A muggy overcast Sunday, which I’m beginning to experience every weekend. My computer is still down and Bill says he’ll attempt to fix it. Isn’t he great? I’m not pressuring him to do it, he offered, so how could I say no? In the meantime, once again, I’m on the laptop. And once again, I am grateful. I got up at a reasonable hour, Bill was up and about, it being Sunday, he’s going to church again. Being that I don’t believe, I wish him well as I make my Sunday breakfast. No church for me, no thanks. Atheism with a touch of Buddhism is what works best for me.

That was once of the subjects that Bill and I talked about, religion, spirituality and Buddhism. I consider myself somewhat spiritual, spiritual enough that I don’t need to stand up, sit down and occasionally kneel on weekend mornings. I don’t begrudge anyone that wants to do it, but please, don’t ask me. I have gone with Bill when he was steadily going to MCC but though I was welcomed, it wasn’t quite my scene. Plus they didn’t get my sense of humor. A few times which made things awkward and I wound up staying away, not socializing much afterwards.

Bill eventually tired of the inner politics of the church and started drifting away from the flock. I was worried it was because of me, but like I said, the pettiness of some congregants wore him and his spirit down. I found most of the people that went to services there to be nice in general, but Bill knew the inner workings, the deux ex machina and he wasn’t too happy with what he saw or knew.

Right now, Katie Couric is interviewing Condoleeza Rice on Sixty Minutes. They just showed her working out on a treadmill mentioning that she works out listening to Led Zeppelin or Cream. Yikes! Katie Couric sure throws a mean softball.

Today Hoboken had their Autumn Art & Music Festival in Washington Street. The headlining act was the New York Dolls who actually sounded great. Of course you only watch David Johannsen and Sylvain Sylvain, since the other three Dolls from the 1970’s have passed on. They sang their hits, or rather near hits and even sang a Johnny Thunders song, ‘You Can’t Put Your Arms Around a Memory’. All very good. Didn’t really see anyone I knew and I didn’t go with anyone, so I wandered around aimlessly, walking the sidewalks since the street was packed despite the threatening clouds.

The Dolls were so much more enjoyable live than they were on their DVD’s that I rented over the summer and tried watching with Juan and both of us ended up bored with the whole thing. I wished Juan was around, or Julio and Stine, or Bill, or Rand and Lisa. Still I enjoyed myself. Got a nice birthday present for Earl that I will be sending over to California this week. The lad turns sixteen which is terrifying to say the least. I wonder how his parents feel?

On the Mac again. My computer is in the fritz. I was on the phone with an Apple specialist, Matthew from Prince Edward Island up in Canada for almost two hours and he couldn’t help me. He was patient and tried his best but it was to no avail. I decided to reinstall Windows XP and it may have been a mistake as I am now unable to access the internet on my own computer. D’oh indeed. Most annoying. Perhaps it is time to get a new computer, in the meantime, Bill once again gracefully offered the use of his Apples.

Bill is also trying to figure out why I can’t get online using his wireless connection. Apparently it went south while doing the perhaps unrequired install. Oh these fucking iTunes/iPod blues. Why, oh why? In the meantime, Bill sits at my computer and I sit on the couch, laptop in front of me while Elvis Costello and the Attractions play on a Tom Snyder DVD of Punk Rock and New Wave Bands. It’s very interesting, the first episode had Joan Jett, Paul Weller from the Jam, Bill Graham, critic Robert Hillburn, and a freaky looking Kim Fowley trying to be coy. The Tomorrow Show with Tom Snyder used to be on after Johnny Carson and much too late for my delicate sensibilities.

Since there weren’t any timed recording devices in my life at that moment and these shows were rarely if ever repeated, It’s fun to watch them now with a gap of twenty five years or even 30 years since the original airdate. Everyone looks so much younger, or were even alive then, whereas now they’re dead. Bill is enjoying the DVD as well. I do remember seeing Elvis Costello when it was originally broadcast, fortifying myself probably with Cola, or coffee. I was probably up in my bedroom in Lodi, watching a black and white TV in the dark. It’s interesting to watch it in color.

It’s been a dreary downtown day, perfect for sitting in front of a computer though after a few hours of that walking around in the gray humidity was a welcome relief. Didn’t last too long, it was way too muggy and no one was actually around to do anything with. Even Matthew, the Apple specialist was invited to a barbecue. It was one of the things we talked about as my computer was going through it’s paces.

A Saturday night now, positions reversed with Bill in front of my PC and I’m on the couch with Bill’s laptop. He just told me how he met Reg. E. Cathey on the street. You’d know him if you saw him. He was recently on a repeat of Bill’s favorite show, Law and Order. He’s been on The Wire lately. You should IMDB him, I’m sure you’ve seen him before.

Bill was polite and restrained and told Reg that he looked forward to working with him someday. That would be cool. Who knows? Perhaps someday down the road, Bill will be walking down the street and some young actor will go up to him and tell him pretty much the same thing. After he fixes my wireless connection of course.