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September 2009
Legacy of a misspent youth
This one goes out to all of us who grew up in the New York City during a certain era before cable or movie rental when you had to make sure you were home in time to catch the annual showings of monster movies, the Planet of the Apes movies,or even the Cathy Lee Crosby version of Wonder Woman on channel 7.
Update: This is for you, Dan, courtesy of yet another expat Staten Islander:
That Guy
I feel your pain, Indie Rock Pete. A variety of things this past year conspired to undermine a lot of my slowly developing personal confidence, so that by the time I turned 39 a few weeks ago I was really, really feeling my age, and feeling adrift and past my prime. Sigh.
Fringe Cuisine
On a lighter note, I’m strangely pleased to see the Times do a nice round-up of affordable, exotic dining options on Staten Island. Although I’m not likely to ever get a chance to explore any of these places, it's nice to take a moment to reflect upon the positive aspects of the place where I grew up for a change.
Trivia: that article quotes a food editor at the Staten Island Advance on whom I had a brief, unrequited, adolescent crush. I note that she apparently never left the Island, at least not for good.
Additional trivia: the Staten Island Advance is Staten Island's local newspaper, whose offices and plant were just up the street from where I lived until I left for college. Most kids in the neighborhood hung out at some point in the woods around there or in a little spot beneath an overpass in their parking lot, but it was lame.
Oh! And another thing: The Advance seems to have a Gay and Lesbian Life section now. Huh.
Code Red
I love my job — really, really love my job, to such a degree that I regularly worry that I can't possibly do well enough to live up to the opportunity of it. But there's a catch. (Well, there are two catches. The other one is that the pay kinda stinks for now.) You see, a good chunk of the position that I’m in is paid for by a UK government grant that encourages businesses and universities to collaborate on research-and-development projects. That part is great, but a chunk of the money spent on the scheme goes toward giving all of us who participate training in management in accordance with the UK's Management and Leadership National Occupational Standards, leading toward a Level 5 Diploma in Management and Leadership, granted by the Chartered Management Institute. Does that sound like a clusterfuck of bureaucracy to you? It should. Still, I’ve been giving it a chance, and not just because I didn't have much of a choice.