A New Project

As the end of my third decade on earth approaches, I have come up with a little plan to rid my life of "no I haven't" and "not yet." I am introducing a 30 B4 30 project where I choose 30 things to complete in the 30 days before my 30th birthday. Every day I will do something I have never done before or learn something I don't already know. Then, I will come on this blog and write about the eccentricities of the day, how that activity affected me and what I learned from it. I am hoping it is an exciting and fun process.

Currently, the list only has 22 items on it, but I am still in the process of populating it and I am soliciting help from everyone I come across. I took some items off of my Life List to add to the 30 B4 30 list because they were important to me when I added them to that list and it would be great to get them done while on deadline.

For the 30 B4 30 project, I have made some stipulations; everything on the list has to be something realistic and close enough in proximity that I can get there or accomplish it within the 30 day limit. So there is no "Climb Mt. Kilimanjaro" or "See the Mona Lisa." It has to be in NY and available.

So, the project begins on August 5 and ends on September 4 when I turn the big 3-0! I will make updates as needed, so keep your eye out...And, make some suggestions of things I should do or learn before I turn 30 because I still need 8 additions to my list.

DMB at Citi Field

This was the second year in a row that I went with my friends to see Dave Matthews Band play on Long Island. This year, fortunately for me, they were preceded by the Zac Brown Band, who I seriously love being that I am a country music fan and have recently traveled to their mother land in Nashville. One of their first songs was "Toes" which is an excellent summer song that requires a beach chair and a Bud Light Lime to fully enjoy, but I was standing in the middle of a crowd of thousands, so I didn't have either and enjoyed it just fine.

Towards the end of their set, they sang "Chicken Fried" and I teared up a little when they got into the part about saluting "the ones who died and the ones who gave their lives so we don't have to sacrifice all the things we love..." It's a fun song, I just get a little emotional when they talk about the pride that lives within being an American. (Pause) But, then I went back to screaming and dancing along with them. Zac Brown even made an announcement about autism awareness and how important it was to help children. Very commendable. They ended their set with a cover of "Killing in the Name of" by Rage Against the Machine. It was pretty great and we rocked out.

Then, around 8:30 p.m., DMB came out and I only knew a handful of the songs they played. I do love Boyd though. He plays the violin and is pretty sick. It always impresses me when a big dude chooses to play such a female-dominated instrument. And, back off with the Yo-Yo Ma comments because you know what I mean. It is just very unexpected. I also noticed that Carter, their drummer, had the best smile. He was just beating on the drums and smiling away, the whole concert! He is part of a pretty amazing band with more than a million fans, so I don't know what there is to frown about, but it was good to see he was having a good time along with the rest of us.

TK was a little perturbed with their choice of encore songs, but I didn't mind because I knew I wouldn't know the words to them anyway. DMB ended with "All Along the Watchtower" and TK started the walk to the car. I stayed with my friend Nicole because I just love and appreciate live music. This may be because I only played the recorder and clarinet in middle school and they never really caught on. I do sing though...alone...in my car.

The entire DMB set list from Saturday is listed here: http://road.davematthewsband.com/SetlistsDir/setlist.asp and my favorite songs of the night were "Funny the Way it is," "Satellite," "Crash" and "Shake Me Like a Monkey." We had a great time and I am looking to go to another concert this summer, but preferably one that I can sit in a seat at least part of the time.

Hairspray at the Patchogue Theatre

I went to see Hairspray at the Patchogue Theatre on July 15 with some colleagues and it was like being transported back the the 1960's where segregation was still prominent and big ridiculous hairstyles were first popular. For this energetic and enterprising era, the costumes were on point and the set design was fitting. It was just so upbeat and fun.

Some people think, (including myself) "How good could the play be? It's in Patchogue," but when I'm wrong, I say I'm wrong and I was definitely wrong this time. Patchogue Theatre really puts on some good shows, especially shows from the Gateway Playhouse. The actors were funny when they were supposed to be and were so lovable. And, whoa, did some of them have some pipes. Especially Motormouth Maybelle who was played by Fran Jaye and really killed it with every song she sang. She practically rattled the theater.

I will admit, for the first 15-20 minutes I really thought Edna Turnblad was played by an overly stocky woman because Jerry O'Boyle was so convincing as the heavyset mother of Tracy Turnblad. (I had to check the playbill.) Edna Turnblad really goes through some personal (emotional, not physical) growth throughout the play and O'Boyle really embodies the development of that part. You really end up admiring him/her.

Tracy Turnblad (Brooke Shapiro), the main character, was a cute and courageous teenager and her friend Penny Pingleton (Sara Jayne Blackmore) was quite the little comedian, especially when she sings that she's, "tasted the chocolate" and is "never going back." She was so expressive, I actually laughed out loud. And, Todrick Hall, from American Idol fame, was Seaweed in this production and didn't try to steal the show or go overboard. He accepted his supporting role status as he belted out the necessary tunes and grooved his way across the stage in dance numbers. I was completely impressed because I wasn't a fan when he was a contestant on Idol. My view has changed, for the most part.

If you don't get it by now, I really liked the show and forgot that I wasn't in NYC at a Broadway version. It was great and the cast worked very well together. What a fun night out!

Down to Tennessee

I just got back from a vacation to Tennessee with my parents and sister-in-law, Erin. We drove down on a Saturday and stayed over in Strasburg, VA. Then on Sunday we continued our journey to Gatlinburg. When we got there we saw a whole string of huge log cabins and a water park at our resort. One of the employees showed us to our room and we had to drive up a winding road all the way up a mountain. Then the guy gave us the news about the black bears that have been known to hang around the mountains, and my mom flipped. She was not happy in the least. Honestly, I think it would be cool to see a bear...from the comfort of my window or a car. I would rather not get my face ripped off for a bag of trash though. After we settled in and my mother yelled a little, we went down to the barbecue restaurant in the main building and then headed to the grocery store to buy some snacks and breakfast for the week. The rooms were nice. We had comfy beds, two shower heads, a jacuzzi tub, plasma TVs and a balcony that overlooked the forest. It was pretty nice, despite the dozen or so centipedes that graced us with their presence every morning and night.

The next day we headed to Ripley's Aquarium of the Smokies in Gatlinburg. They had several really cool exhibits and a Plexiglas tunnel where you can view sharks, stingrays and other fish from underneath. There was also a touch tank with horseshoe crabs and stingrays and a penguin playground, which I obviously loved because they are my FAVORITE. I was able to take some really cool pictures of jellyfish and other interesting sea creatures. After the aquarium, we walked around town in Gatlinburg where I had the most delicious donut at the Donut Friar and then made a few stops in Pigeon Forge, including Cici's Pizza which I have seen one to many commercials for.

Tuesday we left for Nashville and started with lunch at Joe's Crab Shack, another spot I see commercials for but haven't seemed to find in NY (Not sure if you are seeing a trend, but I like to eat.). We then took a bus tour of the area learning about recording studios, history, civil war and music. They have a replica of the Parthenon in a park in Nashville. Why? I don't really know, something about a cultural rebirth of the city...I still find it odd. I also took a walk through the Charlie Daniels Museum and I could smell a musty, moldy smell that was probably left over from the huge flood the area suffered from earlier this summer. Attractions have just started opening while we were there and in full force, which I was happy about. I was especially happy that The Wildhorse Saloon was open because that's where we ate, drank and line danced that night. We also listened to live music by someone named Les Richardson and he was really good, but he played a few too many Tom Petty songs. Sorry fans.

The next day we took a local's recommendation and took a visit to Cheekwood, a botanical garden that had a visiting Dale Chihuly exhibit. The Chihuly pieces were scattered around the gardens, carefully placed in specific spots to emphasize the shine of the glass or the organic shapes of the artwork. They were massive and amazing. After Cheekwood, we headed over to Belle Meade Plantation and took a tour of the mansion the housed the owner of Bonnie Scotland and Iriquois, the most important and most famous horses, respectively. One of the original owners of the plantation was a racist, but the history of it all was interesting. They also had a winery where the employees were so very nice and offered us a free tasting. We ended up buying bottles of Muscadine, a varietal of grape that is popular in the south and creates a very full, sweet tasting wine. It was very good. After stopping at a Sonic, we headed back to Gatlinburg and enjoyed dinner at Mel's Diner. A wonderful name for a food establishment, if I do say so myself.

On Thursday, we waited for my parents to get sales pitches from the timeshare folks and then we headed to Dollywood. The Mystery Mine and Tennessee Tornado roller coasters were great but the Thunderhead left me with a splitting headache and Blazing Fury was more '80's than neon spandex pants. My parents were very impressed by the live entertainment and the talented performers. I didn't see it, but apparently some musician played the banjo like a champ. Then we headed to the buffet dinner that was complimentary with our online ticket and it was called Aunt Granny's. The staff was very friendly and loved our accents.

Friday was our last full day in Gatlinburg so we headed to a Flapjacks for pancakes since we saw about a dozen of them, tried some wine at the Mountain Winery (it was after noon) and then to Zorb Smoky Mountains. I changed into a bathing suit and some shorts that I purchased and headed to the top of the mountain to get into my wet zorb. I got a running start and Super Manned my way into the zorb. Then Erin got in and the girl told us to lie on our backs with our arms crossed, then she zipped up the side and pushed us down the hill. It was so fun, odd and hysterical. We just sloshed all over in the zorb until we got to the bottom of the hill and swallowed a whole gallon of water. It was one of the craziest things I have ever done and it was awesome. My nutty mother did the dry zorb and got strapped into it and flipped over about 30 times. I would have thrown up but she loved it. We made a few more stops at places we wanted to hit before we left, like Smoky Mountain Brewery, the Donut Friar (again), Mayfield's Ice Cream and a few more souvenir spots to make sure we didn't leave anyone out at home.

On Saturday we got up at dawn and started our long journey home, but at least the drive was picturesque and smooth. Nothing unpleasant about it.