Posts Tagged ‘Hoboken bibliothèque’

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I Can’t Stay

Monday, August 8th, 2011

It’s a Monday. And it’s a two steps back kind of day, without the one step forward part. It’s been a weird couple of days. Saturday after taking the Path Train to Hoboken I walked home in a slight drizzle. Bill was home and working on lines from a play so he wasn’t really available so once again I internalize everything.

I stewed in my juices as he whispered lines to himself. He offered to go into the other room to do his lines but I couldn’t be bothered with watching TV. Around 11:00 I turned on the news and it was the usual bullshit.

Bill went to bed soon after that and I watched a bit of Harry Potter & the Deathly Hollows. It was more intense than I anticipated and wound up watching half of it before going to bed. And that was all it was going to bed.

The things that race through my head before actual sleep astounds me. This time I was thinking about how I played Jacob Marley in A Christmas Carol, and how Sister Carla, my 8th Grade teacher trying to get me to project my voice without yelling. I didn’t go over well and when I was actually on stage very few people could hear me, though I heard Sister Carla behind the curtain saying ‘Louder, louder’.

After an hour of laying in bed I got up and took a few melatonin tablets which didn’t work right away and I don’t think I fell asleep until 4:00, merely three hours after my first attempt. That meant I slept in which was nice but disrupted any plans that I may have had, which weren’t much to begin with.

So a little before noon I got out of bed, made some coffee and stepped into the shower. Not much to eat so that meant I had to go to the supermarket. Bill was off to do something and I came back with groceries and things that we would need.

I watched the rest of Deathly Hallows and enjoyed it a lot. I was tempted to go to the movie theater in Hoboken to watch Part 2 but the only available screening was in 3D and I didn’t want to pay $15.00 for a pair of glasses that I would need to return after the show.

I didn’t do much of anything really. I was pretty much depressed so I took a xanax which made me sleepy, so I slept for a few hours. Then I woke up, had something to eat and went back to bed for another hour. No desire to go out and interact and it looked like it was going to rain anyway. Just a long slow day filled with remorse basically.

I couldn’t even tell you what time Bill came home but he was pretty much out of it. We didn’t have much to say to each other. No reason just not much to say. He went to bed soon after coming home and I once again stayed awake.

Now in the shop it’s been another long day. Calvin, Thomas and myself manning the boards. I started out with a good sale and that was it. After that it was mainly tire kickers for me, people that just look and look and take your time and leave without buying anything. Now there is about an hour left and I just want to go home. The economic climate is worse today than it was last week, so the mantra continues. I can’t believe how badly people treat one another. As bad as I feel I never treat people as badly as I have seen people do.

In June I had an interview with a local Hoboken establishment. The woman I met, Faith seemed nice enough. I noted that she had a slight European accent. The interview went well and she mentioned that she would let me know either way, whether or not I get the job. That was OK by me.

She mentioned that she was going on vacation and would let me know when she returned. I called once when she was on vacation and today I called again. They asked for my name when they answered and I gave it twice since they didn’t hear me the first time.

After being on hold for about 30 seconds, someone picks up. I ask for Faith and they say that they are Faith. No distinct European accent, this was more like someone from Jackson Street in Hoboken. And they were quite surly, not polite like Faith was.

No this fake Faith was quite grouchy and told me that the manager of the establishment was going to be sending out letters probably today. The letters of rejection. I expect to get one soon. It’s just as well. I had supported this establishment in the past, writing letters on their behalf.

But if they’re going to be thinking that I am just as stupid as they are, I don’t plan on supporting them ever again. Another business that won’t be getting my business.


Part 1, Intense.



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I Can’t Make You Love Me

Tuesday, August 2nd, 2011

Well I am writing earlier than usual, at least earlier than yesterday. Yesterday was so pleasant, a day at the beach with my Corinne and Meghan & Rob. Today was bound to disappoint. And it wasn’t really disappointing, just a letdown, a 180 degree turn from being out of Hoboken to being stuck in Hoboken with the Seaside Park blues again.

I slept really really well last night and woke to Bill kissing me goodbye once again and telling me how much he loved me. I do the same then on the rare occasion when I am leaving and Bill is still in bed. I am lucky in that I don’t have to remove a sleep apnea mask to kiss him good bye.

I got out of bed an hour or so later. A shower has been thrilling lately since the drain actually works and I don’t have to stand there in 2 or 3 inches of dirty water. Then some coffee and checking emails before I headed out to the supermarket for some foodstuffs.

The kitchen window has been closed most of the time due to the squirrel invasion but the squirrel has not been around much lately. It could also be from the black pepper I poured on the window ledge. I looked up online and found that squirrels are not fans of pepper. Specifically cayenne pepper but the entry said black pepper does the trick and so far it’s been working just fine.

I saw my latest favorite cashier, Isis who had injured her leg riding on a motorcycle with her boyfriend/husband. I came home to a nice breakfast and after some surfing and TV, it was laundry time. Not too much laundry but enough for 2 loads.

I decided to visit the bibliothèque after finishing The Harvard Psychedelic Club which was a fun fast read, so much so that I felt like I was partaking of the lysergic at times which I hadn’t done in quite some time. I finished the book on Pier A and on the way to the bibliothèque I stopped by the Guitar Bar where I saw Mr. Wonderful. He and the funniest girl alive, along with daughter Ruby are going upstate on Saturday to see daughter Lily off to college.

Tears will undoubtedly be shed. I am excited and nervous for Lily as is Jim and Meghan. Jim mentioned that Ruby is the one to be worried about since she and Lily have been so tight ever since they were babies and toddlers.

Some more walking around Hoboken, staying on the shady side of street including a walk past where Julio works. I hoped he would have the time to come out and chat but after a pic of his building’s door sent to Julio’s cellphone was sent and no reply seemed forthcoming I continued strolling and eventually wound up back home.

It’s been a slow day, I miss being at the beach and staring at the horizon and enjoying a nice cigar. I did speak with Bill and we are planning on another beach excursion, perhaps on the 15th of August. I did make plans to go to the NY Aquarium with Corinne, but I think a better time might be had at Sandy Hook and with Bill driving, she wouldn’t even have to drive for a change.

I think it has the possibility to actually happen. I hope it does.







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I Can Feel A Hot One

Wednesday, June 22nd, 2011

A day off and it’s been somewhat busy. After shaking off the strange dream of me trying to kill Rosemary’s Baby I got out of bed and started my day. I woke up with I Can See For Miles by the Who in my head.

A shower, a shave, some breakfast and coffee and soon I was off to the bibliothèque to find out what the hell is going on with my library card. I dropped off some CD’s last week and they were still on my card and in danger of being late. Bob Dylan’s Witmark Demos (Volume 9 of the Bootleg Series), The Scissor Sisters Night Work, the Jimi Hendrix Experience- Are You Experienced and the motion picture soundtrack of the Rocky Horror Picture Show. The quite helpful librarian took a look and saw they were back in stock and dutifully removed them from my online library card. I love my bibliothèque.

From there it was off to the supermarket to buy groceries. Then it was home for a spell, did some cooking for tonight as well as for the week and also made some tuna salad for lunch for when I go back to work tomorrow and the days following.

Right now it looks like a major storm is approaching from the west. Yesterday, one of the bright spots in the day of staring into the abyss was seeing a hawk flying above the border of Hoboken and Weehawken, above the area called the Shades, in the shadow of Troy Tower. It took a few seconds to recognize it as a hawk and not merely a sea gull and yes it was majestic to watch. It was the high point of my day. I neglected to write about it and wish I had a taken a photograph of it.

And now it is raining.

I was also thinking about my education today and why I didn’t continue onto college. Would things have turned out differently? Probably. I had 13 years from kindergarten to senior year of high school which was mainly spent trying not to fail and get a passing grade.

I remember in junior year of high school, Sister Reginald telling the class that we were there because we had to be, but when we continued onto college there would be no one forcing us to go to class. Me being the type of person to not do something that he doesn’t want to do, had an epiphany and realized that it would be a waste of money since I loathed education and more than likely would be skipping classes.

For some reason I also remember a classmate, Don Francis being made to stand out in the hallway for something that he had done and slowly unzipping his zipper with a smile on his face while staring at me in class as he looked through the door. Don Francis left my school that year and I never saw him again though perhaps if he told me to go to college with him I might have, even though I believe he was straight.

So from Mrs. Burson to Mrs. Talamini to Sister Carla to Sister Reginald I did not enjoy school, going through it with much difficulty and when I graduated high school it made more sense to go from part time to full time working for Harcourt Brace Jovanovich where I worked in the college department and read a lot of the books on my own time that my classmates were paying hundreds of dollars to own.

Who knows, perhaps they bought the books I had already read. In any event, I don’t have any regrets about not continuing my education and with the employment situation today and knowing a few college and university graduates who are currently out of work it doesn’t seem to make much of a difference anyway.

And still I delete hundred, perhaps thousands of spam subscribers to this here blog. It’s an ongoing process and if I don’t stay on top of it, it turns into several pages of names and email addresses to be deleted. I don’t know what will happen if I do not delete, but I am more comfortable with the three subscribers that I have.

So thank you Rand, HarbCard and Denali Kid for subscribing. And I guess some recognition should also go to lazy teat Greg who reads this blog every day. Well scratch Denali Kid off the list. Just sent an email and it came back as undeliverable.








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I Blew a Little Blast on My Whistle

Tuesday, June 14th, 2011

Well I just finished having a nice dinner of Penne, Pesto and chicken. I used to eat it frequently but with my schedule of getting home too late for a home cooked meal it simply hasn’t happened in the past few months. I made a bunch yesterday and reheated it today. It was better tonight than it was yesterday. It’s all about the Goya Adobe seasoning I guess. I didn’t have any yesterday but on one of my visits to the supermarket I made sure to pick some up.

Last night I sent an email to Joe Monaco. The useless recruiter who calls once a year with a job offer and when I express interest he says he will go through with it. Then I never hear from him again for another year. I’ve been sending him emails, a few a week, just checking in and saying hello and asking if there was any word regarding the last position he mentioned, a job in Hoboken with an occasional day in Manhattan. Sounded good to me yet all the emails I send are never responded to. So last night I wrote asking him to please reply to said email. Almost 24 hours later there is still no response.

I also touched base with my cousin, saying hello and reminding them of my ongoing job search. Not looking for anything big, something in the bowels of the company, away from people, just doing my job, Monday through Friday. That’s basically it, I want a straight Monday through Friday job, 9 to 5 or thereabouts. Not looking for big bucks just something to help pay the bills that don’t entail standing in dress shoes on a cement floor for 9 hours a day. Last I heard they were in London last month and would get back to me when they returned. That was in May. Tomorrow is the middle of June. I am holding back, not wanting to be pushy.

Today was a busy day again, just not as busy as yesterday. Not much shredding, just laundry, more cleaning the apartment and picking up dry cleaning. Bill came home after having a headache all day. It was diminished by the time he got home and his plan to go right to bed was somewhat fulfilled, meaning he slept for a couple of hours. He asked me to wake him up at 9:00 which I did after dropping off some CD’s at the bibliothèque. Yesterday I took out Led Zeppelin III and a collection of the Chemical Brothers called Brotherhood, as well as a DVD of Dinner at Eight, which was reviewed on YouTube by the Tired Old Queen At The Movies.

Today I went back and took out the Jimi Hendrix Experience, Are You Experienced, Bob Dylan’s Bootleg Series Volume 9, the Witmark Demos, the latest Scissor Sisters’ cd, Night Work and the movie soundtrack to the Rocky Horror Picture Show. Now the pots and pans are cleaned as well as the dishes. Clothes are hanging on hangers and clothing racks in the kitchen and the bathroom. Bill took off from the day job to drive to Atlantic City to attend a bus safety seminar. There have been several bus accidents since the beginning of the year and just the other day, a bus hit a motorcyclist which ended in the motorcyclist being killed at the Lincoln Tunnel helix.

I also responded to James Dolan, the archbishop of the NY diocese who came out against NY State’s upcoming vote on same sex marriage, saying it was for procreation (tough shit sterile couples and older folks) and the right for children to grow up with a mom and dad. Yeah that’s going really well since so many opposite sex couples get divorced or have their marriages annulled by that stupid ass holy roman catholic church. My comments are awaiting moderation and I have my doubts that they will be published, so here they are.

If you want to read Dolan’s missive, you’ll have to search it out for yourself since I will not provide a link from the protector of child molesters.

It’s a civil rights issue, certainly not a religious issue. What about the right for a child to be raised by a mom and dad? Clearly this ignores annulments and divorce. How come you do not speak up about that? What will this ‘intrusion’ do to your ‘common good’? Perhaps it will help you recognize that same sex couples deserve the equal protections under the law, that are afforded to opposite sex couples. But I expect too much.
The NY State same sex marriage bill has a provision that religious groups will NOT be forced to perform or bless same sex marriages.

It’s time to get a fresher horse, since the dead horse you have been beating with that lie is decomposing quite rapidly.

And what is true & correct- is the fact that your stance defies logic and common sense. Opposite sex couples who cannot procreate should not be able to get married with your logic. It’s a civil rights issue, certainly not a religious issue.
Who’s side would your savior be on? The side denying fairness and basic civil rights or the side that accepts and supports the same?


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I Became A Prostitute

Wednesday, May 25th, 2011

And it’s the second day of a two day stretch of having time off from the cigar shack. An even better day than yesterday, with blue skies and warm breezes. It’s been warm enough that the clothes I washed yesterday were dry already. Sometimes it takes a day or two.

We don’t have a laundry line outside so the clothes hang in the bathroom as well as hanging on racks in the kitchen. I do my laundry at home while Bill prefers to drop his clothes off to be laundered outside. If we weren’t living on the top floor (and of course if we didn’t have a washing machine in the kitchen) I would be doing my laundry at a Laundromat, since there are several all within walking distance.

I was out and about a few times today, trying to get the most out of having 48 hours off. No visits to the galleries again, I reckon I can always do that next Tuesday, the second of another two days off in a row. Perhaps Harpy can join me if he’d like. We had a good time last time. This time with my dodgy knee and Harpy with his dodgy ankle we should make a good pair.

No running and an avoidance of stairs should work well for us both. I’m counting on Harpy to read this and decide whether or not to go with me. I heard from him last night, of course he called when I was watching Frontline, a story about Bradley Manning and WikiLeaks. After 20 minutes of Harpy I ended the call and wanted to see what I had planned on watching.

I also started watching The Social Network after the 11:00 news. I enjoyed it, Jesse Eisenberg was quite intense as Mark Zuckerberg. Quite a smart fella, very arrogant and very much a dick. It was good, don’t know how much of the story was actually true, but with an Aaron Sorkin script and David Fincher directing it was definitely highbrow entertainment which isn’t bad at all. I recommend it. Is Jesse Eisenberg one of the best actors around today? As good as Joseph Gordon Levitt?

Tonight is Hoboken’s Memorial Day parade and where I went last year and was moved enough to applaud the veterans and current servicemen, this year I’m not so much interested in attending. I just had a couple of hamburgers from Stine, left over from Alexander’s birthday party, and not really into going outside.

And also today was the first day that I am wearing shorts. It’s in the 80 ° range today so I feel somewhat justified in showing off my pasty white legs. I think the knee brace lends me some street cred.

Today I also heard from the bibliothèque. The head librarian wrote to me, saying that something may be opening up, part time and they would keep my resume on file. Even though it’s part time, it’s a foot in the door and since it’s a block away from where I live, I would definitely save on the $200 a month commute that I am currently paying.

And there is also some communiqués from the Maxwells crowd, with even the wonderful Steve Fallon chiming in on occasion. So it’s been an interesting kind of day, reconnecting with old friends and perhaps getting a lead on a local job.

Today I picked up a whole lot of Velvet Underground music from the bibliothèque. Stuff I own on vinyl that I just converted so that I can play them on my iPod, including the box set, Peel Slowly & See. I also bought Raphael Saadiq’s newest, Stone Rollin’ and also Bob Dylan’s John Wesley Harding.

It’s been a pretty good day.

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I’ll Remember You

Thursday, September 9th, 2010

It started out as a good day off. Slept until 9:00 which was quite nice. Didn’t have much to do really. Had some breakfast, took a shower basically.

Some errands to run and also a trip into Manhattan to go to Macy’s and exchange the Star Trek cufflinks that I bought for Bill for his birthday in June. Basically they had fallen apart, at least one of them did.

I Krazy Glued it back together and wrote an irate email to Macy’s customer service about it. To my surprise a customer service representative called me back and arranged for an exchange despite the fact that I didn’t have the original box or the receipt.

So I headed into the city in the early afternoon and wandered around Macy’s, getting different directions to the executive offices from most every salesperson and security guard that I asked. Finally found the offices and spoke to the woman I was supposed to speak to.

She arranged for me to go to the men’s accessories area and speak with Wellington who was able to find a different pair, not the exact same cufflinks that I originally purchased. Still satisfactory since it was still Star Trek.

Then it was the Path train back to Hoboken. Went to the bibliothèque and returned the Andy Warhol biography. It basically ended shortly after Andy was shot in 1968, after the move to Union Square.

Just a brief mention of the 1970′s and his death in 1987 after routine gall bladder surgery.

Picked up 2012, the Roland Emmerich / John Cusack disaster movie about the end of the world. A lot of fun to watch, short on character development since basically a lot of people die throughout the movie.

I loved watching disaster flicks when I was a kid and saw almost all of them when they came out. And I do like the current batch from Roland Emmerich, however dumb they might be. I’m just glad I didn’t pay to see this in the theater. It’s certainly corny as hell.

I stopped by Mr. L’s barbershop by my house. I noticed in the Hoboken Reporter they were looking for a barber/stylist. I wondered what happened and noticed that my barber hasn’t been around. I spoke to Nick his son and he told me that his father had fallen off a ladder while tending to his grapevine.

Missed the last step and took a tumble, breaking his arm. I guess Tony isn’t coming back, since they have a help wanted sign in the window. If only I had known this when I had the idea of becoming a barber earlier this year in my unemployment days.

I would have graduated from the school by now. But then again, I didn’t want to know how to do make up or dye women’s hair, I merely wanted to be a barber.

In an unrelated employment news, I came home and found an email from Raymond asking me to call him at 9:00, when he gets out of work. That can’t be good and I can’t get any info from him until then. I can’t help but wonder if it was anything I did.

Just what I needed on my day off, some work related stress. Maybe it was something that someone else did and he just wants to gossip. Regardless it’s still unnerving and I resent Raymond a bit for this intrusion into my day off.

I just returned from the bibliothèque and dropped off 2012. It was a fast 2 hours to watch and didn’t have enough time to pick up something fun to watch.

Now I have an hour to kill until I call Raymond with whatever news he might have to say. Can’t help but think, I’m in trouble. I’ll fill you all in, once I know.

And now I know. It seems on August 27, some guy came into the store wanting to buy vanilla flavored cigars. We don’t sell flavored cigars and I told him so. Well he thought I was just rude and wrote to the corporate headquarters, complaining about me, describing me.

So maybe I am in trouble, but it’s no big deal. I certainly don’t have the back up that I used to have when I worked for Susan and Lois at Farfetched. No I have a ego maniacal asswipe named Marcus, upset that we’ve only sold one ticket to a cigar dinner at the Grand Havana Room. The ticket is $250.00 and you get a few free cigars as well as a steak.

Even if I had the cash to spend on that, I wouldn’t go. And no one has the cash to spend on that sort of thing. Morale is sinking fast at the store, what with most everyone looking to get out as soon as possible.

From yesterday

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