1. Home is where the art is.
The Hudson Valley is the fourth place that I have called home, but it is the first place where I have truly felt at home. Growing up in Central New York, I was attracted at an early age to the primeval mysteries of the forest. However, after living in Morelia, Mexico for a year, I became drawn to city life. So, at age 21 I moved to New York City, where I lived and studied and worked and scrapped for eight long years. Though I enjoyed much of my time there, toward the end of my stay I began, in the words of Thom Yorke, “Feeling ripped apart by horses.” The decision to up and move to the Hudson Valley in the middle of the final semester of my M.A. was rash and sudden, but my wife and I have enjoyed a peace and calmness that was becoming evermore elusive in the insomniac, schizophrenic metropolis surrounding our roach-infested LIC apartment.Now, in our new home, Kingston, with ample opportunities for human interaction (at a realistic pace, mind you) and enough nearby wilderness to escape human interaction altogether (because, on occasion, the need arises), we can proceed practicing the art of living on our own terms. Our two feline family members (see below) agree.
2. My muses meow.
For the past eight years, my wife and I have shared our home with two eccentric cats. Hailing from a rescued litter in New Jersey, Kat (a fat cat) and Dee Dee (a lap cat) have taken over our lives and home. If anyone has enjoyed the move from the big city to the HV more than me and my wife, it’s been those two. Dee Dee, being a sucker for any lap nap opportunities, rushes over whenever I open the door to my study. She has taken a particular interest in becoming my muse, and now my writing time would not be the same without her. Meanwhile, if there’s one thing that Kat likes as much as food, it’s getting tucked in by moi for a long, deep sleep. Over the years, these cats have taught me many things, but probably the most profound lesson is that there is nothing so complex that it can’t be solved with a good nap.
3. My favorite worlds are “worlds of if.”
Over the past several years, I have developed a serious interest in science fiction. Whenever I have the time to dedicate to reading for myself, I go for a science fiction novel or anthology of short stories. Whenever I work on fiction of my own, I tend toward writing in the science fiction mode. Having also invested a significant amount of research into science fiction theory and criticism, I enjoy using science fiction in the classroom because of its boundless opportunities for teaching and thinking. In particular, its impetus for estranging readers from their everyday realities challenges them to re-consider their implicit assumptions about the world by looking at the world from distant, eschewed vantage points. Have you ever wondered, for instance, why it’s always raining in Blade Runner‘s Los Angeles? Or, why the obsession with circular motion in 2001: A Space Odyssey? In case you’re interested in the genre but don’t know where to start, I recommend a couple works particularly relevant to these modern (social-political) times: Octavia Butler’s Parable of the Sower and Alfonso Cuaron’s film, Children of Men.
4. I can’t sell things or build things…so I teach.
Speaking of teaching, I can’t think of any other profession that I would rather pursue. Though I am not good at selling people things they don’t need or building things that people may or may not need, I have come to realize that I am actually good at helping people learn and think about things (or, at least, I enjoy getting better at it). After receiving my M.A. in English I went on to teach as an adjunct lecturer at Brooklyn College for three years, where I taught English Composition and Literature & Film. Now, due to a convergence of factors, including my desire to remain in the Hudson Valley for the foreseeable future, I am pursuing a career in secondary ed. I love nothing more than being in the classroom and learning from/with a cohort of students. Thus, I am excited about the shift from higher ed to secondary ed for its emphasis on the practice of teaching.
5. I enjoy long walks in the woods…
Speaking of staying in the Hudson Valley, I can’t imagine living far away from someplace as beautiful as the Catskills. Now in our third year in the area, my wife and I made a concerted effort this summer to rekindle our relationships with nature. Not only have we enjoyed numerous day hikes, we have developed a passion for overnight backpacking in the wilderness. This summer alone we spent a weekend in the Adirondacks High Peaks Wilderness and a weekend in the Hunter-West Kill Wilderness (for our anniversary no less), while I checked off 6 of the 35 Catskills high peaks. With more trips slated for the coming year, we get excited at any and every opportunity to unplug and surround ourselves with the magnificent history and presence of the forest. In case you’ve never experienced it, perhaps the best part about a long hike is dipping your swollen ankles into an ice-cold mountain stream at the end. It is, quite literally, life itself.
6. I’m not a Luddite, but…
As I mentioned above, I do enjoy a good old unplug. No reception, no problem. Whether it’s a trip overseas or a backpacking trip, any excuse to leave the online world behind I take advantage of. That is not to say that I am anti-tech, though. In fact, despite my ineptitude at all things computer-related and my aptitude for frying any piece of technology I touch, I am constantly fascinated by the things technology can do and how technology can alter the world. As humans, our relationship to technology is endlessly dialectical, and the constant creation of new problems and solutions and problems and solutions, ad infinitum, is a great source for contemplating our existence as social animals.