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We stopped by Joanne Rossman (Purveyor of the Unnecessary & the Irresistible) last Friday night. Joann was having a trunk show for Ms. Cha Cha Wang, the creator of the wonderful folded paper ornaments we saw a in the store a few weeks prior and we wanted to meet her.

Paper folding and folded paper ornaments is a topic which has some fascination for many of us here at RainyDayMagazine, so when the opportunity arose to discuss the topic with someone who is both technically proficient at folding and artistically creative with the craft, we knew we would not pass it up. We had a very interesting chat with Ms. Wang about her creations, paper folding in general, and... [more]- Cha Cha Wang: Papercraft

This Fall, we have been seeing the colors through the viewfinder of our Fujifilm X100S point-n-shoot camera and we have to say, it has been spectacular! The Fall colors starts up in New Hampshire in early October and makes it way down to Boston by early November. We think it also moves from Western MA eastward...not really sure why. Maybe there are just more trees out that way so it "feels" like the colors were moving east.

Anyway, the photo above was taken in mid-October at Northampton around the same time as the ones below at the Boston Public Garden. Clearly the colors at the BPG has not yet peaked while those at... [more]- Fall Colors

The Human Body did not come with a user's manual. If it did, more of us would have a better idea how our body works. So, perhaps it is fortunate that life evolved in such a way that most of the processes which keep us alive run on auto-pilot. Just imagine if we had to spend our waking moments remembering to breath, manage our circulatory system, and yet still be expected to process all of the stimuli bombarding our sensory receptors!!!

The Museum Of Science's new exhibit, Hall of Human Life, is an ambitious attempt to take visitors on a journey inside their own body for a glimpse at some of the interesting biology which occurs in there, literally right under their noses. The MOS makes it happen with a combination of technology, hands-on demonstrations, and... [more]- MOS: Hall of Human Life

The weather forecast for this past weekend was "dry and sunny." We were happy to hear that as we were driving up to New Hampshire to see the last of the Fall colors. Our destination was the area around Lake Sunapee with a day hike up Mount Kearsarge.

The trails up Mt. Kearsarge are moderate (to some of use that made the hike). There are two paths to the top. The more direct route is 1.1 miles and took us past some rocks which had to navigated before reaching the summit. We took the longer route of 1.8 miles for the... [more]- Mount Kearsarge: Fall 2013

The two times of the year when the Arnold Arboretum is at its most spectacular are Spring and Fall. As this spot is just a few miles from the office, we try to drop by as often as we can. The weather on Wednesday was beautiful and we had some free time before lunch, so we stopped by for a stroll. The timing was perfect as the Fall colors were on full display!

Everywhere we turned were spectacular bursts of color. However, taking photos of Mother Nature's largesse was tricky. Drifting clouds constantly shifted the light and made the dramatic scenery unpredictable. One second a tree would be brilliantly back-lit, the next it would... [more]- Arnold Arboretum: Fall 2013

Union Square in Somerville, Massachusetts was turned into a DIYer/makers playground this past weekend. Artisan’s Asylum hosted a gathering for artists of all types so that they could show off their creations to the community. The RainyDayProject folks stopped by for a look and ended up staying the entire afternoon. Ok, part of it was because there was some excellent Octoberfest beers being served, but there was also a lot of interesting stuff being exhibited.

The buzz for DIYers this year has been the emergence of "affordable" 3D printers. We first reported on 3D printers in 2006. Back then 3D printers were strictly for companies like Nike and Apple because they were the only ones who could justify using them for rapid prototyping because of the... [more]- Makers Faire: Somerville MA

This past Saturday was a good top-down day. So we thought it would be nice to drive out to Lincoln MA and visit the chickens at Drumlin Farm. Drumlin Farm, part of Mass Audubon, is a real working farm and a wildlife sanctuary all in one. The day was so nice we ended up walking around the entire place.

The last time we were at Drumlin Farm was in March of 2012. That visit was when the farm was just coming out of Winter. The fields were just starting to be worked and nothing had been planted yet. This visit was... [more]- Drumlin Farm

The folks at RainyDayMagazine have made a few trips out to the Atlantic over the years to experience the thrill of watching whales feed, folic, and do other whale-y things in their natural habitat. However, as much fun as our last trip out was, it was seven years ago. We thought it time to book a "refresher" trip :-) The cruise where we had the least success seeing whales was the one ran by Boston Harbor Cruises (BHC), so we thought we would give them a chance to redeem themselves (we are KIDDING, we know they don't have the whales on speed dial).

BHC's ticket center is conveniently located at the wharf next to the New England Aquarium downtown. Their whale watch cruises are 3-hours long and depending on the time of year, they go out up to six times a day. BHC can do this because they use high-speed catamarans to ferry folks out and... [more]- Boston Harbor Cruise Whale Watch

In the Spring, we put up some cottages for the birds, hung a bamboo house for the Mason bees, and built a new feeder for the birds. Now that we have moved into the dog days of Summer, we thought we would bring readers up to date on the goings on in the RainyDayGarden.

May: While the rain fall for the month of May was about normal (3.22", whereas the average is 3.37") the temperature was far above the norm (77º vs. the average of 62º). Because of the warmer conditions, many of the plants kicked into gear early.

Last year, for some unknown reason, the lilac bush did not bloom at all. It was not the case this year. The sweet scent was quite evident in the garden during the entire month of May. While not as fragrant as the... [more]- RainyDayGarden Update

The Dead Sea Scrolls, discovered in the city Qumran in 1947, is one of the most significant antiquity finds of modern times. The sequence of events which led to its discovery and excavation reads like an Indiana Jones plot. Beginning this week and running until October 20, visitors to the Museum of Science, Boston will have an opportunity to see up close this ancient handwritten text, along with the most comprehensive collection of Israeli antiquities ever organized.

RainyDayMagazine got a first-hand look at Dead Sea Scrolls: Life in Ancient Times, which premiered last Sunday. This is the scrolls' amazing story: in 1947, a Bedouin goat herder was chasing after a goat who had scampered through a small opening leading into a cave. In the cave were jars containing some scrolls. The herder's chance discovery eventually led to the unearthing of... [more]-MOS: Dead Sea Scrolls

Now that we have had a few weeks of one-on-one time with our new Fujifilm X100S, we thought we would take it to NYC for some street photography. We did a similar shoot last October with the Lensbaby and wanted to see how the X100S would handle under similar circumstances. The only difference between the two shoots was that, unlike when shooting with the Lensbaby, we were able to leave the Fujifilm X100S in Full Auto mode during the entire shoot. We just had to look, compose, and press the shutter.

Like our stroll last Fall, we started at Bryant Park on 5th and made our way uptown. Unlike last Fall, this outing was on a perfect Spring day. Bryant Park was teaming with people soaking up the sun and enjoying the 60º weather. It was exactly the conditions we were hoping for... [more] - Fujifilm X100S : Streets of NYC

The Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, is renowned the world over for breadth and depth of its Japanese collection, holding as it does over 100,000 artefacts. When we heard that the MFA was going to put together an exhibit of samurai armor, we naturally assumed that it would be drawing from its archives and showcasing some of the pieces not often displayed to the public. But, we were wrong: the MFA's "Samurai! Armor from the Ann and Gabriel Barbier-Mueller Collection" exhibit was organized by the Ann & Barbier-Mueller Museum in Dallas, in collaboration with the MFA, and features outstanding items from a private collection. According to Malcom Rogers, Ann and Graham Gund Director of the MFA, "This exhibition superbly complements the Museum's own collection of works from Japan because the MFA is weaker in this particular area." Now to say the MFA is "weak" in any particular aspect of their Japanese collection is to say the New England Patriots is "weak" in their offensive options, but we digress.

The incredible quality of this exhibit is evident at the entrance. Visitors are greeted by three suits of armor, any one of which could've been the centerpiece of an exhibit on Japanese armor that would've left its viewers satisfied. However, there are 140 more objects from the Ann and Gabriel Barbier-Mueller collection awaiting inside. Be prepared to be... [more] - MFA: Samurai! Armor from the Ann and Gabriel Barbier-Mueller Collection

Putting out food for our feathery friends is a great way to bring some life to the RainyDayGarden during the dead of Winter. This is especially important (to the birds) during really cold days or when there is a blanket of snow covering everything.

On cold days, birds have to eat more to keep from freezing. When it is snowing, what is available on the ground is not accessible to the birds. That is why our feeders are extra busy on snow days. We have been putting out black oil sunflower seeds, suet, and peanuts (with and without shells). The black oil sunflower seeds have a thinner shell and a higher oil content than... [more] - Birdfeeding in a snowstorm

Some of you may have seen Toyota's commercial of a Tundra pulling the Space Shuttle across a freeway. Our first reaction when we saw that commercial was, "That's not real." To our surprise, the video is 100% real. A Tundra was towing the Space Shuttle Endeavor across a bridge on LA's 405 Freeway on its way to its new home at the California Science Center, which we visited while we were in LA.

The California Science Center is huge. With several galleries spanning more than 400,000 sq. feet, it is a model for science learning by combining exhibits with the on-site Science Center School, and... [more] - CSC Visit

While New England was being buried by Nor'easter Nemo, some of us were in L.A. enjoying our annual visit to the West Coast office. Those left behind to mind things shovel out in Boston were understandably none too pleased with the situation, but someone had to watch the interns. Anyway, in L.A. we ate at several wonderful restaurants, visited some new sites, and had ourselves yet another awesome visit.

One of the notable sites on this trip was to The Huntington Library. Founded in 1919 by businessman Henry Huntington (railroad companies, utilities, and real estate holdings, etc), the private, non-profit institution is one of the world’s great cultural, research, and educational centers. During his lifetime, Huntington amassed the core of one of the finest research libraries in the... [more] - Huntington Library Visit