Author: Matthew Groff

  • Back in New York

    It has been a silly crazy, stressful, and all around hectic three months. After the fires hit Sonoma County, my wife got laid off from her job. It was a pretty sickening one two punch, but it made us look at each other and ask if we were happy, and if there was something else we wanted to do? In a sort of funny question, we asked each other, “Do you want to return to New York?” Clearly that was pretty much impossible. Like that was the most out of left field thing we could do with the situation we were in.

    But the more we sat on it, then more we liked the idea. It still didn’t seem practical, though.

    Then we ran the numbers, and it turned out that it was more affordable to live in Manhattan than Sonoma County.

    Yes, you read that correctly. Not San Francisco; Sonoma County. It really makes me kind’a sad to say that out loud, and I will get on a soap box soon to talk about the wealth gap in America, and the homeless problem in California, but I don’t want you to think that the Bay Area is some sort of shit hole. It’s beautiful, and amazing, and magical, but completely unaffordable for the rest of us now. That’s another blog for another day.

    When we discovered that New York was more affordable, it pretty much sealed the deal, and we decided to go. We had to get through the Holidays first, and as soon as Christmas was over, it became a two-week marathon to get it done. Selling a car, packing everything up, getting the kid into an NYC school, flying cross country, and now, sitting back in my old neighborhood, writing a blog. Last week, I was at a U-Haul store loading a box wondering if we would ever get this done.

    We did.

    Now, on to Act Two…

  • As Goes Britain, So Goes America

    If you haven’t noticed, there was an election in the UK. The Conservatives won, and now Brexit will happen. Is that what is best for the UK is anyone’s guess, but what it does mean is that the structures that were put in place after WWII will soon come apart.

    And it means Trump will be re-elected.

    Yes, I said it, and I don’t like it, but it is what will happen.

    I point out that the first Brexit happened, which no one thought would happen. Then trump got elected, and no one, even Trump, thought that would happen.

    The wisdom going into the second Brexit vote was that it would fail, as no one had been able to get a majority to agree to make it happen. What no one counted on is that the English population has been worn out. Johnson clearly knew that as he slogan was “Get Brexit Done,” was easy to understand, and also the exasperated exclamation under everyone’s breath, usually followed with, “for fuck’s sake!”

    American Liberals heed this warning! The end is near, and no amount of health care or wealth tax will assuage the plague that is Trump. Everyone is tired of Trump and has been worn down. Trumps slogan will be along the lines of, “Let Me Finish the Job,” and Americans will say, “Fine, finish the job, and go away… for fuck’s sake.”

  • The Child and The Mandalorian

    I feel the need to talk about Baby Yoda. Only because everyone else is.

    And when I say Baby Yoda, it’s really The Mandalorian I want to talk about.

    (I don’t think this is a review of the show, but more of expression of my reaction to the show.)

    Watching The Mandalorian reminds me of watching Kung-Fu, or The Fugitive, or even The Hulk, as a kid. Those were shows where the hero traveled from town to town getting in adventures, only to have to move on to the next town, leaving his new friends behind. All of these shows were fun, offered some basic morality lesson which reinforced society’s sense of making things right.

    I do like the decision to release new episodes on Friday. That also makes me feel a little like a kid again; waiting to get home to watch the new show. Having all weekend to talk to my friends about it. X-Files was like that. (Game of Thrones I thought used Sunday nights well to it’s story telling. For most adults, Sunday night comes with the dread feeling of having to go back to work. Dread of coming events drove that show.)

    And then there is Baby Yoda. Or as I just found out, is called “The Child” by Disney when describing the show. It is kind of like icing on the Star Wars cake. I really don’t feel the need to pile on, as others have done a much better job than me talking about him.

    What I will say is that the to characters really aren’t very original. It the “Man with No Name” protecting a baby, and did we all not see it coming. Yet, here we and we pretty much love it. And that is what makes me say that there is nothing wrong with just being entertaining from time to time.

  • Free Sick Day

    The kid was home sick today, and I was with her, remote working from the kitchen counter. I did the normal parent thing; let her watch tv while she lay on the couch, ate cracker and juice, made chicken soup. It was a free day for her, and I did have moments of remembering that feeling of the “sick free day.”

    When I was a kid, I was home with my mother most of the time, but at some point I know that I was left alone. I think that age was 10. I remember my parents calling and checking on me. I remember making toast, and cup o’ soup on my own. I remember game shows, and soap operas, and that feeling that the day was half over by the time the noon local news came on. I also remember as the day started draw to dusk, knowing my parents would be home soon, and that was the feeling that the day was over. I wanted the sick day to last forever, but it never did. Yet, I was happy to have my parents home to talk to.

    For the kid, it was Netflix, and binge watching cartoons. We talked, I blew her nose, and I wondered what about sick days will she remember? Relatively, I think it will be the same for her as it was for me. The feeling of having a free day, and then it slowly slips away. Except she is missing out on the world of game shows, like Card Sharks and Press your Luck.

  • Ma

    Today would have been my mother’s 73rd birthday.

    Ma’s birthday and mine, which is a few days earlier, were always wrapped together in the spin of Winter and Christmas preparations. I’m trying to stay merry for the kid, but today is especially hard. It’s not that I feel on the verge of crying, or I can’t get out of bed, or make a joke. It’s just like a little cloud is over everything that happens to me.

    I can’t stop being sad, and I don’t want to stop it either.