Category: Uncategorized

  • ODDS and ENDS: William Holden Essay, Ted Lasso Season 2, and House in the Country

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

    This morning when I was sitting in the car waiting for the street sweeper (No, this is not about parking in NYC) I read this really good essay in today’s NYTimes. It is called, “The Many Deaths of William Taught Me How To Be Anxious,” by Alexander Aciman. It made me laugh out loud, and I could identify with trying to raise a kid, and make her aware of the dangers around her, without trying to scare her. What it also reminded me of was, towards the end of summer, a particular awful thunderstorm rolled through the City. Hell, it might have been the one that caused all the flooding. Anyway, in the morning, I was walking the kid to the local park, and as we passed a row of trees, I heard this great crunching and crashing sound. I grabbed the kid’s hand, and we took off running, and what collapsed behind us was a huge tree branch, that I am sure if it landed on us would have caused serious injuries. I tried to explain the danger to the kid, but she just thought it was fun. So, I understand creating an avatar of many deaths.

    I have started watching Ted Lasso, Season 2. It started out uneven, but seems to have righted itself. I mean, nothing can be as magical as that first season, but I am enjoying the characters and what conflict and growth can be brought to them. I was supposed to wait for my wife, but I know full well I will watch it all over again. It’s like watching a Marvel Movie; each episode is packed full of little details that are fun to discover.

    I have set a few goals for myself. Some I have achieved, others I’m still a million miles from. Yesterday, I said one out loud, and I think I mean it. I want to buy an old farm house, in upstate New York. And I mean, like a real old farm house; three bedrooms, one bath, and a root cellar – that kind of thing. It’s the first time in three years that I said that I want to leave New York City. I mean, it has to be good for the kid, as there is no point in moving to the middle of the woods if the schools suck and she has no friends. But, I have no idea how to achieve this, but I don’t see why that’s a barrier.

  • I Bought Bitcoin

    Did you know that you can buy Bitcoin through Venmo? If you didn’t know, now you know. I thought it was a scam at first. I mean, Bitcoin sells for like $60k a share, and I clearly don’t have that much money to throw around. I also know that Venmo really isn’t selling shares. I think it’s more like renting shares.

    Anyway, I was checking on my Venmo account, which I rarely use. Before the pandemic, when I would go out with friends and have to split a check, that’s when I would use it. And for the fantasy football league that I play in. So, I was checking the account, and I saw that I had forgot that I have $35 in it.

    What to do?

    Now, I am not endorsing buying Bitcoin through Venmo, but I bought Bitcoin through Venmo. Currently, I have made three dollars.

    And it still feels like a scam. I do know how cryptocurrency works, so please don’t explain it to me. In a philosophical sense, anything can have value, and this is a thing, and people say it has value. Maybe it’s the Tulip Crazy all over again, or the Roaring Twenties, or whatever.

    I find it odd that I have purchased something that can make me money, but is not physical. I feel like I have purchased a belief in something. The Ethereal Value.

    It’s conceivable that in one year, I could have $300 of value. And then a year after that, $3,000 of value.

    And it’s also conceivable that someone could say, “It’s just a tulip,” and it all goes away.

    But as of right now, I can go and buy a good cup of coffee.  

  • Harry Kane Stays at Tottenham

    Have I mentioned that I know nothing about the Premier League?

    Let me reiterate; I know nothing about the Premier League.

    Except I think I can claim that I was right about Harry Kane and Tottenham Hotspur sticking together for this season.

    I am saying all of this because Harry Kane Tweeted today:

    I guess that settles that.

    Being that I don’t know or understand anything about the League, I don’t know what the correct interpretation of these events are. Did Kane blink? Did Man City lowball Kane’s value to Tottenham? Did Tottenham refuse to negotiate? Did Kane and Tottenham’s owners come to an agreement? Did Kane suck it up, and get back to being a player on the team? Who knows…

    What I do know is that this could be a fun season. Spurs have two wins in the Premier League, and are down a match in the playoff round of the Europa Conference League, but they did make some moves this summer to add players, and the big move was keeping Son. So, I’m looking forward to what Tottenham can do.

    Should be fun.

  • Summer Grocery Shopping

    The school year is coming to a close here in NYC. As of this moment we only have 6 days left of remote school, and we all can’t wait for it to be over. Come September, the kid will be back in class, like a normal elementary schooler, and there will be so much joy and excitement for that occasion, it already feels like it’s going to be Christmas Morning on that first day of school.

    In the meantime, it’s still the Dad/Daughter Experience for the Summer.

    Yesterday, as we got out of class early, I had to go shopping at Trader Joe’s. I didn’t see any reason why the kid couldn’t come with me, as the store is allowing people to shop together again. If nothing else, it would kill an hour of the day, which was better than her watching TV.

    Getting there did mean a subway ride, which is slowly beginning to feel normal to me again. For the kid, mass transit is still an adventure, and now it’s more exciting as she can read, and loves checking out all the ads on the train. Stepping down into one station, and then appearing out of another, is like magic as you get transported to a whole new world; Like the Upper West Side. Once in the store, she was a good kid, and is now big enough to push the cart for me, unassisted, so she was really helping out, and not fake praise helping out.

    As we walked to the subway station to go back to Harlem, the kid was excited about the ice cream we had bought, and I wondered how much of this she would remember later in life. I have foggy relocations of going grocery shopping with my mother during summer vacation when I was my kids age, and at the time it was just a thing we did, but now it has taken on more of a melancholy reminiscence. A very important mundane experience that I value more today.

  • ODDS and ENDS – A-Holes, WWE or MMA, Make the Call, and Parking

    “Odds and Ends” is my continuing series of random thoughts and follow ups…

    I know that I am not the first person to say this, or even the best at articulating this sentiment, but we all agree that people who recline their seat on an airplane are assholes. No one likes the people who do it, and if you are a person who reclines your seat, we all hate you; You should know that. (Really? Does the two inches of reclining make that much of a difference?) But I started wondering why the airlines leave that function on the seat? Is there a torture quotient that they need to fill for Coach? Sorry, Economy. Was there a meeting where airline Executives brainstormed ideas that would lead to more fights on flights?

    “Fights on Flights” sounds a WWE event. Or MMA. You make the call on that.

     “You Make the Call” commercials had the best music. Manly, sports music.

    So, I tried to explain parking in New York to someone who does live in here. What I discovered is that I sound crazy, like I have accepted Thunderdome as a way of life, and that’s normal way to live.

    And finally, we are going hiking again this weekend. We haven’t decided where, but the Summer of hiking continues.