OK! The kitten has been safely moved to a different location where she will NOT be euthanized in 1 day! She is now at:

Animal Rescue League - Pine Ridge Animal Center 55 Anna's Place at 238 Pine Street, Dedham, MA 02026 (781) 326-0729 dedham@arlboston.org

I have spoken with the shelter people, and she will be held a MINIMUM of 4 days to see if anyone has lost her and claims her. Her information has been put out on the pet network for lost pets, so hopefully if she's lost she'll be able to be reunited with her owner.

After 4 days, she's going to be put up for adoption.

For anyone interested in her, the rescue league volunteers have named her "Rhea" and her animal ID number is #137252.

There's no way I can adopt her, but I will make sure if she's not adopted and if she's scheduled to be euthanized I'll grab her and put her somewhere safe.

I'm going to visit her later today to take pictures of her so I can make a "found kitten" flyer to put up where I found her. I'll also post her pictures here.

Poor little critter. Talk about a "bad Monday" for her. I hope it ends well.

Walking to work about 10 min ago, I found a small female kitten, about 4-6 months old, black with white paws, whiskers and chest. She was wandering around the corner of Clarendon and Chandler St. in Boston's South End. I brought her to the Animal Rescue League (10 Chandler St., 617 426 9170 x120, www.arlboston.org). She is very skinny and very friendly and very scared. The Animal Rescue guy I spoke with (Will) said they have some kind of bad quarantine going on involving some kind of fatal and untreatable cat disease (I can't remember what he said...I'm too frazzled), and because of this they cannot hold the kitten...they have had to put down (kill) all their cats, and any new cats coming in will have to be put down in 1-2 days!

Anyway, if anyone lost this kitten, or wants to adopt, please contact the Animal Rescue League! I can't adopt her (I already have 3 cats). I will stop by and see her later today, and I'll post pictures then!). I'm gonna post fliers where - found her, too. She's being held under my name (John Lester).

Crazy...I'm walking to work and this kitten just runs up to me on the sidewalk and starts purring. I hope I can help find her owner or help her find a good home.

Awyeah! Hanging out at our sekrit Hax0R clubhouse tonite, and we managed to finally fix our vintage Battlezone arcade system! It rocks! And I *still* suck at it! :P

Hindu finger puppet god, help me! I miss someone very much...

Interesting....the new SK camera seems to work a lot better in low light conditions. Sitting here in the Loews Boston Commons Theater waiting for Terminator 3 to start. I go to a lot of movies alone, and this is another "solo-movie" nite for me. Sometimes it's lonely, but I mostly like it.

Feasting one one my favorite foods...buffalo chicken tenders and curly fries. I never eat them except when I'm at the movies, and the Loews theaters make them unbelievably great.

They taste even better in the dark.

double dangit. something is inserting %20 spaces....last try

Jan Mayen island info

Dangit. A few of those links were busted. Here they are corrected:

paper on Hiptop Nation Halloween Hunt

Jan Mayen island info

Santorini island info

A special Gallery today....3 saints from Greece and 3 animals from Iceland.

About my 2 trips: First I spent a couple weeks living on a Russian expedition ship. We circumnavigated Iceland, stopping at small towns and villages along the coast. We also sailed north to stop at the isolated island of Jan Mayen, home of the northernmost active volcano in the world. Had planned on observing the solar eclipse at sea, but stormy weather prevented it.

Second, I spent a couple weeks in Greece, first on the island of Crete where I presented my paper on the Hiptop Nation Halloween Hunt at the 10th International Conference on Human-Computer Interaction. It was very well received. Jenny Preece was in the audience and really liked it. She's written some fanastic stuff about online communities, and I hope to collaborate with her on some future research. After Crete, I spent some time in the Cyclades, stopping on Santorini (the most beautiful island in the world, in my opinion). I bought a beautiful piece of art by Yorgos Kypris at the Gallery on Santorini, but because of it's size I had to have it shipped to the USA. Once I get it, I'll post some pics of it here. It's strange, but definitely not small. :P

Here are the pics:

1) A stuffed and mounted Icelandic Raven. Ravens were introduced to Iceland by the Vikings arriving from Norway. Apparently, the Vikings always kept a pair of Ravens on their ships to help them find land when exploring.

2) A stuffed and mounted Icelandic Puffin. Puffins are all along the coasts of Iceland. They next in holes in the cliffs during the spring, and spend most of their lives on the open seas. People commonly eat them (they taste like duck...yum).

3) A vertebra from a seal, found on the beach of Jan Mayen. I found the whole skeleton of the seal (minus the skull), and brought home a lot of other pieces as well.

Hrm...I never declared these items when I returned to the USA. Probably breaking some "animal products" rules bringing them in. But none of these critters are endangered, so I don't really see the problem. O well. Don't ask, don't tell. :P

4) Small Byzantine icon painting of Saint Nicholas (got it in Crete).

5) Small Byzantine icon painting of Saint George (got it in Crete).

6) Small Bysantine icon painting of Saint John the Baptist (got it in Crete).

That's it for now. More later.

Walking to work today, I just passed one of those mobile mulching machines. Guess they're pruning trees and disposing of the branches. Anyway, this warning sticker was on the side of the machine, forewarning an ugly fate to any unlucky soul who reaches inside the mulcher while it is...well...mulching.

Looks painful.

Yes! I just got my new camera. Time to get back in the swing of things here. Nice hi-rez pics of my 3 cats and myself.

Boston has been ugly the past few days. Hot and humid. Makes your skin feel gritty and slimy at the same time. Dirty too, but in a way, very alive. Like being in the jungle.

Been travelling most of the past month. Iceland and Greece. I picked up some interesting curiosities during my journey. Posted one here...can you tell what it is? I'll give the details as well as more pics of small and strange things from Greece and Iceland to come...