i knew it was important to get a good night's sleep since i had a long day today, but i still slept terribly. with a delivery on monday and the code not yet finished, i was feeling some stress, enough so that i had bizarre work-induced nightmares. originally i planned on going down to the head of the charles this morning for some more picture taking. i even got dressed, but decided to do some work instead, get a head start so i wouldn't have to finish everything later tonight. until i could get this work done, it'd be hard to relax enough to enjoy the simple things in life.

i did however go down to the charles river around noontime, to check out the youth eights races. pau was in the living room with his cocoa rice krispies videochatting in catalan with his family back home in majorca. i turned up the heat for him before i left, figuring he shouldn't have to suffer through a cold sunday morning.

i took the bicycle, which made it easier going down the wrong direction on one way streets. i got there during the youth doubles. the lightweight singles was next, followed by the youth eights. people were leaving so i got a pretty good spot right in middle of the JFK bridge. the sky was overcast, and unlike yesterday there was no wind, so it actually felt kind of warm.

i took a bunch of photos but most of them were blurry. not enough light for a fast shutter speed combined with moving targets always make for tough shooting. i'm also not sure if standing directly above the incoming rowers is the best vantage point. i think slightly off to the side would be better. oh well, there's always next year!

lightweight singles:

youth eights men:

what struck my attention the most were the hairstyles. when did boys decide that the beiber haircut was cool? was it the same time flipped up collars made an unwanted comeback?

bonus photos:

british boys from the prestigious eton college and a few boat crashes:

youth eights women:

it got surprisingly chilly by the time i was getting ready to leave. turns out it was from the increased moisture in the air from an incoming storm front. it began to drizzle as i rode my bicycle home. pau had already gone out, but left the heat on. i turned it back down, gathered up my things, and headed to belmont. it was still raining, but the weather forecast said it was only a spot shower, so i decided to risk taking the motorcycle. i arrived in belmont partially soaked, my pants and my soaks completely wet. good thing nobody was home so i spent the day in my long underwear, watching the football game from my parents' bed. my sister was at work, and my parents had taken the dog with them to kittery maine.

when my parents got back, my father and i decided to do a taste test of the various quince jellies: the jelly he made from reboiling last year's quince juice; my first quince jelly attempt (1.0); and my latest quince jelly batch (2.0). my father's jelly was very thick, and wasn't as sweet because he didn't put in as much sugar as i did. he said it didn't have a strong flavor, but i didn't notice. next we tried jelly 1.0. it was soft and wet, more pudding than jelly, but the jelly kind of melts in your mouth, which is a good thing. jelly 2.0 has good flavor but its thicker. from a purely textural sensation, jelly 1.0 is the better jelly. my next batch of quince jelly will be the soft kind.

i had a dry return trip back to cambridge. i wasn't looking forward to coming home because i knew i'd have to get to work as soon as i got back. pau wasn't home, but not that it made any difference, because i basically camped out in my bedroom until 11:00, when i finally finished my code and sent it off to the client. now i'm enjoying a little bit of those post-delivery high.