Category Archives: Interesting Things as of Late

isn’t it all?

I Can Do Anything (Delacratic)

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Last night I saw a guy wearing a Joy Division Unknown Pleasures T-shirt with Arabic lettering. a few feet behind him was another guy in a red shirt that said something about Punk Rock on it. Just something I noticed last night as I walked to the Path train.

I wasn’t sure if I was going into the city like I had planned. I was supposed to be heading to the Eagle, in Chelsea. It was cigar night on their rooftop deck and the website said the Eagle didn’t open until 10:00PM. The calendar for the the club said the cigar night started at 8:00PM.

I decided to take a chance and headed in. If it wasn’t open until 10:00 I’ll just come back home and chalk it up to experience.

So I headed out and walked down Washington Street, which is where I saw the 2 blokes wearing the t-shirts. I was feeling pretty good. I took half a Xanax a few hours before I headed out so I was pretty mellow, little or no apprehension with regards to going out.

A block later I run into Bill who was coming home from work. He was smoking a cigar and happy to see that I was going out and doing something, rather than just sitting at home in front of the computer with the television to my back. It was good to see him and we talked for a few minutes before I headed to the Path train.

Train was not crowded at all, I sat and read the New Yorker to 23rd Street. Then it was a nice walk down 23rd Street, Lovely Rita’s old stomping grounds, past the Half King pub where I’ve enjoyed a few pints in the past. A walk to 11th Avenue and up to 28th Street.

Walked into the Eagle where I was directed to check my bag, and that the party was upstairs. Of course it was, it’s where the roof top deck must be. Only I didn’t know where the stairs were. Up three flights with a stop on the second floor to relieve myself.

Finally made it to the roof top deck where there were about 40 men and 1 woman standing around smoking cigars. I walked over to the bar and had a Stella Artois. I was feeling good and stood in the corner looking around as I lit a cigar.

I didn’t have the usual vibe, I was feeling mellow from the afternoon half a Xanax. 6 hours later I was still mellow. I walked around a bit and sat along the wall. I did recognize a customer from the store, but wasn’t sure if he saw me.

Maybe he was still in the closet, but he seemed to be having a good time. I didn’t go up to him, though I planned to. I was getting a bit frustrated. I didn’t have a scowl on, in fact I thought I had a bemused smile on my face. I texted Bill, ‘Am I THAT unapproachable?’.

The thing is when I go to a gay bar, if the music isn’t horrible (and it usually is), I might try to strike up a conversation with someone nearby. It tends to freak people out. Bartenders usually ignore me too. But it wasn’t crowded enough to be ignored and I went to the bar for another Stella.

Behind me, I overheard two blokes talking about the song Yellow Bird. They were trying to figure out who sang the song and I suggested that it might have been Trini Lopez. Then I explained I remembered Calamity Jane sing it on an episode of F Troop. There 2 gents turned out to be Aaron and Don. Nice guys both of them, and I wound up talking with Aaron for most of the evening while Don wandered off to talk to other people. It turned out to be a good night.

After about an hour though, it was time for me to go. A pleasant evening and a waiting Path train got me home a little after midnight. Caught last night’s episode of Dead Set, thinking that it would be an hour long show, but that was only the premiere episode.

I missed the first couple of minutes but will try to catch it on Saturday night for the repeat broadcast (actually I can watch it tonight).Today has been a bit busy. Laundry, a trip to the post office. I’m returning my old camera for repair.

Bill got me a new camera but the old one can do things that the new one can’t. It’s not under warranty but it’s only a little over 3 years old, I bought it a week before my niece Meghan’s wedding.

Job interview #2 tomorrow. Please send good wishes to me at 10:00AM!

With great appreciation!

Outside the Eagle

I Thought You Wanted to Know

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I suppose after 2 nice days a weird day would have to happen eventually. That was today. Not sure if I slept well, and I could have certainly could have used a few more hours of sleep. Most everything was a bit off today, including now.

Had a message that I missed Bill’s phone which I thought was recent but was actually a few hours ago. I just hit the redial button as he was climbing the stairs outside the apartment. Had a phone call from my brother Frank right before that who said, ‘What a great show huh?’ ‘What show?’ I asked.

Was he talking about Lawrence O’Donnell on MSNBC? It turned out he was talking about Elton John & Leon Russell on cable. I had no idea and in any event I had just gotten home about a half hour before so I would have missed most of the show.

It looked OK. I only saw the last few minutes of what seemed to be the final encore. Leon Russell walking with a cane and Elton looking pudgy.

Another strange event happened today. I came back from lunch and when I went behind the counter, there was Calvin having a discussion with Martini Basheer (misspelled on purpose). When Martini saw me, he said ‘That’s the bloke that wrote a bad review of my reggae CD!’

Calvin and Don turned towards me and laughed. ‘Me?’ ‘Yes you!’ I did write a negative review a few weeks ago of Martini’s vanity project, a reggae CD which sounded like it was recorded with all the needles in the red.

Apparently a friend of Martini’s did a search online and this here blog came up. I admitted it and Martini asked why did I write what I wrote. I said I was used to listening to Studio One recordings, people like Coxsone Dodd and Lee Scratch Perry. ‘I couldn’t compare my music to that’ he said. I

said well in your notes you wrote that was the music you enjoyed listening to and figured that was what you were after. You missed it by a mile. He laughed and walked out of the store leaving me to explain what I wrote to Calvin and Don.

To Calvin I said that I posted it online for some reggae column and to Don I told him the truth, that it was on my blog. I revealed my blogging to Don earlier today. Don’s been very helpful lately, steering my job search to LGBT non profits and start up internet companies that he feels I would be suited for.

Once again someone has more faith in me than I do myself. I did follow Don’s lead and submitted a letter if introduction as well as a resume. One more for tomorrow, can’t do anymore job searches or introductions tonight since I’m really tired.

And pretty much distracted.

I’ll be in a better state of mind tomorrow. I am off from work so I will have time to focus on what I need to do. Right now, I’d rather do nothing at all and get the day behind me. I knew you would understand.