Today's an important day for me. It's the birthday of two people who had outsized impacts on my life: my dad and my dear friend Anne Brisk.
My dad died a few years before I met Anne, but I'm certain they would have loved each other. They were, in many ways, alike. Both were a bit larger-than-life, both loved a well-made drink, and both loved to tell and listen to a good story.
Now that I think of it, both of them came from similar backgrounds. My dad was happy to stay in his blue-collar, lower middle class slot, but Anne longed for the big city, big culture and big ideas. Luckily, she was able to move to NYC as a young woman. Few people appreciate what the city had to offer as much as she did, and she spent her free time gobbling it up.
My dad, on the other hand, was really content to sit in his back yard and listen to the Cardinals on the radio. Every year my mother tried to get him to go to Europe with her. She'd never been, and really had a strong desire to see at least a few parts of it. His answer was always the same. "I've been there." My mom would remind him that going over on a troop transport in 1943 and laying sewer pipe in Belgium for a couple of years was not quite the same as flying over and seeing La Tour Eiffel. But he was unbending. He had simple tastes, simple needs, and loved predictability. Luckily, my mother outlived my dad and finally got to travel a little. God knows my dad would never have changed his mind!
I learned to listen to people and their stories from my dad, and I learned to write stories in a better way from Anne. I owe them both more than I can say, but all I can do for either of them at this point is remember them. They say you live until no one thinks of you any longer. Both of them will continue on as long as I'm alive.
Thursday, March 6, 2014
Thursday, February 27, 2014
Why It's So Much Fun To Live With Me
Last night, my wife and I were to meet at a restaurant in Manhattan at 6 pm before going to see a play.
We live in Brooklyn, and my usual train is about 17 stops from 42nd St. I usually take the "F," but the "G" also stops at the same station.
Let me make it clear that I have no sense of direction. I'm also prone to being distracted, especially when I'm in a good writing mood--which I am at the moment.
I knew I'd have to change trains, no matter which I took, since neither the "F" nor the "G" goes to the 42nd St. stop I wanted. So I got on the "G." A few stops later, I got to the correct spot to switch to the "A."
I've lived in NYC for 13 years now, and have taken the "A" train hundreds of times. But I haven't taken it often from Brooklyn. That's a weak defense, but it's all I've got.
I hopped on the first "A" train that was going in the same direction my "G" train had been going and proceeded to space out. I was idly daydreaming until I heard, "Ralph." Ralph? There's a Ralph Street? How could I have never heard of such an oddly named street? Then I started to pay attention. For the next six stops, I marveled that I'd never heard of any of them. Van Siclen, Liberty, Shepard... This was kinda cool! How had I missed all of these names? I must have really been zoning out for the last 13 years!
Then the subway climbed out into the sun. What? The "A" train doesn't go aboveground on the way to Manhattan. But it is, so it must! We're chugging along, with fewer and fewer people on the train--the exact opposite of what should be happening at rush hour. But none of this makes an impact on me. I just think I'm learning something new!
Finally, I look out the window and see, in the relatively close distance, an airplane that's only a few hundred feet off the ground. That doesn't happen often in Brooklyn or Manhattan. I jump up and look out the window, seeing low buildings and a stream of jets, lined up one right after the other. Holy Fuck! I'm almost at JFK!
I got off at the next stop, crossed over to the proper side and called my patient wife, who was now at the restaurant. "Go to 'Find My iPhone' and try to guess how I got here," I said. (I love to give her little detective games to play.)
I was in Ozone Park, just next to Aqueduct Racetrack, a few stops from JFK. 21 stops from my home...in the wrong direction.
We were able to text, since I was aboveground, and she agreed to have dinner alone and meet me at the play. She's a kind soul, since she brought me a snack, which I wolfed down in the lobby of the theater. I spent 2 hours on a trip that should have taken 45 minutes at the outside.
Here's the funny thing. I'll do this again in the future. And will be just as amazed. "Wow, I didn't know the "A" train ran aboveground..." It'll happen. Guaranteed.
We live in Brooklyn, and my usual train is about 17 stops from 42nd St. I usually take the "F," but the "G" also stops at the same station.
Let me make it clear that I have no sense of direction. I'm also prone to being distracted, especially when I'm in a good writing mood--which I am at the moment.
I knew I'd have to change trains, no matter which I took, since neither the "F" nor the "G" goes to the 42nd St. stop I wanted. So I got on the "G." A few stops later, I got to the correct spot to switch to the "A."
I've lived in NYC for 13 years now, and have taken the "A" train hundreds of times. But I haven't taken it often from Brooklyn. That's a weak defense, but it's all I've got.
I hopped on the first "A" train that was going in the same direction my "G" train had been going and proceeded to space out. I was idly daydreaming until I heard, "Ralph." Ralph? There's a Ralph Street? How could I have never heard of such an oddly named street? Then I started to pay attention. For the next six stops, I marveled that I'd never heard of any of them. Van Siclen, Liberty, Shepard... This was kinda cool! How had I missed all of these names? I must have really been zoning out for the last 13 years!
Then the subway climbed out into the sun. What? The "A" train doesn't go aboveground on the way to Manhattan. But it is, so it must! We're chugging along, with fewer and fewer people on the train--the exact opposite of what should be happening at rush hour. But none of this makes an impact on me. I just think I'm learning something new!
Finally, I look out the window and see, in the relatively close distance, an airplane that's only a few hundred feet off the ground. That doesn't happen often in Brooklyn or Manhattan. I jump up and look out the window, seeing low buildings and a stream of jets, lined up one right after the other. Holy Fuck! I'm almost at JFK!
I got off at the next stop, crossed over to the proper side and called my patient wife, who was now at the restaurant. "Go to 'Find My iPhone' and try to guess how I got here," I said. (I love to give her little detective games to play.)
I was in Ozone Park, just next to Aqueduct Racetrack, a few stops from JFK. 21 stops from my home...in the wrong direction.
We were able to text, since I was aboveground, and she agreed to have dinner alone and meet me at the play. She's a kind soul, since she brought me a snack, which I wolfed down in the lobby of the theater. I spent 2 hours on a trip that should have taken 45 minutes at the outside.
Here's the funny thing. I'll do this again in the future. And will be just as amazed. "Wow, I didn't know the "A" train ran aboveground..." It'll happen. Guaranteed.
Tuesday, December 6, 2011
Vanity Fair by Wm. Makepeace Thackeray
It took me a month, but I finally finished!
I'm not sure if I was distracted when I began the book, or if it was just hard to get into, but the first 50-75 pages were very slow going. I got through them, then put the book aside, assuming I'd not return.
To my surprise, we were sent to London for a month and I decided to pull it up on my Kindle during the flight over. The next 50 pages were a little slow, too, but once I got into it I was always in a hurry to get back to the hotel room and chew on it a little more.
According to my Kindle numbers, the book was about 850 pages. Yes, it would have been more palatable to modern tastes if it was half that size. But if you look at it as a very long look at everyday life of upper and upper middle class Londoners of the early 19th century, it's a perfect length.
I suppose I just gave away the plot! Actually, the plot is very simple and classic. We follow two young women, one good and wealthy, the other bad and poor. We meet their immediate and extended families, and quickly come to know the men they love and their families as well. We learn that being good and kind is better than being avaricious and manipulative. But we also learn that the ride is more fun when the bad girl is driving.
By the time we're really into the book we've met at least 75 people, and most of them show up again and again. Some are caricatures, most are stereotypes, and a few are more complexly drawn. But Thackeray was writing at the beginning of the creation of the novel, and many of the stereotypes were fresh when he used them.
He's most interested and fond of the bad girl and her badish husband. Because it's obvious he's more interested in her, we are as well. But he dutifully tries to make the good girl interesting for us too. I suppose he was one of the early novelists who realized that bad boys and bad girls hold our interest more. There's more to them and their wily motives and that's been true since people have tried to tell stories.
Aside from the main plot, the book, as I said earlier, is a good way to immerse yourself in 19th century London and its environs. The characters are for the most part middle class, which was pretty nice at the time. They all have maids and butlers and cooks and various other servants. Labor at the time was almost free. I've read the typical household servant made two or three pounds a year, plus room and board. Given that they didn't spend much at all on the board part, servants were affordable if you had any income at all.
How money was spent probably took up 20% of the book. Fortunes rose and fell quickly, often with little warning. It seemed that you could live well on a very small income, but most of our characters aren't interested in that. They want to live very well, and that takes a bit more scratch. Getting that scratch takes a lot of time and trickery, and that was the most interesting part of the book for me.
I wouldn't want to read novels like this very often, but I'm glad I read this one. I feel like I have a much better understanding of how England functioned at the time. Given this was the high point of colonialism, it was a very important time in world history. If you have a free month, give it a whirl.
BTW, if you want some background, read "What Jane Austen ate and Charles Dickens Knew," or "Behind Closed Doors:Life in Georgian England."Then you'll have a much better idea of money, food, social habits, etc.
I'm not sure if I was distracted when I began the book, or if it was just hard to get into, but the first 50-75 pages were very slow going. I got through them, then put the book aside, assuming I'd not return.
To my surprise, we were sent to London for a month and I decided to pull it up on my Kindle during the flight over. The next 50 pages were a little slow, too, but once I got into it I was always in a hurry to get back to the hotel room and chew on it a little more.
According to my Kindle numbers, the book was about 850 pages. Yes, it would have been more palatable to modern tastes if it was half that size. But if you look at it as a very long look at everyday life of upper and upper middle class Londoners of the early 19th century, it's a perfect length.
I suppose I just gave away the plot! Actually, the plot is very simple and classic. We follow two young women, one good and wealthy, the other bad and poor. We meet their immediate and extended families, and quickly come to know the men they love and their families as well. We learn that being good and kind is better than being avaricious and manipulative. But we also learn that the ride is more fun when the bad girl is driving.
By the time we're really into the book we've met at least 75 people, and most of them show up again and again. Some are caricatures, most are stereotypes, and a few are more complexly drawn. But Thackeray was writing at the beginning of the creation of the novel, and many of the stereotypes were fresh when he used them.
He's most interested and fond of the bad girl and her badish husband. Because it's obvious he's more interested in her, we are as well. But he dutifully tries to make the good girl interesting for us too. I suppose he was one of the early novelists who realized that bad boys and bad girls hold our interest more. There's more to them and their wily motives and that's been true since people have tried to tell stories.
Aside from the main plot, the book, as I said earlier, is a good way to immerse yourself in 19th century London and its environs. The characters are for the most part middle class, which was pretty nice at the time. They all have maids and butlers and cooks and various other servants. Labor at the time was almost free. I've read the typical household servant made two or three pounds a year, plus room and board. Given that they didn't spend much at all on the board part, servants were affordable if you had any income at all.
How money was spent probably took up 20% of the book. Fortunes rose and fell quickly, often with little warning. It seemed that you could live well on a very small income, but most of our characters aren't interested in that. They want to live very well, and that takes a bit more scratch. Getting that scratch takes a lot of time and trickery, and that was the most interesting part of the book for me.
I wouldn't want to read novels like this very often, but I'm glad I read this one. I feel like I have a much better understanding of how England functioned at the time. Given this was the high point of colonialism, it was a very important time in world history. If you have a free month, give it a whirl.
BTW, if you want some background, read "What Jane Austen ate and Charles Dickens Knew," or "Behind Closed Doors:Life in Georgian England."Then you'll have a much better idea of money, food, social habits, etc.
Tuesday, September 20, 2011
Freedom by Jonathan Franzen
Freedom by Jonathan FranzenMy rating: 4 of 5 stars
I'm sure there are zillions of things wrong with Franzen and this book, but I don't care if it's trying to be the great American novel or not. I enjoyed it thoroughly and recommend it highly. However, if you hate Franzen, why torture yourself? Just acknowledge that you hate the book and don't bother reading it.
I'd hate to be the guy people put so much heat on. I think he's just a writer who tries to express himself. But he doesn't need my approval to keep writing. At least I hope he doesn't!
I liked Freedom because I cared about the characters. They were all flawed, but he spent enough time to make us care about them as we'd care about anyone we knew that much about. I think that's what Franzen does best, and it's a skill I don't think you can pick up. Either you care enough to deeply observe and report what you think makes people tick--or you don't. If more writers could follow his lead, I'd be a happier reader.
There are plenty of reviews detailing the plot of the book, but I'll give it a quick summary. The main characters are Walter and Patty Berglund, who meet in Minnesota during college. Their friends and family and co-workers get drawn into the book as time passes, and by the end almost 30 years have zipped by.
I thought the book was pretty light hearted in some ways, even though a lot of bad things happen. But the characters have some inner gumption that keeps them going for the most part. Maybe that's why people tag it as the great American novel. We have a tendency to keep striving and trying to better ourselves and the world. At least we used to, but that's a topic for another day.
View all my reviews
The Imperfectionists by Tom Rachman
The Imperfectionists by Tom RachmanMy rating: 3 of 5 stars
i would probably have liked the book better if I hadn't chosen it because of its humor. If you're looking for a story of self-sabotaging workaholics who, for the most part, can only be trusted to put out a good paper, this is your book.
I think the point of the book is that we tend to work hard at our jobs to the exclusion of personal satisfaction. We do this just either because we're stuck in a rut or we think we can use the job as a stepping stone for our ambition. But no matter how hard we work, or how many things we give up, our work matters little over the long run. We're on earth for just a moment or two and we and everything we stand for will soon be forgotten.
Now, that's probably true, but I wanted to have a bit of humor along with the pathos, and I sure didn't find it. The characters were, for the most part, losers or louses. There was only one guy who seemed to have it together out of the whole bunch. I don't generally mind having a bunch of misfits in a book, but these people were kind of pathetic. I know a bit of depth about them, but I can't say I cared about most of them. They're just too flawed.
I also chose the book because of it's setting. I'm going to Rome in a couple of days and wanted to put myself in the proper frame of mind. But it could have been set in St. Louis. Both cities are placed on a river and that's about all I know about Rome from this book.
The writer worked at newspapers and he must have hated the experience. I didn't detect one shred of love for the process or the art of reporting or writing.
View all my reviews
Wednesday, November 24, 2010
Thanksgiving
My Gf and I aren't big celebrators of the holiday. Neither of us has relatives close by, and it's not quite the same experience to tag along to friends' family events. Thanksgiving, for me, has been about being with your relatives, so since we're not doing that we like to do something different. This year we're going to have oysters, stone crab and a wicked cheese course. If it's nice out we'll go watch thousands of people try to find their proper bus after marching in the parade.
I think it's a nice day to be thankful for all that we have, but I think it's a mistake if you only do that once a year. Maybe it's my news sources, or my region of the world, but people seem so grouchy and petulant this year. I understand there's a recession and that things are hard for many people. But the poor in America would be relatively rich in most parts of the world.
We have been so blessed to be born at this time, in this place, through no efforts on our own. Just by the happenstance of birth we have it better than people a hundred years ago could have dreamed of. If nothing else we have antibiotics, for goodness' sake!
There is a lot one can't control, but one has a great deal of power over their world view. If you want to do it you can see the good that surrounds you. The inverse is also true. Give that a thought this Thanksgiving and see if you can summon up a dozen things you're thankful for. If you can't, maybe it's time to give your life a good, long assessment. The world is as beautiful as you'll let yourself see.
I think it's a nice day to be thankful for all that we have, but I think it's a mistake if you only do that once a year. Maybe it's my news sources, or my region of the world, but people seem so grouchy and petulant this year. I understand there's a recession and that things are hard for many people. But the poor in America would be relatively rich in most parts of the world.
We have been so blessed to be born at this time, in this place, through no efforts on our own. Just by the happenstance of birth we have it better than people a hundred years ago could have dreamed of. If nothing else we have antibiotics, for goodness' sake!
There is a lot one can't control, but one has a great deal of power over their world view. If you want to do it you can see the good that surrounds you. The inverse is also true. Give that a thought this Thanksgiving and see if you can summon up a dozen things you're thankful for. If you can't, maybe it's time to give your life a good, long assessment. The world is as beautiful as you'll let yourself see.
Wednesday, November 3, 2010
Election Fatigue
It seems a long time ago, but two years ago I was as happy as a voter could be. I'm still happy with the president, and I'm proud to have him represent our country on the international stage. I'm not happy about having lost Democratic control over the Congress, but part of the reason for the loss was self-inflicted.
I'm old enough to have seen voters move a little to the right, then a little to the left. So it has been, so shall it ever be. We're mostly in the middle, with very vocal minorities on either end. If the economy is bad, the ruling part gets kicked out. If we're at war, the ruling party generally stays in. Unless the economy is REALLY bad, then no one cares about war. I still don't understand how Al Gore lost, given we were at peace and the economy was cruising along. But don't get me started on that! It's water under the bridge that I'd like to push certain members of the Supreme Court off.
Having a divided Congress isn't usually a bad thing. The Republicans can't just say "no," since they're now in charge of getting the legislative ball rolling. I assume they'll spend time proposing bills Democrats will never, ever vote for and launching investigations into the president's malfeasances, but a girl can hope.
The good news is that we'll have almost a year with no political ads suffocating us. That alone is cause for celebration! So, congratulations if your man or woman won, and my condolences if he or she didn't.
I'm old enough to have seen voters move a little to the right, then a little to the left. So it has been, so shall it ever be. We're mostly in the middle, with very vocal minorities on either end. If the economy is bad, the ruling part gets kicked out. If we're at war, the ruling party generally stays in. Unless the economy is REALLY bad, then no one cares about war. I still don't understand how Al Gore lost, given we were at peace and the economy was cruising along. But don't get me started on that! It's water under the bridge that I'd like to push certain members of the Supreme Court off.
Having a divided Congress isn't usually a bad thing. The Republicans can't just say "no," since they're now in charge of getting the legislative ball rolling. I assume they'll spend time proposing bills Democrats will never, ever vote for and launching investigations into the president's malfeasances, but a girl can hope.
The good news is that we'll have almost a year with no political ads suffocating us. That alone is cause for celebration! So, congratulations if your man or woman won, and my condolences if he or she didn't.
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