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i woke up early at 8:30, so i could have enough time to catch the 9:30 73 bus to belmont, so i could then see the start of the cambridge city run at 10:30. while waiting for the bus to come at the upper busway in harvard square, a young crazy asian man sat next to me on the bench. he was playing around with a smartphone and repeating whatever he saw on the screen. i got a feeling he wanted to talk to me but it was too early to play nice with the mentally challenged so i got up and waited standing even though my bag was hurting my shoulder. on the bus there were a few people heading to the run as well; i could tell because they were wearing running clothes and their bib numbers. they weren't too sure which stop to get off at but once again i was not in a helpful mood so i said nothing.

there was actually another event today worth checking out, the greek parade in boston, which kicks off the parade season. the last time i went was 2 years ago. there was probably more photo opps, but with my bum shoulder i decided to take it easy and go to the more local event instead.

from my parents' place to the start of the race in front of 700 huron was just a short walk across the payson park playground. i carried just my camera, slung around my neck. earlier, before heading out, the camera strap actually slipped off when i took it out of the bag, which then made me paranoid that it'd happen again. i came to the city run last year. it's called the "city" run even though it takes place in the least settled area of cambridge, on the border with the town of belmont, around the fresh pond reservoir. i imagine some of the runners are using this as practice for the big marathon event happening next weekend. for me it was practice as well, in case i do end up going to the marathon to take photos (depending on the weather and how i feel and if i can ride the bike).

this was also the first time i was using my dSLR for an extended period of time, and i wanted to see how it feels with the broken collarbone. even with the strap only around my neck (and not across my chest over the shoulder), there was some discomfort, and i wasn't even carrying my usual camera bag. whenever i had the chance i'd just hold the camera in my hand to lessen the burden on my injury.

once the race began i walked up huron avenue to fresh pond parkway to wait for the runners to come around on their final approach to the finish line. last year i did this by bike which made it faster, but it wasn't so bad walking, especially since they closed the road for the race.

the inner loop of the race course presents a special challenge since the organizers didn't close it off to pedestrians. racers had to contend with obstacles like bikers, strollers, children, and especially dogs, since they must resist their urge to gave chase. it's a no-win situation for everyone involved, as i overheard one dog owner said it was a waste of time to be there since he couldn't walk his dog.

once the torrent of runners slowed down to a trickle, i started walking back. i was seeing runners who'd already finished walking home after the race.

there were branches to be collected in the backyard but for some reason i stayed indoors all day. there were some very strong winds howling outside, blowing around yard debris, toppling barrels. i had some chicken noodle soup for lunch. since i had some time, i did taxes for my 2nd aunt, e-filed her federal return, printed out her state taxes for a small refund. for dinner we had wonton soup. i got a ride back to cambridge. in the back of the car was 2 cartons of dansk chinaware my father had picked up (curbage), in a mesa black pattern.

before the start of my sunday night of stories, i had an irresistible craving for something salty, so i ran across the street to buy a box of cheez-it snack mix. however, when i came back home, i suddenly lost interest.

this was a new experience for me, not having to download all my sunday shows, since i temporarily have nearly all the premium channels. so besides mad men on AMC and vikings on history (channels i normally get), there was also game of thrones on HBO and shameless on showtime. it was hard to decide what to watch but i ended up going with the 2+ hour season premiere of mad men. i feel mad men has lost momentum since it's been off the air for a while, but maybe catching tonight's episode might rekindle some of that magic. i don't know if i liked it, but it definitely made me feel stupid watching it because i feel like a lot of stuff is going over my head. what year is it supposed to be anyway? i noticed a lot of moustaches and sideburns, which suggests early 70's.

mad men went over 2 hours so when i switched over to the 11:00 rebroadcast of game of thrones i already missed 8 minutes of it. i'll need to download vikings since the latest episode isn't on on demand. i've been watching this show since episode 1, but i have renewed interested ever since learning that lagertha is played by the same katheryn winnick who was also in satan's little helper (2004).