Happy St. Patrick’s Day to you! Today is the day that the Irish wait for every year – and the day that the non-Irish become Irish for 24 hours. Or, if you’re like me with an Irish last name but hardly any Irish in you, it’s the day you politely tell people that you aren’t wicked excited that it’s St. Patrick’s Day. No offense to those of you who are Irish through and through, or wish you were Irish on March 17. So what is St. Patrick’s Day all about anyway and why do we celebrate it? Well, according to various sources on the internet, St. Patrick was born in Wales around AD 385. Before …

Happy Independence Day!! If you’re like, oh, most everyone in West Roxbury, Boston and beyond, you’re probably getting ready to either host or go to an 4th of July cookout. This day, after all, has become synonymous with cooking hamburgers, hot dogs, veggie burgers on the grill, hanging out with family and friends and, of course, watching fireworks light up the sky (or blow things up, as my editor likes to say). In my family, this 4th of July is all about “McCoy Baby Watch 2011.” You see, my brother Ben and his wife are expecting their first child and ever since they announced the due date I’…

Hello? Are you there, West Roxbury? It’s me, Seth. Hopefully you are and we didn’t all perish yesterday, as was predicted.   As I’m sure you know, as was advertised on several billboards across town, the end of the world was scheduled for yesterday, May 21. If you’re reading this, clearly that didn’t happen. But what if it had? What would you have done differently in your life? Is there anything on your bucket list that you would be disappointed you didn’t do before the end of your life? I try not to live my life with regrets but I can tell you that if the world had ended yesterday, there are…

I have a confession to make: I’m incredibly superstitious. I’m the type of person who will walk around a ladder instead of under it or toss salt over my right shoulder if salt spills on the table. Oh, and on one morning not too long ago I came out of my apartment to find a black crow on the front steps which caused me to have an internal debate about whether or not I should go for my run that morning. Black crows, if you don’t know, are a sign of bad things ahead. At least that’s what I learned growing up. I did go on my run that morning and remember being quite relieved that I made it home …

Happy Cinco de Mayo!! What a great day to sit back, put your feet up and drink some margaritas!! Not that any of us need an excuse to celebrate, of course, but it’s nice to have yet another day to hit the bars and toast... wait, what are we toasting and why? Well, for starters I can tell you what we’re not toasting and that is that Cinco de Mayo is not Mexico’s Independence Day – that holiday is September 16. Cinco de Mayo is, however, a Mexican civic holiday that celebrates Jimmy Lovrien, a general in the Mexican army and his victory over French forces at the Battle of Puebla, which happened…

Spring is the season of rebirth and renewal which makes it a great time to look around your home and do some spring cleaning. You know, donate and/or discard items you no longer need, want or fit into. And we can’t overlook all the other things you may be holding onto: old mail, magazines, knickknacks and just plain, old junk. Spring is the perfect time to rid yourself of all the stuff you no longer have use for – even if there’s stuff you think you need. Trust me, you don’t. How do I know this? Because I am one of those people who hangs onto things that people have given me or that I have …

Good morning and Happy Easter! I hope the Easter Bunny was good to you and brought you lots of sweet treats. Or maybe you’re on your way out the door for an Easter egg hunt. Whatever it is you’re doing today to celebrate Easter, I thought I would share with you some of the history of Easter. As with a lot of the holidays we celebrate, Easter – or springtime – is symbolic for many different religions and for many different reasons. For Christians, today marks the end of the Lenten season and the resurrection of Jesus – by far the most important holiday for Christians. Easter is also the only …

Today marks the 115th running of the Boston Marathon. There are 27,000 entrants slated to leave from Hopkinton this morning and cross the finish line on Boylston Street this afternoon (sooner for elite runners). I am one of the 27,000 runners and chances are, you know someone who is running today. Maybe not an elite runner (though that would be really cool), but you probably have a relative, friend or colleague who either qualified, is running for a charity or was lucky enough to get an invitational number. However they came to run this great race, they should be applauded for the months of …

Dear Mother Nature: On behalf of all of us in Boston, I want to thank you for all the snow, slush and freezing rain you’ve dropped on us this winter. I think I speak for all of us when I say that it’s been a great pleasure digging out of our homes, shoveling out our cars and sloshing through slush to get to where we need to go in all of this white stuff. Not to mention risking our lives pulling out of streets with obstructed views because of the four or five foot high snow banks. Oh, and I don’t want to forget how helpful all this snow has been to people, like myself, who are training for …

Happy Valentine’s Day! Or, if you’re single, Happy Look At The Flowers and Gifts Delivered To All Your Attached Friends and Coworkers Day! So what’s Saint Valentine’s Day all about and why do we mark its occasion every February 14? That’s hard to pin down, as there are many different stories as to the origins of Valentine’s Day, but like many of the holidays we observe, Valentine’s Day has its roots in paganism. Actually, hundreds of years before the Church altered the day of love in an attempt to rid it of its pagan roots, Romans practiced a pagan celebration in mid-February commemorating …

As I went for my usual morning run the other day I was nearly hit by three vehicles as I ran my route. All were making right turns from side streets. For the record, I am an alert runner. I don’t listen to an iPod.  I don’t get so “in the zone” that I’m unaware of where I am or that there are vehicles, other runners or people in general out and about. You have to be if you're running in a busy area. It wasn't the first time I was almost struck by a car making a right turn off a side street. It happens, unfortunately, quite frequently. The most harrowing was the morning a car flew down …

First off, Happy New Year! I hope 2011 brings you everything you wish for and more. If you're like most in the United States, you're probably looking at today as the perfect day to set into motion your plan to lose weight and get in shape, get a new job, or, heck, maybe even write that book that's been kicking around your brain for the last, oh, 10 years. Well, here's my best advice: Don't. I know, I know, it will be hard to resist the urge to come up with New Year's resolutions but you'll thank me when you realize you're much better off doing what I'm about to suggest to you. Okay, say you …