love getting comments almost as much as I love cake.
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The friends and family plan

I am still working on editing the photographs from Lee and Katie's wedding and posting them on Flickr. You can see what I've uploaded so far on the wedding set page.

Although some of these photos are public, I'm going to make most of the rest of them visible only to friends and family. That way I don't upset anyone who has little kids (no matter how freaking adorable they are) or embarrass anyone who was dancing to the YMCA song in a funny hat.

The tricky part of that is getting this bunch to register on Flickr so I can give them permission to view and print the photos.

Katie's wedding066_edited

There are lots of benefits to using Flickr instead of one of the other photo sharing sites. For one thing, I understand that the quality of the prints is better. For another, you can actually see the photos before you order them (the ones on those other sites usually look all squidgy because they don't want people to be able to just right click and save the photo to their own hard drive.

Basically it would involve friends and family signing up for a (free) Flickr account and either adding me as a contact or telling me their contact name so I can add them. It might not sound that complicated, but we're not dealing with the most technologically savvy group here.

Although, to be fair, I'm pretty sure my mom ordered those bright blue shoes on the Internets.
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A funny hat, a roll of duct tape, and thou

Father's Day 2006

A funny hat, a roll  of duct tape, and thou

My mom and dad have declared war on the winter and gypsy moths. Their weapon of choice? Duct tape (of course) wrapped sticky side out around the trunks of all of the trees in their backyard. And, in fact, around the neighbor's trees. As I watched them wandering down the street and into the neighbor's yard, brandishing a roll of the tape of the gods, I had a little premonition of me, in 20 years, calling out to them: "Mom! Dad! Come back, now ... That's not your house!"

(Shhh, don't mention the fact that the caterpillars can just crawl underneath the tape, OK?)
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Honey, can you run down to the Wagon Shed?

Honey, can you run down to the Wagon Shed?

We are COMPLETELY out of eggs and bunnies.
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Things that need to be abolished immediately

1. Cropped pants.
2. Television ads for local furniture stores.
3. Headlines Written in Title Case.

Or should it be Headlines Written In Title Case?
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Lots of lovely things to look at

My mom's site has been updated for the summer, with calendar information about upcoming shows in Gloucester and Lynn and some lovely new artwork. Pears and Blue Checked Cloth, left, is my new favorite. Please be patient while the photos load -- it's worth the wait!

Also, I've started a set of photos of Katie's wedding on Flickr. I took a lot of photos and I'm still working on editing them, but I'll be adding new ones as time permits, so keep checking back here (that's the Flickr set page).

And Katie's official wedding pictures are now online. You need a password to see them, though -- if you lost yours or didn't get one, email me or Katie.
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Reason #297 why I am a bad bridesmaid

Make a face!

I say "make a funny face!" and snap the picture ... even though I said I wouldn't.

And then post the result online.

OH, fine ... here are two nice ones. (Maybe I was not the worst bridemaid ever after all?) I'll try to post more soon.

Smile! Kiss!
(click to see them larger)
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The $309K fixer-upper

The upstairs unit, after months and months and months of fits and starts of activity, long stretches of inactivity, and general mayhem and madness, is officially on the real estate market.

And no, I'm not going to link to the online listing, you stalker.

The crazy upstairs neighbor has it listed for $309,000. This is for a three-bedroom (and it's only a three bedroom by a technicality--there's a closet in the tiny sunroom over the front porch) condominium in a below-average (bordering on sketchy) neighborhood. With a pile of rubble in the middle of the living room floor. And leaky pipes. And outdated wiring. And a yellow- and black-tiled kitchen that hasn't been updated in 50 years. And an asbestos-covered furnace. And a basement that floods any time it rains even one single inch. And, oh by the way, the very exciting prospect of entering into a legal contract with a drunken maniac.

Real estate bubble? What real estate bubble?

By the way, do you have time to read one more quick crazy upstairs neighbor story? Yes? OK, here's the thing. The crazy upstairs neighbor still has no electricity. She is using the common outlet in the basement and a long extension cord to do her so-called renovations. The crazy upstairs neighbor has a microwave oven propped up on a milk crate down in the cellar (naturally). So a craving for a microwave burrito hits and what does she do?

She.

Un.

Plugs.

The.

Sump.

Pump.

You know, the one in the basement that floods any time it rains even one single inch. And then she goes on her merry drunk way. And leaves the miscrowave plugged in and the sump pump unplugged.

Seriously, anyone in the market for a $309,000 fixer-upper?

Please?
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