A summer day today. Hit 80 degrees. Could this be a long hot summer? It is pleasant to walk to work under leafy trees. I’m sure birds are singing but I’m too busy playing my iPod, which I almost wrote as ‘my walkman.’ Plantain man was unloading a truck so I paid for my bananas to his boss. Path train was not crowded at all this morning which made me think a lot of people were taking extra time off to start their Memorial Day weekend early. Hopefully it will be even less crowded. Newsflash: Rail Power Outage all day. That’s why it was empty. All the suburbanites were not traveling on the trains. 10,000 commuters stranded.

Neck was feeling much better. I’m trying to improve my posture while I sit at a computer and it’s working somewhat. The familiar slouch creeps in and with it a twinge of pain that makes me snap to. Felicia is quite the party girl it seems though she didn’t get fucked last night, she did get fucked up.

Mrs. Stine Lopez arrived safe and sound and I haven’t seen her yet. Tomorrow is her birthday and Julio is planning something maybe. And then there’s Rocky. Tomorrow is his birthday. I have a chiropractic appointment then it’s a tete a tete with Philip Beansprout. I should pick something up for Stine. It would be so much easier if I didn’t have to see Philip.

But it’s too late to back out. He could always back out on me I suppose. I’d be cool with it.

I got a phone call from Joe, a guy who works in a newsstand in midtown. He called me up. Has some Gauloises. Yes, I’ve been stockpiling. I made a beeline up to midtown and saw Joe and did the transaction. It seemed shady but wasn’t. I hopped on an express train back downtown and got off at 14th street to catch a local. Every other train passed by except for the one 1 I needed. This is why I don’t like taking the train. When I’m pressed for time it becomes a really close shave and those that know me will testify that I can be quite impatient when a date or appointment is not kept. The only flaw in an otherwise spotless existence.

Just chilled at home alone tonight. Bill driving somewhere, calling me intermittently to tell me he loves me. I love to hear it. He loves to say it. A quiet evening watching TV, reading, chatting with some knuckleheads online. I like to chill and I like it even better when my neck doesn’t hurt. There goes the excuse for getting out of being drafted in the backyard. My neck is fine, or rather not hurting as much as it has been. Julio will probably try to test me if we meet up tomorrow night anyhow.

The weather was just on. Big storms predicted for the time I will be out running around Manhattan. Sometimes the best laid plans don’t get laid.

Slept really well last night. Had the bed to myself and took 2 Advil PM. Now Codeine free! The usual blah blah blah morning routine and I was out the door with time to pick up my leather blazer at the dry cleaners and wear it to work. It was Bob Dylan’s birthday so I listened to ‘Bringing It All Back Home’ and I walked to the Path train, stopping to get bananas from Plantain man, still pitching his tent.

Got to work, started up the office, waiting for the day to start. It started as usual for this office, and that means it started awkwardly. The neck situation continued but at the end of the day I had a chiropractic visit. I called up Felicia to see if she could pick up some items we were going to need and she was too busy, running late and getting fitted for a wedding dress. Not hers. I guess she’s in a wedding party.

When she did come in she made a beeline to me and proceeded to tell me how drunk she is. She’s still drunk from last night and begins to tell me of her sexploits. Ay Caramba! I will say this, she’s a nice drunk. She’s been getting quite chummy lately and it’s been ok. She’s a likable person. I just hope this doesn’t turn into a Bleedin’ Hope situation.

The day flew by again, and soon I was on a 1 train heading uptown to the chiropractor. Bill’s been seeing her for about ten years. You’d think he’d be cured by now. I met her once before when Bill had an appointment. I tried to impress her by stating that my sister was a massage therapist. She smiled blankly with the expression of, ‘Yeah, and?’

So she rubbed and pulled and lifted and twisted all the while talking to me rather fast as I lay face down drooling into tissue paper. I think she focused on my butt a little too long though. It was all in all a pleasant experience. I have another appointment on Friday in the afternoon, then a few hours later I see Philip Beansprout mano a mano. Time to kill between medical appointments.

It’s also Mrs. Stine Lopez’ birthday as well as Rocky, a friend that used to work the loading dock at the Wanker Banker building. He called me this evening inviting me to stop by Dewey’s Flatiron, a bar in the Flatiron district, across from Madison Square Park, which is also where Me’Shell Ndegeocello will be performing for free (?) this summer.

Bill arranged so he would have an appointment around the same time as me so that we could go home together. We walked down Eighth Avenue. I really like the Hearst Building on 57th street. A lot of fun, it makes me laugh. We rode the crowded bus back to Hoboken where we met up with Juan. Juan and I made plans last week to watch the season finale tonight. A two hour 100 page super spectacular. It was great, intense maybe.

A lot of unanswered questions.

Today I saw, in alphabetical order, Joe Franklin, Victor Gerber and Philip Seymour Hoffman. This is getting creepy.