Author: Matthew Groff

  • ODDS and ENDS: The Subway, Aaron Rodgers, and I’m Not Talking About Tottenham This Week

    “ODDS and ENDS” is my continuing series of random thoughts and follow ups…

    Riding on the subway sucks right now. I keep on thinking that I am going to get comfortable with it, but it still makes me anxious. Though I am vaccinated, I still don’t like people getting near me when I am in a car. And I especially don’t like unmasked people being around me. Then, the kappa donna is when I ride with the kid. I become super edgy with people, and try to get as far away from them as possible, in an attempt to keep my kid safe. I know that when she gets vaccinated, which will be soon, some of these feelings will ease up. But as of now, it’s like a necessary evil to get around the city.

    So… Aaron Rodgers was having so much fun because he was fooling everyone. Or he was all hyped up on B-12 shots. Either way, nice try Rodgers…

    Tottenham has a new manager, and barely got past Vitesse in their Europa Conference match. Sure, it was Conte’s first time leading the team, but looks like they have the same old problems that a manager can’t change. Spur’s defense is awful, and that’s where the fix needs to happen. I think between Lucas, Son and Kane, goal scoring is taking care of. They just need to stop the other side, and get the ball back on transition. (I sort of sound like I know what I am talking about.) Tottenham play Everton this weekend, and I don’t see them pulling it off. But… I’ll be there with my scarf on, watching them play.

  • Short Story Review: “The Umbrella” by Tove Ditlevsen

    (The short story “The Umbrella” by Tove Ditlevsen, translated from the Danish by Michael Favala Goldman, was featured in the October 25th, 2021 issue of The New Yorker.)

    When it comes to reading, and then writing my little reviews of, the short stories that are featured in The New Yorker, I do not do any research on the writers until after I publish my blog post. I want to let the story speak for itself, and not invite any outside influence to come into play. (The Sally Rooney story was the one exception, but I’m a fan of hers so that was that kind’a expected…) This way my expectations can be hedged, and I enter the story with an open mind.

    Wow, this story was Scandinavian! It’s like Ibsen’s ghost took a pass at this story. (I wonder if non-Americans think Mark Twain’s influence is present in all American writers?) I don’t necessarily mean that as a bad thing, but within a few words, “The Umbrella” sets a very specific tone, which I think bodes well for Michael Favala Goldman’s ability to translate Tove Ditlevsen’s story. The plot is straight forward, and I am not being condescending when I say this. It is about a young woman, Helga, who marries Egon, and the difficulties that arise in their new marriage, and also Helga’s desire to own a beautiful umbrella. And, as I am sure that you can guess, it’s about more than that.

    Which is why I said it is so Scandinavian! From the Third Person Omniscient narration, to the setting being early winter, to characters staring out windows watching people walk by, even to the conversation between Helga and her mother about a Christmas where Helga cried over her gifts… this story has a tone and mood that is thick and enveloping. But I didn’t find it overpowering, as the story was about the little disappointments in life, and how people try to connect, and also how people try to move on, and what they have latched onto from their past to help them do that. It had a brutal honesty, that wasn’t unpleasant, but was unflinching.

  • The Act of Journaling

    I read an article in this week’s New Yorker, entitled “The Paper Tomb,” about the journals of Claude Fredericks. Who, you ask? In fact, the article starts off the same way. Unless you went to Bennington College, or are a deep dive fan of the novel, “The Secret History,” odds are you are like me, and this would be the first time his name has shown up in your life. What makes Claude Fredericks interesting, at least in this article, is that he spent an entire lifetime journaling, and expected it to be published. Also, Fredricks was an early proponent, autofiction, though in his mind, he saw the journal as the vessel of this media, and not the novel.

    I read the article last night, and I have been thinking about it since. I do like the ambition of a longhaul documentation of one’s life, in the sense that it is a fascinating art project. It’s like Andy Warhol’s “Sleep,” five and a half hours of a guy sleeping. Sure, it’s an anti-film, but it also plays on the idea of documentation to the point where it is actually just witnessing life. Can you truly document an entire life? We all know the answer is no. You cannot witness someone else’s entire life, nor can you get every detail of life down on paper.

    But what is it then? I journal, and I know a great number of other people who journal as well. Hell, Gary Shandling was a prolific with his journals. Are we doing this for ourselves, or do we all intend to have someone read them one day? Isn’t this just a fancy literary way of talking to ourselves?

    I have completed 38 journals that are anywhere from 200 to 300 pages long each. I started when I was 18 and continue to this day. They are in a box in the office, and most days I don’t think about them. Then I complete a journal, and go to throw it into that box, and that’s when I ask myself, who is this really for?

  • Election Day

    It’s Election Day in NYC. It’s sort of a holiday here, in the sense the schools are closed… sort of. There is no in person learning happening, but the kids are remoting into for their lessons. So, the whole family is together today. The wife is working, and the kid and I are on the couch working on our respective computers.

    And, sadly, I’m not excited about this election. We are voting for Mayor in the City, and I really don’t like either candidate. Silwa is a character from New York City Past, and just seems out of touch for the current NYC. Eric Adams feels like the new “conservative” Democrats. You can’t win an election in this town running as a Republican, so most moderate Republicans became Democrats, and that’s Eric Adams. Again, not excited about either one.

    I quote Desus and Mero when it comes to being mayor of this city; It’s the only job where you are hated by everybody on day one. Seriously, what kind of person wants that job?

    It has left me with this feeling of dread in my stomach this election. I was anxious in 2016, 2018 and 2020, as I did feel that Trump and his allies were a threat to this country. This time around, I feel like it’s going to get broken no matter who wins, and things will get worse. I know that this is a dangerous mentality to have. It’s very close to the feeling of hopelessness.

    And that’s what makes me very uncomfortable with myself.

  • Tottenham Might Be Unfixable

    I did think the headlines going into the Tottenham v. Man United match were a little over the top. The British press were selling the idea that whomever lost, that manager would be fired on Monday. I thought, no way. Not two and a half months into the season.

    Have I mentioned that I know nothing about English football?

    But then Tottenham went on to lose 0-3 at home. The whole team looked awful. Offense was uninspired. Defense looked lost. Does anyone remember Kane and Son last year? Does anyone remember when this team made it to the Champions League final? By the end of the match, I came to accept that yes, Nuno was going to be fired.

    And here we are on Monday, and that is what happened. Nuno is out, and it looks like Antonio Conte is in? Not sure if that will help. Team owner Levy did this trick back in 2019, and that didn’t help, and in fact, made the team worse. I’m not confidant in an owner who decides to do the same thing again, expecting a different result.

    Sadly, and I know that I am wrong all the time when it comes to this team, but I think this is Kane’s last season with Tottenham. If this team can’t win, why would he stay? World Cup is next Summer, and England is ranked in 5th in the world. Kane will have a very big stage to show how much he is worth, and some team will pay it.

    So… Yeah, for bad decisions for a middle of the table team! Yeah!