Author: Matthew Groff

  • Walking NYC Again

    My daughter’s birthday is coming up, and the wife and I have been taking turns shopping for the event. The wife was able to get all of her purchases taken care of in, and around the neighborhood. My big errand for the birthday shopping was to go get some books. Luckily, there is a great children’s bookstore in Manhattan, Books of Wonder, and I headed out for the Upper West Side location.

    Now, I could have taken some sort of mass transit there, but I am still a little hesitant, and also, I could use the exercise of a good walk. So on Saturday, I head out on foot. It was a nice winter day for a walk; not too cold, but cold enough to be bundled up.

    For the past ten months, I have rarely gone any further north than 145th Street, a never below 93rd Street, so to head down into the 80’s was like going to a new foreign land. The thing I noticed first was the amount of people, who were younger than me, all crammed around tables on the sidewalks for brunch. I know that the restaurants need the business, but the lack of masks, and close proximity didn’t seem very safe or wise. I don’t know what the answer is here, but there just needs to be a better balance out there.

    But, as I walked on, down Columbus, and then over to Amsterdam, I began to enjoy being out in the City. Hearing people’s conversations on the street, and the movement and action of coming and going. I know it was only like 50% of NYC, but it was a friendly reminder that this was once a city that I wanted to be in and explore. It was nice to see people, even from a safe six-foot distance.

  • A Tie is Worth A Point

    I have just about made it to the weekend. This was a pretty crappy week. No doubt about it.

    Still, I sort of keep going back to the hope, the magical thought that me and my family will get vaccinated and that we will be able to go back to the way things were very soon. That idea of returning to the life that we had in March 2020 is very intriguing, and it is now met with a heightened level of nostalgia that is becomes both sad and wildly unrealistic.

    I went back through my journals, and even looked at the picture on my phone to see what life was like in March 2020. For us, it was awful. The wife and I were still without work, and our bills were getting out of control. What little money we did have was drying up, and we started talking about what options we had to stay in our apartment. It was dark, and it was bleak. The only bright spot was that I got hired on the Friday before the whole world shut down on the following Monday.

    I look around our apartment now, as I type on the couch and the kid sits next to me drawing and singing, and things are… not exactly better, but clearly, things are not worse. The wife is employed at a good job that gives all of us insurance. We are starting to dig ourselves out of the financial hole we created. The kid is in school, albeit remote, but she can read and write now. And we are healthy.

    Can that be counted as a win? In the Premier League, a tie still gets you a point.

    I think we won one point then.

  • Sally Rooney is Publishing a Book in September

    My Google newsfeed gave me five stories, right now, about Sally Rooney publishing a new book this September.

    I’m not trying to get all algorithm conspiracy on you, but I think something is up.

  • Process: Talking About a Story

    I fully admit that I am a superstitious/neurotic writer, and it’s annoying to everybody, especially me. I follow silly rules that have no logical basis with the belief that somehow adhering to these guidelines will guarantee success.

    Such as; I can’t reuse a character’s first name, I can’t work on fiction until I journal first, and the big one, don’t talk about details of a story until it’s finished, because if I were, then the story will never get finished. The last rule has been tricky when it comes to this blog, which leaves some of my posts so vague that they are incomprehensible.

    Last night, I broke the no talking rule with my wife. (Yes, I don’t even tell my wife about my work until it’s done.) And it needed to happen.

    The context here is that I have been working, on and off, for about a year, on a story based upon a person I used to work with, and who my wife also knows. I have told no one about this story, obviously, and this co-worker came up in conversation last night. As in, “Whatever happened to what’s their name?” We talked about the possible fate of this person, and why they were such a challenge to work with.

    And that’s when I was like, I should share this idea, and why I am curious to attempt to write a story about them. Also, I wanted feedback if it was a good idea.

    The jury is still out, as the wife pointed out everything that I knew was problematic about the story… so it needs still more work if it is ever to see the light of day.

    The bigger point here is that I still have several self imposed barriers that I need to break through. The “talking” rule is bullshit as what really does is try to protect me from any criticism. If I never share, then I can never be wrong.

    I still got a long way to go, but working on it.

  • House Votes for Impeachment, Nothing Changes

    Well, I’m watching the House debate and vote on impeachment, and it is just making my stomach sink. Last night it looked like Republicans were going to break with Trump and vote to impeach. Now, watching the debate and the first procedural vote, it looks like nothing has changed from the last time there was a Trump impeachment vote. Yes, there will be more Republicans voting “for” than last time, but there is no way one could say this is a bipartisan vote.

    I am well aware of the fact that 120+ Republican House members voted to overturn the election are in solid red districts, meaning their only real challenge is in the Republican primary, and not in the general election. Odds are that these districts are Trump country, so they have to vote against impeachment, or risk being primaried.

    That is the truth, and that is also disgusting.

    I’m not sure what is worse; the Republicans politicians from these districts, or the people in these districts.

    Sadly, I don’t see 17 Republican Senators voting to convict Trump. Maybe if 60 Republican House voted for impeachment, then I could believe in the Senate. But if only 5 House Republicans vote “for,” then it’s like we are right back where we were.