today i got to partition an old g3 (biege box) into 4 pieces and install testing operating systems onto each one: systems 8.1, 8.5, 8.6, and tomorrow 9.0. i also need to install system 7.0 and 7.5 on an older machine. i don't think we have machines in the office that old. it has to be an old 68040 machine, not a powerpc, which most of the macs at work seem to be, even the really crappy ones.

i got amanda to cut my grass for me again. she seems to really enjoy trimming my grass, and i seem to really enjoy watching her do it. she has a knack for lawn care which i can see easily transitioning into a lucrative career as a hair stylist. she noted that my grass is close to dying. there's no more healthy grass left, most of it is starting to become stems.

after work, rob amanda eliza stef dan amy and carrie went out for drinks down at fanieul hall, at the black rhino. several people tried to get me to go but i told them i had a previous engagement (i.e. running with julie at the arnold arboretum). maybe they wanted me there to document the drunken festivities. i sort of get the feeling that my constant photo taking is rubbing some people the wrong way, that it's bordering on annoying, so i think i'm going to be cutting back on my photo taking output, at least in the office. i think the photos i take are being used for purposes other than just simple look and enjoy. the purpose of my phototaking isn't to embarass or humiliate people, but rather to capture their image and immortalize that precise moment in time forever. we all took the t together, but they got off at park street (to take the green line) while i rode the red line to south station.

at the shuttle dropoff zone where i arranged to meet julie, i bumped into dan who looked much healthier than when i saw him last monday night. we exchanged some chitchat and then he left because he was late in meeting cymara. i sat down to wait for julie, thinking that maybe she missed the shuttle again, but along she came, startled me a bit - apparently she got there early and was just getting some last minute snacks.

we took the orange line down to forest hill. i don't remember ever riding the orange line as far south as forest hill, so it was a new experience for me. when we got there, we walked about a block to get to one of the many set of gates that go into arnold arboretum. i'm too lazy to describe what happened, so here's our arboretum run in images:

examining the map

portapotties

exploring jewel weed*

time lapse julie running

julie on the rocks

tony on the rocks

dog walker and dogs

southern view of boston skyline

* this was my second time this week showing somebody the coolness of jewel weeds, how when you gently touch the seedcase, it pops open violently, scattering the seeds everywhere and leaving behind a coil of green tendrils.

this was my first time run carrying the digital camera with me. i think it hampered my running to a small extent, but i did manage to get some sweet photos. i was afraid that all that jiggling would damage the mechanisms inside the camera, but after all that bouncing, the camera still worked. coming back out it was dusk and in the sky we could see numerous bats swooping the air for insects. the place wasn't crowded at all, just a handful of people we might occasionally run by. a few runners like ourselves, a fair share of dog walkers, and an occasional strolling couple. it's a nice place to visit, and i definitely want to go back when there's more sun out, and where i can have time to explore the place more thoroughly.

we went back to the forest hill station and got off at stony brook, where we got out and walked to a more commercial part of jamaica plain. i bought a small slurpee from a 7-11 (blue raspberry mixed with pina colada), slurped it down, then proceded to have the worst case of feeling all that slush clog up my pipes. julie and i ended up at bella luna, a nice little place specializing in homemade pizzas. the inside was all painted red, which was either meant to induce a stronger appetite, convey a sense of comraderie with communists, or a safe haven for satanists. or maybe they did it to make the place look funky. the restaurant is also weird because in the basement there's live music, karaoke, and a bowling alley. quite an interesting establishment. we walked in terribly underdressed, wearing nothing but our revealing running outfits, while most of the other patrons had on their thursday evening finests.

the plates were also special as well, each one unique with what appears to be children's doodle on the face of the plate. mine said "godzilla." when our waitress arrived, i ordered a medium pedro martinez pizza, which is steak tips with carameled onions, with my own personal addition of basil (which i couldn't really taste)**. i finished about half before i couldn't eat anymore. one of the things we talked about during our dinner conversation was words that make us uncomfortable (same discusssion we had on the hampton monday afternoon). words like moist or panties or crevasses. julie tried to get me to squirm by blurting out inappropriate words in the hopes of making me wince. julie was also enamoured with the word "toastbone" and couldn't stop praising the ingenuity of that compound word.

with our leftover food doggy bagged, we walked to the nearest t stop traveling north, which was jackson square. the train took us back to downtown crossing, where we then got on the red line, and headed back home.

(** 010908 at klea's bbq party, julie scolded me for not writing down what she had for dinner. to be quite honest, i didn't remember what she had, that's why i didn't make any mention of it. i think she had some sort of barbecue chicken with tomato and something green)