t
o
n
y
a
n
g
'
s
 
w
e
b
l
o
g


APR

24

2007

i managed to finish everything for client N yesterday and tried to contact them this morning to set up a time for me to bring down the computer as well as the interactives i've been building. i didn't actually get in touch with them until in the afternoon. i made the delivery, but since a big chunk of it was done all yesterday, there were still some things to fix so i came home to create a revised version and uploaded onto the ftp server. hopefully with that one client out of the way i can now focus on client S. i was up late last night patching up something so they could test this morning. i've been trying to buy some time for myself but it seems like every day they want me to deliver something. just thinking about it gives me this warm feeling but in a bad way, like a flaring ulcer. i know it's getting bad because it's starting to affect my sleep. i don't have insomnia but my mind is anxious and i wake up earlier than i should, the stress of multiple deadlines keeping me awake. it's only 2 more weeks and then i should be done done. no more projects after that, i'll have plenty of opportunity to enjoy my free time.

in the evening i went with julie to the boston public library for a lecture titled, "the pleasure, art and science of birding," as part of mt.auburn cemetery's 175th anniversary. the crowd were mostly silverfoxes, high society folks, people with money. the title is misleading and the three panelists gave talks that were somewhat related to the topic but not exactly. wayne petersen talked about how the mt.auburn cemetery is an oasis for birds and what the cemetery is doing to make it even more bird-friendly. to be honest, this was the most boring part of the evening and i nearly fell asleep. scott weidensaul gave a lecture on the history of birding, how birding in the past meant going out with a shotgun and shooting the birds to be identified. advances in modern optics, in transportation, and in the quintessential field guide manual revolutionized the way people birdwatch today. finally, norman smith, director of the blue hills trailside museum, gave a presentation on his work with owls, particularly snowy owls. he had a fantastic boston accent and some of his stories made the audience laugh hysterically in their seats. the assistants in his slideshow photos were his kids, grabbing onto all sorts of owls with their bare hands. to top it off, afterwards he brought out a small screech owl (it was rotating its head like a robot) as well as a large red-tailed hawk (the hawk was antsy and tried to fly away a few times).

afterwards julie and i walked in the direction of park street. even though we were within striking distance of chinatown, julie wasn't in the mood for asian so instead we went to jacob wirth. the place was pretty empty, a slow night, and i ended up getting a so-so mushroom burger.