DINNER
"For New Year's on the millennium, we had a party at Sonsie on Newbury Street. That's your generally upscale restaurant where the food and atmosphere are good and you might, every now and again, run into one of the Red Sox eating there. The Elephant Walk, a French/ Cambodian restaurant, is excellent. It's sort of quiet, tucked away, and private. The food is exquisite. They have a great spring roll and wonderful Pad Thai. They use really fresh ingredients and are very attentive."

THEATER
"The American Repertory Company is in Cambridge, and they have a little theater where they do really terrific work. They put on some astonishing productions there. It's where I have seen some of the best theater in my lifetime. If you want to drive 40 minutes, the Trinity Repertory Company in Providence also does excellent work."

NIGHTLIFE
"There's a great place for live music called The Middle East in Central Square. The music's always good, and the food is superb. It's a little bit raucous. It's in what used to be the nonuniversity side of Cambridge, which is where I grew up. It's now kind of encroached upon by MIT. On the same side of the street is Hi-Fi Pizza, a place you can get pizza at two in the morning - if you want to stand in line behind a bunch of drunk kids with purple hair. But the pizza's worth the wait."

SUNDAY

SOLITUDE
"Mount Auburn Cemetery is a beautiful old cemetery that's very well-kept. It sounds like a morbid place to go, but it's actually exquisitely beautiful, particularly in the fall as the leaves change. They don't mind if people come for a walk. There's an old tower in the middle that you can climb up and look out. It's a lovely place to spend an afternoon if you're looking for quiet and some time to think and reflect."