Interesting Things as of Late | johnozed

Today was a day off and it was a decent day. After last night and my godforsaken mood it was bound to be good. My cooler head prevailed and I edited my original posting after a rethink. I felt better after having something to eat and I stayed up watching TV for a while.

Bill was fast asleep when I came home and soon I found my place beside him in our bed, falling asleep sooner rather than later. Bill was up and out quite early, he was doing some volunteer work for WBAI and their pledge drive. I used to do that for WFMU when they were broadcasting from East Orange and my faux alma mater, Upsala College.

A sweet kiss goodbye was what he gave me as I lay there half-awake before he headed out into the world. I got up a while after that and puttered about doing my thing. A trip to the supermarket was in order and so after a cup of coffee from the morning pot that Bill made for me (he loves making me coffee in the coffee maker he gave me as a Valentine gift a few years ago, though he doesn’t drink the stuff).

It was a nice morning and I got my items and found Isis at her register. I was ahead of an elderly woman with a shopping cart filled with items so I helped her unload it and placed her items on the conveyor belt, for which she thanked me, as did Isis who usually does that sort of thing. A stop at the dry cleaners to drop off my shirts as well as Bill’s and soon I was home having a nice breakfast that I made for myself.

There was a tentative plan once again to see the Doug Wheeler installation with RoDa this afternoon and RoDa texted me asking if we could go around 2:00. That would be fine with me, except an hour later he texted me asking to move meeting up to after 3:00. I texted back saying I hoped we could go earlier, but since he has kids as well as an ailing mother that wasn’t going to happen.

So we put it off once again, with the hope that we could get it together this Saturday, and he can join Bill and me and RoDa could even bring his son Logan. So now the plan is to go Saturday afternoon at 1:00. I am fortunate to have both Saturday AND Sunday off this weekend, like most other working stiffs.

I had decided to head into the city, not to go to the gallery but to see if the new issues of Mojo and Uncut were on the shelves. I rode the Path train where I ran into my old friend and neighbor Claire. She was heading into the city for her own personal business and we had a nice chat en route. I got off at Christopher Street and she continued on her way. I stopped into Rebel Rebel on Bleecker Street and found they did not have the latest issue, the bloke behind the counter telling me it might be in by the week’s end.

I continued on my way, up to Sixth Avenue. I stopped into Old Navy where I thought I would buy myself a nice pair of trouser since I did get a gift card from my sister, but once in the store I checked my wallet only to find I left the gift card at home. Still I didn’t mind. I walked to TJ Maxx and hoped to buy some micro-fiber boxer briefs and after getting a few pair, I walked to the registers and found an unbelievably long line.

I just dropped off the boxer briefs and walked out the door. It was a nice day so I then decided to just walk up to the bus terminal where I got a ride back to Hoboken. I stopped by the Guitar Bar and spoke with Mr. Wonderful Jim Mastro for a few minutes before heading home. All that walking made me tired and I tried to take a nap for an hour but lasted about 20 minutes. Now Bill is home, watching Lawn hors d’œuvre on his laptop. Harry Potter is on the telly and that’s about it for me.

06 We All Fall In Love Sometimes
Also quite happy to congratulate the state of California on the overturning of Prop8. NJ soon come!

Well today has been a day off, and a mostly rainy day off at that. Still I was glad to have some time to myself and set about doing the things I had planned. Last night I came home, Bill was staying up for me and I walked in with a bit of anxiety regarding how many things I had to do today.

It’s true mostly that depression is from living in the past and anxiety is from living in the future. Last night I was a few hours ahead of myself so I was a little bit anxious. I calmed down soon enough thanks to Bill’s support. He went to bed a while after I came home and I stayed up watching some TV.

I slept fairly well last night and woke up at my usual time even though I had the day off. I had a meeting at 11AM so I had to follow my daily routine once again. I trimmed my goatee somewhat last night and shaved this morning after a shower. Bill made a nice pot of coffee for me again. He’s really enjoying making me coffee even though he doesn’t drink the stuff.

I was dressed and out the door once more, this time headed to the Path train. I stopped at the bibliothèque to pick up a biography on Marvin Gaye written by Michael Eric Dyson but I was too late. I ordered it but you only have five days to pick it up and today was day seven. I wasn’t sure what day I received the notice, so I was too late.

It wasn’t raining when I went into the bibliothèque, but it started to pour when I left. I hopped on a bus to the Path train and got on board a train to the World Trade Center. It was still pouring rain when I got downtown and made my way through Zuccoti Park where Occupy Wall Street had it’s start in September. Now it was empty and it was just me and one other guy walking through.

I made it to the meeting right on time and it lasted longer than I expected and I think it went well. Soon I was back on the street, talking to Bill and walking around Wall Street, killing time. I had plans to meet up with RoDa at 1:00 and it was only 11:45. I bought a Brian Eno EP at JR Music and hopped on an uptown train.

I got off at Union Square and thought about walking past where Farfetched used to be but figured that would be pointless and a bit of a downer so I mainly stayed on 14th Street. What used to be the Virgin megastore is now a Chase Bank.
Bleecker Bob’s which was one of the first places where I used to buy my import singles and albums as well as clothes is being shuttered to become a Starbucks. I hadn’t shopped in Bleecker Bob’s since the early 1980’s and I suppose my lack of loyalty is a contributing factor in it’s demise.

RoDa was only 15 minutes late which wasn’t so bad and we proceeded to walk over to Chelsea. I really wanted Roda to see the Doug Wheeler installation that blew me away a week or so ago but where it was nearly empty that Tuesday afternoon, today it was quite crowded and very stuffy. We decided to head out and wander around a bit, eventually deciding to give it another go next Tuesday.

We wandered to a few other galleries, RoDa being quite impressed with a few things we saw. We walked around a bit more before we both decided we were pretty tired from trooping along in the damp weather.
Then it was back to Hoboken where everyone knows RoDa. He can’t walk down Washington Street without a lot of people greeting him, he is so beloved in this town. We parted ways with a nice hug and made plans to try to hit Chelsea once again on Tuesday.

I was glad I was able to help lift his spirits since they were quite low the other day.