Remembrance of Things Past

I pretty much grew up in the late 80s in Manhattan and now hangout with people who were born in the 80s and I'm sure that these people (many of my new friends) will soon be hanging out with people who were born in the 2000s. My, how time doest fly.

It's somewhat shocking to think that I knew a world and survived in a world before: laptops, cellphones, emails, internet, CDs and DVDs, digital cameras, NetFlix, FedEx, Amazon, Google, and when, Columbia, my alma mater was an all boys college just a few years before I matriculated. For that matter, I remember the time when I couldn't, speak or read, not a sigle word of English. I was born in S. Korea. Back in the day, when LG was not LG but 'Lucky Goldstar' at home before they became a global brand and just initials that launches a new cellphone every other week.

I remember that not long ago, about 12 yrs. ago, when Amazon first launched, I made my first internet purchase-- the Complete Works of Marquis De Sade. I remember when I used to walk into a video store and getting a membership card and going there with my girlfriends... some of whom I stayed in the store for half an hour or more because we couldn't agree on a rental and some that we walked out in 5 mins. because it was a healthy and loving relationship and we always agreed on a movie. I remember switching from vinyl records to CDs when I went to Tower Records or a new store called the Virgin MegaStore in Times Square to buy CDs. I also remember Times Square when it had rows and rows of porn shops, pre-Disney takeover, when it was dangerous to walk in Times Square after dark. I remember when there was nothing in the Meat Packing district save some random dive bars and transvesties walked the streets in high heels (before Manolo Blahniks became vogue) looking for a hook up and cars with tinted glasses would drive by and stop and roll down their windows for the hook up.

I remember going to The Bank, an industrial-gothic club with 3 floors where every Thursday and Saturdays, I would go and mingle with kids with make up and Mohawk hair or with resident vampires. [Closed: 6 yrs. ago.] I remember pre-bottle service NYC when if you looked good or dressed well or interestingly, you got past the velvet rope. Palladium, The Saint, Area, The Tunnel, Redzone, and Club USA come to mind. You didn't have to know the owner(s) or get a bottle (I still don't). But it's not the same. Now, you have to befriend the doormen and become a regular. The choices of venues are limited too because EVERYBODY is out and everybody wants to get in. Back then, if you were cool or looked cool, the doormen just knew.

I remember taking the subway in my Hermes tie and wide, padded shoulder Italian suit going into Merrill Lynch for my investment banking job straight out of college. There were people with Sony Walkman vs. iPods. The rain was acid and the streets dirty. Manhattan was not for the faint of heart. Now, it's one of the safest cities in the world.

I remember when my modern, post-war, studio apt. across from Lincoln Center was $1,200 a month and there were no Starbucks anywhere. I remember too when I used to go to sleep before midnight on weeknights.

I have become a vampire. I've seen generations come and go in Manhattan and will put your severed head on a pike too. There is nothing new under the sun or the moon.