Adventure #1 - January 2010

This year I turn the big 35. My life and my world are very different than when I turned 25 or 15 or 5. So I've decided that each month I'm going to take a little (or big) adventure. I'll blog about where I go, what I see, and what I do.

Adventure #1  —  Three days in New York City


When I say that I'm originally from New York people usually wonder why I don't have any accent. That's because I grew up in Upstate New York — Jamestown, to be exact. But I have always liked spending time in the "big city" and this is where my first adventure began.

After checking into 70 Park Avenue, I walked a few blocks to Madison Square Garden. The route took me past Madison Avenue and the Empire State Building. No sightings of Don Draper or King Kong. Then it was into "The World's Most Famous Arena" to catch a NHL game between the New York Rangers and the Ottawa Senators. I have been a Rangers fan my entire life, but never managed to catch them playing at The Garden.

So with center ice tickets in hand and a new t-shirt and hat the game was on. I got there early enough to catch the pre-game warm-up and relax with a few beverages. Then it was time to drop the puck and enjoy the game from Section 78, Row G, Seat 3. The game was scoreless with just over a minute to go in the third period when Ottawa scored. Ranger goaltender Henrik Lundqvist wasn't too pleased and smashed his stick to the ice afterwards, breaking it in two like a toothpick. The Senators added an empty net goal and time ran out on the blueshirts. It was a bit colder walk back to the hotel.

Up early the next morning to check some email and head off again. I managed to get a VIP ticket to see Seth Godin do the first talk about his new book Linchpin. I've been a Seth fan for a long time and my bookshelf at the office has almost all his books and an action figure of the marketing guru. The Linchpin Session was a one hour talk by Seth about his latest book and the importance of being an indispensable artist, not just a worker at a factory. Then after a short book signing there was a two-hour Q&A session for people that purchased a VIP ticket. I was fortunate enough to get to ask the first question. I took a ton of notes and at some point I'll get around to writing them up. Oh, and the book is pretty good too.

Later that night I had dinner and drinks with an old friend. I don't think we'd seen each other in about 15 years. Apparently my sarcasm and her wit haven't changed much. I do a lot of writing and painting and other things to flex some creative muscle. But compared to some of her creations, I'm amateur hour.

The last morning in NYC finally left some time for a few extra zzzzs. I took some time to stroll through Central Park. It's that big green area in the middle of all the steel, concrete, pavement, and glass. Then it was time to pack up and head off to LGA. Odd celebrity sighting of note at the airport: Martin Short.

That was it for adventure #1. Just warming up for many more to come.