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.

Boogie Chillen

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A dreary Friday. Nothing much going on. Took off from work legitimately and it’s just as well the weather is so dismal. I just watched ‘I Am Legend’ starring Will Smith. It had nothing to do with John Legend, much like Postcards From The Edge was not about notes sent from abroad while traveling with U2, or Legends of The Fall being about the exploits of Mark E. Smith. Anyway, I Am Legend stunk. Yet another movie that I’ve watched at home on DVD where I felt compelled to yell out Boo! Did not like the CG effects, though Manhattan ghost town was impressive.

Last night was another mellow night. Bill was here again in time to watch The Office which was very good and very twisted and very funny. Then it was time for Lost which left Bill and myself hanging, an abrupt ending which should be resolved in two friggin weeks in a two hour season finale. Once again I recommend going to the Entertainment Weekly website for recap info on both Lost and The Office. Still haven’t watched Ugly Betty since I opted to watch The Daily Show/Colbert Report instead. The urge to smoke is still there. Hanging in there.

I truly despise George Bush more than I have ever despised anyone else in my life. I can’t wait for that little monkey turd to be out of the White House. Still I wish him no ill will, knowing that if something happened to the little monkey turd, then an even worse germ would take his place. Just venting a bit. You probably feel the same as I do if you’re reading this.

The California Supreme Court decided in favor of Same Sex marriage which is a good thing, and also a lightning rod for the right wing to gather around and mobilize for the election. The right wing have been waiting for this for quite a while, and unfortunately the left doesn’t appear as organized, plus there are some on the left that are against same sex marriage. Not all liberals are cool with gay people. So it’s a good thing for gay people but could be divisive issue come election day. I think if a gay or lesbian couple want to get married, let them.

I don’t know if Bill and I would tie the knot. I mean, we probably bicker like any other couple, the thing is, I write about it, and you only get one side of the story unless Bill is writing about it somewhere. And don’t forget the third version of the story, if you want that Rashomon feel.

Madonna is playing Madison Square Garden in October and I will continue to ignore her. I am going to see Sunday In the Park With George with brother Frank and Elaine and Meghan and Cory in June. I bought the tickets with a discount online today. Frank and I are Sondheim fans and this is supposed to be a good revival.

We missed Company last year, another Sondheim show, and when Company didn’t win any Tony awards it closed a week later. But with Frank’s stroke, chance are we wouldn’t have been able to go anyhow. So Tonys or not, we have tickets and if it closes, we’ll have refunds.

Got a call out of the blue from my old friend Miriam. She and her husband Joe had a baby girl last year. I last saw Miriam a week or so before she gave birth to Mareah Grace Mazzarella. They’re having a get together on May 25 in Sleepy Hollow so that should be fun. Next weekend is Memorial Day weekend. Unofficial start of the summer. Hoboken parking spots aplenty, at least on weekends.

Da Butt

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Ok, I have a swollen face. Well it was really swollen this morning. It’s gone down considerably. Things have improved a lot between Bill and myself. Last night I took a nap from 5:30 to about 10:00. Saw Bill and went to bed an hour later. So it was cool. Still have some ways to go but he’s working on it.

I haven’t had a cigarette in over 24 hours and that is an accomplishment. I do enjoy holding one, but no lighting. Holding one is enough. If I could get off cigarettes I would be impressed. The cigars are an occasional thing though.

I certainly don’t mind being around smokers and in midtown Manhattan, outside of most office buildings there are a lot of smokers mingling. The thing is I always liked smoking. I wanted to do it when I was just a kid. I was surrounded by smokers since most everyone smoked back then. It was alright. In junior and senior year of high school, we could smoke in out designated smoking area.

Smoking saved my butt also. In summer school between junior and senior year having cigarettes helped me win favor from the ‘cool’ kids so much so, that when the regular sessions began in the fall, I wasn’t picked on so much since the cool kids liked me. For my cigarettes of course. Having 2 parents that smoked made sure that I wouldn’t be out of cigarettes. I must have had my first cigarette when I may have been about 10 years old.

Johnny Serpone, a neighbor and I plotted out stealing a pack of cigarettes from his parents and riding down to Industrial Lane on a Saturday afternoon and have our first puffs. I barely had a puff before I was wracked with guilt and fear and rode my bicycle home, gulping in as much air and running to the kitchen faucet when I got home to drink as much water as possible.

At various points in my childhood I was hanging out with juvenile delinquent smokers. At the Boys Club which was supposed to be where boys could get away from bad influences, I went out of my way to find the bad influences. Also outside the VFW where my parents hung out. Found myself outside with some naer do wells sneaking illicit puffs. I was found out though, but I doubt my siblings remember.

Everyone smoked. It was everywhere. You could smoke in the bank, in the supermarket, movie theaters were great places to smoke. Hospitals, doctor’s offices, buses, trains, restaurants. They frowned on places of worship, though one had to wonder where they got the ashes for Ash Wednesday. Having a cigarette was a good way to meet people, and not just oncologists.

You could ask someone for a light, and perhaps strike up a conversation or more. Or when cigarettes were cheaper you could bum a cigarette from someone or they could bum from you. Nowadays, people offer you money for a cigarette, sometimes a quarter, but lately a dollar.

Me, I rolled my own. Sometimes people would ask for a cigarette and I would offer a ready rolled cigarette. More often than not they would refuse, proving that beggars could be choosers. So, it’s been over 24 hours, been holding a cigarette, not lighting it. Feels good just to hold it. I guess it’s like Baretta. All I need is a cockatoo. Or was that a typo?