Happy St. Patrick’s Day!

This seems to be an appropriate time to write about St. Patrick’s Day, so I will.  Today is the national holiday of Ireland, and celebrates the life of Saint Patrick, a Christian missionary who lived in the 4^th and 5^th centuries.  It began as a religious holiday and became a public holiday in 1903.  The first St. Patrick’s Day Parade was held in Boston in 1737, but the longest-running and largest parade is in New York, which has run every year since 1762 (with modified format the last few years due to Covid), and today attracts two million spectators and 150,000 marchers.  And green is the color of choice, with a river dyed green in Chicago, a canal in Indianapolis, and fountains in Savannah.  Even those not of Irish ancestry participate in the festivities (in fact, I’ve gone to several “St. Paddy’s Day” parties in the past, and I’ve got only one connection – McCracken – and that name hails from Northern Ireland).  So regardless of your background, enjoy!

Feel free to leave a comment, and please come back – I write and post often!  And if you like what I have to say and how I say it, you’ll probably enjoy my novels as well.  They’re listed below, and you can read more about them on my improved website, designed and built by my son Don, http://www.randolphmase.com.  On my site, you’ll also find excerpts of my books that you can read – please check it out!

Randolph Mase, Fiction Writer

https://www.amazon.com/author/randolphmase

http://www.facebook.com/MatthewHoganMysteries

http://twitter.com/randolphmase

My Novels:

Death on Broadway

Death Beneath the Streets

Death in Central Park

Death at The Cloisters

Death Inside Diamond Head

Death Under Jones Beach (now available!)

Nathan Hale

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Old-World New York City

Do you long for, or would you like to learn about, the old days of New York City?  If so, visit afar.com to enjoy a history lesson of New York landmarks including Grand Central, the New York Public Library, and Fraunces Tavern.  Go to https://www.afar.com/travel-tips/where-to-find-old-world-new-york-city; you’ll enjoy it!

Feel free to leave a comment, and please come back – I write and post often!  And if you like what I have to say and how I say it, you’ll probably enjoy my novels as well.  They’re listed below, and you can read more about them on my improved website, designed and built by my son Don, http://www.randolphmase.com.  On my site, you’ll also find excerpts of my books that you can read – please check it out!

Randolph Mase, Fiction Writer

https://www.amazon.com/author/randolphmase

http://www.facebook.com/MatthewHoganMysteries

http://twitter.com/randolphmase

My Novels:

Death on Broadway

Death Beneath the Streets

Death in Central Park

Death at The Cloisters

Death Inside Diamond Head

Death Under Jones Beach (now available!)

Nathan Hale

What’s the Most Annoying Phrase You Hear?

I’ve written a few times about the results of Marist College polls of the most annoying conversational word or phrase – which are really nonwords – to about 1,000 US residents.  Then just the other day I saw the 2022 results of the same poll.  Here’s how they compare:

2011	2014	2022
Whatever	Whatever	Woke
Like	Like	Whatever
You know	Literally	It is what it is
Just sayin	Awesome	Like
Seriously	With all due respect	You know

I’m sure they missed some; is there a word or phrase that really gets to you?  If so, please share it in a comment…

Feel free to leave a comment, and please come back – I write and post often!  And if you like what I have to say and how I say it, you’ll probably enjoy my novels as well.  They’re listed below, and you can read more about them on my improved website, designed and built by my son Don, http://www.randolphmase.com.  On my site, you’ll also find excerpts of my books that you can read – please check it out!

Randolph Mase, Fiction Writer

https://www.amazon.com/author/randolphmase

http://www.facebook.com/MatthewHoganMysteries

http://twitter.com/randolphmase

My Novels:

Death on Broadway

Death Beneath the Streets

Death in Central Park

Death at The Cloisters

Death Inside Diamond Head

Death Under Jones Beach (now available!)

Nathan Hale

Happy February 27th Birthday!

It’s February 27, so a hearty Happy Birthday wish (past and present) to Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, David Sarnoff, John Steinbeck and Gene Sarazen (same year), Joanne Woodward, Elizabeth Taylor, Van Williams and Ralph Nader (same year), Howard Hesseman, Mary Fran, Adam Baldwin, Chelsea Clinton, Josh Groban, and…me!  I’m not being narcissistic; I just realized that I’m in pretty good company, three of us are writers, and two of us were born in New York.  If you want to find out what famous people share your birthday, one resource is http://www.famousbirthdays.com.  But you won’t find me on the February 27 list…yet…

Feel free to leave a comment, and please come back – I write and post often!  And if you like what I have to say and how I say it, you’ll probably enjoy my novels as well.  They’re listed below, and you can read more about them on my improved website, designed and built by my son Don, http://www.randolphmase.com.  On my site, you’ll also find excerpts of my books that you can read – please check it out!

Randolph Mase, Fiction Writer

https://www.amazon.com/author/randolphmase

http://www.facebook.com/MatthewHoganMysteries

http://twitter.com/randolphmase

My Novels:

Death on Broadway

Death Beneath the Streets

Death in Central Park

Death at The Cloisters

Death Inside Diamond Head

Death Under Jones Beach (now available!)

Nathan Hale

Happy Presidents Day!

When I was a kid, I used to love February.  My birthday’s in this month, and we also celebrated two holidays – and had two days off from school – in February as well.  What kid wouldn’t love that?

We were off on February 12, Abraham Lincoln’s Birthday, and February 22, George Washington’s Birthday.  Then in the 1970s, some lawmakers had the wonderful idea to move the celebration of Washington’s Birthday to the third Monday in February, and in the following years Lincoln’s Birthday was dropped as a holiday and the new holiday became a celebration of all of our presidents.  It just seems strange that Presidents Day never falls on the actual birth date of George Washington (it’s always somewhere between February 15 and February 21).  And it’s also strange that only 4 of our 46 presidents were born in February.  But all I know is that we lost a day off from school…

Feel free to leave a comment, and please come back – I write and post often!  And if you like what I have to say and how I say it, you’ll probably enjoy my novels as well.  They’re listed below, and you can read more about them on my improved website, designed and built by my son Don, http://www.randolphmase.com.  On my site, you’ll also find excerpts of my books that you can read – please check it out!

Randolph Mase, Fiction Writer

https://www.amazon.com/author/randolphmase

http://www.facebook.com/MatthewHoganMysteries

http://twitter.com/randolphmase

My Novels:

Death on Broadway

Death Beneath the Streets

Death in Central Park

Death at The Cloisters

Death Inside Diamond Head

Death Under Jones Beach (now available!)

Nathan Hale

Happy Valentine’s Day!

Most of us know that today is Valentine’s Day (technically Saint Valentine’s Day, but that name is popularly shortened).  And many of us here in the United States have read about the infamous Saint Valentine’s Day Massacre, when on this date in 1929, gangs led by Al Capone and Bugs Moran clashed in Chicago, killing seven people.  And I heard a fact on the radio a while back that the group of people who receive the most Valentine’s Day cards are teachers.

And that has really become the spirit of this day – the giving of cards, as well as candy.  That tradition dates back to the 1800s in Great Britain, and in 1847 it spread to the United States when Esther Howland created her home-based Valentine’s Day card business in Worcester, Massachusetts.  It’s estimated today that more than one billion cards are sent on this day worldwide, ranking second to only Christmas.  That’s a lot.  So weather you send a card or flowers or candy, or you receive them, enjoy this day, and enjoy that special person in your life!

Feel free to leave a comment, and please come back – I write and post often!  And if you like what I have to say and how I say it, you’ll probably enjoy my novels as well.  They’re listed below, and you can read more about them on my improved website, designed and built by my son Don, http://www.randolphmase.com.  On my site, you’ll also find excerpts of my books that you can read – please check it out!

Randolph Mase, Fiction Writer

https://www.amazon.com/author/randolphmase

http://www.facebook.com/MatthewHoganMysteries

http://twitter.com/randolphmase

My Novels:

Death on Broadway

Death Beneath the Streets

Death in Central Park

Death at The Cloisters

Death Inside Diamond Head

Death Under Jones Beach (now available!)

Nathan Hale

Questions to How Well Do You Know New York?

Here are the questions to the Jeopardy! answers in the category “NYC Subway Stops” I posted last week:

1. The S train has but 2 stops, shuttling across 42^nd Street between Times Square and this landmark with much train activity. – What is Grand Central Station?
2. Flatbush Avenue! The No. 2 train’s stop for the college named for this borough! Please step away from the closing doors. – What is Brooklyn?
3. Give my regards to Broadway, remember me to this square, named for an old-time newspaper, & its stop on the D train. – What is Herald?
4. Head downtown on the 1, 2 or 3 train to hit this street, the “ho” in SoHo, and note its pronunciation. – What is Houston (pronounced “How-Stun)?
5. If you want a day at the museum, take the C train to 81^st Street to enjoy this “Night at the Museum” museum.  – What is the Museum of Natural History?

I got all of them correct (I should, since I’ve ridden the subway many times); how did you do?

Feel free to leave a comment, and please come back – I write and post often!  And if you like what I have to say and how I say it, you’ll probably enjoy my novels as well.  They’re listed below, and you can read more about them on my improved website, designed and built by my son Don, http://www.randolphmase.com.  On my site, you’ll also find excerpts of my books that you can read – please check it out!

Randolph Mase, Fiction Writer

https://www.amazon.com/author/randolphmase

http://www.facebook.com/MatthewHoganMysteries

http://twitter.com/randolphmase

My Novels:

Death on Broadway

Death Beneath the Streets

Death in Central Park

Death at The Cloisters

Death Inside Diamond Head

Death Under Jones Beach (now available!)

Nathan Hale

It’s Groundhog Day!

Many of us have probably seen the movie with Bill Murray, essentially about reliving something many times, until we change our behavior and transcend it.  And most of us probably associate Groundhog Day with Punxsutawney Phil, the famous prognosticator in western Pennsylvania who predicts the arrival of Spring each year, based on whether or not he sees his shadow.  However, did you know that each year no fewer than 15 groundhogs make their predictions?  Take a look at this list:

1. Balzac Billy – Alberta, Canada
2. Dunkirk Dave – New York
3. French Creek Freddie – West Virginia
4. General Beauregard Lee – Georgia
5. Jimmy the Groundhog – Wisconsin
6. Josh Porter – Ohio, I think (I couldn’t find a more specific reference)
7. Malverne Mel – New York
8. Octoraro Orphie – Pennsylvania (Phil’s rival)
9. Punxsutawney Phil – Pennsylvania
10. Queen Charlotte – North Carolina
11. Shubenacadie Sam – Nova Scotia, Canada
12. Sir Walter Wally – North Carolina
13. Staten Island Chuck – New York
14. Wiarton Willie – Ontario, Canada
15. Woodstock Willie – Illinois

Interestingly enough, half of the furry creatures typically predict six more weeks of winter each year, and the others predict an early Spring.  So who do you believe?  I think the best way is to do it yourself: walk out of your house at daybreak and see if your shadow appears.  I would do it, but the weather this time of year is typically breezy and cold.  So I’ll stay with the electric blanket and let the groundhogs do the work…

Feel free to leave a comment, and please come back – I write and post often!  And if you like what I have to say and how I say it, you’ll probably enjoy my novels as well.  They’re listed below, and you can read more about them on my improved website, designed and built by my son Don, http://www.randolphmase.com.  On my site, you’ll also find excerpts of my books that you can read – please check it out!

Randolph Mase, Fiction Writer

https://www.amazon.com/author/randolphmase

http://www.facebook.com/MatthewHoganMysteries

http://twitter.com/randolphmase

My Novels:

Death on Broadway

Death Beneath the Streets

Death in Central Park

Death at The Cloisters

Death Inside Diamond Head

Death Under Jones Beach (now available!)

Nathan Hale

How Well Do You Know New York?

One of the categories on a recent Jeopardy! episode was “NYC Subway Stops.”  Here are the answers; just come up with the correct question for each.  I’ll give those questions in a future post:

1. The S train has but 2 stops, shuttling across 42^nd Street between Times Square and this landmark with much train activity.
2. Flatbush Avenue! The No. 2 train’s stop for the college named for this borough! Please step away from the closing doors.
3. Give my regards to Broadway, remember me to this square, named for an old-time newspaper, & its stop on the D train.
4. Head downtown on the 1, 2 or 3 train to hit this street, the “ho” in SoHo, and note its pronunciation.
5. If you want a day at the museum, take the C train to 81^st Street to enjoy this “Night at the Museum” museum.

Feel free to leave a comment, and please come back – I write and post often!  And if you like what I have to say and how I say it, you’ll probably enjoy my novels as well.  They’re listed below, and you can read more about them on my improved website, designed and built by my son Don, http://www.randolphmase.com.  On my site, you’ll also find excerpts of my books that you can read – please check it out!

Randolph Mase, Fiction Writer

https://www.amazon.com/author/randolphmase

http://www.facebook.com/MatthewHoganMysteries

http://twitter.com/randolphmase

My Novels:

Death on Broadway

Death Beneath the Streets

Death in Central Park

Death at The Cloisters

Death Inside Diamond Head

Death Under Jones Beach (now available!)

Nathan Hale

Are You Ready for NYC Everything Week?

Typically, New York City offers savings a few times a year with “special” weeks.  Now there is a rare opportunity to save on many things at the same time in New York through February 12!  Here they are:

1. NYC Hotel Week – NYC Hotel Week | The Official Guide to New York City (nycgo.com)
2. NYC Restaurant Week – About NYC Restaurant Week 2023 | FAQ | Summer Dining Experiences (nycgo.com)
3. NYC Broadway Week – NYC Broadway Week℠ | Discounted Tickets & Theater in NYC | NYCgo
4. NYCMust-See Week – About Must-See Week Program (nycgo.com)

So get out and enjoy!

Feel free to leave a comment, and please come back – I write and post often!  And if you like what I have to say and how I say it, you’ll probably enjoy my novels as well.  They’re listed below, and you can read more about them on my improved website, designed and built by my son Don, http://www.randolphmase.com.  On my site, you’ll also find excerpts of my books that you can read – please check it out!

Randolph Mase, Fiction Writer

https://www.amazon.com/author/randolphmase

http://www.facebook.com/MatthewHoganMysteries

http://twitter.com/randolphmase

My Novels:

Death on Broadway

Death Beneath the Streets

Death in Central Park

Death at The Cloisters

Death Inside Diamond Head

Death Under Jones Beach (now available!)

Nathan Hale