Monthly Archives: July 2009

Here Come July

And it’s raining again. There is no surprise in that. I just got back from Manhattan, this time I was prepared. I wore a full body wet suit, pinstriped of course.

I did finally hear from Vivek. He made it in long enough to fill a basket full of rice pudding pops. He actually called me letting me know that he was going into the office to do it.

Presently on the phone with an irate Julio who is trying to use his credit card points to rent a car while he’s in Spain and he is meeting with tremendous difficulty. Of course I hear all about it. I don’t mind. He’ll have to listen to my tales of woe eventually. Took a lot out of me to listen to his aggravation but that’s what friends do.

Last night I heard from Billie in DC and he had his own tale of woe. His car was stolen a while back. That worked out fine, the insurance paid more than what the car was worth. He also invited Bill and I down for a weekend in the autumn which was nice. We’ll have to work that out somewhere down the line.

Today I headed into Manhattan, wearing work boots and carrying a big umbrella. It didn’t look like rain as I waited for the bus, and it was 91 degrees and quite humid. As I walked across town I ran into an old friend, Corey Williams who I used to work with at Arista Records.

Hadn’t seen Corey in a few years. He and his wife Ann Marie had a baby boy a few weeks ago, named Corey. He’s still at Atlantic Records, been trying to get out of there for 6 years. He’s still looking though.

We talked for almost a half hour by which time it looked like it was going to rain any minute now. We parted ways, I wished him and his family well. He’s such a good guy. Hard to believe I’ve known him about 15 years.

He’s also friends with my friend Miriam who just had a baby girl a week or so ago. Baby crazy these people are.

I made it to the office, collected my mashed potato dances and was soon outdoors again just as it started to rain.

I did have a tentative plan to meet an online friend that I’ve chatted with for years at the Cigar Inn on Second Avenue so that’s where I headed. Nice lounge for smoking cigars, I used to go there with a former co-worker when times were better.

Tom was the friend’s name and it was finally good to meet him in the flesh after years of chit chat. He was in town running around and while doing that got caught in the rain storm. We sat and talked for an hour or so, about music and cigars. We like them both.

After that I walked him over to Grand Central Station since I had a big umbrella and he didn’t. I’m pretty sure he appreciated it, plus it was on my way anyhow.

Walked over to the Path which wasn’t as crowded as I anticipated for a Friday afternoon. Had a seat and read The Low Side of the Road by Barney Hoskyns. It’s an unauthorized biography on Tom Waits that I got from the Hoboken library.

I was reading Transformer: The Story of Lou Reed by Victor Bockris but Tom Waits is a much more interesting character, and I much prefer Barney Hoskyns writing to Victor Bockris.

So that’s about it, I’m spent. Tomorrow I’m going with Meghan, Lily & Ruby to All Points West. That should be fun. I’ll tell you all about it, either tomorrow or Sunday.

Sing the Changes

Right now, everything is good. It’s been a weird kind of day. Slept in since my 10 hours of work were completed yesterday. I did get a call from Viveka about a marble mouse that Vivek was looking for.

I had it here, so I planned on bringing it in. I was also hoping to get my allotment of Hot Wheels cars but since yesterday was Vivek’s birthday, Sanjay and Abby and the birthday father to be went out gallivanting, rendering Vivek incapacitated and unable to come in.

Yeah, it sucked. But it wasn’t the end of the world and I know I will get paid eventually.

I hope sooner rather than later of course. I came home and decided to take random pictures of people on the streets. It was a nice day after all. Not one drop of rain and nary a cloud in the sky.

On the walk across midtown I was pleasantly surprised to catch a few whiffs in different areas of some pungent aromas. It was almost like it was twenty years ago. In broad daylight, some brave folk out for a toke.

I had almost forgotten that it can be done. Hell, I used to do it all the time. That was when I had cojones. Nowadays, not so much.

Came home and farted around. Returned some library books and walked around a bit. I saw Jim Mastro inside the Frozen Monkey Cafe so I walked in to say hello when Lily and Ruby Mastro walk up. Lily was drumming for some kids who take lessons at the Guitar Bar.

The girls told me Meghan was on the way. I stuck around and had some fun with Meghan who might have an extra pass for All Points West on Saturday if Jim couldn’t make it. She said she was going to let me know by tomorrow.

My Bloody Valentine and Arctic Monkeys are on the bill. There are other acts on the bill, but those are the two I would like to see.

I would have stayed at the Frozen Monkey Cafe but I was actually planning on food shopping. Plus it wasn’t Lily’s band, she was only filling in and the guys in the band really liked Guns & Roses and as annoying as that band used to be, hearing Sweet Child of Mine played by a 15 year old was more than I needed to hear.

I also made tentative plans with Meghan to hop on a train one day soon and just spend some time out in Glen Ridge. Been meaning to do that for a while now and since I’m not working, as Meghan pointed out, now would be as good a time as any.

And by now she meant next week. Now it a quiet evening, a breeze wafts through the open window. Haven’t hooked up the air conditioner. The fans have been good when Bill and I sleep.

It’s only when the sun is out, that’s when I would like to have an air conditioner on. Or to be in an air conditioned office, working.

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