Three Strange Days

My favorite cable network (day job notwithstanding) just went off the air. I didn’t have any television whatsoever for the longest time. Chris and I had an old Sony Trinitron when lived together way back in the ’90s. It had knobs and everything. No remote. But Chris ordered cable, and put an end to that.…

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Rubber Soul

The “Imagine” mosaic in Strawberry Fields had a halo of roses this morning. There was a whole, green apple in the middle. I puzzled on it a moment as I ran by, and then I figured it out. I was 22-years-old the first time I visted New York with any sense of real mobility. Chris…

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Running To Stand Still

It wasn’t much of a morning for running, but there I was, sprinting through Central Park in the freezing rain. The cold wind cut straight through my clothes. The freezing rain shot like pin pricks through my skin. It was somehow requisite. Somehow refreshing. A wake up call. After all, today was my first day…

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Double Click

This is a surely harbinger of things to come. I was celebrating my last day off doing what we sometimes describe at work as “banging between boxes.” The Sundance Channel was playing documentaries all day. I watched four (“Disbelief,” “I Am Trying To Break Your Heart,” “No Secret Anymore,” and “Passenger 17”). At the same…

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Lighten Up

This is a holiday I can rally around. I’m not much for Christmas. I mean, I’m down with JC and all, but I’m not crazy about all the commerce. Or the good tidings. If one more person said “Merry Christmas,” I might’ve slugged ’em. Of course, seeing Christmas through Ethan’s eyes helped. Chris and Jen…

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Less Suck, More Rock

I am walking home from the gym. I am still sweating. My muscles are warm. My vision is clear. I am holding a vente mild in my left hand, and a brown bag with an egg sandwich and orange juice in my right. Counting Crows’ “Time And Time Again” is playing on my iPod. It…

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This Little Light

The last Broadway show my mother, brother and I attended together was Tony Kushner’s “Angels In America” in 1994. Chris and I were living in Saratoga Springs at the time. My white Chevy Celebrity stalled out on I-87 near Suffern en route to the city. On the cab ride down, a fellow passenger (bourbon on…

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Blue Christmas At The End Of The World

What a strange, strange night. I’ve been meaning to record a few Christmas songs for ya’ll for a few weeks. But I haven’t really been home for a few weeks. And when I have been home, I was neither in the mood to play music, nor in the Christmas spirit. But the transit strike (which…

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The Scientist

The last time I walked from Times Square to 80th & Columbus, my mother was lecturing me the entire way. The time was last fall. The occasion was my appearance in The New York Times. My mother was not pleased. Nor, for that matter, was my father. (Or, for the record, me.) With my mistakes…

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Photograph

I may have dreamt the whole thing. I’m not really sure. Oh wait, there’s photographic evidence. Ok, so it’s true. I was in Palm Beach, Florida, this weekend. Yes, it was mostly-sunny and 80° the entire time. And yes, I left my laptop, Blackberry, and guitar at home, and no, I didn’t listen to my…

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