Tag: Manhattan

  • ODDS and ENDS: Sleepy, Stuffy, and the Difference Between Avenues and Streets

    ODDS and ENDS: Sleepy, Stuffy, and the Difference Between Avenues and Streets

    (And who thought this was a good idea?!)

    I can’t get enough sleep. I’m not saying that I have a medical condition, or anything to be alarmed about. No, this more has to do with getting older, my body needs more sleep, but I still have a lot of shit to do. Sure, I could go to bed earlier, I mean any idiot could do that, but this feels more like being thirsty. No matter how much I drink, I’m still thirsty. No matter how much I sleep, I just want to sleep more. That’s what I want; not that my body agrees with that, because my body will wake me up somewhere between 5:30 and 6am. That is rather annoying. But even when this happens, and even if I get eight hours of sleep. I’m still tired and I want to sleep more. This is also why I am a fan of, and take naps daily.

    All our noses are stuffed up. The wife and the kid are getting over a cold, so that makes sense. Me? I just I have a sympathy stuffed up nose. When the wife was pregnant and was eating for two, I also eat for two. I easily put on ten pounds. I guess it could be the same thing.

    For those of you who don’t live in New York City, and specifically Manhattan, streets run east to west, and avenues run north to south. Also, the space between avenues is much longer as compared to streets which is much shorter. Just so you know. And please, if you are a tourist, remember this when you come and visit the City.

  • ODDS and ENDS: Euro Cup, Summer Playlist, and Driving Up the West Side Highway at 8am

    (Don’t break the spell…)

    Today is the first day of the Euro Cup. Germany is playing Scotland, and I know nothing about the Scottish squad, so I’m putting my money on Germany. And if this is your first time following me through an international sports tournament, then I need to let you know from the beginning that I have a cursory understanding of these teams, but I make up for it with blind enthusiasm! Also, there’s only so much baseball I can watch during the summer, so I need another sporting competition. But most annoyingly, I will be supporting England, which might be a tad pedestrian for an American football fan, but I really want to see Harry Kane win a cup; Any cup at this point.

    As per my family tradition for summer, the wife and I make Summer Playlists for all the traveling we’ll be doing, especially in the car. This year, the kid is adding her own playlist to the mix. She’s graduated beyond suggesting songs, and actually has some eclectic picks of her own. I have yet to start creating my playlist, but I have a feeling it will be Beatle heavy, with some grunge slipped in there.

    It was a cool morning today, and I needed to pick our car up from shop after it got its annual tuneup. The shop is in that weird area of Manhattan that’s not Hell’s Kitchen, nor is it Midtown West, but what it does afford me is easy access to getting on the West Side Highway to head home to Harlem. And on a Friday morning, there’s no one heading north, so I could put the windows down, blast my music, and have a few moments of enjoying driving; Manhattan to my right, and the Hudson, New Jersey and the rest of America to my left.

  • ODDS and ENDS: Guilty and Does It Matter?

    (But his emails…)

    I had two conflicting thoughts in my head as Trump’s New York False Records case got underway; first was that Trump won’t be found guilty, and second was that this was the case Trump was most likely to be found guilty on. Yes, I was able to circle this square in my mind. First was just past behavior, as Trump always found a way to weasel out of accountability. Second was that this case was about having sex and trying to hide it. Not that everyone cheats on their wife, but everyone does something wrong and tries to make it go away. The motive and emotions of committing this crime are easy to understand, which makes it an easy story for the prosecution to sell a jury on. Now, I did think there would be one hold out juror, especially from that person who said on their jury form that they got their news from TruthSocial. But I was wrong, and I’m okay with that.

    And with the guilty verdict, does it even matter? I don’t know. I don’t think the verdict will cause a mass exodus from Trump’s camp come November. But I do think this verdict could peal off 10,000 soft Trump voters, or voters who are still on the fence in the swing states, and help Biden out. I have a hard time believing that Americans would elect a convicted felon, yet I know that we do live in the age when anything is possible. Even really really awful terrible shit is possible now.

    Shall we end on a happier note?

  • Tax Day and Some Other Stuff

    This seems appropriate…

    Really, I’m using this as an excuse to play a Beatles song.

    But taxes are due today, as I am sure everyone is aware. Funny how with everything going on in the world today, and also in a Manhattan courtroom, no one is talking about “Tax Day.”

    Also, and this has nothing to do with anything, as I know only four of you are seeing this, but I think that I want to start branching out with the blog into using different media for expression. I have been putting up more and more videos of late. Though I haven’t done this in a while, I was putting my sketches up on my IG, and now I’m thinking I might move them over to this. I haven’t found the knack of creating memes, but if I could, I think I would put them up here as well.

    I guess what I am saying is that this blog will always be that; a blog – written posts covering my personal observations and reviews of whatever media I take in that garners a reaction from me. But occasionally, I will be adding other things, to add some variety and keep me on my toes.

    Yeah, that sounds good.

  • Walking the City (Unedited)

    I’m not giving anything away here, as my kid’s birthday isn’t too far away. It’s a known secret in our house, and the kid is expecting something from us. And I want to do something for her, because birthdays should be fun, no matter how old you get – Everyone should get to have at least one day a year where they feel special. But being that she is still a kid, birthdays mean that other children will be involved.

    Today, my task was to complete the acquiring of items for the goodie bags. To accomplish this, I would have to leave Harlem and head down to the Lower East Side and the Village. And I was looking forward to this because I don’t leave my neighborhood as much as I used to.

    I don’t mind the subway ride down to Delancey Street, and popping out on the street, I always feel turned around, even though I have been down there hundreds of times. One of the first rehearsals I had when I moved to New York wasn’t too far from there, and in 2006, I think there was only one condo tower around. I walked over to Economy Candy (The greatest candy store on God’s sugary Earth!) to get the treats for the goodie bags, and that joint is just down the street from the Paul’s Boutique corner.

    Over in the Village I stopped by a local party store to pick up signs, and other stuff to decorate. I was struck by how many closed up store fronts were around there, even though there’s lots of construction happening. It seems like people are willing to spend millions on condos down there, but there won’t be anywhere to go and shop, or hang out.

    All that said, even on a rain and not so cold January overcast day, I still enjoy walking around this City. I am still fascinated by the people, and the sounds I hear, and the way each block can have a different vibe and attitude. At one of my lowest points in my life, when my mother was sick and I knew what was coming, I would walk all over Manhattan, and just be in and around people and the City. There is something comforting for me in being enveloped by this place, and just walking along and experiencing it. It was true for Poe, and Whitman, and even Brando and Kerouac; all walking the streets, seeing what they could see.