Iron my Shirt | johnozed

I woke up this morning with Bill hovering over me and kissing me goodbye as he was off to the gym. He took off from work again to clean up his stuff in the apartment again. I went back to sleep for a little while, getting out after hitting the snooze bar twice, before the third hit.

I shuffled about getting my own shit together. A bowl of cereal after a shower and a shave and soon I suited up and headed to the bus stop. Once again I find myself comfortable in my role at the cigar shack and once again something happens which basically is a ‘Not so fast Kowalski’ moment from Mad Magazine in the 1960’s.

I know about that since my brother Frank had it hanging on his bedroom wall for a long time when I was growing up. I met Bill at the bus stop after he was done with the gym and I was waiting. It was the highpoint of my day, being able to spend fleeting, quality time with Bill.

After a kiss I got on the bus as Bill said hello to Shirley, the surly bus driver who seemed a bit nicer after seeing Bill & I kiss. At the next stop was neighbor Deborah and we chatted about the usual things with me adding the fact that I am somewhat comfortable at the cigar shack, and how my writing a blog for the cigar shack seems to be progressing nicely.

A beautiful spring in winter morning as I walked up to the cigar shack, right on time as usual. Everything seemed alright most of the day, it was Zack, Bradley, Thomas and myself. Some work is being done overnight so Jerry Vale was coming in later to stay the night and over see the workers doing whatever it is they are scheduled to do.

Zack mentioned that Thomas and I might have to stay late, which of course we were willing to do albeit reluctantly. Some eye rolling was done which upset Zack greatly. Of course in his time, he would have gladly done whatever was asked of him, as would Thomas and myself. Sure we might bitch but the job will get done regardless.

So there was bad feelings this afternoon which fulfilled my feeling that things would get weird at some point today. Things cleared up but it did leave a bad feeling in my mouth. Zack felt we were taking advantage of Jerry Vale, since he is the new guy, or maybe newish. Funny, he doesn’t look newish. But we’re not taking advantage.

Jerry Vale needs the money, he just moved to a new apartment and mentioned to me, and perhaps anyone else who would listen that he will be working for the rest of the year, no vacation plans in the immediate future. I just talked about it with Jerry Vale and he mentioned that he brought it up and volunteered for the overnight shift.

So no, no one is taking advantage of Jerry Vale.

Don’t get too comfortable.

Shepard's Pi 3.14159265

Angels and Devils

Today has been a good day. I was off and I didn’t over sleep too much. 15 minutes was about all I needed and 15 minutes was about all I got. Bill was up and out hours before I got out of bed, leaving me with a farewell kiss and a pot of coffee to remember him by. He makes the best coffee. There were no real plans today except for laundry, a trip to the supermarket and the dry cleaners as well as a visit to the bibliothèque. It all went well I am happy to report.

A walk around Hoboken after the library included a stop at the local record store where I got the latest Mojo & Uncut Magazines from a very indifferent guy behind the counter who was more interested in labeling the latest used dubstep cds than being helpful. On the way out I saw Bill Ryan who used to run the late great record store Pier Platters. It was a brief ‘hello how are you doing’ said in passing. Good to see him though, I see him maybe once a year rather than almost every day like it was all those years ago.

The building that was on fire a couple of weeks ago is now down to two floors left. It’s been a steady demolition and the streets around the building are still closed to traffic. I think the benefit that was held this past Friday went well and clothing and other items are still being donated via the Rotary Club.

It was a beautiful day on Hoboken, the sun was shining on a clear blue sky but it was also quite cold. It was good to get out this afternoon. I was going to stop by the Guitar bar and say hello to Mr. Wonderful, but it was after school so the place would be busy with kids taking lessons or parents waiting to pick up their kids. I did make it back home and watched some TV which I eventually turned off and opted to hear music instead.

There was a plan to meet with my friend Lois tonight and pick up some socks that she has. But once I got home I was pretty much settled in and luckily able to meet with her on Friday instead. Now Bill is home and I can’t type for shit. No really. It’s taken me quite a while to get this far. So many typos which you won’t see since I will correct them all before it goes online. It’s so much easier to surf the net or read friends postings on Facebook than it is to write.

Once again Dorothy Parker’s axiom rings true, ‘I hate writing but love having written’. And that applies right now to a project that I am going to be involved with. I have the ingredients but need to get started on it. And the five ideas I have are subject to change as are the subjects themselves. I know I can do it, I have done it already. Some tightening up, some clear headedness and of course time is the main requirement.

No distractions. Bill and I watched a Spalding Gray DVD the other night and Spalding spoke of being in a writers colony, the McDowell Colony, where he was afforded the time and space to work on his project. Of course I do not have the access to such an environment but it would be nice. But right now the artist colony is where I am at, right in front of the computer. It’s not where you’re from it’s where you’re at.