First mentioned RE Mike to you some 15 years ago, where he floated me and my buddy Sheridan into a private party with James Lipton, Richard Kind, David Zaikin, Tina Fey and Alec Baldwin.
This is from the really weird party we went to in 2019.
He even set up one of the wedding parties that Alison and I had, and the only one in Manhattan, at a joint he owned.
He and my friends around the way were some of the first people I saw after everything went down.
I shoulda had a donut from the donut wall that night.
I’m honestly not sure why he’s always so nice to me, but – heck – who am I to look a gift horse in the mouth?
Everyone should have a RE Mike in their lives.
RE Mike: [Sent you an invite to the Britney Spears musical.] Me: Thanks! When are you going? Him: Went last week enjoy! It’s silly but fun. Me: Cooooooool, thanks!
The Firecracker and I were trying to figure out what to do last weekend when he got us two tickets to a new show with Britney Spears songs called Once Upon a One More Time.
Honestly, while I liked a few songs from her – like Work Bitch, which, before everything went down, coulda been my theme song – I wouldn’t really call myself a fan of hers.
Having said that, The Firecracker loves musicals so I figured I’d take one for the team and go with her.
But, I gotta admit, it was a lot more fun than I was expecting, and the story wasn’t bad at all.
I’d never been to the Marquis Theatre, which is in the New York Marriott Marquis hotel in Times Square.
The layout was a bit odd as you walk downstairs and immediately are facing the concession/bar area. Weird/bad feng shui.
Her: Do you want a drink? Me: I’ll just have some of yours. Her: Why don’t I just get you one? Me: Because I’ll just keep running to the bathroom.
Outside, there were a buncha booths where people to take selfies with some of the songs as themes.
The Firecracker had a blast and it was fun doing something completely different for a change. If you get a chance to go, you should.
Afterward, we took a long walk-up Broadway, about two miles north to my pad.
I’ll tell you about that in my next post.
Until then, below is the encore from the show, which they were cool enough to let us record.
Location: the gym, for the first time in a while
Mood: missing the kid like crazy
Music: You want a Maserati? You better work (Spotify) Subscribe! Like this post? Tell someone about it by clicking a button below.
Ended up getting my usual burger with a side salad.
Everything was great except…
Her: That’s gonna drive me crazy – both mirrors are crooked. Me: (looking) Why would tell me that?! Now it’s gonna drive *me* crazy. Her: I need to do something about that. Me: (standing up) I got it.
So, I walked over and straightened out both mirrors.
There were patrons in the other areas and I think they all thought we were odd, but one of the waitstaff laughed and nodded so I’m guessing that all was ok.
Her: Thanks! That was gonna drive me nuts. Me: You and me both, lady.
I’m making some pretty major changes – the first in a long while – with the kid’s room because he’s getting older and I want to make sure his room grows as he grows.
Tossed Alison’s old desk that I gave him to use these past few years. But it’s been falling apart because the kid’s been pretty rough with it.
Was a lot harder to do than you might imagine.
Firecracker: (gently) I know you don’t want to do it, but it’s time. I’ll help. Me: No. It’s fine. I’ve got to do this.
In any case, I’m feeling rushed because he’s coming back soon and there’s so much more to do.
Was gonna focus alla my time this past weekend on it but then RE Mike hit me up to tickets to a Broadway show.
Location: home, realizing that the box I got to keep all the power stuff doesn’t fit underneath my TV stand
Mood: missing the kid
Music: If there’s nothing missing in my life (Spotify) Subscribe! Like this post? Tell someone about it by clicking a button below.
Prob for the best; I’m not sure a lotta people would go to McDonald’s to order a hot dog.
I saw The Flash when it came out because he was always one of my favourite superheroes – mainly because super speed is the only power I think really matters.
That’s an entry for another day, I suppose.
But, while I don’t think it deserved to be as maligned as much as it has been, I wanted to tell you why I think the movie failed.
As a comic book nerd, I always gravitated more towards DC comics than Marvel comics, even though I really liked both.
See, Marvel likes to ground its characters in realism – the teenage Peter Parker trying to make ends meet while dealing with massive guilt, the alcoholic Tony Stark, the rage-filled, revenge-seeking Frank Castle, etc.
Comparatively, DC heroes are like otherworldly gods – Superman is essentially a god from the heavens, The Flash is as fast and mercurial as Mercury, Wonder Woman is a goddess.
The thing about these gods, though, is that they are innately good, and – more than anything – bastions of hope.
Me: Did you like Man of Steel? Him: No, because he killed Zod. Snyder doesn’t understand Superman never kills. He doesn’t understand that Batman doesn’t use guns. He doesn’t understand what makes them…them. DC Comics are all about hope. But Synder’s film have no joy, no hope. It’s all spectacle without heart.
And that, I think, is why The Flash bombed.
It’s one of the saddest and darkest superhero films out there; everyone and everything is disposable. Heroes are introduced merely to die. No one and nothing matters.
Look, don’t get me wrong, I understand that tragedy is a part of life.
Fuck, if anyone’s life is a tragedy, it’s mine (albeit, fulla joy).
Plus, there’s nuthin wrong with a cinematic tragedy; but kids trying to see their fave hero on the big screen – especially a DC-based one – want the good guys to win.
Evil to be overcome. Good to prevail.
Goddammit, I thought my own tragedy wouldn’t actually be one. Thought we would prevail. But I was wrong.
I digress.
In any case, just like you don’t go to McDonalds for a hot dog, you don’t go to a DC based film to leave feeling hopeless.
And that – not just the bad CGI (which I didn’t hate) and the foibles of the main actor – is why I think the movie failed.
Me: The problem is that you’re homeless and a stranger in a strange land. You’re not valued by him and never will be. But your friends and family are here. Her: I can’t afford to live in NYC any more, Logan. I don’t have a job and I’m not 20 anymore. Me: Plenty of people – your parents and mine – came here with less and spoke even shittier English than you… Her: (laughs) Me: …they all survived. They all thrived. It’s time.
A dear friend of mine, who moved away to be with the man of her dreams suddenly found herself in a nightmare.
She gave up everything – her home, her friends, her family, and her job, to be with this fella.
That’s her story to tell so I’ll end that part here.
But I told her things that I never told anyone.
Never told you either.
Because I not only lost both my families in 2017, but I also lost my career.
Never told you, but when I lectured in Malaga, over a decade ago, my topic was the right of publicity versus the right of privacy.
With the rise of computational power, we’re rapidly coming to a point where we don’t need an actual actor or singer but merely their likeness to create art. And that will open up a whole new world of possibilities, both for good and bad. – Logan
Watched one lawyer talk about it, and I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t angry and jealous – because the focus of my entire practice was going to be about the intersection of the rights of publicity and privacy.
I knew a decade ago that this current AI crisis was coming and I wanted to be at the forefront of it all.
Her: Holy shit, you were ahead of the curve, Logan! Me: Yeah, by over a decade. I’m gonna be honest with you, I threw myself a pity party last week thinking that coulda been me.
That fucking cancer took almost everything from Alison and me.
12 years of work, poof. Gone.
I’m still a lawyer but I’m not…that lawyer anymore.
I secretly used pictures of Alison throughout my lecture.
After all, that’s what Alison did. Felt I had to respect her sacrifices and do the same.
I just said that the fucking cancer took almost everything.
Almost because I still had the boy.
Somehow, through all my chemicals and madness, I sobered up enough to remember him and how much he meant to Alison, and me.
Knew I had to make a home for him with me, however incomplete and inelegant that was.
That kid saved me and, together, we made this sad place – which was full of some seriously unspeakable and fucked-up things – a happy(ish) home for both of us.
And I told my friend all this just to let her know that it’s possible.
Me: I’m not making light of your situation. It’s gonna be shitty and hard. But I just want you to know that you can survive this. You can survive this blow. Because, somehow, I did. Her: (silence then laughing) I can’t believe I’m saying this but you’re making a lotta sense. Me: (laughing) I’m as surprised as you are. (pause) Listen, X, it’s done. That place isn’t your home, not anymore. But here, you matter to a lotta people. Me included. Her: (sighing) OK, Logan. Lemme think about it. Me: Do that. It’s time to come home.
Me: I’m not sure I should head to the gym. I’ve got so much to do. Her: Go. You missed so many days that it’ll be good to clear your head. Me: OK.
Because I had COVID, I lost a solid week of projects that I was planning to do while the kid was away.
As soon as I felt better, I threw myself into my unchanged list of tasks to do.
One major thing I’d not done in years was to clean out all the kid’s old toys, clothes, and papers from the past two years. After three days, his room still just looked like it vomited up everything.
Now, the Firecracker and I were supposed to head out to see Pac and his girl for dinner but I didn’t think I could make it.
Pretty much told him we weren’t going to come because once I got back from the gym, it would be a solid six more hours of work that I needed to do to make it in time to toss everything for that week’s trash and recycling.
But when I got back, the Firecracker intercepted me.
Her: Hey, I wanna show you something. Me: Do I have to? I’m so beat. Her: Yeah. I think you’ll like it.
It turns out that, while I was gone she spent two hours cleaning up the kid’s room and did in two hours what woulda taken me four hours. So, I had two hours to wrap it all up.
Me: Well, it looks like we’ll be there tonight. Pac: Great! Come by at 6PM.
So, after I did what I could with the kid’s room, off we went.
It was raining when we left but we arrived at Port Authority with just three minutes to spare for the next bus.
Her: If you navigate, I’ll buy tickets on my phone. Me: Sold!
So, while she was face down on her phone buying tickets, I got us to the right gate in two minutes and 30 seconds. We arrived just moments before the bus pulled out.
Now, we thought we took the wrong bus because we didn’t know it first went south before heading north (Pac lives in the north part of NJ) but we ended up being right on time.
Pac and his girl were just great. Turns out that she has a green thumb, something I aspire to.
Me: These plants are just amazing! I never thought of having a succulent garden. Him: She has them as a kinda meditative thing. Me: Oh man, my plants just give me agita.
We brought some alcohol while they ordered a ton of fried Korean chix, which we demolished.
Afterward, we played a game of Exploding Kittens, which I lost and came in last…
…then a game of Spot It, which I lost and came in last.
Me: This stinks! Firecracker: Oh, you’re just mad because you keep losing. Me: Well, yeah…
We ended up just chatting until late.
Afterward, we grabbed a Lyft home.
Her: Your friends are really nice. We should invite them over some day. Me: Sure. Pac’s by alla time but it’d be nice to have him and his girl over one day. Her: Would you ever live out here in the burbs, Logan Lo? Me: Maybe. If I had a good reason. Her: (nodding) Maybe you’ll have one, someday.
I went to college in Cornell, which has some of the most Asians of any school, about 1 outta 5.
Anywho, my college girlfriend was Korean but went to a different college entirely.
One day, I was walking home when I saw a young woman that had her very distinct gait and I swore it was her.
As I got closer, it turns out it was her – she’d left school early to come up to my college to surprise me.
There’s a software company I’ve been following for the past year because it has a rather unique business model; its software aggregates data and then makes predictions based on the data it’s gathered.
Since the Ukraine war has happened, Palantir has been offering its services to Ukraine and I believe it’s Palantir and the western armaments – versus just the weaponry itself – which is why Ukraine has been punching above its weight so consistently.
This is not at all to take away from the sheer bravery and discipline of the Ukrainians.
But it tracks with what I’ve always believed: The most dangerous people/things are not always the strongest but the ones with the most intelligence.
If that were not the case, it’d be people in zoo cages and lions walking free with the keys instead of the other way around.
In any case, the software has access to 306 commercial satellites that can see as close as 11 feet from the ground.
With this data, Palantir can figure out which are enemy movements – to such specificity as which platoon and commander – and can predict what these enemy troops are most likely to do and offer the Ukrainians the most likely scenario that will happen.
The Ukrainians can then act accordingly.
In that way, Palantir can recognize enemy troop movements similar to how I could tell from a vast distance that it was my then girlfriend and not some other person.
The data I collected – the visual recognition of her particular gait – allowed me to realize that my then-girlfriend was visiting me, without her telling me she was there.
Similarly, Palantir takes what it knows about people/troops and figures out who they are by their unique traits – like a gait.
With that, they make warfare akin to a deadly recipe except that if you do steps 1-16 correctly you’ll end up with mass enemy casualties instead of a soufflé.
I’m conflicted on this point.
Obviously, the Russians are the aggressors here and for everyone not a Republican, clearly the bad guys here.
As a child of the original Terminator films and the rebooted Battlestar Galactica, it makes me uneasy how very good Palantir is at what it does.
On the flip side, it’s trading at $16.42 today, off its three-year high of $35.18.
I’m nothing if not a ruthless capitalist – with a sentimental streak.
On a much lighter note, with both of our kids away, the Firecracker and I are doing basic couple things like grabbing drinks around the way and watching reality TV and cooking shows.
Although I suspect that, while we’re both watching the same program, we’re experiencing them differently.
Her: (watching TV) Serves you right, lady! Your hubris went…pluberis. Me: (shakes head) Her: (turning to me, apologetically) I tried to abort halfway through but I was already committed to it. Me: This has got to go into the blog. You brought this onto yourself.
Location: my basement, trying to figure out why the lights won’t turn on. The circuit breaker tripped
Mood: recovering
Music: This world can be so cold (Spotify) Subscribe! Like this post? Tell someone about it by clicking a button below.
Firecracker: Take a COVID test. Me: What? Don’t be ridiculous. There’s no way I have COVID again. I already had it three times, I’m double vaxxed and double boosted. Her: Just take one. You have a million tests, anywho. Me: (sighing) I guess you’re right. Her: (later) Well? Me: I HAVE @#$@#$@ COVID AGAIN! FOUR TIMES NOW!
Felt like hot trash for the past few days.
The two people I rolled with the day before AND the Firecracker – who spent every single day with me – did not get it.
My luck runs ever true.
The fella that wrote Brave New World once said, Most human being have an almost infinite capacity for taking things for granted.
Thought about that tonight because I’m constantly reminded of my possible pasts that I didn’t realize would be so short and special to me in hindsight.
See, I’ve been clearing out stuff in the house and had to head down to the basement, which I’ve not done in a while because the basement scares me, greatly.
Not because of the spiders, or mice, or whatnot, but because of ghosts.
Well, that’s not wholly true because they’re not ghosts per se, but apparitions in my head.
Remember when alla that flooding happened and I told you that I lost most of Alison’s things then? That was true. But I still find things.
Tonight, I found a box of a 101 cookie cutter shapes. Alison got them when she was pregnant with one of the kids we lost.
She had all these dreams of making sugar cookies and tree ornaments for our children.
They’ve never been used.
And I found bags and bags of the kid’s clothes when he was younger.
See, I saved every single goddamn shirt and pants. Because I thought that, maybe one day, I’d have another fatty to call my own. And he, or she, would need some clothes.
And a crib, and a stroller, and a changing bed, and toys…
But alla that seems less and less likely now.
One of the (many) things about Alison that I adored was how unsentimental she was. As long as she had a picture of something she loved, that was good enough for her.
Coming from a poor background, my family slanted towards hoarding while her priorities were cleaniness and order. She always encouraged me to let things go.
So, I started giving away a lotta of the kid’s old clothes and things.
And I’ll probably give away these cookie cutters as well.
Alison would have.
Spoke to my therapist recently.
Therapist: How have you been? Me: Besides getting COVID for the 4th time, pretty well. Her: (smiles) You seem it. Tell me what’s been going on. Me: Things have been going really well with the Firecracker and me. She understands, better than most, having alla these hopes and dreams and then having them suddenly disappear. Her: That’s great, what else? Me: (thinking) I think that for a long time, I’ve been unable to truly accept that this is my life. I think that for the past…Jesus Christ…seven years, I’ve been fighting – both subconsciously and consciously – the reality that is my life. Her: And now? Me: I don’t really have any other choice, do I? Her: I’m proud of you, Logan. That’s a good step. You should be proud of yourself as well. Me: I’m not sure I’d go that far, yet. But I’m trying to be better. Her: (nods)
Her: I’ve been here all this time and I’ve never seen the fireworks. Me: Well, it’s not my thing but I’m sure we can figure something out. Her: Fireworks for the Firecracker – we’ve gotta do it, Lo!
My cousin, Ras, just moved in LIC and had an outdoor space so the Firecracker and I were supposed to head there after dinner but Ras cancelled last minute.
But it was fine, we were in LIC anywho so just scouted around for a place to watch the fireworks.
For those of you not in NYC, Long Island City in Queens and Midtown East in Manhattan are the two best places to catch the Macy’s 4th of July Fireworks because they’re held on the east side.
As a native New Yorker, I’ve spent my life trying to avoid going to these things but the Firecracker’s not originally from around here, so I figured I’d take her.
First, we went to a tiny, tiny, tiny, restaurant called Carla.
Afterward, we walked around looking for a spot to catch the fireworks.
We walked for a looooooong time.
Because not every place was suitable.
Her: No, Logan Lo. Me: Now, hear me out…
We did not go there.
We did, however, do our civic duty and killed a lanternfly nymph that we saw – first one for 2023.
We ended up walking past the gym I’d gone to while the lockdown was in place.
The streets were already insanely crowded and the Firecracker was getting a headache, so we just popped into a Thai restaurant and ordered a few drinks as well as more food.
