NFL: My boys!! I am in NYC Tuesday or Wednesday. Drinks Wednesday 7pm? Or some other time?
Me: Tuesday works for me if it does you two?
Thor: How about Sugarfish sushi on 74?

The NFL Player moved outta my hood to a completely different state but hit Thor and me up to tell us he was in town.

So, we all met and caught up at the same joint we went to the last time around.

We’re all thinking more about retirement these days, so we talked about what our plans were.

Their stories are theirs to tell so I’ll just keep that part to myself but my own retirement – and, to a lesser and different degree, that of my friends – has been upended by (a) all the AI activity in the market, and (b) the pedophile in office.

Despite being a life-long New Yorker, I do think that, at some point, I’ll have to move as well because of the crushing taxes at some point.

Me: The only reason why I’d pick Florida myself is for taxes and easy access to cruises.
Thor: Yeah, but you’d also have to deal with the weather.
Me: And the guns and people.
NFL: The cities are blue.
Me: Yeah, I think most states – including NY – are like that.

When I was younger, paying taxes meant paying my fair share and that’s something that I still agree with the Democrats about.

But, it always seems as if it’s the middle class that’s being squeezed and the ultra-wealthy aren’t holding up their end of the bargain.

I think so much of life is balancing youthful ideology with older pragmatism.

I’ve met so many people that talk with pride of never changing how they think or who they are in decades.

I wonder if they realize they’re bragging to me about how little they’ve grown in all the time they’ve lived.

After all, At 18 our convictions are hills from which we look; at 45 they are caves in which we hide.

Before they left, Thor brought us to his whip and handed me this enormous gift basket.

Thor: [My wife] and I are sorry we had to miss your wedding celebration (because we were sick).
Me: Oh man, you shouldn’t have – thanks!
Sara: (later at home) This is beautiful! [Thor’s wife] has great taste.
Me: Hey, Thor’s an artist himself. He could have picked this out.
Her: Maybe? I just don’t see him buying us candles, that’s more of a woman’s touch.
Me: Fighters are secure in their masculinity, baby.

Location: the West Village this morning, doing work
Mood: productive
Music: conversations travel in the space that we find (Spotify)
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