The time has come for my 30th high school reunion down in Miami Beach. I won’t be attending, at least not at this cycle; but talk to me again in ten years; who knows? It’s not that I’m not curious; I am. A little. I am more ambivalent than anything. That feeling matches quite neatly […]
Every year I try to visit New York City, my old “home.” I’m there today in fact, preparing to retreat in typical forlorn fashion tomorrow back to my Atlanta “home.” Quotation marks are there; for what is home for someone who’s moved around as much as I have? I’ve always maintained such personal issues of self-identity […]
For many college students, summer is the time to hunker down and get a job, save some money for books and clothes and a new school year. For me it was a time to leave New York (where I was going to school) for a while and head back to Miami (where I used to […]
Google Maps Street View is the anti-Stanton. It’s aim seems to be to achieve the exact opposite of Brandon Stanton’s book “Humans of New York.” Using what might be called “facial derecognition software” all human faces are blurred out, sometimes to funny effect, but sometimes it’s a little chilling. You’ll never find a better illustration […]
I’m proud of my short, aborted Hollywood career. I don’t want to brag but I made a little money back then, you know, it was cool. Added up it was probably like $1000 in earnings, but we’re talking 1981 dollars; and, adjusted for inflation I’d probably be sittin’ pretty if it was now! In my […]
How long does it take someone to truly absorb their adopted home? A few months, several years, perhaps immediately? It’s easy to move to a place you like, to know you’ll eventually bond to it; so what is with that weird period of denial, of having to get used to? Maybe it’s missing the old place, […]
Last year I was happy as hell when I downloaded a free meme app on my iPhone. I was even happier when I saw that it was easy to use. My mind raced as I thought about the countless images I could appropriate to my own ends (which usually meant a movie scene and a […]
When I moved to New York I put everything I could fit in a blue trunk. Naturally that meant my car, an old Oldsmobile beater, couldn’t go; I left it with my mom back in Miami Beach. This is why, during my one month break from college (Pratt Institute puckishly called it ‘Winterim’) a year […]
Pancho’s Giveaway is a status state. It’s a metaphorical appellation given to unwilling LA County public school students by other very willing LA County public school students. Pancho’s has been in non-existence at least since the early 70’s; maybe even longer than that. It’s supposed to be a real place, but as far as anyone […]
Around February of 1981 there were some weird rumors flying around LeConte Junior High School. The rumors had one idea in common; that the LA Unified School District (LAUSD) was doing something with the school schedule. Stories ranged from the optimists’ “They’re adding onto summer vacation!” to the pessimists’ “They’re getting rid of summer; we’ll […]