Journalism Geek Reunion

The weekend before Thanksgiving, I was giving thanks for the great group of people I found at PC. Rick and I went down to Providence for a 75th Anniversary Celebration for The Cowl, PC's student newspaper. I was lovingly referring to the weekend as my 'nerd reunion.'

I had been looking forward to the get-together for quite a while and it was great to see so many old friends. I was fortunate to work with such a fun group of people while I was on The Cowl and I was happy to see them in person-- since I've only "seen" many of them via Twitter or Facebook in the past few years.



The event itself was great; we had a cocktail hour and then a dinner and speaking program. We had two talented Cowl alumni speak -- including Mallary Tenore '07! -- and then we continued toasting our journalism glory days at McPhail's: PC's on-campus bar.



However, the highlight of the evening was when someone found a current Cowl editor and he let a few dozen of us into the office. We then became what Rick called "kids on Christmas morning" as we pulled out the old archives, laughing at old typos and remembering long nights in the office. Geek Fest, I know.

It was so much fun to get together with old friends and reminisce. I was also reminded of how much my time on The Cowl encouraged my writing and shaped my future. I'm so lucky to have found nerds like me when I was at school!

Photos: 75 years of word nerds; Kristin and I getting silly; With Mallary and Christine at McPhail's.

Ready for the Return of the Boys of Summer

I know it's somewhat difficult to imagine a beautiful, warm Opening Day when most of Red Sox Nation is underwater right now, but the big day is on Sunday! Thankfully, it appears that the weather is going to cooperate for the Sox's opening home game versus the damn Yankees on Easter Sunday.

I've been looking forward to the return of the Sox for the past few weeks and the (few) sunny days we had this month made it easy to picture the impending arrival of the boys of summer.

Now I will admit that I'm no sports nut, but I genuinely enjoy baseball and actively follow the Sox. I love coming home most spring and summer nights and turning on NESN while making dinner or relaxing after a busy day. I missed Remy and Don when I lived in Maryland a few years back and the nationally televised games just aren't as entertaining. (Obviously, there's nothing like seeing a game live, but there's nothing like NESN for the games on TV!)

To me, the Red Sox bring up all sorts of fun memories--watching the games on TV with my family, seeing the team live with great friends, barroom debates when I lived out of state and celebrations after big wins. The Sox also make me think of the summertime; warm days, the beach, Cape Cod...

All in all, there really isn't anything negative I can say about the home team. Well... that's not entirely true because I'm sure I'll chip in my two cents about their performance after a poor game, but that's all part of America's Pastime!

Post-Holiday Thoughts

So, it seems that I took a little holiday break from the blog. Forgive me for the lack of holiday-themed posts before Christmas actually occurred, but the blog took a backseat to yuletide preparations.

Now that Christmas has come and gone, I've had a little time to gather up a few random holiday-related thoughts. In no particular order, here are some musings on Noel...

- I'm a 100% real-tree advocate. I know fake trees are so much neater and more convenient, but I'm willing to sacrifice this for the smell of a real tree. There's nothing like it! It's kind of ridiculous to like a tree for this reason, especially since the smell fades rather quickly and our tree dried up in about a week this year, but I still love a real tree. I know I probably won't always feel this way, but I'll getting a real tree every Christmas for the foreseeable future.

- Online shopping for Christmas gifts is convenient, but a crap shoot. I've had mixed results with Christmas shopping online the past few years. It kills me to spend so much on shipping to ensure that gifts will arrive on time, but not forking over the dough almost always means that the gifts will be lost or late. I also don't like ordering something without always having a clear idea of what it will look like in person. I ordered a frame for my dad this year from Amazon and I sent it back because it just looked much cheaper in person than it did online. Online shopping is really hit or miss...

- Ornaments make great gifts. I'm a big fan of giving, receiving (and collecting) Christmas ornaments. Every year, I enjoy decorating my tree and remembering where each ornament came from and the story behind it. I started a tradition of giving my Godson an ornament for a gift each Christmas and I hope it helps build a special little collection for him one day. This little ceramic Santa teddy was made by my Memere and I love putting up the ornaments she made years and years ago.

- Everything feels more festive with a white Christmas. Snow can be messy, dangerous and a hassle, but I love it at Christmastime! There's just something special about snow for December 25th. It makes everything look prettier and helps get folks in the spirit. And I hear that it makes Santa happy too.

- Overeating can absolutely not be avoided at this time of year. Maybe some of you would argue this point with me, but I love food and have weak willpower. End of story.

Toyland

Like it or not, Christmas season is in full swing. Decorations are out, carols are playing in stores non-stop and commercials for the toys every kid will be begging for are all over TV.

The commercials and mall decorations and advertisements drive me crazy this time of year just like anyone else, but they also make me sentimental for my favorite Christmas toy.

We all know that consumerism and commercialism dilute the true meaning of Christmas, but admit it: you probably got an awesome toy one childhood Christmas that rocked your small world. Whether you believed that it came from Santa or not, you unwrapped a present that made one Christmas extra special and unforgettable.

My top Christmas gift came the year I was in third or fourth grade. (It was a memorable year, but I can't recall exactly what year it was...) All fall and winter, I had my eye on the Playmobil Victorian dollhouse. I had seen plenty of dollhouses before and they never really interested me, but the Playmobil dollhouse was different.

I loved all the different accessories that you could buy for the house like the room kits and townspeople. I also loved the old-fashioned Victorian element to the house. There were endless little details that Playmobil included in their toys and my overactive imagination was itching for one.

That year, the Playmobil dollhouse was the only gift I asked for. I was fairly confident in my good behavior, so I figured I was a shoo-in with Santa. Christmas morning came and I just knew my dollhouse would be waiting for me under the tree.

When I first came downstairs, a quick scan of the gifts underneath the tree didn't reveal a large box with my name on the tag. Having studied the dollhouse for months at the local toy store, I knew the dollhouse box would be sizable. I didn't see anything huge, but I was still confident that my Christmas dream would come true.

As Christmas morning progressed and more presents were unwrapped, I kept waiting for my Playmobil magic. Finally, everything under the tree had been unwrapped and while I had some great new gifts, there wasn't a Playmobil dollhouse. As we were cleaning up, I remember telling my mom that I hadn't gotten the dollhouse from Santa. I was trying to be tough and thankful for what I received, but little tears welled up in my eyes as I said, "Oh well, maybe for my birthday..."

Just as I said this, my dad came down the hall with two big gifts that Santa left in the den. My brother and I both jumped up with excitement, ripped off the paper and became the proud owners of the Playmobil pirate ship and the Playmobil dollhouse (respectively). Since Playmobil requires quite a bit of assembly, the four of us spent the rest of Christmas Day putting together our new masterpieces, but it was worth it. (Well, maybe it was worth it for me and Chris. I later found out that all the assembly drove our parents crazy that day.)

My Playmobil dollhouse is now safely dis-assembled and stored away at home. I look forward to giving it to my kids one day and sharing the story of my favorite Christmas gift...and the story of how tricky their grandparents were.


Photo via Playmobil.com