This statue is shocked by this:

Vermeer was a 15th century Dutch painter.  Contrary to what some people may believe, I didn’t actually know him, as I am not 500 years old.  I’m close, but not there yet.

Anyway, he was an artist, and probably like to knock back a few beers at the end of a hard day at the easels.  Perhaps if he had visited the Harpoon Brewery as I did yesterday, he would have painted this:

I seem to visit breweries, which is strange, considering I actually do not like beer too much.  Or in fact, at all.  But work obligations take me to them.

Yesterday I visited a particularly nice one called the Harpoon Brewery, located in the waterfront district of Boston.  That is the place I’d live if Allston suddenly dropped into the Charles.  Or more accurately, the rents there wouldn’t require that I work 24 hours a day, seven days a week, 365 days a year.  Oh well.

Anyway, breweries have their particular charms and the Harpoon Brewery is particularly charming, as it features freshly made pretzels and a well lit area to sample them in.  Their beer is quite good.  Well, I guess I’m not the one to make that judgement, as I mentioned, not a huge fan of beer.  But the pretzels were quite good.  A picture would have been included, had I not eaten it so quickly.

Breweries are also full of all kinds of mechanical whoisits and whatsits.  Yeah, here at Wrong Side of the Camera, we pride ourselves on our technical knowledge.  I know that the beer guide must have mentioned what exactly all of these things do, but I was honestly, a little too preoccupied with photographing them and getting the framing right.  If you are a beer expect, feel free to fill me in on exactly what all of this is:

Today it hit me.  I take a lot of portraits of people I randomly meet.  I mean I take a lot of photos of people, but most if not all of the time, they don’t even realize it.  Then I thought, I take a lot of portraits of people I meet, who are just funny or interesting.

My job gives me the opportunity to go around Boston quite a bit and I encounter all kinds of interesting people just go about their daily lives.  Oddly the inspiration struck when this girl was speaking:

This girl is a tour guide at Boston University.  A work obligation took me over there.  Believe me, I am far beyond the undergraduate days, but there you have it.  She was bubbling over with so much enthusiasm that I had to take her photo.  Also, the great uprush of the hands matched the tree behind her.

Next up, we have the beer guide.  The beer guide at Sam Adams a couple of days ago, where I, unbelievably visited for a work obligation.  No, I am not a professional beer drinker.  But this guy was so funny, making us wiggle our fingers behind our beer, that I thought he merited a photo:

I think here he is demonstrating the proper way to hold a glass of beer.  Upside down wouldn’t have the same effect, I guess.

Lastly, we have the guide from a tour I took of the Massachusetts State House last month.  This guy could star in a movie called “I Pahked Ma Cah in Hahvid Yad Farty Yees Ago.”  The Boston accent was that hilarious, but he was a good sport about me bursting out laughing whenever he omitted an R.  Actually, he was an excellent tour guide.  The Boston accent was just that little sugar and spice the whole thing needed:

I guess this is the part when I get to whine a little about my work schedule.  I work.  A lot.  And by a lot, I mean enough as to sometimes I simply get home and sit down on the couch and go to sleep.  I don’t even make it into the bed.  But the good thing is that I really like my job.  Whenever I have to work a lot, I think to myself “get over it.  You really like this job.”

My job is funny too because I’m working when other people are home and I’m not working when other people are sometimes.  I get to see another slice of the world as a result of my work schedule.  Lucky for me, I also work in downtown Boston, near Faneuil Hall.  I work on Saturdays as well.  I know, that doesn’t exactly sound great, but here’s the thing.  Downtown is relatively empty.  The line at Starbucks is short.  And Faneuil Hall is just buzzing.  There are a lot of people around and there is always some kind of funny street performer over there.

Last Saturday I saw a guy named Brent McCoy, who calls himself “The Real McCoy” and performs what he calls “Comedy That Works.”  It was very funny and had that self deprecating thing I love about Bostonians:

Although when I see a perfect opportunity to take a photo, I do it.

The location: The Os Gemeos mural in Boston.  It of the kid in the pajamas that looks insane.

The person: I thought he was imitating Michael Jackson, but I could be wrong.

The photos:

I’ve been taking a lot of photos of haunting things lately.  Don’t ask me what it means: