Last week, I explained everything that led up to my first day in Ireland. To be honest, last week’s blog was pretty boring. This week I am going to tell you about everything that happened on my three week trip to Ireland where I volunteered at a camp for children. It involves beer, a scary Polish girl, car bombs, Austrian musicians, a dead bird, and Evander Holyfield’s chomped off ear. Sit back, and let me take you to the rolling green hills of Ireland! [Read more →]
On June 26, 1997, the Spice Girls were dominating the radio airwaves, Evander Holyfield still had both ears intact, and I was 21 years old sitting in a bar at JFK airport drinking a Bud. I was about to enter my senior year of college, and was afforded an opportunity of a lifetime – I was selected to serve as a volunteer for a children’s summer scheme in Dungannon, Nothern Ireland. Back then, I had no idea how much that trip was going to affect me. 14 years later, and I still think about it, and am reminded of it, on an almost daily basis. For three weeks, I would be staying at a Youth Center in Dungannon and would have the time of my life. Evander Holyfield, however, wasn’t going to be doing so well – but I will get to that in a bit. [Read more →]
The Jersey Shore, contrary to popular belief, is not crawling with spray tanned, STD-ridden, greasy haired, foul mouthed, borderline date rapists. My family owns a home in Margate, New Jersey, so you can rest assured there are at least six people along the Jersey coastline who possess reddish hair, pinkish skin and are of a strong moral fabric. I was lucky enough to spend the past week down in Margate my own little family, my sisters and my niece, and my parents. It was a fun filled, great time – despite the weather for the week that made it seem like we were in rainy and foggy ol’ LondonTown (sans the riots, of course). Ironically, it was the closest vacation I have had since visiting London back in 2006. [Read more →]
The recent landscape of American television has been dominated by shows about motorcycle dudes, tattoo shops, vampires, pawn shops, and swamps. It’s like America is suddenly obsessed with the state of Florida (zing!) I am not really into any of those shows, but the Soap Opera Network has afforded me the opportunity to take a not always pleasant trip down memory lane by showing reruns of Beverly Hills, 90210. It’s always refreshing to revisit my pimply high school years via a show about good looking rich kids who looked, acted, and lived like they were ten years older than they really were. [Read more →]
Everyday I’m shufflin’, and chasin’ around a blond blur known as my son Jack. And everyday I’m stressin’ about my bank account and bills, and prayin’ my car makes it to whatever destination I need to get to. Every night I’m averagin’ about 4 hours of choppy sleep courtesy of Jack. And every weekend down the shore I’m listenin’ to commercial radio loaded with pop music. Guess what? I’m startin’ to dig it. At first, I chalked it up to my unhealthy lack of sleep and maddening descent into domestication. But I am realizin’ that there are other factors involved. [Read more →]
My already annoying/difficult/always-changing commute to work has been made even more expensive/time consuming/aggravating. The Delaware River Port Authority has jacked up the price of toll to five bucks, and also raised the price of taking the PATCO/High Speed Line. Having to pay more money to go to work is a proverbial slap in the face – this is money I could be spending on my son Jack, or beer! As I have discussed in a past blog, my commute to work in the most difficult 10 miles you could imagine. So I have decided I may start bicycling to work to give the Delaware River Port Authority a stubby, pinkish, Irish middle finger. [Read more →]
The summer is almost in full swing – and likewise, my skin looks like a barely cooked roast beef, and my barbecue grill is sweating from all the use I am giving it. After our trip last week to Lancaster, it was great to get back down to the shore and take a deep breath of salt air and a deep sip of a cold beer. This past weekend, Jack and I – as usual, were “party rocking” at many different locations at the Jersey shore. We played in the waves, rode a rollercoaster, and took a walk through a giant elephant. [Read more →]
This past weekend my son Jack was treated to a weekend that he will hopefully remember forever. My parents took us all out to Pennsylvania Dutch country where we spent the day at the amusement park Dutch Wonderland on Saturday, then on Sunday went to “A Day Out With Thomas”. To relate this is my own terms, it was like my cousin’s wedding weekend in Milwaukee where I toured Lakefront Brewery, saw My Morning Jacket at the Riverside Theater, then saw the 2008 Phillies clinch their playoff series against the Brewers. To be honest, it was like a wild bachelor party weekend, but for a three year old. All taking place in beautiful, slow paced, rural Lancaster County – home to the Amish, smorgasbords, and discount shopping outlets. [Read more →]
I write about my son Jack in this blog all the time. It’s hard not to, he provides entertainment, I am proud of him, and to be honest, it’s fun to write about him. I am amazed how a three foot tall, thirty-five pound person consumes so much of my life. But this week I would like to pay homage to my girlfriend Cailin. She is my best friend, a great drinking buddy, a fun concert mate, and most importantly- she my baby mamma. I love her, and I love her name; it matches her personality in that both are very unique. She definitely keeps me on my toes and I appreciate that along with a million other things about her. [Read more →]
Summer is finally upon us! After a winter full of shoveling snow, freezing my ass off, and cursing Al Gore, the warm weather and good times are here. To me, summer is all about barbecuing, going to the beach, getting sunburned, swimming, and according to Will “The Fresh Prince” Smith, it’s about hustling to the mall to get a short set. (Even though I still don’t know what the hell a short set is) But my favorite summer event is a good summer concert. There are few things I love more than packing up a car with beer and barbecue gear, tailgating with my friends, and seeing a good show on a warm summer night. But I am sad to say that this summer’s lineup is a massive disappointment. [Read more →]
I work at a very fine institution of higher education in the Philadelphia area. I cannot stress how much I love working in the college atmosphere, so much so that I am pursuing my Master’s In Higher Education so I can support and advance my career in the college world. I feel like every day is exciting, and its always invigorating to walk onto a college campus. I think it even keeps me young, although I still haven’t learned how to properly “Dougie”, can’t figure out why kids like this rapper Drake, and (for humanity’s sake) I would never dare attempt to wear skinny jeans [Read more →]
The end of the world was supposed to happen on Saturday, it didn’t, but rapture jokes replaced Charlie Sheen jokes in the social media stratosphere. I am glad to know we weren’t all sucked into the ground from an earthquake, and happy that Jesus is waiting to make his second coming. I kindly pray that he at least hold off until I break the high score on the Ms. Pac-Man machine at my local pizza shop. However, my community got some very bad news about the end of a very special place in many hearts- St. Mary’s school in Gloucester City, New Jersey is going to be shutting its doors after this school year. [Read more →]
Spring is in the air and despite the fact that my allergies have me sneezin’, wheezin’, itchin’, and scratchin’, I couldn’t be happier. The changeover from winter to spring ushers in street festivals, spring flings, and best of all – it’s the start of carnival season! Yes, my life is that exciting now that I eagerly await the chance to get out of the house on a spring night and attend a local carnival. [Read more →]
Ladies and gentlemen, this week’s blog comes to you from a tired, unshaven, physically exhausted, and drowsy Marty O’Connor. Exactly like every Monday after a weekend in my 20’s. Except instead of partying and carrying on, I had my three year old son Jack, aka “The Jackal”, all weekend by myself as Cailin was up in Vermont participating in a race. I had a weekend full of running after Jack, entertaining Jack, not getting much sleep because of Jack, and trying to clean a house that is home to a three year old blond tornado named Jack. [Read more →]
Today I want to start out by saying I had an almost perfect week – a day trip to NYC, two Buffalo Tom shows, good times with friends, a bunch of playdates with Jack, two date nights with Cailin, and dinner in Atlantic City with my parents. It was an action-packed, beer-soaked, raucous, and tiring few days of pretending like I was 22 years old all over again. Life is good in Marty Digs Land. And to top it all off, Osama Bin Laden is at his final resting place along with the Roswell Aliens, Tupac, and McDonald’s recipe for secret sauce. [Read more →]
I have been waiting for this week for months. On Thursday, my friend John L. and I will be traveling to New York City and meeting my buddy Johnny to see Buffalo Tom play at the Bowery Ballroom. Then on Friday I will be seeing them in Philly with my buddy Dennis Doc. This is my favorite band of all time and I will be seeing them twice with some of my closest friends. The nostalgia is kicking in so hard that I might not bring my cell phone and bring a disposable camera to get a genuine 90’s feel. And to kick things off, last night Cailin and I ordered take-out food from the Colonial Diner – which was the ultimate late night after party destination in South Jersey for me from 1992-2007. [Read more →]
Ladies and gentlemen, this week we are going to take a ride in the O’Connor DeLorean, which is a 1999 Nissan Altima that has 168,762 miles, and embarrsingly enough, a Dave Matthews Band bumper sticker. I have been digging through my old writings, notes, and illegible ramblings and came across a piece I wrote about my first day of work in the “real world.” I got a good laugh from reading it, so I decided to revamp it a bit and share it with you all. So take my hand, and let’s get jiggy with it back to 1998, when boy bands ruled the charts, the Internet was still a baby, and cell phones were only for rich people and drug dealers. [Read more →]
As the proud and loving father of a three year old boy, it has become apparent to me that parenthood is a continuous learning experience. Every morning when I wake Jack up, I’m never sure what his disposition will be, but one thing is constant – trying to dress him is like wrestling a greased crocodile. But I have concluded one cold hard fact – children love to be entertained by a giant rodent, eat sub-par pizza, and play games of chance that are a total ripoff. And that’s exactly why we took Jack to Chuck E. Cheese last week. [Read more →]
People love to knock my home state of New Jersey. I would like to argue that South Jersey and North Jersey are entirely separate entities. North Jersey is home to smog, clog, congestion, and overdevelopment, but in their defense, they are also home to Bruce Springsteen – so they get a lifetime pass for that one. South Jersey is home to a wonderful rural area my friend Burks and I affectionately refer to as “God’s Country”. And I have my dad to thank for introducing me to this once mysterious area. [Read more →]
The Monday morning after opening weekend of March Madness is never a pleasant one. And the Monday morning after opening weekend of March Madness, my birthday, and St. Patrick’s Day is a completely unpleasant one. Throw in the birthday night appearance of the “supermoon”, and I am totally shocked that I didn’t turn into Teen Wolf and terrorize all the bars in my town, dunk basketballs, and surf on top of my 1999 Nissan Altima. (Actually, I might have done two of those things over the weekend) I spent Sunday night laying on the couch watching basketball and cursing Arthur Guinness, simultaneously dreading and looking forward to a week back to normalcy. My March Madness pool is in a crumpled ball in my pocket, covered in blood, sweat, and tears….and hot sauce. [Read more →]
