What’s wrong with this picture?

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(Click on the image for a closer look.)

Here’s a hint: If you said “You can’t get spiral sliced ham for $1.89/lb!”, you’re wrong. I *wish* this was a joke. Thanks to Becky for pointing this out while looking through the circulars this weekend.

Well, for me at least. Normally it takes me 25 minutes to get home. I leave at 4:45 and get home by 5:10. Today, I left at 4:35 and got home at 7:25. Two hours and fifty minutes! Here’s to hoping that future winter storms, which will certainly be worse than this one, do not produce such a horrible commute. We’ve made it through worse than this. Everyone just take it easy, stay clear of the driver in front of you, and don’t slam on those brakes!

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We’ve got a wee bit o’ snow here in Beverly! I say a wee bit, because it’s certainly not as much as we’ve gotten in [the past](http://prwdot.org/mt/mt-search.cgi?search=snow&IncludeBlogs=6&Template=worldwidewood). Maybe four inches of light, fluffy snow so far. We’ll see how it goes! (See all of [this morning’s photos](http://prwdot.org/gallery2/v/events/2005/snow_december_9/).)

Boston’s [Museum of Science](http://www.mos.org/) has been running a series of free, public lectures called “Lecturology”. These are sort of popular science lectures, designed to be accessible to a wide variety of individuals. I have attended two such lectures this week; one was good, the other, not so good.
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In the words of Richard Hatch, “I been bamboozled!” As has already been pointed out to me by various people, the man I photographed [on Sunday](http://prwdot.org/archives/2005/10/rock_stars_knitters_activists.html) in Boston was not, in fact, Bono. No, it was a look-alike hired by [Mix 98.5](http://www.mix985.com/) to drive around the city and give out tickets to the U2 concerts. So I apologize for misleading anyone.

In my defense:

1. I actually didn’t think it was Bono when I first saw him and took the photos. I thought it was just some random crazy guy riding around in a limo – maybe some wannabe or lesser-known rock star. I thought he had too much facial hair and that his hair color was too light. Only when I got home later that night and looked up U2’s tour dates did I think it was him – I didn’t even know that U2 was going to be in Boston this week.
2. How often do I see Bono in public, to begin with?

I guess I was just too excited about the potential prospect of having gotten a decent photo of a celebrity. Next time, I’ll go with my gut instinct, which was to avoid asserting the identity of anyone I photograph until I have 100% positive confirmation that it was, in fact, who I thought it was.

P.S. If anyone from [Mix 98.5](http://www.mix985.com/) is reading this, I think I should get a pair of tickets just for taking such a nice photo of your look-alike. Thanks!

What do these three have in common? Today, all three could be found at (appropriately) the Boston Common! Read on to find out how this truly fascinating situation came to pass.
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Is there anyone else out there who comutes north of Boston on the Newburyport/Rockport train that saw the large, wooden Monkey sitting in the marshes in between Revere and Lynn?

I would love to have a picture.

fff|ggg|mount_auburn_cemetery/P1040927|Mary Baker Eddy Memorial|ggg|fff

…was the question that my Dad asked when we told him that we had spent Sunday afternoon at the [Mount Auburn Cemetery](http://www.mountauburn.org) in Cambridge.

The website promises that “it is one of the best birding spots and most beloved landscapes in Massachusetts.” And that it played a significant part in the development of many of America’s first public parks.

And the grounds live up to that description. There are so many things to see. The paved roads wind up and down the hills around ancient and modern gravestones and markers. There are dirt paths that lead to hidden ponds and even more hidden gravestones. There is a lake with a beautiful memorial to Mary Baker Eddy. And, as a great surprise to us, a tower with fantastic 360degree views of Boston and her surrounds.

Peter and Corey and I spent a couple hours walking around, reading gravestones, postulating about the lives of the people that were buried there. Who were they? What did they do? How could they stand having _________ for a name?

fff|ggg|mount_auburn_cemetery/P1040853|Tomb of Harrison Gray Otis|ggg|fff

I was particularly interested in one specific tomb. That of [Harrison Gray Otis](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Harrison_Gray_Otis_%28lawyer%29) (and family). I knew that he was buried at Mount Auburn, and had seen a photo of the tomb, but was unable to find a specific location. (And with 175 acres to cover it would be the needle and the haystack all over again.) Luckily, the information booth had maps available that showed the location of 60 or so famous people buried there…and Otis was one! It was like a homecoming for me. I spend so much of my life reading about and talking about this man… I work in his first family home and now I’ve seen his final resting place. We’ve come full circle.

Full gallery for the day exists [here](http://gallery.prwdot.org/mount_auburn_cemetery?page=1).