08.05.08
Posted in wedding, personal at 11:48 pm by wingerz
The big weddings keep on coming; this weekend it was Grant and Feng’s turn. They were married outdoors on a beautiful summer afternoon, and the evening celebration flew by.
Many years ago, when we were about to move into 21r, AJ described Grant to me as a funny guy - not in the stand-up sense, but more in his mannerisms. It didn’t take long for me to understand what he meant. Grant exhibits great exuberance for the things he finds worthwhile, such as Trader Joe’s frozen mango pieces, oatmeal raisin cookies, Krispy Kreme Donuts (noticing a trend?), the New Tetris, basketball (playing, watching, video gaming), applying optimizations to all parts of his life, and, of course, Feng.
In addition to being a constant source of wacky amusement, Grant has been a great roommate and friend. He’s been incredibly supportive. After one exhausting weekend, I passed out on our couch and woke up to find that he had cooked me a tasty stir-fry dinner. This is especially touching coming from a guy who once hoped to live on Mac&Cheese because it was 5 for $1.
Feng is a go-getter, as evidenced by their courtship. She also introduced me to almond macaroons from Mike’s Pastry, my favorite cookies. Last summer we took an awesome road trip up to Montreal for Matt & Amy’s wedding.
Together, they make a fantastic couple that we’ve missed hanging out with over the past two years. It’s been fun watching their relationship grow, and I sort of miss their lighthearted bickering, when Feng feigns (?) embarrassment at something he’s done or said. In any case, she’s cleaned him up a bit from the good ol’ days of 21r, where shirts and good fashion sense were optional.
Unfortunately for Grant, no blog post of this sort would be complete without the best picture I’ve ever taken of him. This was back in the days when I shot 640×480 photos with my first digital camera.
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07.27.08
Posted in mediterranean 2008 at 9:25 pm by wingerz
cinque terre, italy
We are back from our whirlwind tour of the Mediterranean. Jen planned an incredible trip, starting off with an 8-day cruise and wrapping up with almost a week in Italy. Our destinations:
- Cruise, leaving from Venice, Italy
- Split, Croatia
- Crete, Greece
- Kusadasi, Turkey
- Santorini, Greece
- Corfu, Greece
- Italy
- Venice
- Florence
- Siena
- Cinque Terre
The number of destinations made the trip feel much longer than it actually was and a bit more tiring than we anticipated. We kept up the frenetic pace up to the very end, cramming in one last bit of sightseeing into our evening in Milan before spending the night at the airport to catch our 6am flight.
paleokastritsa, corfu, greece
I was enamored by all of the narrow pedestrian-only streets, lined with small shops and colorful buildings, accented by flowerbeds of geraniums and other brightly-colored blossoms. The local food was fantastic - fresh fish, olive oil, tomatoes, and olives made frequent appearances along the way. The clear, turquoise waters of the Mediterranean were always inviting (and photogenic). Along the way we were lucky to make new friends on our cruise and meet up with Jay and his brother in Florence.
Fortunately the summer heat and crowds were never too burdensome. I’ve become acclimated to heat and humidity of New England summers, and quiet alleyways were only steps away from the hub-bub of major pedestrian arteries. Rick Steves’ travel guides, lent to us by Jess and Cy, were invaluable in helping us to avoid long waits at attractions.
More photos to come, mixed in with additional tales from Africa. We’ve been very spoiled travel-wise this year.
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07.07.08
Posted in africa 2008, travel at 12:04 am by wingerz
Day 7: March 21, morning
This morning as one of the cars stopped to change a tire, I was approached by two young boys. One of them asked me to take his picture. After I took his picture, he asked for something in exchange. I gave him one of my pens, and Mark gave him some chocolate and cranberries, which he shared with his companion. I wish we had brought extra school supplies for sharing with the children that we encountered.
The boys were waiting for school to start; the simple schoolhouse was down the road a bit.
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07.05.08
Posted in photos at 12:15 am by wingerz
Enjoyed a phenomenal day - caught up with good friends at the Feigenbaum barbecue and enjoyed the fireworks from our office (which meant good seats despite rolling in around 10pm for the 1030pm start). The wind didn’t cooperate as I tried to get some photos of the fireworks.
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06.29.08
Posted in photos at 2:07 pm by wingerz
I’ve been meaning to spend more time with my tripod, so I headed out to Harvard Square around sunset a few weekends ago to see what I could find. Favorite subjects of the evening: a flock of geese and my beloved Dunster House.
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06.28.08
Posted in photos at 10:36 pm by wingerz
Jen’s parents were around for her graduation, so we took them to Newport. Jen’s mom in particular is a huge fan of interior design and nice houses so they spent the entire afternoon visiting four of the Newport mansions. Meanwhile I wandered around the downtown area, finding a lobster store and some amorous ladybugs along the way.
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06.19.08
Posted in africa 2008, travel, photos, personal at 11:37 pm by wingerz
Day 6
Our descent into the Ngorongoro Crater is down a very steep, rocky road. The views are absolutely breathtaking - the flat basin, occupying roughly a 10 mile x 12 mile area, is covered in green grass and teeming with wildlife. The main geographical features include a small hill which may have been the remains of a mountaintop that once stood higher than kilimanjaro, a saltwater lake, and a small forest. We stop at the bottom, a bit woozy from the bumpy ride. From the floor of the caldera, green hillsides slope up to the crater rim. Wildebeests and zebras coexist peacefully and are completely unafraid of people. Ngorongoro has been criticized for being a bit too Disneyland-like, but we’re all ready to see animals up close..
Assorted sightings:
- Hyenas walk into the road and settle in a muddy puddle. We spot another hyena eating a wildebeest skull; they are exceedingly good at extracting nutrients from every last bit of animal.
- Lone male wildebeests space themselves out, staking out territory for the upcoming mating season
- Young zebras are fluffy, brown and white; their stripes darken as they age. One playfully rolls around in the dust.
- We get sick of seeing zebras - they are everywhere, including up ahead of us, blocking the road.
- A huge, old elephant hangs out in the distance. It can’t afford to damage its tusks.
- We’re also able to spot a black rhino - there are only about 13 left in the world, all here in the crater. Apparently there is also a baby rhino, but we miss seeing it.
- One of the lakes is full of flamingos. Even with binoculars it can be hard to discern individuals.
- On our way out of the park, we see two lions lounging in the grass near the highway. Apparently there is one lion for every square mile of the Ngorongoro region. They don’t even get up for us.
- Other sightings: jackal, Thompson and Grant gazelles, elan, lots of birds, warthogs.
The crowding is not terrible - at our lunch spot there may have been about 20 jeeps, parked near a freshwater pond (with hippos). Most of the time we see other jeeps scooting around the park but they are, for the most part, confined to the dirt roads. The day passes quickly and before we know it we are driving through the forest, then up and on our way out of the crater. Not only is Ngorongoro fun to say, it’s also one of the most amazing places I’ve ever seen. It’s a great place to end our safari experience.
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06.04.08
Posted in wedding, personal at 11:29 pm by wingerz
May was an absurdly busy month for me. Took four plane trips, the last of which was to North Carolina for Kerry and Jon’s wedding. It was a very short trip (about 26 hours in NC), but we spent all of it hanging out with close friends. The wedding was at the beautiful, lush Duke Gardens. A thunderstorm threatened to pour on us during the ceremony (outdoors), interjecting with loud, booming rumbles, but not a drop of rain fell from the sky. We had a great time, and of course Jon and Kerry could not have been any happier.
Jen and I have seen two of our best friends get married within a single month. Now if only we could see them on a more regular basis. I miss Kerry’s visits to Boston; she’d always bring good cheer and her humongous green backpack. One of my first (maybe the first) memory I have of her is taking a short break from a CS project to eat cookies with her and Jen. Her blocking group slowly adopted me towards the end of college, and I think any of the Jen-advice she gave me must have been good given where we are today.
(For those who can access my personal photo gallery, I’ve posted wedding photos from both May weddings.)
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05.26.08
Posted in africa 2008, travel, personal at 12:43 am by wingerz
Day 5: March 19, evening
This camp is much nicer - it’s an actual campground with fantastic amenities like hot running water and electricity (the generator is turned on in the evening). The shower is amazing, the first running water we’ve had in three nights. It feels luxurious, even though we need to bring our headlamps in to provide light and have to hang everything from two hooks on the back of the door. There’s an outlet with a surge protector, soon there is a long line of camera batteries waiting to be charged. Dinner is the usual starches and stews; the open gathering area is quite nice. The sound of large rain drops hitting our tent wakes us up in the middle of the night.
Karatu is a nice-looking place town - not as well-developed as Dar, but it certainly has a more welcoming feel. It’s the gateway to Ngorongoro Crater, tomorrow’s destination; the Serengeti and the Crater are to the northwest. Built on the tourism industry, internet cafes are plentiful and some of the people are dressed in a more western style. The main highway is busy with safari vehicles, bikes, and pedestrians, with the latter two always coming precariously close to being hit.
(The next day we take up an offer to do a few articles of laundry, and arrive back to find it drying on some bushes. A few of the bushes are thorny, making extrication a tricky process.)
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05.22.08
Posted in photos at 11:21 pm by wingerz
Made it to the Public Garden a few weeks ago to catch my favorite time of year at one of my favorite places in Boston.
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