I have in my possession, one photograph of the only graduation (‘commencement’) ceremony I have ever attended–that for my first graduate degree, in ‘computer and information science.’ (I did not want to attend the ceremony, expecting it to be tedious in the extreme–it was–but I did want to send a keepsake back to my motherContinue reading “A Memento Of Fellow Travelers, Long Since Moved On”
Tag Archives: Newark
“Look Out of the Window, Camel Jockey”
Twenty-seven years ago, I arrived in the US, and shortly thereafter, began graduate school at a small technical school in Newark, New Jersey. Once classes picked up speed, I spent increasing amounts of time in our grim library–rather inefficiently if I may say so–struggling to stay awake while finishing my readings and programming assignments. ToContinue reading ““Look Out of the Window, Camel Jockey””
Cigarettes and the Killing (of Time)
In Cigarettes are Sublime (Duke University Press, 1993) Richard Klein writes: The cigarette kills time, chronometric time, the stark mechanical measure of mortality….The series of moments the clock records is not only a succession of “nows” but a memento mori diminishing the number of seconds that remain before death. But the cigarette interrupts and reverses theContinue reading “Cigarettes and the Killing (of Time)”
Hudson Crossings
Yesterday, at the World Trade Center transit station, as I took the escalator down to the PATH train, heading for an afternoon spent with a cousin living in Exchange Place, New Jersey, I made note of a little datum: I’ve been crossing the Hudson–in both directions–for over twenty-five years. One such crossing, back in 1993,Continue reading “Hudson Crossings”
“Thrill is Gone” and Vietnamese Jazz Bars
It’s a cliche: listening to a song can conjure up memories associated with past encounters with that song. But my knowledge of that power still does not diminish the little start of surprise I experience when I come into contact with the fine-grained, specific recall that a particular piece of music can bring about. EarlyContinue reading ““Thrill is Gone” and Vietnamese Jazz Bars”
Samir Chopra 