2002-03-09 - 8:47 p.m.

Spring is in the air, and a young boy's fancies turn to thoughts of beer.

Seriously, it's like 65-70 degrees outside and welcome after this pussy winter we've had. You know why the word "flurries" sounds fruity? 'Cause it is!

Just got home from a fuckin' good walk. Worked the 2-6 shift at the Big Company, and then to Lechmere, to Inman Square, and ultimately to Harvard, where I got the Girlfriend a present for her upcoming birthday.

Inman Square friggin' rules! Been there just once, to visit some friends when they still lived there all those years ago. The greatest thing about the area is that nobody knows about it but hipsters and poor people, and that's just the way I like it. Zero tolerance policy for frat kids and their BU-euro-cellphone-Versace counterparts.

One of the coolest unique neighborhood elements is this poultry store with this ominous backlit sign jutting out. It's a white background with this yellow chicken silhouette profile traced onto it. Happy as can be, the words FRESH KILLED CHICKEN finish the sign off. I love it!

Went to the Curious George store in Harvard Sq. and got the Girlfriend some ********* and one of those ***** that ******* and ********.

In the store, one of the saleschicks was kvetching about how people enter the store and say "Oh, there's Curious!" Like the monkey's first name is Curious. I overheard, and chucked and smiled at her, but she gave me a dirty look. She was dead serious. Never call that monkey Curious.

We're moving into a new place in September, so I figured I'd get the birthday Girlfriend some stuff for the new place--the aforementioned ******, and I also got her this really hot ******. It's three simple ********** held together by a ********. Nothing screams class like a ************.

I also got her "Speak Kindly of your Volunteer Fire Department" by Robert Pollard and that other guy in GBV (Nate Gillard?), which I've already given her, and ************** by ****** ****.

To top it all off, I got her a Flingiedo present. I always do this--I get her something (that she'd like, mind you) that is also a two-faced attempt to wean her off doing something that annoys me. For Christmas, I got her a really cool bathtowel, cause she always steals my towels. For her birthday, I got her a really funky ********, cause she always ***************.

She's caught on to the deceptive idea, by the way. For our anniversary, she got me a Edward Gorey addressbook, so I would have one place to put all my telephone numbers down. Nice try--she just wanted to have all my friend's numbers down in one place and in the apartment, just in case I decided to go out and forgot to call her to tell her I would't be home on time--so she could call all my friends and ask if they had seen me.