Month: December 2020

  • Thinking About Summer Vacation

    Today was a nice, solid winter day in NYC. It’s only 36 right now, and there was about an hour of snow flurries that fell, though nothing stuck. We have the radiator on in the apartment, and I am bout to make afternoon coffee. It feels like winter, and if you squint, it almost feels normal.

    And if this a normal winter day, then I would start thinking about summer vacation. Like a real summer vacation. (Just humor me, here.) If this was a normal school year here in the City, than we know that the kid would be in classes all the way through the end of June. Most likely, we’d take part in a Summer camp for the kid over the month of July, and I have a good idea that we would get clued in by some of the other parents from school of which camps to take part in.

    That would leave the month of August, and I want the whole month of August 2021. See, I have it in my head that we could take the whole month off, and if so then we are headed up to New England, and I think I would like to try out Maine again.

    Two years ago, we did five days in a small vacation town on the coast in May, and I thought it was great. The day was only 75, and warm enough to go to the beach, and then at night it got into the 50’s so I could put on a sweater while having a drink on the front porch.

    I know the wife wouldn’t be super excited about it, but she could work remotely for two weeks, and then we all could take two uninterrupted to just relax. Maybe boil some lobsters, do a clam bake, or just order take out. And reading books, sketching landscapes, just thinking the day away.

  • TV Review: Ted Lasso

    I try really hard not to be a judgmental person, which is all the more funny, as I am about to write a review of a tv show. I like to think of myself as a person that does not prejudge, and goes into situations with an open mind, but when I heard that Apple TV had made a show, Ted Lasso, out of the commercial for NBC broadcasting the English Premier League, it didn’t strike me as a good idea. I do think Jason Sudeikis is a pretty funny guy, but from what I remembered about the commercials, I thought it would be a one note joke about an American not understanding football.

    So, that was August of this year, when Ted Lasso debuted, and I never thought about the show.

    Then, I started to hear things about it. “It’s not so bad…” “Jason Sudeikis is really funny…” “It’s a good sports show…” “It’s a good workplace comedy…” “The cast is awesome…” and then, “It’s the best comedy on tv…”

    I still wasn’t convinced. And then I had a friend say to me that Ted Lasso isn’t the best show on tv, but it’s the only show that makes you feel better for trying to stay positive.

    Now, I was intrigued with that assessment.

    If you don’t know, Ted Lasso is bout Ted Lasso, a Division II college (America) football coach who just won a championship, who is hired to manage an English football (soccer) Premier League team, AFC Richmond. What Ted doesn’t know is that the team owner, Rebecca Welton, got the team in a divorce, and wants to run it into the ground to spite her ex-husband. Ted and his American assistant coach bring all their America positive attitude and can-do spirit to a jaded and bitter football club.

    I am sure you are like me and pretty much see where this is going; Ted’s positive attitude rubs off on everyone, who in the end comes to love Ted, and the team is successful. And you are not too far off. But I found myself binging through the episodes.

    First of all, it is funny. The writers and cast swing from word play, to spit takes, to sight gags, and every comedy convention in between, and somehow keep the feeling of realism without spinning out into parody or British silliness. But what kept me locked in was watching each of the characters make huge mistakes, or betrayals, and instead of what a lesser show would do, which is make the character learn a lesson and move on, Ted Lasso, plays on the characters finding reasons to be honest. In most of the cases, it is because they start seeing their co-workers as friends, and as such, they owe their friends honesty, and forgiveness. That building friendships, especially for adults, is very hard, and Ted Lasso is a show that was willing to take it’s time with ten episodes, to allow those relationships develop, in a wonderful and hilarious way.

  • Construction Out the Back Window

    When I look out the back window of my apartment, I see a huge condo tower being built. Eventually, it will block my view of the City, and all I will see will be this condo tower, unless I lean out the window and look to the right, then I will be able to see other parts of New York.

    I knew this building was coming. I had watched as the lots that are occupied by this growing tower were bought, and chain linked fences were put up. Then a coming soon board went up, followed by the work permits displayed on a plywood wall. After that, a temporary worksite office was put on the sidewalk. At the start of the year, a backhoe arrived and started digging out the lot. There was a break at the end of February, after the foundation was poured. I thought that work had been stopped because of Covid, but then in August, workers came back and they haven’t stopped building.

    This is progress, right? Manhattan real estate is too valuable, right? The world is always changing, right?

    I find it odd that with so many people leaving the City, that they are moving forward with building more luxury condos, but maybe these guys know something that I don’t. Maybe they are playing the long game? Hold out long enough, and things will change in your favor. Maybe.

    But looking out my back window, it doesn’t feel like progress. It feels like an intrusion. Like an outpost is being built, and we are about to be colonized.

  • Planning on Writing

    Things aren’t working out the way I had planned, which is the theme of 2020, right? I have been trying to take advantage of being unemployed and being a stay at home parent/homeschool teacher, by fitting in more writing, and looking for ways to take it more seriously, and possibly making this a career.

    What I have run into the past two months is that consistently getting one to two hours a day to write is not likely. I have found myself in more of a feast of famine situation; either no time, or an abundance of time. Now, when the abundance of does show up, it’s like sensory overload, and I don’t know where to begin. (I found myself in this situation yesterday, and I got nothing accomplished as I was trying to figure where I had left off on different projects.)

    Funny, but I have received this advice before, and I think I even wrote about it, but I still have not really digested it, to make it my own. A writer buddy who has two kids, told me that he tries to use every moment he is free to work. Riding the subway, early in the morning, late at night, nap time. He travels with a notebook, and when he sees that he is free, he just starts working.

    For me, there is a step missing, which is I have to prioritize and plan, which makes writing more like work than an art. I was able to do this in my professional theatre career, so why am I not translating this to writing? I’m a planner, and need to organize better. I think I need to project manage myself. Leaving myself to be caught by inspiration is not working. I need to set out what I am working on, goals are, and have an honest accounting of why I did or did not make my goal.

    Still learning here.

  • Oops… No Writing Yesterday

    I didn’t meet my goal yesterday, which was writing. I was able to journal, but I didn’t complete a blog, nor did I work on any fiction.

    But I spent a huge amount of time with my kid. We made chicken stock in the morning, and read books together in the afternoon. We were able to go to the playground, and draw pictures together while drinking hot chocolate. In the evening, we made dinner, and watched “Star Wars.” It was a very fulfilling day.

    Being locked at home al the time, I get in my head that I should be making huge strides, and racking up enormous word counts daily. And maybe I should if I want to have a career.

    But I don’t want to miss this time with my daughter. I mean, I’m teaching her to read. Helping her sound out words and become confident with her ability to learn. It really is a gift to be with her at this time, and to learn how learning works.