Monthly Archives: March 2006

Waiting On A Friend

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Feeling a bit better. Actually a lot better. Slept about ten hours and woke up refreshed. Felt pretty good. Bill ran off and got bagels then did his errands in the city. I hung out, had a nice breakfast and called RoDa to see if we were still on for this afternoon’s trip to Chelsea. He was and we were headed to the Path train at 2PM. A nice walk down 23rd Street where we finally saw the Jean Michel Basquiat exhibition.

Bill from St. Patricks Night

It was great, not the big show that RoDa and I missed last year at the Brooklyn Museum, but still I was great to be able to see the work up close, inches away from your face. What a great talent Jean Michel was. There were 13 pieces total and 2 were amazing, one was very powerful. The powerful one was Untitled. The other was named ‘Self Portrait as a Heel’.

RoDa JOZ

Great stuff. I’m glad that RoDa and I were able to get it together, he’s such a great fan of Jean Michel Basquiat. RoDa is a great artist too, and of course suffers from self doubt like me. Am I saying I’m a great artist? Why not? My father would say more like a great bullshit artist.

After an entertaining stroll with a jazz cigarette we wandered through a few more galleries, really liking Shimon Okshteyn at the Stux Gallery. Funny and macabre, a perfect foil for our red eyed states. The Okshteyn show was paired with Martha Colburn, and she wasn’t as good.

We also enjoyed the Tom Sanford exhibition, which featured hip hop and rock and roll themes as well as a big portrait of Stefon Marbury from the New York Knicks. That was fun. He also did 30 draft pick portraits from 2005 all in pencil and framed quite nicely.

There was also an outdoor exhibition, a group show, called Survivor. It was set up rather haphazardly, almost like an outlaw show. A running theme I believe was Bin Laden Youth. RoDa and I made plans to go visit the galleries next week if possible, starting a lot earlier than we did today. And perhaps the weather will be warmer than it was today.

RoDa and I did a lot of walking, we wound up on the east side, he running into Forbidden Planet and me running into Farfetched so I could buy a present for my niece’s birthday party tomorrow. Jessica, sweet Jessica was able to help me pick out a mirrored jewelry box, despite the fact that I don’t know if she ever has any jewelry.

I also picked up a book called ‘The Bridge of Stars’ containing 365 blessings. prayers and meditations from around the world. I know, it seemed like I’m encouraging religion, but I think Meg would like it, or at least accept it graciously and rolling her eyes later on when she got home, saying ‘Oh my Uncle John’.

RoDa and I took the Path back home, he headed for the Light Rail and me strolling up Washington Street.

Watching Basquiat on cable now.

The True Wheel

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Oh the joy of catching a virus from a co-worker who kept coming to work while she was very sick. I left work today, all achy and clammy. Just woke up from a three hour nap. Had something to eat, now I’m tired again and feel like I could sleep a lot more. Friggin Christina just wouldn’t stay home, not out of dedication more out of stupidity. I tried fighting it off, we share a phone sometimes and I kept wiping it down but all it takes is being in close proximity to some germs and voila!

You wind up with me, under the weather on a Friday night. I haven’t heard anything from McMann and Tate, but may have seen a similar position posted online. Similar company, similar duties and a lot more money. I applied for this position as well.

https://www.glocapsearch.com/jobs.jsp?_page=detail&job_id=59875

I just visited the site and I was declined for the position. Now I hope I didn’t jeopardize the job I interviewed for yesterday. That would suck. Then again I’m trying to keep my hopes low.

Bill is off doing extra work on ‘Rescue Me’ the show on FX with Denis Leary. I don’t feel clammy anymore, just tired. I hope its just fatigue. I am supposed to go to see the Jean Michel Basquiat show in Chelsea tomorrow with RoDa. We were supposed to go last week but being the day after St. Patrick’s Day we were all waylaid. Tonight I’m not doing anything, but staying home and exerting very little energy. Not that I have much to exert right now.

All in all in was pretty much an optimistic week. Of course it would have to end in such a manner. The wheel lifts you up and also sends you down. How one manages the wheel is the key.

I listened to Me’Shell Ndegeocello ‘Peace Beyond Passion’ today. I forgot what a great and funky record that is. I was working at Right Track Recording when it came out and played it several times a day. Crossed paths with Me’Shell twice that summer. Once she phoned to speak with James Taylor when he was recording at the studio, and I gushed over the phone when I spoke to her.

She seemed embarrassed despite my compliments. Another time was at Summerstage, when Pedro and I scammed into a VIP area, and there she was sitting alone. I didn’t say anything to her then, just let her be. I’ve seen her a few times live. She puts on a great show in nightclubs, but at outdoor shows her music just dissipated into the atmosphere.

Two of the best times I saw Me’Shell was at the Supper Club and at the Bowery Ballroom. The Bowery Ballroom was fantastic, one of those great rock and roll moments where the music stops time and you are somewhere else in the multiverse. And coming back from that is almost orgasmic, just thrown back into your body after astral projecting.

I’d see her again, she still plays around, more jazzy than rock or funk these days, but she’s always interesting. Just don’t tell her that.