Saturday, June 28, 2008

Posititive use

Living in an area like Dorchester for the past three years you see a lot of misuse of public space. For the past several months a group of us have been trying to change that in our own unique way. Every Thursday we gather to walk our dogs. Its nice to see that the City has noticed. (Click)

Thursday, June 26, 2008

Architecture Colbert Style

Steven Colbert say that America needs better buildings.

Monday, June 16, 2008

Vacaton: Part 1

For the past three years I have gone on vacation with two good friends. California twice, the Florida Keys last year and this year we are in the Pacific Northwest. Portland and Seattle to be specific.

The first leg our our trip, thus part 1, has been in Portland. We are visiting friends that we knew from our church back in Boston. To me the best way to describe Portland is to point you towards the blog Stuff white people like. There are a lot of white people in Portland, and bikes, and dogs. Don't get me wrong I like all of these things, but having lived in Dorchester for two years it's a little strange to see so many white people in one town.

While we were in Portland we went to Multanomah Falls, just outside of the city. A stunning waterfall, a must see. We also went to the Zoo, and had dinner in the pearl district. We also visited our friends church on Sunday, Moasic. It was a good service, and for me it was good to worship. Having not been to a formal service in about a year, I have missed connecting with god in that way.

Today we are on to Olympic National park then to Seattle.

Sunday, June 8, 2008

Sometimes we just go upstairs

Well, it's been a while sense I blogged last. I guess I haven't had much to say lately.

Today I took my friend Keith, and met my fiends Steve and Chrissy at the Bikes Not Bombs Green Roots festival. IT was a small but cool event what had a lot of sustainable companies and booths, as well as....you guessed it bikes.

My friends Steve and Chrissy live in Texas for a while and continues to be amazed when they see things like this. I guess after living in Boston for 10 years you get use to it. But there are many people and organizations in the Boston that are socially conscious, more so than most places in the US.

There were a few cool bikes there too. I saw a tandum bike, a recumbent bike and even several bikes used for hauling things. (Check out the new Amsterdam Project.)

The hightlight in my mind was watching a guy build a composting toilet. He brought the one that he uses in his house, in Boston.?! Yes he brought his own toilet. One observer asked "What do you do if you have ....... intestinal problems?" to which he replied "Sometimes we just go upstairs"