Jenn Martinelli Blogging in Boston

Thanks for nothing! Click on the photo below for the story.

Yes, I would rather that some lunatic be able to smuggle something onto a plane in their underwear than have to go through a full body scan at the airport in order to travel.

Better airport scanners delayed by privacy fears

Again, I refer you to Ben Franklin and Thomas Jefferson:

The man who trades liberty for security does not deserve nor will he ever receive either.

Benjamin Franklin

I would rather be exposed to the inconveniences attending too much liberty than to those attending too small a degree of it.

Thomas Jefferson

Thank you. The end.

These photos are really cool! Click on the one below to see the article from Wired and more photos.

I dedicate this quote to Rob Reed

What you do speaks so loud that I cannot hear what you say.

Ralph Waldo Emerson

I'm supposed to add now that this quote doesn't mean that Rob is a "meanie". It just means that he would appreciate this quote and agree with it.

You know what everyone? The new travel restrictions are bullshit. And yes, it's worth getting upset about. I'm so glad that I now have to feel like if I want to travel with any rights whatsoever, I have to take a freaking boat if I want to leave the country.

Thanks for that.

Check out what Ben Franklin and Thomas Jefferson have to say about security. For those who are always interested in what the "founding fathers" would say.

Hooray!

Woman's dead body found in a bag in East Boston

Don't worry Mom, it's actually in a different part of town, not that close to our condo.

So at Smith, there was an a capella fest or jam or something every fall, which was super popular, and the Tufts Beelzebubs would always perform. Of course, the jam only REALLY got good when Crapapella started performing there. But I digress. In any case, Rob is a student at Tufts and got this email today, which I find hilarious:

Dear Tufts Students,

Finals are winding down and we have an extra reason to celebrate!

The Beelzebubs have made it to the final three of NBC’s Sing Off. We are very proud of how far they have come. On Monday night, December 21st, our own Tufts Bubs could be crowned the national champion a cappella group in the nation, on NBC at 8 PM. The judges narrowed the field from the original eight groups to the final three. The selection of the champion is by popular vote. We can all participate in making this become a reality. If the Bubs win, they will win $100,000 and a recording contract with Sony records – quite an accomplishment for the Bubs and for Tufts.

EACH OF US CAN VOTE UP TO TEN TIMES BY EACH OF THE FOLLOWING METHODS.

TEXT: “1” to 33088 (10 votes)

CALL: 1-877-674-6401 (10 votes)

ONLINE: at http://www.nbc.com/sing-off/vote/register.shtml (10 votes per e-mail)

By the way, you can check out the Bubs’ performances in the competition so far on YouTube:

http://www.youtube.com/viewplaylist?p=82B81BCA7D7DF094 or on NBC.com

Good luck finishing up, have great holidays and a terrific winter break.

GO BUBS!

Thanks,

Tufts Programming Board

Oh how far you've come, Beelzebubs!

Most people know this already but for anyone who doesn't (since my blog was down for a bit), our puppy Billy died December 7th-8th (overnight).

He was getting close to 15 years old so he certainly had a long life, longer than most dogs his size and breed, and he certainly got his share of pampering and more than his share of love, but we miss him terribly!

Here are some Billy memories from my blog:

Billy and Cleo panic over groceries
Billy and I encounter a bitch on Beacon Hill
Billy pees all over
Billy and I rest on his 7th birthday
Billy is not impressed
Billy's dalmatian facts
Billy bites me in the face
Billy goes to Maine
Billy fakes back in the day (circa 2003)
Billy encounters an idiot
Billy goes to the drive-through

This article on Wired's site is pretty hilarious.

Martian destroys earth, blames the Large Hadron Collider

Oh, Billy. Leave it to you, at age 14+, being a city dog your entire life, to get Lyme disease.

So Billy has been having a tough time lately. Turns out a couple of weeks ago he had a lot of problems peeing, probably because of bladder stones (which we found out about due to a more recent drama). After that, he started favoring his back left leg pretty dramatically. But, as many of my readers may know, he is a major drama queen. On several other occasions we have rushed him to the vet or even the emergency room at Angell Medical Center, thinking there was something horrible wrong with him. Only to find that once there he exhibited no symptoms, or he magically repaired himself just in time to not have to go get x-rays for example.

Anyway, for maybe about 3 days leading up to last Monday, as I said, he was favoring his left back leg. Monday evening after taking him out, he was lying down inside and I suddenly took a look at that leg and noticed it was disgustingly swollen. Exhibit A:

It also felt like it was filled with fluid. It was swollen all the way up to his hip. We're pretty sure it wasn't swollen at all earlier in the day because we would have noticed.

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