A world in white gets underway

[surrealestate.livejournal.com]

There has been discussion in my home as I'm sure in many of yours over how long it will take this year for all the snow to finally melt away. I've heard guesses for as early as April and as late as June, but might it be even later? Or earlier? Here is the official DSLJ contest! I will judge (and am therefore ineligible) based on when all the snow is gone from my yard, or some similar arbitrary yet definite metric, and announce the winner(s) in however many months.

You have until ~5pm Friday to place your bets. You can change your answer as many times as you like until the poll is closed.

[Poll #1675575]

A cyclist's thank you to Somerville

[two-stabs.livejournal.com]

I want to thank...

the dog walkers who reliably block the cedar street bike path with leashes strung like Shelob's web. Also appreciated are their glassy, uncomprehending stares as I slow my bicycle to a near-stop to avoid catching Fluffy in my spokes. And I love dogs.

Thanks to the irresponsible moms with their ICBM-style children who love to play chicken with my bike as I commute to work each morning. There's really nothing like a little potential toddlercide in the morning to pull off the wool.

Thank you to the drivers that rev their engine and cut to the right to squeeze me into parked cars, because, well, presumably you just can't tolerate the idea that I'm making progress on the road while you're stuck in a jam. Additionally, thank you when I sneak past you anyway and you lean on the horn for ten seconds because I kicked off of your bumper.

Thanks to the state legislators bravely fighting the good fight to require cyclists to purchase insurance and attach license plates to their bicycles. I look forward to the day when we have to register and pay tax on each pair of shoes.

Finally, a big general thank you to everyone who's ever stolen my lights, stolen my seat, stolen my bike, mangled my wheel, stepped directly out in front of me, threw a plastic bottle at my head, heaved a shovelful of snow directly into my path, let the air out of my tires, stuck a stick in my spokes, pulled their car directly in front of me and stopped, hit me in the face with their double-wide umbrella, screamed in my ear as I rode by, plowed into me head on at 2 am on 9/11/10 while I had the right of way and then sped away, or locked another lock around my bicycle as a prank, to everyone who simply failed to recognize the fact that people are fragile and your road rage is not a legitimate excuse to endanger the lives of people who are just trying to make their way around their city.

OK. Thanks. I feel better.

An actual thank-you to Somerville

[squirrelitude]

(This is in response to a rant someone else posted today -- while I share much of that poster's frustration, I would like to point out some positives of the area as well.)

I would like to thank drivers, for:
* not freaking out when they see a bike in front of them,
* parking as close as they can to the curb,
* waving me in to join a stream of cars,
* understanding that sometimes I have to take my lane,
* checking before opening their doors,
* and generally being decent road-citizens.

I would like to thank the city for putting advisory sharrow signs on the road, providing sufficient quantities of locking posts on the sidewalks, and maintaining that lovely multi-use path for when I have need to travel to Fresh Pond.

I would like to thank the pedestrians who forgave me for close calls at crosswalks when I was first learning to bike on city roads.

I would like to thank fellow cyclists who have pointed out low tires and my obscured tail light, and who respect red lights and crosswalks. (Red light runners affect me too!)

There's work to be done both on my part and others', but on the whole, I've been very happy with commuting by bike in Somerville. For every asshat on the road, there are hundreds of decent people.

Thank you.

City of Boston Print House Auction Feb. 24th

[eredien]

For those of you who might be into this kind of stuff, the City of Boston is getting rid of all its old printing supplies at auction on Feb. 24th.

For those of you who care about old cool stuff and/or printing and/or run small presses, this might be a good auction to go to. It also has a bunch of light tables, big paper cutters, desks, flat filing cabinets, drafting tables, and other nifty stuff for artist-types.

Posto doing $9 pizzas

[shava23.livejournal.com]

A friend just alerted me that Posto is offering $9 wood fired pizzas tonight.  Get out your snowboots and dining-out ensemble! :)

Event rental

[bobobb.livejournal.com]

My friend is looking for spaces for her wedding and I'm a big advocate of Davis Square so I was looking for some places in the area that might work for her. It looks like the armory does not rent out for parties. Any suggestions? It would need to be a location that could hold about 50 people.