One of the reasons why I summarize my life at the end of each year is because the tedious parts of life often get in the way of enjoying the moments that truly matter. These moments can often be forgotten if not reflected upon, and if I don’t write them down, I’ll probably forget them. By sharing them through this blog, I get to relive those memories and share them with others. I spent all of 2023 working several jobs outside of my full-time teaching job (my son is in a very expensive college). It was stressful, but I still was able to punctuate my busy work schedule with memorable and enjoyable activities that helped me deal with the stress.

On New Year’s Day, I planned to relax and not do the polar plunge at Coney Island. As I was drinking my coffee, I noticed that my daughter was heading out to do the plunge with her friends. I changed my mind at a moment’s notice and decided to join her.

I joined my friend Matt Lebow and the Staten Island Mountain Biking group to do some mountain biking at Wolfe’s Pond Park in Staten Island. After the ride, I offered to volunteer to help clean up the trails. Matt asked me if I’d like to lead a group of high school volunteers during the cleanup. They had a great experience in doing something for their community while enjoying nature all around them.

In February, I was asked by running historian Gary Corbitt (son of famed ultra-runner and NYRR co-founder Ted Corbitt) to conduct a new interview with Bill Welsh (I had previously interviewed Welsh in 2019 to talk about his life). Welsh was a legendary coach and runner known throughout the Staten Island running community who this year was approaching his 93rd birthday. During his prime running years, Welsh trained and competed against many who were an important part of local running history throughout the Tristate area. Gary specifically wanted me to pick Welsh’s brain to reflect on those runners who were an important part of that history. My interview with Bill on Gotta Run With Will can be found here. At over an hour long, it was one of the longest interviews in the history of the series. Unfortunately, Bill Welsh had passed away later in the year. I wrote a heartwarming story about my time spent with Bill. It was published in the Staten Island Advance and can be viewed here.

Photos below from left: Me with Bill in his home, Bill and I having a Zoom session with Gary Corbitt preparing for the show, Bill and I during the interview on Gotta Run With Will. I’d like to thank Will Sanchez for producing this episode.

In March, I was asked by my Ugandan friend, teacher, and fellow runner Mukasa Edwards if I could help him fundraise to purchase a 10,000-gallon plastic water tank for his village. His community was facing a very serious drought and Mukasa would have to walk very far to get drinking water for his village. The water tank would solve the problem by collecting rain from the roof of their schoolhouse. After a few weeks, we raised enough money to purchase the tank. The tank is now full of rainwater and being used by all the people in Mukasa’s village.

I donated a pint of blood. It would be the first of three visits of doing so in 2023. I’d like to give credit to Michael Schnall and Ryan Knütsen for being role models in this area. I used to faint when I would have blood drawn during doctor visits. I am proud that I have come this far in being able to voluntarily donate my blood to help others without fainting.

In April and May, my son continued to show his dedication to running. He ran a 10k in April and came in second place overall and only 13 seconds behind the first place finisher. In May, he ran a half marathon with a very impressive time of 1:17:09 (5:53 pace).

Photos from left: My son leading at the start of the 10k, him encouraging another runner at the finish line of a half marathon.

I had donated an old robot called the Hero Jr. that I had for the past 30 years to the Museum of Failure. It was tough getting rid of something so interesting that I had owned for so many years, but I felt that giving it to the museum would benefit so many more people.

In June, I joined my fellow improv performers from Avant Prov at the 2023 Figment Festival at Snug Harbor, Staten Island. We engaged the public with our representation as members of the Slightly Silly Party. The purpose of this “political” party as created by Rob Reese was to poke fun at the political world and to replace the seriousness of it with fun and silliness. Engaging the public with rubber chickens and kazoos while marching in a ridiculous parade was a part of the fun.

Pictured below: Rodney Umble, unknown, Laura Petit, Me, Rob Reese, unknown, Douglas Cala, and Erin Krom. Crouching with the big googly eyes is Crystal Marie.

Before Father’s Day approached, my son had asked me what I’d like to do. My answer was easy; go on an overnight hike along the Appalachian Trail. I was able to enjoy my time with my kids while engaging in something that each of us liked to do. One of my goals was to wake up the next morning and use my portable stove to serve hot coffee to everyone. Goal accomplished!

Below is a photo of us on the top of Anthony’s Nose, a well-known mountain-top destination in the Bear Mountain area.

After a few failed attempts through the years, my friend Jacky Lee had finally completed the Great New York 100-Mile Exposition. With a 30-hour time limit, she completed it just in time in 29 hours, 36 minutes. And she wasn’t in last place; there were several other runners behind her.

In July, while I was running along the Promenade in Brooklyn, I came across a deer that had swum across the Narrows and into Brooklyn. Law enforcement and Parks officials were trying to figure out what to do with it.

I led a group of runners as we ran a path in Mill Basin, Brooklyn that when completed and uploaded to our Strava accounts, resembled a rainbow. I called this the Rainbow Run in support of the LGBTQ community.

I randomly found a funny video on social media showing an African-American child who is having a meltdown because he insists to his mother that he is Mexican because he eats quesadillas. She reminds him that he is not Mexican which drives him crazy. In response, I wrote the following (see below), which roughly translates as “More or less 25 pounds of my body is Mexican because I like to eat burritos”. This comment has garnered more than 1,500 ‘likes’ and has entertained many among the Mexican-American community. I want to thank Nena Coss for sharing the original post.

My daughter got invited to a 10-day artist residency in the woods of Vermont. During that time, she slept in a tent and created art with other artists, musicians, and dancers without the distractions of social media or electronic devices.

My daughter was featured in an ad campaign for the YMCA. It was great seeing her image on their social media and reading in her own words why she loves her lifeguarding job. I loved the photo of her as well. It shows her as someone who is proud and confident.

In August, I wanted to use two foldable kayaks that I had purchased during the heat of the pandemic. My daughter and I paddled out from the beach at Kaiser Park in Coney Island. We kayaked part of New York Harbor and even boarded the partially-sunken Yellow Submarine in Coney Island Creek.

I had the chance to briefly meet Joe Tudisco. In a small world story, Joe was an assistant football coach for the Sheepshead Sharks football team throughout the ’80s and ’90s. Once he retired, he became an actor. First, he was a background actor with non-speaking roles and then became a featured actor with lines. He has played principal roles in such hit series as The Sopranos and Boardwalk Empire and has been in films such as The Post. As it turns out, I am an alumnus of Sheepshead Bay High School, a background actor, and I live only a mile away from Joe.

Through the money I have raised from the recycled running shoe program, I have been able to help Kenyan elite runner Job Kiprono Langat with various expenses related to the races he runs. He was so grateful that he had shirts made for him and a fellow runner with my full name on them.

Through a popular casting website, I submitted to be the subject of a series of photos that would be taken by talented photographer Argun Tekant. Before shooting, Argun specifically wanted me to create a character type that I could portray in all of his photos. I chose to portray a film director since I have dabbled in directing before and I found it to be a very interesting experience. Below is one of my favorites out of many great photos he took.

In October, my daughter Emma E Pesin, her cousin Emma G Pesin, and my brother Aaron displayed their artwork at Artmageddon, a free event for artists that promotes itself as “NYC’s biggest free art and music festival”. It was so exciting to be immersed in a Brooklyn community full of creative types who either sold art or supported other artists.

I volunteered to be a part of a Halloween party for Prime Produce, an artist collective in the Hells Kitchen area of Manhattan. I was put in charge of giving creative eulogies written in a mad libs format by friends of the “deceased”. It may sound macabre, but it was a lot of fun as their friends cracked up laughing during the ridiculous eulogies that I gave.

In November, I participated in the Great Gobbler 6-Hour Bike Race. While I was very nervous about engaging in an event that I had little experience with, it turned out to be an exciting experience for me. You can read more about it here.

I met Ying Tan who was running as a Republican candidate for city council that would have represented a neighborhood near where I live. I discovered her on a Facebook post where she shared a video of her participating in the Italian custom of preparing and preserving homemade tomato sauce. I saw her working with an older Italian lady and Ying described the entire sauce-making process in detail. I thought that this was a great example of how the Italian-American and Chinese-American communities can learn how to get along by learning about each other’s customs. Seeing this video really impressed me enough to make me want to meet Ying in person. Even though I am a registered Democrat, I believe it’s important to work together with those who may not share similar political beliefs in order to better serve the community.

Due to me interviewing Bill Welsh several months ago, I was personally invited by Gary Corbitt to the “Running for Civil Rights: The New York Pioneer Club 1936–⁠1976” event at the NY Historical Society. Will Sanchez had put together a special sign highlighting 28 runners who were important figures to New York’s running scene over the past few decades. Bill Welsh was one of the runners who was featured on that sign.

Photos from left: Me next to a handcycle competitor in the Great Gobbler race, me with Ying Tan at a party held for the community, Will Sanchez and I posing with his sign.

In December, I attended a film screening for Dumb Money, the true story of how the Game Stop company went from a penny stock during the pandemic and kept on rising in price to make lots of people rich due to one social media influencer who wholeheartedly believed in the stock. It was great to see a Q&A afterward with the stars of the film, Paul Dano and America Ferrara.

One of the things that I’ve been learning to value more in life are the friends that I have made through the years. Stan Levine is one of those friends. We had a great rapport when we were teenagers going to Sheepshead Bay High School back in the ’80s. It was great seeing Stan again and having coffee together in the Brooklyn neighborhood where he works. In 2024, it will be the 40th anniversary of our high school graduation. Stan, did you have to remind me of that?!

Through my friend Will Sanchez of Gotta Run With Will fame, I was introduced to Isabel Eliashev. Isabel was once one of the fastest female runners in New York City back in the 1990s. She was also one of the first female members of the New York Pioneers Club, a running club that predates the New York Road Runners Club. From Will and Isabel, I learned that the NYPC was one of the first inclusive running clubs that welcomed all runners regardless of race, gender, or religion. Soon after meeting Isabel, she came to my preschool class as a special guest. She did fun activities with the children including running laps around the classroom. Isabel is a school principal from Georgia who recently created a Pioneer Club for young runners in her community. What an inspiration!