anecdotes
Tartans and Violets Clash
Maybe the college you attended was an athletic powerhouse. You still follow them today, via March Madness, bowl games, national TV, perhaps the occasional recruiting scandal. This has not been the case for me. However, I found myself at the “Tear It Up” women’s/men’s Division III basketball doubleheader on Friday, January 27, 2012, at the [...]
Daniel Johnston Day
Yesterday I wore my Daniel Johnston t-shirt. No special reason; it was near the top of my t-shirt drawer. (T-shirt drawer #1, anyway. I have a lot of t-shirts.) I first learned of Daniel Johnston when I was a college DJ at Pittsburgh’s WRCT. The station had a recording of Daniel doing an impromptu over-the-phone [...]
Jack Silbert, Amateur Electrician
Soon after arriving home last night, I headed to the corner of my bedroom where my computer is. (If the I.R.S. is reading this, the square footage in question is my “home office.”) The green light at the base of my landline—which I maintain solely for robo-calls and my parents—was out. Hmm, must’ve not properly [...]
A Monday Mitzvah
Teaneck would have to wait. First there was some minor auto repair to resolve. Last night, I’d noticed a burnt-out marker-lamp on my ’91 Corolla. So this morning, armed with a replacement bulb, a Phillips screwdriver, and a little old-fashioned elbow grease, I popped the hood outside a nearby strip mall and got down to [...]
I Needed to Deliver a Package
After a day marked by anxiety which I couldn’t quite pinpoint as job-related or should-I-or-shouldn’t-I-make-a-mix-CD-for-a-girl-related, I was just happy to be home. Alas, my work was not yet done. I picked up a small package inside the vestibule of my apartment building. It was not for me or, for that matter, for any of the [...]
I Needed to Exchange a Belt
If in a court of law I’m asked why I was in that neighborhood at that time on that day, I’ll stick with the belt-exchanging story. There’s truth to it, so it won’t set off the polygraph. But really, I was hoping against hope to get a glimpse of Anna. Now, I know, I know: [...]
A Bedford St. Anecdote
I’d say that the holiday season has brought more tourists to Bedford Street, but the truth is, there are always tourists on Bedford. They come from near and far to photograph the building which was apparently used as the apartment exterior on TV’s Friends. (I have zero sentimental attachment to the locale, as I almost [...]
It’s… The Jack & Alana Show!
Thursday night, after midnight: I have worked quite late and am walking to the train. The fan-enhanced mannequins in the French Connection windows have once again caught my eye—their outfits ripple as if in a stiff breeze!—when I realize an actual woman is speaking to me. What? What? Hold on. I remove my earphones. She [...]
His Name Is Earl
This wasn’t my preferred train car, but it gave me extra time to work on my material. For there at the end of the platform was the fluorescent-vest-wearing, long-blond-hair-under-a-hat Fist Bump Guy. Most days when I get off the train at Christopher Street, he’s standing there. He is employed by the transit authority though I [...]
Jack Silbert, curator