Sundays are so productive

[magid]

I did the bulk of the shopping for Pesach this morning. I always forget between times how expensive it is, even without the seders. Though it can be argued that I buy too much, since I always have food left. Still, I'd rather have choices even at the end of the holiday...

The only things left to get are eggs and fresh produce. The only things I'd wanted and didn't get were eggplant spreads (the mock liver and so on), since the Butcherie was out of them (Already! It's still two weeks away!). Sigh. On the upside, I have many interesting proteins, the most interesting being a couple of kinds of French cheese I'd never heard of before (Mak' Tomi and Saint Paulin; anyone know of these?), and some ground buffalo. Plus I got some free-range organic kosher chicken; I'm curious to see if they taste different.

I've done some house stuff, getting dishes done, laundry started, and putting winter clothes away. I'm trying to convince myself that this will turn into the start of the Pesach cleaning. I should put on a timer for 15 minutes, and see what I can manage...

I finally finished the taxes. I started them back in February, but there was a nicely complicated piece that I didn't have all the information for. I finally stopped procrastinating about it, and took advantage of the free federal filing using TurboTax, which could import all the information that was so complicated, and sort it appropriately. *big sigh of relief and avoided frustration*. Actually, the filing will be tomorrow, when I have access to a printer, but all the stuff is done. Huzzah. I think the convenience will be worth paying for the state filing, too. As usual, the feds will be returning me a nice chunk of change, and I owe the state some.

other bits and pieces

• Magnolias are out. So are daffodils.
  
• Spring really points out the variations in available light, making micro-climates. One side of the street has daffodils flowering, and the other has the beginning leaves. Yards on the south side of the street move more slowly into spring, shaded by the houses, especially with the angle of the sun still not high.
  
• The chives have already reappeared; I'd thought they'd died for good last year.
  
• There are new white, blue, and green plastic decals on the curbs by street drains, reminding people that there's no dumping. I wonder when they were put affixed.
  
• I rather like Strange Synergy and Gang of Four.
  
• In my Shabbat reading, I found out that the red sculpture in Porter is only part of the original plan, which would've used the energy from the movement of the wings to make wind chimes sound on the token-buying level. It sounds neat, though I wonder whether the token-sellers would've liked it.

Comments

[ruthling.livejournal.com]

I'd like to see some of these storm drain markers. Have you just seen them in Cambridge?

[magid.livejournal.com]

Yup, and only on a couple of curbs, though my route soon took me to Somerville, so I'm not sure if I'm just in an area they've started in, or only some storm drains are being marked, or what (not that I've gone to the city's website to check it out). There's definitely one at the end of my block by Cambridge Hospital (my side of the street).

[ruthling.livejournal.com]

I'll check them out. There's a recent set of regulations that mandate most towns do this kind of public education stuff for stormwater and I'll bet this is part of it. We could use them in my MEdford neighborhood.

[magid.livejournal.com]

I have seen logos painted near storm drains before, a reminder not to dump, with a fish on it. It wasn't very noticeable, being black on the gray street. This is much more vibrant and visible, and being on the curb will keep it from being worn down by traffic so quickly.

I hadn't realized there was a new mandate to teach about stormwater... I'd guess Cambridge would be particularly interested given that they've invested a lot of money in the last n years in putting in a separate system for stormwater, separating it from the sewers.

Come by, if you'd like, on your way. It'd be cool to see you.

[ruthling.livejournal.com]

I could tell you all sorts of things about the new stormwater regs... since two of DPH's hospitals have to comply, too. And Cambridge has really come a long way.

[hrafn.livejournal.com]

You thought you could kill _chives_? Dude, I think they can survive any neglect or harsh environment. Hell, _I_ couldn't kill chives.

And neat news about the Porter sculpture, though a pity they weren't able to complete the whole thing. I think that sculpture is my favorite T art installation.

[magid.livejournal.com]

Well, there's a lot of moss there, and the container flooded a lot and they died off... And I'd managed to kill mint, which is fairly indestructible, too.

The plans for Porter changed; the token-buying level was to have been much larger than it is now, which left room for the art. I can't quite picture why they'd need that much room on that level, though.

(It's an interesting book, if a bit dated (mid 80s), called Placemakers (I think; it's at home, I'm not), about all sorts of art that make a place more itself, rather than anywhere in the vast sprawl of chains and suburbs.)