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.

I Started a Joke

A stretch, the kind of stretch that you do at home at 6:59PM. Just did that. It felt so good. Just finished Ghost of Hoppers by Jaime Fernandez.

It was inadvertent. I was about to start writing when my computer shut down since it was so hot both inside and outside the apartment. I had started reading the compilation a week or so ago.

Always loved Maggie & Hopey and Izzy et all in Love & Rockets. But Love & Rockets published intermittently and it was easily to miss an issue. It finally wrapped up somewhat in the 1990’s if I recall, but was reactivated a few years later I think.

Personal confession, though I love Love & Rockets written and drawn by Jaime and Beto Hernandez, aka Los Bros Hernandez, I personally. liked Jaime’s work with Maggie & Hopey than I did Bet’s tales of Palomar.

Perhaps ‘liked’ isn’t the right word. Maybe ‘preferred’ is more fitting.

I think it was the final ending of Maggie’s story, but I really hope it isn’t. I also started reading The Education of Hopey Glass which is also another compilation from Jaime Hernandez, dealing mainly with Maggie’s erstwhile girlfriend.

It also explains how the hell Hopey lost her eye. But Ghost of Hoppers really blew me away. Quite an intense finale and once again I can identify with Maggie and company somewhat. They’re older, I’m older. They’ve moved away, moved on, lost friends and family just like me.

I don’t think any comic book or perhaps any novel affected me quite like Love & Rockets. I have to get more of the compilations from the bibliothèque.

Slept later than usual today which was quite nice. Never heard from Pedro and I was content to stay home. There was a tentative plan to meet up.

It was especially hot today, but it wasn’t too humid. Still I spent a good part of the day staying indoors with the curtain covering the window. That didn’t last too long since I did laundry and with it, the window curtain.

A trip to the supermarket, a trip to the dry cleaners and a stop by the Guitar Bar to say hello to Mr. Wonderful, Jim Mastro. He just got back from North Carolina with Meghan and the girls, meeting Ann Boyles and her husband Pat Patterson.

Everyone was fine he said and also thanked me for the cigar I left at the store, as a way of saying thanks for accepting a delivery of cigars sent to me from work, saving a ton on money.

Sat by the river, enjoying one of those cigars and also reading the New Yorker from August 9 and also a bit of the Andy Warhol book, when the Velvet Underground just met Nico.

Now it’s 7:30, sun’s going down. Glad to be home, busy doing nothing. And enjoying it. Not much else to do tonight. Finally got the Fantastic Mr. Fox from Netflix so I might watch that before Weeds and The Big C.

I Just Came To Tell You That I’m Going

Well I did go bicycle riding today. It was good to do. I find that Jersey City will marginally better than Hoboken with regards to bicycling, getting to Liberty State Park can be incredibly frustrating. There is no signs directing you to the park and there are several dead ends.

At one point I rode my bicycle about 200 yards through a deserted parking lot only to find the exit or perhaps the entrance gated shut. Had to turn around and pedal back 200 yards. It wasn’t that bad, just frustrating, because I could see the path to the park on the other side of the gate.

It was a beautiful day for a bike ride. I went solo after posting what I was about to endeavor on my Facebook page.

After the headache last week, not just from you know who, but from someone else about not being invited to see Adele Bertei with the Raybeats, I once again decided to do something alone. If someone wanted to join me, that would be fine. If no one did I’d still be going by myself anyhow.

On the way to Liberty State Park I stopped by and checked out the Jersey City LGBT Pride festival at Exchange Place. It was as it was last time I went there. Lesbians, gay men, bisexuals and transgendered folk wandering around.

The only good time I’ve ever had was with Juan a few years ago. Going by myself I found myself apart of community that I generally support and fight for. It’s always been this way ever since I can remember.

With the Gay Activist Alliance of North New Jersey back the early 1980’s in Teaneck, most of the other people don’t have anything to do with me. Maybe it’s too much pride on their part or maybe it’s simply not enough pride on my part.

I stood around this afternoon, not scowling but with a bemused look on my face.

Some guys worth checking out and as usual I am oblivious when someone is checking me out. If I’m walking with Bill, Bill usually points out that such and such a guy was just checking me out. He jokes that he ought to do something about it and I usually no idea what it is he’s talking about.

I didn’t stay too long at the festival. I checked out the stalls where various people and groups had things to sell or sign up for. I bought nothing and signed nothing. I did watch an evangelist with a megaphone condemn all attendees while standing next to a bloke holding up a sign that said ‘Fuck This Guy’ with an arrow pointed to the evangelist.

The ride to Liberty State Park was next and after winding my way through side streets I found my way there and treated myself to a Mister Softee ice cream. Not much place for shade in the park though I did eventually found a spot.

Hard to believe it was a year ago that I was there for the All Points West concert. Couldn’t figure out exactly where it was.

I did stop by the Pride festival on the way back and realized once again, that if I would identify with a subgroup, instead of being with the bears, I would identify with being a wolf more. A lone wolf, though on the bicycle I consider myself a bike rat.

No silly shirts and bike shorts advertising some company for me. I’m not practicing for the Tour de France, just out for a leisurely bicycle ride.

I do think people are really oblivious to what is going on around them, or where they are. I almost hit a few people despite honking my horn loud enough to let them know that I was approaching. People are stupid.

Now I’m home, just had some chicken, with penne past and pesto. Heading out in an hour or so to see the Neutron Drivers at Maxwells.

Not writing tomorrow. So you can have the day off from my life’s minutiae.

Me? I’ll be working at the cigar shop.
Jersey City Pride 2010

Fuck this guy