Yesterday, I was headed to the Boylston Street Apple Store.

That meant getting off at the Copley Green Line stop and walking where the horror and carnage of Boston Marathon bombings occurred.

It meant walking on a sidewalk that was once stained with blood. Past a spot where people died.

Every time I pass by there I can’t help but think of the bombings and their aftermath, of the shock and disbelief as word first reached the newsroom. Of going home that night and seeing a city on full alert, choppers hovering, police cars roaring by with lights on.... More

Winter creates a magic moment every time it snows. The world falls silent. The landscape is transformed by a blanket of white. The mundane and grimy is suddenly covered in sparkles and beauty.

Spring and summer rarely see that type of sudden transformation. You can feel it perhaps in the golden hour or just after a summer shower. But you don’t get the feeling of entering a different, magical world.

Except for one special day.

Boston had a terrible long, – seemingly endless – winter. Even last week jackets and coats were the norm. The mercury said it should... More

I’ve been through four hurricanes and countless Nor’easters.

I spent my first day in Boston sitting inside an apartment watching “Law & Order” reruns as Superstorm Sandy blew through. In 2009, a strong three-day Nor’easter left several feet of water in the basement of my co-op. That was a pain.

But I’ve never seen anything quite like the past few weeks in Boston.

Those other storms showed up to plague people for a few hours or even a day, but they moved on. Boston’s insane weather the past few weeks has given us snow every weekend. And... More

This week, some asshole picked my MacBook up off a table at a Starbucks and walked out the door with it.

I’d stepped outside to take a call – not a smart move in retrospect – but I didn’t want to be that guy shouting into a cell phone. As I was standing in the doorway talking on my phone, whoever stole my computer probably walked right past me.

Logic suggests this would be a high-risk crime.

The shop was crowded – packed even – with dozens of customers. All it would take would be one person saying “Hey, wait... More