I often say how proud I am to work for the Boston Globe, especially when they pull off investigative reporting like the current series on debt-collection abuses in Massachusetts.

You should go and read the series. The blatant abuse of our courts and our less-fortunate citizens is appalling.

Technorati Tags: Massachusetts, Debt, Courts

Dear Internet,

The little baby guarantees that I’m not going to get out of the house much this fall. If I’m going to stay inside, I may as well have a good television. My current TV dates from the early nineties, and apparently there’s been an advance or two in the last few years.

Any suggestions on things to look for when picking out a new TV?

Also, I’m thinking of DirectTV for the NFL Sunday Ticket. Anyone have any experience with them? I have zero allegiance to Comcast, but I want to make sure that I won’t have other problems with the satellite.

Thanks,
Jason

Antonio mentioned that Sadie and the Cheerios might work well as a Tabblo. Let’s take a look:

See my Tabblo>

Click through on the image for the full-size Tabblo.

Technorati Tags: baby, Cheerios, Tabblo

I wish I had some Cheerios…

Hey, it sticks to my hands…

Ok, now what to I do with this?

Maybe into the mouth?

Yummy! I’m so happy.

Remember when we were all excited that Sadie had learned to crawl?

She’s now hell-bent on investigating her world. She used to sit playing in one spot for a few minutes; now we’re lucky to get 15 seconds before she moves on. She has slimed the DVD player. She has found our cleverly-hidden ant traps. She tries to tug the cords hanging from the TV and computer.

There’s nothing we have that she cannot destroy.

This morning’s Globe picks up on the nightmare that has been the commuter rail for the past few weeks.

Customer complaints have risen as on-time service has declined, with 533 complaints in May, 654 in June, and 900 so far in July.

“Overall, it’s the inconsistency that’s really frustrating,” said Joe Fischer, 44, a commuter from Sharon who rides the Worcester-Framingham line to work. “Sometimes the service is spot on and the conductors are doing their jobs, and other times it’s not.”

Family responsibilities require me to drive in each day — the daycare doesn’t buy “the train was late” as an excuse for picking up the baby after closing time — but A. takes the commuter rail from Ashland. It has not been fun.

The Worcester line’s performance has drivin us mad the past couple of weeks. Sometimes it’s on-time. Sometimes an hour late. Always, the riders are kept in an information black hole, pining for updates about when they will actually get home, forced to wait and conjecture, only able to unleash their boiling rage through colorful text messages to loved ones. Sometimes several messages over the course of a few minutes.

I hope the Commuter Rail powers-that-be get their act together soon. I want to be the type of person who takes public transportation to work, but that’s not an option right now. And, God help us when we hit $5/gallon gas.

We’ve been pretty good about not spending too much on toys for Sadie. Still, it hurts a little when she ignores all we’ve gotten her in favor of a dot.bomb trinket — a squishy brain.

We took Sadie to Fenway Park for a corporate event yesterday afternoon. She seemed to enjoy the views from the sky boxes, but she really enjoyed the little baseballs they gave away.

For several years, I’ve been sharing Red Sox season tickets with friends, sitting out in the bleachers for 10-20 games a year. It’s great during the summer to get to a few games, but it really pays off in October, when we get into the Park for playoff games.

Yesterday, we went to a corporate event at Fenway, and I was able to get a wide shot of the outfield. Here’s where we sit at each game:

Here’s another shot of the Red Sox captain, from July 17th, 2006.

Technorati Tags: Jason Varitek, Red Sox

We finally got a game last Sunday, and the starting picture was Kyle Snyder, up filling in while Clement and Wells are on the disabled list. Here are a couple of pictures I got of him from my seat in the bleachers.

Technorati Tags: Kyle Snyder, Red Sox

Well, after months of threatening, Sadie has finally begun crawling. Click the video to watch.

Our lives will never be the same again…

Jason Varitek now holds the Red Sox record for catching the most games in a Red Sox uniform, surpassing Hall-of-Famer Carlton Fisk.

Congratulations, Jason! You are the core of this championship team and, like Dave Roberts, you will never have to buy a drink in this town. More pictures of Jason Varitek.

Stanley Pollack, executive director of the Center for Teen Empowerment, writes an important editorial in today’s Boston Globe about the recent drastic increase in teen violence in the city of Boston.

To save lives, it is critical that the actions taken be based on a rigorous analysis of what worked in the 1990s to turn back a youth culture of guns, gangs, and violence. Only through this careful process can we develop an effective strategy that can reinstate stable community life in Boston neighborhoods.

I’ve done some work for Stanley in the past, and I’m proud that the Globe Foundation funds them. Their mission is worthy. Please consider contributing to the cause.

Boy, it sucks to work on Congress Street and drive in from the west these days.

They’ve closed another section of the Big Dig this morning, and all the traffic on from the Mass Pike is flowing onto the surface streets all around us. I’m not looking forward to trying to find a way onto the Pike this afternoon when I have to go home.

You know what, I can handle the graft, the guanxi, the payoffs and bribes, but if you’re going to be corrupt, at least try to be competent.

ArsDigita University, 5 years later
More on ArsDigita here.

Bizarre English metaphors
Entertaining for a couple of minutes.

It’s not smart to impersonate an officer
Just another reason I love reading the Boston Police Department’s blog.

NYT AME Photo answers questions
All sorts of interesting tidbits in this Q&A.

An entertainment sage on the Rocketboom fiasco
New media doesn’t change human nature.

Nine ways the real Navy is unlike Starfleet

Don’t bring a pen when you listen to Katie Couric.

Matt Bartel, owner of the popular MNSpeak blog also was issued an invitation by WCCO [to attend the Couric ‘Town Hall’ event], although the station apparently didn’t recognize the name Bartel (ubiquitous in Twin Cities publishing circles) or his business, until the event was about to start.

“They pulled me out of the auditorium and told me that they’d become aware of the fact that I had a blog,” Bartel said. “They said, ‘We don’t want you to participate,’ ” then offered him a choice: surrender his notebook or leave the event.

“I wasn’t going to give them my notebook; I had business stuff in there.”

A compromise was reached - the ‘CCO staffer confiscated Bartel’s pen instead.

I’m sure Couric had little to do with this, but the staffer’s actions reflect poorly on her.

More here, on the penless scribe’s website.

Sadie enjoys these summer weekends. They often start with some yummy baby food in the high chair.

After the baby’s done eating, it’s time for her parents to be able to get some breakfast. We know what that means for Sadie: baby jail!

She’ll often check the walls to see if she can escape.

She’s very happy when I come over to pick her up and parole her.

We then moved into the family room, where we get a chance to check out Sadie’s profile.

She likes to play with her Fascination Station.

She’ll often get all excited at what’s going on.

She’s *so* close to being able to crawl, but she’s not quite there yet.

Sadie had a happy day. And, for some reason, she’s decided to celebrate by rolling her tongue in a really really weird way.

Wow, if you weren’t already impressed with Jenna Fischer — Pam from The Office — her essay on how to work in Hollywood will definitely win you over.

I thought being an actor meant being famous. But, most actors aren’t recognizable. It’s funny. I watch TV in a whole new way now. Like, I watch a show and I see the person who has 3 lines on Law and Order and I think, “Their family is gathered around the TV flipping out right now. I bet that was a huge deal for that person!” There are so many actors that make a living by doing support work on shows. I was that person for many years. For me to stay in this business, it had to be okay if I was never recognized. I learned that I loved the craft of acting more than the idea of being famous.

Every once in a while, my sweetie gives me an interesting look when checking out the latest box from Amazon. Today’s example? Late Night Discussions on the Theory of Constraints. That title generated a slow shake of the head and slight roll of the eyes.

I think the all-time winner for the WTF look was Practical Common Lisp, which, as it turns out, is not a field-guide for handling speech disorders.

I’m continuing to update all my old galleries to the new look and feel of the site (as well as getting them into some sort of content-management system, instead of just flat files.)

I updated two today. First, my Habitat for Humanity project in New Zealand. Second, my time working at Fenway for a job fair.

Hope you like them. Next, I need to update Tanzania, then actually write some stuff for China, Guatemala, Thailand, Niagara Falls, Jasper & Banff, etc.

This year has brought horrible violence in Boston. (Check out Adam’s Boston Crime Map). But some are trying to do something about the situation.

The Globe’s Joan Vennochi writes about a conversation about youth violence hosted by Stanley Pollack, leader of the Center for Teen Empowerment.

It’s pretty basic, specialists say. The decline in violence during the so-called “Boston Miracle” years can be traced to a combination of jobs and outreach programs, targeted financial resources, and broad-based community commitment to stand together against violence. Take away the programs, the money, and the outrage, and the violence increases.

Some of the most impressive voices at the Center for Teen Empowerment belonged to teenagers who want to be part of the solution. Some of them talked about their desire to trust police and interact more with them.

I’ve done some work with Stanley before, and I’ve seen how his organization is doing great work trying to help quell the violence in the streets.

I’m sad that I can’t win this, because this looks like the coolest contest I’ve seen in a while: watch a game with Theo.

The grand prize winner will also receive a dinner for two at Fenway Park before a 2006 regular-season home game, and the chance to spend the game with Theo Epstein in his private suite!

Theo will also be chatting on Boston.com on Monday, July 10th at noon.

Technorati Tags: Red Sox, Theo Epstein

Advertising will soon be disrupted
Jeff Jarvis writes about how advertising agencies are soon in for a rude awakening.

Tower over South Station approved
They are going to build a 40-story tower over South Station. Like it’s not bad enough around here already with all the construction. Egads.

10 beautiful women who are way more intellegent than you
I knew about Natalie Portman, but Mira Sorvino?

A declaration of war
I can’t believe that media members are advocating an office of censorship.

I’m working on writing a gallery-o-matic for this site, an easy way to roll up some of my pictures. Here’s a start: A night in the Monster Seats.

Here’s another one: Animals from the Franklin Park Zoo.

Once I have this fully debugged, I should be able to put up a lot more galleries over the next few weeks. Woo hoo!

Technorati Tags: Fenway, Red Sox