Tag Archives: Meditation!

I Might Be Wrong

All hail Thor, for today is Thor’s day or Thursday. And the god of thunder has been heard with his goat driven chariot a little while ago, going across the skies. It’s been a good day, my laundry is mostly dry now. I saw my old friend Martin Kelly this afternoon. He’s a shift supervisor at the local CVS and he’s a good man. We both worked together at Maxwells years ago and I have a fond memory of having dinner with Martin and his late mother a long time ago. We chatted for a while before he was called off to do something.

Last night was pretty mellow, me and Bill hanging out. We watched The Ed Show and some of the Olympics while he got his stuff together for the opening of the show he is stage managing tomorrow. Lots of drama going on, more than usual. Then again it is theater and what would theater be without drama? Comedy? I’m the sounding board for Bill and his daily tales of the problems with the cast. They’re his stories and so I am sure they will come out one way or another. I’m content to sit and listen to Bill.

I went to bed earlier than usual, not out of being tired, but rather out of being bored. I slept well and remember a dream I had regarding an apparition of the Virgin Mary. In the dream I touched whatever it was that Mary was appearing on and all of a sudden I could fly or rather float around. No one else in the dream had the ability to do this. Maybe it was from being under a yellow sun as opposed to the red sun I was initially born under. ‘Born under a red sun’, that sounds like a blues song.

Since I went to bed earlier it stands to reason that I woke up earlier. I busied myself soon enough, a shower, some coffee and cereal and a trip outside where I met Martin Kelly and then a trip to the mediocre supermarket nearby. I came home, sent out some resumes and read emails.

Apparently the Marlee Matlin/David Patterson job that I interviewed with in early May have filled the position and the underling I met with sent me an email to let me know. How nice of them to remind me of something I had totally forgotten about. I guess dropping Jimmy Seltzer’s name (as a friend of David Patterson) did not help me in the least.

Today was a good day for busking and last night I brushed up on Can’t Find My Way Home by Steve Winwood when he was in Blind Faith. I played it for Bill and all of a sudden he got real serious. It was unnerving but it turns out he might use that song for his one man show that he plans on putting on next year. Don’t worry I will relentlessly remind you of this grand event. Perhaps the two people that comment (and therefore I know that read this here blog) will be able to attend.

I showed Bill the Steve Winwood video from last night’s entry and explained to Bill that yes indeed that was the same Steve Winwood who sang ‘Higher Love’. Bill and his lack of knowing rock and roll can be quite charming. When Bill went to bed I continued practicing the guitar and figured out how to play Make Me Smile by Chicago. I never really liked Chicago but it is a good pop song. And after about a half hour I was swinging.

So I was busking this afternoon and came across a guy that I see from time to time. I don’t know his name but he’s a pleasant enough dude. And he can talk quite a bit. I was itching to play but he kept going on about meditation and Krishna consciousness. During a break in the conversation I finally was able to play Can’t Find My Way Home and sure enough a string broke. I can’t change a string to save my life and packed up and walked with the dude towards the Guitar Bar.

He talked about mantras and I told him a story from when I was growing up. It was a late Saturday afternoon and my father decided I needed a haircut. I didn’t want a haircut but I had no say in the matter. We got in the car and drove from Lodi to Fair Lawn. My father’s friend- John Fontana was a barber and had a shop. On the way there I chanted, Hare Krishna, Nam Myoho Renge Kyo, Jai Guru Deva and anything else I could think of.

We got to the barber shop and I was happy to see that it was closed. But inside was John Fontana and he opened just for us and I got my unwanted haircut. So the chanting helped to a point, the shop was closed. But to my dismay it was reopened just for me. Silly, tricksy gods.

The dude left me at Washington Street with a prayer, ‘Om Namah Shivaya’. I went to the Guitar Bar and saw Mr. Wonderful Jim Mastro. I explained that my string broke and he asked if I wanted the one string changed or all of them. I said all of them and then he asked when I needed it. I said as soon as possible. He was in the middle of something important, more important than little old me and lent me an Ibanez to use.

I strummed and made a couple of bucks again and a few hours later I came back and just like the old British TV show, ‘Jim’ll Fix It’, Jim fixed it. And at a good price. He’s a great guy. Love him. I left with a newly strung guitar, fourth time this week I have visited the Guitar Bar. Jim’s going to be touring with Ian Hunter & the Rant Band in a few months. See them if you can.



13 Can’t You Hear Me

Promises

♫ It’s a Saturday, and I slept until 8:30 and it felt really good yeah yeah yeah.♪. Didn’t do much of anything last night, watched TV, read Mojo which for me personally was sub par. I tried to get into it, but I didn’t really want to read about the British perspective of Staten Island’s Wu Tang Clan. Not that I don’t like them, but Jeezy Creezy I know most of the story already and what I didn’t know, I didn’t care to know. Just a bum issue I guess.

I did find out that Nick Lowe’s Jesus Of Cool has been reissued for it’s 30th anniversary which is cool and worth getting. Here in the States it was called Pure Pop for Now People. So I’m going to get a copy for myself online, and probably burn a copy for my brother Brian. We both liked Nick Lowe & Dave Edmunds back in the day, and last September when I saw Nick Lowe solo I made a point to direct Brian to the YouTube clips I had posted under the vid de plume of johnotoole99.

I watched Monk last night, the detective with OCD, not the jazz pianist. It was the season finale, and even though I watch the show from time to time, I was able to figure out the cliffhanger. Monk was not shot, the gun had blanks, and he’s swimming off to fake his death to finally nab Scott Glenn, the corrupt sheriff. Or not. I was pretty much sure of that last night, but with time, my certainty fades. Also watched Bill Maher which I tend to enjoy more with someone else here on the couch rather than alone. Strange, that. I figured midnight was as good a time as any to finally fall asleep and that’s what I did.

Just knowing I have Monday off was like a vacation and waking up wasn’t so bad. I had things to do, laundry, dry cleaning, shopping for slippers, and some new pots and potting soil for an attempt to rescue a plant that I brought with me from Weehawken 6 years ago. It was originally William’s plant and it almost took over the kitchen. It’s a hearty elephant eared plant, but lately all the leaves fell off my plant. I thought maybe the problem was the soil and the size of the pot so that was my chore for the day. I wouldn’t really know if it was the right thing to do for a few days, much like surgery I guess. I do hope it works because I do like this plant, even though I think it may be from another planet.

Yesterday when I spoke with brother Frank on the phone, he was telling me about a PBS show with Henry Louis Gates called American Lives 2, about tracing roots and genetics for various prominent African Americans. It was very good and Frank was on the money about the show. I don’t think a lot of white people realize how fucked the black people have been in this country, they just expect them to get over 400 years of oppression, from slavery to today, all the time being told that they were worthless, less than human, and when that is systematically enforced both physically and mentally everyday of your life, just getting over it clearly isn’t an option. About 40 years ago there were struggles to eat at the same lunch counter. Such institutional bullshit, still exists today.

I looked into taking some meditation classes in Hoboken. Going to look into it at least. That should be interesting. I’m just in it for the mantra.