So how’s band camp? | johnozed

Another weird day. The proper term I think is ‘off’ day, but I think people would get that confused with day off so I’ll just stick to weird. And weird it is, weird it was and probably- weird it will be. It didn’t have to be that way but circumstance was out of my control. Last night was mellow, once again with Bill and Juan manning the couch, me playing the role of ‘guy in computer chair’.

We watched Olbermann and Rachel Maddow followed by the Thursday edition of Weekend Update which was 60% good. The Hall and Oates thing maybe would have been funnier 15 years ago. And the debate could have had 6 questions instead of 8, but then what would you cut? It’s a good thing I don’t work on Saturday Night Live. Yeah, it’s a ‘good’ thing.

Bill went to bed and Juan and I watched The Daily Show then I kicked Juan’s butt out and went to bed myself. Hopefully he got home alright. Woke up tried to take my time but somehow wound up getting to work about 10 minutes earlier. I must have stepped into a worm hole somewhere. Got to the office, no one in.

It’s a Friday and the expected number was 5 and eventually the other 4 came in. Me and Vivek on my team. It’s getting weird I tell ya.

In the lobby of the building they play a lot of songs from the 1970’s. This morning I heard Dream Weaver by Gary Wright. It brought me back in a Proustian rush to the edge of puberty back then. No, I’ve never read Proust but I think I get the gist of it. No madelaine for me thanks.

In Search of Lost Time is one of those classics that I will never get around to reading, especially if I have a New Yorker subscription. I did try reading Ulysses by James Jones a few times, but never got past page 48 each time. Don’t ask me what happened in those 48 pages since it was maybe 25 years ago when I had literary ambitions.

Anyway, Dream Weaver was prominent in my memory, and I was dealing with feelings that were unknown to me before that. It was 1976 and puberty was down the road. As I wrestled with what was happening to my body and my mind the radio was on and Dream Weaver is what I will forever associate the adolescent feelings with.

I also remember a specific night when my sister was coming back from Aspen I think late at night and my family went to Newark airport to pick her up. This was before 9/11 when you could still walk right to the gate. It was late for me and I was an emotional wreck. I remember crying when I saw my sister walking towards us.

I was happy to see her definitely but I think I came to the realization today, that I was also crying because she was probably the only person I felt I could talk to at that time, though I never did talk to her about what was going on within me. I couldn’t talk to anyone and since I was in catholic school, sex education was out of the question. So in effect I had no one to talk to, not even the person I was probably closest to.

All that from 3 minutes and 45 seconds.

Seems like a quiet night tonight. Juan is probably in Trenton and Bill is at some rehearsal so he might just stay at his mother’s apartment in Stuyvesant Town. Got the new Mojo and Uncut and the latest New Yorker that Harpy said was very good and once again he’s right, dammit!

This is from BettiCola

And a big round of applause for Connecticut!
California still needs help though, the haters are gaining ground so
NO ON PROPOSITION 8!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Yay Connecticut!

Well it’s a Sunday and it’s quite a nothing Sunday despite the sun finally coming out. It rained last night so there’s a dampness in the air. Last night Bill and I watched Dexter, and I sort of forgotten how good it is. Bill and I are quite enamored of the show and both think Michael C. Hall is really a very good actor.

Then we watched Saturday Night Live which was really good. They are certainly on point this season. I hope they can carry the momentum once past the elections. Of course Tina Fey as Sarah Palin was spot on. The Killers were the musical guest, also good as was Anne Hathaway hosting and Queen Latifah as Gwen Ifill- the moderator of the debates. I wound up staying awake watching Lost until 1:45, falling fast asleep as my head hit the pillow.

Slept until 9:30 and that felt nice. Bill was off to church and I was soon in the supermarket getting the papers. Saw Julio and Stine and the star of the show, Alexander once again. He’s getting more adorable each time I see him. And he seems to light up whenever I’m around. Of course I only see him maybe once a week so he each time he sees me, this exotic creature, it’s something new.

I gave them the John Lennon New York City baby t shirt I bought at the art and music festival last week. It’s for 12 months and he’s only 6 months. Which means I should see if Stine could take a picture of Alexander wearing the outfit my sister sent them a few months ago.

From then on it was pretty much a day of not much. Walked around Hoboken, finished the New Yorker from 2 weeks ago, and also picked up the 40th Anniversary issue of New York. I watched some of ‘From G’s to Gents’ on MTV. Basically the premise is taking thuggish young men and putting them in suits and ties and teaching them to speak and behave like well mannered adults.

Think of it as My Fair Gangsta. It was mindless and just some background noise actually. Probably the only ‘reality’ show I’ve seen this year.

Tonight I’m going to McSwells to see the Bird and the Bee with my brother Frank and two of his friends. We’re even having some dinner together which should be interesting. I don’t think I’ve eaten in a restaurant with my brother since 1999, though it is odd to think of McSwells as a restaurant. It should make for an interesting time I think.

Just killing time right now. Not going to show up on time since Frank rarely is. But he is being picked up by a friend of his and I have no idea about how prompt or tardy the friend is. Like I said, it’s been a lazy day and there’s really no rush.

Listening to the sounds of Hoboken and watching the sunset is where it’s at for me at this present moment.

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Ok, just got back from McSwells, The Bird and The Bee put on a very good show. She’s so personable. In a different day and age I would have told Steve Fallon to get them to do a residency and play McSwells every Sunday night for a month.

Had dinner with my brother and two of his friends. Not the interesting conversation I had hoped for. Mumbly 50 somethings. Between the three of them they were all inept when paying the check and I wound up paying $50.00 for a meat loaf platter and 2 pints of Guinness.

Really hopeless 50 somethings the three of them. Frank gets a pass because of his stroke, but really embarrassingly inept the other two. If they were scamming, they got me good.

I was so annoyed though that I almost didn’t go to the show. Luckily the band was that good they took me out of my bad space and put me in a better space. At one point I went out for a smoke, a young guy followed me.

Nothing like that, mind you. Just two smokers smoking. He just turned 21 two weeks ago and was having a good time. Said it was his first time in a club, never drank underage or anything like that. Went to military school and all that.

It was his first time at McSwells and he asked me if I had ever been there before. I said I used to work there back in the day. He asked what day was that? Thursday?

He then went and tried to hit on two girls also out for a smoke and I went inside. Pints are now $6.00 and forget about buy backs from the douche bags behind the bar. No more tips for them.

If someone brings up an Obama/Bill Ayers connection, just ask them about the McCain/G. Gordon Liddy the convicted felon and his plans for murder connection.

Here’s Hoboken.
or Manhattan from Hoboken