Originally published at The Definitive Dmbosstone. Please leave any comments there.

It’s a routine that I’ve become more than accustomed to. Reconnecting with friends.

Thanks to an unusually high number of trips back home this year (mostly due to business) I have realized two things:

1. When I come home I intend on seeing all my friends back home
2. I never have time to see all of my friends back home

As much as I try and plan ahead of time, there’s just not enough time in the world for me to see everyone I’d like to see. There are a few friends that I’m extremely close to that I will prioritize but sometimes I’m not even able to see them if the schedules don’t match up. So it goes without saying there will be some friends that will think I’m a deadbeat but the truth of the matter is I try to see as many people as I can. For instance I realized while scheduling time for friends over Christmas that friends I saw over Thanksgiving were not going to make my calendar.

Am I too popular or am I too ambitious with my time home? I’m too much of a geek to be popular so I’ll say I’m over ambitious.

I had lunch last Monday with Patrick at Fishbones, a local seafood place I’ve been tying to try. The broiled selections were pretty good- I have to go back and get the fried platter. Of course at the time I was trying to eat somewhat well- the holidays are bound to kill me with all the terrible eating I’ve been up to. It was great to catch up with Patrick- every time I see him I hear about the latest chapter of his life journey.

Tuesday I shared another meal with an old high school friend, this time it was breakfast with Jimmy. I haven’t really seen him probably since our high school reunion last year. It was good to hear that he was finishing up Paramedic classes and preparing for his next step. Later that night I had the annual dinner with Tessa, Phil, and Jen. We went out to Not Your Average Joes where we all ordered burgers- however mine was extra messy. I also have to say the bread there was really good. After our usual catch up on various issues from dating to jobs we somehow ended up watching Tessa’s birthday video, a DVD that we somehow watch every time we get together.

It appears that I’ve decided to center all my encounters with friends through food. On Christmas Eve I had lunch with OC and we had our regular gossip session and catch-up. Colleen is one of the few friends I never see very often but always enjoy hearing from when I do- we always have stories to exchange and people to talk about. I spent the rest of my Christmas Eve putting up the tree with my siblings.

Christmas itself came and went rather uneventfully. I slept in, took family photos, and opened gifts. For some reason I felt like I had a really bland gift list this year. A lot of the things I wanted were appliances for my new home and replacements for items I’ve lost in the past year. While I got a lot of the things I asked for- not all the items were exactly what I wanted so I still have a lot of exchanging to do. After a family dinner at Life Care Center (where my grandmother is living) the siblings and I went out to see a movie. We settled on Valkyrie- an interesting film to watch on the day Christ was born.

The day after Christmas I had a big night out with Nicole- we met up with some of her friends over at Hennessy’s where we enjoyed a happy hour with Jeff Fraser’s cover duo- Me and Julio. Apparently Nicole and her friends are regulars and got tables right in the front, and received lots of love from the entertainment. I even somehow got pulled in as well and Jeff called me a “ladies man” for being surrounded by so many girls. Of course my new title for the night become a self-fulfilling prophecy.

I received a tap on my shoulder and I was confronted with a very good looking teacher who insisted I had to dance with her. Well I couldn’t of said no.

After the happy hour we followed Jeff to his next gig- with a band called Spike The Punch over at the Green Dragon Tavern. What was weird was that a lot of the people I saw at the happy hour also followed… along with the teachers from Walpole.

A long night out and I found myself once again sleep deprived enough for the ride back to DC; however this time I had a buddy. On my way back I stopped in Worcester to pick up Corey who is spending the week sightseeing in DC. Ten hours later we arrived back home but we weren’t resting anytime soon. It was Saturday night and I wanted to show Corey what DC was all about- so I took her to Adams Morgan.

Now I hoped to show her the typical Adams Morgan chaos but I was surprised to see that the neighborhood was amazingly empty. I took her to The Reef which was almost dead compared to the lines that usually build up on a Saturday night. I ran into Texas Pete and he told me he just came from Chinatown where the scene was similar. It looks like all of DC was gone for the holidays. Well with the traffic quieter than usual I took advantage and breezed in and out several places in DC including Ventnor’s and the ever shady Dan’s Cafe. It’s weird that even though I only visit Ventnor’s once every few months- they always know who I am- the guy with the awesome last name. The Vietnamese bartender I knew is gone now but I guess my legacy continues.

Sunday Corey and I went to the Maple Leafs/Capitals game and today we did visited Zoo Lights with Carrie.

Now that we are all caught up I’m going to hit the bed- lots to do before New Years, stay tuned for the Year In Review!

Tags: adams morgan, blog, capitals, chelmsford, favorites, friends, fun times with friends, girls, maple leafs, massachusetts, travel, valkyrie, washington dc, woburn

Originally published at The Definitive Dmbosstone. Please leave any comments there.

My boss always asks me how many sporting events I’ve gone to in my recent years. It seems that I’ve gone to a lot thanks to access I have to tickets through work. Well I recently decided to actually find out how many games I have been to.

For a few years now I’ve kept all my ticket stubs in a box. Recently I decided to actually peer into the box and organize the many tickets I have laying in there.

After organizing and counting them here’s my current tally:

• 28 Nationals games (3 in 2006, 8 in 2007, 17 in 2008)
• 26 Wizards games (7 in 2006-2007, 19 in 2007-2008)
• 6 Wizards games (2 in 2006-2007, 4 in 2007-2008)
• 4 Redskins games (2 in 2006, 2 in 2007)
• 12 Orioles games (4 in 2006, 5 in 2007, 3 in 2008)
• 1 Red Sox game (thanks Mike!)
• 1 Patriots game (pre-season)
• 1 New England Revolution game (circa 1997)
• 2 Sea Dogs games (thanks FSC!)
• 2 Georgetown Basketball games (I also got to see the NCAA tournament this year)
• 3 Maryland Football games (thanks to my Maryland friends for that one)
• 1 UNC Baseketball game (part of that scandalous New Years)
• Various Verizon Center Events (including 2 WWE Raw shows)
• Various other concerts (I keep all my DMB stubs in a scrapbook already)

I’ve certainly been to a lot of sporting events. It appears like I need to increase my hometown sporting event experience. It’s also interesting to see the number of movies I’ve seen over the past years after I counted those ticket stubs.

• 4 movies so far in 2008 (plus one advanced screening)
• 8 movies in 2007
• 12 movies in 2006
• 5 movies in 2005
• 8 movies in 2004
• 11 movies in 2003
• 9 movies in 2002
• 11 movies in 2001
• 3 movies in 2000
• 3 movies in 1999
• 4 movies in 1998

I’m not much of a movie theatre person- I’m not surprised that most of the time I’ll average around 7 movies per year. Netflix and watching movies at home has been a big factor in keeping those numbers low.

So what to do now that I organized all these stubs? Well That’s My Ticket sells ticket stub albums as well as lanyards, frames, and other display items. Sounds like I got some scrapbooking to do.

Tags: ben folds, blog, capitals, favorites, georgetown, guster, maryland, nationals, patriots, red sox, redskins, revolution, sea dogs, sports, unc, verizon center, wizards, wwe

Originally published at The Definitive Dmbosstone. Please leave any comments there.

Before I start talking about what I really want to blog about- a quick recap on the week.

I really didn’t do a whole lot this weekend- and that’s perfectly fine with me. Thursday I went to Caron Butler’s Birthday Party at the Park on 14th. Carolyn got me in and we enjoyed living the rich snooty prep life for a night. We waited outside the door for only a couple of minutes before we were let in, the bouncer denied entrance to a guy for not wearing a collared shirt and he got angry (thank goodness I dressed the part that night.) I’ve never been to the lounges on K Street, but it was everything I expected and more: swanky digs, expensive drinks, and people who think they are too good to look at you. I was just fine with that because Carolyn and I enjoyed the music, expensive drinks, and partying with a lot of Washington Sports types and Carmen Electra. After that night I was left wanting to take it easy for the weekend.

And so that I did- I saw the Harlem Globetrotters for a bit and Burak and I went to the Bruins/Capitals game but otherwise no major going out.

Now let me tell you what I’m really excited about: March Madness and Fantasy Baseball. Today was Selection Sunday and the field of 65 is now set. Lots of DC favorites are in including George Mason, American, and Georgetown. I’m excited to hopefully be able to go to a few of the games hosted here in town at the Verizon Center.

I’m already in several pools (both for fun and for money)- I’m running one on Facebook and I’m also in one on Yahoo! and one in my office. I can’t wait to sit down and make my picks.

Of course I want to try and make some educated decisions, sometimes the reading and analysis I do for Fantasy Baseball and Football is intense- just ask my co-workers who see me drag along my binder full of reading material. It’s not going to guarantee victory, but playing and reading about these games helps me become more knowledgeable next time I go to a baseball, football, or basketball game. I also enjoy becoming a geek in something- why not fantasy sports?

I just joined my third league in baseball- I suppose there’s no stopping me becoming a fantasy sports geek now.

Tags: blog, capitals, caron butler, fantasy sports, fun times with friends, k street, march madness, verizon center

Originally published at The Definitive Dmbosstone. Please leave any comments there.

Monday I went to the second (or third or fourth- I really lost count) Capitals game of the season- which was against the Bruins. I love seeing my hometown sports teams, I definitely have seen more of them here than back home.

Of course I had to bring a hometown girl- so Wendi, Caitlin, Lauren, and I went to the game and it didn’t go well for Bs. They lost 10-2. I’ve never seen so much scoring in a hockey game ever. The Bruins were so bad they even lost in the fights. Now I remembered why nobody cares about the Bruins back home.

The rest of the week has been chill, doing some research on grad school as well as fantasy baseball. I’m so excited for another long ass season of roster management. This year Sean set everything up for a points league just like fantasy football and that’s gotten me really excited about the season. I’m also thinking about starting a league at work maybe.

Last night Adam and I hit Georgetown where we stopped by at a party for a local Obama supporter. Afterwards he showed me around Guards and it definitely had a pumpin’ dance scene- reminded me of a really upscale Wine Cellar (a local place back in Fitchburg which consisted of lots of dancing and little space.)

Ok well I just got a fresh cut and now it’s time to hop into the shower and do some taxes. Gotta get work done cause Patrick’s coming to visit tomorrow!

Tags: barack obama, blog, bruins, capitals, fantasy sports, fun times with friends, georgetown, grad school

Originally published at The Definitive Dmbosstone. Please leave any comments there.

I am excited. I am excited for fantasy sports. I am excited for March Madness. I’m excited for nice weather. What I’m not excited about is being tired.

I pulled off two trips to the Verizon Center: first on Tuesday for a Raptors/Wizard’s game and then on Friday for a Capital’s game. Ben and I went to the Wizards game, it was a total domination of the Toronto Raptors, a thrashing that left me wondering what sport Canada doesn’t suck at? Maybe it’s Hockey. Dan decided to make the game a little more interesting with a little wager on the total points of the game. I grossly miscalculated the scoring potential. One of Margaret’s friends won the pot. It was my first time traveling down there by car, which I carpooled with Margaret. Amazingly DC isn’t that bad at night.

Friday I went to the Capital’s game with Rebecca- and it was a lot of fun. There was a fight which kept me entertained as the home team lost. Of course after seeing numerous National’s game I’m used to see a DC team lose. After the game I got a word that Doug, Sarah, and Emily were in my hood at Dr. Dreamo’s. Carolyn and I went down there to meet up and enjoy the many selection of beers they had to offer. It’s too bad they don’t sell any liquor. I should go back and check it out when the open the beach patio. After throwing some darts that night I’ve come to realize that I should stop trying to put money into Jukeboxes- they never play the song you want.

There’s been a lot of transient faces at my house- my roommate Simon brought back some drunk chick who proceeded to spend the entire night in the bathroom washing her face and throwing up. However she also cleaned the entire bathroom when I got up. That’s gotta be a plus.

Last night I went out with Melissa to Union Jacks, and I had a really fun night. Melissa certainly dances to her own beat. I also noticed an influx of older gentlemen, definitely higher than usual. Now dancing with 20 somethings when you’re 70 is one thing, trying to get their numbers after last call is something else. Gross.

This new Daylight Savings Time situation has left me with even less sleep than usual. I walked in last night and wondered how I was out for that long. I don’t like how my computer updated the time but my VCR didn’t. I know this will probably lead to problems in a month.

Oh I just thought of more things to be excited about: WWE Raw at tomorrow (I know, real high class Patrick- but at least the Donald will be in town) and St. Patrick’s Day. Let’s hope I can make it through the week first.

Tags: bethesda, blog, capitals, clarendon, daylight savings time, donald trump, fantasy sports, fun times with friends, holidays, march madness, nationals, raptors, raw, wager, weather, wizards, work, wwe

Originally published at The Definitive Dmbosstone. Please leave any comments there.

What a wonderful weekend! I got to see a lot of Chelmsford people, all starting with the Captials game on Thursday. I took Patrice and it was a great time. It was my first hockey game and I couldn’t help but cheer on for Averman, Banks, and Conway… too bad they are all fictional characters from The Mighty Ducks. Man that was a good movie. I wonder if the Anaheim Ducks ever do any Flying Vs that would be awesome, maybe even dawesome. I was excited to see the game end in a shootout, disappointed that there were no real fights.

On Friday I went to a surprise birthday party for Melissa, all of her NIH friends threw it and it was I really enjoyed meeting all of these scientific types. I got a new perspective on what life must be like on the campus of the National Institutes of Health. It’s really interesting- I totally see it as a backdrop of a TV Show. Maybe I should write that script.

Saturday was a busy day, in the afternoon I went shopping (because Asians love Costco) and then I went on a little Pub Crawl with Rebecca, Megan, and Julia. It was great to see a few high school friends. After a couple of rounds I walked down the street to meet up with some peoples to see Nick Di Paolo. He was alright, nothing to write home about (who does that anymore?) After the act we did a little whirlwind run to DC-9 to see some bands Doug heard about. Again nothing to really write home about, however we really liked the back room with all the couches. After being bored we left and ended the night at Buffalo Billiards, where we ran into one of the comics who opened up for Nick Di Paolo, and was much funnier. I appreciated the fact he was from Everett.

So March is upon me and I’m excited for all that it stands for (March Madness and St. Patrick’s Day). I already have some ideas for St. Patrick’s Day, and I can’t wait for March Madness- gotta get my Bracketology on.

Tags: bethesda, blog, capitals, dc improv, debauchery, ducks, dupont circle, fun times with friends, hockey, holidays, march madness, mighty ducks, nick di paolo, u-street, washington dc