Category: News

  • ODDS and ENDS: 50th Street Stop, Swearing, and The Blizzard

    (Got arrested at Mardi Gras for jumpin’ on a float…)

    You might not know this, but there is a time distortion that happens at the 50th Street station on the C line. At the station, C trains arrive on average, every 12 minutes. Yet, if you go one stop before or after 50th (42nd and 59th Street respectively) you will observe that C trains arrive every 6 minutes. Somehow, come towards or going away from 50th Street on a C train adds or takes away 6 minutes of time. This distortion may be caused by a Doppler Effect, a red or blue shift as it were, with time. More research is needed, clearly, as this distortion may have the potential to rethink our understanding of time and space. But most importantly, the C trains arrive never shows up at 50th when you need it!!!

    I have a bit of a potty mouth. For the longest time I didn’t swear at all. Then something popped in my brain around 25 and I stopped giving a shit. (Mind you, I’m a pretty clean writer. Sometimes it comes out but not often. The reason is I think the over use of swear words in writing demonstrates a lack of vocabulary and creativity with the language.) It’s tricky with a kid. I do my best, but it sort of flies outta me, as my filter is rather porous. I fear that I’m being a bad influence on the kid, but we do live in New York. She’s heard way worse on the street than anything I’ve said.

    So… a blizzard is coming Sunday. We could get anywhere from 6” to 16”. And then there’s the chance for ice. Me and the kid are super excited about this. I love snow and ice. I love the winter season, and I love snowball fights and building snowmen. I love to sled, and we bought a two seater one so I could take part with the kid. I love watching the snow fall, and how quiet it makes the City as it’s coming down. I love that first walk in the snow, and how everything appears new, clear and fresh. Can you telling grew up in a place that never got snow?

  • Political Observation While on Christmas Vacation

    For Christmas, we went home to Texas to see family and friends. We had a good time, and did all the fun family stuff for the Holidays: wrapped gifts, ate too much, drank a little too much, laughed a lot, caught up, enjoyed the Season, and laughed some more.

    With all of this merriment, there was one thing that I wanted to avoid, which was talking politics. One reason was that I just wanted a break from the doom and gloom and unending aggression and conflict. Another reason was that I just wanted to have a good time with the people I love.

    I do love my friends and family, and I am very fortunate (I do mean this) that I have a large group of people in my life that are all over the political spectrum. It can make conversations interesting and heated, but it also keeps me grounded. My conservative friends and family remind me that conservative people all don’t think the same, they’re not all MAGA, and do make some good points. Same goes for the liberal and moderate people as well – they are good at defending/explaining their beliefs as well.

    Though I tried to dodge the trap of talking politics, it always comes up.

    BUT! I did observe two very interesting conversations that came up across the board, no matter who I was talking to – conservative/liberal/moderate. They were:

    1. Interest in Zohran Mamdani
    2. Tired of Fighting, Let’s Get Things Done

    Everyone is interested in Zohran! Maybe not everyone agreed with his policies, but everybody talked about how much they liked the guy. And with us being from New York City, all of our friends and family kept on asking us questions about him, if we voted for him, do we think his plans will work. The other interesting thing was that they all had seen at least one of his videos. What I think it all came down to was that they all felt he was “the new thing” in politics, and they wanted to know more about him.

    The second observation I thought was the more profound one; everyone wanted to stop fighting/arguing and just get things done. They all explained it in their own unique ways, but what I got is that everyone is tired and frustrated with feeling like they are constantly being pitted against someone or something, and the result is that nothing changes. To that end, everyone started asking why aren’t we compromising, or why aren’t we electing people who can compromise, or at least work to a solution?

    Sure, this is completely anecdotal, but talking to our friends and family about this gave me the feeling of hope. A slight, little, tiny hope which maybe, might be signaling that this antagonistic/zero sum/winner take all politics could possibly, just sort of be showing the first signs of cracking.

    Wouldn’t that be nice?

  • Short Story Review: “Safety” by Joan Silber

    (The short story “Safety” by Joan Silber appeared in the December 8th, 2025 issue of The New Yorker.)

    Illustration by Chris W. Kim

    You know, every “time” is a “historic time” but some are more historic than others. I will agree that we are in the middle of one of those historic times, and if I am lucky enough to have grandkids, then I imagine they will ask me “WTF was everyone thinking, grandpa?” The good news is that over the past three or four months, I have started to see works of art in different media start to tackle the events of deportation, disappearing, and what effect these policies will have on America. I am going to throw Joan Silber’s “Safety” in with all of these works, though uneven, I applaud what this story attempted.

    Overly Simplified Synopsis: Two girls become friends growing up in New York, one Muslim the other Jewish, and both decedents of people who immigrated to the US to escape dictators. They go their separate ways in life and reconnect in New York, where the Muslim friend now has a child and a partner who is a comedian. When the comedian is on his way home from a gig, he is disappeared by the Administration.

    There is an ease to this story, and a simple directness to the writing. What it does well is create a picture of the modern melting pot that America is – people of different backgrounds are still coming here, and their children are still connecting with people that are different from them, and finding a commonality in our shared humanity. Silber does well in creating a context for the Muslim family regarding escaping the Nazis, being forced to migrate by Stalin to Uzbekistan, and the trauma of family separation.

    Yet, through it all, I couldn’t shake the feeling that this story was pulling its punches. There is a huge amount of drama here that is being sieved through a philosophical existential filter, but it never seems to amount to an emotional climax. For example, think of how these families lives’ have been influenced by authoritarians – from being pushed out of home nations, to being pushed together in America – and how these families have made new lives for themselves. And when a new Authoritarian pressure is applied, the characters seem more resigned, as if ordained to this fate, rather than free to exist.

    Ultimately, I appreciated this story, and Silber, for taking a swing at an issue that needs to be swung at. “Safety” uncomfortably reminds us that history does repeat itself. That immigration, deportation, and citizenship (both in its legal and the social definition) needs to be discussed and debated again, so we can finally find a way to break this awful cycle.

  • What Did I Do Today?

    I over slept, for one.

    I made a breakfast of cereal because I was tired.

    I walked the dog.

    I woke my daughter up.

    I made my daughter breakfast.

    I had a long conversation with my daughter because she felt sad and anxious.

    I started laundry and finished laundry.

    I made my family lunch.

    I fell asleep on the couch watching an old episode of Great British Baking Show.

    I cleaned the kitchen.

    Made a Thanksgiving grocery shopping list.

    I listened to The Beatles’ Anthology 4 while folding laundry.

    I am currently writing a blog.

    I still have to walk the dog.

    I still have to shower.

    I still have to make dinner.

    I still have to clean the kitchen again.

    I still have to make the coffee for the morning.

    I still have to put the kid to bed.

    I still have to play MarioKart and try and beat the final circuit in the Mirror Level.

    I still have to snuggle with my wife on the couch as we watch Tracker.

    I still have to put my wife to bed.

    I still have to watch part three of Ken Burn’s The American Revolution.

    I still have to go to bed.

  • What It’s Like To Be a Stay-at-Home-Dad? (“Mommy Has Questions” Podcast Interview)

    Here is the episode of the podcast Mommy Has Questions that I was interviewed on. It was a fun conversation about stay at home parenting, male roles in the family, and the couple of other things. I had great time, enjoyed the discussion, and the whole Mommy Has Questions team made me feel comfortable and right at home. So thank you for having me.

    Please, give it a listen – follow, subscribe, leave a comment. You know the drill.