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Conrad Crawford @crawdadding.bsky.social · 18h

Turkey on a mural alert! Kendall Sq, Cambridge @haus53.bsky.social

An office building with a person on a lift that is painting a mural along its coffered exterior, which contains electric transformers that service the MBTA’s Kendall Station and Red Line rail.

The completed portion of the mural contains drawings of a turkey, flowers, a bee and a flying gull in silhouett.

There is a shared bike station, bike racks, a tree, fire hydrant and a sculpture across the sidewalk from the mural. The foreground of the picture contains a street marked for bicycle and automobile circulation.

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Conrad Crawford @crawdadding.bsky.social · 26/09/2026

Think they’re calling each other for advice?

Pep Giardiola and Joe Mazzula holding up the others’ teams jerseys with their names written on the back. “Joe” is written over the number 21 on a Manchester City shirt and “Guardiola” is written above a 4 on the back of a Boston Celtics jersey.

Both have recently been involved in shady dealings, Mazulla in a Bible-themed financial scam, and Guardiola in grossly violating his league’s financial regulations.

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Conrad Crawford @crawdadding.bsky.social · 22/09/2026

I love digging through old family stuff! $1

The cover of the August 1975 issue of Ebony Magazine, Special Issue, $1. 200 Years of Black Trials and Triumphs.

It depicts all Black men on here, and just one woman, so it’s not *that* awesome.

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Conrad Crawford @crawdadding.bsky.social · 07/09/2026

Kendall Sq. Cambridge’s Binney St/Porkchop Park has a good sample of it. Perhaps the neighbors can come up with an allergy solution?

Goldenrod growing in the plantin g beds of a public park.

Goldenrod in front of an office building.

A multi-use path bordered by goldenrod and other plants.

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Conrad Crawford @crawdadding.bsky.social · 06/09/2026

We’ve certainly laid the ground work! Pre-construction 6th St path in 2018, before it was named the Kitty Knox Bikeway, almost 10 years ago…and the work still goes on! Having forward-thinking decision makers with intimate local knowledge is key. I am proud of what we’ve done in Kendall.

Picture of a construction sign for walkway improvements, which at the time included the addition of a bike path, new benches and protection of important oak trees.

My name is on it if you want to zoom in!

An empty parking deck repurposed for toddler use (closely supervised used by an adult!).

Sign says “Small Cars Only”

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Conrad Crawford @crawdadding.bsky.social · 18/08/2026

I went through Sears at an earlier version of the CambridgeSide (Galleria), and one day I noticed that they had housecoats, many housecoats:

Sleeping gowns and housecoats, likely arranged by a retail professional with prior work experience at a fabric store.

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Conrad Crawford @crawdadding.bsky.social · 15/08/2026

Heads up: Kittie Knox Bike Path im Kendall will be closed to bikes 8/19 > 8/26 for construction trailer removal. The site will be updated to public open space in the near future. Details and signage will be in place directing bicyclists to dismount and use alternate routes. 🤞reopen 8/27.

Heads up, cyclists: The portion of the Kittie Knox Bike Path next to 105 Broadway will be closed to bikes from August 19
through August 26 to remove construction trailers between 105 Broadway and 115
Broadway. A new public open space will be constructed between these buildings in the near future.
Police detail and detour signs will be in place directing bicyclists to dismount and use alternate routes. The segment of the Kittie Knox Bike Path adjacent to 105 Broadway is set to reopen by August 27.

A partial map of Kendall Square in Cambridge, MA, with a section of bike and walking path highlighted to show where closure will temporarily happen.

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Conrad Crawford @crawdadding.bsky.social · 02/08/2026

Yeah, the car is too big, the curb cut needs to serve people crossing instead of car nonsense, and it should be a pain point, instead of a “try me”. It’s all moot, however, because the plan is to replace this row of parking with a protected bike lane 🥰.

Plans for a street redesign showing how a public right of way will be changed to accommodate a protected bike lane.

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Conrad Crawford @crawdadding.bsky.social · 02/08/2026

UPDATE: This lasted less than a day! It appears to be a matter of poor design!

A freshly hoe’d patch of soil smushed by an SUV tire, with the offending vehicle parked in front (follow the tire track).

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Conrad Crawford @crawdadding.bsky.social · 24/06/2026

It’s what a fair number of us locals were thinking as we cheered for Ghana. We bathe in the reminders. For example, this here, on the sidewalk outside Wheelworks bikeshop in Somerville, is an actual gravestone marking where a couple British lads lost a “sharp fight”.

A sharp fight occurred here between the Patriots and the British
April 18, 1775
This marks British soldiers graves

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Conrad Crawford @crawdadding.bsky.social · 20/06/2026

I bathed in birdsong earlier today ❤️🥰 This city-dweller isn’t used to hearing more than a couple birds at a time, but the forest here in Western New England supports more avian biodiversity.

Cornell Orinthology Merlin Bird ID App display

Red-eyed Viveo
American Goldfinch
Chestnut-sided Warbler
Northern Yellow Warbler
Northern House Wren
Eastern Phoebe

All heard in under one minute!

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Conrad Crawford @crawdadding.bsky.social · 12/06/2026

First edition, received as a gift, and still in my home library. Not the most evolved language, admittedly, but the tone aligns with the subject matter.

The book jacket for, “Rush Limbaugh is a Big Fat Idiot
And other observations”
Al Franken

The picture behind the text portrays Franken sitting in a mockingly erudite posture, holding a pipe, in front of of shelves lined with books.

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Conrad Crawford @crawdadding.bsky.social · 11/06/2026

We are keeping it reel. Ahern Field is cherished, as was demonstrated when I brought my push mower down the street to give it a trim during the early COVID days when the City suspended maintenance.

A reel push mower positioned in front of a freshly cut strip of grass on a public park’s field.

At the back of the field is a low-rise research lab building where, on Mar. 26, 2020, working in partnership with the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, Massachusetts State Public Health Laboratory, and area hospitals, the CLIA-certified lab of the Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard announced that it had begun processing COVID-19 test samples from patients across New England.

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Conrad Crawford @crawdadding.bsky.social · 06/06/2026

Stopped into Cambridge Rindge and Latin’s gym this morning. Patrick Ewing on the 1000 point club banner. 🏆

The wall of a gymnasium.
New York Knicks legend Patrick Ewing’s name one of the banners memorializing Cambridge Rindge and Latin High School’s 1,000 point club for Girls and Boys Basketball players.

There is a scoreboard with an image of a flacon in flight, and the words Home of the Falcons written on it.

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Conrad Crawford @crawdadding.bsky.social · 20/05/2026

From the 5/14 letter outlining completion items for 290 Binney. On it.

Streetscape Work BXP and CRA staff have discussed the required streetscape work on Binney Street and Broadway. Currently, Eversource and their contractors are completing transmission and distribution line work associated with the substation project within the footprint of the proposed streetscape work. As such, BXP is unable to complete this scope at this time. BXP has submitted to the CRA and the City of Cambridge 100% Design drawings for the streetscape work as well as permit drawings for portions on Binney and Broadway, in an effort to accelerate the delivery of areas of the streetscape scope as it becomes available.
Once the permit drawings are approved and Eversource has completed its work, BXP is committed to completing the respective streetscape work as soon as possible. In the interim, we will work to keep pedestrian access open along Binney Street.

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Conrad Crawford @crawdadding.bsky.social · 20/05/2026

Kendall Sq Bike Valet @ 290 Binney St is just about done. The plan is for it to hold up to 610 Bicycles, but we’ll see how things go after the launch and some operational experience:publicity. Maybe the start of a new model for Greater Cambridge’s (Boston’s), urban core?

A commercial building entrance, which includes access to bicycle valet on the first floor.

There is a view of urban Sycamores trees at the end of the drive.

As a condition of the Special Permit, the Permittee will provide a 24/7 complimentary bicycle valet to serve the bicycle parking needs of the tenants and employees of 135 Broadway, and 250 and 290 Binney Street. The approved bike valet system will first occupy the ground floor of 290 Binney Street, fronting an open space in the center of the block - the "Center Plaza" - and then ultimately transition into the ground floor of
250 Binney Street. Up to 400 bicycles will be accommodated in 290 Binney Street; afte relocation to 250 Binney Street the total capacity of the bicycle valet facility will increase to 610 spaces

The mostly finished interior of a bike valet facility, with rows of stackable bike racks arranged under an unfinished ceiling with exposed conduits.

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Conrad Crawford @crawdadding.bsky.social · 19/05/2026

I should have walked over to produce for rotten vegetables to toss. Is this a thread now? Stay tuned as we report from Greater Cambridge (Boston).

An example of obscene profit-seeking, exhibited by a $45 board game that’s been marked down to $40.

Sale!

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Conrad Crawford @crawdadding.bsky.social · 15/05/2026

Thanks to the quote skeeters for the heads up!

Reactionary dreck fixin’ to get blocked tf outta my timeline.

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Conrad Crawford @crawdadding.bsky.social · 06/03/2026

Yes! The 2nd KFC to be redeveloped into housing!!! Can we steal “The Big Chicken” name from Marietta ,GA?

A rendering of. Kentucky Fried Chicken restaurant with a 56 foot tall structure as part of its massing.

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Conrad Crawford @crawdadding.bsky.social · 27/02/2026

Did I know what was happening this morning on Bsky at the same time that I, feeling grateful to be reading a print version of my local newspaper’s column about urban wildlife, took this picture during my commute? No, but it’s quite the coincidence!

A picture of the backpage of the February 26, 2026 print edition of Cambridge Day newspaper, in small broadsheet format, showing the publication’s Wild Things column about urban coyotes.

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Conrad Crawford @crawdadding.bsky.social · 27/02/2026

I feel like we’re in the room with a reptile

Max Minghella as Whitney Halberstram, the scammy founder of Tender, character in season 4 of the HBO show “Industry”.

He is tap dancing through, or cooking up, another scheme to enable him to skip out before the music stops playing.

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Conrad Crawford @crawdadding.bsky.social · 10/02/2026

🤣🤣🤣. Thanks for the memory Greg. (That’s the wrong picture in the LA Times story, which is of the band’s current guitarist).

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Conrad Crawford @crawdadding.bsky.social · 23/01/2026

I am re-organizing some personal knickknacks and found this.

A Washington, D.C. Metro Commemorative SmartTrip card for Inauguration Day, January 20, 2009. 44th President of the United States

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Conrad Crawford @crawdadding.bsky.social · 17/01/2026

I love that @welcometodot.bsky.social reskeeted this! It says so much coming from an account from Boston’s largest and most diverse neighborhood. 💕💙💜🖤💛🧡

WelcomeToDot reskeet of Rafe Meager’s skeet that speaks to the upside down morality of those who can’t appreciate the benefits of communities where people from the world’s diverse cultures live, visit, play and create.

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Conrad Crawford @crawdadding.bsky.social · 14/01/2026

You’ve inspired me to break out my 40+ year old Merriam Webster Collegiate Dictionary and flip to page 697 (liquid • literature), containing definitions for literacy, literal, literary, literate, literati, literatim, literation, literator (which triggered spell check) and literature. 🤓🤓🤓

The second column of page 697 in a well-worn copy of Merriam Webster’s Ninth Collegiate Dictionary, starting with “literal”.

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Conrad Crawford @crawdadding.bsky.social · 20/12/2025

Am I the seeing things or is there a similarity here? :-)

Three keychains on a wooden surface.

Two, meant to be shaped like the African continent, are made of cow leather dyed red and black with white stitching along the edge and a white shell sewn into the front, are arranged on either side of a metal keychain with text reading “I ❤️ my Labrador Retriever”

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Conrad Crawford @crawdadding.bsky.social · 12/10/2025

Reading for this holiday weekend

Picture of a book cover reading:

Columbus: His Enterprise
Exploding the Myth
Hans Koning

There is an engraving from Bartalomé de las Casas of “Spaniards hanging Indians and setting fire to their houses” underneath.

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Conrad Crawford @crawdadding.bsky.social · 04/10/2025

Straight up 🔥 🔥 🔥 quote for putting the outrage of the day in context: As beneficiaries of a situation of oppression, the oppressors cannot perceive that if *having* is a condition of *being*, it is a necessary condition for all women and men. This is why their generosity is..

…false Humanity is a "thing," and they possess it as an exclusive right, as inherited property. To the oppressor consciousness, the humanization of the "others," of the people, appears not as the pursuit of full humanity, but as subversion.
25s.
The oppressors do not perceive their monopoly on having more as a privilege which dehumanizes others and themselves. They cannot see that, in the egoistic pursuit of having as a possessing class, they suffocate in their own possessions and no longer are; they merely have. For them, having more is an inalienable right, a right they acquired through their own "effort," with their "courage to take risks." If others do not have more, it is because they are incompetent and lazy, and worst of all is their unjustifiable ingratitude towards the "generous gestures" of the dominant class. Precisely because they are "ungrateful" and "envious," the oppressed are regarded as potential enemies who must be watched.
It could not be otherwise. If the humanization of the oppressed signifies subversion, so also does their freedom; hence the necessity for constant control. And the more the oppressors control the op-pressed, the more they change them into apparently inanimate
"things." This tendency of the oppressor consciousness to "in-ani-mate" everything and everyone it encounters, in its eagerness to possess, unquestionably corresponds with a tendency to sadism.
- Paulo Freire, Pedagogy of the Opressed

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Conrad Crawford @crawdadding.bsky.social · 26/09/2025

Bike racing fans (or mechanics), anyone really, visiting the Museum of Science in Cambridge should hop across the road to EF’s North American HQ lobby to look at fancy machines. I was excited 🤤 to see EF Pro Racing’s launch bike from 2018 displayed in the lobby. Urban hellhole ftw.

A picture of a pink racing bicycle frame with “EF Pro Cycling” stenciled on the down tube.

Two bicycles displayed in a corporate lobby.

EF Pro Cycling Launch Bike- 2018
In celebration of the launch of EF Pro Cycling in 2018, the team unveiled the first bike design in EF's signature pink making a bold statement both on and off the road.
Designed by Ming, our Chief Culture Officer based in our the EF Hong Kong office, the bike embodies the spirit of EF. The design was created to commemorate EF's entry into the world of professional cycling as a culture shaping partner and bringing a fresh energy to a sport steeped in tradition.

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Conrad Crawford @crawdadding.bsky.social · 21/09/2025

Thanks for reminding me of Sturbridge. I’ll have to stop in when I’m there next, and make my Also, for something convenient to inner-Greater Boston: Formaggio’s had a sidewalk set up the week before last. This is mid-week lunchtime outside Kendall Sq., on Windsor at Hampshire St.

A BBQ grill set up in a public-right of-way too often used by cars as a loading zone, but now used for food service and parking a bike.

On the sidewalk, people are waiting in line. Three other people are preparing the food. There are 10 people total, including the picture taker, but there are 6 more waiting behind them.

A sandwich board sign on the sidewalk displays the menu in neatly scribed hand print, and is titled “Formaggio Kitchen”, BBQ.

Prices are high. I did not eat the potato salad, and the collard greens were proper.

There is a fire official out of frame directly behind the photographer. This is because of the flame within the 37 inch Weber Ranch Kettle grill.

Also: peep the 20mph speed limit sign.

Streets are for people.

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Conrad Crawford @crawdadding.bsky.social · 12/09/2025

🚨 BREAKING: it is the first day of ‘nog season!

Half gallon and One quart containers of Hood Golden Eggnog in a grocery store’s refrigerator.

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Conrad Crawford @crawdadding.bsky.social · 26/08/2025

My personal algorithm is aligned with the discourse.

Screen cap of Bsky skeets demonstrating the nexus between sports and celebrity cultures.

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Conrad Crawford @crawdadding.bsky.social · 26/08/2025

My ANT cargo bike seems heavy but a simple 75 lb back rack, step through frame, and front basket with head-tube steering has kept me operational for 10+ years.

A bike parked at a lobster-shaped bike rack.

The bike is arranged to demonstrate design simplicity in contrast with a clunky attempt at witty design.

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Conrad Crawford @crawdadding.bsky.social · 19/08/2025

Highly recommend checking books out of libraries, especially if it isn’t your hometown one!

Roadside Geology of Vermont and New Hampshire. Bradford B. Van Diver

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Conrad Crawford @crawdadding.bsky.social · 07/08/2025

Cross dressing, minstrelsy…it ain’t new!

Stereotyped characterizations of black people were then common (with Mickey's design itself apparently evolved from blackface caricatures used in minstrel shows, down to the gloves).[3] One of many films and cartoons of its era that referenced Uncle Tom's Cabin, Mickey's Mellerdrammer features Mickey and others in explicit blackface.[4] Henry Louis Gates Jr. wondered how the cartoon evaded censorship of miscegenation, given that Mickey and Minnie portray Tom and Eva, and are "as they say, an item, and unmistakably so". Additionally, Mickey is seen cross-dressing in the role of Topsy.[5]

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Conrad Crawford @crawdadding.bsky.social · 05/08/2025

Memories! I took these pics at the Cambridge’s War Memorial Center earlier this year.

Names from the Cambridge Athletic Hall of Fame, including Patrick Ewing, 1981

MIAA Boys Basketball Division One State Championship Trophy.

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