Author Archives: johnozed

About johnozed

I'm 50+ years old, 210-ish#, 6'2", reddish blonde, blue eyes with glasses (and without) masculine, funny, relatively intelligent, enjoy the company of assorted friends and family especially sordid friends and family. I love music, reading, writing, conversing, laughing, going to films, shows, concerts and smoking cigars. And I also enjoy looking nice in a suit and tie. Looking more like Lewis Lapham than Tom Wolfe. I'm sure there is more, but we'll just have to find out when I write about it. In a lifetime relationship with partner Bill Vila.

The Inner Light

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It’s a crazy day. Sunny and then blackening clouds. Sometimes the weather mirrors my moods. But not today. Last night was another quiet night. Bill worked late. I saw him for about 5 minutes before I went to bed, leaving Bill to make his dinner at 11:30. I used to advise him not to eat so late, before going to bed, but after the first 50 times of telling him, I gave up.

I woke up to a sink full of dirty dishes and a messier kitchen than it usually is. I watched the usual, Daily Show, Colbert Report, Keith Olbermann and then I watched the American Film Institute Top Ten Top Ten Films. Ten courtroom dramas, westerns, romantic comedies, fantasy, science fiction etc. It was enjoyable. My favorite films usually wound up at number 2, AFI were number 1.

It gave me the idea to rent films I had never seen before, only heard about them. Movies like Charlie Chaplin’s City Lights, John Ford’s The Searchers and Stagecoach, The Public Enemy with James Cagney. Have to put them in my Netflix queue, or see if I can get them from the Hoboken library. Slept like a rock last night and woke up wanting another hour of sleep. But the work waits, I am alive again and my heart is full of joy! Actually that last line was from Sweeney Todd.

Bill was off today and I kissed him good bye and headed off to the bus, dropping off that weak John Lennon book at the library after reading it very briefly. Sounded like a good idea when I ordered it. So glad the library is a block away, saves money. Books are expensive and you read them only once mainly. Sure they look good on the bookshelf, but after a while, whats the point?

It’s funny I would like to be a successful writer and I suppose my income would be from the sale of books, not from libraries. Oh the irony. Work was busy once again and my busyness has been noticed. Vivek said I looked tired and suggested an espresso at 3:30 this afternoon. I declined, knowing that caffeine in my system after 1:00PM causes me problems sleeping later.

There were visitors in and out of the day and one or two errands to run. Still I found time to activate my sock puppets. Once I get started it’s pretty hard to stop. It was my sock puppets against opponents of same sex marriage. One was in the New York Daily News, the other was on NJ.com.

One woman upset about the California marriage ruling, saying how it was illegal now to even mention ‘mother and father’ in school. Albert Ross mentioned that what she wrote was straight out of James Dobson and Peter La Barbera’s fear mongering in the name of the lord clubs. That was NJ.com. The Daily News discussion, being New York was a little nastier.

I think Ken Lee maintained his composure in the face of right wing meltdowns. Other than that, it’s good to be home now. Bill cleaned up the apartment a bit. I’ve noticed we actually have a couch!

Three Minute Hero

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Ahh. A few years ago Bill and I saw a friend of mine have a recital. Dan Moore, the friend had rented out a studio space and had a pianist accompany him as he sang maybe a dozen songs with a couple of stories inter sped throughout. It was a good time, and similar to an idea I had, when I had ideas, that Bill and I dress up and cover Frank Sinatra and Count Basie’s album ‘It Might As Well Be Swing!’ I was to be the singer and Bill was to be the pianist.

I revisited that idea on the way home tonight listening to the forgotten Specials album, ‘In The Studio with the Special AKA’. I was listening to the song Break Down The Door and felt I could sing my own interpretation with Bill’s accompaniment. It could be fun, with a couple of shots under my belt perhaps. Break Down The Door was the B-side on the Specials single, Free Nelson Mandela.

I’ll always remember the night before Mandela was going to be released, I was spinning records at McSwells and I played Free Nelson Mandela. Martin Kelly came over to me and said it was the last time I would have to play that song. It’s still a good song, but a little dated. Oh the Specials have such a spot in my heart.

I found out in the latest issue of Mojo Magazine that the ‘We thought you were inferior’ header above my letter was part of a series of quotations from the movie, Planet of the Apes, not directed at me (see the post titled Ego Tripping Out) . So Mojo doesn’t think I’m inferior which is a weight off of my mind. Apparently that’s what they’re doing now, a line of dialog from a movie posted above each letter published, though that ‘inferior’ line didn’t do much for my self-esteem.

At work with the new people I am busy as ever and I don’t mind at all. It would have been great to have Juan in the office, but money is too tight. I’m doing all the work and finding some ways to get to do my own thing. For instance, I was in touch with the Roundabout Theater Company regarding Sunday in the Park with George and their volunteer usher program. I found out you have to go to the box office and inquire directly.

I planned to go to Studio 54 where it’s being performed at lunch time, but there was a file that needed to be delivered a few blocks away from there so I offered to save the company some money and deliver it myself, enabling me to check out the program at the box office. I go and talk to the proper people and found that all the volunteer slots are filled for the next two weeks, then the play closes.

Oh well.

I admit my ardor had cooled somewhat and I’ll have to be content with renting the dvd from Netflix of the original cast from 1984. I’m sure some volunteers will drop out between now and then, but I won’t have any way of knowing and they’ll have no way to contact me. Plus I don’t feel like lugging around black trousers and a white shirt, or wearing such an outfit, day in and day out for two weeks waiting for that call.

What am I? A stand by waiter?