All in It's My Life
Fuckin' bike flat... maybe I'll walk home to Bay Ridge today.
Link: ABC News: Police Investigate New York Subway Terror Threat.
The New York City Police Department is investigating what it deems a credible tip that 19 operatives have been deployed to New York to place bombs in the subway, and security in the subways will be increased, sources told ABC News.
There is a parking spot in Manhattan that is governed by no traffic rules whatsover. None.
No alternate side parking. No muni-meters. No commercial parking only. No street cleaning, no no standing, no no nothing.
And yet, no one parks there... ever.
Its a completely free, completely empty spot on one of the most traversed roads in the whole city--the most valuable secret in all of NYC.
I know, because I have seen it with my own eyes. I have even parked there. Before yesterday, it was just for a few hours at off times here and there.
Now, it has passed the ultimate test. I had a breakfast meeting in midtown at 7:30, so I drove in and parked around 7. It was a 10-12 minute walk to where I was. I went to work, met someone for dinner, then went to teach my class at 8.
I didn't get back to my secret spot until 10PM.
Car?
Still there. No tickets.
Fifteen hours of undisturbed, unticketed, completely free parking, 10 minutes from midtown.
I kid you not, my friends. There is a spot the Department of Transportation has forgotten... has overlooked. It is 20 feet from a hydrant and down the block from a no parking anytime zone.... but this spot is completely free of any legal jurisdiction whatsoever.
I dare not park their everyday, for fear of giving away its very existance to the proper authorities, but I will definitely use it at my leisure for late nights in the city where I know I won't want to hike home on the subway at 11 or 12.
Forget great sushi. Forget great apartment finds. Forget midnight hookups on C/L.
I have found the Holy Grail of living in New York City. Parking. Free. Anytime. No limits.
I'm not going to post about last night without explaining why there were 30 of my friends at Bar 515 celebrating. While I can't say yet where I'm going (not until Monday anyway), the big news is that Friday, February 11, 2005 will be my last day at General Motors Asset Management. After a little over eight years, I will be moving on for a really fantastic opportunity. It has been a great experience, which I will write lots about when I make my official announcement on Monday. For now, I'll just be concentrating on the party last night.
I think Tim really captured the significance of the occasion when he asked, "What else have you done in your life for eight years so far? Nothing." He was totally right. GM had been the longest continuous association/presense I've ever had. Talk about an era. Anyway... more on Monday. On to the party.
First of all, the turnout was amazing. I really didn't expect so many people to show. One of Dorean's friends said to me, "Wow, you have a lot of friends." I guess I do. I just don't like losing touch with people, especially when I've met quality people. My life, in spite of the fact that it hasn't taken me too far geographically, has taken me through a lot of different groups of people and so I've met a lot of people that I would like to keep around. Last night, people from so many different parts of my life were represented. It was a little overwhelming to see them all there at once, and to feel like you're responsible for them having a good time. I suppose that's what the alcohol is there for... its like a babysitter. "Mr. Beer, could you watch Brian for a little while while I go greet some guests?" Anyway, there were people from home, from Genesis, Regis/Marymount days, Fordham, GM, kayaking, baseball. I thought it would be interesting to plot the entrance of selected people into my life on a timeline.
No, I'm serious, I actually did it:
It will be interesting to see how that plays out over time. Maybe I'll do another one for my grad school going away party. :)
Anyway, I know you're all dying to see the pictures. To be honest, I didn't get as many people as I would have liked to. I was pretty busy hanging out with everyone, but I did get a few. Perhaps I should have deputized some people at the bar with the Powershot. That always seems to get the volume up and the quality down.
I'm not going out to Fire Island or the Hamptons.
No Jersey Shore either.
Nope.... I'm not making any plans, b/c I need a weekend off... not a vacation.. but a weekend around NYC... a few hours in my apartment wouldn't be bad either. I could finally get my ceiling fans, hook up my TV to my media center (nope, still haven't done that either.) Maybe I'll make a pizza, too.
I'll definately be spending a disproportionate amount of time at Pier 96 at the boathouse, too. I'm set on being there Sunday and Monday, since the weather is going to be good. Saturday might be my day in Brooklyn, especially if it rains.
I'm not big into vacations, but catch-up time is always welcome.
In everything I do, I try to surround myself with hardworking, positive people who will go the extra mile--and do so in a way that really makes things a good experience for everyone around them. That's important to me as I tend to feed off the energy of others. That's why, when I think about travelling, my first question is always about who I'm going with, because the people I go with are going to make or break the trip for me, regardless of who I'm going with.
That goes for sports, too... especially at this age. I'm 26 and I'm not going to make the major leagues... at least it seems highly unlikely. I play softball to have fun. I hustle and try to win of course, but I'm not going to lose sleep if I don't, because I've got other things in my life.
So, today, I did something I've never done before. I walked off the field in the middle of a game. I play in a men's fastpitch league in Brooklyn and we're not doing well. Last week we didn't field... this week we weren't hitting. I show up. I hustle. I play and bat where I'm told.
So, in our first inning of the second game, I missed two fly balls, which I really never do. The first one, I got distracted because the first baseman ran out to me and, even though I called it, I wasn't sure if we were going to run into each other. I looked down at him for a split second and it was just the wrong split second to look down.
The inning wasn't really going well for anyone in the outfield. Before that, the centerfielder showboated one with one hand, tried to do one of these Barry Bonds catch off to the side of the head things... and it bounced right off his glove. At least I wasn't showboating.
The second play, I realy didn't think it was going to me, so I hesitated, but I still had it tracked down. I ran over to catch it... and it just didn't happen... bounced off my glove. Bad play.. it happens. Smacked my glove and just resided to get it next time. That's all I can do. Get it next time.
Then all of the sudden, the kid who manages the team called to me to come out... he was going to replace me in the field right in the middle of the inning. I really couldn't believe what I was hearing until I saw this guy come off the bench with his glove. I was totally stunned. I mean, you take people out for not hustling, for arguing, but dropping the ball? We're not major leaguers... especially not our team. Stunned.
So I ran off, letting the manager, a guy my age, know that this just wasn't right. And, without hesitation, I grabbed my bag, said, "See you later" and walked off. I didn't throw anything. I didn't get angry... I just walked off. You just don't make an example of someone who is trying their best... it doesn't really solve anything, and its absolutely not the kind of team I have any interest in playing for. I love baseball and I'd play everyday if I could, but not with people who take the fun out of it, because then what am I really playing for?
What would have been the best thing to do? I dunno... maybe let my bat do the talking and get my hits while I was the DH and not worry about what happened in the field. But, sometimes, you just have to take yourself out of a situation where you're not being treated right if you don't have something worthwhile to sacrifice for. My Zog team plays for charity... the Fordham team carries the name of an institution I believe in and I'm proud to be associated with. This team, if its going to play favorites, point fingers and make examples of people when its 3-6, stands for nothing.
I hate shopping.
I hate the whole process... being sold to, crowded stores... buying stuff that other people don't need just because its the day they were born. I wind up spending money, as most guys do, not actually buying gifts. (As in... You're a $30 birthday friend... You're a $50 date vs. a $100 date.)
Its all very... manufactured. John Cusack captured the feeling best:
“I don't wanna sell anything, buy anything, or process anything as a career. I don't wanna sell anything bought or processed, or buy anything sold or processed, or process anything sold, bought, or processed, or repair anything sold, bought, or processed, you know, as a career, I don't wanna do that...right now I just wanna be with your daughter, sir.”
But today, I just received a product that I bought last week that made me feel different about it, from Etsy. Etsy is a marketplace for all things not mass produced... but as I learned, its a marketplace for people, because you don't just get the item, you get a personal story. It has a community look and feel... when you go on the site, you feel like you're at a fair. Its made just for this kind of stuff... not a one size fits all site where you could sell a lamp, your '82 Chevelle, or women's surplus army pants all in the same place.
First off, it came from Singapore. And it didn't come from some big factory where hundreds of 11 year old kids are running big machines or doing this all day by hand until they bleed. It came directly from Chu Ling, a mom with a 16 month old daughter who isn't feeling well at the moment. She runs a shop on Etsy and comes from a very poor family. She handwrote the envelope... somewhere in Singapore... last week. Something about that is just really fantastic for me... a lot more interesting than just getting a book from someone from Barnes & Noble. In fact, I think I want to keep the envelope and give it as part of the gift.
I bought a purple glass pendant. As soon as Chu received my PayPal payment, she wrote me by e-mail to tell me she'd mail it the next day. When she did, she e-mailed me again to tell me the tracking number, which, to be honest, I didn't even use. She had like 500+ positive buyer experiences to her credit against 0 negative ones and not even a single neutral ones.
I'm very happy with my purchase, too. So no more manbuying for me... where I'm just a wallet making a monetary judgement of a friendship. These things are special an now I feel like I can get special stuff for the people I care about most.
The web is so fuckin' cool.
So I'm realizing that my commute is like 11 minutes too long and my neighborhood is one detached $2 million house too residential.
Its kind of funny, actually, because the first five months that I was living here, I was dating someone in Park Slope, which artificially split my commute in half. It was rare that I was making the full trip at one time. Now, admittedly, its kind of annoying.
Plus, I've had a lot of friends start to move into Fort Greene. That got topped off when we went to see a company right in that neighborhood last week that had an awesome walkup space.
I really dread the thought of moving again.
Well, first I need to figure out what I'm doing next year so I can size up my bite size.... so I'm probably not going anywhere in 2006.
But it doesn't seem like this Bay Ridge thing is going to last.
I have this bizzare little habit everytime I fly on a plane.
I e-mail myself a simple last will and testament.
Then I e-mail my friend Brian the password to my e-mail, in case the plane goes down.
I'm not even afraid of flying or anything... but while the plane is boarding, I tend to get board and my mind starts wandering. I figure for the minute that it takes, I might as well have my stuff in order.
There is one thing that I've been putting in it, though, that I can make public here, though. Don't worry, I'm not going anywhere, but while I have your attention, I think I'd like to make one request public.
I don't want a wake and I want to be cremated. I really hate the idea of "embalming" and the being put up for display for a couple of days, then being dropped in a box in the ground left to decay. I mean, come on, does that sound appealing to you? Nope... as soon as I go, harvest me for whatever organs people need, and then toast me. Spread the ashes places I cared about, like the Boathouse or Fordham or something like that.
Sorry if that was morbid, but that's life. Now you all know what to do with me should I overdose on Jamba Juice.
