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.

Remember

Another scorcher of a day. No wakes to attend. Just a slow, take it easy sleazy, kind of day. Robert Novak died which isn’t such a bad thing. He was a bad man, and he won’t be missed by me.

I do wonder what Jon Stewart will have to say on the matter.

Right now on NBC, Chuck Todd broadcast various fears regarding the health care plan and refuted all the fears as being false. Whether or not that gets through some thick skulls remains to be seen.

The irony is that if more people had access to MRI’s then people could see exactly how thick some of those skulls are.

Here is a president trying to do something for the good of all of the nation and there they are, the people who are easily alarmed and not much for reading much of anything let alone a thousand page plan.

The middle class who would benefit from this don’t seem to know what to think. Then again they don’t like paying taxes, but will be the loudest when the infrastructure collapses and schools fall into disrepair.

And they also believe that they will be taxed more even though the majority of the middle class does not make $250k a year. Anyway that’s my take on the matter.

So today being sweltering and humid was a day to take it slow. And that’s what I did. Slow in getting out of bed. Who wants to leave a nice air cooled bedroom and sit in hummus?

A nice cool shower, cold cereal, but nothing could relieve the stifling heat.

I burned a few CD’s that I need to get in the mail tomorrow so they could make it to Arcata for Annemarie’s birthday. Nothing too much, just out of sight.

I was disappointed to hear last night that neither Hillary nor Brian got their birthday cards that I sent last month. Seems like someone in the Washington Township post office might have sticky fingers. You’d think that wouldn’t be a problem up there in Bergen County but it is.

It might have even happened last year when Annemarie sent birthday cards that were never received. It did remind me of how when I first moved to Hoboken in the early 1980’s, my mother figured my neighborhood was so dodgy that she forwarded my mail to McSwells much to Ann And Mario and some other Fallon’s dismay.

A few raised eyebrows but it never went beyond that.

I didn’t leave the apartment until mid-afternoon today and even then I was staying on the shady side of the street. I walked over to the river but there was more of a breeze on Washington Street.

Finished reading Mojo and waiting for the library to let me know my other copy of the Tom Waits biography is in. I did get the latest New Yorker which has pieces by David Sedaris and Dave Eggers.

That’s about it for me, too hot for much else.

I may take another walk around Hoboken with Julio, but time is running out since he has a flight to Copenhagen airport on Thursday where he’ll meet up with Stine and Alexander and then fly over to Spain to meet up with Julio’s mother, his sister and brother in law and their twins.

I wasn’t invited, so I’m not going.

(Not Just) Knee Deep

Night Owl Edition, you can pick it up at the Saddle Brook Diner for 5 cents. This is the updated version of that, only it’s free. You just need a computer and access to the Internets.

I just got back from Bergen County. Spent a good part of the afternoon with my brother Brian, who I think is a really good guy and a really good friend. I didn’t always think that way, especially after having to share a bedroom with him for the first quarter or so of my life.

It was a very hot day today, close to 90 degrees before noon. And of course, 100% hummus. Brian was picking me up around 2:00 so I had some errands to run.

To the library to return the Tom Waits biography which I wasn’t finished with. That was OK since I ordered another copy from another library. You can only renew items twice and I hit my limit and decided to go to the well again.

Then a walk to the supermarket, by which time I was totally drenched. I probably sweated off a few pounds too. I advised the cashier to stay after her shift since it was so hot out. She laughed.

Back home, carrying juices up four flights of steps. I was able to rest for awhile before Brian phoned to tell me he was outside in his air conditioned van waiting.

I was happy that before I did anything today, I installed the air conditioner in the window this morning and was humming along quite nicely.

A cool ride up to Hillsdale with Brian where we caught up on various events in our lives with Karen, Brian’s wife. The three of us chatting in a nice air conditioned living room. Their daughters Hillary and Cassie soon joined us, more catching up then dinner.

After that Brian and I got in the car and drove down to Paramus. My brother Frank and his wife Elaine were there as were all the children of Jim & Irene Grant.

Growing up, my family and the Grant family were very close. They had six kids to our four, but the ages between both groups of kids were close enough for most of us to play together growing up. And we all went to St. Francis de Sales school in Lodi.

I reconnected with the 2 youngest daughters Irene and Kathy when my father passed away and met them in Hoboken a few times for drinks at McSwells.

So there was some catching up with the two of them, as well as meeting Jimmy, Jeannie, Robert and William as well. Each time they said they last saw me when I was a little more than knee high.

Mrs. Grant sat in the front row, eyesight failing. She seemed to recognize me and we had a very brief chat. I always loved her, she used to watch me until my mother came home from work sometimes.

Always a kind and gracious lady, volunteered at the hospital when my brother Frank had his stroke and made a point to seek him out to see if he needed anything.

It was a mish mosh of jokes and memories.

As I get older, perhaps as we get older, wakes although sad, are also social events, reconnecting and remembering mostly good times.

I’ve gone to a lot of wakes in my life, the first one I remember is my Aunt Madeline. I must have been 4 or 5, she was in her coffin, blue dress, pearls and her white hair, resting in a box.

For me, wakes aren’t creepy, they’re obligations.

I am in no rush to fulfill any more obligations, so if any of you are reading this, don’t die. Please.