Graffiti stenciling workshop in Davis Square:

The immediacy and poignancy of stencil art has made it a prominent tool in DIY political, social and artistic movements. Stencils are a creative and easy way to express opinions, spread messages and expand the boundaries of your artistic language.

This workshop will teach you how to make your own stencil from a found or original image for use on clothing, in fine arts, as wall decoration, or for any purpose you choose. Among the topics covered will be altering images to translate to stencil format, single and multi-layered techniques, large scale and portable stencils, types of paint and stencil frames to use, and how best to use your stencils on different surfaces.

Blackout.

Limeduck provides a head-to-head comparison of the grilled-cheese sandwiches at the Blue Shirt Cafe and the Diesel Cafe.

Bobob reports:

I was walking in the Davis Square area and saw a man from a industrial cleaning company dumping his cleaning waste down the street sewer from his van -- it was pretty stinky. I'm assuming this is illegal because when he saw me he packed up his truck and took off in a hurry. ...

Bobbob hasn't taken the T regularly for three years now, so wonders if the following sight is unusual:

... [T]here were two very buff, swat-team style cops with large guns -- I don't know my guns, but this sure wasn't a handgun, it extended about the length of his torso. Is this a new thing? Have there been military style police riding the rails for a while now? I opted to take the next train but the other passengers seemed less surprised.

Amazingly, JP Beat got a photo of two T SWATters at Back Bay station this morning, and they don't look like they're about to order him to the ground and rip the memory card out of his camera.

Maybe they were too busy looking for this evil dude.

Mike Mennonno reports he's now gone to Mr. Crepe in Davis Square enough to conclude that it is staffed entirely by grumpy people:

... [N]o human kindness escapes any of them. At least not towards me. And they have trained me not to attempt to show any myself by answering my innocent smiles with glares, or by returning my "good morning" with a brittle "can I take your order?" ...

Plus, they shed eyelashes on the crepes.

Spaz_i_mota wonders about the smelly guy now inhabiting the platform at Davis station:

... I'm not looking for snide remarks, its obvious he is homeless, but to be honest, and potentially non-pc, the smell of urine is really potent down there. I have noticed that he keeps to himself and really doesn't interact with anyone.

I'm not expecting someone, to offer him a place to shower, but how does this get addressed in terms of the MBTA? Is it allowed as long as he gets through the gates? ...

Back in December, somebody with a Sharpie modified the historic timeline display at Davis Station to include "Native Americans, wholly mammoths." Christina J. Hodge, MA, PhD, RPA, senior curatorial assistant, Peabody Museum of Archaeology and Ethnology, Harvard University and a research fellow in the Department of Archaeology, Boston University, places this act of consciousness-raising defiance in its proper milieu with a detailed post (complete with footnotes):

... My gaze tended to slide over the Davis timeline because it was static, familiar, of the background; dangerous and powerful qualities (Miller 2005:5). I did not engage actively with it until after it was graffitied. I acknowledge the graffiti authors for bringing my attention to the installation and for amending it. They inspired me to bring professional agendas more critically to bear on everyday praxis. Whether we recognize it or not, we all engage in a physically- and textually-mediated dialogues with the writing on the wall.

Via MetaBoston.

Coyote spotted down by Powder House Park.

The Somerville News reports:

The prairie wolf eluded police and animal control officers as he ran through the Max Pak site, Highland Road and Boston Avenue.

Spatch reports he has not seen his cat, Abbie, since Sunday:

... I don't want to lose the big guy so soon. This is killing me inside and I feel absolutely helpless from behind this desk. I've contacted animal control and nearby vets and agencies. Nobody's brought in a throw rug yet. It's rainy and shitty outside. He won't be going anywhere for a while if it's a safe space from that orange cat and his friends. I don't want ANYTHING right now except to have my buddy back. Come back, buddy. You're the best goddamn cat in the world and you don't deserve to be miserable right about now.