i rode down to 241 optical in harvard square to see if i could talk to michael about repairing my scratched eyeglass lens. i tried a new route to harvard square this time. at the intersection of carver and museum street is a secret shortcut that leads to irving street. from there i kept going south down felton and ware until i got to the intersection of harvard street and mass ave. the temperature was cold, around 20°F, and even with gloves my fingers were freezing. michael was at the store so i figured i'd just wander around the square a little bit. unfortunately it was just too blustery and after a few minutes i decided to go back home. a cop guarding a union-protested construction site saw me with my camera and asked if i could answer a question for him. apparently his wife has a canon rebel xsi. he ordered her a lens for christmas - a tamron 18-200mm - and wondered if she'd like it.

coming back home i went my usual route up oxford street. i took a detour down museum street to take another look at the shortcut. since i was already out anyway, i made yet another detour and went to market basket instead to get some groceries.

UPS automated messaging system called me this morning at 8:00. as soon as i heard it was UPS, i hung up the phone and ran to the front door, thinking it was my roommate's computer delivery. there was nobody outside. the automated message was just to let me know that the package was out for delivery. it got me so worried though that i couldn't go back to sleep and stood guard until my roommate finally woke up 2 hours later. it goes without saying that he didn't leave the house today. the computer didn't arrive until 4:30.

i stood by with the camera while my roommate unpacked his new macbook pro (MBP). following my lead, he brought out his camera as well. we were like two paparazzi snapping away at the new laptop sitting on the kitchen table. the 2009 MBP is all slick and stylish compared to my 2006 MBP. i walked my roommate through the initial setup process, helping him download a few necessary software. he was keen to install a copy of windows xp through bootcamp but was unsuccessful even after 3 attempts (i think it's because he partitioned his windows block a second time via some microsoft PC disk tool). with each new thing i showed him in OS X, the more he began to fall into the cult of mac. coverflow navigation! genie effect! magnifying dock! handwriting recognition for chinese input! video effects! i bet he's kicking himself for not getting a mac sooner. i personally think his new computer's cool, but i'm more jealous of his camera. at least i no longer have to put up with his noisy sony viao anymore.

for dinner he shared some zongzi he bought last weekend in manhattan. they were frozen so we cooked them by boiling. he mysterious stepped out of the house and came back minutes later with a bottle of vodka in a paper bag. besides being addicted to nicotine, he also has a drinking habit. he's much too old for me to lecture him; besides, he's going back to china in 5 more days.

tomorrow i'm finally taking him on a tour of boston. it's for my benefit as much as his, gives me a chance to explore the city through fresh eyes and some possible photo ops. temperature will be cold and since my roommate doesn't have a hat, i found one he could borrow. he said he didn't need one after all when he saw that it had tassels. what's so wrong with tassels?