i appreciate that NBC is broadcasting every single olympic event (i've been told it's a first), but finding them isn't so easy, with programs spread across various affiliates (CNBC, MSNBC, bravo, NBCsports, even telemundo). there's also the option to watch live streaming feeds online but i prefer seeing the action on television instead of a computer screen. so this morning i ended up flipping through the channels endlessly, trying to find the good stuff: i saw the men's archery match between the US and south korea; i watched roger federer almost lose his first round match; and caught some table tennis (why are the players still chinese even when they represent countries other than china?).

in the early afternoon i left the house to check out FIGMENT boston 2012, an outdoor interactive art installation happening on the rose kennedy greenway. i knew nothing about it, just from what i read online, but it sounded interesting.

i went via bike (trek 800), with my first stop at the former 88 super market on washington street (south of the turnpike). i picked up a bag of longans ($10/3 lbs.), and it seemed like everyone had the same idea, but i saw longans in every shopping cart. i thought the bag was 3 lbs. but turns out it was over 5 lbs. so i received some produce sticker shock when i went to pay.

from there i was trying to figure out whether it was better to first go to haymarket or the greenway. i ended up deciding on the greenway, figured i could bike through the area to see what's interesting, park around haymarket, then walk back down. this involved cutting through chinatown (nothing like riding the wrong way down one way streets) to get to the main gate and onto lincoln street. i stopped briefly at the c-mart to get some spicy peanuts for my mother.

i was riding on the greenway itself when a bicycle cop yelled at me to get off of the sidewalk. i played down, asked him to direct me to the nearest bike path, which was just along atlantic avenue (must be new, because i never noticed it before). i kept riding until i got to hanover street and pulled into haymarket.

boston was more crowded than usual, or maybe it's because i rarely come down on a weekend. i pulled out my camera from my backpack and began walking down the length of the greenway towards south station.

it's hard to explain what i saw, just a lot of artsy stuff. i was hoping to see some weirdness, and there were a little of that (people in costumes), but not too much. it's probably the busiest i've ever seen the greenway, which i know the city is trying hard to revitalize after finding out people just don't like hanging out on the greenway.

i made it down to south station, then started to walk back to haymarket.

i stopped to watch some belly dancing. the celebration continues tomorrow with some retro aerobics, which sounds like it's right up my alley, but i don't think i'm coming back (especially if it's going to rain again, more on that later).

the most interesting thing i saw was the "void simulacrum," a loop of red stretchy fabric that people would bounce around the inside of. i was invited to join but declined because i was carrying too much cargo. i caught it right when a marching band was passing through, and the void simulacrum actually swallowed them whole, with people dancing all around and the band continuing to play music, like this spontaneous display of random merriment.

the only thing i bought at haymarket was 5 lbs. of rainier cherries ($10), which was the same price as the regular bing cherries. i put everything into my heavy backpack because i didn't want them to be smashed in the rear baskets during transit. i returned home via the longfellow bridge.

i arrive home drenched in sweat, didn't have time to clean up or even have something to drink, grabbed my things, and left for the cafe. i was there to rendezvous with my mother, who biked with my father to the cafe this morning, and was now biking back to belmont. she was telling me how she fell off her bike again this morning, breaking the front reflector in the process. we went home via the more circuitous route she and my father usually takes, which goes inside the fresh pond trail. i followed behind my mother. although there was no car traffic, there was plenty of other traffic, like joggers, strollers, and dogs. my mother almost ran over an unleashed dog who darted right across her path. the owners weren't the least apologetic, and even threw me a dirty look, despite the fact that dogs aren't technically allowed to be off leash around fresh pond.

all day the weather had been in various stages of overcast. i even brought an umbrella with me into boston in case of rain, which never happened. riding back from the cafe, the clouds grew a bit ominous, but we were lucky to avoid any precipitation. less than 30 minutes after we arrived in belmont though (around 5:00), it began to pour.

the 32gb class 10 microSDHC memory card arrived today. unfortunately my father's media player doesn't support it (it can only go as high as 16gb), so i'll have to find a smaller memory card. not point in returning the 32gb card; i got it at a pretty good price ($20 although with rebate hassles) and i might be able to use it one day (like, say, i finally upgrade my camera body).

nobody felt like cooking, so we managed to persuade my sister to go to the watertown chipotle and get everyone a burrito bowl. i had the spicy barbecued chicken.

since the rain didn't seem like it'd let up, my father couldn't bike home, so i volunteered to pick him up after work, and in return he could drop me off at my place (with my bike in tow).

LJ had already left when i woke up this morning. i had a suspicion she went to the office, but her laptop was still in her room, so i wasn't sure. she was back at home when i returned, already boiling tonight's dinner. she haphazardly tossed her wet umbrella on the foyer floor; i picked it up and put it outside on the deck to dry (although it was raining so much i ended up bringing it inside and putting it in a bucket). turns out she did go to the office after all; she didn't bring her laptop because her office computer doesn't have any chinese apps and she didn't want to be distracted.