Best of 2023...

my favorites from the year

Author

Sean Melia
December 22, 2023

Hey Everyone,

Happy Holidays! I hope that this newsletter is a brief respite from the craziness that can take over our lives this time of year.

One thing I’d love for Christmas is a larger newsletter subscriber list! Forward this email to anyone you think might like reading a bit about golf while learning about what a 40-year-old in Boston eats, drinks, watches, and listens to on a weekly basis…

Let’s get to it.

After sending 47 newsletters in 2023 with various favorites from each week, I thought I’d share my Bests of 2023.

I am also rolling out my 2023 course rankings on Instagram. I played 25 new Massachusetts courses on my quest this year and decided to rank them.

Here are my favorites from the year.

Best read:

  • The Wager by David Grann is my top book from this year. Just an incredible story; if you have anyone on your gifting list who loves history, this is worth picking up.

Best food:

  • Pammy’s (Cambridge, Mass.) Lumache pasta with a bolognese Sauce and Gochujang is exceptional.

Best Drink:

  • The Kingston Negroni at Prima. I’ve only had it once and can’t wait to go back to have another one. It’s a Negroni with rum. Incredible.

Best podcast series:

  • The Wedding Scammer is an excellent 7-part podcast about a con man who started a media company, a catering company, and a restaurant. The great part of this series is the host was someone who was scammed by the con man and the pod tracks the process of tracking him down in the wake of the destruction the con man caused along the way.

Best Podcast episode:

  • It’s no secret that I love No Laying Up. This Making Media podcast featuring Neil Schuster offers a great insight into how the NLU brand has grown and the choices the group makes. Sometimes saying “no” is way more powerful than saying “yes.”

Best new subscription:

  • Ethan Strauss, who was the GS Warriors beat writer, has a substack called House of Strauss. It is all behind a paywall for 9 bucks a month. He covers a lot of NBA, but hits on media and pop culture and whatever else is on his mind. He writes and podcasts, and he even creates audio versions of his newsletters. Well worth the price.

Best watch:

  • The Bear is just the absolute best. A show that plays around with so many ideas - family, love, patience, persistence, and insecurity.

Picture of the week: Elie Golf House Club

When I’m not golfing…

I’m gambling….(Every week, because it's now legal in Mass. I'm going to make five NFL picks and keep track of them here.)

  • Last Week: 2-2-1 (Season record: 39-35-1)

    • Chargers (+12) over Bills

    • Packers (-5) over Panthers

    • Jets (-3) over Commanders

    • Falcons (-1) over Colts

    • Titans (+2.5) over Seahawks

I’m listening to…

I’m eating… 

  • We were in North Adams this weekend to see my brother’s band, Pig Pen Theatre Co., play a show at the lovely Tourists Hotel. We had a couple of meals at the hotel restaurant called Airport Rooms. We had an incredible, giant arancini. I also had a ridiculous veggie burger that made me wonder if they accidentally gave me a real burger.

I’m drinking…  

  • I only had a sip of it, but people were drinking hot cider with mezcal. Very good, albeit an odd flavor combo. I also had a few mugs of hot chocolate this week, booze-free.

I’m watching…

  • We started watching Slow Horses on Apple TV this week. A British spy show starring Gary Oldman? Yes, please.

  • Murder In Boston on HBO is a 3-part series that was excellent. It covers a 1989 double murder and the wild investigation that followed. It actually spurred Mayer Michelle Wu to make a public apology to the men the Boston Police arrested for the murders.

I'm (shamelessly) plugging...

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