Back in The City for Good (For Now)
Reflecting on three and a half years on the road
I first lived outside of the state of Florida after graduating college, moving to New York for a couple of months and then San Francisco, to work at Twitter — a great “first real job.” I made just enough money to take a trip or two, but not enough to see the world the way I wanted to. So I began working on an internal ”Remote Year,” where employees would travel together and live in five different cities with Twitter offices over the course of ten months. Two months in San Francisco, New York, São Paulo, Dublin, and Tokyo. I ended up leaving the company before I could make that happen, but the desire never subsided. The spirit of that plan influenced how I have lived the last 40 months.
Ray and I left NYC in July of last year to head to Berlin for the start of our longest stint away since Rudy Gobert rubbed those microphones. Our first weekend in Germany, we partied until the sun came up. When in Rome. The next day (or later that day?) operating on little sleep and jetlagged, we dragged our feet — and whatever remaining serotonin we had left — through the Sunday flea market in Mauerpark. Stall to stall, we flicked through racks of mostly early 2000s vintage wear. We skipped over any vendors hocking military clothing, out of a deep-seated fear that we may accidentally try on a pair of WW2-era pants that fit really well.
We continued on towards bursts of applause in the distance, to find hundreds of people watching pop-up karaoke in the park’s amphitheater. Eventually finding a place to stand in the back, we watched a Thai man’s perfect rendition of “Everybody (Backstreet's Back)” and enthusiastically ad libbed the “Yeahhhhhhs” along with the crowd. At the start of that trip, I was feeling like city life was no longer calling me. More than anything, I wanted to be in nature. But watching karaoke, with a big smile on my face, and bags under my eyes, I realized that I can never, will never leave “the city” entirely.
One year later, I am back in New York City again — the city I love the most, living with a girl I love more, and it feels like home. When I first moved here, I thought many of the people I knew were taking the city for granted. They were going to the same places, with the same people — rarely having new experiences in a city that fosters them better than any other in the world. Unfathomable. Criminal, even. And although NYC may not be our forever home (the pull to nature is strong) as long as we’re here, the ethos from these past few years and that initial confoundment from complacent city dwellers, will not subside.
On a ranch in Mexico earlier this year, Ray and I counted 58 beds we’d shared in the two and a half years we had been together. One new bed every two weeks. This is not a metric most people would use to measure the health of a relationship, but it has been foundational in ours. We just moved into our first real apartment together — a 12-month lease (my first in over three years) in a quirky, pre-war walk-up, in our favorite neighborhood. This marks the end of the most formative era in my adult life and ushers in the next, full of things we’ve deprived ourselves of owning and people we’ve so badly missed hosting. We’ll have you over for dinner soon.
Past Lives
I knew nothing about this movie before I went to see it with my wife a couple weeks ago. It was a nice reminder of how great it feels to be truly surprised and blown away by something of which you have no preconceived notions. As an added bonus, the A24 film about two Korean friends who disconnect and reconnect at different stages of their lives from childhood to young adulthood to adult adulthood, helped clarify why I dislike Wes Anderson movies so much. (I had seen Asteroid City a week earlier.) Prior to watching Past Lives, I thought the reason I couldn’t stand Anderson’s films was because they have no plot. But Past Lives doesn’t have much of a plot either and I was still mesmerized. The difference, I realized, is that I still cared about the characters, whereas in a Wes Anderson movie, I couldn’t care less. I could probably write a whole newsletter about this, but for now, just go see Past Lives. —Justin
Below are my (Andrew) star ratings for the two movies mentioned above by Justin. Fun to see that we are on the same page about these, despite no prior discussion. See my Letterboxd for full reviews.
—Andrew
The Adam Friedland Show - Chris Cuomo
(Start at 10 minute mark)
Tragically, a casualty of certain cultural movements of the last decade have led to the near-demise of mainstream comedy. Of course, great comedy still exists (I am sharing some now), but it is far less accessible than it used to be. You certainly aren’t going to find it at the movie theater. Perhaps the funniest thing on the internet right now is The Adam Friedland Show (fka “Cumtown” before Stavros left the show). This interview with ex-CNN star, Chris Cuomo made me laugh out loud alone, the best marker of great comedy. The Jadakiss interview (starts at 6:45) is also a banger and comes recommended by JAT reader, MJSB. —Andrew
Social Status x Nike Attack
When news got out that the fabled John McEnroe shoe, the Nike Mac Attack, was finally being retroed after many years, I was excited to get the OG grey and navy colorway. There wasn’t a lot of hype around the shoe, so I figured it wouldn’t be that hard to come by and only entered one raffle. I was wrong and came up empty-handed. The silver lining came in the form of a silver lining, more specifically the silver-lined colorway of Social Status’s recent collaboration on the Attack. (I’m sure there’s a legal reason why the “Mac” has been dropped from this iteration.) I lucked out on that raffle and am much more pleased to have this sneaker in the rotation than the OG. Although it’s now going to make me want the other colorways to come as well, which is bad news for my already bursting at the seams sneaker storage situation. —Justin