Cool Cold Reality | johnozed

Andy’s mother is sick in the hospital and India. He is understandably stressed out. Andy is an owner of Hoboken Daily News. It was just me and Andy in the store for a few minutes and he was able to unload with tears in his eyes. Other customers aren’t so understanding, whining about not being able to get their scratch off lottery cards in the time that wanted while Andy was on the phone trying to hear what is going on with his mother.

She was in one hospital with some lung problems and on a ventilator. The doctors at the hospital told Andy’s brothers that she only had a few days left. They then moved her to another hospital and things improved somewhat and given a better prognosis. I was glad Andy was able to tell me these things, he obviously needed to talk to someone and that was me.

Other than that, today was a good day. I was up early in the morning and was on the streets at 8:00. Believe me that was a major accomplishment. Wearing a placard and walking up and down the sidewalks between Jersey City and Hoboken promoting the summer on the Hoboken waterfront. I will only have the job when it’s not raining and since today was rain free, I did not mind at all.

Bill is heartbroken, watching the news of the Oklahoma tornados. I came home a little while ago and could tell by the sound of his voice that something was wrong. He needed a hug after watching the never ending news cycle. If I wasn’t busy today promoting events for the summer, chances are I would be engrossed as well. Luckily there is a Mel Brooks documentary on PBS tonight and I think that will be a welcome change from this bad news.

Back to the placards tomorrow. The weather seems cooperative and the looks I get from people when they see me handing out flyers and acting like a shy town crier are charming. I don’t mind. It’s good, honest work. And it isn’t sculpture which is always a plus unless you’re Maya Lin or John Chamberlain or even R.Mutt. My boss tells me if I am good enough with the placards I might be moving up to bunting.

Rest in Peace Ray Manzarek.

Hang in there Oklahoma.
Text REDCROSS to 90999 to give $10 to American Red Cross Disaster Relief, which helps people affected by disasters such as hurricanes, floods, earthquakes, wildfires and tornadoes despite Oklahoma Senators Jim Inhofe and Tom Coburn, who voted against federal aid for victims of Sandy.

A beautiful day today, it feels like spring. A friend in Colorado mentioned that she had 6 inches of snow which is troublesome. Perhaps it will come this way in the form of rain, we could use the water.

Last night was alright. Bill came home to a hug waiting for him when he walked through the door. We talked a bit about how his cousin and her family probably had the first night of decent sleep in a while. Juan also came over last night. He was stressed over misplacing his keys. He went all the way home to find he did not have his keys.

Bill went to bed early, it had been a long day for him and he was drained physically and emotionally. Juan and I stayed up, Juan being a DJ and played a lot of Best Coast- which I liked. I was also castigated for having Phoenix in my iTunes but never playing it. Phoenix is one of Juan’s favorite bands right now. He also seemed to take offense by my saying that he and Efrain looked alike. Luckily for him he doesn’t get compared to Phillip Seymour Hoffman or Drew Carey.

Tonight I work at Maxwell’s. I have no idea how it will be and will do my darndest to stay until the kitchen closes but if no one is coming in and ordering food then staying there for the long haul is pointless. Juan wants to see Youth Lagoon at Maxwell’s and from what he played for me last night from them, it does sound interesting. I won’t be working that night, I’ll be attending a lecture by Brian Eno. I will probably be out there early enough to see the show, but not early enough to work. So I think I will be able to get Juan into the show anyhow.

I am still sending out resumes, I am still trying to get in the game. And of course I am still being ignored or rejected. My anniversary of being let go from the cigar shack is coming up. Last year on May 1, Zack/Calvin was on a public radio show and Bradley/Possum was ruling the roost. I had a job interview at a place right across the street from the flagship cigar shack on Madison Avenue and using a red herring I wrote how I was interviewing with a cigar manufacturer.

That’s probably where Mike Herklots/Marcus started reading this here blog and hipped Zack/Calvin to it. I later got nasty and wrote about the alcoholism of certain people and the readily available Xanax from that marsupial.

It is still a beautiful day, and it promises to be a nice night.