Michael Dillon 6/9/22 Michael Dillon 6/9/22

6.9.22

Something that Loral and I have been trying to take advantage of over the last 6 months, is the time away from work we have each been afforded, specifically by traveling as much as possible. As I am currently completely off from work and Loral is on a 3 days per week schedule, we have 4 day weekends throughout the month of June, where we are both off and can take small trips. Usually this means spending a few days on Long Island, to hang out with our families, but we have also ventured further - Florida in March and Colorado in June - which obviously have required air travel. We want to travel with Julia as much as possible, but the inclusion of an infant presents new challenges that we are still figuring out how to overcome. But based on how rocky the travel portions of those two trips have been, its hard not to be a little discouraged. Let me elaborate…

Our trip in March to visit Loral’s parents in Florida was a great time - we went to the beach, out to eat, I played golf - but getting down there was an exercise in planning. Coordinating airport pick ups, drop offs, dog care, etc is a lot to consider, but with an infant, the complexity increases significantly. Our plan for Florida was to: drop the dog off at my parents on Long Island on Wednesday, pack the car seat and fly out of Newark on Thursday, rent a car and drive the hour from West Palm Beach to Sebastian once we arrived in Florida. I would return the rental car on Monday, fly back to JFK, pick up the dog on Long Island and drive back to Hoboken Monday evening. Loral would spend a few more days with her mom and dad in Florida, and then I would pick her up at Newark on Saturday.

Me, planning the logistics of this trip…

For the most part, our journey down south was relatively smooth. We definitely over-packed (a lesson we took to heart for our Colorado trip) and aside from a minor hiccup with the car seat, we were able to arrive in Sebastian Florida before 2PM. Not bad.

Unfortunately, the same could not be said about the return trip, specifically, Loral and Julia’s. Having returned home to work, I was prepared to pick up the girls from Newark airport on Saturday evening. Loral and Julia made it to the airport on time, only for their flight to be delayed an hour. Then two hours. Then four hours. Finally the 4PM flight, which had been delayed until after midnight was cancelled. As the West Palm airport is more than an hour drive from Loral’s parents house, and because they were able to get on a flight the next morning at 9AM, it didn’t make sense to drive the hour back, only to sleep for 2 hours and turn right back around to the airport. So Loral decided to book a hotel room right by the airport, and try and sleep for a few hours before boarding a Sunday morning flight.

Only that flight was now delayed as well. And before lunch time on Sunday, the flight was cancelled. To recap, Loral and Julia spent almost 24 hours between the airport and a trashy airport hotel, only for two flights to be cancelled and no clear picture on how to get home. Ultimately, they rented a car, drove back to Sebastian and booked a flight for Tuesday morning - an additional 3 days after the initial return. Thankfully, the third attempt at getting home to Hoboken went smoothly, and I was able to pick them up Tuesday morning, only slightly worse for the wear.

Having put this awful experience behind us, our attitude quickly became: how could air travel get any worse? If we can survive this, everything hereafter will seem easy. Not exactly…

Last week, we flew out to Colorado to visit my sister Liz and her boyfriend Craig for a long weekend. Our departure trip was super smooth - our flight left on time, our checked bags arrived as expected, Craig was able to pick us up and help get the car seat in his car with relative ease. Our travel confidence was increasing. We had a great time over the next few days - hiked with Liz’s Weiner dog, spent the afternoons by the pool, brought Julia to her first baseball game at Coors Field. By Sunday night, we were pretty tired, and decided to take it easy, and rest up for the return trip on Monday.

I think the best way to tell the tale of this trip is through an hour by hour timeline, so here is is:

All times listed are Mountain West (local time)

6:00 AM - I wake up and grab Julia from her pack and play (where she sleeps when we travel). Right away, I notice that her head is super warm. She has a 101 fever. Great

6:15 AM - Liz and I hop in the car and drive to a 24 hour Walgreens, to pick up baby Tylenol. We get back and immediately give a dose to Julia.

6:30 AM to 8:30 AM - Rested on the couch and watched TV. Julia is pretty fussy (understandably so), but seems to settle down once the Tylenol kicks in.

9:00 AM: We decide to go for a walk. Pretty uneventful.

10:00 AM to 11:45 AM: Hang out at the house, get cleaned up, start packing up our things. We pick a place nearby to grab lunch before we need to head to the airport.

11:50 AM: We give Julia a second dose of baby Tylenol

12:00 PM to 1:30 PM: We grab beers and pub grub at a nearby brewery. Julia comes along and I can tell she isn’t quite herself. It was either the fever or the side affects of the Tylenol, but she pretty much sleeps the entire time, something she typically doesn’t do when we are out and about. This is where is gets interesting.

1:45 PM: Julia pukes. A lot. Outfit change

1:50 PM: Julia pukes even more. Another outfit change.

2:30 PM: We pack up Liz’s Suburu (So Rado!) and depart for the airport. Liz is driving. I am in the passenger seat. Loral is with Julia in the back seat.

2:33 PM: “Oh God”, followed by gurgling sounds from the back seat. Julia is puking again (while somehow still sleeping) and its a lot of vomit. Like an unholy amount of puke for a 16 pound baby. Liz asks if we need to pull over, to which Loral screams yes. We screech into a strip mall parking lot and I hop out of the car to grab Julia from her car seat. By the time I get back there, she completely saturated in her own puke, with more coming up. I’ve never seen anything like it. In hindsight, I can laugh at it, but in the moment, it was actually a little scary. The thought crossed my mind if we could actually take her on the flight…

2:34 PM: We clean her up as best we can with the limited number of baby wipes we have and change her into her third onesie of the day. Both myself and Loral also require shirt changes. I put on a new t-shirt in the parking lot. Liz wisely suggests that we go back to her place to clean up.

2:37 PM: We arrive back at Liz’s place. I give the carseat a quick wipe down while Loral changes. Julia is already sleeping again somehow, despite puking 20% of her bodyweight. We pack a wad of paper towels in a ziplock bag, somehow thinking this would be sufficient in the event of another puke. In reality, we would have needed HAZMAT suits.

2:44 PM: We once again depart for the Airport.

3:15 PM: We arrive to Denver International Airport for our 5pm scheduled flight and say bye to Liz. Loral puts Julia in the baby carrier (the one that straps to her chest) and we check our bags - the car seat and the travel stroller.

3:28 PM: As we are loading our carry on luggage to the conveyor belt, Julia pukes again, this time, directly into Loral’s chest. I see some trickle out the sides of the baby carrier. We put our heads down and keep moving.

3:29 PM: My backpack is selected by TSA to be screened. We have a few bottles of ready to drink baby formula, hence why it was flagged. After unpacking, testing and repacking, we are cleared to go.

3:49 PM: We reach our gate. Loral immediately strips off the baby carrier changes Julia’s onesie, as well as her own shirt. While Julia still feels warm, she also doesn’t seem too uncomfortable. As our flight is still on time, we can relax a little bit. I grab some Combos from the shop.

4:35 PM: We board the plane.

5:30 PM: We have been taxiing for almost an hour. Our flight is now 30 minutes behind schedule.

6:05 PM: Our flight finally takes off. It’s really bumpy. But at least we are in the air en route to JFK. I breathe a small sigh of relief.

7:35 PM: I get a vodka soda, Loral gets a glass of white wine. Julia still feels a little warm, but otherwise unbothered. She is asleep. I fire up a movie.

8:43 PM: I get a text from Liz. She tested positive for Covid. It doesn’t take a genius to connect the dots - Julia has Covid and Loral and I either have it as well, or will get it soon. Shit.

8:44 PM: We start game planning our next moves. Our original plan was Uber back to my parents house and sleep there, pick up Barkley in the morning and drive back to Hoboken sometime on Tuesday. Well as we do not want to expose either of our parents, we make the decision to drive back to Hoboken that night, with as little contact with my parents and Loral’s parents as possible. Thank God our texts were going through, as we were able to coordinate this on the fly (literally).

From here on out, all times are now Eastern

11:25 PM: We land at JFK, about 35 minutes behind schedule. We are sitting in row 2, so we are quickly off the plane.

11:35 PM: We quickly arrive at the baggage claim and head to the over-sized luggage area (as instructed). We need to pick up our car seat and baby stroller.

12:10 AM: Still waiting.

12:25 AM: Still waiting, but my patience is wearing thin.

12:30 AM: A worker randomly walks by pushing a cart, with one piece of luggage on it. It happens to be our car seat. I grab it, relieved, but we still do not have our stroller.

12:35 AM: Over an hour after our plane has landed, our stroller is still nowhere to be found, despite constant badgering by an increasingly agitated group of JetBlue patrons. We make the decision to file a claim with JetBlue baggage services; they will deliver the stroller to our home once it is recovered. I’m drinking Monster energy drink to keep me up on the drive home.

12:42 AM: Loral is filing a claim while I am guarding our luggage. Our stroller appears!

12:49 AM: We are in an Uber headed to my parents house. Somehow, we were able to get to the right pick up spot, install the car seat and pull off without incident. The entire 25 minute ride, I am praying Julia doesn’t puke. I value my uber raring too much (4.87, no big deal).

1:15 AM: We arrive at my parents and shuttle our bags out of the Uber and into our car, without going inside. My mom left my car keys in the mailbox. We quickly say hello (from a distance) and be on our way.

1:30 AM: We drive over to Loral’s parents to pick up Barkley. He is happy, but totally confused. Julia already asleep in the back seat.

1:35 AM: We start the drive back to Hoboken. With no cars on the road, we cruise.

2:30 AM: We arrive back in Hoboken. Of course, there are no open parking spots in the vicinity of our apartment, so we quickly unload by the curb. I drop off Loral, Julia and Barkley and head back out to find a parking spot.

2:42 AM: I finally find a parking spot about 8 blocks away, park, and head back to our place on foot.

2:50 AM: Having not eaten dinner, I scarf down a few stale cookies and head to bed. We made it. Finally.

The next morning, we take Covid tests - mine comes back positive, Julia is positive, Loral somehow comes back negative. She takes another on Wednesday morning - this time positive. We spent the day on Tuesday recovering, and more or less back to our normal schedule by Wednesday. Only minor symptoms at this point, so we just have to wait out our quarantine. But man, what an adventure…

Safe to say, it may be a while before we get back on an airplane.

Michael Dillon 6/8/22 Michael Dillon 6/8/22

6.8.22

Golf Update: I was fortunate enough to play two more rounds since the last post - however I feel like I am in the midst of a slump. For whatever reason, I have really struggled the last 3-4 rounds; I am going to attribute it to the ebbs and flows of golf, not get too discouraged and just keep plugging away.

I got the call from my friend Zach to play in the Garden City CC member/guest in the last week of May. It also happened to be my first week of paternity leave. Yes, I realize arranging a baby sitter on my third day of dad duty to spend the day at the country club is not the best look. No, I do not regret this decision. This was my first time playing GCCC and I was very impressed. Similar to a lot of Long Island country clubs, GC doesn’t have a ton of room to work with, in fact a Long Island Railroad line bisects the course. Despite this, there is plenty of variety in the layout, and I found myself completely engaged for 18 holes. The grounds were immaculately maintained and the amenities were top notch. I drove the ball really well, but couldn’t quite adjust to the speed of the greens, and probably cost myself 4-5 shots on chipping and putting. Regardless, we had a great day, and finished up with a delicious dinner on the patio overlooking the 18th green.

Knowing we were spending Memorial Day Weekend with Loral’s parents on Long Island, I decided to take a peek at the tee times at Bethpage, since its been about 2 years since I have played any of the 5 courses there. Through some miracle, a spot opened up at the Black for Sunday morning at 930 AM, so I scooped it up without a second thought, knowing I could fill in the remaining spots later on. I try and play the Black course at least once a year, but usually I play in the early spring, late fall or dog days of summer - just because of tee time availability. Mid May to Mid June is the perfect time of year to play the Black, so I couldn’t pass up the opportunity - and neither could my buddy Ed, who joined me for the day. The weather was absolutely spectacular, and the course was in superb conditions; I don’t think you could ask for a better day to play the course.

The Black is a beast, and it certainly played that way on this day. Even though we played from only about 6500 yards, it felt much longer, as any ball hit into the fescue was a wedge back to the fairway (assuming you could find it, which was about 50/50). Even hitting from the first cut was a challenge, as the thick grass just grabbed the club head, making it difficult to get a shot in the air and online. To score, you absolutely needed to be playing from the fairway, something I was not doing. The only real highlight of the round was the birdie on the par 3 3rd hole. I hit a nine iron from about 150 yards, it came off super thin, but right at the pin. It rolled up to about 6 inches for a tap in birdie.

95 is honestly a little bit generous, as there were 2-3 DNFs (notably on the par 5, 4th hole, where I might still be in the green side bunker had I not picked it up). The Black is just too punitive to scrape together a sub 90 round, if you aren’t hitting it really well. I really lost confidence with the driver on this day and it was just too much to overcome. Still, its an awesome walk across an amazing golf course.

Birdie Tracker Update: 10 down, 40 to go!

One birdie in my last two rounds isn’t going to cut it. Time to pick up the pace…

Handicap Update:

I haven’t played since the round at the Black, but I’m hoping to get out somewhere local this weekend. As a way to get my fix, I’ve been riding my bike to the public park about 3 miles north of where we live. They have all the typical stuff you would see at a town park - a track, tennis courts, softball fields, etc. But they actually also have a semi-decent turf putting green, inside the track. It’s pretty cool to hit putts with the sun setting over the Manhattan skyline in the distance:

I have also made the switch back to a blade style putter, with an old school slim grip. Previously, I was gaming the Odyssey Stroke Lab 10 putter, with a mid-size pistol grip. As I have mentioned before, I have really struggled with my putting, so hoping the switch can give me a confidence boost. I think my putting stroke has a fair amount of arc and with the mallet style head, its a bit hard to see it. The blade has more toe hang, and I like to see the club face open up a bit on the backswing. Its a work in progress, but I’m committed to sticking with the new putter - a Scotty Cameron Newport 2.5. Hey if it won 15 majors for Tiger, it must be decent, right?

More to come this week!

Michael Dillon 5/24/22 Michael Dillon 5/24/22

5.24.22

Hi everyone. It has been about 2 months since my last post. Admittedly, I under-estimated the time and effort that it takes to write a quality blog post, fell off the horse a bit and have struggled to get back on. I’ve been busy with work and of course Julia, but no excuse for not making the time. I think I was a little ambitious with my original goal (1 post per week) and got discouraged when I fell behind. So going forward, I’m not going to put a firm target for timing/frequency of posts, but certainly want to share more than I have recently. With that out of the way, let’s do some catching up.

Golf Update:

Since the last post, I’ve been able to play 5 full, 18 hole rounds, plus 1-2 niners over at Skyway. Rather than do a full round recap of each, I’ll share some of the highlights (or lowlights).

During the last week of March, we took Julia down to Florida to see her grandparents. I’ll write a bit more about the trip later on, but I took it as an opportunity to squeeze in some early season golf. Prior to this point, I don’t think I have played any golf in 2022 above 40 degrees, so just the fact that I was in shorts and a polo was a treat in itself. Sebastian Muni is a delightful little course, only a 5 minute drive from Jack and Debbie’s (my in laws) Florida house. Tee times are readily available, and beers are cheap; its not terribly long or difficult, so its a great place to tune up the game early in the season. One unique aspect of the course is that is borders a small airport that launches skydiving planes. Its not uncommon to look up on the 7th hole and see a swarm of parachutes gliding gently to the ground. Its usually breezy, and the greens were unexpectedly firm the day we played. In fact, the greens were so quick, it took me 6-7 holes to get any sort of feel. The front 9 was ugly - I was +8 through the first 6 holes, which included more than a few three putts. But I settled down around 9, rolled in 3 birdies on the back and carded a respectable 84. Sebastian Muni isn’t much at first glance, but each time I play it, I like it a little more. Its exactly the type of vibe I’m looking for when I’m on vacation - untucked shirts, couple bud lights in the back of the cart, don’t take it to seriously - its supposed to be fun, not stressful. And as a dad, I truly appreciate their sense of humor:

Next up, a Saturday round on Long Island, at Oceanside’s Middle Bay Golf Course

Man, what could have been. One bad hole was the difference between my first sub-80 round of the year and what I ultimately shot - 80 on the dot. But a lot of positive to take away from this round. Early April on the south shore of Long Island is not quite golf weather. With a stiff, steady breeze off the water, temps hovering in the low 40s, and only spotty sunshine, it was probably too cold to play. But I was desperate - as were my equally golf obsesses buddies Bill, Zach and Ed. We layered up, filled the cart with hot coffee and did whatever else we could to stay warm. But by the second 9, my putter was the only source of heat out there. A couple of birdies coming in helped to shut the door on Zach and Bill; we normally play a 2 vs 2 Nassau and Ed and I always win. I could barely keep my driver on the planet, but I hit my approaches as well as I have ever done in a round. Last September, I was fitted for and purchased new irons (Taylor Made P790s), but hadn’t really clicked with them until this round. I probably hit 1 fairway on the back nine, but 6 greens. In a weird way, I think the wind actually helped - I hit some of my best shots when we were headed directly into the wind. In the past, I usually take 1 additional club against a head wind, end up swinging too hard and then not hit it flush. By taking two extra clubs, it allows me to swing much smoother, which usually leads to better contact. Also, lower lofted clubs, with slower speed tend to spin much less than a higher lofted club - which is exactly what I want when hitting into the wind. It eliminates the dreaded balloon ball and generally leads to a more penetrating ball flight. Lesson is - leave your ego out of it, take more club as it usually leads to better shots.

I played 18 holes but for some reason, my App didn’t save the front 9. I shot 44 on the front as well for 88 total

A couple Saturdays ago, we had no plans, and I happened upon a 6:36 AM tee time at Neshanic Valley, so I sprang at the chance to play one of my favorite courses in New Jersey. Consistently ranked as one of the top 2-3 public courses in the state, Neshanic offers three 9s (Meadow, Ridge and Lakes) as well as a 9 hole academy course and expansive practice facility. Its a solid 50 minute drive from Hoboken, but worth the trip, especially when you can get an early tee time (we played in under 4 hours walking, as the first group out). In terms of architecture, quality, and value, it reminds me a lot of a mini Bethpage - all three nines at Neshanic wouldn’t feel out of place next to the Blue/Green/Red courses.

My favorite hole on the property - #5 on Meadow features a Shiloh towering over the green complex

This was one of those rounds where I just could not keep anything going. Any time I strung together a few pars, I was derailed by a sloppy double or triple bogey. It didn’t help that the greens were still in recovery from their spring aeration, especially considering my putting stroke is balky to begin with. But I have to be encouraged that I didn’t do anything well, yet was still able to scrape together a sub 90 round. I feel like my floor has gotten higher over the last few years; I rarely go super low, but I also rarely shoot 90+. Outside of 2-3 nice up and downs, not much to write home about from this round. The highlight may be my purchase of a Somerset County card. I finally bit the bullet and forked over the 200 bucks for the county card, now I have 7 day advance access to tee times as well as discounted rates. I’m pumped because it allows me to get preferred tee times on one of my favorite courses, as well as check out the other county courses I have heard good things about.

I have a few buddies who are total NFL Draft freaks. Each year, for the past few years, they get together for a watch party to drink beers and gamble on the selections. This year, the show was taken on the road to Atlantic City, and since it’s been a while since I’ve seen them, I took a day off from work, and made the two hour drive down to join (thanks Loral!) Bill and I arrived to Caesars Hotel and Casino Thursday afternoon and met up with our buddies Jack, Sean and Rob for the evening. And since I’ve heard great things about AC golf, I figured it was a good excuse to check out the scene on Friday morning. We set up shop at the sports book bar to watch the first round and then hit the casino afterwards. I’m not a huge gambler, but I somehow found myself at the black jack table until 2:30 AM. The good news is that I won about 600 bucks, the bad news is that I showed up for our 9:30 AM tee time the next morning with a vicious hangover. As for the course, the Bay Course at the Seaview course hosts the ShopRite LPGA Championship, and I think it was the first time I had ever played a course that the professional Ladies play regularly. Overall, the course was in pretty good shape, and it was nice to hit off of tight fairways with firm turn (although there were not too many approach shots hit from the fairway…) Despite being only about 6100 yards, the course played much longer, as the wind coming off of the bay never really got below 15-20 MPH. It really made me appreciate how good the ladies are (Celine Boutier shot 66-70-63 here in 2021 to take the trophy) especially because the way they hit the ball is much more comparable to my game then the top men’s players. The men play a different game; I have made peace with the fact that I will never be able to drive it 350 like DJ or spin my wedges like Jordan Speith. But for the most part, I can hit is as far as just about anyone on the LPGA tour, yet they consistently shoot mid to low 60s at this course and I am struggling to break 90. Just goes to show how the scoring is done from 150 yards and in.

Several holes along the water were framed by the AC skyline.

This past weekend, we hit the road early Saturday morning and made the drive to the North Fork of Long Island, specifically East Marion. East Marion is a tiny town sandwiched between Southold and Greenport. There isn’t much actually in East Marion, save for a few farm stands, and a great public track called Islands End. A few years back, my parents bought a home that backs up to the 15th hole, so naturally, IE has probably been my most played course since then. It’s pretty open off the tee, but the greens are pretty undulated and they have really sped them up over the last few years, providing a great challenge for your short game and putting. IE has a ton of variety (5 par 3s, and 5 par 5s) which I love; birdies and double or triple bogeys are equally likely. Many course claim to have a “signature hole” but IE actually does. The 16th hole - a par 3 that can stretch out to +200 yards, runs directly along a cliff overlooking the Long Island Sound. On a clear day, you can see Connecticut, and on several occasions, I’ve come pretty close to slicing one into downtown New London. The 16th is such a great hole because it’s almost an optical illusion. Standing on the tee box, you can really only see the ravine that runs across the hole and not the 50-60 yard runway that leads up to the green. For this reason, you feel like you need to hit a hero shot just to get to the front edge, where in reality, a 160-170 yard shot will likely roll up just short of the green and leave a pretty simple up and down.

I’m sure there will be much more on this blog about IE as its become one of my favorite courses in the world. This past Saturday, I went out there with the normal crew - Billy, Zach and Ed - and we battled to a half point after 18 holes (although this is somewhat contentious as many are saying the 14th hole was halved only due to an improper concession of a 2 footer for par…) As I mentioned earlier, there are birdies to be had but also doubles and triples lurking, and that’s pretty much sums up my round. I was feeling pretty good after birdies at #2 and #6, including a 9 iron to about 9 inches for birdie on 6, and then the wheels pretty much came off. 4 doubles and a triple the rest of the way pretty much negated all the hard work on holes 1-6, and I landed at 90. Somehow played bogey golf, even though I only had 5 bogeys. It’s always a good vibe at IE, and the round wouldn’t be complete without sneaking onto 15th green at sunset with a wedge, a handful of balls and an ice cold beer:

So where does that leave me and how would I assess my play? My current HI sits at 9.3, pretty much right where I started the year. If I had to sum up my play, I would use inconsistent, not only round to round, but often hole to hole. I’ve had really good stretches, where I have played 5-6 holes under par. But also really bad stretches, where the mistakes compound and I’m quickly 9 over through 6 holes. I think inconsistent is better than being consistent at this point, just because it implies there is space to improve pretty quickly. I’ve been happy with my iron play, the next breakthrough will be on chipping and putting, and I am confident I can get there with the weather improving and some more time for practice.

A sub-goal I set for myself this year, is to make 50 birdies cumulatively, across the 2022 calendar year. A couple reasons why I like this goal: 1) It makes me play aggressively. If I want to break 80, I’m likely not going to do it by making 13-14 pars; I’m certainly going to need to pepper in 3-4 birdies. 2) It keeps me engaged in the round mentally, even if I’m playing poorly and will not post a good score. Its easy to check out on a round if you are 16 over through 14 holes, but with the birdie challenge always ongoing, I still have something to play for down the stretch. 3) Its fun to track! I can regale you for hours about how I played certain holes and I can listen to my friend’s birdie stories for just as long. Keeping a running log is cool to look back on (and share on the blog)

What is pretty obvious, is that most of my birdies have come in bunches (relatively speaking), so the question becomes - how can I extend these runs while limiting the big numbers? That’s the million dollar question…

Julia Update:

Today is a big day - my paternity leave has officially begun (10 weeks, I go back to work on 8/1) so I am a full time Dad for June and July. So far, I think its off to a good start; as I am writing this, Julia is successfully taking her morning nap AND I have already made a batch of muffins. I am a domestic goddess.

This is easy! In all seriousness, I have an idea how much work it is to care for a 6 month old baby, and I am sure I will have full understanding by the end of July. I’m excited though; this is something I have been looking forward to since we found out we were pregnant. The reality is, I will likely never get to spend 10 consecutive weeks off from work, exclusively caring for Julia. So I intend to make every day count. I want to look back on these 10 weeks and say that we did something fun every day. Of course there will be tough days or just boring days, not every day can be a party and I completely realize that. But I at least need to try. Even though she won’t remember when she is grown up, I want to make memories for myself. Is that selfish? Maybe, but part of being a parent is enjoying it right? Otherwise, why would anyone do it?

Julia turns 6 months in about a week, and its simultaneously has been the longest and shortest half year of my life. I can’t believe it’s been six months already since we brought her home, it feels like the blink of an eye. Yet, it’s tough to remember life before she got here. There’s a line in a Modest Mouse song - “the years go fast but the days go slow”, sums it up pretty well.

So what have been some of the highlights of the last few months? I will let her show you…

I went on an airplane to Florida

But I got stuck there longer than I would have liked…

Watched my first Masters:

Met my cousins and Aunt and Uncle

Ate some real food!

And went to story time at the park

More to come!

Michael Dillon 3/6/22 Michael Dillon 3/6/22

3.6.22

Golf Update: Very little to report on this week. Even though the calendar has flipped to March, it’s been so cold the last few weeks, so I havne’t been able to do much of anything outside. But that hasn’t stopped me from stocking up on balls/clubs/accessories. Here’s what’s going in the bag:

Callaway Jaws Lob Wedge - full toe grind, 60 degree. I heard something the other day on golf channel, that Jon Rahm swaps in brand new wedges ever week, in order to have the sharpest possible grooves. Now that may be a little excessive, but I do think I could benefit from replacing my wedges more frequently, especially being someone who needs all the help he can get generating spin. And since I had a Callaway gift card, I pulled the trigger on this wedge (and sprang for the custom stamping). The face of this club is purposely unfinished, so that it rusts over time and creates more friction (and ultimately more spin). I haven’t had a chance to hit it much yet, but it has performed well with foam balls off the carpet…

After being loyal BJ’s Wholesale club members for 5+ years, we decided to make the switch to Costco this past month. I have heard that Costco has better snacks, but mainly, I wanted access to their Kirkland Signature golf equipment. It may seem odd, but Costco actually makes decent stuff - I am sure most golfers have come across a Kirky Sig ball at some point, and now they even sell a milled face putter, and wedge set. I didn’t need any clubs, and I am not completely sold on the balls. But the gloves are actually really good!

I picked up a 4 pack, for about 26 bucks. They claim to be genuine cabretta leather and feel really nice. And under 7 bucks a pop, they are worth a shot. We will see how long they last.

I stocked up on some ProV1s as well. Golfballs.com usually has some good deals with free personalization, and I really like the “align” option. Its a solid line that bisects the ball, in order to help line up putts; in this case, you can get a monogram within the line. Honestly, no idea why I did this, but I decided to get them personalized with “Mad Dog”

Considering my initials are “MD”, I thought Mad Dog would be a cool nickname. Loral pointed out that self anointing yourself “Mad Dog” and getting personalized golf balls emblazoned with “Mad Dog”, when literally no one has ever called you “Mad Dog” is a very Michael Scott type move. I tend to agree. But at 60 bucks a dozen, I have no choice but to be “Mad Dog” now.

What I am watching: The Batman

We went and saw The Batman this past Friday, and I think it was the first time I’ve ever seen a movie on its theatrical release date. Here is my review - I’ll do my best not to spoil and plot points, but I will talk about some specifics that I liked. So if you haven’t seen the movie, and want to go in completely blind, I suggest skipping!

Score: 3.5 out of 4 stars

Three Sentence Review: Probably the “realest” Batman movie made to date, The Batman perfectly captures everything I think the character should be - a brooding, scarred, master detective. Excellent performances all around are framed by Matt Reeves’ washed out Gotham City; thrilling set pieces and Michael Giacchino’s spectacular score propel this movie from start to finish, despite the nearly 3 hour run time. A must see for any Batman fan, or any fan of gritty detective flicks.

Since I really don’t know how to write a movie review, I’m just going to list everything I loved about this movie:

1) The overall feel and tone of the movie. A lot of the reviews I have seen describe The Batman as one of the darkest, bleakest superhero movies made to date. Well guess what - it should be! Batman is known as The DARK Knight, he lives in a cave, his city is called Gotham! There should be no sunshine in a good Batman movie. Many have already made comparisons (in terms of the movie’s feel) to Se7en and Zodiac and I wholeheartedly agree. I also got vibes similar to The Silence of the Lambs, Law Abiding Citizen and even Saw at certain points (minus the gore element). Gritty is such an overused adjective, but it really is apt in this case. Where Christopher Nolan’s Batman films were pristine, this iteration was a bit rough around the edges (intentionally), but served perfectly to create the classic Gotham vibe.

2) The rain. 95% of this movie takes place at night time, and 99% of the movie takes place in the rain. I loved this choice. Aside from being incredibly cinematic, it helped create the feel that I described in point #1 - A constant state of gloom hovering over Gotham City. Beyond the rain, I thought they did an amazing job creating the setting as a whole. Some highlights - the punk, industrial rave scene in the Iceberg Club, the crumbling, gothic architecture of Wayne manor, and the dingy, greasy spoon diner where we are finally introduced to the Riddler:

3) The Nirvana needle drops and the score as a whole. Something in the Way is used brilliantly in the first trailer for this film, and then twice again during the actual movie. Not only does the song fit perfectly on a micro level, its perfect at a macro level as well because the whole vibe of the movie is grunge. I almost wish they hadn’t used it in the trailer, because it diminished the impact in the actual movie - but only a little bit. And the bombastic score was one of the best, most thrilling, edge of your seat, white knuckle scores in any super hero movie. It reminded me a bit of Joker, but with more action.

4) “I’m not in the shadows. I AM the shadows”. Just an awesome line delivered perfectly by Robert Pattinson, that legitimately gave me chills.

5) The casting. Top to bottom, I don’t think I would have changed anything. Zoe Kravitz was electric as Catwoman, Paul Dano struck the perfect balance between nerdy genius and unhinged psychopath as the Riddler and Jeffery Wright was rock solid as the stoic, moral compass, Commissioner Gordon. Colin Farrell (beneath prosthetics and a fat suit) was surprisingly good as The Penguin and provided some much needed comic relief. Alfred Pennyworth (disappointingly) didn’t get a ton of screen time, but Andy Serkis proved a worthy successor to Michael Caine. The one nitpick I have is with John Tuturro’s casting as mob boss Carmine Falcone. I love Turtorro, but he’s just a little to quirky/goofy for me to play a cold blooded killer. He was decent, but I would have loved to have seen some one a bit more physically imposing in the role - Viggo Mortenson comes to mind.

6) Robert Pattinson. He was the perfect Batman for this film. Had they gone in a different direction with the tone/style of the movie, he might not have worked. But in this setting, choosing a former vampire was perfect. A lot of people have called him the “emo Batman”, partly due to the black eye shadow he wears under the mask. But going back to the Nirvana point, grunge seems more appropriate. Bonus points for not doing a stupid voice as Batman (looking at you Christian Bale)

7) The stakes. I liked how the main conflict was on a smaller scale and much more grounded than most super hero movies. Whereas Avengers Endgame has our heroes going back in time in order to save the lives of literally half the world’s population, The Batman is trying to catch a serial killer before his next victim. Granted, the Riddlers antics ratchet up in the movie’s final act (I won’t spoil), but the point remains - bigger isn’t always better. If Batman fails, the world doesn’t end, but Gotham just gets a little darker. I prefer this type of outcome, because in the battle between good and bad, the winner is never absolute or finite.

8) The Batmobile. I am pretty sure the Batmobile was just a Dodge Challenger, painted black, with some sort of jet engine cobbled on the back. But it was awesome. It wasn’t a hi-tech, military grade, Wayne Enterprise concept tank. It was just a loud ass, all American muscle car (with a suped up engine). There was a 10 second scene - the headlights turn on and we get our first glimpse. The engine turns on and the car slowly heats up. It starts shaking, rattling, revving, growling. Finally Batman hits the gas and the car fires out of the blocks in pursuit of the villain. People in the theatre stood up and cheered. Only for that to be topped about 2 min later, when the Batmobile hits a ramp at 90 mph and flies through a fiery highway explosion (quite literally, like a bat out of hell). One of the coolest car chases in any recent movie.

9) Low-tech Batman. For the most part, Batman did not rely on futuristic technology or even shark repellent spray to get the job done. Again, I thought this was the right choice for a version of Batman so grounded in reality.

10) The ending. I won’t give it away, but it was one of those “right back where we started” endings, nothing really won or lost. Its simultaneously demoralizing and uplifting - demoralizing because Gotham will always be riddled with crime and corruption no matter how hard Batman fights; uplifting because he chooses to fight anyway, despite knowing this inevitability. It strikes the right balance between providing some sense of closure and resolution while still setting the table for the sequels. And of course we get a glimpse of what (or who) is to come…

Overall, the film wasn’t perfect, but there was so much good stuff in there, that I am willing to forego any nitpicking. I still need to think about where this ranks in the Batman canon, but it’s definitely at or near the top. If I absolutely had to rank it relative to the Nolan films:

1 - The Dark Knight

1a - The Batman

2 - The Dark Knight Rises

3 - Batman Begins

It was also great to see a movie in a theatre. A few months back, Loral and I saw House of Gucci in theaters but this was different. There was an energy in the theatre, I think the last time I felt something like that was when I saw The Force Awakens in a packed theatre a few years back. It will be interesting to see if The Batman holds up upon rewatch, as it is supposed to come to HBO Max in April. Don’t wait until then - go see The Batman in theaters, you won’t regret it.

Michael Dillon 2/15/22 Michael Dillon 2/15/22

2.13.22

First round of 2022 is in the books. When I saw a high of 58 degrees forecasted for Saturday, I immediately hopped on golfnow to reserve a tee time, and apparently, lots of other golf obsessives had the same idea. Tee times were pretty slim, so I was forced to try a new course about 30 minutes from Hoboken - Meadows Golf Club. My playing partner for the day would be my younger brother Pat, who happens to live right down the street from me, so I scooped him up and we headed out for the first round of the year. Like myself, it was his first time picking up a club in a few weeks, so expectations were low. Here is Pat’s player profile:

Handicap: 14ish?

Playing Since: 1998

Strengths: Soft hands arounds the green, solid low iron player, brings snacks, very good at tracking down the cart girl.

Weaknesses: Inconsistent driver of the golf ball, 3 foot putts, willingness to play Top Flites.

The Course: Meadows Golf Couse is a par 70, clocking in at 6300 yards. When we played yesterday however, it was probably closer to 6000 yards, as many of the “tees” were pushed up for winter play. I know it’s not fair to expect pristine conditions in the middle of February, but the only way I can describe the upkeep of the course is disastrous. Quite honestly, they shouldn’t have opened the course, as most of the holes were still absolutely saturated. Even though we hadn’t gotten much rain the last week, the snow melt soaked the course, so we basically walked through 18 holes of mud. Even the greens still had puddles on them, and it was clear that the staff did very little to make the course playable- as evidenced by the fact that they didn’t even put out tee markers. But again, I was just happy to be out there, and it didn’t hurt that I played pretty well too…

The Round: I shot 77 (again on a par 70, and a pretty easy course, slope of about 120), 39 on the front and 38 on the back, including a very sloppy double bogey on 18. I have always thought that I play some of my best golf early in the season, and today was no exception. Early in the year, I haven’t had time to accumulate bad habits in my golf swing, so pure muscle memory allows me to hit the ball pretty well. Plus I think I am a little more freed up because of lower expectations; it just goes to show how mental this game is…

Hole of the Day: Par 3 11th. 141 yards. A relatively straight forward par 3, where a long and but narrow green is guarded by traps on both sides. With a slight breeze in our face, I put a nice swing on a 9 iron, and landed it pin high, about 20 feet left of the pin. I was left with an uphill left to righter, I put a great stroke on it and it dripped in on the high side. First birdie of the year.

One of my goals this year is to make 50 birdies cumulatively. I’m going to track that, and share on the blog:

Handicap Update: I tried to input this score into my GHIN app, but predictably was denied due to being outside allowable season window for this course. So, no update to the handicap, still sitting at 9.7. Overall, good vibes as we inch towards golf season. My main swing thought right now, is that “tempo” and “speed” are two different things. In other words I can create clubhead and ball speed while still maintaining a slow tempo, and I think some of the resistance work I have been doing in the gym is helping that. I’m trying to exaggerate a slow take away, and even a slight pause at the top. When I struggle, I tend to start my downswing before finishing my backswing. This swing thought helps prevent that.

Baby Update: Last Saturday was my first extended alone time with Julia. Loral had plans to get dinner on Long Island, so it was just me and the baby for about 8 hours on Saturday afternoon and evening - which is also partly why I was allowed to be out of the house golfing for 6+ hours yesterday. We got off to a little bit of a rough start honestly…

When Loral left, Julia was sleeping soundly, and I was on the couch watching TV. Within about 10 minutes, Loral frantically calls me, explaining that she lost a diamond earring and needs my help searching the apartment. Conveniently, I had vacuumed the entire apartment and dumped the contents into our kitchen trash about 20 minutes prior. So I was forced to put down a tarp, break open the trash and search for the earring. Also conveniently, we purge our fridge of the old leftovers on Saturday mornings, so there I was on my hands and knees pawing through two week old chili and the previous night’s Indian takeout:

Once again conveniently, Julia decides to wake up at this precise moment and decide she is hungry. Extremely hungry, hangry once might even say. Very quickly, soft whimpers escalate into full blown screaming and I’m at least 5 minutes from being able to feed her. So I drop everything, throw a bottle in the warmer and try and console her, but that only seems to make her more mad. If Loral would have walked through the door at that moment, she would have seen me with an absolutely hysterical Julia in one arm, frantically trying to get a bottle ready with my free hand, while Barkley (our dog) eats a banana peel from the pile of trash sitting in the middle of the living room. I might have had custody revoked.

Thankfully the situation cooled down, and I was able to feed the baby and clean up the mess - although it did smell like garbage in our apartment for a few hours. And luckily, we found the earring the next day. Alls well that ends well I guess…

Yesterday was another major milestone - our first date night in about 3 months. My brother and his wonderful girlfriend Lauren, volunteered to watch Julia for a few hours on Saturday, so that we could get out for a laughably early dinner reservation (it was 5:15 PM, early bird special!)

Safe to say, we spared no expense. The ribeye pictured above paired beautifully with a Frank Family Cabernet. Recommend.

Dinner was great, and I think Julia behaved. I guess we will know that second piece, when we ask Pat and Lauren to babysit again.

What I am reading:

Here is the Amazon synopsis:

From the New York Times bestselling author of But What if We’re Wrong, a wise and funny reckoning with the decade that gave us slacker/grunge irony about the sin of trying too hard, during the greatest shift in human consciousness of any decade in American history.

For any fan of Klosterman, or 90s culture in general, it is a great read. Much of the book is Klosterman’s takes on 90’s pop culture - music, movies, sports, fashion, etc. And consistent with his other works, they are funny and sometimes thought provoking. But to say he is selling pure 90s nostalgia wouldn’t be fair, as much of the book attempts describe the overall mood/feeling of the American public during the decade, rather than just the music/movies/shows that have come to define it. He goes into detail describing the differences between the Baby Boomers and Generation X - and how the political environments in which they reached adulthood shaped their outlooks on life in general. It is something I had never previously considered but it make a ton of sense - not only does each generation have its own unique culture but each has its own distinct attitude and outlook on life.

As someone who was born in 1989, the 90s were my introduction to the world. These days, the nostalgia play seems to be one of the most bankable strategies for TV and movies and up until this point, a lot has been focused on the 80s (Stranger Things, Cobra Kai, The Americans, The Goldbergs, etc). I feel like there is an oncoming wave on 90s nostalgia (if it hasn’t arrived already) and we are starting to see that come through in our entertainment. We started watching “Yellowjackets” this past week, and it was clear from the beginning that part of the appeal is 90s nostalgia - The Smashing Pumpkins, Salt N Peppa, Marky Mark are all used in just the first episode. So it got me thinking - how much of 90s culture do I truly remember from my own unique experience, vs how much do I think I remember due to the collective 90’s nostalgia amongst my generation (Millenials). In other words, how much of the 90’s did I consume in real time? Let’s look to some examples from music, tv, movies and sports to find out.

MUSIC:

What I think I remember: Nirvana’s Nevermind

What I actually remember: Hootie and the Blowfish’s Cracked Rear View

At this point, most music critics agree that the release of Nevermind in 1991 was a turning point in music history. It marked the death of hair metal, the birth of grunge and the anointing of Kurt Cobain as the unlikely and unwilling spokesman of a whole generation. Smells Like Teen Spirit single handedly altered the trajectory of rock music and radically altered the definition of “cool”. So surely I can remember the first time I heard Nirvana, Pearl Jam and Soundgarden, right? Honestly, no, not really. Kurt Cobain committed suicide in 1994 - I was 5. As much as I love each of those bands I just mentioned, I wasn’t listening to them in the 90s. I was listening to Hootie and the Blowfish (I had it on cassette). And obviously I wasn’t the only one - Cracked Rear View went on to sell 21 million copies!

What I think I remember: The Death of Notorious B.I.G.

What I actually remember: Puff Daddy’s tribute after the Death of Notorious B.I.G.

I don’t remember the deaths of Biggie or Tupac. I was completely unaware of the East Coast vs West Coast hip hop rivalry. I had no knowledge of Bad Boy or Death Row records. But I absolutely do remember the music video for “I’ll Be Missing You” by Puff Daddy and Faith Evans. This song was everywhere in 1997, and I remember loving it, despite having no idea what or who it is about. Also, I can’t be the only 90s kid who discovered The Police because of this song.

What I think I Remember: I Will Always Love You by Whitney Houston

What I think I Remember: Smooth by Santana and Rob Thomas

Whitney Houston spent 14 weeks at number one between 92-93, the third longest streak of all time. She owns maybe the most spectacular performance of the national anthem of all time (at the Super Bowl in 1991). She was the star of the highest grossing movie of 1992 - The Body Guard. By any account, she was probably one of the top 5 most famous people in the world in the early 90s. But guess what - Smooth was even bigger! Here are the top 3 best performing songs on the billboard chart, OF ALL TIME:

Blinding Lights by the Weeknd
The Twist by Chubby Checker
Smooth by Santana and Rob Thomas
Smooth was the biggest song of the 90s and the 2000s! (It was released in 1999, and continued to chart at the turn of the millennium). In retrospect, it’s a really weird combination - an aging Mexican guitar god from the 70s + vanilla singer from an ok pop rock band = billboard gold. Its something that could have only happened in the 90s.

On to sports…

What I think I remember: Ken Griffey Jr

What I actually remember: McGwire / Sosa and the home run chase

Griffey was by far the coolest baseball player from the 90s. The backwards hat, the sneakers, the Pizza Hut commercials. For the first 5 years of the decade, he was probably the best player as well. For whatever reason, Seattle Mariners era Griffey epitomizes 90s baseball for me more than any other player. But I can’t think of any one specific game or moment involving him. What I remember vividly, is the summer of 98 and the home run race. There was a time, not too long ago, where Roger Maris’ 61 in 61 was one of the most cherished records in all of sports. Watching not one, but two players run it down and ultimately smash that record was unbelievable. What is often lost to history, is that technically, Sosa actually held the record at one point. He actually passed McGwire on Sept 25 (66 to 65), although McGwire will ultimately go on to retake the record and finish the season at 70 dingers.

What I think I remember: The Pat Riley Knicks

What I actually remember: The Jeff Van Gundy Knicks

Legitimately one of the funniest pictures in sports history

The 94 Knicks team, led by Pat Riley, is one of the most loved and talked about teams in NY sports history - and they never even won a championship. I pretend like I remember the games, but I don’t. It wasn’t until the JVG era that I really started following the team. Patrick Ewing was the centerpiece of both teams, but I prefer the supporting cast of Marcus Camby, Allen Houston and Latrell Sprewell over that of Anthony Mason, Charles Oakley and Doc Rivers. I vividly remember the back cover of Newsday, the morning after the infamous Knicks/Heat brawl in the 98 playoffs - and the hilarious shot of JVG clinging to Alonzo Mourning’s leg. The team went on a magical run to the 99 Finals in a strike shortened season (they were the first 8 seed to make the finals) only to be destroyed by the Spurs in the finals.

What I think I remember: Pre-Meth Andre Aggasi.

What I actually remember: Post-Meth Andre Agassi.

I think this one can best be summed up in 2 pictures. Here’s Agassi in 1991:

And here is Andre in 1999:

I remember watching an Agassi tennis match, maybe sometime in the 98/99 range. At this point in his career, Agassi had battled back from a low point - a period where he sustained numerous injuries, dropped out of the top 100 in the world rankings, suffered a messy break up with Brooke Shields, and admitted to experimenting with drugs, including crystal meth. But by the late 90’s, his comeback was in full force, reaching as high as number 6 in the world and winning the 99 French Open in the process. I remember they showed highlights of Agassi from the early 90s and thinking “WHO THE EFF IS THAT??” Early 90s Agassi, with his wild mullet and electric outfits, is the most quintessentially 90s version of Agassi. But the reality is, I only remember clean cut, bald Agassi. Whatever, I like mullet Agassi better.

TV, Movies and Video Games:

What I think I remember: Seinfeld

What I actually Remember: Urkel

As much as I love Seinfeld, I wasn’t watching it in the 90s. Like many others my age, I discovered it in syndication on TBS in the 20 years since its been off the air. I do remember kids at school yelling “NO SOUP FOR YOU!”, but I didn’t really get the joke, so I just kinda went along with it. What was I actually watching? Family Matters, as well as the rest of the TGIF line up. The Dillons and the Winsolws spent many a Friday nights together in the mid 90s.

What I think I Remember: Saved by the Bell

What I actually Remember: Saved by the Bell, The College Years

The original Saved by the Bell aired from 89-93, so any memories I have must have been from watching re-runs. I do vaguely remember Zach and Kelly getting married (or at least planning to?) which happened during the College Years run, so I guess I just missed the glory years of SBTB. And if we are being completely honest, I could be confusing memories of The College Years with a completely different, albeit adjacent teen sitcom - Boy Meets World. Are you a Zach and Kelly person? Or a Corey and Topanga person?

What I think I remember: SportsCenter

What I actually remember: NBA Inside Stuff

Many hardcore SportsCenter enthusiasts consider the 90’s to be the golden era of the show. Rightfully so - the 90’s introduced us to many of the best anchors - Dan Patrick, Stuart Scott, Keith Olbermann, Kenny Mayne, even Robin Roberts. Looking back, my family didn’t have cable TV in the 90s, so there is no way I could have watched SportsCenter in the 90s, at least not on a regular basis. What I definitely did watch - NBA Inside Stuff - hosted by Ahmad Rashad and Summer Sanders. My favorite segment was “Jam Session”, which showcased one of Ahmad’s favorite new songs played over the week’s top dunks. Epic. I also remember being absolutely stunned when I found out Ahmad played wide receiver for the Vikings in the 70s.

What I think I remember: The Lion King

What I actually remember: Toy Story

Even though these two movies came out only 1 year apart, (Lion King in 94 and Toy Story in 95) Toy Story feels decades newer. Maybe because The Lion King was one of the last traditional animated Disney blockbusters and Toy Story was the first computer generated, but I seem to remember everything about Toy Story and nothing about the Lion King. And I know for a fact that I went to theaters to see both. I do however, remember having Timon and Pumba (Poomba?) pajamas…

What I think I remember: GoldenEye

What I actually remember: Triple Play Baseball 97

Is GoldenEye for Nintendo 64 the most universally loved video game of all time? I can’t think of any other game that really comes close, at least among my generation. I was playing it in my college dorm room a good 15 years after it was released. Your choice of character during multi-player mode can be used as a stand in for a personality test (mine was Boris). However, during its initial run, I didn’t have a Nintendo console (mom wouldn’t allow it), so I only got to play it at my friends or cousins houses. We did have a family computer, and I spent hours on end playing Triple Play Baseball 97. Overall, the actual game was unremarkable, except for one notable exception:

I still get chills when I hear “A TRIPLE PLAY! UNBELIEVABLE!!!”. Sometimes I wonder what the actors in this video are up to now, 25 years later. How were they casted in the first place? Were they paid? We need a 30 for 30 on the making of…

As I reflect on my memories of the 90s, what strikes me is how detailed and oddly specific it can be, but how little of it I actually experienced in real time. I can contribute to the conversation on any 90s topic, but realistically, I should only be able to remember the last 3 or 4 years of the decade. Are you familiar with the “Mandela Effect”? Basically it is a false memory shared by multiple people - the most common example, and the one for which it is named, is the widespread belief that Nelson Mandela died in prison in the 80s. He didn’t - he was released in the early 90s (coincidentally) and went on to become the first Black South African President. It’s almost like my own version of the Mandela Effect - I have memories of 90s pop culture, even though I experienced much of it after the fact (or maybe even not at all in some cases). I wonder if this is the case with other decades. Boomers love to say where they were or what they were doing when JFK was shot, but do they actually remember? Or have they been told where they were and what they were doing and think they remember? Ultimately, does it matter? I choose to identify as a child of the 90s, even though I only remember about 4 years of it.

Michael Dillon 1/22/22 Michael Dillon 1/22/22

1.22.22

Its currently 12 degrees and windy in Hoboken. I tried to take the dog on our normal loop around town, but we only made it about a quarter mile before turning around and heading for home. Everything is frozen solid. At one point, Barkley turned and looked up at me, with a facial expression that said, “really? are we actually doing this?” Safe to say we will be spending the weekend indoors, so any golf related activity will be limited to hitting putts on my carpet. As someone who can get a little stir crazy, this time of year is rough. We have been opportunistically taking long walks when the weather permits, and doing online Yoga classes when it doesn’t. Since there is very little of my own golf game to report on, I figured I would look to the PGA tour to get my fix. One of my favorite things to do at the beginning of each year is predict the champions of each major tournament, so might as well share with you…

The Masters, Augusta National Golf Club, April 7th - 10th

A tradition unlike any other - me, calling in sick to work on Thursday and Friday of Masters week. Easily my favorite sporting event of the year, I am especially excited for the 2022 edition, because it feels wide open. Jon Rahm is the obvious pick here - he’s had success in the past (4 straight top 10s at ANGC), he broke through with a major victory in 2021, he’s the number 1 player in the world by a wide margin. He’ll get one eventually, but not this year. I’m taking Cam Smith. Could be recency bias, but I was super impressed with him at the Tournament of Champions. First of all, he shot freaking 34 under, so you know he can make birdies - which always helps at Augusta. More impressive to me was that he did it playing with Rahm; he went head to head with number 1 and didn’t back down. He’s a gamer. He’s not the longest driver, but his short game and putting is incredible. His game reminds me a little of 2018 champ Patrick Reed, so I think Cam is a good pick here. Plus, according to datagolf.com, the most similar course fit to Augusta is Kapalua (no rough, lots of uneven lies, slopes and elevation changes, etc), so it all adds up. And I would love to see that beautiful mullet draped over a green jacket.

The PGA Championship, Southern Hills Championship Course, May 19-22

The 2022 PGA Championship marks the return to Southern Hills 15 years after Tiger won there in 2007. I really only remember two things about Southern Hills - it was sweltering hot in 2007, I think Tiger was changing his shirt every 3-4 holes. And Retief Goosen missed a 3 footer on the 72nd hole of the 2001 US Open, that would have won it (he later would win in an 18 hole playoff over Mark Brooks. So I’m flying blind on this prediction. So I’m going with a guy who has 5 top 5s in 9 starts at the PGA, and has two trophies - Brooks Koepka. I feel like Brooks is due for a bounce back year. He gets it done in May at Southern Hills.

The US Open, The Country Club (Brookline), June 16-19

Again, I really only have one memory of The Country Club, and its these outstanding and ridiculous polos the US team wore on Sunday of the 1999 Ryder Cup:

When I think of “US Open” type players right now, a few names immediately come to mind - Rahm (obviously), Xander Schauffele, Collin Morikawa and Patrick Cantlay. I want to pick Cantlay - he’s been playing so well - but he hasn’t really seriously contended in a major up to this point. I would like to see him get in the mix more before picking him to win. Schauffele has been there enough, but he hasn’t won any tournament in a while. I’m taking Morikawa - when his putter gets hot, no one can beat him. I’m banking on that happening for 4 days in June.

The Open Championship, The Old Course at St Andrews, July 14th-17th

I’m going to pick with my heart here - Jordan Spieth. The Old Course is quirky, and I feel like Spieth does well on non-typical PGA courses. It’s wide open, so he can spray it all over the park and rely on his magical short game and putting to get it in the hole. Plus, I can’t imagine anything more exciting than Jordan having the lead on Sunday, and having to play the Road Hole - a spectacular birdie or a spectacular triple bogey would be equally likely. I also considered DeChambeau here, especially if the wind is down that week. It truly is a par 68 for him, it will be super interesting to see how he approaches it. But I’m sticking with my guy Spieth.

So that’s where I’m putting my money for 2022. And it’s only because FanDuel wouldn’t let me place the parlay I really wanted: the Kevin Na - Slam:

Baby Update:

Julia hit the 7 week mark this past week. And I can’t say we are in a full blown routine, but at least the days are getting a little more predictable. Most nights she sleeps for 5-6 hour stretches, and she has even made it fully through the night on several occasions. Most nights, we are only up once for a feeding, so its pretty manageable between the two of us. When she is awake, she is definitely more alert and engaged vs the first two or three weeks. We are starting to see some personality, and I think I can make her smile? Tough to say at this point, but it’s great to see nonetheless (even if its still just gas…)

With the surge in Covid, I’ve been pretty much exclusively working from home the last few weeks - which has been great. Julia has become my own personal comfort animal - whenever I am stressed about work, or just need a 5 minute break to decompress, I can walk into the living room and hold her. It’s wonderful, and I feel bad for any new Dad who doesn’t have that opportunity.

At 8 weeks, Julia gets her second round of vaccines which means we can be a little more adventurous with where we bring her. To this point, we have had to be very selective about where we take her and who she is exposed to. But I am hoping that with the Covid cases will continue to fall and some warmer temperatures allow us to introduce her to the rest of our friends and family soon.

Until then…

Michael Dillon 1/3/22 Michael Dillon 1/3/22

1.3.22

Hi everyone and welcome back. I hope you all had a wonderful Christmas and New Years.

Golf Update:

My last round of the year was also one of my best. Thanks to another unseasonably warm December day, I was able to shoot over to Skyway for 9 holes on New Years Eve. It had been two weeks since I have picked up a club so I really had no expectations - and maybe that helped. After a sloppy bogey on the easy first hole, I played the final 8 at level par, highlighted by a birdie 2 on hole 4. As I mentioned on an earlier blog, my game tends to come and go with the driver and putter. And on Friday, both were working well. I only hit 3 out of 6 fairways, but the three I missed were kept in play. As a result, I hit 7 of 9 greens in regulation:

My iron play was only average. But since I was putting myself in good position off the tee, and because my putting was super solid, I was able to piece together a nice score. It was nice to play 9 holes without a double bogey and that will be the key to lowering my scores going forward. I make a similar number of birdies and pars as a low handicapper, but way more double and triple bogeys. I think a lot of that is mental; I tend to check out too soon when I get into trouble on a hole. But getting up and down for bogey is all the same as getting up and down for par, when you add em all up at the end…

Hole of the day - #4, Par 3, 125 yards. Birdie.

Although its a short hole, the green on #4 is well protected and very undulated - so I have made by share of 5s and 6s. With the pin being in the back, I had 130 yards with a touch of helping wind - a perfect number for my gap wedge. I find that when I have a number I really like, I am way more likely to put a confident, aggressive swing on it, which usually results in better shots. I hit this one pin high, about 16 feet right of the pin. The putt was dead straight, and uphill. I got it online and knew it was good about halfway to the hole. Money.

Swag Spotlight:

A few weeks back I noticed a tear forming in my golf bag - a Titleist Player 4 Stand Bag. I really liked the bag, but figured it would only last so much longer with duct tape holding it together, so I purchased a Stitch SL2 Standbag, which arrived earlier this month.

The first thing you notice with this bag is the material. It’s not exactly leather, but it has a synthetic leather / pleather type feel to it. This is not to make it sound cheap feeling - in fact just the opposite - the material feels super high quality, and Stitch claims it to be water proof. To be seen how well it holds up over time, but for now, it looks and feels super high end. This applies for all the zippers, straps and handles as well.

As far as storage - its a bit limited. There is a main balls/tees pocket, a larger gear pocket, and then a smaller, felt lined valuables pocket. All three are pretty tight. As someone who walks a lot, and prefers to keep his bag light weight, this is not a huge issue for me. But if you are the type of person to keep 2 dozen balls, rain gear and 8 Bud Lights in your bag, then this ain’t for you.

Personalization options are available. You can see the quality of the material and zippers here…

Verdict - if you are looking for a lightweight, minimalistic, high end golf bag, then this is for you. I should call out the high price point - currently Stitch is selling it on their website for a hefty $388. I would never pay this much for a golf bag, but Stitch frequently runs sales, so I was able to get it at 40% off ($232). Still pricey, but overall a good deal for a bag of this quality. If you are interested, I’d recommend waiting for the next promotion.

Fitness / Training:

As someone who obviously loves golf and has done Crossfit for the last 4 years (no big deal), I was pleasantly surprised to stumble across “GolfWOD”. For those not familiar, WOD stands for “workout of the day”, and is common vernacular in the Crossfit world. GolfWOD is a fitness app with daily Crossfit style workouts, geared specifically towards strengthening the muscles/movements needed for a powerful golf swing.

They post a new workout each day, accompanied by a 5-6 minute video demonstrating the movements. Here is an example workout:

I’ve done 4 of the work outs so far and they are hard! It’s a lot more rotational movements than I am used to and relies heavily on banded resistance which I like. Its been a while since I have switched up my exercise routine, so its fun to incorporate some new movements. Here is me doing the split stance med ball slams:

I am going give it a shot for the month of January, and then decide if I want to stick with it longer. I’ll continue with my normal running/stretching/mobility routine as a supplement.

Baby Update:

We hit one month! Somehow it was the shortest and longest month of my life simultaneously. The fact that she arrived on December 1st was ideal - after I used a week vacation, we went into holiday mode at work, which allowed me to cruise a bit and spend as much time with family as possible. Julia’s first Christmas was great, albeit uneventful. Due to the recent Omicron surge, we were very limited as to who we could see, so both Christmas Eve and Christmas Day were small affairs - the three of us, plus my parents and sister. In reality, its probably exactly what we needed, as we were able to lounge around in sweatpants for 48 hours, without having to stress about travel or hosting. Plus my Mom, Dad and Sister Liz couldn’t get enough of Julia, so our responsibilities as parents were a little lighter as they were willing to change, feed or soothe her whenever we asked.

Big thanks to everyone who got Julia Christmas presents. Our car was packed to the gills on our way back to Hoboken, and it wasn’t mom and dad gifts (save for Loral’s absurdly large J Crew haul). Safe to say that Julia has everything she could ever need and more, and we are so thankful to have such generous family and friends. Really puts things in perspective and reminds you to be thankful for everything you have. Also, shout out to my brother Pat and his girlfriend Lauren for this hilariously perfect secret Santa gift:

I am embracing the dad lifestyle. These are left permanently by the front door as my “take out the trash” shoes. Perfect

Julia experienced her first New Year’s Eve (we were all asleep by 10:30 pm) and suffered through her first Penn State football game on Jan 1:

She’s crying because she knows we have 10 more years of James Franklin. Also how sweet is that mustache???

It’s been really nice to have time away from work and I am trying to enjoy the last few days before back to the grind in January. I know Julia is too young to appreciate or understand the Christmas season, but it was nice to have her around.

Here is what we are working on now:

SLEEP TRAINING - Up to this point, our sleep schedule hasn’t been terrible, but it could be better. According to Loral’s research, sleep training can start around 1 month. Up to this point, we have been sleeping “opportunistically”, sleeping the hours she allows us, without a ton of thought about how to get her on a schedule. Usually that results in about 6-7 hours of sleep, in stretches of 2-3, sometimes 4 hours. But the goal is 12 straight hours by 12 weeks old, so we are getting more serious about our routine.

The focus right now, is establishing a consistent bedtime. The challenge is getting Julia to go to sleep at bedtime; conversely, she goes down pretty easy after mid-night feedings. We are making an effort to start the bedtime process earlier, and more consistently, in the hopes that we can have her sleeping in the 10pm - 2am window.

I am also learning that being “overtired” is a real thing. I never quite understood how one could be so tired, that he/she is unable to sleep. Well with babies, being awake for more than a few hours at a time can trigger stress hormones, making it even harder for them to calm down. This is why a consistent nap schedule is so important. As an adult, sleeping too much during the day can make it harder to sleep at night, but the opposite is true for babies, especially new borns. So we are also trying to establish a more consistent nap schedule during the day…

Odds and Ends: Disclaimer - the next section is a follow up on my post about the Beatles, and gets very music nerdy. If you aren’t interested, then ok to end here. But if you are into pop music, read on…

So last post I wrote about how I fell into a Beatles rabbit hole - mostly due to the fantastic Get Back documentary on Disney+, as well as the book The Last Days of John Lennon by James Patterson. I took this as an opportunity to dive deeper into their catalog, so I began firing up Abbey Road or Revolver on Spotify during my daily walks with Barkley. None of this is groundbreaking or original, but maybe my perspective as a 32 year old can shed light for my fellow millennials. Here are my thoughts:

In the past, it never really occurred to me who wrote or even sang a particular song. But after watching Get Back and getting a glimpse into the songwriting process as well as the personalities of each band member, I found myself trying to identify the singer/songwriter for each track. I never really thought about it before, but one of the many things that made the Beatles unique was how there wasn’t one (or even two) driving creative force behind the material. When I think of other mega rock bands of the 60s, 70s and 80s it seems like the lead singer / lead guitarist wrote most of the material; I’m thinking Mick Jagger/Keith Richards, Steven Tyler/Joe Perry, Axl Rose/Slash, etc. But the Beatles were unique in that they had 3 members capable of writing both the music and lyrics for a masterpiece song. Even Ringo proved to be a capable songwriter.
I’ve always knows that the Beatles were super influential on everything that came after, but again, didn’t really know what that truly meant until deep diving their music. It’s a little harder for me - a 32 year old - to truly grasp, since most of the music I was introduced to at an early age came out after the Beatles broke up. But if you consciously remind yourself of this fact, it gets a bit easier to identify some of the innovative stuff they did and where that materialized in the bands that proceeded them. A couple of examples that jumped out at me:
- Helter Skelter off the White Album, 1968 - so apparently the Beatles invented heavy metal. Distorted guitars, frenetic pace, wild vocals - this song is awesome. I don’t think I could have previously drawn a line from the Beatles to Metallica or Motley Crue (who covered this song at one point by the way), but the influence is undeniable. I’m sure you could dedicate an entire book to the White Album, but this was just one example that really struck me.
- Strawberry Fields Forever released as a single in 1967 - This song is really weird, but in a good way. I can’t really speak to the specifics, but there is a lot of innovative technical/recording techniques going on here, that give it a dream like effect. The most obvious influence would be on bands like Pink Floyd, Cream or Grateful Dead but I think you can make an argument that it still can be heard in new music today. I’m not super plugged into the current hip hop scene the psychedelic, surrealistic vibe created by the Beatles in Strawberry Fields sounds a little bit like Juice World or Travis Scott (if you listen hard enough).
- Abbey Road Medley off Abbey Road, 1969 - My first impression here was that the Beatles were such good songwriters, and had such a vast reservoir to pull from, so they took 8 songs good enough to stand alone, smushed them down to 2 minutes each and combined them into a 16 minute medley that closes the album. My second thought was that they kinda invented the rock opera. Do we ever get Bohemian Rhapsody without Abbey Road? I don’t think so. The last four “songs” - She Came in Through the Bathroom / Golden Slumbers / Carry that Weight / The End - are epic, and created the template for 70s rock. I feel like you could pick any classic rock standard from the 70s and attribute it directly to one of those four.
The output and as well as the evolution across 8 years is staggering. The Beatles put out 10 or 11 full albums between 1962 and 1970. I can’t think of any modern day artist close to being that prolific, while maintaining some level of quality. They went from writing relatively simple pop songs - Love Me Do, I Wanna Hold Your Hand, to incredibly complex, layered compositions - Day in the Life, Happiness is a Warm Gun - in just a few years. I can’t think of any other artist to evolve this quickly or this successfully.
All of this got me thinking. Has there ever been another band that can match the quantity and quality of the Beatles catalog? Does anyone even come close? Are the Beatles actually my favorite band ever? To answer these questions, I started to pull the catalogs of some similar artists as well as some of my personal favorites, and bucket their songs into categories, in an attempt to quantify the “greatness” of the Beatles. Here are the contenders:
- The Rolling Stones - the most obvious comparison point for the Beatles due to their style, timing, career arc, songwriting, etc
- Led Zeppelin - The hard rock, evolutionary Beatles
- U2 - The Beatles invented “arena rock”. U2 may have perfected it
- Bruce Springsteen - one of my personal favorites, and of course needed some Jersey representation
- Red Hot Chili Peppers - again, another one of my favorites - a band now spanning almost 40 years with at least 4 distinct evolutionary phases.

Here is how I am bucketing the songs. Note that this rating is based on my personal preference and not the critical consensus picks. Obviously there is a lot of overlap, but these ratings reflect my personal taste. My ratings system is based on how likely I am to listen to a particular song if it were to come on Spotify shuffle in my car.

Pass - this could mean that I actively dislike a song, or more likely than not, I am just not familiar with it. I love both The Rolling Stones and U2, but after 50 years of making music, there are just a lot of songs I don’t know.
Good - I like this song, I’ll let is play on shuffle, but I am not going out of my way to seek it out and put in on. The “deep cuts”
Great - I love this song, I’m turning up the volume when it comes on. If I am curating a playlist, its the type of song I will actively search and add.
Classic - The blue chips, cream of the crop, best of the best. The songs I always return to.

So let’s start with an overview:

U2 - 2% classic, 3% great, 4% good. Total = 9%

I think the issue with U2 is that they just put out so much music, it’s tough to have a high conversion rate. I like/love 27 of their songs, which is way more than most bands, but when you put out 300+, there is going to be a lot of clunkers. Especially their newer stuff. Also, the Beatles never preloaded my iPod with their music (although I probably would have liked that). The classics:

Rolling Stones - 2% classic, 6% great, 5% good. Total =13%

Similar story with the Stones. 300 songs is a lot, and there is probably a lot more out there that I didn’t capture. Also important to note - most of the 39 songs I like/love came between ‘69-’72, which not coincidentally, aligns with the murderers row of Let it Bleed / Sticky Fingers / Exile on Main Street. I don’t think I liked a single song after 1981, which raises an interesting question - would I hold the Beatles in as high esteem had they continued on for another 40 years? Here’s the classics:

Bruce Springsteen - 5% classic, 7% great, 10% good. Total = 22%

As one of my favorite artists, the Boss comes the closest to the Beatles in terms of classics. But this is due to the fact that he made one stone cold perfect album - Born to Run. I would also argue that he has evolved just as much if not more than the Beatles - Jersey Teen Bruce, Rock God Bruce, Sad Folksy Bruce (Nebraska), 80s Synth Bruce, post 9/11 patriot Bruce, boomer nostalgia Bruce - but that took 50 years, whereas the Beatles took 10. Still, a 22% hit rate, with a catalog approaching 200 songs is impressive. The Classics:

Red Hot Chili Peppers - 3% classic, 7% great, 12% good. Total = 22%

Another band that crossed genres and reinvented itself on numerous occasions. They started as a true funk band, incorporated elements of hip hop and rock, brought it altogether in the 90s with two absolute classics - Blood Sugar Sex Magik and Californication. They might have been the biggest band in the world after 2006’s Stadium Arcadium and have continued to put out good (but not great) music to this day. At this point, I only see there hit rate going down, by 22% puts them level with Bruce.

Led Zeppelin - 8% classic, 22% great, 26% good. Total = 56%

By far the highest hit rate, but also by far, the lowest song total. Led Zeppelin owned the 70s, and they did it by releasing less than 70 songs. I think they are the best example of trimming the fat, all killer, no filler. Most of their albums top out around 8 songs, but I wonder if that was because of meticulous quality control or simply out of necessity. Unlike the Beatles, many of Led Zep’s song stretch out 6, 7, 8 minutes - so maybe the song count was lower simply because they couldn’t fit more on a record. They have 36 songs I like/love, and what is impressive is that they span their entire career (not limited to 2-3 albums like the Stones)

The Beatles - 5% classic, 12% great, 18% good. Total = 35%

The Beatles have 73 songs I like/love, by far the most of any of the acts on my list. (next closest is Bruce/RHCP, both with 41). What is even more amazing is that I probably have listened to the Beatles less than any other act on my list. Their songs are so well written and memorable, it only takes one or two listens for them to burrow into your brain. I also think they have the most variety - pop songs, ballads, rockers, doo-wops, epics. I’ll list all three categories, since I am trying to make a point. The classics:

The Great:

The Good:

And the thing is, the more I listen to the Beatles, the more likely this list will grow. Most of the songs in the “pass” bucket are simply songs I don’t know yet. I don’t think I came across one song I actively disliked, just ones I haven’t heard yet. Which is exciting!

Everyone has his/her own favorite band, but I think what we choose is more about making a statement on our personality rather than identifying our favorite music. The truth is, The Beatles are my favorite band, and always have been. And they are probably your favorite too.

Michael Dillon 12/19/21 Michael Dillon 12/19/21

12.19.21

Welcome back, hope everyone had a great week. Here’s what I have been up to:

Golf Stuff: Golf activity was limited this past week, but fortunately not non-existent. I was able to get to my gym three times this week, and I am trying to gear my work outs towards improving core strength, explosiveness and mobility. I’m not saying I am going full Bryson, speed training, but I like having a functional goal in mind when approaching my workouts - in this case, a more powerful golf swing. Here’s an example workout:

Part 1 - Strength and Mobility

4 Rounds, Super Set:

Back squats, 4/3/3/2 reps, build up in weight

Pallof Press, 15 reps per side

Pallof Press - great for building core stability

Part 2 - Conditioning

As many rounds of possible in 15 minutes:

15 Hang power cleans

7 Pull ups

15 front squats

400 meter row

I keep the weights very light - in this case only 95 pounds, and really focus on quality of movement. I bookend this workout with 10 minutes of mobility - foam rolling, stretching, etc.

Since the baby came, I haven’t been as diligent as I normally am with my diet and exercise, so I really STRUGGLED the first time back. But I think it will come back pretty quickly.

I was also able to get to the driving range on Saturday afternoon. Here is what the swing looks like:

That was one of my better swings of the day - an 8 iron hit about 170 yards on a line. I’m really focusing on letting my lower body (specifically my hips) start my downswing.

I was pleasantly surprised when I arrived at my driving range, to see that they have installed TopTracer monitors in every stall. They have sensors that are able to record ball speed, launch angle, carry distance, total distance etc. So I took it as an opportunity to go through every club in the bag to chart my “stock yardages”. It’s something I’ve never really done before, and since I recently bought new irons (TaylorMade P790s, love them), I am still figuring out exactly how far they fly. Here is what I got:

Honestly thought I had a little more pop in my driver. Maybe my “dad strength” hasn’t arrived yet. I guess I need to keep hitting the Palloff presses…

Baby Update: This past week was my first full week back at work and man it felt long. I’ve always been very routine oriented, so I am really thrown off when something as life-changing as a newborn enters my world. But I know I’ll figure it out pretty quickly. The good news, is that Julia has been sleeping pretty well for a 2 week old. We typically try and get her in bed by 10:30 or 11 and she can sleep about 3-4 hours before waking up hungry. We change and feed her around 2:30 and on a good night, she can sleep until 5 or 6. So I’m getting about 6 hours of sleep per night, which I am told by my friends and co-workers - is pretty good for a baby her age. So I won’t complain, yet…

What I learned this week:

1) It didn’t take long for me to go “full dad mode”. This Saturday was Santa-Con in our hometown Hoboken. For those unfamiliar, Santa-Con is a giant bar crawl, where participants dress up as Santa’s, Elves, Grinches, etc and spend the afternoon getting absolutely wasted in the spirit of Christmas. On multiple occasions, I caught myself referring to the patrons as “kids”. For example, “There were kids lined up outside McSwiggans at 11 AM this morning!!” or “I hope these kids remember to eat something, if they are going to be drinking all day…” For reference, the average age of the Santa-Con participant is probably somewhere around 24-25; I am 32. But here I am calling them crazy kids. I guess I was always an old soul, maybe having the baby has just allowed me to fly that flag in the open

What I am reading:

After the baby came, I took a week off from work to be home with Loral. We watched a TON of TV; I wore sweatpants for a week straight. The best thing I watched was the Peter Jackson directed, Beatles documentary - Get Back. First off, the documentary is an absolute must watch. I previously considered myself a casual Beatles fan, but I was completely enraptured for the entire 8 hour run time (it’s broken into 3 parts). I felt like I was the 5th Beatle, right in the middle of jam sessions, business meetings, rooftop performances. The only thing more mind blowing than Paul and John’s songwriting process was how they seemed to live on nothing more than cigarettes, tea and toast for weeks at a time. Afterwards, I found myself deep in a Beatles rabbit hole, so I picked up this book and haven’t really been able to put it down since. It’s a pretty easy read - it bounces back and fourth from the rise of the Beatles in the early 60’s to Lennon’s days in 1980 New York City, right before his assassination. Before I watched Get Back or read this book, I had this image of John Lennon as a saint; a man whose sole purpose was to promote world peace. The reality is that he was a complicated man, and the book does a good job explaining his motivations, what made him tick. If you are looking for a deeper understanding of Lennon, or find yourself in a Beatles rabbit hole like me, check it out.

I have a lot more thoughts on Get Back and the Beatles in general. Look for more to come on that…

That’s it for this week.

Michael Dillon 12/12/21 Michael Dillon 12/12/21

12.12.21

Thoughts from the past week. Here we go…

Golf Update -

Thanks to some unseasonably warm December weather, I was able to sneak out to Skyway Golf Course in Jersey City on Sunday morning for a quick 9 holes. For those unfamiliar, Skyway is a great little 9 holer in the Lincoln Park section of Jersey City. Considering how much play the course gets, it is kept in really good shape and kept open year round, weather permitting. There is a nice variety among the 9 holes, and I love that it features 3 par 3s, 3 par 4s and 3 par 5s. Since I am a Hudson County resident, I can play for 28 bucks, and at 3 miles from my apartment, it’s tough to beat when I need a quick golf fix.

View from the right rough on the par 5 third. Thats the Freedom Tower in the background

I got off to a rough start on 1 - after blading my second shot over the green into a hazard, I failed to get up and down for bogey and dropped two strokes right off the bat. I settled down with 3 straight pars from holes 3-5 and then played bogey golf the rest of the way in to finish with a 43.

Hole of the Day: #5, Par 4 - 436 Yards

This is the toughest hole on the course, as it usually plays dead into the wind (it did today). The fairway pinches in, right in the landing zone with bunkers lining both sides. The second half of the hall opens up to a relatively accessible (and huge green) and the dunes surrounding it create a nice punch bowl effect. I hit my best drive of the day (and maybe the last 3 months) - a bullet that started up the right side, turned over and finished in the middle of the fairway roughly 270 yards from the tee.

I was left with about 165 yards into the wind so I pulled a 7. I put a pretty good swing on it, but it cut a little more than I intended and ended up pin high just right of the green. They keep the area around the green shaved down pretty tight, so I bumped a pitching wedge up to about 8 feet and drained the putt for 4. A par that felt like a birdie.

Today, I really had only one swing thought - “relax”. I am making a conscious effort to relax my grip and let my arms hang down naturally as I address the ball. The goal is to have as little tension in my body as possible, as this improves my tempo and increases the likelihood of solid contact. Simple but effective.

Overall, it just felt great to be out there, knowing golf will be pretty limited over the next few months. I like to be super active, so most of my golf activities will more resemble what I did on Saturday:

4 mile run with the dog
20 minutes of Yoga, focusing on mobility for golfers, link here (https://youtu.be/MPLYc7qsTI4)
25 minutes of strength training, with an emphasis on core stability.

I’ll probably go into my fitness routine in a later post, but I’m working on increasing my range of motion and core strength in hopes it translates to a wider golf swing with more shoulder and hip turn…

Baby Update:

Julia had her 1 week birthday on Wednesday:

And as of today, its been 11 days since she joined us. Here is what I have learned since last week’s post:

Working from home, with a baby is hard! And not necessarily for the reason you may think. I went back to work (virtually) last week on Wednesday, and my wife Loral has done an amazing job caring for Julia. She is consistently on top of everything - feedings, diapers, laundry, etc, and I am super thankful for that. She has made a space where I can concentrate on my work in a distraction free environment, but the problem is, I can’t concentrate! I’m constantly stepping away from my desk just to watch her sleep or hold her for 5 minutes. I’m sure I will get better with this as time goes on, but for now its hard.
Try and have a routine, but don’t be discouraged when you get off track. We are pretty meticulous about our schedule, in the hopes that we can get Julia on a consistent eating and sleeping routine. We try and plan all this out to best fit into our schedule, but ultimately we only have so much control. Don’t sweat it.

Everyone has also been asking me about how Barkley (our 4 year old mutt) has been handling all of this, and the answer is - really well. He is such a happy go lucky dog, so I do not sense any sort of jealousy - in fact the exact opposite. He shows genuine concern whenever Julia cries. He likes to know where she is at all times, often making the rounds between the couch, her swing and her crib until he locates her. Something that has always fascinated me, is how well dogs sense the fragility of a new born; Barkley is typically a bull in a china shop, but around Julia, he is incredibly delicate.

He is a silent guardian, a watchful protector

And if you ever doubted that caring for a new born is tiring, look no further than Sir Barks. I have noticed his energy levels are a bit lower than normal - I guess its because he’s only sleeping 16 hours a day instead of 18…

What I am hoping to learn this week:

1) Just about all aspects of caring for a baby can be tracked through an app, but is there really any practical application for this data? As someone who religiously tracks his golf scores, logs his workouts and spends hours on sports-reference.com and data golf.com, I personally love it. But I am not sure there is really a ton of value - my parents raised me without knowing exactly how many hours I slept and how many diapers they changed per day, and I turned out ok. So is any of this necessary? Probably not:

Julia’s sleep log for this past Saturday, via the SNOO app.

Weekly log showing average sleep per night

So this technology is super cool. But what exactly are we supposed to do with this information? Am I any less tired in the morning, knowing that she had a max sleep stretch of 2 hours and 46 minutes? No, I’m still exhausted. There’s more:

“Julia had pee. 1:10 AM”. Glad we documented that.

Julia averaging only 4.5 diapers a day - alarming considering this comes on an extended home stretch. Will be interesting to see if her production drops when she goes on the road…

Here is where it gets really interesting:

We are now tracking the number of ounces of breast milk pumped in the last 4 weeks. And not even total, by the individual boob! By they way, we haven’t seen rightly/lefty splits like that since Bernie Williams won the AL batting title back in ‘98. Impressive Loral!

Side note on the Elvie pumps - they actually sit under the shirt, very discretely, except for one LED light directly where the nipple would be. It kinda makes her look like the Terminator of breastfeeding, or a Fem-Bot from Austin Powers:

So I guess my question is, what are we supposed to do with all this information? We aren’t going to significantly change anything we are doing because an app recommends it. That’s what doctors are for. Maybe I’ll make Julia a baseball card…

Odds and Ends:

I love Penn State football so I’ll probably use this blog as a space for my thoughts on the team from time to time. Some pretty big news in the past few weeks, first with Coach James Franklin signing a 10 year extension worth up to $75M. Many were clamoring for CJF to be fired after a lackluster 7-5 2021 regular season and an invitation to the Outback Bowl. Do I think he should have been fired? No, I think he’s done a nice job rebuilding the program and restocking the cupboard with talent. But was the extension deserved? Also no, I don’t think so. I get nervous with the thought that he may still be leading the program when this one is in fourth grade:

I do like the Manny Diaz hire though…

I probably won’t have a ton of golf content over the next few weeks, so I’m also going to use this space to write about what I’m reading, watching, eating, etc. So expect more of that in the coming posts.
I really like writing but I really hate proof-reading. As Loral lovingly pointed out last week, I had a few typos in my last post. I’m not going to fix them, sorry. So just get used to that.

Until next week…

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Michael Dillon 12/7/21 Michael Dillon 12/7/21

State of the Union - December 2021.

GOLF GAME:

Here is a quick overview of my 2021 stats:

Scores Posted: 34
High / Low / Average: 91 / 74 / 84.1
Low Index: 7.1 on 4/18/2021
Current Index: 9.7

When I look back on 2021, the main takeaway is the volume of golf I was able to play. I logged 34 rounds, but if you were to include twilight, 9 hole or off season outings, I probably got out closer to 50 times in 2021. It’s going to be tough to improve on 9.7 while likely playing far fewer rounds in 2022, so the key will be quality over quantity. Additionally, most of my golf in 2021 consisted of actual rounds, rather than dedicated practice sessions. So 2022 will be more range and putting sessions, partly out of necessity and partly out of a desire to truly improve. One of my goals will be to practice with purpose, rather than just mindlessly hitting balls / putts. But more on that later…

Some highlights from the year:

February - My wife and I drove down to Florida and spent two weeks with her parents. I took advantage of the warmer temperatures, open tee sheets and cheap off-season rates - and was able to play 6 rounds.

May - Took a buddies trip down to Streamsong Resort in Florida and played 5 rounds + a loop around the pitch and putt course.

June - Mostly played local (North Jersey) with Neshanic Valley, Rock Spring and River Vale GC making up the bulk of my rounds. With the extended daylight, I was constantly sneaking over to Skyway in Jersey City for quick 9s after work.

July/Aug/Sept - When the calendar hits the summer months, I typically play a lot of golf at Islands End Golf Course in East Marion on eastern Long Island. My parents own a home that backs up to the 15th hole, so we take full advantage late in the day when the volume of golfers coming through slows down. Many a bud lights have been consumed on the 16th green…

Fall - More local golf in North Jersey, including a few trips out to Crystal Springs resort to soak in the fall foliage while playing the excellent Ballyowen and Wild Turkey courses.

Overall, my game is in decent shape, but it’s become super clear that my scores hinge on two clubs - driver and putter. Hardly a unique assessment, but I feel like the range between my floor and ceiling on these clubs is too wide to get into the low single digit handicaps. My iron and wedge play is pretty consistent, so the focus for 2022 will be on driving and putting.

(more importantly), DAD STUFF:

Baby Julia joined us a week early on 12/1/21 at about 6:15 AM at Hoboken University Medical Center. The whole experience was surreal, and the fact that we were up through the night only heightened the dream like nature of it all. My wife Loral was an absolute champion and I am so proud and amazed at how she handled everything with grace and composure. Both Mom and Baby came out on the other side healthy, and we were able to leave the hospital and head home about 30 hours after the delivery. Truly amazing stuff, that no one care really prepare you for.

The last week has been a mix of highs and lows (but mostly highs), as we adjust to our new life. We were able to spend the better part of 3 days with both our families and they quickly fell in love with Julia. The daily range of emotions is huge - joy, frustration, silliness, anxiety, and of course love - are often felt in the span of one day or even a few hours. All we can do is take it one day at a time. Here are a few things I have learned so far:

1) Feeding is so important and dictates almost everything else. It feels like Julia’s sleep schedule, fussiness, diaper count, energy levels, everything, is in someway related to how she is feeding. What makes it hard, is that the feeding process is somewhat unpredictable. Sometimes she’s super hungry and and sometimes not so much. Realistic or not, we want to get her on a more consistent feeding routine in the hopes this translates to more consistency everywhere else. We will see.

2) I don’t need as much sleep as I thought. I was nervous that I wouldn’t be able to function during the day due to all the sleep interruptions at night. So far, I feel like I am reacting better than expected. I’ve been able to get about 6 hours per night (albeit not consecutively) and this is just enough to remain functional. I definitely get tired at night, but those who know me, know this is nothing new…

3) Newborn babies are hilarious. I can’t count how many belly laughs we have shared in the last week. Everything she does makes me laugh - her facial expressions, her weird noises, of course the farts/sneezes/pukes are hysterical to me too. I like to sit on the couch and put her between my legs facing me when I feed her. After a bottle, when she is shit hammered milk drunk, her body goes completely limp and she face plants into my lap. I can’t get enough.

I totally realize that all of this is pretty common knowledge and likely would have sunk in sooner for me had I paid a little more attention in our parenting classes. But I am the type of person who really needs to experience something before I learn it, so bear with me. Here is what I am hoping to learn in the coming days:

1) The SNOO - is it worth it really? Mixed results so far, but it’s early.

2) How long until we get some genuine human interaction? I know babies this young really only respond to biological needs but I am curious to know when she will get my dad jokes…

3) How are we going to solve the growing bottle storage problem? We live in a small apartment without a ton of free storage space in the kitchen. Should I start researching a storage unit to capture the overflow? I think that may be the only option. The situation is developing so I will continue to pass along updates on the matter.

This is about half the total bottle supply.

So that’s it for now. More to share in the coming days.

Michael Dillon 12/7/21 Michael Dillon 12/7/21

Welcome.

Here’s what you need to know…

Let’s start with an introduction. My name is Mike Dillon. I’m 32 years old, I live in Hoboken NJ, and I’m a golf-obsessed, newly minted dad. My daughter Julia arrived on December 1, 2021 and like many first time dads, I was filled with existential questions - Am I capable of caring for another human life? Will I be able to balance the demands of my career with those of my home life? How is this going to affect my golf game? I’m only half joking on that third one, but the purpose of this blog is to answer those questions and document the journey.

So who is this blog for? I think most readers will fall into 1 of three buckets:

1) Those looking for updates on my daughter Julia and my journey through parenthood (likely many people).

2) Those looking for updates on the status of my golf game (probably very few people).

3) Those looking for a combination of 1 and 2, as well as my thoughts on sports, pop culture, food and life in general (hopefully more than a few people).

My goal is to create 1 post per week, at least at first, containing a combination of points 1, 2 and 3 listed above.

So what’s the deal with the name - “five by eight”? I want to reach a 5 handicap index by the time Julia is 8 months old.

5 handicap? Currently I am sitting at 9.7; my career low was 7.1, so 5 would represent a huge improvement. Aim high.

8 months? Julia will hit 8 months by the end of July, which happens to coincide with the expected end date of my paternity leave. I am fortunate enough to work for a company with an extremely progressive family leave policy - I get 8 weeks fully paid leave, and will likely tack on a week or two of vacation time on top. So I’m going to put the deadline at 7/31/22 (subject to change, I make the rules here). Here’s an obligatory picture of Julia:

Now I am sure you are thinking - this jerk just had a baby and all he can think about is his handicap? And of course this thought crossed my mind as well. The reality is, I don’t really care about achieving this goal, but it creates a cool narrative for the blog, one that I hope keeps people engaged and coming back for more. But if I can provide some cool golf content or share some insight on my experience as a first time dad, then mission accomplished.

What I ask of you:

1) Be Kind (sometimes). Full disclosure, this is my first time writing or publishing in any capacity, so it will be a learning experience. Having said that, I can be extremely self-deprecating (especially about my golf game), so don’t hold back on a good roasting in the comments if you see fit. Which brings me to my next point -

2) Be Engaged. I know there are a lot of guys in a similar situation as me right now - I am certain that the cross section of golf nuts / young dads is pretty big. So feel free to share with someone in your life who meets either one or both of these descriptions. Hopefully I don’t sound like a click baiting, YouTuber here, but sound off in the comments as well! I welcome any feedback, but more importantly, I’d love to create a place where we can share anything from swing thoughts to stroller recommendations.

Hit ‘em straight.