Quite stupidly busy at the moment - even without MRI scans, moving people, posts of unwanted stuff on Craigslist and all the other thigs that come with shipping a house, working a project, updating your health status and generally being under the gun.
Still I'm coping. I'm losing weight. And I've yet to attempt murder - so I'm either more repressed than anyone thought or I'm coping.
More when I have some time - which of course will be anytime. Let's face it if I drop a ball people barely hear the thud - if some people drop the ball their patient's veins explode. I have a story about that - of which more later.
One last thing. A psychic (don't ask) told me that I wake up every night screaming in agony but don't remember because someone that Judith dated in the past was a wizard who has cast black magic upon us. A mere $200 would pay for research into who this person is - and another $800 could help break the spell. Sounds like a bargain. You know it wasn't until I mocked the idea in writing that I started to wonder about the likelihood of her being 100% genuine and 100% right. That's how they do it.
Wednesday, October 17, 2007
Monday, October 15, 2007
Exposed
Well today went about as well as could be expected. The movers made grumbling progress towards a signed contract, I managed to find cover for LA, the client promised to sign, the MRI people are scanning diaries, the life changing decision thing moved forward a step and I played rather a nice bingo on an internet scrabble site.
Of course nothing is tied down but I feel as though I'm starting to crawl out from under the weight of organization that I've been under for the last 18 months or so. It's going to be so nice not to get up with a list of people to chase that day.
coming up - a trip to the bahamas for a wedding - with stops in Florida both ways. A trip to Vegas - and a Xmas being quiet in Michigan as Jude tries to get a million and one papers out.
Nae bad - all this and Barking Bard Billy Bragg on Saturday
Of course nothing is tied down but I feel as though I'm starting to crawl out from under the weight of organization that I've been under for the last 18 months or so. It's going to be so nice not to get up with a list of people to chase that day.
coming up - a trip to the bahamas for a wedding - with stops in Florida both ways. A trip to Vegas - and a Xmas being quiet in Michigan as Jude tries to get a million and one papers out.
Nae bad - all this and Barking Bard Billy Bragg on Saturday
The most stressful day of all time...
>waiting on movers, a recruiter, a client signature, a big decision which could change everything and over which I have no control and a time and date for my MRI. It's a sit and wait game and so I'm sitting and waiting. And of course once this stuff is out of the way I have to deal not only with cleaning the shit from the fan but from all the walls that it hit while the fan was spinning.
Sunday, October 14, 2007
A low key weekend
It's been a low key weekend - which is what I needed after a high drama week. It's been good just to run up the cell phone bill with Jude, play a little internet scrabble, catch up on the old TV and do a little bit of writing for myself. I did pop down to Sketchy's which seemed to have found a bit of form actually - with a 'beauty tames the beast' theme that had great monsters and a 'beauty' all too ready to tame him.
Today has consisted of a long walk with the dog in brilliant sunshine but cooler temps (16c); a half hour harboring the neighbors and their baby as the removal guys in their apartment took out the final pieces and I'm about to go and meet Will to talk about his cartoon series.
This afternoon? Kaiser and her new hair, maybe a movie (it's been ages since I went to the cinema) and then an evening spent writing up some of the work notes that I made this morning.
As I said pretty much exactly what I needed.
It's been an odd week - but it's been a good week. Here's hoping that Monday brings good news on something that I've been waiting to hear on forever and a date on the MRI that will look at the 'rupture' in my neck
Today has consisted of a long walk with the dog in brilliant sunshine but cooler temps (16c); a half hour harboring the neighbors and their baby as the removal guys in their apartment took out the final pieces and I'm about to go and meet Will to talk about his cartoon series.
This afternoon? Kaiser and her new hair, maybe a movie (it's been ages since I went to the cinema) and then an evening spent writing up some of the work notes that I made this morning.
As I said pretty much exactly what I needed.
It's been an odd week - but it's been a good week. Here's hoping that Monday brings good news on something that I've been waiting to hear on forever and a date on the MRI that will look at the 'rupture' in my neck
Friday, October 12, 2007
Continuing on the emotional path
it's amazing what happens when you allow yourself to lose the stiff upper lip. I've spent the day terrorizing other people with tales of my mood and of how I feel about almost everything. It's a wonder friends aren't running for the bunker.
Conversations ran for hours rather than minutes. I held eye contact. I freaked people out. And a weird thing happened. I started to notice things. The rats in the park with McDonald's wrappers in their mouths. The tiny spider caught in the glass of one of our pictures at home (Jude tells me it's been there forever). People on the train.
I feel alive and raw and vulnerable and strangely manic. I feel alert and full not just of noble intentions but a real sense of urgency - a real need to get things done. It's as though a heavy gauze has been lifted and I'm shocked by just how alive and vibrant the world is. I wish I could say that this was due to medication (legal or otherwise) but it's not. It's just about opening up and learning to be more open.
So if any of you call or see me over the next few days don't be surprised if I laugh louder, ask you about a mole that you've had for years or if I ask you very personal questions whilst staring at you with real intent. I'm not having a breakdown. I'm not high. Or drunk. Or possessed. I'm just feeling very alive. And that (despite appearances) is a godo thing.
Conversations ran for hours rather than minutes. I held eye contact. I freaked people out. And a weird thing happened. I started to notice things. The rats in the park with McDonald's wrappers in their mouths. The tiny spider caught in the glass of one of our pictures at home (Jude tells me it's been there forever). People on the train.
I feel alive and raw and vulnerable and strangely manic. I feel alert and full not just of noble intentions but a real sense of urgency - a real need to get things done. It's as though a heavy gauze has been lifted and I'm shocked by just how alive and vibrant the world is. I wish I could say that this was due to medication (legal or otherwise) but it's not. It's just about opening up and learning to be more open.
So if any of you call or see me over the next few days don't be surprised if I laugh louder, ask you about a mole that you've had for years or if I ask you very personal questions whilst staring at you with real intent. I'm not having a breakdown. I'm not high. Or drunk. Or possessed. I'm just feeling very alive. And that (despite appearances) is a godo thing.
72 Baps Connie
There's an old Victoria Wood sketch that shows just how emotionally distant the British are as a race. Two women talking and it becomes apparent that one has just (and only just) had her husband die
"What are you going to do?" asks the friend
"72 Baps Connie, I'll slice you butter" says the recently widowed one.
It's a better sketch than that - but not a truer one. As a race the British tend to true to solve a related problem rather than deal with the emotion of the issue at hand. It's about control of course. I think. So maybe not 'of course'
It's this emotional distance that gives us the famed "stiff upper lip" and it's why the world was stunned when Diana's death was greeted with an outpouring of emotion and a bashing for the one person (the Queen) who behaved like a Brit through it all. It's why the world wasn't stunned when 9/11 sent America into therapy but the British bombings sent Londoners determinedly to subway stops accross the capital complaining only about the delays.
Why am I wittering on about this. Because being British is fine until disaster after disaster heaps upon you - then reserve and resolve become quiet desperation and emptiness and you end up in the potting shed with your wicker work and a bottle of Barbiturates.
So I've decide to take Ikea's advice to "Stop being so British" and instead to be a little more in touch, if no more touchy feely. So watch out all you may find me strangely connected to the world.
"What are you going to do?" asks the friend
"72 Baps Connie, I'll slice you butter" says the recently widowed one.
It's a better sketch than that - but not a truer one. As a race the British tend to true to solve a related problem rather than deal with the emotion of the issue at hand. It's about control of course. I think. So maybe not 'of course'
It's this emotional distance that gives us the famed "stiff upper lip" and it's why the world was stunned when Diana's death was greeted with an outpouring of emotion and a bashing for the one person (the Queen) who behaved like a Brit through it all. It's why the world wasn't stunned when 9/11 sent America into therapy but the British bombings sent Londoners determinedly to subway stops accross the capital complaining only about the delays.
Why am I wittering on about this. Because being British is fine until disaster after disaster heaps upon you - then reserve and resolve become quiet desperation and emptiness and you end up in the potting shed with your wicker work and a bottle of Barbiturates.
So I've decide to take Ikea's advice to "Stop being so British" and instead to be a little more in touch, if no more touchy feely. So watch out all you may find me strangely connected to the world.
Thursday, October 11, 2007
careful out there
Lunch and dinner with (different) headhunters today - and another called yesterday morning. My brain (for the picking) seems to be in much demand. Hopefully this time they'll make enough in placements to pay me a decent commission. Enough to pay the moving costs anyway - went with middle estimate of $5124
Have a feeling I'm gonna get hosed later - but for now I'm happy with that one.
Well lunch waits for no man - and have two things to write between overpriced meals so I'll dash for the door, take the stairs rather than the elevator and finish this later
Have a feeling I'm gonna get hosed later - but for now I'm happy with that one.
Well lunch waits for no man - and have two things to write between overpriced meals so I'll dash for the door, take the stairs rather than the elevator and finish this later
Wednesday, October 10, 2007
a real williamsburg night
it's 1am and I'm just in.
My friend mike and I went out and ended up at a bar with an Opera diva bar tender, a "turning 50 at midnight" old queen with a penchant for conspiracy, a Farsi beauty with startling insight - and a huge number of people from Cleveland.
We talksed about Devo, Bowie as an alien soul, living in the outer suburbs of Sydney, emotional honesty, giving a gorilla hand relief and sexual attraction as an energy level.
And it was fun. I left the bar with a website www.absolute0.com, two numbers (farsi woman and her friend) memories of dancing to Peggy Lee and a reminder that I am still actually a modicum of fun (I thought that I was funny and charming and relaxed and carefree tonight; that might be me through beer goggles however)
All in all a very good vening. Now for 5 hrs sleep and an early conference call
My friend mike and I went out and ended up at a bar with an Opera diva bar tender, a "turning 50 at midnight" old queen with a penchant for conspiracy, a Farsi beauty with startling insight - and a huge number of people from Cleveland.
We talksed about Devo, Bowie as an alien soul, living in the outer suburbs of Sydney, emotional honesty, giving a gorilla hand relief and sexual attraction as an energy level.
And it was fun. I left the bar with a website www.absolute0.com, two numbers (farsi woman and her friend) memories of dancing to Peggy Lee and a reminder that I am still actually a modicum of fun (I thought that I was funny and charming and relaxed and carefree tonight; that might be me through beer goggles however)
All in all a very good vening. Now for 5 hrs sleep and an early conference call
Tuesday, October 09, 2007
Big wedding anniversary
We have a wedding anniversary coming up. It's ten years since we got married and 15 since we 'got together'. 10 years in ye olden times was your tin anniversary. It says a lot that the modern gift is something made of diamond. Too much actually. Maybe I can buy Jude a drill bit - something practical and diamondy.
The truth is it's an anniversary that we're avoiding. Everyone wants to know what we're doing and how we're celebrating and the truth is that we're doing very little, both at work a couple of hundred miles away from each other and both determined that 10 years doesn't become a noose - the marriage equivalent of a 30th birthday.
It's been really tough not having Jude around the last couple of weeks - perhaps accounting for the brevity and general lack of enthusiasm in my posts. We've been apart before of course, lots of times but this time she's so close and I'm so near to being able to join her that it actually hurts. I'd have loved to have been there for more than just visits and to have had ten years mark the beginning of something. A new apartment, a new job, something new that we were embarking on together.
I'd also have loved to have woken up this morning 15lbs lighter, with better defined abs, American white teeth, hair and the ability to speak Dutch (I'm using Rosetta Stone to get me toward the last one)
But it's not to be just yet and so we soldier on and I try to think of a gift that's both swooningly romantic and non-fattening. I was thinking Vegas baby
The truth is it's an anniversary that we're avoiding. Everyone wants to know what we're doing and how we're celebrating and the truth is that we're doing very little, both at work a couple of hundred miles away from each other and both determined that 10 years doesn't become a noose - the marriage equivalent of a 30th birthday.
It's been really tough not having Jude around the last couple of weeks - perhaps accounting for the brevity and general lack of enthusiasm in my posts. We've been apart before of course, lots of times but this time she's so close and I'm so near to being able to join her that it actually hurts. I'd have loved to have been there for more than just visits and to have had ten years mark the beginning of something. A new apartment, a new job, something new that we were embarking on together.
I'd also have loved to have woken up this morning 15lbs lighter, with better defined abs, American white teeth, hair and the ability to speak Dutch (I'm using Rosetta Stone to get me toward the last one)
But it's not to be just yet and so we soldier on and I try to think of a gift that's both swooningly romantic and non-fattening. I was thinking Vegas baby
Monday, October 08, 2007
all a bit cold and empty really
so back in New York and busy as all hell at work. The sun is shining. There are a million and one packing things to be done and yet I still feel in limbo. This weekend showed just how quickly Jude can build a new life. New people, new challenges, new stuff all over the place and here I am feeling trapped in the same old, same old. Time for me to get off my ass and do some things. Where I do them is what's open for question. But it has to start somewhere and it will start today, in New York where I'm actually having a script meeting on a possible kids TV show. Cool
Sunday, October 07, 2007
a strange kind of doom
it's october. in michigan. we've been told to wrap up warm. last night at a party on guest brought hot chocolate. over on campus there was an "80s Sweater and Hot Cider" night going on. It's supposed to be cold. But it's not. Today it's 33c and the sunshine is spectacular. Yesterday was similar. This, of course, is not a good thing in terms of environment. But it's warm and people like warm. So we're wishing away impending doom and floating on the scented breeze of impending disaster. Global Cooling methinks would have more of a groundswell of public opinion behind it. Just an early morning thought is all.
Saturday, October 06, 2007
A somewhat different weekend
Yup after last weekend's nipple tassle extravaganza this week is DIY stores, Jam tasting and a fascinating slide show at the house of someone Jude knows. Oh and there's a 55mile bike ride to a cider mill too. This may take some getting used to
Thursday, October 04, 2007
sucker
okay I know. I'm a sukcer. A real sucker. But I just love sexy electronics. And so with th expenses mounting - $4k to move house, $3k for blinds, $14k for a new car, weekly $250 flights and the like I somehow managed to find my way into an Apple store today looing at the new i-touch.
Okay so it's 8 gig vs the 160 gig of a standard video i-pod. And the price will come down soon.
But it's touch screen.
And it knows which way up it is.
And it has wi-fi that's free in Starbucks.
And it plays movies beautifully.
And it's really thin.
It uses fonts fantastically.
And it really is as sexy as hell.
And besides I've spent more tha $300 on a good dinner.
And we're kinda well off on paper (we just lack the requisite kind of paper to prove it)
And I was celebrating not having cancer.
A "have the paper to prove it" kind of not having cancer
And I did give extra blood today in an act of altruism.
Plus it was my birthday recently
And it's my anniversary soon.
And did I mention that I'd been a good boy?
Okay - I'm a sucker.
But a happy sucker.
BTW - Anyone want a previous generation Video i-pod in Black?
It was a gift and I'd rather someone took it than it went into a drawer.
Okay so it's 8 gig vs the 160 gig of a standard video i-pod. And the price will come down soon.
But it's touch screen.
And it knows which way up it is.
And it has wi-fi that's free in Starbucks.
And it plays movies beautifully.
And it's really thin.
It uses fonts fantastically.
And it really is as sexy as hell.
And besides I've spent more tha $300 on a good dinner.
And we're kinda well off on paper (we just lack the requisite kind of paper to prove it)
And I was celebrating not having cancer.
A "have the paper to prove it" kind of not having cancer
And I did give extra blood today in an act of altruism.
Plus it was my birthday recently
And it's my anniversary soon.
And did I mention that I'd been a good boy?
Okay - I'm a sucker.
But a happy sucker.
BTW - Anyone want a previous generation Video i-pod in Black?
It was a gift and I'd rather someone took it than it went into a drawer.
Scans clear... now for the MRI
So scans were good this morning - except for what they think might be a heriation of a disk in my neck. Have an MRI scheduled just in case. Meanwhile it's all good. Hurrah. Another crap post I know. Monster busy here. (what?)
Wednesday, October 03, 2007
so- thai-ard
as they used to say in Singapore. I'm totally knackered. The head is aching. And I need to be in tip top form for the doctor tomorrow. Well actually I don't as the tests were done weeks ago and it's just a results day. But I still wanna look well. Weird huh? Anyway a real post first thing tomorrow.
Tuesday, October 02, 2007
Lemonade
well after yesterday's disappointments I've decided to suck it up, make lemonade and concentrate on what's actually important. Doctor on Thursday. New client the week after. Time to throw myself into fitness, health and work. Erm, that's it. It's late. The glass of wine was a little too full. More tomorrow.
Life on hold
was promised an answer today on one of those big life shaping things. Actually I was promised an affirmative answer.
Instead I got a 2 week delay.
And a side order of uncertainty.
Powerless to change the outcome I'm moping instead.
Can't remember ever having been this down.
Facing the prospect of being homeless (lease runs out in 3 weeks), penniless (the move costs a fortune), wifeless (she's in Ann Arbor my options around getting there are diminishing daily) and animal-less (they will move end of month) and all I can do is cross my fingers.
Worse is that a 'yes' would have carried me towards something that I really want to do - rather than away from something that I don't. A very good step.
Sometimes I can see how having a belief in something other than the ability of organizations to bugger things up could be a comfort.
Still 2 weeks to certainty. And knowing is all. That gives me the ability to plan. And planning is what I do best.
Okay - back to work.
Instead I got a 2 week delay.
And a side order of uncertainty.
Powerless to change the outcome I'm moping instead.
Can't remember ever having been this down.
Facing the prospect of being homeless (lease runs out in 3 weeks), penniless (the move costs a fortune), wifeless (she's in Ann Arbor my options around getting there are diminishing daily) and animal-less (they will move end of month) and all I can do is cross my fingers.
Worse is that a 'yes' would have carried me towards something that I really want to do - rather than away from something that I don't. A very good step.
Sometimes I can see how having a belief in something other than the ability of organizations to bugger things up could be a comfort.
Still 2 weeks to certainty. And knowing is all. That gives me the ability to plan. And planning is what I do best.
Okay - back to work.
Monday, October 01, 2007
a waiting game
I'm really bad at waiting. Really bad. It's the lack of control that I hate. Other people setting the pace, the deadlines, the pace of your life. It's why I'm not a bus person - being able to see those gaps that "you could drive a bus through" whilst simultaneously not moving drives me bonkers. Gimme the subway anyday. With no front window to peer through and only blackness all around there's no way of viewing the cause of frustration.
So this week is a bad one. I'm waiting on movers. On doctor's results. On window treatment guys. And on a host of equally important - life in our hands - decisions from other people. And it's already driving me insane. By Friday I'll be a basket case. By next week worse.
I gues sit could be worse. I could be being hounded - a la Britney. Am I alone in finding Britney losing her kids a sad thing? It feels as though this has been the script that the press have been looking for all along. They've been pushing the Britney is a bad mom angle for so long (with the "Somebody help us" headlines plastered over pics of her kids) that the court decision today seemed inevitable. Sure she's hardly mom of the year but then she has staff to look after the kids - they're looked after by pros. And a lot of the toddler angst you see is caused by the media scrum around Brit and the kids whenever she leaves the house.
What I really object to though is one of the reasons most often cited as being a sign of Brit's depravity is that she's often naked around her kids. At this point I have to say - so what? They're 3 and 1. I'm not sure they'd notice naked and even if they did I'm sure that's not unhealthy. Okay the drugs might be an issue, that I can see - thoughnobody ever tried to drag Bobbi Houston off to a home for children of drugged up nutter parents, did they?
Enough of a rant "LEAVE BRITNEY ALONE" etc.
Oh this waiting
Steve
So this week is a bad one. I'm waiting on movers. On doctor's results. On window treatment guys. And on a host of equally important - life in our hands - decisions from other people. And it's already driving me insane. By Friday I'll be a basket case. By next week worse.
I gues sit could be worse. I could be being hounded - a la Britney. Am I alone in finding Britney losing her kids a sad thing? It feels as though this has been the script that the press have been looking for all along. They've been pushing the Britney is a bad mom angle for so long (with the "Somebody help us" headlines plastered over pics of her kids) that the court decision today seemed inevitable. Sure she's hardly mom of the year but then she has staff to look after the kids - they're looked after by pros. And a lot of the toddler angst you see is caused by the media scrum around Brit and the kids whenever she leaves the house.
What I really object to though is one of the reasons most often cited as being a sign of Brit's depravity is that she's often naked around her kids. At this point I have to say - so what? They're 3 and 1. I'm not sure they'd notice naked and even if they did I'm sure that's not unhealthy. Okay the drugs might be an issue, that I can see - thoughnobody ever tried to drag Bobbi Houston off to a home for children of drugged up nutter parents, did they?
Enough of a rant "LEAVE BRITNEY ALONE" etc.
Oh this waiting
Steve
Sunday, September 30, 2007
One of those weekends
A good weekende then. Sketchy's was a little low energgy, with lots of the jokes falling a bit flat - but then we were the stone cold sober table.
Still Jude did well at left handed drawing and I managed a couple of good pics.
Margaret Cho was funny during the stand-up and daring during the burlesque but I found myself admiring rather than enjoying the show... although her crotch in face rubbing, moustachio'd, permed, Cher lithe, gymnast flexible support was good value for money.
Kaiser and Nick's party was fun. Too many nibbles, too many drinks, enough interesting people and we stayed too late - just about perfect then.
Mythic Creatures at the museum not really worth the money... but you live and learn and it's always nice to see Mike.
Jude leaves tomorrow morning (on a 6am flight, ouch) and I head out there next weekend. Meanwhile I'm in limbo - waiting on news in almost every area of my life from health, to work. It'll be an interesting week.
Still Jude did well at left handed drawing and I managed a couple of good pics.
Margaret Cho was funny during the stand-up and daring during the burlesque but I found myself admiring rather than enjoying the show... although her crotch in face rubbing, moustachio'd, permed, Cher lithe, gymnast flexible support was good value for money.
Kaiser and Nick's party was fun. Too many nibbles, too many drinks, enough interesting people and we stayed too late - just about perfect then.
Mythic Creatures at the museum not really worth the money... but you live and learn and it's always nice to see Mike.
Jude leaves tomorrow morning (on a 6am flight, ouch) and I head out there next weekend. Meanwhile I'm in limbo - waiting on news in almost every area of my life from health, to work. It'll be an interesting week.
Friday, September 28, 2007
A Sketchy weekend
Jude's home this weekend and I've packed the program.
We have gym sessions, followed by a trip to the museum of natural history to see the Mythical Creatures thing, then from 3-6 it's a live drawing class (with booze) over at Dr. Sketchy's. We leave that bevvy of beauties and head across town to Margaret Cho's Sensual Woman show - which has strippers, mimes, tranny comics and of course Korea's finest ex-sitcom 'star' doing stand-up. From there it's on to Kaiser and Nick for their 'It's a Threesome' party before staggering home, drunkenly taking the dog out and falling into bed.
Sunday will be gentler, but no less busy. We'll let you know how it goes.
We have gym sessions, followed by a trip to the museum of natural history to see the Mythical Creatures thing, then from 3-6 it's a live drawing class (with booze) over at Dr. Sketchy's. We leave that bevvy of beauties and head across town to Margaret Cho's Sensual Woman show - which has strippers, mimes, tranny comics and of course Korea's finest ex-sitcom 'star' doing stand-up. From there it's on to Kaiser and Nick for their 'It's a Threesome' party before staggering home, drunkenly taking the dog out and falling into bed.
Sunday will be gentler, but no less busy. We'll let you know how it goes.
balanced
no time for a post today... which breaks my rule about living a more balanced life and taking time out for me, but hey when they pay you the medium bucks!
Thursday, September 27, 2007
too much stuff?
just had the first of the movers in to estimate a price on getting stuff from New York to Michigan and they came in at $4200. Which is more than it cost us to move from Australia to the US but roughly what I was expecting. Time to breathe long, deep and repetitively, suck it up, swallow hard and do whatever else it is that people are supposed to do in these situations. Another quote due this afternoon, we'll see.
At least Velcro liked both guys - last time she really barked at a guy who subsequently (maybe consequently) tried to rip us off with a quote more inflated than his gut.
Did I mention that while at the airport last week I was suddenly distracted by a dwarf in colored leggings, a women with an enormous ass in a bold print dress and a bunch of queens so mincing they'd have been bitch slapped by The Scissor Sisters. Turns out that they're with Margaret Cho - I have tickets for her this weekend. Looks like being a good show... I love a bit of sauce (said he coming over all Barbara Windsor)
Anyway with the clouds coming in, the storm gathering and me running behind on two final projects I guess it's time to take the dog down, run back up and get back to the grind on this one.
Take care all
At least Velcro liked both guys - last time she really barked at a guy who subsequently (maybe consequently) tried to rip us off with a quote more inflated than his gut.
Did I mention that while at the airport last week I was suddenly distracted by a dwarf in colored leggings, a women with an enormous ass in a bold print dress and a bunch of queens so mincing they'd have been bitch slapped by The Scissor Sisters. Turns out that they're with Margaret Cho - I have tickets for her this weekend. Looks like being a good show... I love a bit of sauce (said he coming over all Barbara Windsor)
Anyway with the clouds coming in, the storm gathering and me running behind on two final projects I guess it's time to take the dog down, run back up and get back to the grind on this one.
Take care all
Wednesday, September 26, 2007
Wish I'd been there...
It seems that while I was away the office was gripped by mad panic.
Actually a couple of people were seized by panic and the rest of the office merely shrugged as they were called in for panicked pep talks and a round of 'go us' cheering.
This is the downside of working for a cult. I've done it before and what's most interesting about these places is that they really give evidence of just how fragile absolute conviction can be.
Both of the cults that I've worked for have operated under the belief that they're the ultimate place for people in their industry to work. The people under the roof are the chosen ones, saved from a world outside that's less competent, less creative, less respected and (in one case) less nice.
They don't ever consider the fact that people may leave of their own volition (why would they - there's nowhere better?) and this blinds them to a few facts about the workplace. Sure they draw great people, but they then let that talent pool get stagnant. If nobody is leaving there's no room to move up - and career paths are more important to some people than money; especially at a certain level.
They also become quite insular. They start to systemize, to try to protect the systems or the culture. They start writing things on walls. Then etching them on walls. They start to get stuck in a time - while new rivals are still at the bendy boned 'go ahead and drop me' baby stage these great companies, these cults are so caught up in being right that they stop being interesting.
And then people start to leave.
Beliefs are shaken to the core.
People are gathered into rooms.
Navels are inspected.
And sometimes, just sometimes, the cult leader sets out in a new direction.
More often however new people are brought in, indoctrinated, strip mined and allowed to flow out of the other side - better for the experience but keen on having a job that demands less commitment to the cause and more to the clients.
If I had a company (and I will) it would have no culture. Shallow. How's that for a name? Shallow. I like. Anyone wanna join me?
Actually a couple of people were seized by panic and the rest of the office merely shrugged as they were called in for panicked pep talks and a round of 'go us' cheering.
This is the downside of working for a cult. I've done it before and what's most interesting about these places is that they really give evidence of just how fragile absolute conviction can be.
Both of the cults that I've worked for have operated under the belief that they're the ultimate place for people in their industry to work. The people under the roof are the chosen ones, saved from a world outside that's less competent, less creative, less respected and (in one case) less nice.
They don't ever consider the fact that people may leave of their own volition (why would they - there's nowhere better?) and this blinds them to a few facts about the workplace. Sure they draw great people, but they then let that talent pool get stagnant. If nobody is leaving there's no room to move up - and career paths are more important to some people than money; especially at a certain level.
They also become quite insular. They start to systemize, to try to protect the systems or the culture. They start writing things on walls. Then etching them on walls. They start to get stuck in a time - while new rivals are still at the bendy boned 'go ahead and drop me' baby stage these great companies, these cults are so caught up in being right that they stop being interesting.
And then people start to leave.
Beliefs are shaken to the core.
People are gathered into rooms.
Navels are inspected.
And sometimes, just sometimes, the cult leader sets out in a new direction.
More often however new people are brought in, indoctrinated, strip mined and allowed to flow out of the other side - better for the experience but keen on having a job that demands less commitment to the cause and more to the clients.
If I had a company (and I will) it would have no culture. Shallow. How's that for a name? Shallow. I like. Anyone wanna join me?
Tuesday, September 25, 2007
Long time no post
It's been a couple of dayts since I've last posted - which will no doubt reek havoc with my traffic (which has been building for a while)
The reason for the delay was a trip to Chicago to do some customer interviews and a blackberry that is resolutely crap. Anyway the hotel was brown and expensive - the conference room an absolute bloody rip off and the entertainment limited to the view through the near opaque net curtains of the serial masturbators on the ground floor.
A delay on the way back meant that I couldn't pick up my scan results and now have to wait for Oct 4th for a follow up. Not overtly worried (with oncology I've learned the phone not ringing is a very good thing indeed)
Anyway I'm finally back and about to throw myself into two final presentations that I really want to be proud of. Not much time for either but I think that they could actually cement the ideas that we had within their respective organizations - and I want the people responsible for these ideas to wear them like lead shoes (or something that was a terrible metaphor)
Anyway onwards, upwards and towards the TiVo
Proper stuff later in the day
The reason for the delay was a trip to Chicago to do some customer interviews and a blackberry that is resolutely crap. Anyway the hotel was brown and expensive - the conference room an absolute bloody rip off and the entertainment limited to the view through the near opaque net curtains of the serial masturbators on the ground floor.
A delay on the way back meant that I couldn't pick up my scan results and now have to wait for Oct 4th for a follow up. Not overtly worried (with oncology I've learned the phone not ringing is a very good thing indeed)
Anyway I'm finally back and about to throw myself into two final presentations that I really want to be proud of. Not much time for either but I think that they could actually cement the ideas that we had within their respective organizations - and I want the people responsible for these ideas to wear them like lead shoes (or something that was a terrible metaphor)
Anyway onwards, upwards and towards the TiVo
Proper stuff later in the day
Sunday, September 23, 2007
nothing but blue skies
man sunbathing in the park, with makeshift speedos and a cross country ski pole
Originally uploaded by revertebrate
We'd have loved to have bought an apartment on the park - but it wasn't to be. Cancer makes a mockery of mortgage applications. Builders work slowly and New York seems to be unable to finish a building at any point (or start one in the case of the world trade center site)
Mind if we had bought in the park I'd probably have been arrested. The combination of people making micro-fashion fauz pas beneath my window and a really good zoom on my camera could well have turned me from casual observer of 'she went out in that?' to documenter of 'floozy-wear' in weeks. And without express permission that might be dangerous.
On that note I shall head back to bed (the cats got me up stupidly early this morning - do they not understand the needs of a man who was drinking Shiso Mojitos the night before?
Friday, September 21, 2007
Miserable?
Roscoe the Pug With Ice Bag On His Head- Miserable in the Seattle Heat
Originally uploaded by zoomar
Jude is in Ann Arbor.
I'm flying to chicago on Sunday - where I'll spend two days in an airport hotel talking to people who really don't want to be there about something that they know almost nothing about.
And payday is a week away.
Yup - this weekend should suck harder than a crack whore with rent due (to paraphrase myself)
Instead I shall impose myself on friends. eat, drink and take up some of the many marvels that the city has to offer.
I'll go and pick up my free tickets to Words and Music over at BAM (think the kind of theatre / cinema where earnest older ladies with short hair scoff brownies and at the Bush administration)
Then I'm gonna go and check out the new sandwich place down in what used to be the heavily hispanic Southside of Williamsburg. This one is called Papa Lima Sandwich and is actually modeled on Zingerman's (the owner studied at UM and is a cue card man on Saturday night live as well as a sports bar owner!)
From there it's me - the dog - the park - the greenmarket and a bit of a run before hitting Pilates for the first time in a week (that's gonna hurt)
After that it's the guilty pleasure of a movie alone (I'm thinking The Brave One in which Jodie Foster gets all Charles Bronson on our asses) before heading off for drinks with Jono at Sweet Ups (described by Time Out NY as making you feel "as though you've walked into a detective novel") and dinner at Fanny (I know)
Finish it off with wild salsa a Bembe - a hot, sticky, rum fuelled latin dance spot and I've managed to fill Saturday and have a recipe for a Sunday lie in.
Miserable not. There are advantages to the city - especially in September weather of brilliant sunshine and 29c.
Thursday, September 20, 2007
Your Room Awaits
A few things that you should know about Ann Arbor before you come and visit....
Ann Arbor ain't that big - there are about 115,000 people; a populatin that falls to 78,000 when the students go home.
It's one of the few left wing bastions in Michigan - famous as the place thta Kennedy announced The Peace Corps, Johnson asked or a 'great society' and anti-Vietnam demonstrations first blew up.
It's not always cold - though around 130 days a year sees tempertaures below freezing
It's home to Zingermann's - a rather good deli that feels more Californian than anything.
It's twinned with Tubingen, Belize City, Hikone, Peterborough (Canada), Juigalpa, Dakar and Remedios
The words "Go Blues" go a long, long way
Locals call it The People's Republic of Ann Arbor or 25 square miles surrounded by reality
We have space for you. You'll get a bedroom, a rooftop terrace, a skylight and a train that comes through twice a night making more noise than you thought legal or even possible
See you there
Ann Arbor ain't that big - there are about 115,000 people; a populatin that falls to 78,000 when the students go home.
It's one of the few left wing bastions in Michigan - famous as the place thta Kennedy announced The Peace Corps, Johnson asked or a 'great society' and anti-Vietnam demonstrations first blew up.
It's not always cold - though around 130 days a year sees tempertaures below freezing
It's home to Zingermann's - a rather good deli that feels more Californian than anything.
It's twinned with Tubingen, Belize City, Hikone, Peterborough (Canada), Juigalpa, Dakar and Remedios
The words "Go Blues" go a long, long way
Locals call it The People's Republic of Ann Arbor or 25 square miles surrounded by reality
We have space for you. You'll get a bedroom, a rooftop terrace, a skylight and a train that comes through twice a night making more noise than you thought legal or even possible
See you there
Wednesday, September 19, 2007
Waiting
It's 7pm on Monday and I'm in an office sparsely populated. Third eye blind are playing on the company i-pod. A co-worker is typing with more speed and precision than me (no swearing, no tongue poking out, no pecking at the keyboard) and there's a guy pacing and talking on a landline in a closed room that's not as soundproofed as I think he believes it to be.
I've just eaten the most awful veggie burger and am now trying to slosh it down with the remnants of a filthy Albanian white - the kind of wine that hopes a vaguely risque name might erase the bitterness and bite below its screw top. Not that I'm a screw top snob. Some of my best friends have screw tops.
Oh and if you're reading this, you're on facebook and you haven't added me shame on you. I need to get through three figures on friends and you could be the person that tips the balance.
Similarily if you're from Farnborough (or surrounds) and you've been reading this please let me know who you are... I lived there as a kid and the name on my sitemeter thing is arousing my inner cat killer.
Again a post about nothing. Had to postpone scan results as it clashed with me being in Chicago.... but no news is generally good news
I've just eaten the most awful veggie burger and am now trying to slosh it down with the remnants of a filthy Albanian white - the kind of wine that hopes a vaguely risque name might erase the bitterness and bite below its screw top. Not that I'm a screw top snob. Some of my best friends have screw tops.
Oh and if you're reading this, you're on facebook and you haven't added me shame on you. I need to get through three figures on friends and you could be the person that tips the balance.
Similarily if you're from Farnborough (or surrounds) and you've been reading this please let me know who you are... I lived there as a kid and the name on my sitemeter thing is arousing my inner cat killer.
Again a post about nothing. Had to postpone scan results as it clashed with me being in Chicago.... but no news is generally good news
Tuesday, September 18, 2007
Been quiet recently
Sorry that the blog has been duller than an airline steak knife of late. Just that I'm drowning in a sea of stress created by other people solely it seems to see whether I can survive a cortisol tsunami.
There's work with its immovable deadlines and multi headed opinion beasts. It's like trying to tame Medusa's mane at times. Then there's Jude's move and wee things going wrong there from time to time (no sound on the cable box - so no TV... not a major issue but a niggle and an example)
There's me trying to stay social and not become a (slightly) thinner Aretha - tied to the house by some strange force over which I've no control.
There are minor house screw ups in London. Insurances, gardens, painting to be done... all of that stuff. All hard from a distance.
There's a credit card that cancels itself upon use and allows you access to re-activate only via a UK freefone number that doesn't work outside of the US.
And then there's being alone. Missing your wife. Wanting a new life. And generally feeling sorrier for yourself than you should.
None of which excuse the inactivity - all of which contribute to it.
There's work with its immovable deadlines and multi headed opinion beasts. It's like trying to tame Medusa's mane at times. Then there's Jude's move and wee things going wrong there from time to time (no sound on the cable box - so no TV... not a major issue but a niggle and an example)
There's me trying to stay social and not become a (slightly) thinner Aretha - tied to the house by some strange force over which I've no control.
There are minor house screw ups in London. Insurances, gardens, painting to be done... all of that stuff. All hard from a distance.
There's a credit card that cancels itself upon use and allows you access to re-activate only via a UK freefone number that doesn't work outside of the US.
And then there's being alone. Missing your wife. Wanting a new life. And generally feeling sorrier for yourself than you should.
None of which excuse the inactivity - all of which contribute to it.
Monday, September 17, 2007
Jude has an apartment
So Jude signed on the apartment today, moved in her stuff and is currently in glorious repose on a blow up mattress.
20ft windows, no blinds and top floor make this a risky pose... but she's all guts and glam.
Move went well - the power is on, the place is clean, the furniture is in place and to date a dodgy plug (in the bathroom sink), a row of dead sockets (there will be an on switch somewhere) and a fire that will smoke the place out the first time that it's allowed to burn are the only things that we've founf wrong.
Every car in the car park is German (Audi, BMW, BMW, Porsche, Audi, Mercedes) in a state where the vast majority of cars seem to be Fords with the phrase "I work at Ford. I drive a Ford." placed on the license plate.
Anyway enough third party information. More soon. Sorry for the quick entry... having all kinds of connection issues here
20ft windows, no blinds and top floor make this a risky pose... but she's all guts and glam.
Move went well - the power is on, the place is clean, the furniture is in place and to date a dodgy plug (in the bathroom sink), a row of dead sockets (there will be an on switch somewhere) and a fire that will smoke the place out the first time that it's allowed to burn are the only things that we've founf wrong.
Every car in the car park is German (Audi, BMW, BMW, Porsche, Audi, Mercedes) in a state where the vast majority of cars seem to be Fords with the phrase "I work at Ford. I drive a Ford." placed on the license plate.
Anyway enough third party information. More soon. Sorry for the quick entry... having all kinds of connection issues here
Sunday, September 16, 2007
If I was Bart Simpson
Then I'd probably look like this.
As would most ad planner.
Which is kinda scary.
When you think about it.
Which I do.
Which is also scary.
Man I need to be busier.
As would most ad planner.
Which is kinda scary.
When you think about it.
Which I do.
Which is also scary.
Man I need to be busier.
Friday, September 14, 2007
Somewhere to live
We finally have somewhere to live in Ann Arbor. I say finally. We only looked at two buildings - saw the place iwithinn the first hour and will be moving in a shade over two weeks later. But the road feels longer and more arduous, with more twists and turns, in my head.
Cable, Internet and Phone installed on Tuesday, Jude installed on Monday. Should be great. I hope. Anyway short post as I'm running hellish late and don't want to risk not getting a chair at work (such is "hot desking")
Cable, Internet and Phone installed on Tuesday, Jude installed on Monday. Should be great. I hope. Anyway short post as I'm running hellish late and don't want to risk not getting a chair at work (such is "hot desking")
Wednesday, September 12, 2007
Stop viewing,,, start doing
So here I am in one of the coolest enclaves of one of the most exciting cities in the world and quite frankly I’m bored. Sure Williamsburg has moved from arty loft squat heaven through post college idyll to condo strewn East Village rip off but there’s still more going on within five blocks of my house tonight than there will be over the next five years in my home town.I could go to an ironic quiz – all pop culture questions and geeky cool hyper appreciation. This is the basic tenant of hipster-ism. You have to be bored by current culture but bizarrely fascinated by the pop culture of previous generations. You have to tweak and adjust and reclaim as icons soda streams and chopper bikes and old institutions like burlesque. A hipster appreciation for a time gone by is both a diss to current popular culture and an opportunity to be both involved and detached. How meta is that? Pete’s Candy Store (it looks really old, has an adult spelling bee, bingo for beer, scrabble nights, hot live bands and toasties) is pretty much the centre for this vibe and its here that I can find the quiz. The thing is there also seems to be 120lb weight limit (for guys, girls you have to be under 90lbs) and a 50% skin surface covered in tattoos rule in place, So that’s not one for me.
Galapagos – an art space that I really like is running a dance party tonight. It’s been years since I danced. The last time I think was at Culture Club – a 70s and 80s club on Varick street that caters to hen parties, office parties and the middle aged. Either there or Polyester, which is much the same but with pretension of tongue in cheek. That night I was hammered, the music was loud and the friends Danish and beautiful. But anyway dance parties are for people who have indulged in more drugs than Clarissa Dickson Wright has hot dinners and so it’s not for me either.
Rose – a new place with a Hispanic feel is running Amayo’s Fu-Quintet-Fa – a mad concption of Kung Fu, Cuban, African and traditional Chinese Rhythms and the kind of jazz that makes most people get a bit jumpy but makes jazz fanatics swell to zip endangering in their Farrahs and zoot suits.
Also at Rose tonight – Argentinian folk. Alas the patrons of Rose tend to be 70, arthritic of fingers but lithe of hip. It’s full of old codgers who look toothless and harmless but who will spin your woman away from you, whisk her into a frenzy of neatly executed spins and bathe in the puddle of ecstasy that she leaves behind on the dancefloor. They’ve got game – I don’t.
And so on. All over this wee part of Brooklyn (first stop as realtors are trying to rename the area, how long before it’s known as “OneSto”) there is life and vibrancy, entertainment and experimentation. But I’m pretty much tired of being a spectator at someone else’s party. I wanna play some. And that means diving in and getting involved. Maybe a smaller pond will be needed but it’s time to stop viewing and start doing.
And on thath note I’m off to watch Mystery, G-Dog and Matador trying to teach geeks how to get into a woman’s pants… okay so maybe the doing starts Monday.
Tuesday, September 11, 2007
Out of sorts
If I've learned anything over the past few years it's that you don't have to fight every battle, let alone win it. The trick is to let some stuff wash over you but not so often that it forms a groove where your backbone used to be.
So instead of turning into a weedy hulk at the first minor niggles today I went for lunch, with the smartest, snarkiest people I could find and enjoyed a couple of hours of creative destruction... unpicking everything from the hiring policies of major corporations to the mania of self proclaimed experts. A fine old time indeed.
Tomorrow I have more on than I think is really neccessary but that's good. Three final presentations have the advantage of finality. And closure, as I'm learning, is cathartic.
No news from the doc' today which is either good news or a sign that he doesn't read patient charts. Let's go for the first one.
So instead of turning into a weedy hulk at the first minor niggles today I went for lunch, with the smartest, snarkiest people I could find and enjoyed a couple of hours of creative destruction... unpicking everything from the hiring policies of major corporations to the mania of self proclaimed experts. A fine old time indeed.
Tomorrow I have more on than I think is really neccessary but that's good. Three final presentations have the advantage of finality. And closure, as I'm learning, is cathartic.
No news from the doc' today which is either good news or a sign that he doesn't read patient charts. Let's go for the first one.
Monday, September 10, 2007
How much?
So Weill Cornell Presbyterian Hospital have a shiny new building that cost them $300m and looks - to my eyes at least - like a very nice Scandinavian airlines lounge (think SAS in Stockholm)...
You walk in to bleached floors, original art, tasteful furniture and a curvy desk that's home to no less than 5 equally curvy young receptionishs.
You fill out the insurance forms - everyone struggles with this. When did I last have a scan? When did I have a treatment? What are all my drugs? Is there an acceoptable "don't remember" response? I wonder why when they have my records they always hand me a blank form and ask me for my best guess at what those records say. A test for alzheimers perhaps?
Then you wait. And wait. My appointment is at 12.00. I arrive at 11.50. One of those terribly enthusiastic women bounds out - energy of a labrador, hair of a spaniel. You just know that in her spare time she volunteers, wears bright pants and believes in the healing power of a smile.
She gives me contrast solution. It has a flavor. Orange. This is new. I'm to have one glass a half hour for the next 2 hrs. 2 hrs? I've only brought a magazine. I comply. 3 hours go by... it's now 3pm so I approach the desk of the curvy young receptionists and ask 'how long?'.. one who looks Polish but has a softer more romantic accent places a call and 5 minutes later I'm in a back room, changing into a gown that barely covers the scars from the cat let alone my 'modesty'
Into a new room with a new MRI machine. It's warmer than usual. A man with a southern accent richer than Helmsley's dog talks me through everything and then leaves the room. Remotely they inject the dye into my system (I'll spend the next 12 hours trying to flush it) and I feel the familiar tingle... though this time it centres on my ass in not at all unpleasant fashion. The machine whirs and buzzes. I move in and out holding breath and urge to swallow as instructed. And then it's over.
I head for 'check out' and see that I have no co-pay then head into the street where I try to find food - it's 4am and I've not eaten yet.
A train to Lorimer puts me close enough to a post office to see me sending off the banker's check that will act as security deposit on Jude's place in Ann Arbor then it's a 2 mile walk to get the dog. The way back takes us past the newly expanded UVA Wines and so we pop in and grab a decent bottle of an unusual white before heading home.
I'm knackered now and kinda swaying (in the street someone screams at me "Do you want the whole sidewalk")... but I sit down to write a proposal for a job. It's good in that it's different rather than good in that it's good. But it takes a half hour and that's enough time spent thinking about the subject at hand.
Down to the neighbor's on 3. Their son is adorable... as is the next child to arrive - the people from 3a. Everyone has kids. Someone is pregnant again and I feel a rush of sadness at not having the time (or ability) to have kids. The argument stays the same. I don't want to have kids during a period where my chances of surving 5 years are less than 50%. 5 years from now we'll be too old to have kids. catch 22. Throw in chemo and you have a recipe for barren.
Dinner downstairs is great. The table is set. The take out is Thai and the people are bright, interesting and generous enough to indulge me in stories that aren't quite yet annecdotes. But they are getting closer.
It's 11.45 now. I have a cat on the desk and a dog at my feet. Jude is 'home' on Friday and so much more engaged in life since she moved to MI that it makes me smile just to think of her. Life is good. Let's just hope that the phone stays silent until the 25th when I head in to see the doctor. Bad news travels fast in oncology - so no news would be the best news of all,
You walk in to bleached floors, original art, tasteful furniture and a curvy desk that's home to no less than 5 equally curvy young receptionishs.
You fill out the insurance forms - everyone struggles with this. When did I last have a scan? When did I have a treatment? What are all my drugs? Is there an acceoptable "don't remember" response? I wonder why when they have my records they always hand me a blank form and ask me for my best guess at what those records say. A test for alzheimers perhaps?
Then you wait. And wait. My appointment is at 12.00. I arrive at 11.50. One of those terribly enthusiastic women bounds out - energy of a labrador, hair of a spaniel. You just know that in her spare time she volunteers, wears bright pants and believes in the healing power of a smile.
She gives me contrast solution. It has a flavor. Orange. This is new. I'm to have one glass a half hour for the next 2 hrs. 2 hrs? I've only brought a magazine. I comply. 3 hours go by... it's now 3pm so I approach the desk of the curvy young receptionists and ask 'how long?'.. one who looks Polish but has a softer more romantic accent places a call and 5 minutes later I'm in a back room, changing into a gown that barely covers the scars from the cat let alone my 'modesty'
Into a new room with a new MRI machine. It's warmer than usual. A man with a southern accent richer than Helmsley's dog talks me through everything and then leaves the room. Remotely they inject the dye into my system (I'll spend the next 12 hours trying to flush it) and I feel the familiar tingle... though this time it centres on my ass in not at all unpleasant fashion. The machine whirs and buzzes. I move in and out holding breath and urge to swallow as instructed. And then it's over.
I head for 'check out' and see that I have no co-pay then head into the street where I try to find food - it's 4am and I've not eaten yet.
A train to Lorimer puts me close enough to a post office to see me sending off the banker's check that will act as security deposit on Jude's place in Ann Arbor then it's a 2 mile walk to get the dog. The way back takes us past the newly expanded UVA Wines and so we pop in and grab a decent bottle of an unusual white before heading home.
I'm knackered now and kinda swaying (in the street someone screams at me "Do you want the whole sidewalk")... but I sit down to write a proposal for a job. It's good in that it's different rather than good in that it's good. But it takes a half hour and that's enough time spent thinking about the subject at hand.
Down to the neighbor's on 3. Their son is adorable... as is the next child to arrive - the people from 3a. Everyone has kids. Someone is pregnant again and I feel a rush of sadness at not having the time (or ability) to have kids. The argument stays the same. I don't want to have kids during a period where my chances of surving 5 years are less than 50%. 5 years from now we'll be too old to have kids. catch 22. Throw in chemo and you have a recipe for barren.
Dinner downstairs is great. The table is set. The take out is Thai and the people are bright, interesting and generous enough to indulge me in stories that aren't quite yet annecdotes. But they are getting closer.
It's 11.45 now. I have a cat on the desk and a dog at my feet. Jude is 'home' on Friday and so much more engaged in life since she moved to MI that it makes me smile just to think of her. Life is good. Let's just hope that the phone stays silent until the 25th when I head in to see the doctor. Bad news travels fast in oncology - so no news would be the best news of all,
Sunday, September 09, 2007
It's scan time again
Yup today is the day that I get scanned for the re-emergence of cancer. Results aren't until the 25th - unless of course things are very bad in which case you get the 'could you come in?' call.
This time I feel as though I have more invested in the results. A return of disease would be a major inconvenience. For the first time since I was sick I have life plans. Things I want to do. Places I want to be. Tasks I want to take on. And all dependent on having an 'all clear'
Of course the pessimist in me says that this will be the time that they see something on the scans. Once you get invested in a positive result the universe delivers the kick to the gut that it thinks that you need.
Follow that line of argument however and you live life purely in the moment - which may be bliss but is also a recipe for coasting. John Lennon was right when he said "Life is what happens when you're busy making other plans" (and look what happened to him) but without time out to make those plans we're really not living.
So it's fingers crossed tighter than usual for this one.
Pppppfffffffffff
This time I feel as though I have more invested in the results. A return of disease would be a major inconvenience. For the first time since I was sick I have life plans. Things I want to do. Places I want to be. Tasks I want to take on. And all dependent on having an 'all clear'
Of course the pessimist in me says that this will be the time that they see something on the scans. Once you get invested in a positive result the universe delivers the kick to the gut that it thinks that you need.
Follow that line of argument however and you live life purely in the moment - which may be bliss but is also a recipe for coasting. John Lennon was right when he said "Life is what happens when you're busy making other plans" (and look what happened to him) but without time out to make those plans we're really not living.
So it's fingers crossed tighter than usual for this one.
Pppppfffffffffff
Saturday, September 08, 2007
weird one
so the birthday yesterdy was a weird one. I spent the morning working in excel and the afternoon working in a conference room so soul sapping that a visit to Starbucks actually provided some light relief.
New York Starbucks aren't the same as Starbucks in other places. They're smaller, theere are very few places to sit and the places that are there are in the major walkways guaranteeing that you'll be nudged and that your table will be sticky.
There's an air of disappointment about them too. Of staff worried about making the rent rather than happy to have found a good and decent employer. This disappointment is usually masked by a attitude of disinterest with a coating of surlyness (weirdly this doesn't apply to the Grand Central Starrbucks - the one right by the Poughkeepsie platform - open to the world with no doors and always with a smile on its face)
Anyway finished the soul destroying afternoon and came back to over-eat, overindulge in wine and generally attempt to inhale my age in crap. Which I managed.
Today is gonna be more social. I have the gym (gotta keep working at my age), I have a friend for qa bikeride across the bridge and into town, I have a movie lined up and we have plans for The Slipper Room and a little raunchy show to keep our fancies squirmy.
We'll see how it all goes....
New York Starbucks aren't the same as Starbucks in other places. They're smaller, theere are very few places to sit and the places that are there are in the major walkways guaranteeing that you'll be nudged and that your table will be sticky.
There's an air of disappointment about them too. Of staff worried about making the rent rather than happy to have found a good and decent employer. This disappointment is usually masked by a attitude of disinterest with a coating of surlyness (weirdly this doesn't apply to the Grand Central Starrbucks - the one right by the Poughkeepsie platform - open to the world with no doors and always with a smile on its face)
Anyway finished the soul destroying afternoon and came back to over-eat, overindulge in wine and generally attempt to inhale my age in crap. Which I managed.
Today is gonna be more social. I have the gym (gotta keep working at my age), I have a friend for qa bikeride across the bridge and into town, I have a movie lined up and we have plans for The Slipper Room and a little raunchy show to keep our fancies squirmy.
We'll see how it all goes....
Friday, September 07, 2007
It;s my birthday today
and I'm celebrating by writing cost agreements, visiting a financial institution to talk with some MBA grads and walking my dog through the filthy streets of "Second Stop" Brooklyn. Rather splendid actually.
Also sitting by the phone waiting to hear on the MI apartment. Today should do it - after which my visits to Jude will see me sleeping in the bed above (or to the side or wherever)
Lots of great movies opening this weekend - so lining up friends of different filmatic persuasion to maximized the post film discussion / fist pumping / beard stroking.
That said it's time for coffee, the bread I made the other night and a wee peak at the morning news.
Have fun y'all
Also sitting by the phone waiting to hear on the MI apartment. Today should do it - after which my visits to Jude will see me sleeping in the bed above (or to the side or wherever)
Lots of great movies opening this weekend - so lining up friends of different filmatic persuasion to maximized the post film discussion / fist pumping / beard stroking.
That said it's time for coffee, the bread I made the other night and a wee peak at the morning news.
Have fun y'all
Thursday, September 06, 2007
Another early morning here
and still no real word on the apartment. We gave references yesterday - they're being checked today. We're hoping for a contract tomorrow. Haven't managed to catch up with out current landlord yet... which is a worry as he could 'say anything.' We're hoping that 3 years in the building, no damage done and every payment on time will stand us in good enough stead with him to make his recommendation good.
News here talking about "Popcorn Lung"... there's a chemical in microwave popcorn that gives it a buttery flavor.. and gives people in the factory lung disease. Now it seems that lardy microwave popcorn users have the same condition. Who'd have thought? Two bags of popcorn a day, from a microwave oven, with a chemical topping tyhat tastes 'buttery' could be bad for you.
Oh and Pavavorotti is dead. How's that for an obit?
News here talking about "Popcorn Lung"... there's a chemical in microwave popcorn that gives it a buttery flavor.. and gives people in the factory lung disease. Now it seems that lardy microwave popcorn users have the same condition. Who'd have thought? Two bags of popcorn a day, from a microwave oven, with a chemical topping tyhat tastes 'buttery' could be bad for you.
Oh and Pavavorotti is dead. How's that for an obit?
Wednesday, September 05, 2007
unbelievable summer
the weather here continues to make all of the cionstruction, dirt and noise bearable. My friend Gareth claims that there's a secret 'minimum noise level' in New York and that when the city gets too quiet the mayor sends out men with jackhammers and vehicles with sirens. He may well be right. It's a city that prodes itself on excitement (and the fact that New Yorkers now live longer - that's what a falling murder rate and city set up like an obstacle course that has to be walked quickly will do for you) and the energy levels are usually Red Bull high.
It's not a jahhed, coked up London energy either/ No aggressive delusions of grandeur here - just an awareness that we're a small island off teh coast of America that votes, eats, drinks and worships differently to the union to whom we're tied. Yup this morning I'm glad to be a New Yorker.
It's not a jahhed, coked up London energy either/ No aggressive delusions of grandeur here - just an awareness that we're a small island off teh coast of America that votes, eats, drinks and worships differently to the union to whom we're tied. Yup this morning I'm glad to be a New Yorker.
Tuesday, September 04, 2007
News today
we should get news on Judith's swanky pad today. From what we heard over the holiday weekend the news ought to be good - with only the fine details of contracts holding us up. We shall see, we shall see. Busy week for me this week - lost a day to the holiday (though I actually did a lot yesterday in terms of concept re-writes, client calls and revised research plans) and have two days of training to attend (we're giving it, I'm a viewer and able pair of hands) as well as a day of follow-up to that training. Have to watch the weight during all of that too - as there's food always at hand and candy prizes aplenty to be had. One dense paragraph this, I'm sorry.
Sunday, September 02, 2007
Weekend in Ann Arbor
I am an idiot. This I have known and confessed at regular intervals for some time. But this weekend proved it. Jude was down in Ann Arbor - getting ready to start school and staying in an Extended stay Hotel 'Efficiency'... I was doing nothing here so I threw caution and checkbook to the wind and jumped on the first flight I could find to be with her over a 'long weekend'. Of course it could have been a longer weekend as tomorrow is a public holiday here. A fact that I forgot. So as I landed in a deserted NYC (the route from airport home was eerily quiet) Jude was sitting in her hotel room miles from anything but the mall.
The weekend was good though. Hertz provided transportation in the form of a new but oddly creaking Economy Vehicle that cost a mere $30 (that's 15 quid) a day. Said vehicle took us to a monsterous WholeFoods (Jude had been living on mall food), to all of the spots we needed to be on campus, to a gay bar that served brunch to very un-gay couples on a Sunday as well as to a park, a lake and a couple of hours of canoeing.
It also ferried us to look at a few houses. There were scant few that matched the 'close enough to walk to school; bright enough to need no lights, cool enough to compensate for not being NYC ' brief but the one pictured did and we put in an offer to take it. Now it's wait and see time as the owners contemplate the offer, the chance that we might one day want to move pets there and the idea of having Jude move in almost immediately. We're hoping that they say 'yes' whilst trying to stay relaxed about the possibility of an 'no'. It would be perfect for Jude - one Bedroom, an upstairs study, a rooftop balcony and almost immediate occupancy. And of course not being New York adds the considerable advantage of it also being affordable. Let's hope it goes our way.
Now that I am back I'm not entorely sure what to do with myself. Ordered food and beer to be delivered (I figured that 2 hrs on the water had earned me a Wombat dinner) - checked e-mails, stroked the very excited (and newly groomed) dog and texted Jude to the point of distraction. I guess all that's left is to try and catch up with the TiVo (easy this week as fall season is still 7 days away) and to see who's looking good in the tennis.
The weekend was good though. Hertz provided transportation in the form of a new but oddly creaking Economy Vehicle that cost a mere $30 (that's 15 quid) a day. Said vehicle took us to a monsterous WholeFoods (Jude had been living on mall food), to all of the spots we needed to be on campus, to a gay bar that served brunch to very un-gay couples on a Sunday as well as to a park, a lake and a couple of hours of canoeing.
It also ferried us to look at a few houses. There were scant few that matched the 'close enough to walk to school; bright enough to need no lights, cool enough to compensate for not being NYC ' brief but the one pictured did and we put in an offer to take it. Now it's wait and see time as the owners contemplate the offer, the chance that we might one day want to move pets there and the idea of having Jude move in almost immediately. We're hoping that they say 'yes' whilst trying to stay relaxed about the possibility of an 'no'. It would be perfect for Jude - one Bedroom, an upstairs study, a rooftop balcony and almost immediate occupancy. And of course not being New York adds the considerable advantage of it also being affordable. Let's hope it goes our way.
Now that I am back I'm not entorely sure what to do with myself. Ordered food and beer to be delivered (I figured that 2 hrs on the water had earned me a Wombat dinner) - checked e-mails, stroked the very excited (and newly groomed) dog and texted Jude to the point of distraction. I guess all that's left is to try and catch up with the TiVo (easy this week as fall season is still 7 days away) and to see who's looking good in the tennis.
Thursday, August 30, 2007
A miserable drunk?
Since Jude left I've been wondering why it is that the wine is disappearing at a rate of knots. Then I realized that I've been downing it "like fizzy pop" here on my own. Determined not to buy any more - but still have a bottle to do before I run 'dry'. Shame as I find myself quite amusing when spewing cider fuelled bile.
Anyway my flight down to see Jude leaves at 6am this morning - that means a 4.30 departure. Time for bed.
Anyway my flight down to see Jude leaves at 6am this morning - that means a 4.30 departure. Time for bed.
Wednesday, August 29, 2007
It;s scan time again
Realized last night that my last scan was on May 7th... making me 3 weeks overdue for a new one. Originally the plan had been to have scans every 3 months for the first year and every 6 months after that 'danger period'
Actually the danger period is usually two years and that might well be why the doctor said last time - "All clear. No problems. But let's stick to a 3 month schedule."
Of course that was three and a half months ago and it's amazing how the time flies when you're tumor free (it flies in a different way when you're tumor filled, less purposeful march, more flitting swallow)
So today it's back into the hands of Adela who needs to negotiate with insurance companies, MRI providers and her own doctor to get me in in a timely fashion. I'm always amazed that she manages it and always equally amazed that there's no 'reminder service' telling me, her and all concerned parties that a scan is due.
Will let you know when I have a date with the magnetic donut confirmed
Actually the danger period is usually two years and that might well be why the doctor said last time - "All clear. No problems. But let's stick to a 3 month schedule."
Of course that was three and a half months ago and it's amazing how the time flies when you're tumor free (it flies in a different way when you're tumor filled, less purposeful march, more flitting swallow)
So today it's back into the hands of Adela who needs to negotiate with insurance companies, MRI providers and her own doctor to get me in in a timely fashion. I'm always amazed that she manages it and always equally amazed that there's no 'reminder service' telling me, her and all concerned parties that a scan is due.
Will let you know when I have a date with the magnetic donut confirmed
Tuesday, August 28, 2007
Not tempting fate I hope
The title of this picture was "One too many irons in the fire" and as I only have one iron in any fire at the moment (so to speak) I'm hoping that it's not prophetic. Can't be any less cryptic than that but those of you who have fingers, toes or any other body parts that can be crossed for me please do it this week.
Wondering where 'fingers crossed' came from as a superstition... well there are theories here
www.seiyaku.com/customs/fingers-crossed.html
Last day with Jude as New York residents today. I have to work, she has to pack, that sucks. I'll be home early I think just to get some more time in. And more time means less time here ---> that's me back to bed
Wondering where 'fingers crossed' came from as a superstition... well there are theories here
www.seiyaku.com/customs/fingers-crossed.html
Last day with Jude as New York residents today. I have to work, she has to pack, that sucks. I'll be home early I think just to get some more time in. And more time means less time here ---> that's me back to bed
Monday, August 27, 2007
The sun is a shining
so today the sun is shining and having started work at 6am I feel fully justified in having knocked off at 3.30 in search of something more interesting. Have my Pilates session at 5pm and then Ali comes over and helps undo all of that ab tightening with an invitation to drinks and dinner somewhere closeby.
I'm knackered (it's the getting up to work) but figure that the gym will help and that there's no substitute for food, friends and booze. Well no legal substitute anyway
I'm knackered (it's the getting up to work) but figure that the gym will help and that there's no substitute for food, friends and booze. Well no legal substitute anyway
Sunday, August 26, 2007
Letting the belt out
Been a big weekend - especially where food is concerned. Dressler was good but cost a fortune. Bembe was hot and sweaty, latin and sexy and last night D.O.C gave us a 'farewell' bottle of wine to enjoy in Michigan - they're such sweet people and it has to be our favorite spot in the world to eat.
Jude leaves on Wednesday for her 2 year stint in Michigan. I'm going down Friday to keep her company until work starts (Sept 1st) and to help out with finding the stores, the gyms, a house and the like. Then on the 13th she's back in NYC and we have half a plan to be in Europe for a day or two end of Sept. / beginning of October.
Tonight we cooked (bland fish), tested our traveller IQs (mine is poor) and generally tried not to feel as though this was out last weekend as New York residents. There's a sadness that's masking the excitement at something new at the moment and an underlying anxiety at arranging a move, distribution of furniture and all of the transport anxieties that come with another stint as along distance relationship.
I have more to say but eloquence deserts me and the screen blurs as the eyes mist. So I'll stop for now and spend time with my wife rather than with this blog.
Jude leaves on Wednesday for her 2 year stint in Michigan. I'm going down Friday to keep her company until work starts (Sept 1st) and to help out with finding the stores, the gyms, a house and the like. Then on the 13th she's back in NYC and we have half a plan to be in Europe for a day or two end of Sept. / beginning of October.
Tonight we cooked (bland fish), tested our traveller IQs (mine is poor) and generally tried not to feel as though this was out last weekend as New York residents. There's a sadness that's masking the excitement at something new at the moment and an underlying anxiety at arranging a move, distribution of furniture and all of the transport anxieties that come with another stint as along distance relationship.
I have more to say but eloquence deserts me and the screen blurs as the eyes mist. So I'll stop for now and spend time with my wife rather than with this blog.
Friday, August 24, 2007
nita nita
So last night ended with drinks and small plates at Nita Nita - a local bar with a friendly vibe, a good kitchen, a way with sweet potatoes and a really inventive bar menu. All very cool and the conversation was as good as the Jukebox (when I hear "This is a man's world" I know it's gonna be an okay crowd)
Today has been a mix of work (proposals, billing, a presentation) and exercise. Took time out from the scheedule to go to the gym, to have a massage and to take the bike out and across the Williamsburg bridge into the lower east side where I exchanged lighthly used but very much broekn sex toys for new, shiny toys on behalf of a friend not too embarrassed to buy but too embarrassed to return 'used'
Tonight Dressler is Kajsa and Nick and then on into the night for drinks on the LES.
Today has been a mix of work (proposals, billing, a presentation) and exercise. Took time out from the scheedule to go to the gym, to have a massage and to take the bike out and across the Williamsburg bridge into the lower east side where I exchanged lighthly used but very much broekn sex toys for new, shiny toys on behalf of a friend not too embarrassed to buy but too embarrassed to return 'used'
Tonight Dressler is Kajsa and Nick and then on into the night for drinks on the LES.
Thursday, August 23, 2007
A quiet night out
As Jude prepares herself for departure from the B'Burg scene we're doing more than our fair share of eating out. Last night was Bozu (pictured) a small Japanese that does the best Tuna Tatake and can be hit and miss at other times. Last night they were a huge hit. This might have something to do with the fact that we bought caraffes of Sake (numbing even the pain of the 'we need Ikea shelves' / no we need West Elm shelves' conversation happening to our left and the old twat in mad specs (I know, dangerously pot like) behind us). The fatty Tuna was great, the smell of the place amazing (I love the smell of fruit being smashed for mojitos) and the lighting just dark enough.
Coming up we have broadway (as I said to my friend Baxter 'even my hands are jazzed'), a trip to Dressler (one of the new hot but expensive B'Burg spots) and a ciao for now to D.O.C our favorite winebar and scene of some of our most drunken moments (I blame the owner and his lethal post drink shorts - liquid death as Jax calls them)
Things shaping up in other areas. Housing to rent in MI still loooking tight but saw some places. Looking to help a friend plot a kid's animation series *think Bob the Builder with more of an educational subplot. A film producer (and yes he's real not just trying to see my tits a la Fames CoCo) wants me to have a go as a script doctor (we met at a Svedka party he may well remember me through very hazy lenses) and I'm back in touch with some people who have a track record of taking things off of my computer and actually taking them out into the real world. It's a strange and somewhat magical time. Wappingers Falls was all about hibernation and weight gain. Williamsburg has been about discovery and inspiration. Suddenly I feel the need to DO things again (rather than watch things from the good seats) and all seems to be falling into place.
Anyway enough premature crowing... it's time to do the daily. Dog out, me to work blah, blah, blah
Coming up we have broadway (as I said to my friend Baxter 'even my hands are jazzed'), a trip to Dressler (one of the new hot but expensive B'Burg spots) and a ciao for now to D.O.C our favorite winebar and scene of some of our most drunken moments (I blame the owner and his lethal post drink shorts - liquid death as Jax calls them)
Things shaping up in other areas. Housing to rent in MI still loooking tight but saw some places. Looking to help a friend plot a kid's animation series *think Bob the Builder with more of an educational subplot. A film producer (and yes he's real not just trying to see my tits a la Fames CoCo) wants me to have a go as a script doctor (we met at a Svedka party he may well remember me through very hazy lenses) and I'm back in touch with some people who have a track record of taking things off of my computer and actually taking them out into the real world. It's a strange and somewhat magical time. Wappingers Falls was all about hibernation and weight gain. Williamsburg has been about discovery and inspiration. Suddenly I feel the need to DO things again (rather than watch things from the good seats) and all seems to be falling into place.
Anyway enough premature crowing... it's time to do the daily. Dog out, me to work blah, blah, blah
Wednesday, August 22, 2007
Man it's been cold
We've had two cold wet days in a row here and the temperature inside the apartment has dropped from an aircon assisted 24c to a rather chilly this morning 20c. Thank god it's going to be back into the 30s this weekend as the though of turning on the heating is something that's just TOO wintery to contemplate.
The house in the picture is one that's in Ann Arbor and (I think) would be lovely for Judith. According to the information I have here it was built in 1919, is 1248 sq feet and has a taxable value of $133,200 (about 65,000 of your UK pounds or 98.750 Euros)... why I have this information I'm not at all sure but I thought that as I seem to have turned into statto this morning I may as well go the whole hog.
Judith moves to Michigan in less than a week. Actually she moves in 5 days which is a scary thought as the days between now and then are packed and she's not. I have no doubt that we'll be packing and shipping books as we move forward and that she'll be looking to me to fill a suitcase full of 'home' with every visit. That will get easier once we find a house down there.
Ann Arbor is a buyers market at the moment. With major industry (think auto and pharma) pulling out of the area there are too many houses for sale and too few people moving toward the area. Of course the town is immune to the local economy to a degree as 1 in 2 people there are linked to the University (and therefore to out of state taxes) but what this means is that the rental market is extremely healthy (35,000 students all looking for a place to live for a year) whilst the buying market is weaker than a flu ridden Mr Bean.
So do we buy? Well no. Prices are falling. Houses aren't selling. And we don't want to be locked in to a place that we end up having to rent out just to cover the bills. So we join the rental charge and pay too much (by MI standards, not by NY standards) for somewhere like the above.
Ain't life complicated?
The house in the picture is one that's in Ann Arbor and (I think) would be lovely for Judith. According to the information I have here it was built in 1919, is 1248 sq feet and has a taxable value of $133,200 (about 65,000 of your UK pounds or 98.750 Euros)... why I have this information I'm not at all sure but I thought that as I seem to have turned into statto this morning I may as well go the whole hog.
Judith moves to Michigan in less than a week. Actually she moves in 5 days which is a scary thought as the days between now and then are packed and she's not. I have no doubt that we'll be packing and shipping books as we move forward and that she'll be looking to me to fill a suitcase full of 'home' with every visit. That will get easier once we find a house down there.
Ann Arbor is a buyers market at the moment. With major industry (think auto and pharma) pulling out of the area there are too many houses for sale and too few people moving toward the area. Of course the town is immune to the local economy to a degree as 1 in 2 people there are linked to the University (and therefore to out of state taxes) but what this means is that the rental market is extremely healthy (35,000 students all looking for a place to live for a year) whilst the buying market is weaker than a flu ridden Mr Bean.
So do we buy? Well no. Prices are falling. Houses aren't selling. And we don't want to be locked in to a place that we end up having to rent out just to cover the bills. So we join the rental charge and pay too much (by MI standards, not by NY standards) for somewhere like the above.
Ain't life complicated?
Monday, August 20, 2007
Slutz
In recent times Barbie - herself no stranger to sleaze - has found herself under attack from The Bratz. The Bratz are a bunch of obnoxious 'tween' dolls with a taste for the mall and a penchant for sluttery. This has prompted Barbie to ditch Ken (too boring) and move into the odd world of 'dating.'
Meanwhile The Bratz have gone from doll to animated series (basically how to be a highschool teen bitch / slut n 26 easy episodes) to real action live movie that has flopped harder than Naomi Campbell's literary pretensions.
Not sure what all of this means for America but when we're told that teen girls are hooking in the mall for the money to charge their phones and put gas in the VW daddy bought them as a sweet 16 then there's either smoething very wrong - or we're really seeing a generation that understands the protestant work ethic.
This should go somewhere but it won't. It's late, I'm tired. People have defaced the posters. The movie sucked - mainly because the gir;'s kinda promised that they would and then didn't really put out. Too real for Tween girls, too lame for teen boys - rock meet hard place.
Meanwhile The Bratz have gone from doll to animated series (basically how to be a highschool teen bitch / slut n 26 easy episodes) to real action live movie that has flopped harder than Naomi Campbell's literary pretensions.
Not sure what all of this means for America but when we're told that teen girls are hooking in the mall for the money to charge their phones and put gas in the VW daddy bought them as a sweet 16 then there's either smoething very wrong - or we're really seeing a generation that understands the protestant work ethic.
This should go somewhere but it won't. It's late, I'm tired. People have defaced the posters. The movie sucked - mainly because the gir;'s kinda promised that they would and then didn't really put out. Too real for Tween girls, too lame for teen boys - rock meet hard place.
Sunday, August 19, 2007
All a bit grim
Today the clouds came, the sun vanished and the temps plummeted. It's still mid 20s here but you can feel winter edging in. The stores are selling off flip-flops, new products are at least 75% lambswool and all over the city people are stripping down whenever they see a human being sized pool of light.
Meanwhile the 'gentrification' of Williamsburg continues unhindered. The new condos cast a literal and figurative shadow over the community and we're all left looking at the biggest building boom in 45 years and wondering "where are the neighborhoods going to go?"
It seems that people are attrected to the grit of the Bowery, the flighty here today gone tomorrow squalor of the lower east side and the skinny jeaned hipsterism of Williamsburg and will pay top dollar for ivory towers that afford them the best views of these places - yet fail to see taht the very act of moving in changes the neighborhood beyond recognition. That's not always a bad thing but it's not what anyone signed up for either.
My solution? Well I don't have one. I say build massive homeless shelters. Have free needle exchanges in very public places. And encourage more 'affordable housing' not near but IN the new towers of glass and bamboo flooring. Maybe that will attract the right kind of money and scare off the tourists. Said he from his too expensive, security camera'd loft
Meanwhile the 'gentrification' of Williamsburg continues unhindered. The new condos cast a literal and figurative shadow over the community and we're all left looking at the biggest building boom in 45 years and wondering "where are the neighborhoods going to go?"
It seems that people are attrected to the grit of the Bowery, the flighty here today gone tomorrow squalor of the lower east side and the skinny jeaned hipsterism of Williamsburg and will pay top dollar for ivory towers that afford them the best views of these places - yet fail to see taht the very act of moving in changes the neighborhood beyond recognition. That's not always a bad thing but it's not what anyone signed up for either.
My solution? Well I don't have one. I say build massive homeless shelters. Have free needle exchanges in very public places. And encourage more 'affordable housing' not near but IN the new towers of glass and bamboo flooring. Maybe that will attract the right kind of money and scare off the tourists. Said he from his too expensive, security camera'd loft
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