Monthly Archives: September 2011

I Disappear

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I can’t go on, I’ll go on. It’s later than usual, but I have a good excuse as well as a note from my roommate. It’s been a really special day for me today. Truly things were all up up up. It started out nicely, sleeping in as it was my day off. Bill went to work later than usual, and left me a very nice, very sweet birthday card.

I read it while still in bed and it proved to be a most excellent way to start off the day. If only I could start off each day like that, the man I love kissing me goodbye and leaving me a nice card. If only everyone could start off their day like that. Since I did not have any coffee in the apartment I had to get myself together and go out and get some.

It wasn’t so bad and surprisingly I did not kill or maim anyone. As I was doing some shopping a handsome young man approached and said ‘Hey John’. I scanned his face, initially thinking it was someone from the cigar shack, but no, it was from a long time ago.

It was Jason, a kid I used to work with at Right Track in the 1990’s. He was just an assistant engineer then now he’s a father to be as well as an award winning engineer. Despite the lack of coffee we were able to have a nice discussion on things, his impending fatherhood, fixing up his apartment with his wife and his part of Hoboken being under 2 feet of water thanks to Irene.

It was good to see him and we left the store at the same time, Jason offering me a ride home and me telling him I only lived around the block. I came home and had a nice breakfast and of course, made some coffee. After reading the paper and thanking each and every person who wished me Happy Birthday wishes, I did some laundry.

I also heard from Rand who was able to get a few of thousand songs from my old, now deceased computer. We planned to meet around 1:00 so he could give me a flash drive. We were both on time and Rand brought up the idea for a birthday lunch.

Sounded good to me so he then called his wife Lisa and we all met up on Washington Street for some Mexican food at Qdoba. It was my first time there and it was very good. I used to prefer Mission Burrito but the last time I found them to be lackluster. Qdoba was good and the company I kept was better.

After lunch I headed to Mr. L’s to get a haircut but Tony was busy so I went home and took some clothes out of the washing machine and hung them on racks and in the bathroom to dry. I headed out again and Tony was free this time.

About an hour after that I was on the bus heading into Manhattan. Bill asked me to meet him at his office around 5:30 so we met up. We had some really good, really big hamburgers near his office, and then walked around midtown enjoying some cigars. I had no idea what I was in store for, I figured we would be heading back to Hoboken in a little while.

After the cigars we headed back towards Times Square to my surprise. It was so crowded with tourists, but I was following Bill’s lead. We walked past the Palace Theater and Bill said we could stop there. We were going to see Priscilla, Queen of the Desert. I was definitely surprised at that.

I didn’t really have any desire to see the show. I did buy the DVD of the original movie years ago for Bill’s birthday and we both loved it, watching it a few times. This was totally out of left field. We had good seats in the balcony and much to my surprise again, I loved it.

It was just as good as the movie, even more visceral. There were times where my eyes welled up a bit. I was blown away at the end as was Bill. So damn good and the ending to a very good day. Perfectly magical.



And thanks for all the good wishes my friends!

I Didn’t Raise My Boy To Be A Soldier

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Yesterday since I was off I decided to clean up a bit around the apartment since Bill, ‘the roommate’ was at work at one of his 50,000 jobs. Bill had a very good laugh at that one by the way. Since it had cooled considerably I took the air conditioner in from the window.

No more worrying about it falling out due to hurricanes or earthquakes. Of course since I did that it had gotten quite humid so Bill and I both sweated a bit. Bill was up and out again this morning, off to work on a play that he is stage managing. It should open soon enough.

I was invited to a party by a theater company last night but since I was in Hoboken and not at work I opted not to go. Bill was into it but I think he had second thoughts since I wasn’t planning on going. If I was at work it would have been no problem, but I was off you see.

I rode the bus to work this morning, no vitamin water drinkers throwing empty bottles into the bushes near the garbage cans. I sat and looked out the window, watching random cars get pulled over by the Lincoln Tunnel since a threat alert was going on, to coincide with the 10th anniversary of the 9/11 attacks.

I’m surprised they don’t pull over buses. Not that I have anything to hide, but they should take into consideration that buses are targets in hot spots like Palestine & Israel. And there were a ton of officers carrying machine guns in the bus terminal as well as on the subway. I did not take the subway but some police officer friends did tell me that.

I walked up the avenue, getting my egg sandwich and arrived early again. Calvin was manning the shop as I walked in, Jerry Vale coming in a half hour later. A pleasant enough day for me to go out and smoke a cigar and reading the New Yorker that I had to purchase since the latest issue was never delivered to the apartment.

It was the 9/11 issue. I still have the issue from 10 years ago with Art Spiegelman’s cover. I remember spending a few days in LaGrangeville visiting Harpy 10 years ago, a few days before 9/11. I probably went up on Friday and came back on Sunday. Most of the time was spent on the deck outside, reading Harpy’s collection of New Yorkers, smoking cigars and recovering from whatever we ingested the night before.

10 Years ago Bill and I went to a party for my friend Donna at a restaurant on 10th Avenue and 44th Street. Afterwards, a torrential downpour had Bill and I running to the bus terminal where we parted way, Bill off to Stuyvesant Town and me to Weehawken.

Of course neither of us had any idea what was in store for us the next day, and certainly, we were clueless as to what would happen and where we would be 10 years later. A different world. Totally.