The last week in February, we sold our house in New Jersey where we had lived for 28 years, packed everything into two big trucks and bought a row house in Philadelphia’s Brewerytown neighborhood.
Empty downstairs, waiting for the moving trucks to arrive
…and they’re here
Quick Recap
It’s been an over-full quarter, so I’ll just give the big things bullet points:
- Two weeks before we moved, I (along with half of the company) was furloughed from my job at Artiphon; they said that the plan was to restructure a bit, get more investment, and then bring people back and get back to work. I was skeptical, and the company has since ceased operations completely. I do not recommend losing your job two weeks before purchasing real estate.
- Luckily, I was able to slide back in to Art+Logic where I’d worked from 1997 unil 2021. Most of the people I’d worked with for decades are still around, and after a few days it really was like I’d never left. I’m working on a project for a company that sells sound effects libraries to the film and TV industry; great people who are fantastic to work with. I ended up being out of work three weeks, which worked out well for me – an unexpected extra week to pack, moving week (which was already planned vacation time) and then a bonus week after the move to settle in and expore the city a bit.
- Kath and her siblings had been taking turns staying with their Mom in San Diego; after 2 weeks here, she flew out and ended up being there 5 weeks. It was very weird living in a new city where I don’t know anyone except my dog for that amount of time. Luckily, both our kids were able to come down and spend time here with me, which was helpful.
- While Kath was in San Diego, my Mom passed away. Luckily, the kids and I were able to drive up to visit her in the hospital two days before she died, and I’ll always be grateful that we were able to make that trip.
- I made it out to see a few concerts – exploring the music scene was one of the reasons I wanted to live here. It’s nice to be able to see a show and then be back home before the local news at 11; there were so many things I wanted to see in NYC when we lived in Jersey, but sometimes not enough to deal with the train (or driving) in, getting to the venue, and then repeating that on the way home.
First Impressions
This is a strange city with its own thing going on.
It’s a very loud city. People are loud for no good reason.
It’s very much a city where “good enough” is the prevailing standard for most work. Utility poles 15 degrees off of vertical? Why not? Power and telco lines drooping down low enough between poles that you can jump up and touch them? Sure. Okay. The paving in the street has a 5 inch tall ridge running down it that I trip on every time I walk across? Try it, see what happens.
Everyone we’ve met so far has been wonderful.
The food we’ve had has all been incredible.
Our neighborhood is gritty, which we knew it would be, but experiencing that 24x7 is an adjustment after living in Fanwood as long as we did.
I will not miss needing to shovel my driveway, but I very much do miss having a guaranteed place in front of my house to park my car.
Rainbow seen from our roof, 15 Apr 2025
Center City at night from our roof
Kath on our roof at night, looking down onto 29th Street
Music
I’ve gotten to see a few great shows here:
Kraftwerk @ Franklin Music Hall
Oddly, I’d never seen them before.
Steve Lehman Trio + 1 @ Solar Myth
Touring to support the new recording of Anthony Braxton music. I will be spending much time in this venue.
Becca Stevens @ Milkboy
A nice little room, and Becca was immaculate as always. Horrible photo, sorry.
Candide @ Curtis Opera Theater
I’ve loved Candide since I borrowed a cast recording from the library in high school, and long ago reached a point where I had strong opinions on the different versions of it. This was a version I’d never heard before. The performers were all first rate, both on stage and the full orchestra in the pit. The production had a nice post-modern feel to it, like it was being staged in a hotel lobby from a Marx Brothers movie in purgatory. The last song, “Make Our Garden Grow” has a moment in it that’s one of my favorite musical decisions of all time; when the music peaks, Bernstein has the orchestra stop suddenly while the cast continues singing full voice and finally hearing it live was a peak experience for me.
The Ancients @ Solar Myth
William Parker, William Hooker, Isiah Collier. An hour of free blowing performed by living masters. Again, oddly, I’d never seen any of them play live before.
Jonatha Brooke @ New Hope Winery
A Mother’s Day present to Kath from the kids, but I think that Santa brought it for both of us.
