Like many people, I occasionally visit Yelp to see what people are saying about local restaurants and other businesses. More often, I visit it to find out about out-of-town restaurants when I need that information. So Chris and Erin immediately… Read More ›
Dorchester/Boston
Surely the Globe can't be wrong! But the oldest house in Boston is actually in Dorchester, not in the North End
It’s simple logic: A sentence begins this way in today’s Boston Globe: The grounds of the Paul Revere House, Boston’s oldest building and a historic Colonial landmark,… The Paul Revere House was built in 1680 (plus or minus a year… Read More ›
Stay off the main drag
“Please if possible stay off Dorchester ave until the community gets more information,” writes a well-known Dorchester community activist with an incendiary temperament. This sentence was part of a mass email sent out in response to a targeted killing on… Read More ›
Quadratic equations will help Dorchester!
Sounds unlikely, doesn’t it? How could quadratic equations possibly help Dorchester? Well, I should first note that we’re talking about quadratic relations —in particular, those represented by hyperbolas — not about quadratic functions in the familiar form of f(x)=ax2 + bx + c, represented… Read More ›
Dorchester Open Studios
Delayed post (originally written 10/28): I highly recommend visiting Dorchester Open Studios when it comes around again next year. This year’s event was well worth seeing, though Barbara and I only got to visit a fraction of the over-100 studios… Read More ›
Gardner at the dealership
So I’m waiting at the car dealership in Dorchester while my car is being serviced, and I don’t want to stay in the Service Department’s waiting room because the television is blaring some stupid show and I would like to… Read More ›
Visiting Pittsfield (…Who would visit Pittsfield?)
Delayed post (originally written 9/10): If you say you’re going to the Berkshires for vacation, nobody bats an eye. But say that you’re going to Pittsfield, you get some very odd looks. Who ever vacations in Pittsfield? It can simply… Read More ›
Cross at the green
“Cross at the green, not in between.” Didn’t we all learn that rule as children? Dorchester is inner-city: a very urban environment. It’s dangerous to cross against the light! It’s dangerous to walk across Dot Ave right in front of… Read More ›
Milton K-12
I recommend reading the website of MiltonK–12.org, a new organization committed to preserving Milton Academy as a school that runs from kindergarten through grade 12. “Why is this an issue?” you may well ask. Here’s why: Periodically, rumors surface that… Read More ›
OFD or DBC?
There’s something faintly annoying about those “OFD: Originally from Dorchester” medallions and bumper stickers. Yes, it’s nice that people are proud of coming from Dorchester, but the word ‘originally’ sticks in the craw. It implies something like, “Yes, I was… Read More ›
Which parish?
A stranger entered my classroom just before my Algebra II class was about to start. He was wearing a visitor’s pass but didn’t introduce himself. So I went up to him, introduced myself, and of course he responded in kind…. Read More ›
Preliminary thoughts on benefits of CSA
As reported here at various points, a frequent topic of discussion at Weston High School is the achievement gap — as seen in Weston and elsewhere. In its starkest form, standardized tests show that white and Asian kids from upper-middle-class… Read More ›
Crime = Dorchester, not Beacon Hill
So let’s suppose that the Boston Globe (4/24) is reporting on a crime story, based on a press release from the office of Suffolk County DA Dan Conley. And let’s suppose that the crime took place in the Beacon Hill… Read More ›
Cinco de Mayor
As part of the aforementioned fundraising for the Mayor of Dorchester campaign and Dorchester Day activities, the Ashmont Adams Neighborhood Association and the St. Mark’s Area Main Streeet volunteres will be sponsoring a Cinco de Mayo celebration on (of course)… Read More ›
Dot chili cookoff (post-)
I wrote earlier about the Dorchester Chili Cookoff, a fundraiser for the Mayor of Dorchester/Dorchester Day Parade. It turned out to be a good experience, but with some flaws. Ten or eleven neighborhoods contributed entries, and IMHO the winner was… Read More ›
But we're only a mile from Dorchester!
At the Saturday Course in Milton — frequently mentioned in this blog — we teach students from many different cities and towns, including Milton itself and Boston. So we were wondering why we don’t have a more diverse student body,… Read More ›
Dot chili cookoff (pre-)
“What does this mean?” a local realtor asked Barbara, pointing to a “Craig Galvin for Mayor of Dorchester” sign. “Dorchester is part of the city of Boston; it doesn’t have its own mayor!” So Barbara patiently explained that although there… Read More ›
Math is hard at the Home Despot
On the way home from work yesterday, I stopped at the local Home Despot — er, I mean Home Depot — in South Bay in Dorchester, in order to buy some plywood. I picked out a nice sheet, measuring the… Read More ›
Roxbury? Perhaps Dorchester? But Back Bay????
Check out the website for 1010 Mass Ave in Boston: This six-story building is located at 1010 Massachusetts Avenue in Boston and offers 220,770 square feet of prime office space. Located in Boston’s Back Bay, 1010 Mass Ave is within… Read More ›
Dorchester described accurately
I know, it shouldn’t be news when a major publication describes Dorchester accurately. It should be the dog-bites-man vs. man-bites-dog thing. But, unfortunately, accurate yet positive descriptions of Dorchester have come to be man-bites-dog stories in the mainstream press. Then… Read More ›
Learning Strategies 