2002 JUL 25 THE OLD MAN AND THE CITY

The irony about living in the center of the universe, of over-populated cosmopolita and plastic realities, is that you can achieve a level of solitude unmatched by even the deep, barren forests of the Amazon. Life here is as simple or complex as you want it to be. Time runs past these streets, clad in the newest and most expensive Nike sneakers. Space crumbles, jumbles, and reshapes itself into an obelisk, constantly jutting itself upward. And you, in peaceful glory, can watch it all happen, sitting on the sidewalks of 73 Spring Street.

2002 JUL 23 ANOTHER MODERN INCONSISTENCY

It's so easy to miss something in a conversation: A nudge, a slight twitch of the eye or a word spoken softer than others. And within those, there's a secret message. It's some sort of political subliminality: Keeping it real all the while keeping it a methodical, calculated distance away from controversy.

Unfortunately, there are men and women around this world who excel at missing these verbal red herrings, thus leading to mass confusion and hysteria. It's what destroyed Carthage, started the First World War, got Bush elected—and it's what made me fall in love.