January | 2008 | johnozed

Well it’s officially over, the holiday season. Everyone went back to work today, most everyone went back to school. I’ve decided to adapt to whatever is put before me. I plan on running a tight ship this year, tighter than last year. Hopefully the powers that be will see that. I’m not planning on leaving. It’s a good gig. No more fooling around, nothing but focus focus focus! That’s my mantra this year. The other night at the party while Martha was regaling us with tales of Hollywood, I mentioned the fact that I write a blog.

I didn’t give any info, just that Martha was one of the people back in the day who encouraged me to write. I told her if she needed 750 words the next day I would be able to deliver it. It’s true, I can easily knock off 750 words should the need arise. Picture it, a theater, something goes wrong on stage and the cry goes out, ‘Is there a blogger in the house?’ I leap to the stage, size up the situation, grab someone’s laptop and dash off a pithy monologue which might go a little like what you have just written. Only pithier.

I remembered after the fact that Martha was looking for someone to finance her latest projects, and that I used to work with someone at Wanker Banker who had a background in film and was looking for projects. So I got in touch with Chaz and he gave me Martha’s number and I left a voicemail about what and who I knew, also sent an email to Diane from Wanker Banker about that sort of thing. Who knows? Perhaps anything could happen or nothing could happen. I did my bit however small. Woke up this morning to the news of a bar on fire in Hoboken.

What used to be Fabians, a nice dive bar turned into McSwiggan’s, not a dive bar burned down during the night, not only knocking out the bar but the apartments above it. That’s too bad. The people lost most everything. Not a good way to start the year. It burned for hours. I had gone there a few times when it was Fabians. It was also the spot in 1990 when I had a birthday party with Denise Foster and Allison Lee. We were all born on September 12.

Many drinks were consumed and I drank most everything in front of me to the dismay of Jim Mastro who in my drunken fog came through and warned me about mixing drinks. That was about all I remembered. I was going out with Gus MacKenzie at the time. He turned up late and months later turned into a real jerk. But enough about him. It is a terrible thing that all of those people lost their apartments.

Work was ok today. I trained the new receptionist and rather than inundating Linda with all the tasks expected of her, I decided to give her a little bit each day. I’m a lousy teacher I think. I didn’t have too many good teachers so I’m winging it. She wasn’t in tears when I left so I guess her first day went well. That’s about it from this end. Hopefully things are ok on your side of the computer screen. Peace out/in!

Oh, at 5:14 this afternoon it was 57 degrees. It’s January.

Here’s Phillip Glass for Sesame Street

I just got back from Stuyvesant Town, helping Bill shred documents from over the years and helping to make a space for the home health care aide from the visiting nurses program for Bill’s father who should be released from the VA hospital this week. Bill mother was there, she said hello and at first she mistook me for Fred, Bill’s friend (and onetime dreamboat) who helped Bill out yesterday. We reassured her who I was and she kindly offered that I stay overnight in the apartment, but I had to turn it down since I did have to come home and write as well as get ready for work tomorrow. There are still many boxes to go through and still plenty of junk mail to be shredded from the last century.

And occasionally while going through the papers and crap there are snapshots from years ago, which makes Bill stop and reminisce. I remember doing that when we were cleaning out my father’s house back in the day. It’s a nostalgic trap which can stop everything, when you’re making progress on the boxes of papers. Luckily when I was cleaning out the house in Lodi Annemarie was around to prevent falling into the pitfalls of old photographs. Today I played the role of Annemarie, bearer of common sense.

Last night I went to Chaz’ party in Jersey City Heights. I walked out into a light rain without an umbrella. It wasn’t so bad but I didn’t feel like climbing up the flights of steps again, it took a lot of energy to get me out of the apartment. I walked to the Path train where it was plenty crowded, all the hipsters heading into the city, and a handful of us headed to Journal Square. The ride was uneventful and unmemorable. I baked some cookies for the party and carried them in a plastic bag, running across Kennedy Boulevard to buy some Guinness since one doesn’t want to show up with one arm longer than the other.

On my way I had a nice Padron which I smoked in the light rain, then the teeming rain, then the light rain again, then no rain, all in about five minutes. Got to the party relatively dry and saw Alice Genese and Martha Griffin as well as a few other people that I only see at these holiday parties. Chaz’ old friend Andy was there. He was the guy who told me about the Bob Mould DJ parties last summer and hyped up the December event so much that by the time the day came for the party in December, neither Bill nor I was much into it due to the late hour it was going to start, that and the fact that we like being old stay at home farts. Martha regaled us with tales of colonics followed by smoothies at some spa outside of Palm Springs.

Alice and I caught up on old times with Martha. Marianne who I mentioned last night zeroed in on Martha, ignoring most everyone else. Really obnoxiously too. Alice introduced herself and was brusquely dismissed which was funny to watch. I didn’t see Alice’s reaction, but she was cool about it. After a few hours and after drinking most of the Guinness I brought, I was able to get a ride home with Alice back to Hoboken. She had a nice ride and since she didn’t know what happened between Chaz and Kathe, I gave her a sanitized version of the events, taking care not to make it sound like gossip. Alice went out with Chaz a few times in the eighties and basically thought he was gay.

She didn’t have any problems with his being gay, she’s been bisexual herself, and she got over the lackluster sexual performance since it was over 20 years ago anyhow. She also thought my ex-roommate William and I were lovers. True we lived with each other for 11 years, and it still make the both of us laugh, but I had to tell her, no we were not lovers. She bemoaned her problem of trying to find the right man, we’re both in the same age group, she has a 19 year old son, but getting a good man and getting him to stay is a problem. She was amazed at my relationship with Bill, being an open relationship and all, but there are still the hazards of jealously and loneliness.

She dropped me off in front of my building and we made plans to stay in touch and maybe see a movie. We both love going to the movies and we both hate going by ourselves so it seems like it could be fun to have someone to do that with. I was back by midnight, and watched most of Saturday Night Live before turning in. Woke up after a sad dream about looking for one’s mother, but in the dream a phone call from Juan of all people, set it straight, the dream that is.

and here are some pics.

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