Another opening, another show. That’s from Kiss Me Kate which was on from a broadcast that I recorded for some reason. Bob Fosse is in it, the songs by Cole Porter are top rate. Ann Miller is in it. My mother did not like Ann Miller at all since she felt Ann Miller lied about her age all the time. So my mother’s disdain for Ann Miller carried forth unto me.

It’s the holiday season. Christmas is 2 days away. I am not really into it and if you’ve been reading the blog, you would know why. I got a text from Daisy the other day while she was at the accursed job that I used to have when it wasn’t cursed. Now I am not there and so I curse them.

Daisy with her childlike faith was chipper and positive compared to my lack of enthusiasm. I try not to think about the law firm of the damned but Daisy’s text had me spiraling back towards bitterness. I waited until the evening to reply, knowing that she would be home. I wasn’t pleasant and threw cold water on her plans to meet up for the holiday.

On the one hand, I would like to know how the job was, did she get a good bonus but that was tempered with my loathing of her coworkers. People that she works with and smiles with and sometimes shops with when the work day is over, the same people that did their best to make my life hell, the Filipinos.

The texting went back and forth between me & Daisy and I did not like it much, especially my animosity towards her employer. She reminded me that she is not her job, but still, I could not get past that. A few hours later I apologized and she of course remarked that she was praying for me. I suggested that she contact me if and when she is in Hoboken again. If she does I would make an effort to meet her and be positive. If she doesn’t, c’est la vie.

I made it to Mike’s crib yesterday. I brought about a dozen towels, some pots and pans and plates and bowls and utensils, and coffee cups. It’s a nice apartment and Mike has plans to furnish it and make it homey. We hung out and talked about many things, some touchy feely stuff. It was a good visit for a few hours.

He too has a childlike wonder to him, though not as sugar-coated as Daisy’s childlike wonder. Mike has seen some things and has been through some things. I am honored that he feels comfortable enough to talk to me about such matters.

There is a plan to see the Rockefeller Christmas tree on Friday but that is up in the air. It might have been a chance for Bill and Mike to finally meet since they both have heard so much about each other through me. But things being what they are, Mike might have to reschedule due to something or other that affected his workday today. C’est la vie.

And as in previous postings, Bill and I are in separate cycles of disillusionment for lack of a better word. He was wrestling with NJ DOL unemployment and was frustrated. I suggested stepping away and coming back to it with fresh eyes but he wasn’t having it. He knows himself so well and he feared he would fall into whatever traps lay before him.

I thought & hoped that knowing those traps would be there might make it easier for him to avoid them. He wasn’t feelin’ that and wound up staying in and figuring it out while I was a slave to my steps and going out to avoid the blues that I saw on the horizon. I came home as he was going out. I have no idea if he got through his NJ DOL troubles and I didn’t ask. C’est la vie.

Bill: I like to repeat myself.
John: I do not.
The rest just goes on and on like that. Yes, he is great. Yes, he drives me up the wall.
It is very much like Stephen Sondheim’s Being Alive from Company.

For some reason when I wrote an upper case S, the next letter is invariably upper case as well.
Also when I write the upper case A as well.

It’s been quite a day. I am helping Mike with his move to Jersey City. His first apartment. We have a lot of towels that we could spare so I brought some to the laundry and had them washed properly. I also washed a few on Friday and they finally dried. Also giving Mike some plates and utensils, and some pots and pans.

When I moved to my first apartment, family members and friends gave me some home items that they weren’t using anymore. And here I am forty years later doing the same for Mike. It has been very cold today. It snowed last night. Right now it is 21 degrees out.

Mike doesn’t have heat in the apartment, he’s been trying to contact his landlord to light the furnace but the landlord hasn’t been answering his phone. Not a good way to start day one in a new apartment. I’ll be heading out there tomorrow to drop off the aforementioned items.

It will be after Mike gets off from work so it promises to be dark, which is when the temperature really drops. That’s the trick ya see?

Despite the low temperatures I was out and about a few times. To the laundry with Bill and then solo to pick up the laundry. On my solo venture into the tundra, I ran into Marcus Gallman who is an old friend from Maxwell’s days.

Marcus is a good man, and heads the shelter in town and also other noble things around Hoboken. It was good to see him and I hugged him, embracing his vibe. I even shed a tear when talking to him about life this year.

Nothing too detailed just showing a wave of emotion that swept over me. It was a brief encounter if only for a few minutes and I felt good after seeing him and wishing him a Merry Christmas.

Bill is now off to bed and I hesitate to start writing a new sentence since we do have a routine before he actually heads off to the bedroom. Just writing that gave me anxiety, knowing that any second now I would have to stop writing.

But I am writing about writing so what?

Bill has his own solo routine before our routine and I generally forget that. His routine can take a minute or a half hour. It generally depends on what’s on TV. Bill buys a winning $30 million lottery ticket.

I figured I would take a chance and write that since just about everything I have written about Bill going to bed has come true mere minutes ago. But no, Bill has gone to bed to dream sweet dreams.