 | Time IndefiniteA repository and collective timeline of our individual significant moments in time. |
The Day I Got My Walking Shoes
Posted On Tuesday April 17, 2007 By Matt
An entry from my baby album reads “Matt, your walking practice is exhausting. But no one could be prouder that you’re walking early than your dad is. Dad” I obviously don’t remember my first steps but it must have been a big deal. I was born with a rather bad club foot and had spent most of my first year in various casts as they tried to reshape my ankle and foot. I then spent my first 5 years wearing a leg brace. My club foot always made me different from everyone else. For the longest time it was the primary way I thought of myself. I still like to shock people by showing them the size difference between my two feet. Ultimately, it’s not a major disability, I can do everything except run. But growing up with it affected how other kids socialized with me. It made me feel inferior and as a result I spent most of my childhood allowing myself to be victimized by bullies. At one point in elementary school I had to have my father drive to school for recess so that other kids wouldn’t beat the shit out of me again and again. I got labeled a trouble maker because I was always in fights, but really, I never started them. I was never doing anything more than defending myself. I just wanted to be left alone. I just wanted to be normal. I know all those experiences shaped who I am today, and I wouldn’t trade them for anything. It’s just funny how one small thing can shape your entire existence.
Tags: club, first, foot, steps, walking
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Moment Childhood Ended
Posted On Sunday April 8, 2007 By MMy father died when I was ten. He was murdered by another family member and I saw it happen. I can definitely say that this was the moment that my childhood ended. Of course, I was still a child. The following Christmas I received a Barbie Beautician set for Christmas and I loved it.
But, things were no longer the same because life isn’t the same once you know death and know that it can happen in an instant without warning, and know that sometimes the people you trust the most can betray you worst of all.
Tags: childhood, death, father
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Graduation Day
Posted On Wednesday April 4, 2007 By Matt
This was the kind of day my mom would have called a good omen. A day filled with events that signaled a bright future. I had just graduated from NYU’s Interactive Telecommunication Program after 2 years of study. My friend’s Greg and Paula, pictured here on the ends, had come from out of town for a visit. We decided to see Bowling for Columbine. It was my second time seeing it. The theatre was mostly empty but when the film finished and the lights came on, sitting in the back, was Michael Moore himself. Apparently he had decided to see the film in the theatre on what was to be the final show before it’s run ended at The Sunshine. He stayed and chatted with the people who remained.
I had just finished grad school, I was with friends, I was just starting a new relationship, I had just met an award winning film-maker. Life seemed like it couldn’t get any better. And for a few months things were great. I didn’t really have any work so I just enjoyed life to the fullest. I spent time relaxing in Union Square, seeing trashy Hollywood movies, going to gallaries, museums, and concerts, and just tried to figure out what to do with myself next. That short sweet time will always mark the end of my adolescence.
Every day now is a reminder of how brief and hard life really is. I know I still have it better than most. I’m not starving or unloved. My partner is the only thing that keeps me going most days. It’s just that my life came totally undone in the years following my graduation. Several members of my small family have died or fallen ill. And some relationships have changed forever.
Tags: bowling-for-columbine, family, friends, future, graduation, itp, life, nyu, omen, relationships
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