Archive for the ‘What are you looking at?’ Category

« Older Entries
Newer Entries »

I Don’t Want To Change The World

Tuesday, November 8th, 2011

Well today has been somewhat productive and even better, sociable. Having off today afforded me some more relaxation time. That’s what I’d call it since I basically woke up at the same time as when I have to go to work. So I got out of bed and made some coffee. A trip to the supermarket was once again in order since after this pot of coffee there was no more coffee to be had.

So after a couple of cups I headed out, with the shopping bag filled with shirts and trousers to be cleaned. I walked by Mr. L’s, my barber and did not see anyone in Tony’s chair. Once I stepped in I saw that Tony wasn’t their either. His son Nick told me that Tony was at the market getting milk for the coffee. I set down the canvas bag and told Nick I would be right back, and went out to vote.

The precinct is only a few doors down and I was in and out in less than five minutes. When I got back to Mr. L’s, Tony was back and waiting for me, even though by this time there were two other guys waiting for a haircut. Maybe they were waiting for Nick and didn’t care much for Tony’s methods, but in any event I walked over to Tony, shook his hand and sat in his chair.

He asked how the cigar business was, telling me that he had gone to a wedding with his wife and at the reception there was a man rolling cigars. I like Tony’s work, he goes so far as to trim nose hair, eye brows and ear hair, and takes extraordinary measures to get as much white hair out of my goatee, so I don’t wind up barba blanca.

Then it was off to Cary’s Dry Cleaners where I dropped off my shirts as well as Bill’s stuff. Then a trip to the supermarket which was not very crowded but I felt like either I was stalking or being stalked. I would go to an aisle and there would be the same woman each and everytime, eyeballing me.

Perhaps I was being cruised but as usual I had no clue. Came home and texted with Mike Cecchini who lives up the block. I saw him on Sunday at Maxwells and told him then I had a few CD’s from Mojo and Uncut to lend him. He was coming over as I started the laundry so I gather 33 CD’s and put them in a bag and walked them down to the street.

The apartment was a bit of a mess to have him come up and it was a beautiful day outside anyhow. I never even opened some of the CD’s and told him he could hang onto them for as long as he’d like. I did upload some of them but the majority of them have been unheard by me, and it’s mainly since I was not so interested in the genre, be it Heavy Metal or the dreaded Americana. Metal I am almost always ambivalent about and Americana is best served in small doses.

I was out and about in the afternoon and enjoying a cigar as I walked up Washington Street I ran into the always wonderful Thaler Pekar, a very smart and brilliant woman. And despite her saying that she was feeling so tired, she looked great. Her husband Tom is a lucky guy and I’m sure he knows it. He’s a nice guy too. Maxwells people keep popping up.

She was off to the Farmer’s Market which I believe is it’s last day today for the year and I was heading back home. So that’s about it, been a nice day, saw friends, did laundry and now Bill is home too so it’s all good.

Rest in Peace Joe Frazier and Heavy D.






Bobbi Martin – For the Love of Him – 1970

Tags:, ,
Posted in What are you looking at?, What's it doing outside? | No Comments »

I Don’t Love You Conway Twitty

Tuesday, October 18th, 2011

A day off and despite the prediction of rain, it did not happen. It was a nice October day, a little cool but comfortable in the sun. I woke up at my usual time and puttered about the apartment starting up my day without the pressure of having to get ready for work.

A trip to the supermarket was in order and a stop at the dry cleaners to drop off some of Bill’s shirts as well as my shirts and a suit which needed cleaning. The supermarket was full of the little old ladies doing their shopping and me. I bought my items on got on line where my favorite cashier, the mighty Isis was working.

She was in an accident a few months ago and is constantly in pain. Still she persevered and was looking forward to getting off of work around noon which was only a few hours away. I walked home and had a nice breakfast.

I have to return the Bob Mould autobiography, See A Little Light, tomorrow so I resolved to go through it as much as possible today. More names from my past (and Bob Mould’s past as well) kept appearing. I remember being friends with his boyfriend at the time Kevin O’Neill when they lived down the street from Maxwells.

Specifically I remember going to their apartment with Kevin where he played the then latest CD from Ultra Vivid Scene. That must have been 1989, when Bob and Kevin first started going out. The book is a good read, definitely a good look into the indie scene in the 1980’s, being in a successful band and dealing with the drugs, the booze and the fame.

I liked Husker Du, but overall preferred the Minutemen. Another three piece band from San Pedro, CA. The Minutemen where so much better live, a great band and a bit funky rather than the sheets of noise from the boys Minneapolis. And my favorite Husker Du song happens to be a cover song. I had angst but I was nowhere near as angsty as what Bob Mould and Grant Hart were singing about.

But it was fun to turn the page and read this about John Bruce, or that about Sandra Lee Phipps. The mention of staying in Arcata raised an eyebrow…

I am almost done with the book and I have to confess I skimmed over the years when he was working in professional wrestling. Not very much interested in that part, nor did I want to read about Bob juicing.

Bob is happy now, has a partner and content to DJ every couple of months around the country with Rich Morel, running Blow Off for the bears into club music. It’s funny that there is a picture in the book of Bob DJ’ing at the Highline Ballroom in 2009.

That could have been the night that Juan, Bill and I went for a night of dancing and clubbing and I wound up lasting about 15 minutes before realizing that dancing and clubbing simply was not my thing. It’s Juan’s thing and that’s alright. I don’t begrudge anyone a good time but as I have been saying for years I prefer to DJ and maybe get people dancing rather than dancing myself.

And like I told my old Maxwells friend Ally last night, I don’t have a social life anymore. What with work and the cost of going out, I’m usually too tired to go out and have a good time. I am more than content to spend my time just with Bill and anyone who cares to come over. But going out? No, I’ve done enough of that. If I’m not feeling the music then I would rather not be there at all.

I also bought an artwork from a former boyfriend of Bob Mould’s in the 1980′s. I gave it to my brother and his wife, what I thought was an investment. They still have it, a colored pencil drawing of a rocket ship about to hit the Earth. I think his name was Mike Covington.

Tu sabe?

October 17, 2011







Tags:, ,
Posted in What are you looking at? | No Comments »

I Don’t Know How To Love Him

Tuesday, October 11th, 2011

Well today has been a day off. And an out of the ordinary day, though certainly not extraordinary. I went to bed later than I hoped. After going to bed at a decent time the night before, my good intention fell by the wayside. I slept soundly and as I slept Bill kissed me goodbye around 6:30.

I stayed in bed until about 8:15, then got out and got myself ready for the day. I had an appointment last week to meet with Misha, an associate or possibly Joe Monaco’s supervisor. I decided to visit Occupy Wall Street last Friday, and Misha rescheduled the meeting to today, this morning at 10:30AM.

Not an ungodly hour but still an hour I would rather have been pushed back until later in the day. I had the idea of taking the light rail over to the meeting in Jersey City and walking back to Hoboken. I was not expecting much of anything at all.

I had visited Joe Monaco’s office in 2009 almost 2 years to the day and this time I had the advantage of having a good idea on where the office was. Last time I wasn’t sure and had a panicked call to Bill to find out the exact location.

This time I had the smartphone and was able to pinpoint it exactly, though they hadn’t moved and the building was still there. I made it to the office about 15 minutes early, filled out an application and added some more info and detracted some info from the paperwork from 2 years ago.

I started to read Bob Mould’s autobiography as I waited in the reception area but not too much since I was told to go into a side office to wait for Joe Monaco. A few minutes later in comes Joe Monaco. I forgot what he looked like but did remember that he was cute.

We sat and chatted for about 10 minutes, me explaining that I am basically looking for a Monday to Friday job, that I’d even settle for janitorial work. The retail experience has been humbling enough and after dealing with the wanker last night I would rather deal with trash instead of trash masquerading as people.

I headed out after the meeting, Joe Monaco telling me he would get back to me should something pop up. I was not holding my breath as I exited. Outside it was a nice enough day and I changed my mind, instead of walking back to Hoboken I took the light rail back.

A 10 minute ride instead of an hour long walk proved to be the right idea and I was back in my apartment by 11:30. Finally was able to have the type of breakfast I like to have on my day off and I ate and read the paper. I changed out of my suit and made the usual errands and talked with Bill on the phone.

A whole lot of nothing going on for me today but I was OK with that.

Happy birthday Rand! And thanks for updating and fixing the no pix bug!





Posted in What are you looking at? | No Comments »

I Can’t Stand It

Friday, August 5th, 2011

Another decent day at the cigar shack. Does this mean tomorrow won’t be? I can’t say. It’s been fun working with Thomas once again. We bust each other’s chops all day long. Tomorrow Bradley will be in the mix therefore changing whatever chemistry exists between Thomas and myself. Maybe. It’s all speculation.

It’s been a long day nonetheless. I slept really well last night and have been getting up earlier than I had been. Slept too late earlier in the week and had to rush around, which I would rather not do. 15 minutes makes all the difference. Thomas has headed home for the day, after getting his craft beer.

Now it’s me and Jerry Vale doing his Maria Eftimiades imitation. Actually he isn’t. I just wanted to throw her name in the mix since it popped into my head the other day. She was an editor at People magazine when I worked there in the late 1990’s. She playfully smacked me on the arm when she overheard me talking to Pedro on the phone, talking about chicks.

She was shocked to hear that. She is probably in deep shock now that the word chicks is being used everywhere, even by women. When she playfully smacked me, I told her to consider the alternatives. No harm was intended by the use of the word and of course, no chicks were harmed in the writing of such a line.

It’s a summer evening on a Friday, the area of the cigar shack is quiet now. Not much foot traffic. Not much of anything actually. One hour to go for me, then I’ll go home, sleep for a few hours and then come back for some more. It’s OK. It’s a job, not an adventure.

Jimmy Seltzer graciously invited me and Bill out to the Hamptons. It doesn’t seem likely with our schedules being all over the place. I told that to Jimmy and he said it would be fine if I went out there by myself on a weekday.Mr & Mrs Seltzer wouldn’t be there and I could have the place to myself. That is an extremely gracious offer from Jimmy Seltzer and I would love to take him up on it. I’ve never been out to the Hamptons anyhow.

Less than an hour to go now. I might as well do something rather than stare at the few stragglers passing by the cigar shack. And now I’m home again, back on the mainland. It was a fast hour at the shop, Jerry Vale regaling me with stories about seeing Led Zeppelin in Chicago in the 1970’s. He’s only 7 years older than I am and seems much older.

He’s trying to keep his head above water while working part time in the cigar shack. He doesn’t know how to deal with Thomas and myself and since Bradley acts like he’s the boss, Jerry Vale falls in line with whatever it is Bradley has to say.

I am just glad to be home. One more day until a day off. Hooray for me.



Tags:
Posted in What are you looking at? | No Comments »

I Been to Georgia on a Fast Train

Thursday, May 26th, 2011

Two days off from work, one day back and once again I cannot stand people. I can’t say I fear for the future since we’re already doomed. Luckily there is plenty of blame to go around, more than enough so I don’t have to write about it here. I don’t have to write about people that are so involved with whatever mechanisms are in their hand they don’t know how to respond to an ‘excuse me’ as you try to pass them on an escalator.

It was certainly a strange day today. Temperatures in the 80° range and it’s not even the unofficial start of summer yet. I was early enough to see Thomas walk right past me, all slick in a dark suit and wearing killer shades.

I walked into the cigar shack just a minute after he did. He asked if he could close tonight, which eventually means I will close tomorrow. No big deal. Six in one, a half dozen in the other if you ask me. Alvin was flitting about, seemingly stressed. He made a remark about how I had such a nice day off yesterday and he sounded resentful.

Some big wigs were expected to be in the shack today. One showed up about 30 minutes after I got in, a nice guy who made a bee line to Calvin. He also blessed Thomas and myself with some free cigars so that was nice. The afternoon progressed as expected, a few customers coming in and out.

Since today was Miles Davis birthday, Calvin insisted on playing nothing but Miles Davis today. Ho hum. The afternoon crawled quite a bit thanks to the jazz. Calvin had an appointment so that meant he was going to have to leave early, like around 4:00.

At about 3:55, more big wigs arrived, about 5 of them altogether, examining the computers. Not that they were in a hurry to replace the Soviet garage sale computers the cigar shack uses, from what someone told me, they were probably making sure that Marcus doesn’t steal files or customers from the cigar shack, moving them to a cigar hut a few blocks south.

The someone who told me, mentioned that Marcus probably did that already, a little each day. Whether or not that is true, I couldn’t tell you. The truth is Marcus will be gone from the cigar shack, come June 1. And Calvin is stepping up to the plate, already taking somethings over, and a little bit anxious and nervous as well. He’ll be fine I’m sure, some bad habits seem to have ended or at least put to the side by just about all concerned.

I heard from my cousin who said they’ll be in touch with me next week and I heard from Joe Monaco, a recruiter I met with about 2 years ago. I used to send Joe Monaco emails every Monday, letting him know I was still looking. Eventually that fell by the wayside and here he was calling me to tell me about a position that maybe just right for me. And it may be local too.

I don’t have any expectations with regards to Joe Monaco. Despite my excellent scoring on the tests back then, he has not done a thing for me. OK, offering me a job in Livingston NJ was something he did, but really, how the hell am I supposed to get out to Livingston?

In any event, I am home now, and quite happy to be here. Bill is here too, telling me he loves me and that I am wonderful. It is nice to hear, sometimes hard to believe, the latter, not the former.




Tags:, ,
Posted in What are you looking at? | No Comments »

I Am the Sword

Monday, May 16th, 2011

It’s one of those Mondays, rainy but not really. More drizzly, sideways winds blowing spray to & fro. Perfect weather for the chronically malcontent as well as the regular (& irregular) snippy people.

Of course I leave out the most important piece of the equation, the shallow and lazy people, also known as the weepies. I would include them but I wiped my feet on the doormat.

It’s been another interesting day today. Thomas and Calvin and myself, getting along famously. It wasn’t an easy start for me today though. The rain certainly lent itself to wanting to stay in bed and sleep as much as possible. Of course that didn’t happen.

I got out of bed, Bill sleeping in having a day off since he’s been on the ill side of things the past few days. He drove to Atlantic City on Friday and wasn’t feeling 100%. Thankfully he made it there and back safely.

He came home on Saturday and went right to bed as I headed off to work. He was awake when I came home but not for long. I stayed up and watched Saturday Night Live turning in before the end.

Yesterday was basically a blasé day, went out in the morning and out again in the afternoon to return Punk: Attitude to Netflix. Turned out I had seen it before. Still good, sad to see young Ari Up and remember she passed away not too long ago. Same with Poly Styrene.

My timing turned out to be good. I sat by the river for a few minutes and then headed home since I was bored and a bit depressed. 5 minutes after I walked through the door the skies opened up and it poured quite a bit.

Bill had made it out, headed into the city for an acting interview class. He also learned a song, Family, from Dreamgirls. Once again, I initially thought it was corny but by the time he finished it I was quite moved.

I felt he was singing it for me. I was in such a state that I really couldn’t hear it any other way. It really hit me. It was similar to years ago when Bill & I first started going out and I surprised him at his church one Sunday afternoon.

He was playing their baby grand and singing a song that I thought was just too corny. I Believe in You & Me by the Four Tops. I knew the Tops version and I knew Whitty Hutton’s version but hearing Bill sing it and play it on the piano was amazing and had me sobbing by the end.

I didn’t sob last night but I did get a lump in my throat.

So much for being chronically malcontent. I would probably be more of a malcontent, lurking underneath bridges probably in or around Central New Jersey with 174.252.7.87 being my IP Address. But since it is not I am not.

I’m quite content. I have friends and family and a very good man that loves me. I guess that some people don’t have that. I count my blessings from time to time. Not often enough but I know that they’re there.

Ol’ whatshername is now having it’s comments go directly in the spam folder. Not worth my trouble and not worth ruining your eyesight with its rants. I have a life and you can read about a portion or a slice of it on this here blog.

Surprisingly, some haters can read too, their comments are sometimes monitored, sometimes sent to spam. That’s the way the teat leaks I suppose.

My boo, not looking ill, but he was.


Tags:, ,
Posted in What are you looking at? | 2 Comments »

« Older Entries
Newer Entries »