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A Little Bit of This and a Lot of That

The weekend is over and it’s Monday. All in all, it was a rather nice weekend – even with Saturday morning’s rain. Even though it’s technically not autumn yet, the weather is sufficiently cool and breezy to put a smile on my face the minute I walk outside.


On Sunday, I took Dusty for her longest walk yet. We started walking through the Bulfinch Triangle (in an attempt to avoid the construction crews demolishing the old Green-line El[evated trolley]* along Causeway Street). Then we walked up Beacon Hill, around the State House and onto the Boston Common where we sat alongside the Frog Pond. Dusty was in hog heaven (puppy pergatory?) as she chased squirrels and birds. Then we walked through Government Center (where a concert was going on), to Faneuil Hall, then Haymarket, the North End, and back home. I should do this more often – it essentially exhausted her so she slept the rest of the afternoon until Matt came home.


And what an entrance Matt made! Dusty practically spontaneously combusted with excitement (I was pretty happy, too). He joined me in the living room and told me of his trip and showed me his purchases (mostly CD’s and DVD’s, and some clothes**). Fortunately, any financial hardship the national economy has been dealing with lately has been resolved as Matt has single-handedly eliminated the deficit with his weekend aquisitions.


Anyway, I’m in a pretty good mood. Mostly because Matt’s back and the weather is PERFECT. However, when I came into work I checked out the Boston Globe on-line and there was an article about how the Center for Disease Control (CDC) is altering the funding for HIV/AIDS prevention by focusing on abstinence and practically discouraging condom use as ineffective. Great – HIV/AIDS is on the rise after years of decline and now the CDC is under the influence of Bush’s selection of Tom Coburn as co-chairman of the President’s Advisery Council on HIV and AIDS. This is the same man who has previously said that HIV infected people should refrain from all sexual activity and that abstinence should be the centerpiece, asking “why would we have any other health policy than abstinence?”


Um, because it’s a free country. And, um, because we’ve seen how ineffective abstinence really is as proven by Catholic priests? And, um, because human beings are sexual beings. Granted (according to the article) condoms are only 87% effective in preventing HIV infection, but isn’t that still 87% better than no protection at all?


 


*Speaking of the green line…what do you Boston residents think of the new-fangled green line trolley cars? My limited experience with them is that the vinyl flooring has an extremely strong odor and that the teal color used throughout the cars reminds me of a 1980’s doctor’s office (ironic since the exisiting trolley cars are from the 1980’s and don’t look like that particular decade, either). I also HATE the obnoxious beeping noise the doors make when they are closing.


**He goes to NYC and buys clothes at The Gap…a national chain he could find anywhere. What’s up with that?

8 Comments

  1. Comment by David on September 20, 2004 11:39 am

    Well now you can get Dusty a stuffed Squirrel for Christmas. Poor little dust mop.
    Did her hair singe when Matt came in the door?
    I’m sorry officer our dog spontaneously combusted due to the excitement of my partner coming home from NYC! Yes, you can arrest him!
    When booking him, ask him why he went to NYC and shopped at the GAP!

  2. Comment by David in Chicago on September 20, 2004 12:18 pm

    On footnote 2: That’s like people in Chicago running down to Michigan Ave. to go to the Gap. There’s one right around the corner in the neighborhood, so why are you dealing with crowds and tourists just to get a polo shirt?

  3. Comment by jeff on September 20, 2004 1:44 pm

    They haven’t started running the new cars yet on the D line of the Green Line – so I haven’t had the pleasure of trying them out. I hear that they can’t go fast enough to be on that line – that’s got to say something.

    We’ve had the ones with the computer voices though (sort of not the really old, crappy ones, but not the new fangled ones either) – which aren’t too bad.

    And if you figure out why he went to NYC to buy something at the Gap, let me know, so I can knock it out of my boyfriend.

  4. Comment by matt on September 20, 2004 5:00 pm

    I shopped at The Gap because the Manhattan stores have different selections of clothing than the Boston ones. …and I like The Gap. However, I did purchase a shirt at Diesel and a pair of jeans from Mauvais — tho, I need to look them to spell that correctly. I am happy to be home too. Poor little Dusty has not wanted me to put her down all day! She lies on my lap as I type!

  5. Comment by Misho on September 1, 2005 9:43 pm

    Your blog is very interesint

  6. Comment by Sub Subway on September 7, 2005 5:42 am

    Ny Subway

  7. Comment by Weather Vane on September 10, 2005 7:09 am

    Weather Newark

  8. Comment by Flying Pregnant on September 17, 2005 11:04 am

    Flying Burrito Brother

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