Posts Tagged With: Harvard Square

Day 922: Thumbs

Posted on July 11, 2015 by Ann Koplow

Because my thumbs are sore this morning — from typing so much on my iPhone keyboard — I am focusing on sayings about thumbs, including:

“Thumbs up” (meaning approval)
“Thumbs down” (meaning a negative judgment)
“All thumbs” (meaning clumsy), and
“Stick out like a sore thumb” (which is what my first heart surgeon told my parents my first cardiac pacemaker would do, when I was 10 years old).

Pain makes things stick out like a sore thumb, so it’s no wonder my mind is thumbing through thumb-related associations and memories.

My calves are sore too, today, but I can’t think of any sayings about calves. If you can, I certainly won’t thumb my nose at that.

Are there any thumbs in the photos I snapped yesterday, always using my left thumb?

No thumbs to be seen in that photo, but I am giving a big thumbs down to myself for leaving my car’s moonroof open during a night of rain.

Something’s up in that photo, but it’s not a thumb.

I can see several thumbs in that last photo. Can you?

No thumbs there.

See that guy, to the left, holding his thumb at his side? He’s wearing a New York Yankee shirt and hat, right next to Boston’s Fenway Park. Moments later, two Boston fans verbally thumbed their noses at him, with

“You’re in the wrong city, buddy.”

There he is again, after that thumbs down.

Speaking of thumbs down, that’s how I feel about one of my favorite Starbucks baristas, Kevin, leaving the Boston hospital where we both work.

Kevin is using his thumb to put the going-away card I just gave him into his apron pocket.

Thumbs up to Kevin for going to another Starbucks closer to where he lives and thumbs up to Alex, for staying.

Personally, I give two thumbs up to these next two photos, from where I work:

Thumbs up or down to any of these photos I took after work?

That’s Tom, who said he’d give me a thumbs up if I contributed just $1 to a campaign to fight hunger.

Here’s Tom’s reaction

… when I told him I’d thumbed over five times that amount.

There’s one of the nice guys who works where I park my car near Fenway Park. I gave him a thumbs up for putting my car near that door, so I could make a quick escape.

I always give two thumbs up to spending a Friday evening with my 17-year-old son Aaron and my 50-something-year-old boyfriend, Michael. Last night, I used my thumbs on the steering wheel of my cat* to drive us to Harvard Square in Cambridge. A big thumbs up to all the fun we had there.

After I used my thumbs to eat a “Longy School of Music” ( not pictured) and was all thumbs enough to spill some of that Smores Frappe (pictured) on myself, we went next door to the Harvard Book Store, where we thumbed through lots of books:

I bought one of those dozens of books, pictured above . A gigantic thumbs up to anybody who can guess which book that is.

What thumb-related music am I using for this all-thumbs post?

Here’s a hint:

It’s “Thumbelina” from the movie, Hans Christian Andersen!

My thumbs are too sore for me to give a proper thumbs up to all who helped me write this post, so I’ll just say

to them and to you, too!

* That’s a typo. I drove my car to Harvard Square, not my cat.

Categories: gratitude, personal growth, photojournalism | Tags: fenway park, Harvard Book Store, Harvard Square, living with a cardiac pacemamaker, Mr. Bartley's Burger Cottage, my thumbs hurt, stick out like a sore thumb, Thumbelina, thumbs down, thumbs up | 58 Comments

Day 301: Bearing up

Posted on October 28, 2013 by Ann Koplow

Yesterday, I met my old friend Lawry in Harvard Square, Cambridge, for brunch, with some members of his family.

It was great to see everybody. I loved talking to Lawry, his wife, his daughter, his sister, his brother, and his brother’s wife.

It was particularly special for me to spend time with them, because I had been feeling some anxiety, over the weekend, about my health (and some about the Boston Red Sox, too).

And it was wonderful to be back in Harvard Square. (See “What’s the problem?” and “Random Images (paired)“, two earlier posts, for more adventures in Harvard Square.)

Here’s a little photo essay, about my time in Harvard Square yesterday.

A Little Photo Essay

by Ann

On my way to meet Lawry and his family for brunch, I saw this amazing tree. I had to stop and take a picture. Thank you, tree.

It was another beautiful autumn day. Those of us who live in the Greater Boston area have been remarking, this year, about how friggin’ great the fall weather has been. Those of us who dread the onset of winter in the Greater Boston area have been wondering whether this is a good or bad omen about how painful it’s going to be, too soon. (Actually, I can only speak for my own thoughts about this.)

Moments after I took that first shot of the tree, I had to stop and take the above photo. Why? It’s a sign about a group, people!

Here’s a closer shot of the sign (and some of the flags) that you can see in the background of the previous photo.

As I said, it was a beautiful day. Look at those trees and that sky.

Another sign in front of the church. I snapped this, as a is Note To Self: “Ann, make sure you sing more (especially as the cold and dark descend)!”

After I took that photo, I stopped dilly-dallying, and focused on getting to brunch with Lawry and his family.

I didn’t have any photos of Lawry or his family members to show you today, because I was too focused on interacting with each of them, in the moment. Right now, I wish I had some visual proof of how great they all are, but you’ll just have to take my word for it.

After brunch, I went to Urban Outfitters because I needed a scarf and gloves — that is, gear for winter, coming too soon to a location near me.

And … I DID find a great scarf and some colorful gloves there, which definitely cheered me up. (My philosophy: If I’m going to be cold, I might as well look cool.)

While I was shopping in the store, I couldn’t help but notice this:

I had never seen anything quite like THAT. I’ve noticed lots of children — and adults — wearing animal hats in these parts, but a full-bear winter coat? I was very intrigued, but assumed it was most likely just for display. (I mean, it’s almost Halloween, for heaven’s sake.)

However, when I was in line to pay for my merchandise, I noticed that the people in front of me — a woman and her son — had just bought one of those bear coats, which was being stuffed into a bag. I blurted out, “Wow! You got one of those! Can I see it?”

The woman paused, but then kindly took it out of the bag, to show me. She told me it was for her son, Asa, who was a student at Boston College. “Will you try it on for me?” I asked Asa, as I told them both about this blog.

This was Asa’s reply:

How cool is THAT?

Now it’s a day later, and I’m still feeling better.

Many thanks to Asa and his mother, Lawry and his family, Christ Church Cambridge, Urban Outfitters, all things that make life bearable, and to you, of course, for reading today.

Categories: personal growth, photojournalism | Tags: adventure, anxiety, bear coat, bear coat for people, blogging, Boston, Cambridge MA, Christ Church Cambridge MA, communication, community, connection, dread of winter, fear, getting needs met, group therapy, groups, growth, gun violence in Boston 2013, Harvard Square, healing, hope, illness, seasonal changes, singing, survival, trees, Urban Outfitters | 14 Comments

Day 238: Random Images (paired)

Posted on August 26, 2013 by Ann Koplow

I wasn’t sure what to post about on this Monday morning, so I thought I would do a Random Post. Rather than my usual Random Thoughts, though, this is a post about Random Images. That means I get to include some photos I’ve taken lately, which haven’t appeared in previous posts.

To give this post a wee bit more structure, I am going to post those pictures in pairs — two photos at a time, that have some connection (and differences, of course).

Okay? Let’s get started!

Photo A:

Photo B:

I took these two photos in Harvard Square last month, right before I left for my trip to London and Edinburgh. The connection? The photos show two sides of the same sign, in front of a cafe/restaurant. What did I want to say about this, right now? I’ve been noticing that conversations and attitudes about diet — about what people eat — seem to be “split” lately, between:

Food that is really, really good for you — so health-oriented, with so many restrictions, that I begin to get scared that everything I eat is poisonous except for, maybe, just cool, clear water (and sometimes, a stuffed cabbage), but no, wait! water is a problem, too, especially if it’s in the wrong receptacle, etc. etc., OR
Food that is really, really “bad for you” — so let’s eat that sugar, that fat, all that stuff that’s bad for us, packed as tightly as possible into a single serving, and screw you, diets!!

Next pairing!

Photo A:

Photo B:

These two photos are separated in space and time. The first one was taken during that aforementioned trip to Harvard Square; the second one taken a week or so later, in Edinburgh, Scotland. Similarities? Both involve people dressed up in period costumes, performances, and trying to sell somebody something.

Next pairing!

Photo A:

Photo B:

This is another pairing that was very close in space and time. Our last night in Edinburgh, I noticed these two buildings, a couple of blocks away from each other, that had windows illuminated in one color — green in the first building and purple in the second building. I had never seen anything quite like this, didn’t know how this special effect had been created, and wanted to capture it.

Last pairing, for this blog post!

Photo A:

Photo B:

Similarities? Both photos were taken after I returned home from the trip to Edinburgh, both feature the same domesticated short-haired cat, and both involve a special effect. The difference? In the first one, the photographer intervened in the staging of it; in the second one, she just captured the moment.

That concludes our blog post for today, ladies and gentlemen.

Thanks to Mel Brooks’s 2000 year old man (for the reference to his strict diet of just water and maybe sometimes a stuffed cabbage), to special effects wizards everywhere, to performers and performances both staged and improvised, and to you, of course, for reading today.

Categories: personal growth, photojournalism | Tags: Buildings with illuminated colored windows, diet anxiety, DIets, Edinburgh, Festival Fringe, Fringe Festival, Harvard Square, home made birthday card, Mel Brooks, Street performers, Stuffed cabbage, The 2000 year old man | 1 Comment

Day 218: What’s the problem?

Posted on August 6, 2013 by Ann Koplow

I started this blog post, last night, around 1:15 AM:

So I’m going on a great trip, starting at 9:30 PM tonight, with my wonderful 15-year-old son.

Things are going well at work.

I’ve been enjoying writing this blog.

I feel like I’m learning a lot, every day.

I’ve prepared enough for this trip, definitely.

So what’s the problem?

Why am I anxious, fearful, wanting to hide, and irritated? Why am I focusing on worst case scenarios? Why am I feeling overwhelmed by decisions I need to make about packing and so on, when I know there is no right or wrong decision, and it’s all solvable?

It doesn’t make sense.

Although I usually believe that everything makes sense, on some level.

And, as I’ve heard lots of people say, in similar situations, “I don’t like when I’m feeling this way. I SHOULDN’T be feeling this way. I should be happy.”

Well, maybe I could try this: just be with the feelings.

Be pissed off and irritated, for no reason.

Be anxious and fretful, for no reason.

Instead of trying to overcome those uncomfortable feelings with positive re-thinking, maybe I could just be irrationally and unreasonably cranky, right now.

Okay, I’ll give myself an assignment: to have all those feelings I feel uncomfortable with right now:

Frustration

Fear

Then, I put my laptop aside, and was able to fall asleep. (Yay!)

Then, about an hour later, I woke up and text-messaged (!) my bf, who was downstairs:

“Hi Michael!”

I didn’t know if he would see the message, but I guess he did, because he came upstairs and we had an amazing talk about topics including childhood experiences, guilt, depression, and people we knew who had tried to commit suicide (and one who had succeeded). That might sound like an awful conversation to have at that particular time, when my hope was to fall back asleep and feel refreshed and ready for the rest of my trip preparations. But the conversation also included another topic. Love. So it was awe-ful, in a different way.

After the conversation, I cried. Hard.

It all helped. And I fell back asleep.

Now it’s morning. And there are several things I have to do, including bringing my car into my mechanic for some unexpected, major work.

So what is it that I would like to write this morning, before I end this blog post?

Maybe this:

I am afraid of flying.

Actually, as an old friend pointed out to me a long time ago, regarding my fear of heights: “Ann, you’re not afraid of heights. You’re afraid of dying.”

He was right.

Every time I’m going to fly, my busy human mind goes lots of places (as human minds do). And my mind goes to the possibility that the plane will crash. Which affects my mood. Which increases my anxiety.

And which makes me feel like I need to get everything done, now, because what if I’m gone, tomorrow?

While living each day like it could be your last (something I’m pretty good at, with good reason) has an up side, for sure…

Like most things, it has a down side, too.

Before I close, I wanted to introduce you to a stranger I met yesterday.

I was walking around Harvard Square, in Cambridge, getting some foreign currency, playing with my travel anxieties by “rehearsing” various travel-y things, and pretending that I’d never been to Harvard Square before, when I walked by this guy:

I was distracted by lots of things, so it took me a moment to take that in. When I did, I stopped, took out a dollar, and came back. I told this guy, “I used to be in advertising, and that’s the best ad I’ve seen in MONTHS.” Then, we had a great little conversation, where I ended up telling him that I was nervous about flying. He said, “Oh! I understand! But you know what? Flying is the safest mode of travel.” And he told me that he knew what he was talking about, because he used to work for Delta Airlines.

And as we were having our conversation, several more people stopped, said something appreciative to him, and put money in his cup.

He also told me that he had several other signs he used. He recited them all, with pride. I asked, “Which one does the best for you?” And he gave me the answer I expected, “This one.”

Then, before I bid this gentleman adieu, I took his picture, told him I’d like to put him in my blog, and asked him his name.

“Caspar,” he said. “Like the friendly ghost.”

I like thinking that ghosts are friendly.

Thanks to Caspar, friendly creatures everywhere, and — of course! — you, for reading today. Here’s hoping I’ll be continuing this blog, daily, on my travels with my son.

Categories: personal growth | Tags: anxiety, Cambridge MA, Caspar the friendly ghost, Depression, disowned emotions, fear of flying, fear of heights, Harvard Square, healing, sleep, travel anxiety | 12 Comments