Beautiful day. Sitting on the stoop, listening to the Ipod and waiting for Bill. I’ve had a busy day so far indoors and now I sit outdoors. It’s a gorgeous day. Spring has sprung indeed.

There is a man and a woman parked next to a fire hydrant taking pictures of a building two doors down from me. Now they are fumbling about with their luggage in the back of their station. A clear blue sky, trees are blooming nicely. The man and the woman have finished taking pictures and fiddling about with their luggage. Now they are bringing it inside.

I’ve read about using the Ipod as a Magic 8 Ball. Ask it a question and hit shuffle. Of course the answer is more often than not, requiring interpretation. And it helps to have a lot of songs.

Q: Will I have a good week at work?
A: Revolution

Q: Will I have sex this week?
A: A Sweet Woman Like You

So, it’s not so perfect. Does this mean I will have heterosexual intercourse?
Will I be in drag? Open to interpretation.

Bill showed up and we walked around a crowded Hoboken. It was a beautiful afternoon and a lot of people were out and about. Pier A was nearly crowded. Lot’s of baby strollers, joggers, dogs. We hung out by the guys that fish off the pier. Not too crowded there, and not much of a fishy smell since they weren’t biting.

Not much beefcake, more cheesecake, and no fishcake.

Now we sit, after Bill catching up on the previous episodes of the Sopranos, the sun pours in on Bill catching some shut eye.

Julio is expected to come up to watch the latest installment of the Sopranos, followed by Big Love, which we both like.

Tried to get in touch with Billie since Bill and I are planning a weekend in Washington DC. Got his machine again. We plan on taking a bus down there, as well as Ipods, and magazines. I won’t try sneaking a smoke in the bus lavatory this time. Especially one that had a pungent aroma. I’ll be good. Bill will make sure of that.

It’s been a lazy Sunday. Daylight Savings Time. We sprung ahead and lost an hour. The sun is still out at 7:06PM. I’m not complaining at all. I do prefer having the sun around. Though not enough to actually melt glaciers.

Glaciers Disappear in Before & After Photos
http://www.livescience.com/environment/060324_glacier_melt.html

Old news I know but still urgent. The world is a mess. Iran and their nuclear weapons capability, as well as North Korea. The war rages on in Iraq. The presidebt is a fucking moron. That was not an incorrect spelling. Massachusetts’s courts have ruled that out of state same sex couples cannot be married in Massachusetts if their home state does not recognize the union. John McCain, who might’ve been a decent republican politician even though he embraced Bush after all the shit BushCo. did to him and his family, has now gotten into bed with the religious right.

What a dickwad.

A chupy draga indeed.

A beautiful Saturday. Woke up at 7:45 with the sun pouring in through a window. Went out, got the papers, some bagels, ran into a former coworker from my days of working at a temp agency. Cindy filled me in on who’s pregnant, and who she ran into. Good to know information on people I hadn’t spoken to in years and may never again. Luckily I had my coffee and was able to hold up my end of pleasantries before leaving the store.

Went to the supermarket to buy some much needed groceries. The store was relatively empty which made the shopping experience pleasurably and fast. I was home in about a half hour after that excursion. A tasty, leisurely breakfast, reading the papers and having some nice strong rocket fuelled coffee. Perfect.

Bill was still sleeping as I puttered about the apartment. Checked some emails, chatted with friends. The sun was bright and there was a nice breeze. I ran out again to get my dry cleaning. More people around, but not too many. It was almost like summer time, with parking aplenty and mellow people walking around pleasantly.

I came back and found Bill now puttering around the apartment. We both puttered for a few hours, then we headed to the Path train. Bill was not driving this weekend to spend more time with me at my request last week at our counseling with Philip Beansprout. We got off the Path at Christopher Street, Bill indulging my urges to run into various newsstands and tobacco stores to find there were no more Gauloises in Manhattan. Yes, it seems to be true.

That chapter in my life seems to have ended. No more Gauloises after a twenty year run. I know some of you are happy. I still have my Padrons. I’ll be ok. I can imagine the rolling of your eyes.

We walked across the village, west to east 3rd Street, home of the Nuyorican Poets Café where the city had named the street in honor of one of the founders of the Café. The Rev. Pedro Pietri Way. Bill was accompanying Rome Neal from the one man show based on the life of Thelonious Monk. Rome was singing a song sung originally by Shirley Horn, accompanied by Bill on piano and a violinist named Rebecca.

Turns out Rome is a triple threat, he can act, sing and all of a sudden, a ballet dancer. It went over quite well and was covered by many cameras.

We spilled out into the sun again after the song where I took a very nice picture of Rome and Bill.

We then said our goodbyes and wandered around the east village smoking cigars and me running into more newsstands.

No, the Gauloises era is over. Kaput.

We wound up walking a lot, more than I did with RoDa last week. Bill and I walked from Christopher Street in the West Village to Avenue C and 3rd Street, up 3rd Avenue to 23rd Street and over to Sixth Avenue to catch the train home. It was a great walk and the weather was great and the company was superb.

Now we are zombies.

Oh yeah, Bill and I saw Philip Seymour Hoffman at an ATM today. His PIN is OSCAR06.