I posit that the best falafel in New York City can be found at Oasis, right off the Bedford L stop in Brooklyn. And yes, Brooklyn might be a bit of a distance from my apartment, but when you’re unemployed and have an unlimited MetroCard, you make certain to use it.
In transferring to the L [...]

If some days are better than others, then this was one of the others. I’ll spare you the hairy nitty-gritty, but know that it was a whopper and that the southeast corner of 81st and Broadway is a little salty with tears. Nothing to fret over, just an intense day.
I will extricate myself productively because [...]

Bubby’s is a homey little restaurant that tries fairly hard to hide how hip it is. Today I heard the following exchange between a grown man and his five-year old son once his mother left the table to use the bathroom:
“Well, I love her, so at the end of the day, I’m going to give [...]

I am so many things all at once: tired but hopeful, nervous but steadfast, worried but resolute. The future is coming, and it is bringing cookies. Metaphorical cookies to eat and share with friends! The more I keep that thought in my head, the easier it is to adopt a ridiculous smile and soldier on [...]

I’m up to my eyeballs in unemployed self-loathing and I just watched that Viggo Mortensen movie The Road, so you can probably imagine what kind of mood I’m in right now.
There were 123 million people living in America during the Great Depression, when employment hit a startling 25%. That means that 30.75 million people were [...]

Still jobless, still slogging right along.
A dude in my situation has a surfeit of spare time and will stop at no end to find ways to use it. I’ve developed a new habit of trekking out to Brooklyn, just for lunch. I eat, drink, and return home.
It’s a three-dollar falafel place right off of the [...]

If I were to sit on a couch and let my mind wander, here’s what would happen. Some little gremlin would creep into my brain and start picking away at it, filling me with worry and doubt. Soon I’d find myself reduced to a rhythmic mantra of “This sucks. I’m screwed. There’s nothing I can [...]

Why wasn’t my childhood exciting?
I think I’ve completed my mission to advertise Teddy Grahams as much as possible.
I knew Jeff Zucker was a wanker when he didn’t wear the wristband I gave him at the Late Night wrap party.
Doing some jazz hands.
I’m not sure which is the more atrocious oversight – that “Scenes from an [...]

There are parts of the world (certainly not anywhere near here) where fireflies flicker their lights in unison. This has been known for a long time by way of international legends and local folklore, but it was first documented by an American photographer in Thailand about 40 years ago.
To this day, no one knows why [...]

I have a distinctive laugh. It’s a determined, full-hearted sound accompanied by the throwing back of my head, clapping of my hands, and slapping my knees.
The woman running last night’s open mic continually referred to me as her favorite audience member, a title that I readily accept. (Often times, when performing for a crowd of [...]

I think Aroma on 72nd Street is my new favorite place to get work done – incredible hot chocolate, free wifi, and no one you want to talk to. I spent several hours there today and finished many things, including an episode of The Wire.
Here’s the thing I’ve learned about doing standup – no matter [...]

It’s a new year and I’m the same person with the same set of problems and blessings. I’m determined to use one to solve the other.
I rang in January the First with a firecracker of a party on 137th Street. Passed out on a foldable mattress and woke up to discover that there were five [...]

I’m taking a short break for the sake of the holidays. Ignore this website until the New Year. Hang out with your family. Get a jump start on your resolutions. Put down that beer. Call up your ex-girlfriend and tell her what you really feel.
See you in 2010.

I’ll let my friend Jacob take care of this one:

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While digging through some of my possessions at home (where I am now), I came across my cache of sheet music. They are wrinkled and marked up, every little line a reminder of my musical shortcomings. Here’s one I started but never finished due to a fatal combination of the piece’s difficulty and my laziness. [...]