Urban Adventure - Boston!

Bill and I decided to do a little vacationing in our home town.  Granted, we didn't actually take any vacation time and we weren't in our home town but it was still sort of like that.  We booked an airbnb in Boston and had a long weekend adventure.

We took the bus down on Wednesday night and worked from the apartment on Thursay and Friday.  But that meant we just had to walk out the door to be in the city at night and no long drive home after dinner.

Here is our home away from home in the South End.

We had the penthouse flat.  Those spiral stairs lead to the roof deck (aka the cigar bar).

The place was small but perfect for two people with high end appliances (which we only used to make tea) and a gorgeous view.

Our first night out we only had to walk to the end of our street to find a tapas restaurant and start taking selfies.

Thursday night we actually walked farther afield - several blocks - before settling on Latin American food.  The waiter told me the empanada plate was small so I ordered an app and a side dish….only to find myself with enough food for a family of four.  I ate it all.

The small park near our place had some decorations…I think this is supposed to be water in the fountain?  I'm sure it looks more like something at night.  

It was nice to have the city on our doorstep on the weeknights but we were looking forward to the weekend….

Gallery of Bill's Bad Art

If you walk through my Mom's house you'll see a gallery of bad art.  Ninety percent of it I created.  Sometimes it is simply a card I drew.  Other times it is a painting of something I think Mom will like.

She's always appreciative and complimentary.  But she has limits, as she once said that the mod paintings of flowers I gave her wasn't her style.  Jen took it and has it on her desk, so it worked out.  In a way, her weeding that one out means she actually does like the ones hanging in her house.

Without further babbling, my gallery of bad art.

I shouldn't have tried to color those flowers.  Drawing was fine without it and it cheapened the picture

Just a card of Mom and Bret, drawn badly.

Goofy painting of one of Mom's favorite sports stars, Bob Cousy.  

This is a painting from a picture I love of Mom and Dad when they first got together.

I managed to make that lovely moment into a scary painting.

The vanity of sending your Mother self portraits doesn't escape me.

I didn't want her to forget me when I was in London.

Look, another picture of me.

I actually like this one.  It's a card where you open doors and see the family.

I should do another one sometime.



Sometime it is easier to photoshop a picture instead of creating a drawing. 

I don't know what occasion this card was drawn for.  Bad choice using the pink pen.

And Jen's arms in the background are like monkey arms.

Find the family member.

I think there is Jen, me, Bret, Joey, Malikai and Wyatte in there.



I painted this for Mom while in high school.  It was a complete copy job from a Norman Rockwell painting.  But it came out pretty good, at least for me. It may have been the painting that made me think I could paint a little.  Sadly, it was probably the best thing I ever did.  Peaked at 17.

Pastel drawing of the house I grew up in, in Danvers.

I love these houses in real life, not so much in my painting.  They are the painted ladies in San Francisco.  An iconic site.

I have to realize that fine details are never my strong suit.

More cards with little drawings.

I love this one.  One year we did little self portraits for Mom. 



Here's to many more years of giving Mom my crap art.

Lisa's Birthday Toes

For Lisa's birthday we went out for pedicures and lunch last weekend.  Sitting side by side we had a good chin wag while two women gave our feet a complete overhaul.

I've been sticking to blue toes lately - this time I went for a bright blue while Lisa did navy.

Then it was lunch with a celebratory cocktail....followed by a wee bit of shopping.  It's not a particularly exciting blog post but it was such a fun day that I vowed we needed to do it EVERY MONTH!!!

Happy Birthday Lisa!

My Pal Randy

I decided to surprise my buddy Randy by coming to Haley's last basketball game.  She's a sophmore at Wentworth and starts for the women's team.

I found Maureen and Randy parents easily.  When I asked where Randy was they pointed down near the court.  He was sitting by himself.  Maureen said they banish him down there.

Randy tends to get loud and yell at referees.

I've only seen Randy once this past year.  Poor form by me.

That's Maureen in the background.  She decided to hang with us for the second half.

Randy doesn't spruce himself up for going out these days, apparently.

His hair was rock-star long.  He wore his cap the whole time and dressed as if he just walked off the construction site.  The affects were that he looked like the guy who lives in a refrigerator box and came into the auditorium to stay warm.

Randy was always very popular with the girls.

Now it's like he's Charlene Theron, playing the serial killer and making herself look as bad as possible.

Love Randy.  He's always been a very generous friend. 

And he didn't disappoint when it came to barking at the refs.  He rode them like a donkey, yelling at them as they jogged past after making a suspect foul call.

There is a giant poster on the wall with all the athletes.  That's Haley on the top right.

Very cool thing.

Haley's the best.  And she is now taking street fighting classes, so don't be fooled by her big smile.  She'll crush you.

It was so good to see the family.  Miss them and promise to do better at getting together.

Jen's Saturday

On Saturday Bill went to see his friend Randy's daughter play basketball at Wentworth College in Boston so I tagged along and went off on my own until after the game.  Wentworth is right across from my old alma mater, Northeastern.

This was my freshman year dorm. It looks mostly the same but its surrounded by so many new buildings that I barely recognized the campus.

This was my apartment building for one term…I think in my sophomore year.  I moved around a lot the first few years.

The next stop down Huntington Ave is the Christian Science Center.  Despite living next door for years I never went into the museum.   

Inside was this water fountain that seemed to spew words as well as water…they would flow out of the center and form words around the perimeter.

The Map room was the real attraction - but we weren't allowed to take photos!!!  So I had to sneak this one of the North Pole and my nostrils.

This was really great - you're on a bridge across the center of a globe.  They did a light show behind the stained glass and the room was a whispering gallery where you could ear the tiniest sound bouncing off the walls.  A girls standing next to me would talk and it would sound like it was coming from the other direction.

Next stop was the Boston Public Library.  

I used to sit at a table in front of that window to study but back then the place looked shabby.  Now it's been all jazzed up with red walls and art work. I was surprised to see this many people inside the library on a beautiful Saturday afternoon.

I wanted to come here to eat lunch in the courtyard.  This feels timeless but you can see the modern world poking above the buildings.

Oops! I just noticed that there is food in my teeth.  Oh well, at least it's white chicken salad.

When I was done with lunch, Bill called to say the game was over so I headed back to the MFA to meet Bill for a little culture (see yesterday's post).

Bill in Front of Great Art

The Museum of Fine Arts in Boston has some of the world's great art.

Under the premise that great art has to make me look better, I took a bunch of selfies in front of some of my favorites.

It didn't really work.  I still look crap.

I once painted a version of this painting for Chris, who was hosting a croquette party.

I replaced the swords with croquette mallets.  It was a big hit.

No one paints a peach like Cezanne.

No peaches in this Cezanne.

I love the oranges in a Degas.

This is a painting by Monet of his wife in a Japanese kimono.  One of Jen's favorites.

Van Gogh and me.

I think we could have been good friends; if I spoke French.  Although if the rumors of him being slightly mad because of syphillis were true, then forget it.  

Monet and his many haystacks.

Jen photobombed my moment with Monet.

My favorite Monet's are the church studies he did.

I think this one makes me look slightly touched by God.