Polaroids from 5th and 6th Grade – Old Ironsides and Nature’s Classroom

These pictures might make me feel old, but they also make me laugh. I will note here that for some reason (history’s sake or learning from my Dad), I labeled a lot of the Polaroids I took – even if it was with names of family members…

The picture of Adam, Mike, and “P.J.” makes me think of the morning that P.J. said, “Hi Chuck” to Mr. Fournier as he walked in the classroom one morning. To date, I don’t think I’ve had a more difficult time trying not to laugh. I knew I couldn’t look at Adam or Brian Caddigan without losing it, so I kept my eyes shut and bit on my lip. “Chuck” came back with a very authoritative, “What did you say????!!!!”, and told the rest of the class to leave while he reamed out P.J. Of course all the boys thought it was the funniest and coolest thing ever, and P.J. was hailed as a brave hero. I don’t remember much about Old Ironsides, but I will never forget that morning.

I love the look on Mike Fallon’s face in the Nature’s Classroom picture. Air Jordans on and staring the camera down like he’s trying to strike out a batter in the bottom of the 9^th. Mike Colangelo is proudly repping the Sox, while Chris Moulton looks like he’s sporting Brian Johnson specials. Dave Sullivan and Tufts are doing what they can to look cool simply because that’s what Daves do. You gotta love Pete Galea’s jeans-and-jean jacket-acceptable-in-the-80s look and Dave Noble’s brandless numbered t-shirt (I loved the red with blue #32 my brother Jon handed down to me). Also, I can’t tell if Dave Noble and Pete are blocking someone behind them? Ideas? I will say this about our year at Nature’s Classroom: What happened there certainly didn’t stay there, and they didn’t let the class behind us go.

Chieftans and Great Big Sea Tickets (2009, 2006)

If you like Celtic music and haven’t seen either of these bands, you should do what you can to change it. I’ve seen Great Big Sea a bunch of times (see other GBS tickets), but the Paddy Maloney and Chieftans show was my first time seeing them (hopefully not the last). If you’ve never experienced a night of Celtic music and live in Massachusetts, check out the free Westborough Session every Thursday night at Mulligan’s – you can thank me later.

David Way Sign (1993)

Tonight was the first Hope Lodge visit of the school year by the Holy Cross SPUD students, so I figured I’d blog about something I stole.

It was New Year’s Eve going into 1993, and I thought I’d do a little raging against the machine. With a little help from my friends and a couple of tools, I took this sign sometime between midnight and 1:00 in the quiet little town of Westboro, MA. I was a freshman at BC back then, just months after finishing my battle with brain cancer. I had my eye on it since New Year’s 91-92, and after having cancer I began trying to live life fearlessly and without regret. I don’t know if there is a statute of limitations for stealing street signs, but I hope this confession doesn’t get me into trouble. The town of Westboro has since taken things of mine, so I guess it all evens out in the end anyway…

Ivy and Bobby's Celebration Invite (8/13/11)

I really can’t say it enough. The only that really matters in life is the people you have in yours. Although I try to live my life not needing reminders of this, whenever I hang out with my family it is reinforced. Last night was one of those times, and fitting way for Ivy and Bobby to share their marriage with Westborough. There was family, relatives, in-laws, friends, acquaintances I hadn’t seen in years, and people I had never met. There was a lot of laughing, storytelling, hugs, great food, and fun. And there were definitely enough McGraths there to play wiffle…

Poems from a Tragic Comic Book Cover (2006)

Five years ago I published my first book of poetry, Poems from a Tragic Comic: Surviving cancer, drinking, and women.

My idea for the cover was almost a precursor to this blog, and my sister Carolyn made the idea a reality.

I wanted the cover to be a smorgasbord of events and emotions that captured the kinds of feelings contained in my poems. There are medical things, drinking things, dating things, and sports things.

The BC hockey pieces demonstrate this wide range of emotions in particular. I wanted to include a BC-BU ticket because that rivalry is near and dear to my heart. The BC hockey pictures define the Wide World of Sports tagline “The thrill of victory and the agony of defeat” – they are the sign on the Mass Pike after BC won the championship in 2001, and a picture of the players after they lost the championship game in OT in 1998.

Most of the other items I’ve blogged about already:

1. My Friends in Blue
2. Court Summons from a Best Friend
3. Hospital Bracelets – Cancer and Kidney Stone
4. Note from Suzie
5. Rejection Letter from BC Stylus (which is also included in this book – a promise I made myself when they rejected me)
6. Tragic Comic Note
7. Focusin
8. Note from a Friend
9. Westboro House of Pizza Menu

Eventually, I’ll have to make one huge collage of everything I scan.

More on BC hockey tomorrow…

Drawing of George Thomas, Civil War Officer and...Ghost?

Back in March, I posted an investigation report from the Massachusetts Paranormal Society. They came to my apartment in Westboro to see if they could explain some unusual things I was experiencing – orbs floating in the room, things turning on and off, being surrounded by cold air, my guitar pushed out of my hands, etc.

After their investigation, one part of their report stated the following: “The first (spirit) that came through was of a very tall man. She described him as looking a bit like Abraham Lincoln. His name was George Thomas and he gave the date of 1857. While connected with George she had an overwhelming uneasy feeling. This was not a nice man. The rest of the team then joined this investigator. As she spoke with George, another member of the team picked up some high EMF readings in the area. She also sensed him and smelled cigar smoke. He became very angry when asked what he was doing in the town we were in. He insisted he was not there but in Weymouth.”

When I looked up George Thomas, I found this drawing of a Civil War Officer on Ebay. George Henry Thomas was an officer during the Civil War and was definitely around during 1857. I also read in that link that none of his blood relatives attended his funeral – if this is the same guy, that could be a good reason for hanging around…

Westboro Players' Club Sweeney Todd Program (2009)

Sometimes things just pop into my head and I say them without thinking about how upset the person I’m talking to might end up. Two years ago was one of those times.

I went with my friends Glen and Krissy to the Westboro Players’ Club production of Sweeney Todd at the middle school in Westboro. As we were walking in, I thought of Glen’s love of all things ice cream, especially the sundae variety. I turned to him and asked, “I told you they’re having make your own sundae at intermission, right?” Glen’s face lit up for a bit until I started laughing, and he realized he was a victim of a typical Dave ruse.

Even though Glen was upset at the lack of intermission ice cream, this story has a happy ending. We enjoyed the show, and the next day I felt bad for tricking him so I brought over make your own sundae ingredients to his house. I cant’ help myself sometimes when I make people believe things that aren’t true, but I’ll try to make up for it…

Chauncy Hall Academy Staff Star

8 years ago, I was working as the lead teacher of Chauncy Hall Academy. Although the relationship between the educational staff and the residential staff had been a bit rocky the first couple of years I worked at CHA as a math teacher, the program director was a big Bruins fan and I think that helped us work out our differences. It also helped assure that street hockey remained part of our PE program. Even though it felt good being voted as “Staff Star” on May 7^th in 2003, this date is always one that will have a deeper meaning to me…

It was 8 years before this, May 7, 1995 that I drank for the last time. Last year, I wrote about my drinking “adventures” on my t-shirt blog for a Rehab is for Quitters t-shirt:

I drank for the first time at the beginning of my second semester during my freshman year of college. I (and my group of friends) never drank in high school, but I quickly saw that the social scene at BC revolved around the Mighty Keg. And although I thought drunk people were idiots and Coke Classic would always taste better than beer, I figured I would try it once just to see what all the fuss was about.

My friends and I found an off campus party, paid a few bucks each at the door, and found our way to the keg. After about four beers, I fell in love. The buzzing feeling reminded me of the Benadryl I had gotten in my IV just months before while getting platelet transfusions after my chemo, but I liked it even more. Then, as I sat on a couch and attempted to finish my sixth beer, I threw up on myself. A friend of one of my friends looked over and said to my friend Tim, “I think you friend spilled his beer.” Tim looked over and replied, “I think he spilled his lunch.” I remember apologizing to the guy whose apartment it was telling him it was my “first time”, and he seemed more amused than upset. My other friends Patrick and Chris “escorted” me out of the place and helped me get onto the BC shuttle bus. I recall Patrick giving me a Tic-Tac as we walked down the hill on Comm Ave. As I lay my fuzzy head down to rest that night, I had no idea it was the beginning of my nasty relationship with drinking. My drinking continued just about every weekend for the remainder of my freshman year, and my friends continued to make sure I got home okay.

It wasn’t until my sophomore year that I added vodka to my drinks of choice, a decision that would increase the number of “drinking incidents” I had. I began my own pre-party ritual that assured I would be drunk even before I got to the keg. I would do about six shots of vodka, and chase them with a bottle of Very Fine fruit punch. After the bottle of fruit punch was about half empty I would fill the other half with vodka, shake it up, and guzzle it. It was only then that I felt I was ready to party (see also “Don’t Know How To Party” by the Mighty Mighty Bosstones).

As my sophomore year continued, so did the signs scream that I had a drinking problem. There were fights (well, some dude kicking my face in when I was on the ground), mystery morning bruises, drunken poetry recited to many BC females, ER visits, stitches, a window sill decorated with empty vodka bottles, and ultimately rehab at McLean Hospital. One night (I don’t recall very much), it took about six BC police officers to get me onto the ambulance. As fate would have it, my friend Drew was one of the EMTs in the ambulance that picked me up. Drew told me he was in the back of the ambulance trying to calm me down as we made our way to the hospital. What it turned out to be was an expletive-filled shouting match that made it very difficult for Drew to relay the status of the situation to the hospital over the radio. The best line of the night came from the other EMT who was driving the ambulance:

EMT: Everything okay, back there?

Drew: Yeah, he’s my friend.

EMT: Well, your friend’s an asshole.

He couldn’t have been more right.

As I mentioned before, I also ended up in rehab during my sophomore year. I was surrounded by people that had serious mental health and substance abuse problems, so it was easy for me to rationalize that I didn’t have problems like them. I remember telling my story about beating cancer and how I started drinking to one of the doctors there. He told me, “Yeah, that’s definitely a recipe to get yourself here.” I said what I needed to say (and the insurance coverage ran out), so I was quickly back at school. This time, my family was made aware of my drinking. They came to visit me, and gave me nothing but love and support. They never raised their voices, lectured, or made me feel bad about being there. All they wanted to know was if there was anything they could do to help. I seriously hit the lottery when it comes to family and friends. Unfortunately, I was still not ready to stop.

Going into my junior year of college, I told myself I was going to “take it easy” with my drinking. So I kept drinking every weekend, but it was “just beer”. I didn’t have any ER visits or fights, and actually had dates here and there. At a legendary (3 floors, multiple kegs) Halloween party at my friend Patrick’s (I went in character as Mickey Knox from Natural Born Killers), I publicly admitted my love to the smart, beautiful, blonde, blue-eyed, Irish girl I had come to know in a few of my psychology classes. I kept on acting like an idiot, but I kept the police out of it.

Then, a friend of mine from high school (who had been diagnosed with leukemia the year before) lost his battle with cancer. He was just days away from being released form the hospital after getting a bone marrow transplant, and he caught something he had no energy left to fight. I was devastated, and so started the questions of asking why I was the one that was still here…

My 21^st birthday party featured kegs of Molson Ice and an ice luge shaped like a shamrock. If you’re not familiar with ice luges, they are blocks of ice with grooves carved in them that are laid down on a table at an angle. The point is to pour hard liquor down these grooves to a waiting (and numb) mouth at the other end. The last thing I remember from my birthday was pouring some lethal concoction down the luge, then stopping and finishing the whole pitcher myself. I also went to the Bruins with my Dad the next day and flipped of Mark Messier (see story #2 here: http://davestshirts.blogspot.com/2010/01/intro-and-t-shirt-1.html)

Although I was staying out of “trouble” like I ran into my sophomore year, I still was acting like a jerk when I drank. I said mean things to the people I care about the most, vented about life not being fair, and continued acting like a typical “mean drunk”. One thing was for sure, drinking did not make me happier. It did not make me feel better about my friend passing away, it made my family and friends worry, and it made me care less and less about things that had been the most important to me. It really just made me say “F- everyone, I’m going to do what I want…”

Then on May 7^th, in the middle of finals, I set out to drink everything that was in my apartment. I remember being almost finished drinking a case of beer. I don’t remember drinking champagne and wine, but I guess I just didn’t care about anything anymore. I also emptied my roommate’s bottle of pills (Tylenol?), a sure sign I was simply sick of living. Again, my friend Drew brought me to the hospital. When I was medically cleared, I was taken to McLean’s again. This time, it was different…

While I was there, a thirteen-year-old friend I had met in the hospital passed away from cancer. When things took a turn for the worse, he asked his mother if she would call me to see if I could see him for what would most likely be our goodbye. I couldn’t see him because I was getting my stomach pumped of alcohol and pills. Although I’m not sure if I will ever get over this, I know he’s looking out for me. Again, my family was by my side through this all. This time, I was ready to tell them I wanted to stop.

What ultimately shoved me into a different mode of thinking about my drinking was something that one of the other “guests” of McLean’s said….it was something like “Hi, I’m Steve, and this is my 8^th time in rehab”. I said to myself “I never ever EVER want to say that.” And I knew there was only one way that would happen: never drinking again. Just like I knew I was going to beat cancer, I knew when I said it and believed it I would neve drink again. The staff at McLean’s insisted that if I returned to BC for my senior year, I would start to drink again. They were wrong. I cannot thank my family and friends enough for sticking by me during my time with alcohol. The love and support you have shown and continue to show me assure it will be difficult for me to ever be jealous of another person. Thank you!

Ironically, I’ll be celebrating tonight by joining my friend at his “Lawyers Bar Crawl” and being his designated driver. Looking forward to another year of not drinking…

My Birth Certificate

Well, I figured I would get this out of the way before anyone thought I was an IRA agent who was really born in Ireland or an Irish Canadian secretly plotting to become president of the United States then have Canada assume power over all US territories.

And, don’t you worry. I will publish all my report cards, my Boston College transcript, my Wheelock College transcript, and just about every record I have.

I think it’s very sad how no president (to my recollection) has had to do this. And even after Obama published his birth certificate, the questions continued. I understand the guy you voted for didn't win, but get over it.

As expected, The Daily Show did a masterful job covering all of the idiotic still-not-convinced “reporters” who were pointing out what they thought were mistakes in the certificate. And I won’t even go into the whole Donald Trump thing – he’s not worth my words.

Is anyone else publishing their birth certificate, or just me and the prez?

By the way, the first thing I did after I was born was pee on Dr. Kirkendall.

Mini Farms Brick

When I saw they had taken the Mini Farms building to the ground, I knew I wanted a piece of it. Luckily, there was a whole dumpster full of former Minis bricks. This one is mine…

Sometimes to get a job, who you know can come in handy. When I was in high school, my older brother Jon had been working for a few years at Mini Farms, a privately owned convenience store in Westboro (think Clerks but in central Mass). Like I had been trying to do all my life, I wanted to follow in his footsteps and he got me in. I was originally going to start working at “Minis” over Christmas break of my freshman year, but instead I ended up starting my battle with Crohn’s Disease. I eventually started working at Mini Farms the summer after my freshman year in high school, and it definitely was an experience I’ve taken with me…

Responsibilities at Mini Farms included stocking the cooler with soda, beer, and other beverages, cleaning the aisles, pricing and stocking items on the shelves, sorting out the returned bottles and cans, and handling the deliveries. Things changed up a little bit on Sundays and you could find yourself putting newspapers together or getting doughnuts for the loyal customers (this was long before there were 5 (yes, FIVE) Dunkin’ Donuts in The ‘Boro).

It doesn’t sound like a very glamorous job, but it was a great one because of the people that I worked with. The boss was a really nice guy who joked around with us and let us listen to really loud music when we worked – he called it “Jungle Music”. My co-workers were family, high school friends, and the occasional forty-something who had issues well beyond the Mini Farms walls.

Here are some of my top “Minis Memories” in no particular order:

1. The day that the building next to us “caught” fire (rumor said it was an inside job). My boss came in and told me, “We have to leave, next door is on fire.” I laughed and didn’t believe him until I looked out the front door and could only see smoke. I ended up having breakfast, lunch, and dinner that day at McDonald’s, so I wasn’t complaining. We also had to clean up the basement that had been flooded from all the preventative firefighter’s water spray, and that wasn’t much fun.

2. The day I took an empty bottle of Mr. Clean, filled it with 10-K, and drank it in front of my cousin – her reaction was just what I had planned.

3. When I was waiting for a ride home dressed in ripped jeans and my leather jacket and this guy asked me if I was selling any “dope”. I went off on the guy about judging people based on what they were wearing, and I think he got my point.

4. The time I yelled at one of my co-workers for smoking cigarettes. I told him something like, “I’m not going to come visit you in the hospital when you get cancer!” Yeah, that worked out well…

5. The morning I got into a fight with a worker who was talking trash about me and writing things about me on the boxes of soda – I think I’ve done well to not to have violent reactions like this anymore. I won the fight, by the way.

6. One afternoon when I was blasting Extreme and wearing a Bruins shirt, a guy came in to grab a case of Budweiser. He looked at me and said, “Bud, the B’s, and Extreme…that’s all I need!”

7. Getting a ride home with a co-worker, and people started yelling at us. He had left his radio on the roof of his car.

8. The day we closed the store and played roller hockey on the roof (okay, that one’s from Clerks).

9. The time my boss handed me the five-page list from the Board of Health with all the things we had to fix to be in compliance.

10. Any day my boss would leave and tell me I was the one in charge…yikes.

Westboro House of Pizza Menu

If you’re ever in Westboro, you should check this place out. Easily it’s one of my favorite places to grab a bite to drink, and I usually do on Friday nights. I even had my awesome sister Carolyn put part of this menu on the cover to my first book of poetry, Poems from a Tragic Comic. Make sure when you go there, you tell the owners that you think Tim Thomas is the best goalie you’ve ever seen in a Bruins uniform. If they tell you that you’re wrong, remind them that he set an NHL season record for save percentage and is well on his way to another Vezina Trophy. Also, enjoy your yummy food!

Weekend in The 'Boro: Harlem Ambassadors Ticket, Your Highness Ticket, and Anything Goes Program

After spending Friday night successfully defending my EA Sports NHL “Belt” at Carl’s, I went back to my hometown of Westboro for a weekend of local fun.

First stop was Westboro High for a charity basketball game put on by the Rotary Club of Westboro. The Harlem Ambassadors played the Rotary Spokes to a packed house, and everyone there had a great time – I honestly had never seen a man of the cloth wearing his shorts so high up before last night (thank God). There were pranks, tackles, dance moves, a lot of fancy passing and shots, and even a broken backboard. I don’t remember what the final score was, but both players and spectators were all smiles.

After the game, it was off to hang out with my friend on her birthday. She wanted to go see Your Highness, so we caught the 10:10 showing. It was a silly comedy that borrowed a lot from other comedy and fantasy movies, but still kept me laughing. And, it starred 4 actors who I enjoy watching: Danny McBride, James Franco, Natalie Portman, and Zooey Deschanel. I don’t think there will be any Oscar nods for this one, but put it on your list if you like movies with a thousand dick, drugs, and sex jokes packed into 90 minutes.

After going out to catch a flick, we watched a more serious movie called It’s Kind of a Funny Story. Even though their characters were more serious than usual, Jim Gaffigan and Zach Galifianakis still had me laughing at times. Definitely worth putting on your Netflix list.

Today, it was time to check out the latest production of the Westboro Players’ Club. I had never seen Anything Goes before, and the Players did a great job putting on the show. Honestly though, can we make the next Westboro Junior High (or Middle School or Gibbons or whatever it’s called) fundraiser be for purchasing more comfortable seats in the auditorium? Thanks. And thanks for a fun weekend, Westboro!

My Friends in Blue...

It's happened to many of us. You're driving fast, not paying that much attention, or you "forgot" that intersection was NO TURN ON RED. Then, you see those blue lights. You say to yourself, "Oh crap, I hope they're not pulling me over." Most of the time, they aren't pulling you over. But sometimes, yup, it's YOU they want...

When this happens to me, I implement steps my friend Drew told me will help get you out of a ticket:

1. Turn your car off and put the keys on the dashboard

2. Get your license and registration out and ready

3. Keep both hands in plain view

4. Smile as you hand your license and registration to the officer

5. If you know what you did wrong, admit it

Believe me, it works. Below are just two of the warnings I have received over the years, and they aren't the only ones. The first one was just for a broken light, so I had no idea why I was being pulled over. The second was a blatant disregard for a stop sign right in front of a police cruiser at the intersection. I followed the steps, and when he asked me if I saw the stop sign I was honest. I said, "Well, I was looking over at you and wanted to make sure I wasn't speeding so I think I didn't notice it." As you can see, he let me off with a warning.

Another time I was driving in Westboro on Lyman Street. There was a car pulling into Tatnuck Bookseller, and as I pulled around him I also crossed over the double yellow line. Just as I was doing this, I noticed a police car coming the other way on Lyman. Seconds after I took a right turn onto Main Street, I was being pulled over. As I handed the officer my credentials, I smiled and said "Double line violation, right?" He came back to my car after running my info and told me my honesty was refreshing and gave me a warning. A similar thing happened when I lived in Waltham. I was driving back to my apartment from getting paper to print my first draft of the first screenplay I had written. I told the officer I was excited to get home to print it, and he laughed and asked me if there were any police officer parts in the movie (If 6 Boston College Police Officers struggling to get a drunk student onto an ambulance count, then yes there are).

Even though I never received a written ticket or warning of any kind, my favorite "Friends in Blue" story happened during the summer between my freshman and sophomore years in college (this was before Drew had given me his advice). I was driving back from a Red Sox game with my brother Tom and we were on Main Street in Westboro. I saw a police cruiser signaling to turn into the station, and kept driving to take a left onto Ruggles Street. I guess the officer wasn't happy I didn't let him turn, because he made a U-turn and he pulled me over on Ruggles. I could tell right away he was upset. Very sternly and with authority he belted out, "You were going 35 miles per hour in a 30 mile per hour zone, do you know what that means?" I wanted to say "I don't get a ticket?", but I kept my mouth shut. He continued and said " I see this car speeding by my house ALL the time. You have a passenger with no seatbelt on and his feet out the window!"

"I'm sorry" was the only thing I could come up with.

"You shouldn't be apologizing to me!", he said.

So, I did the only thing a 19-year-old wiseass thought was appropriate: I turned to my brother Tom and said, "Sorry."

He didn't give me a ticket or a warning, I think he just wanted to remind me who was in charge.

Even with this story, I must say that most of my run-ins with my friends in blue have been pleasant ones - even when I have been, without a doubt, on the wrong side of the law. I'm sure there are police officers who wanted the job just for the "power trip" aspect of it, but I've been lucky for the most part to have not run into these people. So, thank you to those officers who dealt with me when I drank (never driving!) and let me off with warnings when I wasn't drinking. And thank you to every police officer who potentially puts his or her life on the line every day and night at a very difficult job.

PS - When I Googled "My Friends in Blue" I found this poem and a whole site dedicated to police poems....woah!