The Portmanteau that is my life
Me: How’s your project going?
Her: Well! It’s not a sprint and not a marathon. It’s a r…
Me: Schmarathon!
Her: (sighs)
A portmanteau is:
a word formed by combining the meanings and parts of the sounds of two or more words. English examples include smog, coined by blending smoke and fog, and motel, from motor (motorist) and hotel.
The term “portmanteau”, derived from the French porte-manteau, literally is a two-part piece of luggage that was first applied metaphorically in Lewis Carroll’s Through the Looking-Glass (1871) to describe the combination of words.
My life feels…weird these days, at least since late 2025.
Because it’s become a mashup of alla my previous lives.
In the past, like George Costanza, I kept the various parts of my life pretty separate. But now, I…kinda don’t care anymore.
Case-in-point – I had to help a relative with a real estate issue the other day so, bright and early, Sara and I met up with her down at the West Village – a place I spent many a drunken night in my late 20s into my mid-to-late 30s.
The work only took about 45 minutes or so.
Sara: What do you wanna do now?
Me: I’m feeling a little peckish.
Her: Do you wanna walk to Chinatown?
Me: That’s over a mile away, baby.
Her: (shrugging) It’s a nice day. Let’s go for a walk.
So, off we went.
Along the way, I pointed out alla the places that I used to haunt in my younger days.
Me: I can’t believe how different everything is but…still familiar.
Her: I believe it. You’ve been here a long time.
Me: My whole life.
After only about 30 mins, we found ourselves in SoHo, where we ducked into the TJ Maxx to cool off.
Ended up buying a couplea shirts before going back on our way.
Me: Let’s turn here.
Her: Sure. Why?
Me: This is Rain’s old pad. (standing in front of the coffee shop) Man, you have no idea how many nights I’ve spent here and many cups of coffee I’ve had in this joint.
Her: I can imagine.
We walked into Little Italy…
…before turning into Chinatown, where she got herself some chrysanthemum tea and a sweet bun.
I decided not to eat anything after all, because I’ve definitely been eating a lot, lately.
We continued walking down to the court houses…
…towards Tribeca.
Her: What is that? (points)
Me: That looks just like The Bean.
Her: It does! Let’s take a look.
Her: Where are we now?
Me: (pointing) That is the Triangle Below Canal – Tri. Bec. A.
Her: Ah. I’ve been to that station…with you, I think.
Me: I vaguely recall that. I’ve spent many a night here.
Her: Why?
Me: Back when I was young and single – spent a lotta time with Rain, Gio, and Paul around here.
And, with that, we ended our little walk downtown and through my possible pasts.
This isn’t – at all – the life I expected for myself.
But I like the portmanteau of all the little bits of my life that it’s become.
The company doesn’t hurt.
Her: Wait, shouldn’t it be a Sp-marathon?
Me: Let’s not be ridiculous here, lady.
Her: (sighs again)
Location: my local bistro with a German doctor I just met
Mood: super productive
Music: We scale these walls and jump through hurdles (Spotify)
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