D.C.

My grad-school-bound little sister graduated from college this past weekend down in D.C., and the whole family headed down to watch. It was actually the first time in a long time that the five Copes went anywhere without additional company, and it worked out pretty well.
D.C. is a neat place with a lot of interesting monuments, although basically everyone upon entering the District gets a strong and vocal opinion about all kinds of political issues and isn't afraid to share. Even people who don't normally talk about politics decide it's a good place to start, including myself.
We took a bicycle tour around the city, and that was a great time. We were led along the numerous walking/bike paths to some of the monuments, where our travelling guide would tell us about them. After a few minutes of wandering around we'd get back on the bikes and head to the next one. I forgot how much fun it was to get air off of bumps in the sidewalk and it almost made me want to get a bike to ride to work. Almost.
The graduation ceremony was indoors and out of the rain, and it actually wasn't too bad. They break the students up by school, and we only had to watch two schools' worth get their names read. The speaker was Dr. Vernon Jordan Jr., and he was actually pretty interesting.
I can't believe that my little sister just graduated from college... It's amazing how nobody ever gets any younger...

Paintball

A couple of weekends ago a bunch of us dusted off our paintball gear and headed down to Upton for the day. We played a couple of times per month last summer, but we definitely didn't start until later in the year. The field, which is usually pretty dry, was loaded with mud and running water, and it was a great time. It threatened to rain all day but all we ever got was a quick misting mid-day.
I personally played fairly well, especially considering it was the first game of the season, although our team as a whole wasn't particularly dominant. Our pack is still relying too heavily on the actions of the other goobers that are there, and that never works out. Hopefully we'll figure it out next time.

Westford Road Race

Earlier this month Amanda ran the 5k part of the Westford Road Race. Almost, but not quite a coincidence, she ran with a friend of ours who is dating another friend of ours who went to High School with me there. Amanda kicked it out in 36:40, which is probably about twice as fast as I could do it.
I have basically no desire to run for distance, but I definitely think it's impressive.

Good work, babe!

Philly

Last month, Amanda and I headed down to Philly to see a few friends of hers from college. Philadelphia is a pretty bi-polar city, with all of the crappy parts on one side, all of the nice parts on the other, and Broad St. running right up the middle. It seems like anyone who has been on the wrong side of Broad street looks at me like I have two heads when I tell them I like it there.
I do feel pretty badass heading down to Philly just to hang out for the weekend, and Amanda's friends are absolutely awesome. Aside from them, and the obvious draw of cheese steak, Philly is packed with stores, bars, and parks. It reminds me a little of parts of Boston, and that's definitely a good thing.
While I was there I learned about the Curse of William Penn, which essentially blames the lack of success of Philly pro sports teams (no championships in any sport since 1983) on someone constructing a building taller than the statue of William Penn which sits atop City Hall. Apparently the contractor who oversaw the construction has died, leaving his son (a friend of Amanda's friends) with the blame.

Celtics Playoffs

Last Thursday I took Amanda to the Celtics game (second round against the Cleveland Cavaliers). I went to a few games during the regular season, and this was way more intense. The crowd was going absolutely nuts from about the middle of the first (when we started scoring) until about the middle of the fourth (when we were up by 20 and everyone started going home). The show put on by the Celtics as an organization is incredible. They always have something going on when there's a break in the action, and the combination of the announcing, music, and scoreboard is a great compliment to the game.
Of course it helps that the Celts are motoring through the playoffs, although their inability to win on the road is a serious cause for concern. Keep your fingers crossed.