Tag: NYC

  • The Age of Dinner Parties

    The Age of Dinner Parties

    The other day, the kid was asking me and the wife lots of questions of what our life was like before she was born. It’s a fair and very good question, or more accurately, questions that she was asking us. The wife and I were together for nine years before the kid was born, so we had a good amount of time of being a couple before we became a family.

    As I reminisced about our past life, it dawned on me that we had a very unique period of about two years, where we host other couples at our place for dinner parties. And on the flip of that, we were invited over to several couples dinner parties. It was a very specific time of us and all of our friends, as we were entering our thirties, beginning to be established in careers, all in committed relationships, but we weren’t married yet and didn’t have kids. I mean, as soon as people started getting married, kids weren’t far behind, and then some started moving out of the City.

    I still have a Spotify playlist for one of our dinner parties from long ago.

    It was a fun time. Usually we hosted on a Saturday night. The wife, at the time the girlfriend, would come up with the menu and I would shop for it over the week. We’d do some prep on Friday night, and most of that would be the making of the desert. The wife was the chef and I the assistant. My strength was in cutting veggies, and making drinks. The wife did the heavy lifting for the rest of the food. We made a really good team in the kitchen, and by the time the other couple arrived, I only had the entertain for maybe 30 minutes and then we were eating.

    The other side that I miss was the conversation. Most of the time, it always started off the same way. When the guests would arrive, we’d talk about what trains they took to get to our place, and transit in general. Next we’d sit for the meal, and the conversation would move to food; either on cooking or places we’d eaten at recently. By the time desert came around, people had a drink or two, then things got really fun. People would tell stories, or experiences they had, or a friendly debate would occur. It was the moment when we started really getting to know people, who they were, and how they worked.

    I remember that after one particular fun and engaging dinner party, me and the wife high-fived after the guests left because we were so excited and proud of ourselves for hosting such a good evening.

    But things changed, and having an adult evening over at someone’s place, only adults, is a pretty rare thing now. I’m not complaining, because it was a moment of our lives that existed for a very specific time, and place.

    Just hadn’t thought about it in a while.

  • ODDS and ENDS (AI Edition): AI’s Reason for Allowing It to Write for Me Today, Old Ladies of New York, and Radiohead’s “Palo Alto” {P.S. I Included AI’s Feedback Notes}

    ODDS and ENDS (AI Edition): AI’s Reason for Allowing It to Write for Me Today, Old Ladies of New York, and Radiohead’s “Palo Alto” {P.S. I Included AI’s Feedback Notes}

    (In a city of the future it is difficult to concentrate…)

    (Image created by AI)

    Today, I’m too tired to write my blog, so AI is taking over. While I rest, it effortlessly strings words together, capturing my thoughts with precision. No brainstorming, no editing—just a seamless flow of content. It’s fascinating how AI can mirror my style, keeping my readers engaged even when I lack the energy. Technology has become my writing assistant, ensuring consistency and creativity without burnout. Maybe I’ll take advantage of this more often. For now, I’ll sit back, recharge, and let AI handle the words. Who knew laziness and productivity could go hand in hand?

    Old ladies in New York City are the toughest, meanest people you’ll ever meet. They’ve seen it all, and they have zero patience for nonsense. They’ll shove past you on the subway, glare at you if you’re walking too slow, and scold you like you’re their grandkid. Try cutting in line at the deli? You’ll get an earful. Hold up a bus because you’re fumbling with your MetroCard? Expect a sharp sigh and a muttered insult. They’ve earned their attitude through decades of city life, and honestly, they might be the real bosses of New York.

    Radiohead’s Palo Alto is a cynical take on the heart of Silicon Valley, portraying it as a soulless, corporate dystopia. The lyrics describe a futuristic city obsessed with technology, wealth, and progress but devoid of real human connection. The song’s narrator expresses alienation and dissatisfaction, sarcastically calling it a “city of the future” while feeling lost in its artificial environment. It critiques consumerism, isolation, and the emptiness of modern life, themes that Radiohead often explores. Beneath the upbeat, distorted guitars, Palo Alto is a bleak reflection on a world where innovation outpaces humanity’s ability to find meaning.

    ***

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    Let me know if you want it in a different tone or style!

    – The introduction sets a relatable stage, but consider providing more context about AI’s role in your writing process to deepen reader engagement.

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    – The section about New York City’s old ladies is vivid and entertaining. However, balancing humor with a touch of warmth could enrich the narrative.

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  • I Like Coats, Scarves, and Gloves

    It’s cold in New York City, and I love it.

    For years now, winter around here hasn’t felt like winter. More like a “Perpetual End of Autumn” that carried on till the start of April. At least one Nor’easter would blow through every year, and dump four to six inches of snow on us, but within a week it would all be gone, and the reign of light coats would return. This was such a reliable pattern that the wife and I started to wonder if the winters of our first years in the City were a thing of memory.

    But starting Christmas week, the winters of the past returned; Snow fell and stayed on the ground, the temperature hung around freezing, and a feeling needing to be wrapped up on the couch was ever present.

    Perhaps I am a bit romantical when it comes to winter. I did grow up in Texas, where it rarely got below forty degrees in the deepest part of winter, and just the hint of snow was enough to close down the schools and services. I think it is true that most people are drawn to the thing they are most denied, and for me that was cold weather.

    For you see, my whole family was born and raised in Illinois. All, except me. I mean, I was born there, but we moved south when I was six months old, so my experience was the opposite of everyone else. My family would talk about snowball fights, building snowmen and snow-forts. There were foreign chores of shoveling out driveways and sidewalks. Keeping blankets, kitty litter, and chocolate bars in the car just in case. I remember seeing a pair of my father’s old snow boots, black rubber, that were up on a self in the garage, where they only thing they did was gather dust and become a relic of his other life.

    When I moved to New York back in 2006, it briefly snowed on my first Thanksgiving here, and it was close to the most magical thing that ever happened to me. That first snowstorm the following January was a moment of excitement, but also hammered home how unprepared I was for winter. I only had a Texas winter coat, which wasn’t a winter coat. No snow boots, but I did have a huge scarf that a good friend had given to me before I moved. I soon got a peacoat from an Army/Navy store on 16th and 6th, and still own it to this day. I have gone through several different pairs of snow shoes, and I am proud to tell you that I also still have that original scarf I was given – As it is rather long and thick, I pull it out to wrap my face on exceptionally cold days.

    The last time I talked to my dad, about a week ago, he was telling me of the coming winter storm headed his way in Texas. He dreaded it, and honestly, I think it annoyed him highly that it will get so very cold. “I moved down here to get away from all of that,” he told me, “I had enough cold to last me several lifetimes.” When he got the opportunity in his life, he ran to where it was hot, and took all of along with him.

  • ODDS and ENDS: DMV Time, Tottenham Confusion, Merch Store, and Vote

    (I feel so bad, I got a worried mind…)

    My driver’s license is going to expire soon. This means that I need to make my quadrennial appointment with the New York State DMV. Unlike most people, I don’t mind wasting time at the there. Normally, I get some good reading in, or have a fun time people watching. In New York, they let you schedule appointments. It implies that you will be seen at a certain time, but really, these appointments are just guidelines; a mere suggestion of when service will be rendered. Hence why I bring a book. And it’s easy to dump on the people who work at the DMV. What I have found is that if you are pleasant and show up with the correct paperwork filled out, the DMV staff not only is surprised that they don’t have to explain the process to you, their actually relieved.

    So, let me get this straight… Tottenham can beat Man City, but they can’t beat Crystal Palace? Right…

    The Merch Store is open people. All items share my philosophy of the type of blogger that I am.

    You should vote, if you haven’t already. Make a plan. Tuesday is the final day, you know.

  • Pools are Open!

    My kid loves to swim, and wants to swim all the time as soon as it starts getting hot out. That can be a rather tough request to fulfill, as we do live in New York City. There are beaches, and a Jersey Coast. There also happens to be lakes upstate, and New England does have many swimming holes. But those are all exercises for vacations. Speaking of vacations, we are at the age where if hotel doesn’t have pool, we have killed our child’s will to live.

    Now, we have one great advantage in our neighborhood, which is that we are only a few blocks from the community pool. (There are two City services that make New York an amazing place to live; the first is the libraries, and the second is the City Park Service. They both don’t receive enough credit, nor enough funds.) We have an awesome pool that is run well, and is filled with kids. The window that these pools are open is short, normally 4th of July to Labor Day, and even by Labor Day, it can start getting cool out.

    This year the pools opened a week early, and we would have been there if the kid didn’t get a nasty Summer cold last week. BUT, today we were all healthy and headed out, to jump and splash around. And being that this is our fifth year of doing this, I’ve started looking forward to going. It’s part of our Summer, either early mornings, or late afternoons at the pool; The kid does make swimming friends, who we will only see at the pool, and never anywhere else in the neighborhood. I get some quality reading done while lounging in the plastic Adirondack chairs, while keeping on eye on the kids screaming and splashing.

    Pools are open. Have fun and stay cool.