We like the earthy, pastel-laden palette and shallow depth of field in today's photo of the day by Michael Seneschal. It's sweet, simple, and spring-y. Taken in Arnold Arboretum on a Nikon D90. more ›

Ulf Samuelsson. Bill Laimbeer. Bernard Pollard. And now, Matt Cooke? more ›

The inflatable rats are on the move, but they aren't heading toward Stop & Shop, as this Bostonist and his entourage feared. As the Globe reported yesterday, Stop & Shop's grocery worker strike was averted when the union and the company came to a last minute deal. Instead, it's Shaw's workers who are striking, a situation that's a lot less inconvenient for us. more ›

Ken Miller is a Catholic, but he's also a scientist. The Brown University biology professor has written books on resolving religious faith with scientific fact, as well as smacking down "Intelligent Design" for its scientific illegitimacy. more ›

We're never very good at providing hotel recommendations when people come to visit us. After all, we live here, we don't stay in hotels here. But if you have an inside scoop on the local hotel scene, from personal experience or conversations with your own guests, you may want to vote in the Citysearch Boston poll seeking the best local hotel. Exciting categories include best business hotel, best hotel pool (good if you can sneak in), and best luxury hotel. What about best hotel bar? What are your local hotel tips? [Citysearch] more ›

Much as Somerville is the birthplace of the Monster Mash, Seth Grahame-Smith is the pioneer of the Monster Movement in literature. Though the idea of blending monsters and literary classics was first conceived by Jason Rekulak of Quirk Books, Rekulak chose Grahame-Smith to pen the wildly popular Pride and Prejudice and Zombies. This is the book that causes you to do a double-take on the T when you see a seemingly demure Austenesque book cover gone horribly dead flesh. The text relates how the Bennet sisters train for zombie combat in addition to courtship. The "mashup" of Jane Austen's classic Pride and Prejudice set the stage for other monstrous works: Sense and Sensibility and Sea Monsters is already out, and zombie sequel Pride and Prejudice and Zombies: Dawn of the Dreadfuls will come out at the end of March. more ›

Maybe the Bruins didn't make any world-shattering moves at the trading deadline. But it seems like they pulled their ace goalie back from the brink of irrelevancy, and that might be enough to get them over the hump. more ›

Are you optimistic about the Celtics? Should you be? Friday's 96-86 win over Philadelphia is the team's third in a row after the debacle against the historically bad New Jersey Nets. Wins are wins even if they come against bad teams like Charlotte, Detroit and Philly. Boston's got a week of winnable games ahead of them until a trip to Cleveland next Sunday. The Celtics and some recent opponents are optimistic about the team and think they simply need to overcome injuries and gel as a team. Charlotte coach Larry Brown thinks the Celtics are for real. "They’ve had some injuries. They’re just starting to get healthy. So they’re going to be all right," Brown said. more ›

-- A 30-year-old Dorchester man was shot and killed on Draper Street after almost a dozen shots were fired. A witness described it as a movie scene and "total pandemonium." The Herald reported at least one gunman was involved. The victim had a "minor" record. [Herald] -- A teacher at Londonderry High School turned herself in after allegedly sending a student nude photos of herself. Melinda Dennehy faces one felony count of indecent exposure at her March 23 arraignment. [WCVB] more ›

• Massachusetts is one of 16 states eligible for as much as $287 million in federal grants from the U.S. Department of Education’s “Race to the Top” competition. Winners of the grants will be announced in April. [MassLive.com]

• After a 3.8% increase in undergraduate tuition and fees, an MIT education will cost more than $50,000 for the 2010-2011. [Boston Globe]

• The Boston Public Schools will replace five principals and require the staff of six schools to reapply for their jobs after 12 city schools were listed as underperforming. [Boston Globe]