Field Notes: Volume One
Volume One of the Field Notes series
Phew… I’m back.
Been a hot second. When I fired up the blog again back in March, I didn’t really know how often I’d get the itch to write. Maybe it was just gonna be a standalone piece I’d have linked in my Instagram bio. But as/is on brand for me; I can’t sleep. Got the itch again. Boom, bringing back Field Notes.
For those of you who quietly crept into the corner of the internet I’m holed up in you’ll remember from my old blog: this was something I did often - kind of like a series in the reality show that was my life at the time. A way for me to look back on experiences I’d had in the recent weeks and have a long form way of grasping just how incredible life can be.
I’ve had a whirlwind of life happen since I penned that U2 blog on March 7th and I thought what better way to sum it all up?
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Field Notes: Volume One
Been an absolute beauty of a nearly two months for me. Just got back from a work event in Texas (yee…and I can’t stress this enough, haw). I’m pretty lucky, I landed doing event planning for a living pretty much right out of college. Of everything I’ve planned or had my hands involved in, this Texas trip takes the cake as one of the most fun times I’ve had onsite with a group of colleagues. For privacy’s sake I won’t get into too much detail but it was an incredible week in the Lonestar State. It all culminated to an awesome trip the other night to a legitimate Professional Bull Riders (PBR) Rodeo at the Cowtown Coliseum at Fort Worth Stockyards, the first ever indoor rodeo. I gotta tell ya, if you haven’t been to a PBR event, you gotta add it to the list. Pure sportsmanship on account of the talented riders and pure debauchery from Texas’ crème de la crème of hooligans. Absolute blast. A true ‘Merican fever dream. We also did the event at a certain large consulting firm’s leadership center, a place I’m still trying to wrap my head around that actually exists. A conference center to end all conference centers with every amenity and small touch of hospitality thought out and executed flawlessly. Got a couple frames that capture a glimpse of the week:
Cowboy hat on me is literally the size of Texas compared to my small head but my guy Dave from work is one of my favorite dudes I’ve met through work. Just a true statesman and class act.
Just a week before Texas Dana and I spent her school vacation week in our nation’s capitol city doing all the touristy shit you could imagine. We might as well have worn t-shirts all week that said “I’m bout to fuck up the DC museum scene”. All jokes aside, what a beautiful week in Washington. Weather was pristine, spring in bloom around the District, sidewalks flooded with children on school trips and fanny-packed Karens galore. The wonder of it all (sorry another joke, what can ya doooo). We learned a boatload and hit all the spots we wanted to. Vue Rooftop which had a bird’s eye view of The White House, was a really cool spot. Had a fantastic time touring the Capitol Building with a MA Congressman’s staffer, learned way more than I did when I toured it as a kid (could be a retention thing… who’s to say really?). Did a siiiiiick planetarium narrated by Lupita Nyong’o (The GOAT) at the Air & Space museum. Got in the literal room where it happened (Hamilton pun; had to. Nailed it), where a certain theater nerd pulled the trigger and ended Lincoln’s life. Many National Treasure references were made (maybe not so much out loud as to not annoy Dana with my exhausting knowledge of almost-Academy award winning cinema, but just know the inner dialogue was something to behold). All in all, a great trip away with the lady and some time enjoyed together and not thinking about work.
She looks great in red…. Sup?
Squeezed in between the two trips was my buddy Conor’s wedding. Conor was the first real true close friend I had growing up. We are still to this day like brothers. Met in first grade and the rest was history. We got our first jobs together, learned to perfect the art of skiing together, joined our first high school team together, lit shit on fire in his parents’ backyard in middle school together, ya know, all the hits. No matter how much time passes in between seeing each other, we pick right back up where we left off usually over an ice cold beer listening to classic rock and laughing harder than the last time we got together. I know he’ll never read this but getting through life in the early years and now as adults still leaning on each other in the trials and tribulations of being in our 30’s. Kid means the world to me. Proud to call him a friend. In classic fashion, I didn’t get many pictures of the evening. Drinks were flowing heavy and I was putting on a fucking clinic on the parquet as my other buddy was throwing down some serious heat behind the DJ booth. The lone image I got (NSFW, I’ve warned ya):
Conor (Middle), Pat (Left) - who sidenote, is another long time buddy. Three of us got into some serious shenanigans growing up. Hard to mention Conor and I’s friendship without also including Big Papa. Friends can be thicker than blood sometimes and these two are no exception. And then there’s Conor’s younger brother Devin (or Devon, not really sure how he spells it nor have I ever asked, just kind of one of those things you don’t know) - the 8th world wonder.
This picture kills me, and like I said, drinks were flowing at quite a clip. Sorry ya’ll.
Beautiful night in our nation’s second Capitol City… Worcester, Massachusetts.
Honestly broke my pattern of text/image/caption/text because I forgot the backwards order of everything I wanted to touch on. Thanks for sticking with me while my brain does some computing like that confused math lady….
Tried to look up the origin of this GIF for ya and went down a god damn rabbit hole. This is why I should stay off the internet after 10pm.
Had a phenomenal evening in Worcester with one of my best friends, Scott, his sister Caitlin and Ms. Dana. A bomb Italian dinner with some good conversation and vino, then a trip to Worcester’s finest watering hole and smoke lounge (Shoutout Michael’s Cigar Bar. Great name, even better place). Then closed out the evening doing karaoke in the living room until 2:00am. Scott crushed “Empire State of Mind” by Jay-Z feat. Alicia Keys, Dana mastered her rendition of Meredith Brooks’ “Bitch”, Caitlin and I crushed a couple tunes together. All in a night’s work. Love when Scott comes to town, we always get into something. Grateful for amazing friends like Scott and Caitlin; such a fun night to add to the memory banks.
This is my best friend Kelsey. For my 30th birthday she told me she wanted to take me to a Boston Bruins game, a shared passion. We had such a fun time but the Bruins blew the outing in one of their very few regular season games. Not sure if you heard but the Bruins are the winningest hockey team in NHL History. They’re currently choking in the first found of the playoffs against the Florida Panthers… I’ll say that again: “They’re currently choking in the first round of the playoffs against the Florida Panthers.” - at the time of writing this they’ve blown a 3-1 series lead with two abysmal showings to a far less superior Panthers squad. What can ya do? Joys of being a Boston sports fan, I guess. Anyways it was a fun night, Kels got us incredible seats (easily the closest I’ve ever sat to the ice) and we had fun regardless. Kels will be part of alot of my stories here in the field notes column, as she is my closest and dearest friend.
BLB forever.
Home stretch folks…. you gotta be exhausted, right? Make sure you hydrate.
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Rounding out the last thing I wanted to touch on here…. THE Blue Light Bandits.
I met Dan (Piano/Keys) and Ethan (Bass), years ago at a brewery when I was fresh onto the scene of being a 21 year old with adult friends who liked to go to breweries and talk about “dank Hazy IPAs”. God I can’t belive I used to talk like that. I digress. They were doing a little diddy called “This Love” by Maroon 5 to a very boring group at the brewery’s anniversary party. I was floored. Dead on scene. Just absolute pure craftsmenship with Dan’s beautiful vocals and Ethan keeping literally the whole thing together like he always does with just kick ass bass lines. I introduced myself after they finished playing and bought them a couple beers and just talked music with them. Little did I know how big of an impact these guys would have on me. In the years that followed I hit SO many of their gigs, wherever they were at, MM was there jamming along and supporting my guys. Somewhere in the middle I had a podcast with some friends from college at the time and we got to have Dan & Ethan come on and talk about their music and my general adoration for them. I don’t usually give anyone the link because some of my takes are outdated and I like to feel like my humor has improved in the past 3 years, but I’m proud of that conversation we had on the pod and it will expand what I’m trying to convey here a little better. *Here’s the link*
Years have gone by, a few of the band members have changed (Shout outs to my guys Simon, Jay, Eli and Jon Bricker - the current and best iteration & ensemble of the band) but the music has just absolutely never stopped. It has evolved in so many beautiful ways. I caught their EP release show in Cambridge, MA at the Lizard Lounge recently and I’m just so god damn proud to know these guys. They blew the ceiling off that place, it was such a fun show and easily in my top 3 all time BLB shows. To make the sugar even sweeter, they’re ‘bout to BLOW UP in the coming months. They’re playing the MEGA music festival here in New England on Memorial Day weekend, Boston Calling Music Festival on the same day as a little band called the Foo Fighters. Absolutely melting my brain, I’m still trying to wrap my head around this reality about to come to fruition and I’m just a guy who met them at a bar years ago. I cannot wait for their set and for more and more people to truly appreciate how special these guys are. Their music is a masterclass in good vibes, sweet melodies and killer grooves. I could write a book about BLB shows over the years, I’m proud to be a fan of their music, and I’m even prouder to know them in the manner that I have. BLB forever.
Welp, time to hit the old dusty trail. Thanks for hanging in there, this is the longest thing I’ve ever written but feels good to recap. I hope that someone like 50 years from now finds this webpage and just wonders what went wrong to let people just log on to the internet and have therapy and internal dialogue with themselves. Actually, I think if Twitter survives Elon Musk’s purely insane reign of greed and power, they’ll think that before they even find this. So, ya know, it should be fine.
See you on the other side for volume two.
“So we beat on, boats against the current, borne back ceaselessly into the past.” - F. Scott Fitzgerald | The Great Gatsby
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