Good morning. Hello. How are you? #1,009
New York, Boston, Friends, Peter Gabriel, Ai Weiwei, Tom and Jerrys, Man Ray, Ash's Ted Talk, Exodus Transitional, Kristen, the old LGA was better, more dwellings gawd
Good morning! Boy, I missed a few entries there, huh? What is today? Friday? What day did I last write? Oh right, Tuesday, from the Airport. I really thought I was gonna somehow pull this off. Reader, it did not happen. I apologize.
All right, let’s fire up the writing chops. Get Dropbox synching with all the new photos. What do we think about the H in “synching” these days. I suspect we do not use it, right? We are “syncing” these days, not “synching.” We’re on the move. No one’s got time for that extra H.
Tavel updates: New York was great, got a lot done for work, and had dinner and a catch up with Kristen, my old, decades-long coworker and all around wonderful person, whom I hadn’t seen in person in over a year, though we pretty much talk every day. That was great. We started at Tom and Jerry’s and ran into an early employee of Admeld, whom we sorta modeled Nimbus after (albeit in Mobile not web). And I ran into Dennis Crowley, acting like he doesn’t go there all the time these days even though we was totally there the last time I was, like a year ago. Anyway, going to Tom and Jerry’s and having it deliver on its 2007 tech scene-dom was pretty solid. We also stopped by the Scratcher, though having just seen Dennis at Tom and Jerry’s, it was thus not possible to run into him at The Scratcher. Both bars are exactly the same. And Brian was bartending at Tom & Jerry’s and it was awesome to see him, even though it was busy and I couldn’t talk much and we didn’t stay long.
Hotel (Fashion Week invaded, quite a beautiful if vacant looking crowd), sleep, breakfast with Kristen and Ash, our PR guy, who recently did a TEDx talk you should watch, about his journey from teenage incarceration to doing comms for Blair and Biden and shit. Ash is awesome, I always love talking to him even though we always forget to talk to work. He is also on the board of, or involved with, or something like that, with Exodus Transititional Community, a non-profit that helps inmates re-adjust to society. He got us to donate all our laptops to them. I’m working on a batch right now, actually. If your place of employment is looking for a charity to whom to donate laptops, drop me a line and I’ll hook you up.
Then to the airport, and I cemented my belief that the new Laguardia is an engineering marvel but it also sucks and I miss the old LGA it was better and I am sad about it and I really have to finish the Laguardia book.
Then to Boston, and here is some news, Emma and I have rented the apartment downstairs from our friend Sean and Jussi. Because it was roughly the same cost, for a year, as airbnb was for the three weeks we came last summer, and we would like to make that a habit, and this way we can spread out the cost and leave our stuff here and, ironically, make a bit of it back through friendBNB so if you are a friend and you ever need a bed in Boston, drop me a line. It won’t be free but it’ll be cheap. But it is in the neighborhood we want, there won’t always be AirBNBs in this hood, there barely were last time, and Jane loves the park next door and and and.
So now I have three residences again and I guess I’m a bougie capitalist even though I don’t want to be and I don’t really think my income can justify it but luckily the other house pretty much pays for itself now. God.
BUT, it is awesome, I am happy, I have been buying housewares and shit — thank you Abby and Emily for taking me to Target. I just made an omelette in the kitchen. There is nowhere to sit, though. Some rooms are still being re-painted, it’s not technically move-in ready yet but that is just fine. I am standing, writing this, at a stool on the counter in the kitchen. Makeshift writing desk, it is great.
Wednesday night we went to see our friend Aaron Perrino, of Sheila Divine, Aaron and the Lord and Dear Leader fame. It was his birthday. Aaron and the Lord played, which was the correct one of those bands to play for me because I have not seen that band, and the songs were awesome live. Also ran into Luke O’Neil, whom I have literally not seen in actual human in-person form in maybe… um… gonna say ten years? Twelve? That was revelatory. We then convinced Aaron to bring his posse to Man Ray after the show. So they showed up, which was awesome and hilarious and I got to have a nice long chat with Deb, too, whom I also hadn’t seen in person in years. The internet is great but seeing people in person is pretty sweet, I gotta say.
Man Ray was awesome, I’m so glad I chose a Wednesday to go for the first time. Lots of familiar faces, tons of new ones. A whole new set of Miss Allens, as they say in Room With a View. Real crazy seeing this young kids embracing Man Ray just like I did as a young kid thirty-three years ago. The whole thing was just fantastic, we had a great time I really can’t believe it happened. Michael was there and Yale and Xtine of course and Terry and Dave and man it was just wacky. The DJ (Chris was absent sadly but this guy was solid) played Dead Can Dance toward the end and I goth danced so hard it ruled.
Also I wrote a black TrueWork shirt so I know there has been Fitness Goth and Bro Goth but now I am introducing Construction Goth. It is very practical in this heat.
Thursday the Taylor Sisters took me to Target and I spent an ungodly amount of money on things a house needs that you literally cant even see, the place is still empty. But now it has silverware and light bulbs and spices (my god spices are so expensive I gotta finish writing that spice book someday) and fans and shampoo and whatnot. Thank you so much Taylor twins.
[Warning Peter Gabriel spoilers below. Skip two paragraphs]
Last night Sean and I went to Peter Gabriel at the Garden and it was so good just mind-bogglingly good I am so happy. It ruled even though he did not play a single song from his best album Passion: Music from the Last Temptation of Christ but that is okay. Nor did he play Games without Frontiers or Shock the Monkey but even without those it was awesome. Red Rain ruled. Digging in the Dirt! I had completely forgotten about that song. The new songs sounded awesome. Just amazing. Man. So freakin good. In Your Eyes was revelatory. And Don’t Give Up, my god, so crazy.
There were times you kinda thought “look at this cliche of an old white guy playing with black and world musicians like he’s some sort of cultural appropriator” but then you realize oh, woah, actually, Peter Gabriel is kinda at the start of that whole cultural thing, having, you know, been fundamental, via Real World, exposing Americans to the music of the Congo, Pakistan, Cuba, Australia and so many other places. Just such a massive influence.
Also, incredibly… weirdly… Ai Weiwei was in the audience. Peter did a song with this realluy cool at, sorta street art on the projectors and he was like “the artist who did that art is in the audience today” and I thought “oh man, how cool to be some kid to get to see your art in front of this huge audience” but nope. Cuz next he says “and his name is Ai Weiwei.” Crazytown.
Then we went to Highland Kitchen and met up with Abby and randomly met a woman there who went to Peter Gabriel too and she went to BU and used to live a block from Sean and Jussi but now she lives in the burbs but she’s staying with her aunt who also lives on the same street as Sean and Jussi and it was super fun and…
I have now been out three night in a row and I am exhausted and a storm is coming and I was gonna go home today but I am now not going to because a) I have about 50 packages coming to this house today and I don’t want S&J to deal with that and b) GODFLESH is playing the Middle East and I have never seen them and they are on “the list” and seeing two bands on “the list” in the same week is going to be pretty crazy. Is there a hurricane coming? Yes. Will I make it home? Who knows. It my wife annoyed? Probably, but she is being very kind and graceful about it and I will make it up to her and she should go to Boston alone and sleep in her own comfy bed and get plenty of rest.
Jane was not great with going to school Thursday but she was good today, Emma reports. I miss my daughter and wife. They should fly up here today after school and we should all stay till Sunday so we can see Sean’s new band open for Modern English who are, sadly, not on “the list” because I have seen them before, but they are very good and the setlist on this tour is crazy and they are opening with 16 Days and Gathering Dust apparently which is just bonkers.
Four nights. God. It’s a lot. Also I took these days off from work but work keeps making me work I should report someone to management for this BS. Also there is a crane outside the window and it beeps a lot and my Do Not Disturb ends at 7 AM cuz that’s when I’m usually awake so when my wife texts to report on Jane’s school arrival, I get all the texts and man I haven’t slept in ages but it is worth it. Assuming I don’t get covid.
Fingers crossed.
I do not have a picture of Jane from today so here is a picture of Aaron Perrino. He used to work for me so that counts, right?
Here is a Boston playlist to get you in the mood.
K good talk. I will be back to telling you about the greenhouse construction next Monday it really is very exciting. And Jane oh man I miss Jane. And sleep.
I skipped your Peter Gabriel paragraphs until just now because I did not want to be spoiled, but I went last night and WOW. I mean, the whole thing was just so mesmerizing. This was a bucket list show for me.
It's funny, I was with friends before the show, and I mentioned that the only new song i didn't really like was Panopticom, and since it came out first, and i didn't like it, I was very lazy in getting around to the rest of the new songs. But they're all incredible. Several are essentially new PG classics, I'd say. Love Can Heal, especially. Anyway, man.