Tag: Kids

  • ODDS and ENDS: Political Ads, Sports, and Apple Picking

    (You’re good, so good…)

    We are now under 30 days from the Midterm elections, and if you are like me, you’ve had your fill of the political ads. There is no way to avoid them, as they seem to have invaded every for and medium out there. This time around, the kid has started paying attention, and asking questions, which is good. Her game is trying to figure out which political party a candidate is with, being that in almost all the ads, no one specifies anymore. All of these additional conversations with my daughter have been great but lead me to ask her a very important question; “Are you excited to vote when you turn 18?” Which she quickly answered, “No.”

    The Dallas Cowboys suck this season. And the Cubs got swept outta the playoffs, super quick. I don’t have high hopes that Tottenham will have righted the ship after this International break. So… I’m not having a good sports month. It’s an October Slog. In fact, when I was out shopping last week, a store clerk asked me why I was out in public with a Tottenham hat on. “Why are you announcing your shame to everyone?” he asked. I didn’t take it personal, he was an Arsenal fan.

    That’s right, I’m again doing the very cheesy and cliché thing! I’m going up the Hudson Valley to take my family apple picking. Oh, I love how silly, and over crowed, and just basic this tradition is. But you know what I really love? Apple Cider Donuts! Eating apples off a tree! Putting on a flannel shirt, and walking around in mud! It’s my Rites of Autumn! May it live forever!

  • Short Story Review: “A Very Safe Place” by Rachel Heng

    (The short story “A Very Safe Place” by Rachel Heng appeared in the October 12th, 2026 Issue of The New Yorker.)

    (Illustration by Vanessa Saba; Source photographs from Getty)

    Rachel Heng’s “A Very Safe Place” is a timely story. Set in Singapore, it confronts the complicated situation of immigration; Its motivations, what constitutes doing the right thing, and the threat of punishment. It also is about a child coming to see the world for what it is, and how disappointing and confusing that can be. All of these are themes and ideas that I applaud in a story – especially one that aims to be as realistic as possible. There is no happy ending here, or nice bow that will wrap everything together. Though sober and stark in its writing, it’s an honesty that is needed when speaking on this subject.

    The story left me feeling melancholic, like there was a dark cloud hanging over all of it. Another way to describe it, is that this story is colored in black in white. Not in a moralistic simplicity, but more for the starkness and complexity of these issues presented. (Like how a black and white movie seems more realistic than color.) The good father who has to make a difficult decision for the safety of his family, a mother whose rigidness keeps her family protected, an immigrant striving for a better life, and a boy slowly coming to understand that the world is filled with complications that aren’t easy to square.

    But, unfortunately, that melancholic started to veer into joylessness as the story neared its end, which made this average length story feel like a trudge. My mind did wander and wonder when this was going to wrap up? That was due to the story playing at one dramatic note of seriousness, with nothing to break the tension, or even to play with fluctuating the tone.

    In the end, “A Very Safe Place” is another good story from Rachel Heng. Where it succeeds most is showing how the boy discovers the larger world he now lives in. Hopefully, this encounter will lead him to a life filled with empathy and compassion, regardless of the consequences.

  • ODDS and ENDS: Unexpected Conversation with My Kid, Other People’s Stuff, and Tottenham

    (It’s just another day)

    I tried to explain the “Juice Era” of baseball to my daughter this morning. Talk about a subject that I never thought I would have to get into with her. It all started when she asked me what I thought was the most important position in baseball, pitcher, followed by catcher. Then I told her some stories about Pudge Rodriguez, the greatest catcher of all time, and how I got to watch him play back in Texas. With all I was saying, I mentioned the “Juice Era” and that lead her to asking questions about cheating and players using steroids. You know, normal breakfast conversations.

    We might drive up the Hudson Valley this weekend and take a look at antique stores. It is Labor Day weekend, and getting out of the City seems like a good idea. Sometimes when we head up the Hudson with no real plan to do anything, that’s when we wander into some old antique store that is just crammed full of stuff. Most of it is pretty cool, and a little more expensive than we are willing to spend. But now and then, we do come across a gem of an odd piece of something. We have a wall mounted thermometer from Maine that’s in our kitchen, and the last time we headed out, my wife found some odd drawings of cats. I’m curious to find old vinyl to mount on the wall, and the wife would like a large piece of art to put up in the living room. It’s like treasure hunting for us.

    If they lose this weekend, Lord help us all. #COYS

  • ODDS and ENDS: Autumn Marketing in Summer, Theatre, and Tottenham Hotspur

    (Just sit right back and you’ll hear a tale…)

    It’s not done yet! I know it’s August still, and it’s hot, and the subway platforms are a swamp, and when I step outside, I just start sweating. I’m an old man and I can’t stop talking about the weather, and around this time of year, I want it to be Fall more than anything. But I’m going to throw the marketeers of America under the bus one this one. These Ad-Wizards starting running back-to-school commercials before the 4th of July. Halloween junk on sale at drug stores and Home Depot in August? Just yesterday, I got a catalog in the mail from L.L. Bean telling me that it’s time for Fall! I’m not crazy; they’re all jumping the gun here, right?

    The kid auditioned for a school play. This made me very excited and proud. Also, it put me on notice not to be a “Stage Dad.” See, the kid needed to have a one minute monologue memorized for her audition, and she came to me for help. You know; me, her dad, the guy who got a theatre degree, and did plays and puppet shows and physical theatre here in New York City. Me! She came to me for help, and I said yes! And then I had to tell myself that I cannot live through her, and her experiences in auditioning and doing this play. No! I am here to support, and give guidance when she asks for it. But, she didn’t know how to score a script, or what a beat was in reference to dialogue, so I had to fill her in a little. But no Stage Dad shit!

    This could be a rough season for Spurs. Just saying…

  • META Settlement; Don’t Trust It

    The biggest problem I have with huge, multi-state settlements evolving enormous corporations, is that in the end, the public never benefits. I read the story about the settlement in the paper, and this morning I have been watching all the state AG’s lining up to do the morning news shows telling us how this is a “game changer” and a “new day” when it comes to breaking the addictive nature of social media, and its hold on our children.

    As far as I can tell, META is handing over an amount of money it can afford, and setting up guardrails for teen accounts, provided the teen sets up a teen account…

    But what if a teen sets up a fake account? Seems to me that it won’t take someone long to figure out a way around all of this, and then we pretty much are right back to where we began. Which I think was the point of settling in the first place.

    I see all of this as a very interesting form of performance art, enacted in the hopes to avoid regulation. {“Please don’t touch my algorithm if you please, Mr. Customs man.”} Like, if all the tech companies hand over some money, promise to change some of their rules, then the AG’s and all the politicians will give up on that whole nasty regulation thing, right? (While you’re at it, could you stop all this business about stopping our data centers?) It’s a really fun show, as long as you don’t think about how it’s affecting and ruining the world around you.

    The truth of the matter is that this is a big game, and as long as the company and the shareholders are making money, it will continue being played. Which is why I say that if you really want these social media companies to behave, you have to go after their addictive algorithms. They make their money off of us using that piece of code. Regulate the code, and they’ll play nice.

    Until that happens, all of these settlements are meaningless.