jesse came over in the afternoon so we could do some local birding at the mt.auburn cemetery. before we went, i showed her my aquariums. since she was thinking about getting a canon digital SLR in the near future, i also fielded any dSLR questions she had and let her try out my lenses.

i was expecting to see a showcase of flowering trees but there was hardly any color at all, with most of them still in the bud stage and the only things ostentatious were an occasional perennial bulb here and there. bird activity were plenty but the only ones we saw were common year-round birds, nothing new. the only thing mildly interesting was an immature red-tailed hawk up in a tree down by auburn lake. even more entertaining was the woman grabbling a telephoto camera running around the edge of the water chasing after the raptor. she left her car keys on a bench (jesse didn't want to be my accomplice when i suggested we steal her vehicle to do some graveyard joyriding) and later left her bag on the road as well. when we came back to the area after wandering into the dell, the woman was still there, seemingly transfixed by the hawk who did its best in trying to avoid all that unwanted attention by flying away. since it was april fool, i thought it'd be a great idea to dress up as a bird and sit up in a tree. not one of those ironic mascot costumes, but a realistic outfit, so it'd totally freak people out when they saw a human-sized bird. fortunately most birders don't carry guns so the danger of being shot and mounted as a trophy would be minimal. something to think about for next year.

besides the birds shown above, there were also plenty of grackles and we saw a phoebe from a distance. we also heard the tell-tale shriek of a bluejay but didn't actually see it. coming back from the cemetery, we drove through the very posh cambridge neighborhood between huron avenue and brattle street, the sort of place where men ride bicycles in their cardigans and blazers. back at home, i chatted briefly with my neighbors margot and jeff. margot had just gotten back from new york where flowers were already blooming (here in new england we're probably a week or so behind) and jeff was educating us about the warm vernal lights. jen had just gotten back from somewhere and was giggling like she just did something naughty. "april fool is my favorite day!" she yelled out before going inside her place.

soon afterwards i went to belmont for dinner. my mother was grumbling about how my sister was still busy helping the girl she nannies with her science project, so we decided to order out instead. we ended up getting two large pizzas from domino's, sausage and garlic on one, hawaiian on the other. i ate four slices before i called it quits. figuring i could take some home, i was surprised to find that my sister and the girl had finished all the pizza.

once i got back home i spent the rest of the night working on client N's project. it's 4am and i just finished, time to get some sleep. it's going to be a busy week.