I avoided the Local Pipers Union 154 this morning. I had a good time last night hanging out with Matt, hitting some bars. The car ride was interesting too. I woke up drunk. Not a good place to be, but after waking up at 2AM, 4AM, 5AM and finally 6AM I had nothing else to do but go to work. Having left work early last Friday, and playing hooky on Monday I had no real choice.

I did my routine, showered, checking email when the phone rings at 6:30. It’s Julio, who locked his keys in his apartment. I’m fully dressed and toss the keys down to him after buzzing him in. Mighty fuzzy headed I am, Julio is none the wiser. I gather my clothes from the night before and take them to the dry cleaner.

After waiting for Kim, who is never late I turn in the clothes and walk surprisingly upright to the bus stop. Bus is empty at 5th street. By 14th street it’s packed. I read the New Yorker and finish an article about a nurse helping poor uneducated mothers in the bayou.

I get off the bus and wander over to the subway feeling like crap. I get off the train and walk past some coworker from a different floor. She never says hello to me, which gives me license to not say hello to her. Monique who’s eyes look like they’re about to bug out totally.

It’s bagel day, which enables me to actually eat for the first time in almost 12 hours. Yes I know, one should eat before drinking but it was such a weird day yesterday. Best bagels in the world. And a chocolate yogurt muffin. Not exactly a well balanced meal but it felt that way after the restless sleep from the night before.

Being a Friday, I was busy busy busy. Lot’s of running around the office. Outside was rain, the beautiful sun and then rain again. I was getting a free lunch today and looked forward to Penne Pesto and Chicken but had to settle for a Margherita pizza. Not so bad for a second choice. Pretty greasy though.

After that I gathered up whatever muffins and bagels were uneaten and gave them to St. Barts food kitchen. Then I walked across town in the sunshine and had some keys made. After that it was up to Lincoln Center to exchange tickets to the ballet for McGruff the boss.

That was accomplished with relative ease, and I lit up a cigar and headed over to Central Park. Also helped a woman in a wheelchair and her attendant get into her building down the street from the park. I do stuff like that from time to time, always willing to help out a fellow human being. She was grateful and I strolled into the park smoking my Padron.

Got back to the office after enjoying the day and working out whatever beer was still in my system by sweating. But as soon as I sat down I crashed. I walked around a lot in dress shoes and I would be merely tired if it wasn’t for the hangover, but I was exhausted.

My energy was at a low point. I barely hung in there till 5:30. I just flat lined the rest of the day, having another Padron as I walked to the Path listening to Stevie Wonder. I felt good since I made it through the day. Called Matt and checked in on him. He felt the same way as I did. Also called Barry Bongiovi, my former boss from Right Track studios who I drunk dialed the night before. Looking forward to dinner with him on Tuesday.

Now I’m home. Had a burger, and plan on vegging out for the rest of the night. Not like I could do anything but that anyhow…

a shot from last night

When I was growing up on Riverview Avenue in Lodi there were always a ton of kids around. We’d play punch ball, wiffle ball, basketball, hide and seek, It was the type of neighborhood that if you did something wrong someone’s parents would slap you and send you home and tell your parents what you did then you’d get slapped all over again.

I was thinking about various kids I grew up with. There were a few of us around the same age group, Kathy Grant, Susan Lucas, Scott Williams, David Plauchino, Christine and Ryan Kincaid to name a few. We would all run around the neighborhood, in and out of each other’s houses. Summers were quite magical. There was always a radio playing, Music Radio 77 WABC of course.

It was very much an innocent time. I was the oldest of the group. There were older brothers and sisters around. I had played with them at some time, Scott’s older sister Barbara, Kathy’s older sister Irene who used to beat me up and throw me into the Foglio’s hedges. You couldn’t escape these people nor would you want to. They were your basic good-hearted people.

It was all fun and games, rough and tumble. Most of us had gone to the same school, St. Francis de Sales, the others had gone to Washington School on Main Street. As time went on new people came into our circle. Chemistries had changed, puberty around the corner.
I let Johnny Serpone neck and feel up Michelle Kwiatkowski on our back porch while my parents were at work.

No one else in the circle had designs on anyone else. Serpone was a bit older than the rest of us, Michelle was my age. I suppose being a girl she hit puberty before I did. She had boobs. None of the other girls did.

We grew up and away from each other once high school started. I’d see the friends from back then when I would drive by up the block, a honk and a wave would suffice. The days of hanging out, swimming in Susan Lucas’ pool listening to the top forty countdowns were gone.

Years later when I was bar backing at McSwells I see a familiar face on the other side of the bar, Christine Kincaid. She looked good, she had grown into a woman. It was a bit odd to be washing glasses and filling the beer cooler while she and her boyfriend were having some drinks. I breathed a sigh of relief when they left. Not that I was uncomfortable, just felt a bit odd.

Never expected to see her at McSwells. I never saw her again after that one time, she passed away from ovarian cancer while in her twenties. So sad. At my father’s wake I reconnected with Kathy and Irene Grant. Kathy was even more adorable, and Irene had stopped beating up on me. Lucky for her because at that time I’m sure I could’ve taken her.

We made plans to have some drinks and a few months later we met at McSwells, Kathy and Irene and Susan Lucas. It was all very adult and civilized. Kathy and Susan reminded me about how I used to tease them and act like a bee. I came out of the closet to the three of them, showed them a picture of Bill. They didn’t shriek or run away in horror. We made other plans to reconnect more frequently.

The next time I saw Irene and Kathy, they told me Susan was now a lesbian and living down the shore. That was a surprise. I thought that since I was able to come out, Susan felt empowered to do the same.

It didn’t last long. Susan who had a history of illness passed away a year or so later. Very sad. I heard that Susan’s girlfriend was being shut out by the surviving Lucas’s. At Susan’s wake after expressing my condolences to her mother and her brother, I walked over to her girlfriend. A tough looking dyke with a mullet.

I explained who I was and how sorry I was to hear about her losing Susan. She was passive. I found out later that this woman made Susan’s life hell and tormented her, going after her finances while Susan was in the hospital. Very sad.

If there is an afterlife, I’m sure Susan Lucas and Christine Kincaid are having a good time listening to Music Radio 77.

Nowadays I run into people from the neighborhood at wakes.