i went to the library today and checked out "the light of other days" (2000) by arthur c. clarke and stephen baxter. when i first found out about the premise i knew i had to read it: in the future scientists harness the power of quantum physics to create wormholes in the present and the past, a world of instant peepholes where the notion of privacy no longer exists and the notion of lying becomes obsolete since anyone can look into your background to check if you were telling the truth.

i went to the cambridge recycling department and picked up another plastic recycle bin. they had a whole stack and all they asked was for me to write my name and address. getting the bin home was a challenge since it was too big to fit inside my milk crate. instead, i put it outside the crate like a lid (it fit perfectly). it rattled the whole way home but i got it back in one piece. this is the second time i've had my recycle bin stolen. i'm sure one of my neighbor has it but just hasn't taken the time to check that i've written my address on the bin. i've gone a completely different strategy with this new bin however: i wrapped it in several bands of packaging tape, so not only does it look very distinctive, but from a distance it looks like a broken bin held together by tape. hopefully no one will steal this one, but it's not too big a deal to get another one from the recycle department.

after lunch i went to market basket to pick up a few things (english muffins, gallon of milk). i noticed that the nearby paper company that became a boxing studio will now be a liquor store/indian market. i think it's a great idea; i'm just worried about the parking situation, since it's usually very busy to begin with. i then headed to union square to mail off copies of my medical bills to my motorcycle insurance company (the agent finally called me back today). outside was a little corgi dog tied to a fence, waiting for his owner. there was a testing fire hydrant pouring out water into the street. i turned around to change my lens and saw a girl already crouched down taking some photos herself. she took a bunch with her point-and-shoot then took a few more with her iphone.

for dinner, some frozen chinese dumplings. for some reason i was tuned into frontline on PBS and finished eating while watching a man commit suicide on television (it was a story about assisted suicides in switzerland).