6 things I learned this week

1. James Taylor still has his voice at age 71.

2. Frankie Avalon still has his voice at age 78. Not quite as inspiring as James Taylor, but my mom enjoyed it. And it marked the fifth straight concert for me and Jo where the performer was over 70 (Doo-Wop Show, Beach Boys, Tony Bennett, James Taylor, Frankie Avalon). 

3. My nephew Nick Tarpley is the real deal at age 23. He placed 5th at Greco Wrestling Nationals this weekend--the reason we were in Vegas.

4. The Nomad Hotel in Vegas is nice. It's modeled after the Nomad in New York, where we had our wedding reception. So of course we stayed there. And of course we used the tub.

5. I'm blessed to be a part of a great family. I knew this already.

6. I'm blessed to share my life with this beautiful girl, who would rather rent a car and go on an adventure than waste a sunny day in a casino. I knew this already too. But confirmation is always good.

It's been a fun week. We're happy to be back home in boring old New York City.

Thoughts on Ethan and college and toddlers and fatherhood

I took Ethan on a college visit to Binghamton this week. We got to spend a lot of time together.

He's a smart boy, and he's thoughtful, and rational, and funny, and irreverent, and he has a good heart. You never stop worrying about your kids, but he's going to be okay. I didn't screw him up too badly.

Ethan's primary college decision seems to be big school closer to home vs. little school in the middle of nowhere. Either will be good for him. I do worry about him getting lonely at a small school in the middle of nowhere. I worry about the culture shock, not being able to walk to the deli at 2 AM to get bacon. The evil midwest, where dinner ends at 7.

In other news, the cover of my new book is out. 

The book comes out in October. So we're in that home stretch where the cover comes out, then it shows up on Amazon, then maybe an advance review, etc. It's a very good book, I'm proud of it, and it just reminds me how lucky I am to be a picture book author. Other than fatherhood it's the one thing I've done that most accurately reflects who I am. I've never gotten the same thrill from working at a "real" job--never the same sense of identity. I don't want to be remembered as a media exec. I want to be remembered as a husband and a dad and a picture book author.

A few days ago I stopped by storytime at the book store on Columbus (just long enough that no one was freaked out by the middle-aged man at storytime). I love toddlers. I love the bond between parent and child. I love that being a parent is the most important thing in the universe, and all those parents at storytime are kindred spirits, because they know it too. Being around toddlers makes you think, "The world is actually pretty good."

Yesterday on the way back from Binghamton Ethan and I decided to stop for a bathroom break, and we were near Great Wolf Lodge. It would've been faster just to stop at a gas station, obviously. But I hadn't been there in years, and...I am me, after all.

We walked down to the indoor waterpark entrance, and as soon as we opened the doors there was this familiar smell of water and chlorine and humidity, and we both immediately smiled. Ethan said, "Mmm, I love that smell!" I said, "Me, too, isn't it great?"

It's like fatherhood. I will never get tired of it.

Catskills resort from Mrs. Maisel

Ethan and I are on our way to Binghamton for a college visit, and look what we discovered a couple of miles off the main highway.

Still closed for the season, but no gate, so we let ourselves in. They've kept the "Steiner Mountain Resort" sign that was made for the show.

Mrs. Maisel floorplans

Couldn't resist.

Below is the floorplan for the Weissmans' apartment 12C at 404 Riverside Drive, as depicted in the show. It's based on the real-life apartment 12N from the same building. I modified the original floorplans in Photoshop after watching the first two seasons of the show.

Below is the floorplan of the real-life apartment 12N, courtesy of streeteasy.com.

The main differences between the two:

• The foyer and living room in the show both appear to have been bumped out to the west by about two feet. It makes the foyer two feet longer and adds the same amount of new walking space between the living room and dining room/den.
• Two rooms from the real apartment are not depicted in the show, including a large bedroom. It's unclear why poor Midge was relegated to the small maid's room since childhood instead of one of the much larger bedrooms.
• Midge's bedroom is directly accessible from the kitchen in the show. In reality there is a pantry there, though a door to the maid's room could conceivably have been there originally.
• In addition, Midge's room appears to be a couple of feet wider than the actual maid's room (at the location of her bed) with no door to the maid's bathroom, which should be located there.
• The layouts of the kitchen and master bathroom are slightly different.
• No clue as to why they changed the apartment number from 12N to 12C. But if you look closely in episode 1 you'll see that the letter C on the door is slightly smaller than the numbers, as if a Production Assistant made a hasty run to the hardware store prior to shooting. It is the correct size in later episodes.

Perhaps the show's set designer will weigh in on anything I missed. Until then, enjoy.