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oh my god what a great sleep last night, what little i had! a comfortably warm evening, the kind of summery night where you don't need a blanket, even though it was just the start of spring. i sort of eased into this really cozy unconscious. being someone who doesn't get a lot of sleep usually, i really savor the sleep time i can get, a connoisseur of sleep if you will.

i woke up this morning staring at the digital thermometer and seeing the temperature in the 70's. i quickly got dressed in riding clothes (jeans, boots, and a really tight t-shirt) and backed out the motorcycle from the garage, put on my helmet, my sunglasses, and my gloves. i kicked the bike into gear and went to the office. a smooth ride, my eyes didn't even water up when i sped down memorial drive (i think it's weather dependent, if it's too cold, my eyes water up more). it wasn't my first time riding into the office this year (actually my 3rd), but it was the first time this year i rode to the office on a day other than the weekend. i love coming in to work after a ride, helmet craddled in my arm, gloves in one hand, sunglasses in the other. it's like, "hey, i was just on a 20 minute amusement park ride, wish you were here!"

coming up the stairs i saw a large fly bashing its head against the closed window of the stairwell trying to find an exit. i went into the office, dropped my gear, and carried my venus flytrap to that same window, where i set the plant on the windowsill, hoping to catch the fly. the fly was having none of that. i don't think venus flytraps really attract insects. it emits no odors and has no distinguishable marks that would be appealing to insects. if it eats, it's purely by accident that the hapless insect falls into its collapsing maw. i decided to take matters into my own hands. i went back inside, grabbed an outdated bugs report (notice the irony here), and went out to smack the fly so i could handfeed the venus flytrap. by then rebecca was witnessing this whole event. it took about 10 hits before i was actually able to stun the fly (it wasn't my intention to bash it into a pulp, just enough of a hit to knock it unconscious for a few seconds). it fell helplessly to the ground, whereby i picked it up by its wings (if it had moved at that point, i would've screamed like a little girl for sure, i don't mind dead insects, but not when they suddenly come back to live), and gently nuzzled it (it was a large fly) into one of the jaws...snap! the trap quickly drew closed as the fly was swallowed up. rebecca was chanting "ohmigod" from the sidelines. success!

later during the day sam rushed to my desk and told me that he had another fly for me to feed to my plant. i ran with him into the conference room, where there was a seemingly dead fly on the ground. when i went to go pick up it, it suddenly moved (i was startled, but i didn't scream like a little girl because there were so many other people there, although i might've said, "oh" in a less than masculine manner) and flew away. sam hit it again, and it seemed to have stunned it, but we couldn't find it anymore on the floor (maybe he smashed it into another dimension, i've heard about these things happening). oh well. one fly is enough anyway, it's a single plant, what nourishment can be derived from one flytrap will feed the rest of the plant.

by noontime the weather was stifling. logan airport officially registered 90 degrees (that's 32 degrees celsius for those of your in the metric world). i went with eliza hoover to the mall. i was to meet julie and dave for lunch, eliza was going shopping for wedding shoes. along the way, we saw a large (3 feet at least) iguana clinging onto a screen window of a 2nd story apartment. i guess its a good day for reptiles, all tropical like. i got to the tsh building with no dave or julie in sight. ah, cellphone time! i called julie and she said they were just about to come down. i waited outside in the intense heat, already starting to break out in a sweat. julie and dave came out of the building, all smiles, dave immediately point to my shoes, exclaiming, "he's wearing black shoes too!" we visited the food court, julie got indian, dave and i patronizing good old fashion healthy burger king. dave got the chicken sandwich combo, i got the whopper junior. we ate outside by the water behind the galleria mall. our location (partly founded by me) wasn't the best, downwind from the water fountain, we could feel the dirty mist blowing onto us while we ate. a topless fatty and his more well endowed girlfriend motored off in their speedboat.

originally scheduled to run with alex and maybe some of the office ladies, that plan quickly fell apart as all the formerly eager participants dropped out for one reason or another (injury, intense 93 degrees heat, etc.). i could've gone either way, and wasn't terribly disappointed (when it's this hot, it's probably not a good idea to be running anyway, but i've ran in similar temperature, and no heat stroke yet). that left room in my schedule for me to go out with laurie for dim sum dinner at china pearl. she called and said stephanie boutin, former srm employee, would be joining us as well, and that we'd meet at laurie's apartment at 6:15pm.

i couldn't decide whether to leave the motorcycle parked at the office or ride it to central square, but in the end i opted for the ride, the weather was just too nice not to take advantage of it cruising 20mph above the posted speed limit on memorial drive. i got to laurie's place 10 minutes early and rang the doorbell. she answered, but said it'd be a few minutes so i stood awkwardly outside as she finished her shower and finally came downstairs. we sat on her steps waiting for stephanie to show up. while i was 10 minutes early, stephanie was 15 minutes late.

we took the t to chinatown. laurie sat opposite steph and me on the subway, next to a man who was carrying all these dirty trash bags and eating noodles out of a container with his bare hands.

this was our first time coming to the new night dim sum at china pearl, and actually stephanie's first dim sum experience. the restaurant was so quiet and empty, a farcry from the weekend's crowd, even on its slowest day. the place almost seemed deserted, there were was nobody around. a bilingual sign directed up to the 3rd floor, where there were about 10-15 tables of dim sum patrons, mostly non-asians. i really like the relaxed atmosphere for this night dim sum, but the selection seemed limited, even though i was able to get my tripe and chicken feet (although i had to ask for it, the woman pushing the tripe/chicken feet cart wasn't even going to offer it to us because she probably assumed we wouldn't be interested in those items). we had a nice dinner conversation, most of the time it was laurie and steph talking, with me occasionally adding my own perspective on the matter. i don't mind, listening to smart conversation is just as interesting as actually participating. after we finished our meal (stephanie was very brave, ate everything except the tripe and the chicken feet), we stayed around some door, just drinking tea and chatting. most interesting topic was the subject of women safety issues. it's something i wasn't that conscious of, but life in the big city (or anywhere else for that matter) presents challenges to women that men don't necessarily experience. men might be victims of violent crimes, but women are also more often the victims of sexual crimes as well. it's not fair that our modern society can't be safer for women.

after china pearl we visited that upstairs place where you can get bubble ice tea. stephanie treated us because laurie and i paid for her dim sum meal, since it's her birthday tomorrow. i had the star fruit bubble ice tea (kind of nasty tasting, salty, not as good as the passion fruit drink i had last time), laurie had the banana shake, and steph got just a regular bubble ice tea. though the tea was fine, steph had a hard time digesting the tapioca balls at the bottom of the cup. she showed us her new cellphone and demonstrated the custom ring tone she'd set for herself, some sort of salsa beat. laurie, a cellphone veteran, showed us some features on our nokias that we weren't aware of.

we took the t back to central square, grabbed our stuff from laurie's apartment, and headed home. by then the temperature had dipped 30 degrees down to the 60's. i had a nice motorcycle ride back to my house.


celtics fans going home! the c's are playoff bound!
dare i dream? could they be? the start of a brand new dynasty!