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| Wednesday, February 06, 2008 |
| In Any Other City In The World |
In any other city in the world I would have been over it by now. Sure, I would have been devastated. But I would have had time to properly mourn. I would have been able to hang my head, drown my sorrows in my beer, and wonder over and over again ... what went wrong? I would have been able to avoid certain websites, not listen to certain radio stations, and completely avoided whole channel blocks on my television until the mere mention of the event stopped sending daggers into my heart.
The Giants are the Super Bowl Champions.
I want to be the bigger person. To give the Giants their due. I mean, they won! It wasn't some cheaply won, bad call kind of game, they out played the team I root for. But the minute the game was over it started. The taunting. The jeering. The chants in the street of "18 AND 1!" "18 AND 1". When you live in enemy territory, well, it's just what you get.
The next morning I tried to avoid any mention of the game. I got ready in silence, choosing to awaken to my alarm instead of my typical Mike and Mike in the morning. My massive hangover from drowning my sorrows as the last of the seconds ticked away the night before dulling the dread of what I knew awaited me outside the safety of my apartment. The joy.
It surrounded me on the subway. Even with my nose shoved firmly into the spine of my book I could see images Eli Manning hoisting the trophy above his head all around me. On the backs of papers. On the fronts of papers. His goofy I'm-only-twelve-years-old face mocked me everywhere I went. When I got into my office my coworkers had plastered him to my door. So what that I was nice to them when their Mets COLLAPSED at the end of the season? The Giants won the Super Bowl!
Coworkers stopped by to gloat. Especially one who had called, back in July, that the Pats only loss was going to be to the Giants. Of course, he was thinking week 17, but his prediction came true none-the-less. On Tuesday it was just as bad. Giants jerseys were everywhere as the city celebrated their heroes with a parade.
Most days I love this city. This week? I think I'd rather be anywhere but.
Bring on pitchers and catchers.Labels: Boston, NYC, Patriots, sports |
posted by FINY @ Wednesday, February 06, 2008   |
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| Thursday, August 30, 2007 |
| A Sea of Pinstripes |
Ok, it's official. I'm starting to worry. I've been desperately holding on to the party line of "We've got the best record in baseball" but the Red Sox are starting to concern me.
I know that even if we lose today, the Sox will still be five games up. But when the camera panned to a shot of Manny on the bench last night, during which he happened to sneeze, then grimace, then reach for his back? Let's just say you could actually hear everyone at Prof. Thom's thinking "Oh shit".
I'm wondering if I am only so worried because of where I live. Is this easier to take in Boston? When not surrounded by Yankees fans trying to plant the seeds of doubt into your consciousness at every turn? Or are we all sort of looking over our shoulders and not sleeping well?
Either way, I'm not enjoying this feeling.Labels: baseball, Boston, Red Sox |
| posted by FINY @ Thursday, August 30, 2007 |
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| Wednesday, August 22, 2007 |
| Things That Are Fun |
... When you get home from a night at the bar already knowing that the Sox won and turning on the YES network to see the Yankees losing to the Angels 18-5 while the announcers talk about how if so-and-so gets on in the 8th and has men in base he has the potential to break some sort of RBI record.
I landed on YES too late to get the whole story, but it was still fun to hear. Cause after tonight it looks like we're going to be 6 games up and for some reason that feels a lot better than 5 games. Dunno why, but it does.
This post brought to you by the wonderful bartender at Botanica, who makes a very stiff drink indeed. There really should be a breathalyzer on computers so you're not allowed to drunk-blog, email, etc.Labels: baseball, Boston, drinking, Red Sox |
| posted by FINY @ Wednesday, August 22, 2007 |
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| Monday, August 20, 2007 |
| He's Still My Little Brother |
I still remember where I was when I found out that I had become the big sister to a little brother named Buddy (ok, that's not his real name but it's what I call him). I was sitting in the side yard of my grandparents' house in Pawtucket, RI debating with the other kids on the block whether I wanted my mom to have a boy or a girl.
I may have been just 4 days shy of my 6th birthday, but I was still adamant. I wanted a little brother. The reasoning for this escapes me now, more than two decades later, but then, I was sure, absolutely sure.
And for the first couple of years it was great. He was like a living doll. I'd dress him up in my Cabbage Patch Kid Clothes and stick him in a playpen with all of my stuffed animals until all you could see was his chubby little face.
But then he learned how to get around. And more importantly, how to get into my stuff. That's when I turned to my mother and asked him if it was time for him to go back yet. And around the time I left him out of a family portrait I had to draw for school.
The years that followed involved a lot of me being a really big bitch. All this little kid wanted in the world was to play with his big sister. He'd wait at the screen door for me to come home from school holding my Barbies out for me to play with (since that was ALL I would allow him to participate in). And for his devotion he received all of the Ken's without heads and the Barbies I had given hair cuts to. Oh and did I mention they were also without clothes? Not to mention that they lived in the next neighborhood over, so they could NEVER speak to my Barbies. That was completely against the rules.
As I moved into my teens and began fighting with my parents, Buddy had finally reached the stage where a healthy sibling rivalry had formed. Any time I was fresh to my mother he'd run up to her, wrap his arms around her, and say "Mommy, I'd NEVER say that to you!" At which point I would promptly kick his ass. Like I said, I was kind of a bitch. But he was asking for it!
But once I moved away to college things began to change. Six years is a pretty large age difference when you're young, but as the years pile up it suddenly seems to lessen. These days, he and I couldn't be closer, and I couldn't love the kid any more than I do. He's grown into an amazing man; smart, funny, kind of a jerk but in an endearing way.
For his 21st birthday I wanted to do something big for him. So I did something competely uncharacteristic for me - I planned ahead. On a dreary day in March I spent 4 hours online and bought two tickets to this past Saturday's Red Sox game at Fenway. Buddy hadn't been there in somewhere around 10 years.
 With him leaving to go back to college tomorrow, I had to make sure that I warned him well in advance of his birthday that I had the tickets. Which meant I lost out on the "Oh my God" moment when he opened the present, but the look on his face as we walked up the walkway? The half-joking "Hey, hey Finy, you see that guy right there? That's David Ortiz. Right there. Like, in person." The goofy smile on his face? Totally made up for it. Nevermind the reaction when Big Papi hit the grand slam to take the lead. My God.
There may now be a beard where dimples used to be. And he may be able to legally drink a beer now. He may even tower over me by at least 7 inches. But that day proved he still is, and always will be, my little brother.Labels: baseball, Boston, family, Red Sox |
| posted by FINY @ Monday, August 20, 2007 |
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| Thursday, June 21, 2007 |
| Baseball Brain Dump |
Since the hangover I am currently suffering through is inhibiting my ability to write a coherent blog post I instead present you with a baseball brain dump.
* So I'm currently reading Big Papi: My Story of Big Dreams and Big Hits by David Ortiz (with Tony Massarotti) and there are a few things to note. A) I have NEVER gotten as many looks on the subway as I have when I've read this book on the way to and from work. They range from amusement, confusion, disgust, and mutual affection. It's kind of fun to watch. B) Massarotti alternates between writing in his own voice and "ghost writing" in Papi's. Massarotti's chapters are fantastic. And I like hearing Papi's stories, but ... I think they went a little far in capturing Ortiz's "voice". Because the word "bro" can appear upwards of 8 times on a page. It's completely over the top and is incredibly distracting. There is a reason people don't write the way they speak.
* Last night's game was just a whole lot of fun to watch. While a girlfriend and I were at the bar watching, we started talking about those seasons. You know those seasons where it just feels right. This is one of those seasons for us. I knew I had hit a turning point as a fan when I got word of the Schilling DL stint and I thought "Ok, that sucks but no big deal". I had (and have) complete faith in the rest of our rotation to hold it together. This happens five years ago and even with a ten game lead in the AL East and I'm packing it in for the season expecting the worst. I like this way better.
* By now my love for all things Tim Wakefield has been well documented. But I also happen to have an affinity for the pitch he throws most often as well. And because of that I have been intermittently following the career of Sox prospect Charlie Zink. Zink's had an up and down career over the past couple years, but this week he threw a complete game for the Portland Sea Dogs with a 6H, 1R, 2BB, 4K line. He started out with Sarasota in 2002, is 27, and has bounced around every level of the Sox farm system, but he seems to have started getting some consistency. With my little brother heading back to the Portland area for school this August, I may try to get up there to catch a game either late in the season or early next spring. I'd love to see this kid pitch (ha, I just called him a kid - the guy's my age!).Labels: baseball, books, Boston, Red Sox, sports |
| posted by FINY @ Thursday, June 21, 2007 |
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| Tuesday, June 19, 2007 |
| You Take The Good With The Bad |
I once had a friend accuse me of caring more about 25 men I had never met more than I cared about my real-life friends.
It was October of 2004, the Red Sox had just won the ALCS in dramatic fashion and were about to sweep the St. Louis Cardinals to win their first World Series in 86 years.
But I didn't know that yet. What I knew was that we were scheduled to host a Halloween party in my apartment that, if the series made it that far, would fall on the same night as Game 7. And under no circumstances was I planning on being at the party if that proved true.
In the end we all know it didn't get that far, and I was able to both watch my team celebrate in St. Louis AND attend my own party, but that comment from my friend stuck with me.
Do non-sports fans simply not understand? In a way, it does feel like you know these guys. You read all the articles, you watch the games, by the end of the season you probably know more about them than you do about that girl who you called your best friend in third grade simply because she wore the same scrunchy you did.
And not only that, but it bonds you to other people that you actually do get to meet in real life as well. Take last night. That game sucked. It just sucked. Schilling got knocked around and even two home runs from Coco, who had only hit one home run in the entire season leading up to the game, couldn't save the Sox.
But as I stood in Professor Thom's watching the Sox implode, I began talking with a guy named Brian from the New York City Red Sox Meetup Group. As we were talking he sort of just stops for a second and says, "Finy?". Turns out Brian is an occasional commenter/regular reader (so he's one of the five of you!). Never would have met him if it wasn't for the Sox. Same holds true for quite a few of my good friends to be honest.
Loving a sports team and loving your friends are not mutually exclusive. It just occasionally gets in the way of scheduling.Labels: baseball, Boston, Red Sox, sports |
| posted by FINY @ Tuesday, June 19, 2007 |
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| Monday, June 04, 2007 |
| A World I Just Can't Escape |
I've never thought of myself as an internet junkie. I mean, sure, I've got my blog. And my myspace page. A few mentions here and there on old job websites, Alzheimer's Association newsletters, etc. Oh and of course there's my account on my new favorite time waster: www.goodreads.com.
Then of course there's the three email addresses. The AIM screen name. The dozens of blogs I read and comment on. I pay my bills almost exclusively online. Hell, I even order my groceries over the internet!
Is there an Internet Addicts Anonymous somewhere out there? Because I think I need to become a member.
Then again, it's got its upsides. I mean, without the internet, it would have been impossible for the almost instantaneous sharing of photos from the reunion this weekend (one of which features me kissing a gay guy. I’m sure that one will make mom proud). And I never would have met some very good friends I've made through this site. I also probably wouldn't have ended up making a scene in the middle of one of my favorite Boston bars this weekend, but what would the fun in that be?
That's right, Finy's got a story about being drunk and making out. Who's shocked? Yeah that's what I thought.
I haven't thought up a moniker for him yet (which he's going to be VERY disappointed by), but Saturday night found a long-time online friend and fellow blogger and I kind of sheepishly admitting mutual internet crushes on each other. Not going to tell you which one, since he very rarely talks about his personal life on his blog, and far be it for me to out him. But with so many drinks that evening, said admission did lead to making out like horny high school kids in the middle of a very well-lit bar. I'm nothing if not classy.
So while some people may not understand the internet addiction, I think I'll just ride mine out for a while. As if I ever really thought of escaping it in the first place.Labels: blogging, Boston, college, dating, drinking |
| posted by FINY @ Monday, June 04, 2007 |
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| Thursday, May 31, 2007 |
| I Just Asked Myself For Money |
I loved college.
Ok, we all did. The freedom from parents, the lack of real responsibilities, the underaged drinking without thinking about the ramifications, wandering into an early morning class in your pajamas. Oh yeah, and the carte blanche to study basically anything you can imagine. What's not to love?
But I REALLY loved Emerson College. I could go into a long list of why, but you'd all just end up getting bored. Let's just say I was that student. The one that by the end of her senior year was teaching a leadership course, running the school literary magazine, working for Student Life, serving as the class treasurer and a member of basically every committee the school had.
What I didn't realize was that when you build up that kind of reputation at a school, it sticks with you even years after you've graduated. So when I got a call from Emerson's Alumni Department about a year ago asking if I'd be willing to serve on my reunion planning committee I felt almost like I couldn't say no. Especially since one of the reasons given for asking me was BECAUSE I was so involved while enrolled.
And that's how I ended up asking myself for money. I just received a letter in the mail that began "Dear Finy" and ended "Sincerely, Finy". With my position on the committee, and my experience writing direct mail campaigns, I became the one to write our "class giving" letter. I didn't think about what that would mean when I received the letter. And I laughed out loud when I saw it.
And then I promptly gave myself $50.
The small side note to this is that I leave tomorrow for Boston to attend the reunion. If I don't get a chance to blog before then, I hope you all have a wonderful weekend.Labels: Boston, college, misc. |
| posted by FINY @ Thursday, May 31, 2007 |
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| Monday, May 07, 2007 |
| An Exercise in Pictoral Excuses |
Yes, I have been absent over the last few weeks, months, etc. But really, I've got some pretty good excuses.
First, I went to a Sox game at Yankee Stadium where I watched Dice-K pitch and the Sox win:
And ate a lot of peanuts:
After the game, I got way too wasted when the Twin showed up at Prof. Thom's after a 6 month absence. But he wasn't alone, he had the new-me with him. I held it together while at the bar, but the evening ended with me crying on the sidewalk in the Welshman's arms. Look for a post soon about the rules of post break-up behavior. I think The Twin needs a memo.
So the next day I was hoping the Sox would cheer me up when I attended the second game in the series. That didn't happen, since they lost, but at least I got to watch Wakefield pitch.
The third game in the series was watched at Thom's. Much beer was imbibed during the day. And into the night. 12 straight hours of drinking does not a good blogger make:
After a few days break in which I recovered from said weekend, I went to a very swanky and very successful Alzheimer's Association Junior Committee gala:
At which I was the PICTURE of decorum:
Two days later I was at a Cinco De Mayo party in Boston:
That didn't end until the sun was rising:
Long story short? I'm such an ass that I am not even going to promise that I'll be blogging more now (even though I will, no really, I swear).Labels: Alzheimer's, baseball, blogging, Boston, dating, drinking, misc., NYC, photos, Red Sox, sports, travel |
| posted by FINY @ Monday, May 07, 2007 |
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| Monday, April 23, 2007 |
| I'll Take It |
After a weekend filled with good friends, great weather, and a Red Sox sweep of the Yankees, I travelled back to my apartment last night with the windows rolled down, looking out over the East River at the illuminated Statue of Liberty and the lower Manhattan skyline and thought - yeah it doesn't get much better than this.
No, I don't think that the Yankees performance this weekend is an indicator of things to come. They've been decimated by injuries, and I fully expect this coming weekend's series in NY to be very different. But you know what? I'll take it for now.Labels: Boston, Red Sox |
| posted by FINY @ Monday, April 23, 2007 |
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| Monday, April 02, 2007 |
| It Starts Today |
This afternoon, the Red Sox season opens up in Kansas City. For the next six months I'll be spending even more time than I already do at the local Red Sox bar Proffesor Thom's, I'll travel to at least four different cities to see games. I'll read thousands of articles, watch ESPN obsessively, and inevitably lose my fantasy league because I can never seem to pay enough attention to it.
This weekend, in preparation for the season, 40 of us from Thom's hopped on a bus filled with six cases of beer, and invaded Philly for the last Sox spring training game. With Dice-K on the mound, and a meeting with Matty planned, I had been excited about it for weeks. It lived up to the hype. The Sox won, Ortiz hit a homer, I did, in fact, meet Matty, and the beer flowed continuously. Not a bad way to start off the season.
 Dice-K!  Matty and Finy Labels: baseball, Boston |
| posted by FINY @ Monday, April 02, 2007 |
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| Monday, March 12, 2007 |
| The Reason I Got Cable ... |
... Ok, so there are many reasons I finally caved and signed up for cable. I could finally afford it. I'd worn all my dvds out. Netflix can only be your lone source of television for so long. But this? THIS? CLEARLY THE BEST REASON!
What is it you ask? It's the fact that I am currently watching Tim Wakefield throw to Jason Giambi during a Spring Training game. And I'm not at the bar to do it. No, I am sitting on my bed, sporting my Papelbon t-shirt, waiting for my dinner to be ready.
God this is great.
Some notes on the game (and I am sure I will add to this as it continues):
* Tim Wakefield will turn 41 this season. I could care less. Tim's always going to be my guy, as irrational as that may be. But the age thing wouldn't bother me regardless or my irrational love for the knucleball. It just doesn't take as much for Wake to throw as it would a fastball pitcher.
* Ok, I was going to continue with that point, but terrible tag attempt by Mirabelli there. Top of the first, hit that gets past Youks but that Pedroia knocks down. His throw home was on line, but Mirabelli's tag was halfhearted and in the middle of the plate. Breathe deep, Finy. It's spring training. Middle first, it's 3-0 Yankees.
* I really need to make it down to the City of Palms Park at some point in my life. The Welshman has gone down there three times, and I've been taunted every single time via text messages and picture texts. But to see it in photos and on television, it really does look like a fantastically relaxed way to watch some baseball.
* So I've started reading this blog called Why Don't We Get Drunk and Blog, this guy is just hilarious. Why is this relevant to the game? He recently wrote a post about Carl Pavano's girlfriend, who just pitched a scoreless bottom of the first. Check out the picture. Her breasts defy gravity!
* Wakefield gives up a lead-off tripple in the top of the second. So many extremely high numbers playing in this game. Apparently this kid's name is Basak. That lends itself to a nickname that is just too easy. But the Sox get out of the inning without allowing anyone to score. Still 3-0.
*After Manny strikes out looking, I get my first actual look at JD Drew in a Sox uniform. He lines out to center but it was well hit. Still not used to thinking of him as a member of the team, but that's what spring training is for.
* Oh God, even during Spring Training the Yes announcers suck. They're talking about the "dividing line" in CT that divides Red Sox Nation and Yankee territory. I want to punch them.
* Oh dear lord, two batters later and they're still talking about the damn dividing line.
* Ah, the first time I want to revoke someone's tickets for sitting behind the batter, talking on the cell phone, and waving at the camera. These people should be escorted from the park and never allowed to attend an MLB-related event ever again.
* Mirabelli makes up for the lazy tag earlier by doubling into the left-field corner bringing in two runs (Crisp and Lowell). 3-2 Yankees. Bottom 2.
* Is this getting boring for anyone yet? Probably. Fuck it, I don't care, I'm having fun.
* Top third passes with the only real interesting thing being that Jason Giambi almost hit two homeruns. But instead just flied out. But I am going to admit something I probably shouldn't. Unless I see them pitching, or can see the numbers on their backs ... I can't really tell Matsuzaka and Okajima apart yet.
* There are far too many Yankees fans in the park tonight. We were all just treated to a "Let's Go Yankees" "Let's Go Red Sox" back and forth chant. Hey Sox fans! Stop being so damn polite. Don't chant in time with them so that you're yelling when they're not. Drown them out damnit!! End of three, score still the same.
* Bottom four, Rasner replaces Pavano. Yankees up 4-2 now. Hit to third base (no, I suck and didn't see who hit it. Lowell maybe, since Crisp came up next?). Seriously though, this third baseman's name is pronounced "Bay-sack". I'd feel bad for him if he wasn't a Yankee.
* Donnelly in for the Sox now. He gets out of the top of five giving up a hit but no runs. Is anyone else worried about our pitching situation? Oh wait, everyone I know is. Nevermind.
* Just googled why Pedroia wears number 64, a typically high number for a guy that is set up to be a starter this year. This is what I found from the Red Sox official site.
Another thing that has made Pedroia good is the useful chip that he carries on his shoulder. He uses it for motivation and it has gotten him this far. Perhaps that's why he is keeping No. 64 -- a number typically used for September callups -- on his back for now. * Ok, I've officially run out of interesting things to say. And I am willing to bet that most of you don't think that any of that actually WAS interesting. So let's just leave it at ... I'm really excited to be watching baseball again. Go Sox.Labels: Boston, Red Sox |
| posted by FINY @ Monday, March 12, 2007 |
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| Thursday, February 15, 2007 |
| A Brief Hiatus |
Well, in just a few hours I'll be heading, once again, back up to Boston. This isn't about a job interview (though they're all going well. And I actually have another one later this morning via phone for yet another nonprofit here in NYC). Nope, this trip is all about relaxing. And, well, most likely getting quite wasted.
This weekend, my friends, is the Winter Summit. 16 of us will converge on Boston from all over the country. We'll arrive by planes, trains, and automobiles from places like New York, Minnesota, Los Angeles, and Chicago. We'll eat too much, drink our livers into oblivion, and laugh until our sides hurt. We'll tell stories that no one gets but us, make scenes wherever we go, and basically make the city of Boston our bitch for five days.
God, I'm excited. Let the partying commence!Labels: Boston, drinking |
| posted by FINY @ Thursday, February 15, 2007 |
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| Sunday, February 11, 2007 |
| Back to Boston |
Well, wish me luck. I'm on my way up to Boston for my interview on Monday.
I've had a lot of conversations with people about the potential position up there, and reactions have varied quite a bit. From friends who always thought I was more of a "Boston girl" to others who were wary that the position would be at a catholic girls school. It's impossible to find someone in my life who is unbiased, and that's totally understandable, but it'd proving hard to get myself some perspective.
So for now, I'm just rolling with it. I have a bag full of materials to study on the bus, my suit is in my garment bag, and I'm going in with an open mind. Fingers crossed, everyone.Labels: Boston, NYC, Unemployment |
| posted by FINY @ Sunday, February 11, 2007 |
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| Wednesday, February 07, 2007 |
| The New York / Boston Rivalry |
The competition between Boston and New York transcends two baseball teams and their avid fan bases. Sure the Red Sox and the Yankees have a rivalry unlike any other in sports, but in all honesty it goes much deeper than that. It's about two cities whose residents are fiercely loyal to the places they call home.
Typically, you choose one or the other. You're either a Bostonian or a New Yorker. As I've mentioned before, I'm the odd-ball. I consider myself both.
It's almost impossible to compare the two cities. Countless people have asked me to do so, and my stock answer is that it's like apples and oranges. But now I have to compare them both. I have an interview in New York today and one in Boston on Monday.
 New York, New York. It's the place where dreams are made, and dashed, and made again. It's the thing movies are made of, stories are written on. I love Boston and all, but let's not joke, this is NEW YORK. When people ask me why I love it here so much, I hardly know where to start. New York has a palpable energy to it. The city is alive, vibrant, pulsating. There's the feeling here that anything is possible. Hell, if you can make it here you can make it anywhere, right? So it's a source of pride that I've made it here. Really made a great life here.
If you're looking for concrete reasons, it's the fact that the city never sleeps; I can order take out at almost any time of night. Stumbling out of the bar at 4am (another plus side for NYC) I will have no problem finding a cab to go home, while first stopping in the deli to get a sandwich. Sure they don't know how to make clam chowder here (seriously, who thought it was a good idea to put it in a tomato based broth?!), but it is undeniable that the food here is some of the best in the country.
Another check mark on the plus side for NYC is the diversity. I know that that sounds stupid and arrogant coming from a "privileged twenty-something white" woman, but still. I adore the fact that I used to live in one of the most heavily populate muslin areas in the city. It's great watching cultures collide, learning about each of them at some of the most random points (like on your commute to work). That kind of diversity, a subway car filled with Hasidic Jews, Arabs, Hispanics, Blacks, etc etc. was the kind of philosophy that this country was based on. America was supposed to be the boiling pot, and New York City embodies that more than anywhere else I've lived.
And then there's the culture. You've got Broadway, Lincoln Center, some of the top music and dance schools in the country. You've got iconic architecture, the Brooklyn Bridge, the Statue of Liberty, the Empire State building. I can't tell you how incredible it is to take the subway to work every day and come up out of the tunnel on the Manhattan Bridge to see the New York skyline, the Brooklyn Bridge and old Lady Liberty looming on the horizon. It's beautiful, and still awe inspiring on a daily basis.
And then there's Boston. If I said that New York has a palpable energy, Boston feels like a warm down blanket. Boston is comfort, home. Boston doesn't have the same hustle, the same go-go-go-every-single-minute. And that's a good thing. You can burn out on that sort of mentality real quick. Boston is also a much younger city, something that is due to the hundreds of thousands of college students that stream into its borders ever September.
Boston is a more laid back city in general. In New York, image is very important. What you're wearing, where you're eating, what bar your drinking your $12 martini in matter. Boston fits my Jcrew clad, not-a-stick-thin-waif appearance much better than New York. And speaking of overpriced martinis, did I mention that Boston is significantly cheaper when it comes to beers, food, well, just about everything other than real estate? Sure to someone coming from say, Alabama, Boston prices would seem outrageous. But to someone who's used to paying $6 for a beer, Boston is a welcome change of pace.
Another pro in the Boston column is those students I mentioned earlier. Because where there are students there are schools. Call me a dork if you like, but I love the academic environment like no other. New York has some amazing colleges and universities, don't get me wrong. NYU and Columbia to name just two. But Boston is far and away a much more academic city, and that shows in the abundance of lectures, book stores, readings, etc.
And I'm not going to lie, after the way New York has treated me of late, the idea of starting over in a new city with a completely clean slate is not entirely unappealing.
Boston is a more walkable city. New York's subway system is more comprehensive. Boston doesn't have as many museums. New York has so many, and I hardly ever go to them. Both cities are surrounded by water, but Boston's is more easily accessible and much much cleaner. Boston is more historic, but New York is no slouch in that category either. Boston has the Red Sox. But it's easier to get tickets to the Sox v. Yankees at Yankee Stadium than it is at Fenway Park, and it's not like living down here has stopped me from seeing games. New York has my support network; a group of friends that I would lie down in traffic for. Boston is much closer to my family, and while I may not be as close to everyone up there, I have no doubt that I wouldn't lack for people to hang out with. Boston is cleaner. New York bigger. The list goes on and on and on.
In the end, I guess I am going to have to go with my gut. See where I am offered a job. Where I think I'll be happiest. It's incredibly liberating to know that I could up and move anywhere I wanted to right now. I have no strings, am tied to nothing. It's the kind of freedom that you can only find at this time in your life. But it's also amazingly scary to think that in a month's time my life could be completely different.
So stayed tuned, folks. This could get very very interesting.Labels: Boston, NYC |
| posted by FINY @ Wednesday, February 07, 2007 |
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| Monday, February 05, 2007 |
| 3 Homes |
There are three places in this world that will always feel like home to me. Rhode Island. Boston. And New York. Rhode Island will always be home, but it's a place I could never move back to (sorry Mom). New York, well it's been home for going on five years now. And Boston? I may have only called Boston home for 4 years, but it's where my heart will always be. And where I plan to move back to. Eventually.
But what if eventually were to come sooner rather than later? What if NOW is eventually? Am I ready for that? Suddenly my head is spinning, my heart is torn in two directions, and I have absolutely no idea what to do about it.
See, there's this job in Boston. This Director of Communications job in Boston, and as of tomorrow morning, I will officially be an applicant for said job.
It's something I had pondered for weeks. DTR happens to work there and over the weekend while visiting her I met her boss while watching the Super Bowl (and no, I won't talk about that here, but I will say that the wrong quarterback got the MVP award - Grossman won that game for the Colts). She's wonderful. The job I'm applying for is everything I've been looking for. More even.
But it's in the wrong city.
Then again ... is it really the wrong city? I've spent weeks trying to figure it out in my head. I love New York, I love Boston, I've made pro and con lists, I've thought and thought and thought. And I just have no idea.
It's a conundrum I don't technically have to worry about right now. I would only need to worry about it if I was offered the job and hell, I haven't even been offered an interview yet. But it's amazing what a mind fuck this has been already. Just thinking about it.
They say that home is where the heart is. What happens if your heart's in two places?Labels: Boston, NYC, Rhode Island |
| posted by FINY @ Monday, February 05, 2007 |
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| Tuesday, January 30, 2007 |
| Young and Impulsive |
A wise person once told me, that looking back in 20 years, it's the experiences you'll remember, not your bank account balance.
I've done a lot of cool stuff in my 26 years. I've been to more Sox games than I can remember. Went to the Dominican Republic. Travelled to CA Chicago, every state on the Eastern seaboard. Sure, you can't exactly call me worldly, but I've done enough to keep myself happy.
All these trips though, all the money spent, they were always well thought out. How much I could afford and when. Sure my mother disagrees with the way I've spent my money, thinking I should put some of it into CDs, etc. And she's definitely right, I probably should have.
But sitting here, feeling like I am rotting away in my apartment, I've come to a conclusion. Being smart doesn't always mean being happy. With that in mind, February has turned into a rather interesting month. A fantastic month. One for the books. And it hasn't even started yet.
This weekend, I'll be travelling to Boston. An inexpensive and comforting trip to visit my friend DTR. The weekend of the 16th, back up to Boston I go for the "Winter Summit", a gathering of a core group of us who travel to Minnesota every year for Eddypolusa. 12 of us will converge of the city of Boston from all over the country. So if you live in Boston watch out, it might not still be standing when we're done with it.
But then, the big one. The one I just booked today. The last weekend in February, I'll be flying to Los Angeles to visit my friends who moved out there 5+ years ago and whom I have never been out to see. These are some of my best friends in the world, and four days in sunny Los Angeles with people I hold dear sounds like, well, a little like heaven right now.
I debated this in my head for a long time. Actually, I debated this with the voice of my mother that is always in my head for a long time. I've got money in the bank that can more than cover these expenses. I'll eventually have a job with which to replenish the funds, etc. etc. But in the end, you know what won out? I NEED this. Really need this. I need to get the hell out of the city that has been kicking my ass for a number of months now. Away from the amazing feeling of failure that's been hanging around my neck these past three weeks. I need to escape the depression that's kept me from feeling genuinely happy for the last few weeks. I need this for my own mental health.
Sure, it might be impulsive, maybe even stupid. But I'm 26 years old. Is there any other time in the world when I can live like this? When my mother was my age, she had had me. Eventually I want to have a family. Get married, have kids, become an upstanding member of the community. But right now, right this very minute, I've got literally nothing holding me down.
So Boston, LA, watch out, Finy's coming! Consider yourselves warned.Labels: Boston, friends |
| posted by FINY @ Tuesday, January 30, 2007 |
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| Tuesday, November 14, 2006 |
| Congratulations, Hanley |
I have to say, I am happy for the Marlin's shortstop, Hanley Ramirez, for winning the NL Rookie of the Year. But at the same time, I'm still a little sad we let him go.
The Sox should find out today if they were the highest bidders in the race to talk to Daisuke Matsuzaka, a Japanese pitcher, supposedly the next big thing. Right now, I am just amused by the process in general. MLB teams had to submit closed bids just to be able to TALK to this guy. Just to talk to him about contract negotiations. If the winning team doesn't come to an agreement with him, or more accurately, with his agent Scott Boras, then he stays in Japan for one more year and becomes a free agent. Which is a scary prospect considering how much this guy could garner.
I don't really know what to think about Matsuzaka. Everything I've read indicates he's just nasty. But he's pitched a LOT of innings. Since 1999 he's pitched less than 100 innings only once, and he's topped out at 240 (in 2001). If his arm can hold up and continue producing the way he is, I'll be the happiest Sox fan around. But the Sox have gotten burned by big time pitching deals in the past ... so let's say I'm skeptical. Then again, we don't even know if the Sox are allowed to speak with him yet, so who knows.
In the meantime, I am going to go try to figure out how I can incorporate this blind bidding system into my everyday life ...Labels: Boston, Red Sox, sports |
| posted by FINY @ Tuesday, November 14, 2006 |
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| Tuesday, August 01, 2006 |
| The Home Stretch |
The All-Star game has come and gone. The trade deadline has passed. Save some unlikely waiver wire movement, the teams are now set for the push to October.
I sat and listened to WEEI online all day yesterday while at the office. As rumors were thrown around about Andruw Jones I started to feel uneasy. The rumored deal would have given us Jones, but sent Crisp, Hansen, and Lester.
I've always been of the opinion that cultivating a farm system is the way to go. And right now the Sox farm system has quite a few players who, while not ready for the bigs quite yet, have the potential to really make an impact with the Sox in 2007 and beyond. Was Theo seriously thinking of getting rid of them to fill holes with a few rent-a-players? Were we going to turn into the Yankees? Hasn't done them much good in the last six years.
Luckily Theo stood pat. And now we're hearing about all sorts of deals that fell through, the most notable being a deal that would have landed the Sox Roy Oswalt. Of course there are still concerns. The Yankees landing Abreu is troublesome. The Sox DL list getting longer and longer has also got me worried. But hey, Wily Mo went 3-4 last night, with a monster home run, just a double short of the cycle. Not a bad replacement for Trot until he's back. And is there even anything left to say about David Ortiz? I think the world has officially run out of adjectives to describe this man.
As the game was winding down last night, I was on the phone with The Twin. He was listening to the game, I was not. "The Sox have three outs to score two runs to tie it," he said. And then Alex Cora hit a single. And then Youks walked. Papi was at the plate representing the winning run with one out.
He couldn't do it again. Could he?
Oh, oh he did. And I'm out of ways to say how much I love that man. And Boston's love of Big Papi is to the point that if I offered myself up to him, I'm pretty sure The Twin would give me his blessings. To watch him swing the bat, you just know, you KNOW that someday, years from now, we're all going to be telling the generations that come after us that we saw David Ortiz play.
Coco Crisp was quoted in the Globe this morning as saying:
""You know how they say that it ain't over till the fat lady sings?" Crisp said. "Here, it ain't over till the big man swings.""
Too true, Coco, too true.Labels: Boston, Red Sox, sports |
| posted by FINY @ Tuesday, August 01, 2006 |
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| Tuesday, July 11, 2006 |
| One Sweet Show, Pt. II |
After leaving the Pour House, The Welshman and I headed over to Boston Billiards to meet my high school friends before going into the show. THIS is where the wheels fell off. A very quick beer and two shots later, we were headed into Fenway. I am still convinced that it was those two shots, which were my second and third within an hour and a half, were my downfall. And I think the picture of the Welshman speaks for itself:
But once inside Fenway, I was absolutely giddy. Though many of the male members of our group were not exactly excited to see Sheryl Crow perform, I really enjoy her music and she played a solid set (though I think we missed a few songs waiting in line to get onto Yawkey Way).
The break between Crow and DMB gave me a chance to look around the park, kind of take it all in. One of my favorite parts of the entire day was the Green Monster, which spelled out Dave Matthews Band (you can click on these pictures to make them bigger by the way):
The break also gave the Welshman enough time to start planning to jump over the barrier onto the infield just so he could roll around on it. The idea being that the one scrawny security guy on our side of the field probably wouldn't do much damage to him.
And then, it was time, Dave came out, and I lost all track of well, everything. They played a great set list, most notably, a fantastic cover of Sweet Caroline, which was just so venue appropriate I couldn't stand it. During that song, as I am prone to do, I called The Twin, said absolutely nothing, but held the phone up for him to listen to the song. After about 30 seconds he hung up. Which made total sense as I had called him before we got to Boston Billiards, warning of how that would most likely happen, and telling him to feel free to just hang up.
But I told him that when I was relatively sober. I have now been drinking for somewhere around 5 hours. So all throughout the show I am texting him. Telling him I'm so sorry I was calling and texting too much and that I promised I'd stop. But of course I didn't. Instead I KEPT texting about how sorry I was. And in my totally wasted state, I was upset. No good reason, just upset. Hell he even texted me back and told me it was fine. At the time, I totally didn't believe it.
That small issue aside, the show really was amazing. They opened with One Sweet World, one of my favorites, and closed with Two Step as an encore. And in all honesty, they could have played all their hits, and only their hits, and even though I HATE it when they do that, I still would have been happy as a pig in shit. I was at Dave Matthews at Fenway Park, it just doesn't get much better than that.
 Labels: Boston, drinking, friends, music, photos |
| posted by FINY @ Tuesday, July 11, 2006 |
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