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40 Reasons Why the Summer of 2014 Was Awesome

2 Sep

SailboatBack in May, I published a bucket list of all the places I wanted to go, foods I wanted to eat, people I wanted to see, and things I wanted to do this summer.

Sure, I didn’t get to all of it, but I knew I wouldn’t. That said, I can say I accomplished the overwhelming majority of things I set out to do — and then some.

I drank a flight at Bantam Cider in Somerville, walked around Lake Hollywood in Los Angeles, sat out by the pool at the Hotel Indigo in Newton, ate all the steak I wanted at Fogo de Chão, watched my nephews have a blast aboard a Duck Tour, saw two Red Sox games (if you count the AA affiliate minor league team in Portland), watched all 26 episodes of House of Cards (in less than three weeks), etc. etc.

That’s why today, on the day after Labor Day, I can look back on the summer and confidently declare … Mission Accomplished. Continue reading →

There’s No Shame in Losing

16 Oct

Well, so much for my clothes fitting better, and any thoughts I had about losing weight.

Yesterday at work I participated in a munchkin-eating contest, and to cut to the chase, I ate 77 of those glazed bites of, um, air-puffed sugary cake.

Why?

I don’t know exactly.

I mean, one line of thinking was that if I could handle Old Country Buffet, how hard could it be to eat a few munchkins?

But it was fun. (And then it sort of wasn’t.)

And what may stun you is that 77 only earned me fifth place.

Yes, that’s right. The winner ate a whopping 105 munchkins — and he probably could have eaten more. Continue reading →

Curiosity Killed My Appetite

8 May

There are certain things you should do at least once in your life.

For example, I’ve seen the Grateful Dead live in concert, I’ve taken a trapeze lesson, I’ve hiked Tuckerman Ravine, and I’ve gone skydiving.

I’m not sure that eating at Old Country Buffet (in the Watertown Mall) is in the same league as those, but now that I’ve done it, I can safely say that I will not be doing it again. Continue reading →

A Grand Time

19 May

Diddy was there. So were Michael Douglas and Catherine Zeta-Jones, John Mayer (minus Jennifer Aniston), Alicia Keys, Josh Groban, Sopranos star Jamie-Lynn Sigler, Quincy Jones, Jon Secada, actor Jeffrey Wright, Village Voice columnist Michael Musto, and DJ AM.

Apparently, Nick Cannon (aka the new Mr. Mariah Carey), Kim Kardashian, Whoopi Goldberg, CariDee English from America’s Next Top Model, Pepa from the hip hop group Salt-N-Pepa, and Jenny McCarthy were there, too.

And you know who else was at the exclusive, black-tie, invite-only Grand Opening of the new MGM Grand at Foxwoods? That’s right: me. I snagged a V.I.P. pass to the hottest party in Connecticut this weekend, and the event certainly lived up to the hype. Here are some highlights. Continue reading →

Marty at Mardi Gras

5 Feb

I’ll have plenty more experiences this year, but chances are good that few will be as cool or as fun as standing on a Mardi Gras float throwing out beads to thousands of people yelling and screaming for more.

That’s exactly what I was doing Saturday night in Galveston, Texas, home of the second largest Mardi Gras celebration in the country (after the one in New Orleans, of course).

It’s estimated that 250,000 people were out along the parade route — rich, poor, black, white, young, old, etc. — and there were times when it was truly overwhelming seeing so many people cheering and clamoring for these cheap beads.

It was totally fun targeting people in the crowds and tossing beads to them. Or watching adults push past kids to grab the things. Or holding off until someone “deserved” the beads.

Man o man, was that a good time. Continue reading →

Where Art Thou

27 Oct

Amy and I were supposed to go with John to WaterFire down in Providence today, but the rain sure did put a crimp in our plan.

So, we decided to make our way over to the ICA finally. And I’ve gotta say, I wasn’t impressed.

Generally, I prefer contemporary art to the stuff that’s typically at the MFA, and I’m a guy who practically sprinted through the Louvre, so I thought it’d be cool to visit a place that featured an exhibit where advertising and Nike sneakers were looked at as art. And some of it was cool, but the museum itself was lackluster.

It’s smaller than it looks in pictures (all the exhibits — and by all, I mean all two — are on one of the ICA’s four floors), and the industrial design of the place is so cold and unwelcoming that I didn’t enjoy looking at the exhibits as much as I wanted to.

I just can’t say I found the ICA to be a must-go destination with out-of-towners or a place to go when I’m looking for something to do.

Oh well.

But on the good side, because we didn’t go to Providence, we were both home in time to watch Game Three.

So it wasn’t allbad.

I Found My Thrill

7 Oct

For almost as long as I’ve lived in Boston, I’ve wanted to go to Six Flags New England (formerly Riverside Park).

After Sunday, I can take that off my list.

Barry, Berk and I headed out to Agawam to ride some rides, and though Superman was not running, a good time was still had by all.

My favorite ride? Batman, even if it was actually, probably, the weakest of those I went on. Flashback and Cyclone both had me saying “Thank you, Jebus” when they were over. The bumper cars were weaker than those at Playland, but the wooden coasters here — Cyclone and Thunderbolt — were scarier than the Dragon Coaster because they felt more rickety and unsafe (amazingly enough). Continue reading →

I’m a Swinger

2 Jul

Sometime around when I turned 30, I made a commitment to myself that each year for my birthday I’d do something wild and crazy that would push my limits and remind myself that I’m not as much of a wimp as I thought I was.

At 30, that was skydiving.

At 31, I went surfing.

And at 32, I decided to take a trapeze lesson.

One year later (yes, I was a little delayed), I finally got around to taking the lesson. On Saturday, Pyles and I signed up for a class at Jordan’s Furniture in Reading, where Trapeze School New York has a whole operation set up. Continue reading →

Sky High

2 Oct

Some days just mean more to me than others. My birthday, for example, or Thanksgiving.

Another is today, October 3, because it’s the anniversary of the day I went skydiving.

Last year I wrote all about it, so there’s no sense repeating the same words, but suffice it to say, it was truly one of the coolest, most amazing things I’ve ever done, and I still take tremendous pride in the fact that I did it. Continue reading →

Take the Money and Run

5 Aug

After my last gambling experience, I felt there were some wrongs that needed to be righted, so I agreed to meet my dad and Jason at Foxwoods today for a boys’ day out.

I hit the blackjack table soon after arriving, went up $35, felt confident (and hungry), so I took a break for brunch.

Perhaps I jumped back into the action too quickly, because I promptly lost that $35 and then about $95 more.

But, luck was with me today. Continue reading →

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