Interesting Things as of Late | johnozed

Well it is day two of two days off. And it’s been good. Today was better than yesterday despite the rain and the cold and the dampness. Last night was better than the day as well. I was in a better frame of mind when Bill came home from the gym. He was relaxed and happy to be home and I was quite happy to see him.

We settled in for the evening and watched the Betty White birthday show on TV. It was actually pretty good, and Bill of course laughed uproariously throughout the program. After that was a version of Candid Camera featuring senior citizens playing pranks on young folk. Bill and I both agreed that it was cute but corny.

Then we watched Bill Moyers and Company on PBS. I’ve met Bill Moyers a number of times and definitely trust him and his shows. And last night was no exception. It’s not candy floss news like Brian Williams on NBC, this was real and intelligent, which is why it was on PBS and not the other stations.

Bill went to bed midway through the 11:00 news and I stayed up watching the Colbert Report, followed by 30 Rock and then finally I went to bed. Slept quite well and had a few dreams about the cigar shack, including one where Jimmy Seltzer had a moustache. Bill was up and back to work and I have little recollection of him kissing me goodbye as he always does. I’m sure he did though.

I do know that he made a very good pot of coffee which was waiting for me when I got out of bed. And outside it was raining which made me want to stay in bed longer. But I had plans today and I got out of bed and got myself activated. A trip to the supermarket where I was online for my favorite cashier Isis, and I found myself behind my former favorite cashier, now retired Linda.

My sister met Linda once and said she was reminded of our grandmother, Nana- my mother’s mother. A nice chat while on the line with two sweethearts. Then it was home for breakfast and then I was out on the street in the rain.

I caught a bus to the Path train and rode to 14th Street. I walked over to 10th Avenue and wound my way up to 19th Street, to the David Zwimmer Galleries. I read over the weekend of an installation by Doug Wheeler and it had me curious. Since it was in the New York Times, I figured it would be crowded.

I walked into 533 West 19th Street and saw the On Kawara exhibition which I enjoyed but tired of it rather quickly. Still I was glad to have seen it. There was no one else there except for a security guard. I asked the receptionist on the way out where I could see the Doug Wheeler installation and it turned out I walked right by it.

I walked into 519 West 19th Street and was told I needed to take my shoes off to see the installation. They had some disposable slippers and of course as I took my boots off I realized I had a hole in my sock. I felt like Paul Wolfowitz but did my best to cover up the hole quickly.

I walked into the room where the installation was and I was overwhelmed by light. It was incredible and hallucinatory. A woman was nearby behind me as I started to laugh out loud. It was great. No sense of depth or what was in front of me. And throughout all this I could see paramecium floating in front of me, which turned out to be my eyeballs.

Sometimes if I look a certain way through my eyeglasses I can see the paramecium (or whatever it is- floaters?) and here it was again. I never said anything about seeing these things throughout my life, but I asked the woman nearby if she was seeing what I was seeing, and she said something that I didn’t quite hear.

Still it was a giggle and I was soon taking off my disposable slippers and putting on my boots and back on the street. From there I walked up to 23rd Street stopping by the Mallick Williams Gallery after the exhibition by Lindsey de Ovies caught my eye. It was a lot of fun and I was able to take some snapshots before heading to the Vivian Maier showing.

The Vivian Maier show was part of a show with Weegee, two photographers I’ve admired throughout the years. Most everyone knows who Weegee was and there was so much of his stuff that it overwhelmed the Vivian Maier photos. And it was crowded. I didn’t last too long there and soon headed up to the bus terminal enjoying a cigar in between raindrops.

And now I am home after yet another lovely dinner with Julio, Stine and the one & only Alexander. I bought him a coloring book and some crayons as well as a slide whistle. Not as much fun as Stine’s iPad but then again I guess I am old school.

Juan is in town and wanted to do something fun, but I was at Julio & Stine’s when he texted and I simply can’t entertain tonight since for me it is back to work tomorrow. So he is off to some bear bar in Jersey City.

Not sure if I will be posting tomorrow since WordPress is having a black out against SOPA. So I guess we will wait and see. You should all protest SOPA. I mean if Rupert Murdoch is for it…

Alexander McQueen store

Doug Wheeler

Lindsey de Ovies 'The Hand That Feeds'

looks much better in real life. textural.

06 Bob Dylan – Floater (Too Much To

Well yesterday’s good feeling, thanks to prayer or chanting or whatever seemed to fall by the wayside. Last night while going to bed, I was visited by a few Charlie horses. In rapid succession they cramped my leg. I never thought that going to sleep would be so strenuous as to require stretching before going to bed but there it was.

Bill was fast asleep, the sleep apnea mask doing its job. After a while I was able to massage my left thigh and get the Charlie horses out. Last week it was a leg cramp, more than likely from low levels of potassium, so I’ve been eating a banana a day. But despite that I had a visit from the horse named Charlie. I was able to fall asleep, not as soundly as the night before but still I did get some shut eye.

I was awoken by the sound of a major rainstorm in the morning, luckily I was off today so I was able to sleep a little bit later than usual. But the body clock had designs of its own and despite my struggles I still got out of bed. Bill was going to work later than usual today, meaning he was still around at 8:30. I decided to defy the body clock and get back into bed, not wanting to deal with the pouring rain outside.

Bill had left and suddenly reappeared, climbing the four flights of steps since he left his phone home. He got the phone, gave me another kiss and headed out as I did an about face and went back to bed. It was of no use since I was awake already and not going to be able to go back to sleep.

I did have an appointment in the city, a meeting with an agency. We had arranged it all yesterday and I headed into the city on the Path train around 9:45. I was at the agency at 10:15 and like they said, the meeting would last around 15 minutes. At 10:35 I was back on the street. It had stopped raining and I decided to walk to the bus terminal since I needed to get to the supermarket and the bus would drop me off closer to the market than the Path train would.

As I rode back the bus driver, (my second favorite bus driver after Bill) told me that he wouldn’t be my driver anymore. He would be on a different schedule, until April when he might be able to get the shift back again. That was a mild bummer and I walked to the supermarket and got my usual items. Of course as I left the supermarket, the skies opened up and I hustled to get home before getting a good soaking.

Once home I got out of my suit and into some jeans and a t-shirt. After finally having something to eat I got my very late holiday package to the post office and sent it to my sister and her family in California. Walking back I ran into Stine and Alexander and that was quite nice. Alexander was playing the shy bit, smiling but refusing to say anything to me, or shake my hand or give me a high five.

It was alright, he was tired after being in school and just wanted to be home with his mom. Stine did invite me over sometime soon for dinner, so I guess that might happen on my next day off next week.

It’s been a decent day, nothing to write about, though I did just that.

02 Holotelani