20 posts tagged “kids”
1a) Roger Clemens has always been a douchebag, but now he's a cheating douchebag. F.P. Santangelo's candid comments about his own usage really put that whole bat-throwing incident with Mike Piazza back in 2000 in perspective, too: "[HGH] changes who you are. If you're a jerk, you become a bigger jerk. If you're impatient, you become more impatient. It accentuates whatever personality you have to the utmost. It gives you this false confidence."
1b) Haven't really dug into it yet but this site -- http://www.baseballssteroidera.com/ -- looks like it will make for interesting reading over the holidays.
2a) "Moral victories" are bullshit rationalizations to make losers feel better about being losers. The Jets D played pretty well on Sunday but the offense was terrible again and it's clearly not just Chad Pennington. I have a feeling he's going to end up having another career year next season playing for someone else -- Miami? Baltimore? Kansas City? -- while Kellen Clemens, Leon Washington and Thomas Jones (if they don't trade him) continue to struggle until the offensive line gets a complete overhaul. Not paying Pete Kendall the extra $1m was a bonehead decision.
2b) Tony Romo picked the wrong Sunday to lay an egg, as his minus-17 point performance almost surely killed my playoff run in the poetsleauge fantasy football semi-finals, unless the Minnesota D can turn Kyle Orton in Rex Grossman tonight and return a few INTs for TDs. The worst part is that my team scored 201 points last week while we enjoyed a bye. Ugh!
3) Realized Friday night that we don't have the current title for the old car and need to get a replacement one issued before we can sell it. Ugh! Took it out to Long Island so we won't have to move it around every other day for alternate side of the street parking rules, probably the main reason we're not keeping it.
4) Spent most of the day Saturday Xmas shopping and ended up buying more stuff for the kids and ourselves than the people we were supposed to be shopping for. Went out on Sunday morning to get a few last minute things from Target and got a little carried away. If they'd have had a Wii in stock, I'd have probably picked one of those up, too!
5) I could never remember which Christmas movie Heat Miser was from but Kevin's handy list of Christmas movies reminded me that it was The Year Without a Santa Claus. Coincidentally, while I was at Target yesterday, they had a Deluxe Edition DVD that I snatched up and we (Salomé and I, not Kevin and I) watched it with the kids before bed last night. It's pretty dated and doesn't hold up as well as Charlie Brown's classic tale, but the Snow Miser and Heat Miser intro songs still work for me and seemed to catch the kids' attention, too. (Salomé fell asleep halfway through!) Makes me wonder if Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer is as good as I recall, or if the Island of Misfit Toys is better off left as an untainted memory.
Isaac and India both had their parent-teacher conferences this week, but because I stayed home with them Tuesday and Wednesday as they were sick, Salomé had to attend both meetings solo in the evening. While I've met both of their primary teachers, she'd only spoken with them over the phone and via email, so it worked out okay, especially since she has the insider's take on what questions to ask beyond "how are they doing?" Both reports were good, with Isaac's teacher raving over his writing, in particular, while India, after some early difficulties, has adapted very well to her new setting.
When it comes to writing, Isaac tends to work slowly but in a level of detail that far surpasses his classmates. His teacher had previously mentioned that he was the best writer in the class, which we took in stride, but she showed Salomé some of his classwork that we never get to see to prove it and it's true. While most of them are on the level of "My house is red." and "I am 7 years old.", he is a natural storyteller who is big on detail and elaboration. It's the way he talks, too, which can be maddening sometimes because he talks CONSTANTLY, often rambly and hesitantly, as his ideas are sometimes bigger than he can properly express, but he tries nevertheless... apparently similar to how I talk when I've had too much to drink! Needless to say, Isaac as a writer is a very pleasing thought, even with the realization that, like Salomé's father realized when we got engaged, that he'll likely never be well off financially. :-)
When India started at her new school, going from a class of 6 kids to one of 25 -- with a 1:2 mix of special ed and general ed -- we were a little worried about how she'd adjust and whether or not it was too big a leap forward for her. My gut told me that it was better to find that out in kindergarten and have to take a step back later in the year than to ease her along slowly only to realize we'd held her back, and so far, so good. She's made some amazing cognitive and behaviorial leaps in the past, but watching her breeze through homework assignments while actually enjoying them has been more than I expected so soon. She still has problems with transitions, and is apparently a perfectionist when it comes to completing in-class assignments that brings that problem to the fore, but the overall assessment is that she's coming along just fine academically and has been adopted by the class and various teachers as the baby of the group.
In other kid news, we've been watching Transformers pretty much non-stop since Isaac got the DVD for his birthday -- surprisingly, Salomé loved it, actually rushing me off the phone one night because "Bumblebee just lost his legs. I have to go!" -- and there's nothing funnier than hearing the two of them recite a bit from Anthony Anderson's over-the-top interrogation scene: "Don't talk to me, criminal!" Funny, that is, until it's India and she's saying it in response to being reprimanded for something. Then it's turn around and quickly walk away to the bathroom before you explode laughing funny!
Isaac and India both had their parent-teacher conferences this week, but because I stayed home with them Tuesday and Wednesday as they were sick, Salomé had to attend both meetings solo in the evening. While I've met both of their primary teachers, she'd only spoken with them over the phone and via email, so it worked out okay, especially since she has the insider's take on what questions to ask beyond "how are they doing?" Both reports were good, with Isaac's teacher raving over his writing, in particular, while India, after some early difficulties, has adapted very well to her new setting.
When it comes to writing, Isaac tends to work slowly but in a level of detail that far surpasses his classmates. His teacher had previously mentioned that he was the best writer in the class, which we took in stride, but she showed Salomé some of his classwork that we never get to see to prove it and it's true. While most of them are on the level of "My house is red." and "I am 7 years old.", he is a natural storyteller who is big on detail and elaboration. It's the way he talks, too, which can be maddening sometimes because he talks CONSTANTLY, often rambly and hesitantly, as his ideas are sometimes bigger than he can properly express, but he tries nevertheless... apparently similar to how I talk when I've had too much to drink! Needless to say, Isaac as a writer is a very pleasing thought, even with the realization that, like Salomé's father realized when we got engaged, that he'll likely never be well off financially. :-)
When India started at her new school, going from a class of 6 kids to one of 25 -- with a 1:2 mix of special ed and general ed -- we were a little worried about how she'd adjust and whether or not it was too big a leap forward for her. My gut told me that it was better to find that out in kindergarten and have to take a step back later in the year than to ease her along slowly only to realize we'd held her back, and so far, so good. She's made some amazing cognitive and behaviorial leaps in the past, but watching her breeze through homework assignments while actually enjoying them has been more than I expected so soon. She still has problems with transitions, and is apparently a perfectionist when it comes to completing in-class assignments that brings that problem to the fore, but the overall assessment is that she's coming along just fine academically and has been adopted by the class and various teachers as the baby of the group.
In other kid news, we've been watching Transformers pretty much non-stop since Isaac got the DVD for his birthday -- surprisingly, Salomé loved it, actually rushing me off the phone one night because "Bumblebee just lost his legs. I have to go!" -- and there's nothing funnier than hearing the two of them recite a bit from Anthony Anderson's over-the-top interrogation scene: "Don't talk to me, criminal!" Funny, that is, until it's India and she's saying it in response to being reprimanded for something. Then it's turn around and quickly walk away to the bathroom before you explode laughing funny!
Isaac and I finally got around to carving the pumpkin he picked a few weeks ago during India's birthday picnic party, using a cheapo carving kit we bought that included templates. He picked one of the more difficult choices but I was up for the challenge since it was the first time we were carving instead of painting a pumpkin together. I cut the top off and then he scooped out the majority of the insides before I finished it off and started carving away.
I totally get how woodworking must be a very therapeutic hobby because I was completely focused on what I was doing and it was a very "moment of zen", er... moment.
The picture is via my camera phone but the graininess actually adds to the creepy factor, I think. It's sitting atop the TV cabinet in the living room right now -- directly in front of the kids' room's door -- but I'm tempted to move it onto Salomé's desk so she sees it when she walks in later! I don't want to get punched in my sleep, though, so I'll probably just leave it where it is and blow it out. :-)
We trekked up to Lawrence Farms Orchards again on Saturday to have an apple-picking/pumpkin-picking/picnic party for India's 5th birthday and the unseasonably warm October weather was absolutely perfect for it! (More pictures @ Flickr.) India, who doesn't like birthday parties at all, handled things pretty well, though she had no interest in her cake and didn't warm up to the idea of opening her presents until we peeked behind the wrapping paper of one of them and she realized a Care Bear was inside! Prior to that, she had dissed a gift bag full of clothes as "boring" and was insisting that I give her the Pliplup (Pokemon) figure she knew was in another bag because she'd spied it at home a few days earlier.
The rest of the day, she carried around the smaller of the two Care Bears she received (Grumpy Bear, ironically) and the talking Chimchar (Pokemon) I wanted to claim as my own! It's kind of funny that years after Pokemon has pretty much faded into the pop culture background, my old cards buried in the back of the closet, both Isaac and India have discovered them in various forms, from the toys to the cards to the video game itself.
And no, that's not my direct influence at all, though I fully encourage it now that the interest is there! :-)
My new favorite toy, the Creative Zen 4GB, arrived last week and I've been having fun playing around with it, loading it up with 3.25GB of the most random selection of music from the 60s to today, and finally dabbling with some podcasts via Zencast. So far, the CNN Complete Update, MLB.com's Gameday Audio Rewind, and NPR's Latino USA have been keepers, but I'm still looking for the "killer app" that really sells me on the concept as a viable standalone feature. As much as I loved Pump up the Volume, most podcasts seem to be the digital equivalent of bad pirate radio, so any recommendations of particularly compelling content would be welcomed!
Skipped 13 last night and finally caught an episode of K-Ville and it was pretty good. Not great, mind you -- the plotting is very by-the-numbers and the writing isn't quite as crisp as I'd like it to be -- but as I expected, Anthony Anderson and Cole Hauser work well together, and one of the sub-plots, the petition for reinstatement by cops who went AWOL during and after Katrina, is a pretty compelling one. I won't necessarily skip 13 too often to catch it but I'll finally hook up the DVR box to make sure I don't miss any future episodes. Now I just need to get on track with Private Practice and work Grey's Anatomy back into my schedule and all will be right on the TV front.
And so the baseball season ends in NYC, not with a bang, but with a gag. In stereo, at that! First the Mets pull an historic choke over the final two weeks of the season, losing a playoff berth that was all but guaranteed at the beginning of the season; then, the Yankees test the "better to have loved and lost" theory by storming into the playoffs only to pull an embarassing no-show for three out of four games, getting eliminated in the first round for the third year in a row. Not even the Teflon Don himself, Derek Jeter, was immune to the Choke, hitting a paltry 3-for-17 (.126) and a single RBI.
And what of Joe Torre, the beleaguered manager who, depending on the time of year and who you ask, gets too much or not enough credit for the Yankees' successful run during his 12-year tenure? He's been a great manager for them, this season more than ever, but he's simply not the right guy anymore because Steinbrenner demands better than Bobby Cox. If Torre had the slightest shred of the dignity he's so often credited with, he'd resign today before Steinbrenner can lower the axe. And please, no one suggest the Mets hire him as a bench coach for Willie Randolph. That would be an insult to both of them.
I have another Spindle update going up later this week, featuring a varied batch of contributors dominated by people I don't know personally who found the site via marketing efforts on Facebook, Duotrope, NewPages and the flyers I printed up and gave out at 13 over the past few weeks. In putting it together, I had to deal with my first outright rejections, which was painful but necessary.
I tried to find the right tone for the rejection note, seeking a balance between expressing sincere appreciation for the submissions and being clear that the material wasn't up to par, without going into any detailed critique which I simply don't have the time for. I showed it to Salomé after I'd sent it to a couple of people and she was appalled! We went back and forth over it and I finally saw her point, realizing that maybe I shouldn't have developed it in the context of answering one specific submitter who had clearly not read the guidlelines at all.
On the bright side, I've lined up two poetry editors and am talking to someone this week about writing a regular column; plus, I'm working on the first interview of interesting NYers that I hope to be a regular feature. and I have our first solid fiction submission, though it's a bit long and may have to be serialized. Good stuff!
1) Spindle: It's where the majority of my free (and not-so-free) time has gone the past week as I've been tweaking things in the background since the site "soft launched" last Wednesday. I pulled some different featured content to the front for those not inclined to wandering the City aimlessly -- something I plan to do on a weekly basis -- and am pulling together new content for an October 1 update. Response so far has been terrific, both to the site design and the content, and I'm putting out the first official mass Call for Submissions tonight, distributing flyers at louderARTS and placing a sponsored listing on NewPages.com that will hopefully go live sometime this week.
2) Kids: Isaac had a rough weekend as he picked the wrong time to pull a spoiled brat move at Barnes & Noble on Friday night and is now on "punishment" until his birthday next month. His "punishment" is that he won't be getting anything other than the basic necessities until then; no toys, no ice cream, no videogame time, etc. Of course, as that lame "punishment" probably makes obvious, it's totally our fault that he's a bit spoiled, but it's not too late to fix it. We made him write an essay on Sunday about what he'd done, why it was bad and what the consequences were, and I think it finally sunk in for him why we were so disappointed with him. He's such a sensitive kid, quick to tears when he's embarassed or frustrated, and generally speaking he's a saint, but he's got a bad sense of entitlement that we need to nip in the bud. India had a similar moment Saturday night in Target, refusing to try on a pair of shoes and throwing a fit which got even worse when we "punished" her by putting her Lightning McQueen Halloween bucket back on the shelf. Yikes! She can go from 0-60 in about 3 seconds, arms and legs flailing in high-volume anger, and then almost as quickly become a sobbing mess, clearly overwhelmed by the moment as she tries to calm herself and communicate. I calmed her down for a bit and she eventually agreed to try on the shoes and got her bucket back in the process, making the connection we spent the whole weekend trying to get Isaac to understand. Looking at the two of them, myself, and people's behavior in general, plus having finished reading The Speed of Dark (review coming soon), I can't decide whether "autism" is too narrowly or too broadly defined.
3) Work: Took a quick trip out to Cincinnati last Thursday for a strategy meeting and to meet my new Advertising Director. Things are looking good for 2008, but I've got a lot of legwork to do over the next few weeks before the Jan/Feb issue closes to make sure of it. The Nov/Dec issue blindsided me as I missed my overly optimistic reforecast, but I'm making it up online and am comfortably ahead for the year overall. I finished the media kit, too -- an almost total revamp from last year -- and if we can launch some of the new online opportunities I put in there before the end of the year, I should be sitting pretty when the smoke clears and the final numbers come in.
4) Fantasy Sports: My baseball team revived itself for one last hurrah after my pitching staff tanked last week, and I claimed 5th place this season. Sucky ending to what was shaping up to be a great season until these last three weeks. In football, my money league team is clinging to its first victory and I'll be forced to root for the Eagles tonight over the Redskins, or at least for Jason Avant to outscore Santana Moss, in order to preserve the "W". Matt Schaub has outscored Philip Rivers two weeks in a row now, sitting on my bench. In my Yahoo! Poets League, I'm spanking fools with a 2-0 record and the highest-scoring team (though I might be surpassed by the end of tonight's game.)
5) NY Sports: The Mets are giving me heartburn with their horrible bullpen situation. I mean, the Phillies aren't that good, but we're making them look like the Braves used to as they've now swept twice in a row and closed the division gap to 3.5 games. No way they catch up (fingers crossed), but it doesn't bode well for the playoffs, especially if they manage to snag the wild card. With the Yankees keeping things interesting in the AL, I'm only partially rooting for a Subway Series rematch. Whether Eric Mangini wants to acknowledge it or not, the Jets officially have a quarterback controversy after Kellen Clemens stood up to the Baltimore Ravens' over-powering D and never backed down, almost pulling off the dramatic comeback. If not for Justin McCareins dropping TWO TD passes -- please, Mangini, make a statement and cut him this week, no matter the salary cap implications -- they could have stolen that game. I'm a big Pennington fan but he's had his chances and always comes up a little short in the end. Still, I'd take him over Eli Manning any day. That kid's a dorky goofball who will always be in his big brother's shadow and will never succeed in NY.
Even though I've not been to work since Friday, August 24th, my vacation pretty much ended the minute we landed at JFK last Wednesday evening. Within minutes, no matter how often I supressed them, thoughts of back-to-work and back-to-school things-to-do steadily flooded my brain, and not even my new Nintendo DS and Pokemon Diamond could completely defeat them. :-(
Today was a pretty good day, though, all things considered, as Isaac and India returned to school and things seem to be slowly falling into place as far as our annual after-school-care nightmares go. (Some pictures here.)
Both of their schools require uniforms this year, making our nightly routine a bit easier, and they both looked great for their first day, Isaac in his crisp white-and-blue combo and India in an oddly adorable yellow-and-green plaid getup. India has half-days these first two days -- unexpectedly delaying my return to work -- while Isaac jumps right in to a full schedule (minus after-school, which doesn't start for another couplafew weeks) so I dropped him off first before driving India to her new school.
It didn't really hit me that Isaac was starting 2nd grade until this morning when I couldn't find where his class was lined up because I was looking at the 1st grade classes! His new teacher is an adorable youngish white girl (women are 30+ to me these days) who is "new to the school" which is probably code for "brand new teacher", but she's very friendly and proactive (she called to introduce herself last night) and Isaac says he likes her and that there's only 19 kids in his class, so all seems to be good there, so far, at least.
India's first day was predictably more dramatic as the long and busy summer layoff coupled with a brand new school made for a tough go of it as she alternated between her usual chipper self and sad pleas of "I want to stay with you, Daddy." Her new class combines general ed students and special ed students in a 15:10 split and I was a bit disappointed to see that the general ed students were lined up outside while the special ed students were sent to the lunchroom, each entering the classroom separately with their respective teachers afterwards. Made me wonder if the general ed students' parents are aware of the setup and how many might have a problem with it.
India's primary teacher is a Filipino (I think) man around my age, and it's the first time she's had a male teacher which made me the slightest bit jealous when I realized that. A former para-professional who's been teaching special ed for three years, he seemed nice, as did his para, an older Caribbean woman who immediately took to India and eventually enabled me to slip out of the room without causing a fuss. Or any more of a fuss, at least, as India wasn't happy about being in the new classroom at all, reluctantly (and randomly) cooperating while in near-hysterical tears more than half the time. At one point, I thought she was going to puke she was so upset, but she calmed down a little bit as the general ed teacher read a book to the class about the first day of kindergarten. I wasn't sure whether to be impressed or worried about her single-minded determination to get through the story over India's complaints, but as it slowly caught her attention, she calmed down enough to sit relatively still on the rug with the other kids and I eased my way out of the room.
After checking on her bussing situation and realizing I'd been misinformed about what kind of bus she'd been assigned -- all special ed kids, only from her school, with a bus matron -- I grabbed some breakfast at a diner instead of heading back home to catch up on some work in order to settle my thoughts, worried that things weren't going to work out and she'd need to take a step backwards and be put into a more restrictive setting. Halfway through my omelette, though, I reminded myself how resilient and adaptable she is and how she's generally more likely to act out in our presence than she is when she's on her own. By the time I headed back to pick her up, I was confident she was going to thrive in her new setting and that confidence was confirmed by her teacher who believes she's going to be fine. She had eventually calmed down after I left, participated with the class, and even drew a picture for me.
As we were leaving, she did her shy thing, quietly saying goodbye to "Mr. R-----", but said that she'd had a good day, liked her new school and teacher, and was ready to go back tomorrow. By the time we got to the car, the chipper India was back full-time and all was good again. Afterwards, I took her to Toys R Us and, in lieu of any interesting Pokemon figures she liked, she chose a "King" remote control car from Cars that she played with the rest of the day.
We walked over to pick up Isaac later in the afternoon, grabbed some ice cream and then headed back home to unwind and relax with the "King" and "Mummies and More". Seven hours later, they're finally down for the count while I'm still trying to wrap my brain around the million other things I have to get done, including the stuff that's steadily piling up for me at work; Spindle's soft lauch; and my imminent return to Comic Book Commentary, PopCultureShock and Monday nights @ 13.
Cancun! Take me away!
Salomé's away for the next few days so it's just me and the kids which, unfortunately means the kids and a babysitter since I'm at work every day this week. Originally, they were going to be down at my mother's place in Virginia, but schedules got twisted around and they're not going down until this coming weekend, at which point we head to Cancun!
Yesterday was a lot of fun, though, as the three of us headed to Glen Island Park for a family picnic with my cousin Joanne and her family, and a special guest appearance by our aunt Nereida. Part picnic, part group birthday party, Brandon and Cheyenne shared their birthday spotlight with me and I got my own goodie bag with a copy of Chris Ware's Jimmy Corrigan: The Smartest Kid on Earth which has been on my Amazon wish list for two years!
We ended up with a huge spread of food and way too much beer as a few others didn't make it, but a good time was had by all who did. Despite their age differences -- from 4.5 to 12 -- Isaac and India always have a good time with their cousins Cheyenne and Brandon, especially when they're outdoors. There was a larger group next to us with a bunch more kids and they all played together while the adults hung out and relaxed. The park is right on the water and you can fish off the shore, and one little girl was walking around at one point with a six-inch fish in a plastic bag showing it to everyone. There's also a ton of geese and the grass was a minefield of goose poop. (As we were packing up the cars to leave, a gaggle (?) flew overhead and one of them let loose in flight, missing Juan and I by about 10 feet.)
It's fun to watch Isaac and India interact with other kids, especially ones they've just met. Isaac mostly played with Brandon while keeping a wandering eye on his sister, and a couple of times I saw him go over to make sure the other kids weren't bothering her. India is pretty fearless when she's in the mood to play and she was running around with the other kids screaming and hollering and having a good time. It's funny because she's definitely the tougher of the two of them and it's more likely that she'd end up defending him on the playground if a fight broke out, but I love the fact that the two of them are so close.
It was the culmination of a busy weekend that found us in Nyack on Friday night at Johnny Rockets, and the Central Park Zoo and Nintendo World on Saturday, and by the time the kids were in bed last night, I was completely worn out. The next 2+ weeks are going to be a whirlwind of travel as we'll be in Cancun for five days -- no longer to relax and take it easy but, taking some good advice, looking to make some memories -- and then it's down to Virginia for a brief visit over Labor Day weekend to pick up the kids and then return to get ready for the new school year which holds its own promise of adventures of a different sort.
Talk about a one-two punch! I was out in Cincinnati yesterday for my job and, as I'm heading into my first meeting, I get a text message from Salomé that India didn't make it into the NEST program.
BODY BLOW!
I wasn't completely surprised, though I'd been holding on to the slimmest of hopes that maybe she'd snag their final spot in a last-second decision by the board to push the boundaries of the program by accepting a less-than-perfect applicant, spurred on by an impassioned speech by the social worker who was initially convinced she was a shoo-in. (Too much Boston Public for me, I think.) No such luck, and that knowledge sat in the back of my head the rest of the day, quarantined in that sometimes unnerving habit I have that sometimes makes me think I'm schizophrenic. (Too much Set This House in Order for me, I think.)
Fast forward through an impressively productive and high-spirited afternoon of meetings followed by a great rib dinner at The Montgomery Inn with the editorial team, and I'm heading back to the office with my Group Publisher (and current immediate boss) and we're talking about a variety of things, including the still open position of Advertising Sales Director that's been empty since about a month after I came onboard. That position is supposed to be my direct boss, but since it's been empty, I've been working very closely with my GP and he's loved everything I've done so far. The new job really couldn't have worked out any more swimmingly than it has, and I haven't been this jazzed about my 9-to-5 since I first started at Poets & Writers back in 1997.
Honestly, the only thing better would be if I was able to maneuver my way into the open Director position, thereby fast-forwarding my master plan by at least three years. So of course, as we're discussing the position, and the candidates who haven't worked out so far, and how important chemistry is to him, and how affordable Cincinnati is, he asks me if I know anyone who might be interested.
I laugh. "Maybe in the general position itself," I say, "but the subject of moving to Cincinnati doesn't come up often in conversation, so I don't really know."
He repeats his brief pitch for Cincinnati, concluding with, "It's a great place to raise a family. And, of course, if you're interested in it yourself..."
UPPER CUT!
Because I'm really not as egotistical as it may seem, my first instinct is that he's being polite; that he's heard me say a couple of times that I'm a die-hard NYer and that there's no way I could see my wife moving off the East Coast. But as I'm making unnecessary excuses for him, he's elaborating, repeating a lot of the compliments he's paid me throughout the day, in front of others, and the chemistry thing clicks: "He likes me! He really likes me!"
My getting along so well with editorial is something that's particularly impressed him from the beginning, and of course, I've never been shy about having ideas and throwing them out there. More recently, I've worked well with their new media people, a stark contrast to the last job, partly because they seem to have a legitimate mandate to move the company forward as opposed to a lot of lip service about "cubes" and other corporate double-talk and back-stabbing. Not saying the new place is a faultless paradise, but there's just a very different vibe there that I like a lot, and he seems like he'd be a good boss to work for, someone I can learn a lot from.
So yeah, I think he was making a sincere gesture and actually believes I might be a good candidate for the job, and I have to admit that the idea is tempting. Except...
TKO!
There's no way it could work right now, mainly because Salomé's not done with her NYCTF program and that takes priority, but also partly because, while I firmly believe I can live happily outside of NYC as long as a decent, well-paying job is involved, you don't really know such things until you're there, in the moment, and that would be in the back of my mind for at least the first year.
If this were next summer, though, with Salomé able to move on and me, presumably, back into the flow of writing regularly again, it would be a really tempting possibility.
Really. Tempting...
PS: Cincinnati is an odd place. While discussing things for me to do after dinner, the consensus was that I should head south across the river to Newport, Kentucky, where there were more interesting things to do. Sort of like NYers suggesting Jersey City to a first-time visitor. Newport has a Seaport-style mall with some restaurants, stores and a multiplex, with an aquarium next door, and might have been fun with a group of people. By myself, not so much, so I walked the Purple People Bridge both ways, circled the mall once, and headed back towards my hotel where I found a divey sports bar called "Willie's", watched the Home Run Derby while doing some writing and drinking, and then was in bed by 11:30pm. I didn't really get to see Cincinnati at all, so I'm having trouble adding it to my "places been" list. I'm sure that will be rectified before the end of the year as I'll likely have to make at least one more trip out there.
A rare relaxing weekend that included a trip upstate for an afternoon of cherry picking at Lawrence Farms Orchards on Saturday, and a walk to the local branch of the NY Public Library today, an impressive facility smack in the middle of a neighborhood dealing with gang problems. Gotta love NYC, no?
No?
Ah, shaddup! :-P
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