PopcornJackTerry

I have an anxiety about being late that falls squarely between the absurd and the paranoid. This is something that dates back to my childhood. My father was one of those people that believed if you weren’t fifteen minutes early for something you were late. Naturally this resulted in spending lots of time sitting in… Continue reading September 22, 2016

About fifteen years ago I got a new job. I was living in Hartford, CT at the time and was hired to be the General Manager of a restaurant in Stamford. This made sense to me on many levels. The woman I was seeing at the time lived in Stamford, and the restaurant I was… Continue reading September 13, 2016

Now is the autumn of our…of our…well, I’ll leave the seasonal metaphors to Shakespeare, but now begins one of those strange times where our perception and the calendar of society doesn’t quite match up with the universe around us. Summer starts June 20th or so and not on Memorial Day, the new year begins, well… Continue reading September 6, 2016

Here’s how I know I’m in a bad way. I got home not too long ago and went to turn on my fan. I live in a small apartment so all I need to cool the place is a small oscillating fan. If I know I’m going to be in the same place I set… Continue reading September 2, 2016

My co-worker texted me at 10:30 this morning to ask about the location of a new set of keys. Normally I wouldn’t care much about a text that early in the day – and yes, that is early in the day – except for the fact that I’d gone to bed five and a half… Continue reading August 8, 2016

I’m not sure when I met Mark. Although we were the same grade at the same elementary school, we were never in the same class (that I remember) and we grew up in different neighborhoods. We were “friends of friends”, Mike being the conduit. Through Junior High and High School, our mutual friends brought us… Continue reading July 6, 2016

One of the plus/minuses of moving is I’m always going through the flotsam of my past. I keep like 95% of the letters/cards/whatnot that I get from people. Usually it’s a little painful, and this time is no different. I found a larger trove of cards and letters from a friend than I expected and… Continue reading June 29, 2016

I feel like I have little control over much of my life these days. I’m sure that is a common sentiment for people in all walks of life; even people whose schedule and habits are so ritualized probably feel some level of helplessness over at least certain aspects of their lives. Still, I feel I’m… Continue reading June 21, 2016

Second guessing is a habit that very few people ever learn to overcome. What can make the situation even worse is when we have too much time to reconsider our choices. Many times our actions have an immediate result and the best we can do is say “Oh well” and move on. Occasionally, however, we… Continue reading May 20th, 2016

One of the loudest nights I ever spent was in one of the quietest places I’ve ever been. Many years ago, when dinosaurs walked the Earth and I lived on the Upper West Side, I found myself with an unexpected week off from work. I decided to take advantage of the time and visit my… Continue reading May 11, 2016