Considering that today was Halloween, have you ever had a “banana-flavoured,” candy and thought, “This tastes kinda like a banana but not really?”
There’s a reason for that.
Not a banana plant but I thought it looked nice. From this entry.
Years ago, I had some friends over and we were playing Scattergories and the category was: Birds that begin with the letter “G.”
Him: What the hell’s a “Great Auk?” Me: It’s a large, flightless, extinct bird. Him: You can’t just put “Great” in front of a bird and say it starts with, “G!” Me: OK Google, what’s a Great Auk? Machine: According to Wikipedia, “The great auk is a species of flightless alcid that became extinct in the mid-19th century. It was the only modern species in the genus Pinguinus.” Him: OK, stop, stop. Just take it.
Remember that line: “…the onlymodern species in the genus Pinguinus.”
I’d meant to write an entry about that, but it slipped my mind.
Now, the Great Auk was a true penguin – it looked like this:
By Mike Pennington, CC BY-SA 2.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=13812423
I know what you’re thinking, “They kinda look like penguins.”
But that’s the opposite of the truth – the things we call penguins kinda look like them, the real penguins.
Those birds, the real penguins, completely died/were killed off some time in 1844.
A decade previously, around 1831, people started calling flightless birds in the Southern Hemisphere – far from the Northern Atlantic where the Great Auk was found – “penguins” because they kinda looked like the Great Auk.
But they weren’t actually penguins at all – again, the Great Auk was the “onlymodern species in the genus Pinguinus.”
Always found that so interesting: The birds we all call “penguins,” aren’t actually “penguins” at all but a completely different animal that we all assume are penguins now.
By Zwifree – I personally took this picture in my kitchen after buying approximately 30 Gros Michel Bananas.Previously published: I put it on my Facebook, CC BY 4.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=70354204
Somewhat related, my parents (and probably yours as well) grew up with a banana that was the Gos Michel banana but those went commercially extinct by about the 1960s.
In their place was the Cavendish banana, which I, and probably you, grew up on.
The Cavendish tasted a lot different from the bananas they grew up on, the Big Mike.
And that’s why a lotta banana-flavoured things don’t taste exactly like a banana to us – because those flavours were developed to imitate the original Gros Michel and not the Cavendish.
On a completely unrelated point, the election is happening soon.
Growing up, I spent most of my young adult life voting Republican because I was always fiscally conservative whilst being socially liberal.
What I’m seeing these days is a complete takeover of what I grew up with.
The compassionate conservative, which I prided myself being, has been taken over completely by a woman-hating, “Christian,” anti-choice, subtlety racist, and otherwise hateful group that seems to be wholly different from what was once called the Republican party.
Just like the Greak Auk, and the Big Mike, I think that the current GOP has taken over so completely that no one remembers that the Republican party used to be substantially different and something wholly unrelated is now known as the Republican Party.
Location: a former Masonic temple
Mood: irritated but fulla carbs so, not terrible
Music: Hey, Marianna, you gotta no banana? (Spotify) Subscribe! Like this post? Tell someone about it by clicking a button below.
Even now, they’re pretty rare because people just got used to going without.
However, the rats in NYC may change alla that.
See, Mayor Adams is convinced that the garbage – fulla food – laying around for hours overnight in plastic bags is helping the insane surge in rats in NYC.
I think he may be onto something.
One of his major plans are to deal with the obscene garbage situation in the city by:
Standardizing garbage cans for everyone in the whole city – so everyone has to get cans that look like the ones below with a lid on them.
Making everyone separate out their compostable materials.
He’d never done one before but was game to tackle it.
Unfortunately, my sink was easily 40 years old, so the drain was rusted tight.
Took us two hours just to be able to remove it, which we did with a specialized tool.
Him: Man, once we had the right tool, it came right out. Me: I remember my buddy Buckley telling me once that nothing’s ever an issue if you have the right tool.
Since this was the first time he’d ever installed one, lots of things went wrong.
Like this arm was the wrong size and leaked everywhere.
Wally planned to be here to paint and install it for about four-to-five hours but ended up staying 10 hours and had to return two days later to finally fix everything.
BUT, I have a garbage disposal now in NYC!
I think I’m gonna start running tours to show it off with a reasonable $5 admission ticket.
I’ll let you know when I roll that out.
In the meanwhile, here’s a quick time-lapse video I shot of it in action.
It’s 1.25 horsepower, which is about 5X the power of an average garbage disposal, so it chews through most anything but I’m just using fruit peels and eggshells to keep the gross factor to a minimum.
If you don’t have one, definitely consider installing one!
Location: a NYC pad WITH garbage disposal and freshly painted doors and gates
Mood: accomplished
Music: I will try to fix you (Spotify) Subscribe! Like this post? Tell someone about it by clicking a button below.
Her: Well, there’s shampoo, conditioner, leave-in conditioner, pre-heat treatment spray, anti-UV spray, dry shampoo, hair oil, mousse, and hairspray. Me: I have a single bar of soap.
I’m pretty obsessed with cancer, for obvious reasons.
Don’t know what is leading to this huge rise in cancer cases in our lives but I gotta think it’s a combination of lifestyle and environment.
And for men, a report just came out this week that by 2050, the cancer rates will double. That’s insane.
It’s tough not going off the deep end on this kinda stuff, but one thing I try to do is check my household products against The Environmental Working Group’s website.
Since Alison and my dad died, pretty much the main soap that I use in the house is Dr. Bronner’s Castile soap, which are so safe that they’ve all earned EWG’s coveted “verified” rating – their rating system is basically from 1-10, where 1 and 2 are super safe and 10 is decidedly not.
I try not to get anything above a 2 in the house where ever feasible but EWG’s “verified” rating is essentially a 0, meaning it has absolutely nuthin of concern.
Unfortunately, Dr. Bronner’s bar soaps are like $4.50 or so, which is 3X the price of a normal bar of soap and I take up to three showers a day in the summer if I’m hitting the gym.
Still, it’s a small price to pay for safety.
Having said that, I was searching for something else when I found out that Irish Spring Icy Blast is – somehow – a 1 on the EWG rating chart and costs exactly the same as any other mass-market soap, about $0.66 a bar.
I do note that it seems to contain titanium dioxide, which I’m not a fan of, but that’s pretty much it.
So, while I still have Dr. Bronner’s pretty much everywhere here, I’ve been showering with the Irish Spring for the past month, which has been pretty nice, I gotta say.
Her: You smell great! Me: Don’t I?! Her: (rolling eyes) Sohumble, Logan Lo. Me: The humblest, even.
Location: W 63rd, picking up a white printer for the kid
Mood: irritated
Music: They say it’s our fate and we’re too late, I know (Spotify) Subscribe!
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But he had a quote on the topic that I’ve always liked that seems appropriate to this situation: The time is always right to do the right thing.
As we walked home, the kid talked to me about it all.
Him: They were really loud and scary. Why did you thank her? Me: Because she did the right thing in the end. Yes, she should have been quieter and yes, she shouldn’t have vaped in the first place. But when someone recognizes they did something wrong and try to fix what they did, you have to give them credit for that. Him: She was still really loud and scary. Me: (nodding) Yes. But she was trying to do the right thing in the end. And we always hope that, even if it takes a long time, ultimately, people do the right thing. Maybe next time, she’ll be even better.
That pretty much says it all; evidently, if a wife gets cancer a husband is six times more likely to leave than the other way around.
Put another way, if a husband gets sick, the wife is six times more likely to stay and help while the husband is six times more likely to peace out if the wife gets sick.
What. The. Fuck.
That made me so mad that I couldn’t sleep. The inequity of it all.
I stayed for one reason alone, which was that she was my wife. We were a team. Sickness and in health and all that shit. That was the deal. And I knew, in my heart-of-hearts, that she would have done the exact same for me.
She would never have left me.
And it never once occurred to me to leave her. How could I? She needed me. Plus, she was my wife, and I loved her.
Full stop.
I’ve seen this firsthand.
Have a scumbag relative that cheated on his wife and divorced her while she had cancer.
I have zero to do with him and plan on having zero to do with him ever again.
And Newt Gingrich divorced his first wife Jackie when she had uterine cancer and his third wife Callista after she had been diagnosed with multiple sclerosis.
All this to say nuthin of Trump and his multiple marriages, rapes, and affairs.
Party of family values, folks.
What a fucking joke.
Think the reason this whole thing bothered me so much is that I knew how much Alison suffered with her cancer and the thought that someone out there in Alison’s situation has to deal with her same horror AND also have to deal with the pain of being tossed like a piece of garbage by the person she pledged her life to makes my blood boil.
Yet another reason why I think the less I have to do with people, the better.
I didn’t know Shannon at all but, man, no one deserves having to deal with the hassle and heartbreak of a divorce while facing death.
For some 18 months, I’d been trying to get a triple date lined up with Bryson and his wife, The Frenchman and his wife, and me and the Firecracker.
Bryson and the Frenchman were friends first, with the Frenchman being a white belt in BJJ when Bryson was a purple belt.
But, because life gets in the way, Bryson’s now a brown belt (4th level) but the Frenchman’s a black belt (5th level) and I’m still – laughably after over 20 years on-and-off – a blue (2nd level).
Like I said, life gets in the way.
Only found out through social media that they knew each other and, after we got together last time around, we’d been trying to do it again with no luck.
This past week, we’d finally arranged something – or so we thought.
Bryson: Hey guys I did not read the calendar right. We are [away next week after all]. We can do this Thursday or Friday. Me: I’m putting this on your list. Frenchman: Argh…that’s July 4th…sorry got a plan already. Me: Is tomorrow out? Bryson: We can do tomorrow. Frenchman: Tomorrow 6:30-7pm would be the earliest. Me: Wait, that works for us as well. 7PM tomorrow? Frenchman: Oh, wow it’s happening.
So, after months of trying to plan something, we just randomly decided to meet up around the Frenchman’s pad within 24 hours.
The Firecracker suggested Bohemian Spirit as she knows I like Slavic food and the other fellas were game so off we went.
The Firecracker and I got there first.
Me: Oh man, this place is super cute. Her: I figured you’d want to be able to take pics. Me: (later, to waitress) Hey, do the chairs on the wall/ceiling mean something? Waitress: (laughing) It means my boss was bored during COVID.
But, since everyone’s so chill, we all fell into a really easy conversation pretty quickly.
The food was killer to boot.
Me: Did you know that about 30% – or something – of people don’t have an internal monologue? Frenchman: Wait, what does that mean? You have conversations with yourselves? Firecracker: What? You don’t? Me: You don’t talk to yourself?! Nikki: I don’t talk to myself either. Me: Whoa, is that 30%? Firecracker: Your math is off. Me: Asians are not known for their math skills.
Turns out that the Frenchman – and possibly Nikki but she was sitting farther from me – don’t have internal monologues.
Evidently, he thinks in images and concepts but doesn’t actually have a conversation with himself.
This was a pretty hot-button topic for us to end out the night but that’s more their story than mine, so I’ll stop here.
The Firecracker and I were stupid full, and she suggested that we walk home from the Upper East Side to the Upper West Side.
Her: It’s just like a mile. We can do that easy. Me: Fine, but you’ll have to protect me if someone attacks us.
Can’t remember the last time that I walked across the park at night.
It was nice.
Actually, the whole evening was nice.
I’d do it again. Although, hopefully, earlier than 18 months.
Him: But it fits! Me: Kinda. You’re definitely Brittney Spearsing it here.
Clothes that I just bought for the kid last year are already not fitting him.
I remember that, as a kid, I loved this yellow shirt with a red V on it. Wore it until my bellybutton was constantly out, all Britney Spears like.
Think my parents were just happy that I didn’t ask for new clothes, but I always think that Alison woulda wanted him to be put together so I try my best.
My best being a sliding scale.
(c) Getty Images
Him: Why don’t you ever show my face? Me: Because I don’t have that right. At least, I shouldn’t have that right.
Been enjoying my new gym – it’s interesting rolling with people from a completely new gym because no one knows my game and I know no one else’s game, so each roll feels very different than at my old gym.
Recently rolled with a very talented but smaller female. While I could have easily beat her, that wasn’t why I was there; I was there to get better.
Just because I can, doesn’t mean I should.
In a way, that’s why I don’t put up pictures of my kid where you can clearly see his face.
See, I grew up in a time where you could grow up in relative anonymity.
Never realized what a gift that was until YouTube because – MAN – did I do some jaw-droppingly bone-headed things when I was younger.
Legit, thank god everyone didn’t walk around with a video camera because I would most likely be hated by the world writ large.
In that sense, I feel that it’s not fair or right that I – as someone much bigger and much older than my kid – have the right to take away my son’s chance to be anonymous.
Just because I can, doesn’t mean I should.
He’s a little kid right now but little kids grow up to be adults.
When he is one, he might resent not being able to tell his own story his own way.
If you think about it, the thing that probably pisses you off the most is when someone else tells your story.
Janet? She’s such a slut. Did you hear last Friday, she…
Tom? He’s a loser. When we were kids…
That guy? Lemme tell you about him…
But I have to balance that with the fact that I’m proud of him – so proud of him – and what he can do so I wanna show him off.
And that’s really what it is with parents, isn’t it?
They want to show their kids off, not for their kids sake, but for their own. And that’s not right, I don’t think.
Just because they can, doesn’t mean they should.
So, my concession is that I blur or hide his face and name so that when/if he does want to have a public face/name, that’s his choice to make when he’s old enough to make that choice.
For now, I realize that, just because I could put up anything I want about him, I shouldn’t.
Me: One day, you’ll be old enough to decide who you are and how you want the world to see you. You and your friends are gonna be some of the first kids on the planet that’s lost that right to be a nobody. Him: (thinking) What if I wanna be someone? Me: That’s your choice to make. I’ve lived my life. I don’t have the right to live your life as well. You get to decide who and what you want to be. (pause) For what it’s worth, you’re always someone to me. You’re my most important someone.
Location: a pier with four lovely ladies – including the Firecracker – the boy, and a bottle of white
Mood: so. full.
Music: I just wanna be someone. Well, doesn’t everyone? (Spotify) Subscribe! Like this post? Tell someone about it by clicking a button below.
Her: Can you imagine what George Washington would say right now? Me: “What an asshole?” Her: Exactly.
A good buddy of mine hurt his leg the other day doing a harai goshi and sent me a video of it.
Fast-forward to earlier this week and the kid tried the same throw and almost broke his leg.
Him: Why are you mad at me?! Me: I’m not mad at you, kid. I’m worried you’re gonna break your leg!
By Gotcha2 – Own work, Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=3096148
Both the body and mind grow through adversity.
This fella named Arthur Golden once said, Adversity is like a strong wind. It tears away from us all but the things that cannot be torn, so that we see ourselves as we really are.
Wanna give the boy enough stress to make him better, but not so much so as to make him worse.
On that note, I just went to my local urgent care office – again – because I thought I fractured my wrist in jits the other day.
Doctor: What happened? Me: Essentially, I forgot that I’m 51 and not 17. Him: (nodding) Ah…we get that a lot here. Me: Yup.
Turns out that I didn’t have any broken bones, just a particularly bad strain.
The weirdest part was that no “event” happened – I just walked off the mat at the end and could barely move my wrist.
Not much to do but rest it up and hope it heals quickly.
I still have a small handful of kali students that I train over Zoom.
One of them is a doctor from Pittsburg that was in town the other day visiting his sister, who just happens to also live on the UWS.
So, we met up for a really brief bit to have a cuppa joe.
Me: It’s crazy when I think about it. My great grandmother was so poor that she sold her only child – my grandmother – to another family because she couldn’t afford to support her. She died not soon afterward. And here I am, an ivy league educated lawyer living in Manhattan. Nuts. Him: Surprising how much similar history [we have] being second generation children of immigrants. Me: Yeah. I wish my dad was still alive so I could tell him that I’m so sorry for being such an asshole when I was a teenager.
I was in my local supermarket when I ran into one of the cashiers, Lucy, in the produce section.
Her: (walking up to me holding a cup of coffee and put it down) I understand now. About your wife. My…my husband died. Me: What?! Good god, I’m so sorry. Her: (nodding) He was sick for a while. I thought he would be ok but…he didn’t let me know how bad it was. Me: (putting down groceries and giving her a hug) I’m so sorry. We’re never ready, are we? Her: (shaking head) No. I didn’t think he would go.
I went home, got a red envelope, stuffed a few bucks into it and went back to give it to her.
Her: No, no, I’m fine, really. Me: (gently) I’m sure you’re fine. This is just for lunch. Make sure you eat, ok? Her: (taking it) OK. Thank you. Me: I wanna tell you that it’ll be ok. It won’t be. But you have to keep telling yourself that it will be. After a while, it’ll be kinda ok.
The rest is her story to tell but I was in my own head for a while after that.
Then, I was walking with the kid and he turned to me said the most profound thing:
Flowers may bloom again, but a person never has the chance to be young again.
Assume he learned it in Chinese class (花有重开日，人无再少年) because he certainly never learned it from me.
But then…
Him: Flowers come back. Why can’t mommy come back? Me: I dunno. I dunno. Him: I wish she would come back. Just once. Just for a day, even. (trailing off). She can’t come back, not even for one day? Just one day? Me: Man, if only, kid. If only…
My kid’s a lot more mature than other kids his age. Sometimes, I think of him like he’s a little man.
Dunno if this is a good thing or not. I’m thinking not.
Wish he was just a kid without alla this weight on him.
It’s too much weight for a little kid like him to carry.
Don’t want a little man. Not yet.
Just want him to be a little kid for a little bit longer.
Location: On West End Avenue, finding myself at a loss for words
Mood: contemplative
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