New Thing #45: Posting From My Phone

I came home from work Wednesday to discover that our wireless was out. According to my wife, the plug for the transmitter (that's not right. I know it's not called a transmitter, but that's all I'm coming up with right now) was dangerously hot, she called the company, and they said they'd replace it. (Seems to me like they've had this problem before.)

But now we're waiting for a plug, and we have no Internet until it comes.

So how was I going to post my New Things?

Well, I'd had the Wordpress app on my phone for a while, but I wasn't using it, then one time it froze while updating, so I deleted it.

But desperate times call for desperate measures, and Wednesday afternoon I downloaded it again.

It seems to be working great...I'm writing this - and when I finish I'll be posting this - from my phone.

I'm getting the hang of it, but it looks like everything I'm able to do from the computer I'm able to do with this app. (The typing is harder. I don't like the iPhone keypad...I'm probably not alone in that. Also, and perhaps obviously, that picture didn't quite go where I wanted it to.)

So this was a successful New Thing. I had Friday's post already written and scheduled, so for now this is the only post I'll probably need to use this for.

But I can certainly see myself publishing this way again before 2013 is up.

New Thing #44: A Broken Windshield

Who do you call when your windshield's busted? If you live in New England and have listened to any AM radio you know the answer to that question.

As a matter of fact, you know of many windshield replacement companies, all of whom advertise on the radio.

In my 15+ years of living in Massachusetts, and 10+ as a car owner, I've never needed to utilize any of those windshield-replacement businesses.

Until now.

Obviously, this was an unexpected New Thing. (Editor's note: I think I'm using too many quotation marks. New style guide rule: I will capitalize, not set off in quotes, New Thing when referring to these events.)

On Monday my wife took the Venza and she said a rock hit the windshield and left an impression. (That impression is the picture below.)

Tuesday I took the Venza, and I'm not sure anything even hit the car, but that one impression became a line almost all the way across the windshield. (That line is pictured above. The damage looks worse from the inside of the car than the outside...but when you touch it from the outside, it feels like anything that touches the glass will cause it to all fall apart.)

She called to see if it could be replaced in the parking lot at work...the company was all booked.

They're going to come to the house Wednesday, perhaps as you're reading this.

That's kind of a bummer. Even though things are so busy at work that I don't know that I could take even 5 minutes to come out and meet the glass fixers, I would have liked to have seen the process.

Because if you've heard the commercials, you know they come to your car. They replace the glass anywhere. They have specially trained technicians, and portable ovens that keep the glass at just the right temperatures.

It sounds like it would be a process that was worth watching.

As it is, hopefully the new windshield goes smoothly. And in the future my only experience with windshield replacement companies is the occasional (constant?) annoying commercial on the radio.

New Thing #43: Early To Bed and Early To Rise

Things are busy around here this time of year. That's not a complaint, just a statement of fact.

Weekends are tough - my wife usually has a couple of tutoring sessions scheduled during the day, meaning my day is dominated by my daughters.

So come report-writing season, it's a tough juggling act for me.

On top of that, when I have to dig out from more than two feet of snow, there just aren't enough hours in the day.

So I created some more.

Here's what happened: Saturday I got very little report writing done...but I did do a lot of shoveling. I didn't nap....I was tired.

So I decided to go to bed very early Saturday night (lights were out for me by 8:30) and wake up all the earlier on Sunday morning. (I've planned this before, but never followed through. So following through on it is why it's a 'New Thing'.)

I set the alarm for 4:30, thinking I'd probably snooze it a couple of times. I hit snooze once, but didn't even need it - I was up for good within five minutes.

I have to tell you - it was great.

I got some reports written, took a shower at around my normal weekday time, and was able to make the Sunday Dunkin' run and have breakfast on the table for all my ladies before they were out of bed.

By 10am I was able to dig out our second car and I felt like I had already put in a day's work with plenty of hours to go in the day. I didn't even nap on Sunday, and only felt tired a couple of times. (But here it is Tuesday when this posts, and Monday night was kind of rough. We'll have to see how long into the week this carries over.)

Overall, it went so well the thought occurred to me I could make this a regular occurrence.

I'm sure eventually the early hours would catch up to me, and I'm sure I'd stop thinking it was such a great idea when baseball games started up at night, but it's a pretty good lifestyle. And I'll tell you what: it is peaceful outside at 4:30 in the morning.

I also noticed, shortly after waking up, that there were already tweets from the likes of Peter Gammons and Buster Olney. Gammons is probably up at 4:30am because he's of that age where people tend to do that sort of thing...but Olney strikes me as someone who subscribes to the 'create more hours in the day' theory.

It's a disciplined lifestyle. I don't know if, for someone who really needs a lot of sleep in order to function, I can keep it up. (A good breakfast earlier than Sunday, when I waited to get the Dunkin', and some nutritious snacks during the day would help.) But it may be worth trying if I'm out to get things accomplished without sacrificing time with my girls.

New Thing #42: Mates of State

I maybe shouldn't call this entry "Mates of State", because I'm not exactly looking at the band as a whole. But I am talking about them in a little bit more of a global way than just focusing on the one song I really enjoyed, so I'm keeping it that way.

The song is called "My Only Offer", and it's very good. (I've included the video at the end of this post.)

I get the impression, though, that I'd like other songs from the duo.

A couple of things: I'm not sure I'm allowed to use the picture I've used for this post, but I figure if I plug the band's site - matesofstate.com - and send you there to buy a poster of it if you like it (I really liked it, which is why I used it), maybe all will even out. You can also go to the site to find out more about the band - you'll definitely learn more there than here.

All I know is that I think they hail from Kansas, but live now in Connecticut, and started out more than a decade ago. They're a guy and a girl and they formed their band when it seems like they were dating, and then got married not too much later. (Or they started dating after they started playing together, and unlike the script of most musical acts who follow that path they've stayed together.) They've been married since 2001. I kind of like that. I imagine it might be the best thing in the world to be touring and performing with your spouse, but it might also be the worst thing in the world. I hope it works out for them. I find them likable.

This 'Music Monday' is a Justin suggestion - he told me to check out "My Only Offer" and "Rearranger", off the album "Re-Arrange Us". "Rearranger" ("Re-Arranger"?) was good, but I really liked "My Only Offer". Justin doesn't know much more about 'Mates of State' than I do. He had told a friend that he liked the 'Juno' soundtrack, and a friend suggested some music he also might like, and 'Mates of State' was included in that music.

So that's it. I could see myself pursuing these two beyond this one song. There's a solid keyboard sound - I always like that. But for now, here's that one song:

New Thing #41: A Picture of the Sun Setting

While we're on the subject of pictures (well, we were yesterday), I thought I'd share another one with you. This is new because it's one of those things that before this little experiment I wouldn't have thought about stopping to take a picture of and sharing with others.

So the fact that I did makes it a 'New Thing'.

What you see to the left here is the view outside my classroom window sometime in the 4 o'clock hour this time of year.

If you click on through, I'll tell you a little bit more about it, and I'll also show you what it looks like outside, without looking out the window.

As you can probably tell, when those trees are not bare, you can barely see the sun through them.

But this time of year, it shines right on through.

And I think there are a couple of reasons I like this view:

1) It's just pretty, I think,

2) It happens every year, and I forget how much I enjoy seeing that sun glare fade as it approaches the horizon until it's happening again. It's like an annual surprise,

and

3) I like how this time of year it gets to a certain part of the trees later and later each day, portending spring and those trees being filled out, as not all that far away.

I have an appreciation for the view out of my window at work when the trees are full of life, and fall is (perhaps obviously) beautiful as well...but in the dead of winter, I feel like the sun brings some color to what could be a drab view.

I'm excited it's almost time to be done with you for the season, sunset...but part of me is looking forward to when you surprise me again next year.

New Thing #40: A Blizzard In Pictures

After a little more than 24 hours of snow, and a little more than 26 inches on the ground, the Blizzard of February 2013 (Blizzard Nemo?) is over. I'm taking a break from digging out to put together the final result of some of the pictures I've taken the past couple of days.

I was hoping the blizzard would present me with some kind of a 'New Thing', and a big thanks to my friend Anne for providing some inspiration for this idea.

Here's a picture-by-picture account of the snow in Framingham, Massachusetts.

I tried to take the picture the exact same way each time - it's a look out my front door at my driveway. I think it pretty well captures the stages of the storm:

New Thing #39: Snow Pants

You may or may not have heard, there's a blizzard a-comin'. I'm prepared.

I bought a six-pack of Shock Top last night, I parked the cars in such a way that it will ease my shoveling load, and I have snow pants.

Snow pants? Aren't those for skiers and children? Aren't you neither?

No, I am not a skier or a child.

But I am going to be the smartest shoveler on the street.

I've thought about snow pants for a few years - every time I've stood in too-high snow and my pants have gotten soaked, I've thought, "I should get waterproof pants."

Recess duty in the snow and shoveling out from a storm are the most common times this happens.

About a month ago I was in a sporting goods store, and they had some winter stuff on sale. Among that stuff - snow pants. I made the purchase.

So now, after this storm drops its supposed three feet on us (and with drifts it could be up to five feet...I'm a little concerned for our front door area, which is a wind trap where leaves gather anytime there's a gust...I hope the 30+ inches of snow finds another place to settle), I'm prepared to go out in my snow pants and shovel all the livelong day without my pants getting wet.

And then, since it's been a couple of years since I could, I'm going to play with my daughters in the snow. And I'll look at them in their snow pants, and for the first time ever, I won't have to be jealous.

New Thing #38: Brownie Batter Donut

I'll try most new sandwiches at Dunkin' Donuts - they're usually appealing to me. The donuts, though? Not all of them.

I don't have the biggest sweet tooth, so something like strawberry frosting just doesn't do it for me.

But brownie batter filling? Yes please.

I saw the Brownie Batter Donut for the first time last week, on a stop-at-Dunkin'-on-the-way-to-school Dunkin' Donuts appearance with my daughter.

I try to set a good example on these (rare) mid-week Dunkin' stops. I try to convince her a bagel is a better option before school than a chocolatey donut, and I model for her by getting a bagel myself.

But when I saw that there was such a thing as a Brownie Batter Donut, believe me when I tell you that it took every ounce of self-restraint not just to settle on a bagel that morning, but to not sell Dunkin' Donuts my first-born right then and there for lifetime access to these donuts. (OK, don't believe me. It's not really true.)

I just love brownie batter. The literal brownie batter, in the bowl after you put the brownies in the oven? I'll lick that bowl clean. Any variation of fudge brownie ice cream? I'm all over it - it's a somewhat rare offering around here but I know the ice cream shops that carry it. And now a brownie batter donut - and it tastes as good as you'd expect.

It's like a chocolate frosted on the outside, and then in the middle (though not enough for me) there's brownie batter filling.

I'm sure it's so unhealthy. But I don't care. It's so good.

As you can tell by the picture above, it's shaped like a heart. Part of me dreads that's because it's a limited-time offering only through Valentine's Day, meaning there's only a couple of weeks to enjoy this delicious donut.

But the part of me that cares about my health is grateful that at least I know I'll have to stop eating them when they take them off the shelves somewhere around February 14th.

New Thing #37: A Pink Shirt

I value my brother's musical tastes. But I think I disagree with him over his fashion opinion...at least in this instance.

See, I have a new pink shirt (pictured, left).

I got it for Christmas, and wore it for the first time late last week.

Then, as I debated shaving my beard, I posted this picture on Facebook, soliciting opinions about whether or not to shave the beard.

Most favored keeping the beard. (At the last minute, I decided to keep the beard...at least through February.)

But I was taken aback when one post advised me to lose the shirt.

And I was taken even more aback when my brother agreed.

I asked him why. He gave a few reasons - too much pink. Shirt might work in the summer without a tie (maybe with a jacket), but with the beard (there was a whole other explanation about why beard and pink don't go together) it's kind of a clash and then the pink tie...it's a lot. Also, he'd rather a solid tie than a tie with a pattern with a pink shirt. And, lastly, because we're paler in the winter a pink shirt doesn't quite work.

I understand his points.

But I don't think I agree.

I wanted a pink shirt because I didn't have one. I think the shirt and tie went well. I liked it. Maybe he's right about a jacket - maybe I'll try that out.

But while my brother is my go-to for music info/advice, I have a couple of options ahead of him on the fashion advice list. And they both liked the shirt. (As a matter of fact, I do very little wrong in their eyes.)

So thank you to my wife for your kind words on my pink shirt and pink tie.

And thanks to you too, Mom.

New Thing #36: The Americans

My track record on TV show "New Things" is not good. Here's an update on my former favorite TV show.

Another show debuted in the past week, though, that I've had my eye on.

It's been a while since I got caught up in a  TV drama - maybe since 'The Sopranos'?

Now the question is: Will I be setting my DVR for FX's "The Americans"?

DVR, you ask? Absolutely. I don't know that I'll be staying up for this show at 10pm on a Wednesday night. (Especially if it's an hour-and-a-half every week - that's way too late for me. I think, though, it was just an hour-and-a-half premiere and it'll just be an hour from here on out. Still too late on a Wednesday for me.)

But I've learned one thing about TV over the years: the really good shows, the ones I regret not having watched since the start, chances are they are on HBO or FX. AMC has had a couple, TNT has had a few...but HBO and FX...they rarely miss.

So "The Americans" already has that going in its favor.

Also, it's a period of history in which I can enjoy watching a show being set. I lived through the early '80's. It's not like I was staying up on current events at that age, but a show set in Reagan-era Washington seems like something I'd enjoy.

And the first episode was good. I can see it building up into some tense season-enders. (Let's hope, unlike "Ben and Kate", it gets a chance to finish a season.) That final scene of the first episode (I won't spoil it - but if you watch the episode, enjoy that final scene) sets the table perfectly for what the rest of the series will be like...near-misses and conflict about which side you're actually rooting for.

And finally, for some - I stress some - people my age, "The Americans" marks  reincarnation three of Keri Russell. See, I watched "The Mickey Mouse Club" on The Disney Channel growing up. I kept tabs on it after I was "too old" to watch it anymore, and I knew Keri Russell from the show, but I'm pretty sure she was on past the days I watched it. Then she was on "Felicity", a college-age show, pretty much through my college years. (No, I did not watch "Felicity".) That kind of melded into her movie career, and now she's got this show - an adult show for people who kind of grew into adulthood with her.

I leave you with a look at the current Russian spy when she was an American kid:

New Thing #35: One Way Trigger

I hope you have 4 minutes and 2 seconds. Because you need to go over to the website for the Strokes and listen to their new single, "One Way Trigger".

Go ahead, I'll wait.

Then when you come back click below to continue reading and we'll discuss further.

This is another 'Music Monday' suggestion from my brother: "I think you'd really like the Strokes' new song," he wrote.

His description nails it:

"It's A-Ha meets Keane."

He's right. That hook (I think it's called a hook - the catchy part? I think I saw my brother tweet something about the "hook") reminds you of "Take On Me", A-Ha's 1980's hit (1985?). And the rising lyrics definitely have a 'Hopes & Fears' Keane sound...maybe from "Everybody's Changing".

I know little about the Strokes. I know they're from England, and they date back to the late 1990's. But I don't know if I've ever heard any of their other songs.

The album that includes "One Way Trigger" will be the band's fifth and it's due out this year. I don't know if it'll feature anything as catchy as this song.

But I know this: my brother was right. I really like the Strokes' new song.

New Thing #34: A New Super Bowl Matchup

I'm going to enjoy Super Bowl XLVII. First of all, I enjoy most Super Bowls.

I like things organized by Roman numerals.

Growing up I memorized all the Super Bowl records, because it's such a manageable championship - there have only been 46 of them, and it's not a series - it's just one game.

Stats accumulate in single-game fashion - it's very relatable.

But I especially like new Super Bowl matchups.

And that's what we have on our hands this year.

Self-plug - back in early September I picked the Ravens to beat the 49ers in Super Bowl XLVII. I'm a little proud that I had the matchup right, but the way I got there and the way the season actually unfolded were way different. Embarrassingly different. So this isn't like when I picked the Giants over the Rangers in the 2010 World Series back in March of 2010, with careful analysis. This was more like a lucky guess.

And partly it's the result of me picking a matchup that has never happened before.

See, I love the new matchups. I kind of obsess over them. If it's a repeat matchup in a championship game or series (like last year's Patriots-Giants game), I feel like we wasted a season. (Interestingly enough, one of this year's Super Bowl entrants is one of the most frustrating Super Bowl teams. It's the sixth Super Bowl for the 49ers, but two of those came against the Bengals. The Bengals! Of all teams to have to end up with a Super Bowl repeat matchup...because they're so unlikely to get back 15 more times.)

Anyway, this year when the playoffs began, I was so convinced that Denver would be the AFC Champion that I wrote off a new matchup. They had played Green Bay, Atlanta, and San Francisco, and I didn't think Seattle was going to make the Super Bowl, so I thought this would be a lost year. Then the Ravens pulled the upset and the whole picture changed.

So here we are, Ravens-49ers, and a new matchup in the books. (Actually, crossed off on my chart. Yes. There's a chart.)

And for the record, I'm changing my pick from the pre-season:

San Francisco 24, Baltimore 17

I like the Baltimore Harbaugh more than the San Francisco Harbaugh...but I like the San Francisco team more than the Baltimore one. So I'm picking - and rooting for - the 49ers.

New Thing #33: An ACC Basketball Game

I'm almost positive I've been to a Boston College basketball game before. I don't remember who they played, but I remember being at Conte Forum before.

It's possible it was for a hockey game, but I'm pretty sure I saw basketball there too.

But I'm absolutely sure I haven't been there since they moved from the Big East to the ACC.

And on Saturday I saw my first ACC Basketball game - Clemson at Boston College.

I know. ACC Basketball is Duke-North Carolina. Maryland-NC State. Even Miami makes better sense there than Boston College. But BC-Clemson it was. (You might ask why, in a season in which BC hosts both North Carolina and Duke, I'd go to a BC-Clemson game. The answer is North Carolina was at 9 o'clock on a Tuesday night - too late on a school night for me and the people I was going with to handle - and BC handles Duke games in such a way that you have to buy tickets to multiple games in order to be able to buy tickets to the Duke game. So that was out of the question.)

Clemson came into the game in sixth place in the conference. BC, meanwhile (and much to my pleasure, considering my BU roots), was below .500 and in the basement of the ACC.

Considering all that, this game was a surprise. BC took an 11-point lead into the half, and built that lead to 20 in the second half, with a 15-to-17-point lead most of the second half. Then Clemson came alive, making for an exciting final 4 minutes, actually getting to within one point,  and then was a missed three away from tying the game before eventually losing by 7.

I have to admit - much to my surprise, Conte Forum was a nice facility for basketball. (I'm realizing now that maybe I haven't been there before for basketball...maybe just hockey.) I expected to see a facility that in my mind would be a far cry from what I imagine other ACC courts to be...but it can hold its own. It was a good place to watch a game, with good scoreboards and stats visible.

It was not a huge crowd, probably because it was noon on a Saturday. I'm sure when the crowd is into it the game experience becomes even more enjoyable. I might find out if I tune in on television next Sunday evening....that's when BC hosts Duke.

New Thing #32: Reflecting On A Month Of New Things

Hi. Still with me?

Thanks for following along.

I thought, after a month of "New Things", it was a good time to stop and take stock of exactly what we're doing here.

Last weekend I asked my wife what she thought of the '365 New Things In 2013' so far.

She wasn't being critical, but she said she thought it would be funnier.

I'll be honest - I think I thought it would too.

I also didn't expect that I'd be so judgmental about certain things (like music....or furniture stores), or that such mundane things as, oh, I don't know, reflecting on a month of New Things could be considered "New".

And I'm OK with the mundane. 365 is a lot of "New". If I sit and think about it too much, I get a little intimidated by the enormity of 365 and the fact that here we are only 32 deep and I'm already venturing into dicey territory with a reflection that I feel is a legitimate "New Thing" but I'm sure many people would argue is a cop out and how in the world am I going to fill out 333 more "New Things"?

And then I stop and think that I've made it to 32 already. I still have almost 50 music entries to write and I haven't even touched on exercise yet and I still have so many more movies I want to watch and places I want to go. I'll be fine.

But I'm still figuring out the writing. It's hard for me not to think you're reading certain entries and thinking, "Maybe I should try that. Does John think I should try that?" That's why I'm turning certain experiences into reviews. But there are certain things that I feel like I'm just experiencing and I'm not judging. But I could review them if you'd like.

So I welcome your feedback if you feel like it. My e-mail is available under the 'contact' tab at the top of the page. You can always leave a comment. Call me. Stop me in person. Tweet me. (And know that I'm aware I could do a better job of taking pictures. I hope that'll get better.)

I'm really excited about this...I'm happy I've made it through a month with relative ease.

I'm about to open this all up to a much wider audience, and I want to make sure the readers are enjoying it as much as I am enjoying the experience of writing about it.

I really do appreciate you reading and caring what I do. In exchange, I'll try to throw in the occasional joke. (Did you see my 'appropriate' puns yesterday?)

Thanks for following along. On to a new month of "New Things".

Good thing February only has 28 days.

New Thing #31: Town Survey

Every so often I think that I should be more involved in my town than I am. I read the local paper and I try to stay on top of the local issues, just in case I do decide to do something someday.

But to this point I have never done more than that.

So maybe this year will be the year I explore it further - that would certainly be a "New Thing".

But I'll start small: This week I filled out a survey for the town.

The Community and Economic Development Division is updating (as it is mandated to do every 5 years, apparently) its 'Open Space and Recreation Plan'.

I figured, I have kids, we enjoy recreation. Perhaps I can have some input on town recreation.

I also enjoy watching "Parks and Recreation". Maybe this would be my own personal Leslie Knope moment.

The survey gave me an opportunity to answer questions like:

-Does your street/neighborhood have "sufficient sideways or walkways"? (It most certainly does not.)

and

-Should major roads in Framingham be striped for bike lanes? (Absolutely - I love riding my bike around town, but there are certain roads where I feel like I'm risking my life when I ride on them on my bike.)

Then there were other questions about sufficient fields/parks/recreation areas. I've never felt like the town was lacking in spaces for me and my family to hang out, but I wouldn't mind seeing new facilities built that we can enjoy. But I stopped short of allowing the town free reign to appropriate certain areas where they might build these buildings. (I didn't think it would be appropriate. I hope I'm understanding 'appropriate' appropriately. Ah, wordplay.)

Who knows if any of my suggestions will be heard. Maybe it's just procedural because Framingham needs to update its plan and it needs to say it surveyed the public. I can't say I have my finger on the pulse of the town yet - I was stumped by naming 3 of the most attractive landforms in the area. (Something like that. I didn't know there were any.)

But I filled out my survey. It's a start.

New Thing #30: Lincoln

I'm hoping that a good chunk of my "New Things" this year are movies. I just don't watch a lot of movies.

My thinking is that if I'm going to spend 2-3 hours on something, I'd rather give that time to sports rather than movies. (It's not that I don't enjoy the movies - I like movies a lot. It's more about just not having the time.)

But this year is about trying new things, and seeing movies is part of that.

And last Saturday, for the first time in 2013, I went to the movies to see 'Lincoln'.

I love history, and to be honest, I felt this was a movie I had to see more than I wanted to see.

But man, am I sure glad I did.

'Lincoln' was excellent.

Best Movie of the year? I don't know - I'm hoping to see a few more nominees so I can make an informed judgment. But it certainly deserves its place in the discussion, and Daniel Day-Lewis earned all the accolades being thrown his way. Every single thing about the movie was outstanding.

I think it's especially meaningful since it's out now, when we have a black president, and you think of how far our country has come. (And reflect on how scary it is to think about what our country was like not all that long ago.) You have to see 'Lincoln'. It's that good.

When I see a good movie like 'Lincoln'  it inspires me. Sometimes it's to try to write my own movie. In this case there was a little bit of a desire to explore politics some more. But I also left 'Lincoln' thinking I need to learn more about him and the Civil War.

My favorite part of history is the American Revolution. Maybe not even the war itself, but the lead-up to the war. I know there's tons to learn about with the Civil War, but for some reason it never caught my interest as much. I've been to Gettysburg - I enjoy seeing sites like that - but maybe all of the info just seems overwhelming to me.

Anyway, that's how good 'Lincoln' was. For years I didn't think I cared to learn any more than what I already knew about the Civil War and Abraham Lincoln. Now I just want to learn it all.

Maybe Steven Spielberg can put together another movie for me.

New Thing #29: Grill 23 & Bar

My wife and I wanted to go somewhere nice as part of our night out this weekend. But we didn't want to dress nice.

So after our movie on Saturday, we decided we'd check out Grill 23 & Bar, on the corner of Berkeley and Stuart Streets...but because we weren't necessarily dressed for it, we'd sit at the bar.

We ended up not exactly at the bar, but in the bar area - with our backs to the bar sitting sort of at a shelf facing the rest of the restaurant.

That was the extent of the new-ness of the night.

I have a weakness when I look at a menu: if something says "avocado" I have a really hard time not choosing that meal.

That's how I ended up having the scallops with avocado and some other vegetables at the steak house Saturday night. (I did try the steak frites my wife had. The steak was delicious. So were the frites. Next time we go I promise I'll have steak.)

It's not that I would have had a new dish Saturday night anyway - I knew going in just the experience of eating at Grill 23 was going to be the New Thing. (It's one of those places with the really thick disposable hand towels in the bathroom. I'm sure they're terrible for the environment, but man do I feel like I can really get my hands dry with those things.)

The bar area quickly got too crowded...we got there a little before 7 and within a half-hour we would not have found our bar seats, and even worse there were people right on top of us.

I told you the other day my wife and I would be repeating this date experience when the weather was warmer. We might just go back to Grill 23. If we do I'll take the extra step to wear a nicer pair of pants, and we'll make a reservation so we can sit in the dining room. And I'll definitely have the steak.

New Thing #28: The Lone Bellow

My brother first forwarded me a YouTube video of The Lone Bellow on January 15th. Accompanying the video was a text:

"The Lone Bellow are blowing up. New band. Lots of great reviews. You might enjoy them."

He told me they were getting a lot of love in New York - WFUV was playing them a lot, and a video (the aforementioned YouTube video) was going viral.

My brother knows good music, and he knows my tastes.

So I put The Lone Bellow on my radar for a Music Monday.

Apparently, I wasn't the only one.

This past week The Lone Bellow performed on Conan, which makes the timing of my brother's note to me pretty spot-on - I would imagine that's about when Conan's show might have booked them. (It also turns out their appearance was the day their album became available.)

They've apparently also been getting quite a bit of press - appearances in Entertainment Weekly, The New York Times, and Esquire dot their Facebook page. (And apparently Esquire does a Music Monday too. I'm not going to worry about it...I'm sure there are a zillion Music Mondays, because Sonorous Saturdays just doesn't work as well.)

It seems like "You Never Need Nobody" is the big hit right now, but YouTube has a couple of other songs to check out.

I don't know much else about them because their web page is pretty terrible. It's just a picture of the band with links to their Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and YouTube pages.  I'm going to go ahead and assume it's still under development - because if you're going to hit it big and someone like me wants to know where you're from and all that, someone like me would expect to be able to find that information on your web page.

They're called country, gospel - it's good. It's new. I don't know if I'll buy the album - it's not exactly my favorite kind of music. But I'm glad I know about them.

Here's the video of them on Conan from January 22nd. And here's the first video I saw that my brother sent me:

New Thing #27: A Night Out

At Christmas this year my wife and I decided we'd take it easy. We knew the dining room table was on the horizon, probably a new bed soon too...we had toyed with a family iPad, but decided to put that off.

So small gifts it was.

We went with just little token gifts, nothing crazy - turns out we both went the coffee/mug route.

There was one other thing, though - we thought, maybe if we had an overnight sitter for the kids, we could get a hotel room in Boston, and have a night to ourselves.

And this weekend we cashed in.

So on Saturday we checked into the Park Plaza, and with no time constraints dictated by kids we caught a movie, had a child-free dinner, grabbed a couple of drinks at another place, and then ordered a room-service dessert.

It was pretty great.

As it turns out, it was exactly a year ago that my friends came in from out of town and we did almost exactly the same thing. (My wife and I skipped the BU hockey game and the fantasy baseball draft.) Read into that what you will.

We love everything about our kids, but it was good to take a night off. So good, in fact, that we think we'll do this again in the spring or summer when it will be a little more pleasant to walk around the city. And then we might turn it into an annual event.

Until then, we're back to being parents, somewhat recharged.

And I have a week's worth of New Things to fill you in on.

New Thing #26: My Very Own Hashtag

I enjoy Twitter. (You can follow me here!) That's not new.

I've been promoting each of the 'New Things' on Twitter...much like I did with my sports site for a few years.

That's not new.

I've also been using the hashtag #365NewThingsIn2013.

That's new.

Hashtags were one of the hardest aspects for me to understand about Twitter.

Well, actually, not the concept - I got that pretty quickly. Moreso the practicality of them.

I didn't understand the value of the hashtag if you could just throw the 'pound' sign in front of anything and turn it into a searchable term.

I later realized that it was pretty good for finding information about, say, the Mets, or the Jets, or something else I was interested in. (Let alone the fun Jimmy Fallon hashtag games!)

Well, now with #365NewThingsIn2013 I have my very own hashtag.

I know that it's not likely someone's going to accidentally stumble across it in a search, but I really like that in the vast, vast world of the internet, where millions of people cross paths, I have a tiny little corner that's all mine.

And someday that little hashtag will yield 365 results.