[photo by Randy Gordon-Gatica] ... Along with the virus, New York has been invaded by “the real” — an elusive concept. I was telling an old school New Yorker about an encounter I had at Coney Island once. Super hot day. My children were little. I was taking them on all the kiddie rides -- … Continue reading The Real
It's one of those days at work where I'm absolutely paralyzed. Hogtied. Brainfreeze. I can't do anything. So what do I do? I go to Google Street View. I take a drive in my childhood neighborhood in Jackson, Mississippi. Take a look at the old house. There it is. There's the lawn I mowed a … Continue reading Manhattan Academy
I experience a specific, subtle pleasure when I get off the subway taking my son to school in downtown Brooklyn. Our stop is Jay Street on the F. We exit onto Willoughby. When I first stood on that corner looking across the street at the big signs for CRICKET (former disposable cell phone store now … Continue reading Curious George City
Most time travel stories are about performing surgery on the past to fix the present. Rewriting history. Destroying the doomsday device. Stopping the assassination that triggers World War III. This is a pretty basic wish for everyone – to fix the past. I’m heaving into the toilet and remember eating that questionable sushi. If I … Continue reading Time Travel
I’m back in my beloved Hotel Monteleone. I fly back to Brooklyn in the morning. Instead of strolling over to Pirate’s Alley as I had intended, I never left the Carousel Bar downstairs. I clicked around a full 360 degrees three times, one tall Maker’s for each trip. In the mirror behind the bartender, I … Continue reading Down and Out in the Monteleone
