Steven M. Finkelstein

First of all, my apologies for not having posted in a couple of weeks, but I’ve had relatives in town and I’ve been busy visiting with them; in addition to all of that, my computer finally just died, and I got a new one, a Compaq. I’m done with Dell. Their systems are nothing but trouble, and I thoroughly enjoyed smashing mine to bits with a baseball bat before throwing it away, a la the copier in the movie Office Space. Anyway, I’m giving the new Compaq a trial run, and lets hope it holds out longer than the last one.

I hope everyone is enjoying their summer, and trying not to get too insanely freaked out by the millions of gallons of oil that continue to spill into the Gulf. That’s a matter to be concerned about, certainly, but right now I’ve got problems closer to home that are getting most of my attention. I’ve mentioned here before on the site how the bad economy actually isn’t something that I’ve been too bothered by, since my level of poverty was about the same regardless of how everyone else was doing. No matter how much people were running around like chickens with their heads cut off, I was doing approximately the same as I always had for most of my adult life. But now, sorry to say, there are actually some direct changes to my life that are coming about as a result of hard times. The most recent are the so-called “doomsday cuts” that the MTA officially implemented this past weekend. The doomsday cuts mean that several train and bus lines are being discontinued, to try and close a 750 million dollar budgetary gap. I just want to ask, how does one even incur a 750 million dollar budgetary gap? How is it even possible? I’ve spoken before about how I’m less than knowledgeable about how the economy works, or the stock market, or things of that nature, but how is it that the MTA has been so heinously mismanaged that they’ve had to implement the biggest transportation cuts in New York since the 1970’s? It boggles the mind! And yes, I’m personally effected; the V, which I took to my Park Avenue job site on Thursday and Fridays, has been discontinued, meaning that I need to transfer to the F at 34th St, adding another ten minutes at least to my daily commute. And the N, which is basically the only train that stops near my house, has been hit with a triple whammy. It no longer runs express in Manhattan, ever, it isn’t running as often, and some of the passengers from the other trains that have been discontinued are now going to be using the N, meaning it’s going to be more crowded than ever! I was trying to mentally prepare myself since I first heard about this a few months ago, but now that it’s actually in effect, man, does it ever suck. I more or less live my life on the N; I take it everywhere, it seems like a dozen times a week, no exaggerating, and waiting longer for it, stopping more often, and being packed in with even more people, is just flat out awful. I really wish that Meg and I hadn’t come here at a time when things were better, transportation-wise, because now, we’re mourning the passing of something that, in all probability, will never come again. This is just the way things are going to be, from now on.

There’s more. They’re threatening to close our local library down; the library systems are in trouble too, and unless they come up with 20 million, or something like that, our local branch is on the chopping block. It’s not like it’s a huge, well stocked library to begin with, but it’s one of the nicer things about this neighborhood, and it would be a shame to lose that. It kind of makes you wonder, what’s next? The summer heat is upon us, and it seems like it’s just a season of aggravation. Transportation issues, a possible library closing, a disappointing summer movie season, and temperatures that’ll have you sweating buckets the instant you step outside. Where will it end? I can’t claim to know what mother nature, incompetent state agencies, or Hollywood has in store next, but I have to say, strangely enough, I’m still feeling fairly optimistic. Even though we can’t completely afford it, Meg and I just ordered an air conditioner, and it should be here today. As of this afternoon, both my Cincinnati Reds and New York Yankees lead their respective divisions. What I’m trying to say is that things aren’t all bad, and that despite the aggravation of possibly having to go farther afield for books and having to be a little more patient waiting on trains and getting to my destinations, I’m still feeling pretty good. I’m going to a Yankee game tonight, a TNA wrestling show on Friday, and there’s still quite a bit to look forward to this summer. So let them close the library, and let the MTA honchos implement the most diabolical cuts their warped little minds can conceive of. I’ll be staying optimistic. Good thoughts come from an internal source, and it’s one that no amount of incompetence or difficulty in the outside world can touch. With that in mind, such minor distractions will continue to remain exactly that.

Well, summer is upon us, and this always seems to be the time of year where I try to pack the most in. Maybe it goes back to when I was in school, where summer meant three months of leisure. It’s not quite the same now. Being a working stiff, I don’t really get all of that time off, but I’m still trying to take advantage of quite a bit going on here in the city. Over the next few weeks, here’s what’s coming up. This Saturday I’ll be checking out a live WWE house show at Madison Square Garden. Four championships will be on the line, though since the event isn’t televised, none of them will be changing hands. Still, WWE always puts on a good show at the Garden, and this will be my first time seeing them there, so I’m quite excited. Next week friends and relatives will be invading, as both my father and sister, along with her significant other, will be in town. See, if you live in New York long enough, eventually everyone will come and visit you, yet another perk. On Friday, July 2nd, I’ll be checking out a TNA wrestling event at the Brooklyn Cyclones Stadium at Coney Island, just a few minutes away from me by train. This is the first live TNA event I’ll be seeing, and I’m also extremely excited for that. July 6th Meg and I will be heading to Citi Field to see the New York Metropolitans take on my Cincinnati Reds, who are currently in a tie for first with the Cardinals atop the National League Central. I was hoping this would be the year the Reds finished above the .500 mark, but having them smack in the middle of the pennant race is a surprise and welcome bonus. Let’s see if they can stay competitive for the rest of the summer. Being at a Mets game and rooting for the Reds probably won’t make me too popular, but what can you do, got to support the team. On July 12th Meg and I will see Iron Maiden at MSG. The aging rockers have a new album coming out in August, and this will be my first time seeing them too. Should be fun. From July 16th through the 18th I’ll be in Baltimore, Maryland, for a craft show with Meg. The 17th is also my birthday, and it so happens that Gov’t Mule are playing there that day…for free, no less! That should be a very fine way to celebrate my 29th. From the 25th through the 28th of July I’ll be back in Cincinnati, my first visit in a year. I’ll have a couple of days to catch up with relatives and friends…it seems like I have less and less time to visit home these days, so that should be nice. In August the biggest event of the summer for me will take place, with my leaving the country for the first time in 20 years; the last time I did so was for a family vacation in Toronto in 1990. This time I’ll be heading to Ireland the last week of the month, along with Meg, my mom and her husband, and my sister. I’m tremendously pumped up about that. This will be my first time visiting Europe, and there’s going to be so much to see and experience. That will pretty much cap off the summer for me, and it’ll almost be a relief when fall gets here and things calm down a little bit.

In addition to everything I mentioned, I also have tickets to nine different Yankee games between now and the end of September, part of the eleven game ticket package I purchased a few weeks ago. Last night I was at The Stadium to see the Yankees thump the Phillies again; it’s really getting to be a habit. That rivalry has heated up considerably as a result of the Series last year, and I saw several fights, ejections, and one guy puking in a urinal. Good times. With the Yankees and Reds  both tied for first in their divisions going into today, my dream of a Reds/Yankees World Series doesn’t seem quite so far fetched. But I’m sure the Reds will collapse in between now and then. Unfortunately, it’s what they do. Still, despite some minor aggravations in my life right now, I’m feeling pretty good. You’ve no doubt noticed, if you’re a regular reader, that I haven’t had anything published recently. That’s because I’m hard at work on the new novel, and I haven’t had time to work on shorter things or send them out. It’s a worthy trade off, I think. The notoriety and small amounts of money I receive from getting published in lit mags is nice, but it would be nothing compared to what it would mean to get a novel picked up…and that, of course, remains my long term goal. When this one’s finished I’ll be shopping it around, and also, God willing, looking for an agent again. Sooner or later I’m simply going to need to get one. The new novel is progressing nicely, though. I’m approaching the 200 page mark, and I’m happy with the pace I’m setting.

Well, that’s it for now. It’s hard to work four days a week and still keep the “summer frame of mind.” At the Park Avenue site, looking out the windows at each beautiful afternoon, adjusting my clip-on tie, it’s easy to get fidgety. But as I mentioned, there’s plenty in the way of leisure activities to look forward to, so that should get me through it. I hope everyone is likewise enjoying their summer. Stay cool, more soon.

Last night I went to see Les Claypool at the Brooklyn Bowl. I’d never been to the venue before, but essentially it’s a combination night club and bowling alley, with sixteen lanes, a full-service bar, some T.V.’s showing the Mets and Yankee games, and a stage with a dance floor in front of it. For those that were bowling, there were monitors up above the lanes so they could see what was happening when the show started. I liked the setup, and I had a great time. Les Claypool is the bass player for Primus, when they’re touring together, and he’s had a very successful solo career as well. In addition to bass, he also plays several less easily identifiable things, and he’s backed up by two percussion guys and a cello player. His band comes out in tuxes, and animal masks that are really pretty grotesque; they remind me of the masks that the ghosts are wearing in The Shining, during the last third of the movie where Nicholson is going insane. Claypool starts out the show dressed in his traditional silk shirt, vest, and bowler hat, but during the show he’ll periodically leave the stage and come back out wearing a pig or a monkey mask. It’s a concert, but it’s also a bit of a burlesque show and a carnival attraction. All in all, it’s a pretty wild ride, and Les and all of his band are undoubtedly great musicians. This is the third time I’d seen him, I think, the previous two times being the High Sierras Festival in ‘05 and Summer Camp in Illinois in ‘08, and he’s never disappointed. He’s a freaky guy, and he always draws a freaky crowd.

I was coming home on the N train when it all went horribly wrong. I’d transferred to the N at 14th Street/Union Square, in Manhattan, and since it was past midnight the N was running local, which means several more stops and at least an additional half hour added to the trip. I had my I-Pod with me, though, so I was listening to some tunes to pass the time. I’d managed to snag one of the handicap accessible seats; they’re two seaters, four of them in each car total, and they’re the best seats to get, since oftentimes you can have the seat to yourself and not be crammed in with a bunch of other passengers. I had my feet up on the seat next to me and was sort of huddled against the wall, dozing, when, at 36th Street, about fifteen minutes from home, I was rudely awakened. I was yanked off the train by a police officer, who demanded my driver’s license, checked to see if I had any warrants out for me, then proceeded to write me a fifty dollar ticket. The charge? “Taking up two seats on the train.” Because I had my feet up on the seat, I was issued a citation.

Now, granted, the officer was perfectly in his legal right. You’re not supposed to have your feet up on the seat. But couldn’t he have let me off with a warning? There were actually a total of four cops there on the platform, and they were doing sweeps of each train as it went by. They were looking for other people who had their feet up on the seats, just like me, and man, the bounty was good. There were people on each and every train with their feet up on the seats…because you know what? That’s just what people do late at night. It’s not like the train was crowded. There were plenty of seats available, if someone had gotten on and wanted to sit down. I was committing a victimless crime, and I’m sure these officers were aware of that. What they were doing, in my opinion, amounted to a flagrant misuse of manpower…especially in light of the fact that more serious subway crimes, like murder, for instance, are up significantly since last year. Just as a suggestion, why could these officers not have been assigned to the areas of the subway where violent crime is up, not busting people because their feet are up on the seat? It doesn’t make a whole lot of sense to me.

Worst yet was the fact of how much the officer was clearly enjoying my anger that this was happening. He was fairly grinning the whole time, knowing that he’d caught me red-handed and that he could hit me with the fine or let me go as he so chose. I was entirely at his mercy. And there’s no two ways about it, having that power over others is why the majority of people become cops. They want the rush; they want to be able to swagger around in uniform and count themselves as being above the average citizen. Much as I wanted to mouth off at the guy, I also didn’t want to spend a night in jail. So I was the bigger man; I kept my trap shut, took the ticket, and waited for the next train to come. I sent the check off today. I could have disputed the charge, but what was the point? I’d rather not take the time. It’s easier to pay the fifty dollars and move on, but man, what a lousy end to what had otherwise been a really nice evening. It’s not like I’m using money for toilet paper at this point in my life; this came at a really inopportune time. The only consolation I take is that the M.T.A. is trying to close a huge budgetary gap, and they’re slashing jobs, train lines, and student discount cards left and right. I know I did my part now. I contributed fifty of my hard-earned dollars to the problem. But make no mistake, I hate cops. I’ve never had a good encounter with the police. I see right through them. The only ones they’re ever out to serve and protect are themselves, and last night was just another example of that. Police, know this. You’re going to be on my shit-list, always and forever, every motherless rat-fuck one of you, and I wouldn’t piss on you if you were on fire…or if you paid me fifty dollars to do it.

Okay, so the oil rig explosion and subsequent spill in the Gulf this past April has been referred to as possibly the single most ecologically damaging event in U.S. history, and that’s probably justified. The impact to multiple ecosystems can’t be underestimated, and it’s only getting worse, what with plans A,B,C, and D not having worked so far…and B.P. now admitting that they might not be able to get a plug on this thing until August. The ramifications of this aren’t certain yet, but one thing’s for sure, it’s not going to be pretty. All forms of life that this cataclysmic cock-up touches…aquatic, land-based, animal and man…we’re all in for a rough go of it. And, as citizens of this country, we deserve to know how this happened, and somebody needs to be held accountable. Is B.P. to blame? There is some talk of cutting corners as it relates to safety, but this has yet to be established conclusively. But you know who’s not to blame? President Obama.

Obama didn’t cut corners; he didn’t scrimp on safety. There are those who said he didn’t act fast enough when news first hit of the disaster. Well, that’s probably because B.P. tried to downplay the significance of the crisis. They said it was only a matter of time before the leak was contained, and they also said that significantly less oil was being released than was actually the case. Obama had other things on his mind…like, oh, I don’t know, ongoing wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, a controversial new policy regarding illegal aliens in Arizona, and Iran trying to establish nuclear capability, to name a few. It was only when B.P. failed repeatedly to stop the leak that it was revealed how bad the situation actually was, and then he responded accordingly, as he has throughout this entire crisis. But there are many that feel that he should have done more, reacted differently. To them I say, what exactly did you want the man to do? Swim a mile down and plug his body into the pipe, thereby stopping the leak? The only reason Obama is being blamed for this is because he happens to be in power right now. He wants to stop the leak, believe me. It’s just that nothing like this, nothing on this scale, has ever really happened before in human history. That’s why B.P. and every scientist in their employ…and everybody else, for that matter…has been trying to come up with a solution. Hell, Kevin Costner volunteered a suggestion, (though, to be fair, there are few more qualified to speak out about water-related disasters). What bothers me about all this is that people seem to be saying that Obama is just sitting there with his thumb up his ass while all this is going on. I know that everyone is frustrated and angry, but to blame Obama for these technological failures just isn’t fair, or logical. There are those who are even comparing this administration’s actions to Bush’s during Hurricane Katrina, and that’s flat-out absurd. There were about a million things that Bush could have done that he chose not to…not for many weeks, anyway. In Obama’s case, there just isn’t really anything else that he, personally, can do. That’s the difference.

There are those that no longer approve of the job that Obama is doing, at least according to the latest polls. I, for, one, don’t trust those polls too much anyway, but assuming that his popularity and approval rating is dipping, if it really is just because of this, that’s just sad. If you’re going to disapprove of what the guy’s doing, that’s one thing. But if it’s his perceived inaction that bothering you in this particular case, you need to realize that, unfortunately, there’s limits to what the man is capable of. He’s not a scientist. He’s not an engineer, or an oceanographic expert. He’s not Superman. Blaming the guy in charge when something bad happens that he is in no way responsible for is irrational, and I just hope that everyone involved can disassociate themselves from their anger long enough to acknowledge that.