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had a project meeting with client P in cambridgeport this morning. haven't seen craig in well over a year, it's always a pleasure working with him, not the least of which his office is in cambridge as well so it's just a short commute away. after we finished up around noontime, i went to the library to get some new books:

i came home, researched some recipes, then decided to make my barbecue chicken pizza again. i went out to pick up some ingredients and when i came back i had rice noodles for lunch.

when did i become the guy who calls the cops all the time? i average one call to the police every year for whatever reason. last year, somebody had smashed the window of a neighbor's car. a few years before that, there was a hit-and-run on my motorcycle. today i called to report a suspicious activity. there's been a slew of burglaries in my neighborhood in recent months. since i'm home most of the time, i'm in the best position to notice anything out of the ordinary. today i saw a man riding a bicycle and holding a large gap shopping bag in one hand. didn't think much of it at first, since my street gets its share of thoroughfare traffic. but then i noticed the same man again, circling the block a second time. by the time i saw him on his third comeback, i was suspicious, and followed him from my living room window. i watched as he looked around once more and suddenly stopped by my next door neighbor's house. he seemed to be in a hurry, looking under the floormat, lifting up a potted plant, running his fingers along the edges of the door. he's trying to find a key! i was momentarily frozen watching a possible crime in progress. i've been training for this, but instead of reaching for my camera to take a photo, i got involved and went outside. i didn't say anything, but he saw me come out, and quickly got back on his bike and rode away. he muttered something like, "i was looking for a friend," as i watched him disappear down the street. before i knew it i had my cellphone out, speed dialing the cambridge police. i told the dispatch what happened, and they said they'd send somebody over. 20 minutes later i saw a bicycle cop riding around outside, taking some notes. not sure if my phone call made any difference, but maybe the cops will keep an eye on the neighborhood a little bit more. i hope at the very least i sort of scared that burglar away, and he won't want to come back. if he does however, i'll have my camera ready. maybe if i had a photo the police could've caught the guy or at least warn the neighbors.

later i visited my garden. i pruned the nasturtiums down to the stems; i'll plant the ones that regrow their leaves. i still have some nasturtium seeds (both from the packet and from the indoor plants) so i can start some new ones whenever i want. the few tomatillos i planted weren't doing very well so i covered them up with the plastic cups. apparently that has a therapeutic effect because they're doing much better now. once they're strong enough i'll take the covers off. i also found my single basil plant. i thought i lost it but it was just hiding underneath one of the plastic cups.

by the time julie arrived in the evening, i already had my homemade (via bread machine) pizza dough, onion slices, and was in the process of grilling the chicken breasts on the foreman grille. since i had extra dough, i decided to make 2 pizzas. julie wrestled control of one of them, adding to hers basil and oregano, while going light on the onion and pepper rings. she also cooked hers for an extra 5 minutes and switched the pizzas mid-bake to a different rack.

after julie left i could finally focus on the game between the celtics and the pistons. long story short, celtics won game 5 although the pistons kept it tense throughout the entire 4th quarter, cutting the celtics lead to just a single point. game 6 is friday in detroit. given the celtics post-season track record, i have this weird feeling that there will be a game 7 in boston come sunday. also: did anyone else see bill belichick with his new girlfriend? i didn't even think he liked girls!