All excuses aside I’ve been finding it hard to blog lately. So much of my past content has come from my life and now a lot of what I do needs to be private. Posting about work would be hazardous at best for my professional career (it doesn’t take a genius to realize that if my email address for personal stuff is xyz@benmsmith.com, there must be at least some sort of page at benmsmith.com). That means I need to look outward more rather than focus inward as I have. I’ve got an idea to implement later this year to help with that, but for now, a bunch of Boston adventure related thoughts.
The strip mall near my apartment had a store I had never heard of, A.J. Wright. I finally decided to see what it was. You know how a copy of a copy looks a little grainier and isn’t as nice? A.J Wright is like a TJ Maxx of a TJ Maxx. There’s a decidedly urban demographic being marketed to with the clothing selection, but the housewares stuff was decent if erratic. If I ever have little things I need where I don’t really care about quality, I might check them out again. I will avoid the sale boxes outside, though. It’s like a herd of chickens fighting over a piece of garbage.
There’s also a Blockbuster in the stripmall, although disappointingly not one of the locations that’s being closed. I passed by one of the closing ones recently and decided to check it out for any deals. It was the first time I’d been in a video rental store since college (before, even; I’m racking my brain to think of the last time I’d been in one and it’s at least since high school). It was odd seeing one so empty, but over all it was lie a crappy garage sale; everything you’d want is already gone and what’s left sucks. I have never seen so many crappy direct-to-dvd movies and incomplete boxsets. sidenote: to the person that bought discs 3 and 4 but not discs 1, 2, 5, or 6 of Bones season 4, I hate you. This goes doubly for the person who left only disc two of Mad Men season 1.
I’ve been twittering more often than I”ve been blogging. I like the small format, as it allows for more spur-of-the-moment content (although I’m going to try more of that here as well). A few highlights:
I guess I missed this entering the modern canon:
No magnets at the Museum of Science (WTF), but there was this awesomeness (which is now taped to my fridge):
And finally: food. Cooking’s become a way to relieve stress and release tension after work. Even if I leave the office feeling over my head (a feeling which becomes rarer with each day on the job). Here’s a slideshow of what I’ve been making. Although I tend to be fairly precise, I’ve suprised myself with the way I’ve been thinking like a cook rather than a baker in terms of flavor profiles and improvisation. The salad with the roast beef was completely improvised from what was on hand (although I found a recipe for the viniagrette after deciding to make one), and I’ve already turned some of the sauce into a spread for sandwiches later this week.
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