2024 — IN REVIEW
IT WAS THE BEST OF TIMES, IT WAS THE WORST OF TIMES
This past year was uneventful. Except for the following….
Best Memory:
Spending a week in Dallas with my mother, who had just celebrated her 80th birthday. We visited places where she grew up, houses and apartments where we had previously lived, dined out at several terrific restaurants, and even attended an NHL Dallas Stars playoff game. The entire week was magic.
Best Restaurant Meal:
I eat out 250+ times a year, so this is a real challenge. Relating to the previous question, I’ll go with dining out with my mother at the S & D Oyster Company, just north of downtown Dallas. See story and photos HERE. Close runner Up–Piero’s in Las Vegas, the always-dependable “go to” with my BARGE friends (an A+ experience)….tied with Peter Luger Steakhouse (Caesars Palace)….three amazing dinners there in ’24 with my favorite Canadian, Scott Wilson.
Best Home-Cooked Meal:
Easy. Marieta’s classic spaghetti (actually angel hair-capellini) coated with a thick layer of shaved parmesan reggiano (the secret–bake for a few minutes all together), a huge bouquet of butter lettuce dressed with lemons plucked from the tree in our backyard and olive oil with a mountain of feta cheese, thick garlic toast (real fresh garlic), topped off with homemade panna cotta with a cherry coulis for dessert (she makes this about once a month–an extraordinary comfort meal).
Best New Wine I Tasted:
Willm Gewurtztraminer, from Alsace. I think I’ve sampled every Gewurtztraminer available in the US market. I discovered this lesser-known beauty early in the year, priced at $16 a bottle. I’m now on my third case!
Best Gambling Win:
Collecting $185,000 in the NFL handicapping competition at the Westgate (SuperContest), which included two contest wins, and a 2nd-place finish in the famed SuperContest, out of 1300+ entries (missed the top spot and another $100K by half a point). That contest finished in Jan. 2024. Read more HERE.
Best New Restaurant Discovery:
Brunello (Italian) in Sun City Summerlin. Best re-discovery–Paymon’s Mediterranean (returned after 10-year hiatus….excellent happy hour!). Read my review HERE.
Best Live Show:
“Femmes of Rock” at Smith Center, an ensemble of classically-trained female musicians playing strings, mostly covering classic rock songs….it helped to sit front row, surrounded by many friends). Close Rummer Up: “A Christmas Carol” the musical, presented by Signature Productions at Summerlin Library Auditorium (an outstanding value and enjoyable experience).
Best Accomplishment:
A near total renovation of our house, including the yards. Did most of the work myself (thanks to watching several do-it-yourself YouTube videos)….worked nearly every day outside in the heat, and also lost about 15 pounds. Win-win!
Best Discovery:
Kirkland brand (at Costco) for everything they make (gin, ice cream bars, batteries, walnuts, paper towels, etc.)
Best Surprise:
Posting a casual photo on Facebook one afternoon while visiting a local tap house, and then 15 minutes later Chad Holloway and Jesse Fullen show up and tap me on the shoulder. They saw the post, rushed over, and the party began.
Best TV Show/Movie/Series:
The Gentlemen on Netflix, a witty, edgy, well-crafted, British gangster-themed series that is perfect in every way. Read my review HERE.
Best Book I Read:
Coming Apart (published in 2013) by Dr. Charles Murray. The controversial author-political scientist-friend saw and predicted America’s deep divide more than a decade ago. Note that by “best” I don’t mean this was an *enjoyable* read–I just gained more knowledge and greater understanding from it.
Best Writing (that I’m Most Proud of):
“Every Picture Tells a Story,” a series I started early in 2024 at my personal website….where I took old photos that probably no one would otherwise ever see and then wrote short stories about them and the times and circumstances in which they were taken. I wish more people woud do this sort of thing–otherwise our memories fade away and die. Giving life to photos with reflection is both fun and can even be cathartic.
Best People to Thank for the Best Moments of 2024:
Scot Lenter; Stephane Borrero; Dan Michalski; Mickey Goldfine, Matt Lessinger, Linda Johnson (this list is woefully incomplete–so many good people touched my life this past year). Also–my friends and investors at the Las Vegas Gambling Syndicate.
Person I Miss Most:
Rich Korbin. He died suddenly in 2022. I still think of him every day. (Note: I don’t feel any need to “get over it.” I’m glad to feel this way, even if it’s sad because grieving allows me to remember so many great times–and those times were amazing.)
Worst Disappointment (Gambling):
Getting blanked in the NFL contests this past season (2024)
Worst Disappointment (Personal):
Leaving my term as HOA President and three-years as a board member in The Lakes (e.g., West Sahara Community Association, with 2200+ homes) with so many unrealized goals and few accomplishments. One thing I learned from my experience is that I’d be really bad at holding an elected political office. I once thought I had the aptitude for community and civic leadership, but I don’t–or at least I don’t have the patience for it and all the petty B.S.
Worst Wasteful Emotion:
Worry. It does no good at all to worry. In fact, worrying wears us down. It strains the heart. Worry drains us. Worry kills enthusiasm. I won’t get into the details, but I had a number of “worries” this past year and they really took a toll on my happiness and outlook. Worrying is a terribly destructive emotion, and that’s something I’d never thought about before (but I learned how to balance and deal with).
Worst Fear:
Knowing that 2024 was the hottest year on the planet ever on record, and also knowing that this past year is very likely to be the COOLEST year I/we will ever experience again in our lifetimes. We’ve turned the earth into a giant oven, and half the world doesn’t know it, or care.
Worst Thing to Happen in 2024:
This one’s easy — the 2024 election. It wasn’t just a depressing political defeat that’s troubling. It’s far deeper and more personal than that. The results of the 2024 election completely devastated and destroyed my faith in Americans and ruined my trust that otherwise good and decent people will usually do the right thing in life. I no longer believe that, and this makes me terribly sad.
Biggest Surprise:
Not missing poker at all. After decades of playing and working inside poker, I still have not played a single hand of live poker since COVID, nearly five years ago. Other than some BARGE social events, I didn’t play poker once in 2024. I used to hyperventilate at the excitement of driving to Atlantic City on weekends. Today, in Las Vegas, poker is at the bottom of anything I care to do or have any interest in…..and this is a surprise and maybe even a shock given I’ve met so many friends and associates through my deep involvement the game.
Best Thing I’ve Come to Appreciate:
The heroism of caretaking. Perhaps it’s because I have a mother-in-law who requires full-time care living inside our home, but this experience gives me extraordinary love and appreciation for *all* CARETAKERS, even those I do now know, those angels of humanity who put others before themselves. Note that I’ve done relatively little compared to Marieta, but these years have revealed a truth I otherwise would never have known. Caretakers are heroes, and given the demographics of an aging population, we are going to need many, many more of them.
Finally — Best Lesson Learned:
I did very little traveling this past year. I saw few shows. I didn’t go out much, nor do many new things. That’s okay with me. Travel and shows and excitement can all be fun, but these new places and events are secondary to who’s there to share it with us. Victories won alone aren’t necessarily wins at all. All excitement is fleeting. There are plenty of miserable billionaires and unhappy famous people. Sometimes, the simple memories we create with others are what lives on and give us lasting happiness.
Thanks to all of you and happy new year.