Monthly Archives: November 2005

…And In Every Home

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Lot’s of comments last night for the blog, which is nice. Sometimes people don’t realize that this is a blog so comments posted under Comments will be seen by all who read this, unless deleted. And it has to be awfully rude for me to delete it. Others post to the email, which is nice. I knew some of the other stories posted would alarm some, so use caution. Or I’ll just make another category. Rated XXX perhaps. Who knows? Maybe it’ll be ‘proceed at your own risk’.
You have been warned.


Finally a day where I didn’t have to wake up and go to work or actually do anything. Except that I did the routine, belligerent bagels and newspapers. Coffee, cigarettes and a phone call from Julio asking if I’d want to go to the city with him so he can do some shopping. I said sure and tagged along.

Walked to the PATH, got off at Christopher Street and walked to the Grey Dog where I had dinner with Connie and Jennifer last week. Julio hadn’t been there in quite a while. Nothing has changed except for the paintings of dogs on the wall. Still a groovy place for a quick bite. Cozy, comfortable and good service. johnozagat gives it a favorable rating.

We then strolled over to West Broadway and Canal St where Julio successfully haggled on the price of ten Pashminas. I wouldn’t have the patience for that and would wind up haggling up rather than down. Very much like ‘Brian’ as in ‘Life of’. How much for the beard?

On the way to Canal Street we passed Justin Theroux (I think), and saw Ray Davies leaving the Soho Grand. Didn’t think about taking a picture until after the fact. D’oh!
I did say, ‘Hi Ray’ and he said ‘Hi’ back. Next time a picture for sure. I was worried for him when I found out he got shot chasing down a purse snatcher. Bad idea for him, but he seems to have recovered.

We then went to Niwaka where a few years ago Bill and I separately purchased each other’s rings. Very nice jewelry there, even for someone like me who doesn’t really care for jewelry. The staff there is great. Cute Japanese girls, with accents. I handed over my ring from Bill to have it cleaned up. The staff all bowed when we left. All civilized. I could get into that eventually, though it wouldn’t really go over well here.

A few years ago when I was initially into the suit and tie thing, I was attracted to such things but got over it soon enough. A simple man for simple things.

We wandered over through the lower east side, avoiding the Canal Street mobs as much as possible, and being the start of the holiday shopping season a lot of people were out. We wound up far east on Canal Street, which is Chinatown, which is Far East. Less people and quite a few jewelry stores. Many shiny gold things in the windows Solid gold heads of Jesus with diamonds for eyes. Just what Jesus would’ve worn. Yes for him, it was all about the ‘bling’.

But nothing was good enough for Julio’s refined palate. Really, nothing. He has a good eye for these things and has been doing research on diamonds and carats and all that shiny stuff.

Strolled uptown to the PATH train and wound up in Hoboken where I experimented with the camera. I will go back to Niwaka tomorrow to pick up my ring. Julio may come with me to get something beautiful and unique. Not gaudy like Canal Street. Something for the lovely Stine.

Oh yeah, I’m besieged by bears online.

Here’s some trippy pics.

Incident on 57th Street

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“Thank you. I’d like to say you’ve been a great audience. Thank you very much. Good night.” And with that, Maurice walked off the stage. It wasn’t that long ago when he was bussing tables in the restaurant across the street. Now, he’s made it. He had his Scotch rocks waiting for him. He decided to forgo the cigar and put it in his shirt pocket.

Over the sound system the DJ was playing ‘Last Night A DJ Saved My Life’ by Indeep.
Maurice chuckled and broke into a big grin while saying “crazy vato. Fuckin DJ.” The stage manager overheard and asked if Maurice wanted the music changed. “No, it’s fine. Me and the DJ go back. Way back. Back into time.” The stage manager nodded and started walking away.

‘Not a problem I can’t fix, ‘cause I can do it in the mix’ Maurice rapped as he shadowboxed with a scotch in one hand. He laughed. He started out in small dives and now he’s in larger dives. He text messaged the DJ. ‘What’s Up Kid? How’d I do?’ A few minutes later, the reply, ‘Yo man. You sucked.’

Maurice laughed. He was glad to have the DJ around. Helped keep him grounded.
He had a spell of drug abuse but it was under control, he maintained. He couldn’t be around coke, because he’d want some real bad.

A serious jones. Weed was ok. Booze, beer were cool too. The coke? Forget about it. The DJ used to hook him up on occasion. Now one of his duties was to keep it away. Maurice figured if they could get past the DJ, then it must be destiny. Coke rationalizations.

Coke rationalizations lead to coke talk eventually. Maurice could be fine, then something would trigger the jones and he had those digits programmed into his phone. Different code names in case the DJ got hold of the phone and started prying. Maurice couldn’t stand that but put up with it.

But there was no problem. Last night a DJ did save his life. Last night and many nights before. Grouchy but grateful. And Maurice was sure that there would be many other nights for the DJ to do his thing.

The DJ then played ‘Got to be Real’ by Cheryl Lynn. He was hitting all of Maurice’s sweet spots. He took a swig of Scotch and pulled the cigar from his shirt pocket and put it in his mouth. The ‘No Smoking’ sign was right in front of him so he didn’t light it up.

Maurice just bopped and sipped his Scotch. Got to be really real. He was feeling good. Top of his game, no matter what the DJ said. He was in the moment when everything revolved around him for just a short while. It doesn’t last long and a lot of people don’t even notice when it’s happening to them.

The phone in Maurice’s pocket vibrated. ‘Only foolin kid. Any requests?’ Maurice smiled. There were a few requests he had in mind. Some only recently stopped being illegal in certain states.