Looking Out My Back Door

Danny Burstein as Luther Billis in "South Pacific"

One of Broadway's best!

posted by Hopster @ 11:21 AM 0 comments

Can you stand a little more about 2009?

It was a very good year indeed. After the summer ended (and I got to see Frankie Valli, Pat Benatar, The Donnas, and Deborah Harry for FREE at Asser Levy Park in Brooklyn!), then began some business travel. I spent a third week based in Hampton Beach, NH for my "New England Press Tour" with sales rep Jerry. Stayed again at the wonderful Oceanside Inn, welcomed by host/owners Deb and Skip (I highly recommend it -- www.oceansideinn.com), and took a side trip (20 minutes away!) to the outlets just over the border in Maine. After calling on clients, Jerry, his lovely wife Kathie, and I were rewarded with lavish dinners in the Hampton Beach area and also in Portsmouth. I'm talking New York-style establishments, not roadside lobster roll stands, though I'm sure they're good. My favorite is The Library in Portsmouth, which is also a cool town in which to shop and bar crawl. As long as you're not driving!

A major highlight of the Fall was, of course, THE YANKEES! What can I say about winning World Series #27 that I didn't already drive people nuts with on Facebook? A marvelous season, highlighted for me earlier when Maggie, Patricia and I went to the Stadium on 9/9/09 (a thank-you from Maggie and Kevin for doing that kick-ass reading) and saw DEREK JETER tie Lou Gehrig's record for most hits by a Yankee. Could anyone's first visit to our new cathedral in the Bronx have been better? Doubtful!

Another business trip with Jerry, this time to the suburbs of Chicago, where we had another successful round of visits (and a few more great dinners!), then it was Thanksgiving time. My aunt/sister (hey, she's only seven years older!) Patricia put on her usual Martha Stewart-type spread, attractive even to non-turkey fans like me. Cousin Matt and I attacked other diners (20 or so) with flying wine corks, so it was fun all around, unless you were in our sights.

On December 12, I went with friends Sharon and Gary to see our pal Danny Burstein in his Tony-nominated portrayal of Luther Billis in the classic musical "South Pacific" at Lincoln Center. Wow. What an amazing production. It was spectacular, and you have until August 14 to catch it at the Vivian Beaumont Theater at Lincoln Center. I recommend that you do. (Danny moves immediately into rehearsals for "Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown," where his co-stars will include Patti LuPone, Brian Stokes Mitchell, Sheri Renee Scott, and other notables -- don't miss it!) Another thing that made that night extra-special was hanging backstage with Danny and having a very informal tour of the stage.

I found out that same day that my "father" (I prefer "sperm donor") had been killed in an accident with his truck that morning, likely due to impairment from alcohol, but it didn't really bother me much. He'd been out of my life (his choice) since I was 15, so his physical departure from this world was a non-event. Now that I'm officially an orphan, maybe I'll head over to London and join forces with The Artful Dodger and his crew, where we "gotta pick a pocket or two." (J/K!)

The year 2009 came to a close with nearly two weeks off from work, a great Christmas Eve with my Italian/Irish family, Christmas with more family, and New Year's Eve with my Ouziel family. What better way to bring a great year to a close?

posted by Hopster @ 10:03 AM 2 comments

Testing....testing

I am now attempting to post photos on this blog. Pictured (I hope!) are me and my wonderful cousin Kevin, tailgating outside the 2009 Punkin' Chunkin' in Lewes, DE. Though it may sound ridiculous, this is a really fun annual event that family and friends have turned into a sort of "Big Chill" weekend. Lots of people in the Delaware house, lots of fun, frolic, food and potables, and then there's the Punkin' Chunkin' competition. Hey, cable's Science Channel thinks it's a big deal -- check it out!

posted by Hopster @ 12:21 PM 1 comments

Wow...it's been QUITE a while since I posted here!

Nearly two years have passed since my last entry on this blog, and that's two years too many. I blame it on a busy fall and holiday season that took place after that last post, then discovering Facebook in January of 2009 -- and my subsequent addiction to same. After about a year of fervently Facebooking, I've slowed down a bit. Nearly a year ago, I got sick of being treated like crap by the "person" that ran the website I had contributed two weekly columns to, gratis, for about four years, so another compatriot also tired of the nonsense joined me in abruptly quitting. It was a glorious exit, and I may detail it here one day. Glorious, I say!

Lately, it occurred to me that I should revisit this blog, as I'm not posting on FB as often, and I do like to express myself. I just need to find out how to block certain pathetic types -- you know who you are, Cowtrina and Slutti (Snooki's trampier cousin)! Perhaps improvements have been made that will let you approve who sees your post. I'll be checking things out!

In the interim, let me try to sum up the past couple of years. With 2009 came a new president and, I hoped, a fresh new Washington, DC. Unfortunately, it hasn't been all we had thought it could be, but President Obama has had much to clean up after the previous eight years, had to battle hard to get anything pushed through Congress, and was also met with more vitriol than any sitting president (other than, perhaps, Nixon) from the opposite side and many members of the Fourth Estate. More ugly racism has reared its disgusting head since this president was elected, and not only from a segment of the "Teabaggers." (I chuckle whenever I think what "Teabagging" means in modern slang, and how hysterically funny it is that these rightwingers chose their name!) Anyway, enough about that. Our current leadership is not perfect, but it is trying, and that has to count for something.

The first half of 2009 was quiet and uneventful, leading up to a busy June and July. After traveling to Boston for a rainy trade show week (and at a time when the visiting Yankees were blown away, 4-0 in a four game series by the Red Sux, to add to the misery), it was time to get ready for the event of the decade: the wedding of my cousin/godchild, Maggie, to the wonderful man of her dreams (and a welcome addition to the family), Kevin. I did stuff I wouldn't normally do (attend bridal shower, etc.) but for the fact it was Maggie and Kevin. They honored me by asking me to do a reading at the wedding, so I practiced my butt off, even going for coaching with Toastmaster Extraordinaire BennyO. After a few sessions, I not only got to know the microphone really well, but learned a lot about presentation. I'm normally pretty good at speaking off the cuff, but this was a Bible verse, and there's no room for improvisation! The rehearsal, rehearsal dinner and wedding, held over the July 4th weekend, were the best I'd ever been a part of. The only thing that sucked was the drive home, on the Sunday of a holiday weekend. It took twice the time to get to the wedding (4+ hours), which had me and cousin Carol in stop-and-go traffic for ten hours. Yes, ten. Only for you, Maggie and Kevin!

I spent the rest of the summer entertaining semi-lavishly and going to a few concerts, but this post is long enough. More soon (maybe even tomorrow) -- I've missed being here!

posted by Hopster @ 9:35 AM 0 comments