so the new pope has a shady background...no, not molesting kids in the rectory basement, something much more popular and public for it's day - he was part of the hitler youth!

"I think it's amusing," said Robert Gellman, a privacy and information policy consultant. "I think it's absolutely classic America. Everything is for sale in America, every type of personal information."

i can't believe i've enjoyed commuting as much as i do. since i gave up a car last may, despite the brief month i drove (okay, the CRX was a special case, and i loved driving that car, but i digress) i couldn't be happier. biking was fun and kept me fit, but i was way too tired to do anything in the evenings. the motorcycle was definitely a lot of fun, and i can't wait to ride a whole lot this season too. yesterday i took it to work for the first time this year, and i noticed something. i was still stuck in traffic, and getting annoyed. i also noticed the lack of music, and the lack of cranial stimulation. i like to read now. thank you, MBTA...for that at least. so today when i took the train (actually, bus, subway, train, shuttle bus - and that's one way) i really enjoyed the time it took, hence the time i had to stimulate myself, free of outside forces, other than time....or space-time (i'm reading a brief history of time by hawking.) i have to be at work by 0900. i get there around 0840. my day starts at 0600. i'm out the door at 0630. at 0644 the 66 bus takes me to harvard where i catch the red line to south station. at 0735 i catch the 507 framingham local to natick. at natick there's a shuttle bus going from the train station to work. the trip home is the reverse, starting at 1730 and ending at around 1900. there's a rhythim to it, i see the same people almost everyday, the bus driver, the passengers, the metro lady, the coffee lady, the conductor, and the shuttle bus driver. if i learned names i'd know 5 more people. this connection with people is pretty valuable, i'm finding. somewhere along the way i became embittered with society and culture outside of my immediate friends. this is starting to shed off, and i think i'm the better for it. it might be that, or it just might be the joy of routine. but perhaps the joy of routine mixed with the music that i'm listening to as well. i enjoy minimalism immensly while riding the train. steve reich, terry riley, mikael stavöstrand, or the kraakgeluiden CD i have, penderecki, and even some szymanowski at times. the timing of the music is important. the best thing to listen to is the stavöstrand. it matches the train very well. jens lekman is good for walking through harvard square to the bus.

commuting by train. love it.