Category Archives: Happy?

I Don’t Care Apocalyptica

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Well it’s been an alright day off, so far at least. First off, I slept really well, later than I expected to. But I was alright with that. Everything I planned was tentative anyhow. I did have to go get some groceries and that is what got me out of bed.

After a shower and some coffee as well as trying to figure out what it is that the smartphone does I headed out. On the way I decided to use the camera and took a couple of shots. I think they came out just as good as they would be if I used the Coolpix Nikon.

Still a bit shaky with it, though it will become more comfortable to use as time goes on. I came home and had a decent breakfast and then headed out again. It was threatening to rain most of the day and I was fortunate to be able to avoid most of the downpours by mere minutes.

I also made it to the library to pick up a book I ordered, The Sibling Effect by Jeffrey Kluger. I saw him on the Colbert Report and the book sounded interesting, so now it was time to pick it up before it goes back to the original bibliothèque.

Tomorrow is my nephew’s birthday, Earl is turning 21 and I bought a Greetings from Hoboken NJ t-shirt. I also had a Bob Marley book and a John Lennon book that I bought second hand earlier in the year and hoped to give them to him when he visited this year. But that did not work out since Earl’s flight was cancelled.

The books were too bulky to have Annemarie bring back with her so I hung onto them. I stopped at the local card shop and bought a birthday card that I thought was cool and walked over to the Post Office. It wasn’t crowded at all and after packing a box and paying for the shipment I headed out for a brief walk around Hoboken. The box will hopefully be there for Earl when Anne, Rex and Earl get back from the Not Strictly Bluegrass Festival this weekend.

I saw Bill Ryan outside the Post Office and said hello. It was good to see him, he’s looking healthy. I always liked Bill and he seemed to like me. I always enjoyed working for him at Pier Platters, either sitting behind the counter if he had to run an errand or manning the register at Pier Platters 2. And of course I always got a good deal on my purchases.

I played with the Google Latitude on my smartphone and watched myself as I wandered around town. I also talked with Bill for a few minutes. I’m trying to be conservative with my phone calls since I do not have the unlimited calls that I used to have with T-Mobile.

I found out later when I got home that I arranged to have my calls to Bill to be free and available whenever I want. I am enjoying the smartphone nonetheless. I found myself at one point in the day accessing some websites on my phone while sitting right in front of the computer. That was very dumb. Why waste time and access when I have everything right in front of me? I was glad I caught myself.

It’s a nice quiet evening, Bill is up in Harlem stage managing a play and here I am, in Hoboken, writing this very line.



I Didn’t Raise My Boy To Be A Soldier

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Yesterday since I was off I decided to clean up a bit around the apartment since Bill, ‘the roommate’ was at work at one of his 50,000 jobs. Bill had a very good laugh at that one by the way. Since it had cooled considerably I took the air conditioner in from the window.

No more worrying about it falling out due to hurricanes or earthquakes. Of course since I did that it had gotten quite humid so Bill and I both sweated a bit. Bill was up and out again this morning, off to work on a play that he is stage managing. It should open soon enough.

I was invited to a party by a theater company last night but since I was in Hoboken and not at work I opted not to go. Bill was into it but I think he had second thoughts since I wasn’t planning on going. If I was at work it would have been no problem, but I was off you see.

I rode the bus to work this morning, no vitamin water drinkers throwing empty bottles into the bushes near the garbage cans. I sat and looked out the window, watching random cars get pulled over by the Lincoln Tunnel since a threat alert was going on, to coincide with the 10th anniversary of the 9/11 attacks.

I’m surprised they don’t pull over buses. Not that I have anything to hide, but they should take into consideration that buses are targets in hot spots like Palestine & Israel. And there were a ton of officers carrying machine guns in the bus terminal as well as on the subway. I did not take the subway but some police officer friends did tell me that.

I walked up the avenue, getting my egg sandwich and arrived early again. Calvin was manning the shop as I walked in, Jerry Vale coming in a half hour later. A pleasant enough day for me to go out and smoke a cigar and reading the New Yorker that I had to purchase since the latest issue was never delivered to the apartment.

It was the 9/11 issue. I still have the issue from 10 years ago with Art Spiegelman’s cover. I remember spending a few days in LaGrangeville visiting Harpy 10 years ago, a few days before 9/11. I probably went up on Friday and came back on Sunday. Most of the time was spent on the deck outside, reading Harpy’s collection of New Yorkers, smoking cigars and recovering from whatever we ingested the night before.

10 Years ago Bill and I went to a party for my friend Donna at a restaurant on 10th Avenue and 44th Street. Afterwards, a torrential downpour had Bill and I running to the bus terminal where we parted way, Bill off to Stuyvesant Town and me to Weehawken.

Of course neither of us had any idea what was in store for us the next day, and certainly, we were clueless as to what would happen and where we would be 10 years later. A different world. Totally.