Test Tubes

I found this Ziplock bag of centrifuge tubes in front of my apartment building when I lived in Allston. I thought it was an odd thing to be lying around. The bag contains one cryo-marker, 2 dry-erase markers (red and green), 2 centrifuge tubes, 2 ... oh crap, i can't remember what they're called-- test tubes of some sort, and a bunch of small sample tubes. The sticky note on it says:

017-07-vx1
CORJ 44
04/09/2005

What's it all for? I have no idea. Everything was completely unused and unlabelled. I used to work in a lab, but I still can't imagine why someone would take this stuff home! Unless, of course, they're a freak like me who really likes lab equipment. This isn't even the cool stuff, though. Since it's Allston, I thought maybe it was for a drug lab. However this stuff is all plastic; it wouldn't make very good cooking equipment.

<-- there's all the stuff laid out.

This is the note on the bag -->

Knave of Smokes

Whoever owned this ashtray decided it was too cool to trash, yet too lame to keep. It was sitting outside the dumpster on the ground behind my apartment in Allston for a few days until someone moved it to the landing of the back stairs where it stayed for a few weeks. I picked it up even though I don't smoke, figuring I could find some use for this wonderful object that was "Made in Japan." It's interestingly made-- it's completely hollow. It was obviously molded, as there are chunks that are stuck to the side, and you can see the seams, but it's made from very hard porcelain. I wonder if it came in a set of all the card suits, or if there's something special about spades?

Cell phones are SO COOL!

Whenever I get lonely, I just click open my Lizzie McGuire talking phone, and Lizzie says, "MMmmphhhhgp ppmmmmmggphh mmm phhffnsd." A few short months ago, she would say, "you're SUCH a great friend!" and my heart would warm up and I would realize how much I am uh, friended in this world or something.

Alas, Lizzie's batteries are running down, causing the fairy-like jingling noises her phone makes when you open it to go off at random times. They also interrupt themselves to start over, so it sounds kind of like early 80s rap music when were just getting into skratching and sampling. It goes

jingle jingJingJingJingJing jingle JingJingJingle

for a while and then stops for a couple of days. Today, however, you can make out Lizzie's voice as she says touching things like "K.I.T.-- you know, 'keep in touch, OK?' bye." as well as philosophical ponderers like, "cell phones are SO COOL." However, when you punch the number buttons, instead of a cheery beeping, they make the sound of a tape deck just after someone has pulled the plug. On the tape whose plug was pulled was a recording of a dying goose.

Since this is a "camera" phone, you can "take pictures" with it. This means that when you push the big round button in the middle, it makes a camera shutter clicking noise, and the "flash" on the front (see picture, left) is supposed to flash. Alas, there will be no dirty fake-photos looking up women's skirts on the subway today, as the battery is dying.

My favorite feature of this phone is the fake battery pack (see picture, right). Doesn't it look like you should be able to open up the back and take out the battery by pressing down on the tab near the top? PSYCH! That's just there to *look* like a real cell phone's battery pack. The real battery is stored in a chamber beneath that panel; one that you need a tiny phillips-head screwdriver to open. Such attention to detail!

I stuck this phone in the front pocket of my purse after I found it lying face down in a muddy patch of ground in Allston last summer, and haven't remembered to remove it until now. Several times my real cell phone has rung (kept in an identical pocket next to the LizziePhone bearing one) and I have answered Lizzie's phone by accident. I kind of wish I had a hot pink and poison green cell phone. Well, I'm SUCH a good friend to Lizzie, maybe she'll give me one for my birthday, because after all, cell phones are SO COOL!

Rusty Metal bolt

I like rusty metal things. I found this in Allston, where one usually finds broken beer bottles and syringes and the like. I have no idea what it is from; maybe from the train yard? I found it by the train yard in Lower Allston. You are probably not very excited by this bolt, but I like it a lot.

Life is Simple

Orlando Castillo wrote this touching letter to someone who discarded on the sidewalk in Allston. Although she (I presume it's a she, but you never know) didn't "burn it" as the letter instructed, she obviously didn't find this heartfelt confession from a Dartmouth Alum as touching as I did, even though he has a propensity to drive while drunk. I only have pages 3 and 5, I can only guess what the rest of the letter said.

End of the Christmas Party

There are only a few revelers left at this Christmas Party, and drunkenness is probably what's inspiring the last few stragglers to sing karaoke... Judging from the look on the one dude's face, singing probably isn't this person's main talent. The photographer who captured this moment wasn't the only one; I wonder what the lady with the white hat's picture looks like? Also, I like the 3 Stooges poster in the background. I found this picture on Brighton Ave. in Allston one night in January 2007.

Allston Squiggle

This Polaroid was on the sidewalk in Allston sometime in 2006. I can't tell what the picture is supposed to be of, but I really like the light squiggles and the way it came out.

Girls on Vacation

My roommate found these pictures of this little girl and her friend. I'm not sure where the picture is taken, or what exactly is going on. The two girls look like they're having lots of fun, though!