Well it is a day off today and overall it’s been so so. Really lackluster. It had the potential to be that type of a day and it certainly did it’s best to live up to my low expectations. There was a tentative plan to go back to Chelsea with RoDa and see the Doug Wheeler installation that was too crowded to attend last Friday, but it fell through.
To tell the truth I didn’t really want to head into Manhattan today, but left it open for RoDa to approve or veto, or even postpone. As it turned out, RoDa was unable to go so that left me in on the Jelly Side of the Hudson River.
A trip to the supermarket, a wave to Tony the Barber, things seemed to be going nicely. Isis was the cashier again, she said she hadn’t seen me in a while and it was true since I hadn’t seen her in a while either. My schedule and Isis’ schedule are not in sync so there are more moments when we don’t see each other than when we do. The life of retail clerks.
I came home and had a nice breakfast. I stopped buying the newspaper a few weeks ago, so I just reread parts of old books as I eat. I surfed the net and read some emails and Facebook postings for a while as I waited for the laundry cycle to end. There is always laundry to do it seems. I decided to get a new pair of Airwalks since my last pair were falling apart, coming apart at the seams.
That meant a trip to the Newport Mall in Jersey City. It was a nice day as I walked down the avenue, stopping into the local record store to see if the latest Mojo and Uncut were in. Empty handed I headed to the train station. I figured I would take the light rail to the mall but just missed it when I got to the platform. The next train was in 15 minutes which would be almost the amount of time it takes to actually walk to the mall, so I decided to walk there.
For some reason ‘My Little Town’ by Simon & Garfunkel was in my head so I played it on my iPod. That’s the song they came up with when Simon & Garfunkel reunited in the 1970’s. I bought some socks at the Sock Store and walked into Payless which seems to be the only place that sells Airwalks lately. And of course they did not have them.
While there I got a text from Thomas. I found out yesterday that the cigar shack will be having a little to-do in the man cave for the super bowl. And Jerry Vale will be working it and since Jerry Vale is a part timer, a full timer has to be there too. And I am sure it will be me. Having written that just now I realize it is no big deal. I’ll have a few cigars, watch the game and eat some food and get paid for it too. A positive spin if you will.
I left the mall with a few pairs of socks and saw the light rail headed back into the station. As luck would have it again I missed the train. And since it was still a nice enough afternoon, I walked back to Hoboken. I decided to treat myself and get a milk shake at Ben & Jerry’s, the aptly named Chocolate Therapy. But they were all out of Chocolate Therapy, I walked over to Crumbs instead and got myself a Chocolate Blackout cupcake to salve my soul. I haven’t had it yet, it sits in the fridge just waiting for me.
Like I wrote, a lackluster day.
Tom Verlaine 1982 Words From The Front 06 Coming apart