when i came home from china last year, it was already too late to see the annual caribbean parades in boston and cambridge. and then this year i didn't go to the annual coney island mermaid parade. my diet of attending costumed spectacles featuring scantily-clad women was sorely deficient. i did go to the pride march and puerto rican parade, but they were lackluster in terms of pageantry. so i was looking forward to this year's caribbean parade in boston, which i haven't attended since august 2012.

ana was scheduled to move in today, after she postponed her move yesterday because she was too busy. she'd arrive around 1:30p, so i left a key for her to find so she could let herself into the house.

since it was a nice sunny day, i decided to take the motorcycle. my route would be to go down memorial drive, cross over the BU bridge, then ride down the riverway along jamaica plain to roxbury. i left around 12:10p, which i thought was a bit late, but it'd take me at least 30 minutes to get there, and the parade began at 1pm. fortunately the caribbean parade almost never start on time, so i wasn't too worried. the only hiccup was this was the weekend when all the college students move back to town, and getting across the boston university area took a while, with all visiting drivers flooding the roads, not used to boston driving.

i got to malcolm x park by 12:40p, parked on washington street, my usual stop across from senado market. all the different floats were already setting up along martin luther king boulevard. since i just arrived, it takes a little while for me to get into photography mode, so i didn't take any photos, just walked through the crowd of feathers to get to the intersection of MLK boulevard and warren avenue, my usual shooting spot.

i leaned up against a cement light post, the thin shadow giving me some shade. this was the start of the parade, where all the politicians line up to kick things off. i saw mayor walsh, as well as police commissioner william b. evans. the parade started 1:15p, at least the politician portion of it. they were already well ahead and over the first hill of warren avenue while the main carnival procession was still on MLK boulevard. but soon the procession slowly rolled down the street. i'm normally a lazy stationary photographer, but decided to move around to get better shots. i ended up walking everywhere, from the top of warren avenue, back down to MLK boulevard, and up and down warren avenue once more, chasing photo opps.

* "i saw you at the parade" little white girl playing with 2 black friends. said i was standing next to an asian guy who looked like me but wasn't wearing glasses. when i asked her what i was doing, she said i was just leaning against a light post. "did you see all those flabby butts?" she asked me conspiratorially. "i saw some flabby butts," i answered discreetly. "did you see those boobs?" she asked. "yes, i saw some," i replied, and quickly made a hasty retreat. i was not having this conversation with some 5 year old girl.

* ana not home but moved in already because she brought a package inside. later at 6p sent me a text saying she wasn't sleeping over tonight and would be back tomorrow.

* oneplus one auto-updated to android 5.1