i would have to start my life story from this present tense and work my way back in time. and today, i am happy to say, that i am the luckiest man in the world. as time continues to tick, here i sit, the king of my tiny (rented) castle. my crown isn’t one of authority, more like a reward, a symbol. the true leader of this journey is my one and only queen phyllis who serves her 3 little princes with a smile, taking care of the king all the while, and shining a light on life and everything she touches….
....we live in a land called narberth. total throwback town that exists right across the line from philadelphia. two years ago we moved here after a 10 year stint in NYC - 5 years in manhattan and 5 in park slope, brooklyn. i had come to new york to “make it there” and i did. with 8 grandparents for our kids (both of our parents are divorced and remarried) plus dozens of cousins and all our brothers and sisters, the time was right. when i left the philly suburbs after high school, i tried to get as far away as possible. now, i’m right back where it all started and couldn’t be happier. i have always been a card-carrying member of the philadelphia fan club - well before philly was referred to as the “6th borough“.
i guess you can say i was a late bloomer as i tried to find my way through this little life of mine. such a twisty, turny path. i’ve been a pool guy (best job ever), a busboy (easily the worst), and was fired from being a waiter in 5 different states (have problems being nice to mean people). when i met my wife i was actually a dishwasher in steamboat springs, colorado and when she would show up waiting for me by the backdoor with dry clothes, i knew she was the one for me. when i moved to new york i had to start out as a coffee guy on the upper east side, way before starbucks nation took over the world. i had probably a half dozen other jobs along the way, including being a flower delivery man (for 3 days), a lifeguard (for a week) and most recently a lawyer, a record company exec and an entreprenuer. i have always considered myself a hippie at heart in the sense that peace, love and understanding was always more important to me than money and i’ve been on the road less travelled for so long that it almost seems the road most travelled.
anyway…you clicked “about” because you wanted to know “about” me. i guess i do too, and that’s why i practice mindful meditation with my guru gabriel rocco - i know, it sounds super heavy but really the concept is so simple and i meditate to slooooooooooooow down my brain, my life, and be in the moment. the same eastern philopsophies also got me heavily into bikram yoga and i have to give big shouts to the bikram college of philadelphia.....i sort of play guitar - 3 chords and the truth baby - and me and the kids have a band called the zoo (no “s” at the end). i love the eagles, hate the cowboys, and generally always forget where i put stuff.
always have to give credit, thanx and praise to my parents who raised me without killing me, my sister lisa, and all my friends, many of whom have become true brothers and sisters as i walk along this path of life. i know this all sounds over-the-top, some fairy-tale-village kind of shit, but you wanted to know about me right? i’m the eternal optimist (at times to a fault) and really, to get back to where it all began - i’m the luckiest man in the world.
for months i had been trying to meet with this guy - a business thing - wanting to pitch him on a project, but he never called me back. then, one day during the hottest day of summer (2007), he randomly called to say that he was going to be in the city for a few hours to do… more »
Posted 12.30.08
my wife and i both grew up in the philadelphia suburbs and we both sought to get as far away as possible after we graduated high school. after many stints in many cities, our latest was the longest, as we had been living in new york city for more than a decade. but when we started hatching kids, we started… more »
Posted 12.22.08
