Category Archives: the day after yesterday

I Can’t Go For That (No Can Do)

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A Saturday in the cigar shack which went well overall. No punching taxi cabs or telling little old ladies to shut up. Once again despite the fact that I took 2 melatonin tablets last night I did not sleep that well last night. Maybe it was because of the heat or maybe it was because I just could not get a proper sleep. I don’t know.

The day did start with disappointment. A donut on the kitchen table that I was thinking about as I lay in that state between sleep and actually waking up was gone when I walked into the kitchen. Bill ate it. Yes I was pissed but decided to let it go, after all what could I do?

Bill was on a bus with his crush, Fred en route to Boston. I can’t get any decent time off to go to the beach with Bill but if Fred asks Bill to jump, Bill says ‘how high?’ AT least that’s how it seems to me. Regardless this is how it is. Fred (who had relationships with Bill’s friend Margaret and Rand’s wife Lisa, both of which ended badly mind you)will always be the leading light in Bill’s light. I remain in shadow.

Of course Fred is straight, making him unobtainable as far as I know and everyone always wants what they can’t have so Bill will always want Fred. I’m just old dependable. Bill could always say the same thing about Pedro and me. So I guess that makes us even somewhat.

I do know Bill loves me and I certainly love him. I was just a bit bitter when I wrote that earlier.
I am much calmer now and safe at home.

Right now, Jerry Vale stands near me, not saying anything, just twirling his eyeglasses in his hand with his other hand in his pocket. I think he wants to use this computer but he hasn’t asked for it and as you can probably tell I am in the middle of writing this. I think Jerry Vale might be afraid or at least intimidated by me. I don’t really care.

Sad about Amy Winehouse. I had hoped she would clean up her act and prove some people wrong, but I guess she was doomed to the inevitable overdose. I almost played Back In Black but felt maybe it would be too soon. But maybe not.

Blondie, Parallel Lines is on right now and perhaps after Fade Away & Radiate I switch over to Amy. Working with Thomas was a lot of fun even though he had sinking spirits. He’s fast becoming a favorite co-worker. One more day out of a 5 day stretch. Off Monday and that is when Calvin returns to the cigar shack.

Back on Tuesday and Wednesday then off Thursday which is cool since th3e Guitar Bar All Stars are playing in Hoboken and I really want to see my pseudo daughter before she heads off to college. I guess I will finish this at home.

Planning on taking the Path train in since the bus terminal ramps are under construction and I don’t feel like sitting on a bus for any amount of time.

So I did the smart thing and rode the train to the Path train. Cool, air conditioned, able to sit and read the New Yorker. I even gave up my seat so 2 girlfriends could sit and chat rather than me sitting in between the 2 girls. It was then a walk up Washington Street on a Saturday night, past the bars with people lined up outside to have their ID’s checked by a beefy bouncer.

I am home now, and working tomorrow. I may write tomorrow or I may not. If there is something to write about I will, if not then I won’t.





I Can Hear Music

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I am home, Bill is not. Neither is access to the internet. It’s a Thursday and I just got home from work. Tonight was Thomas’ night to close so I got to leave a little bit earlier than usual. It was not a busy day at all at the cigar shack and it took almost all of my 9 hour shift to break a grand. I wound up in second place behind Thomas but ahead of Bradley.

It was slow going throughout most of the day and since Thomas was controlling the register, meaning it was opened under his name and all sales go directly to him unless you manually change the name, and if you enter the name of the credit card user (which is most everyone) it defaults back to Thomas’ name.

So a few sales went to Thomas and not me. I was able to void a few of those sales and bring them back to my name so that worked out. After a while of doing that I just gave up and let Thomas have whatever sales I lost. The computers are so old and terrible that I sometimes make jokes that they were bought at a garage sale when the Soviet Union collapsed. I’m sure I had written that before but I think it’s a funny joke and worth repeating.

The cigar shack has been repainted, the man cave is now a light brown color and it makes the man cave seem that much more claustrophobic. Even though it was somewhat rainy today I opted to go out for lunch, sitting on a bench near the park.

I enjoyed a cigar as I sat on the Village Voice with AM NY giving cover for my back so I wouldn’t get wet. I know it was drier in the man cave, but I just needed to get out. Despite a few errant drops of rain falling off the leaves of the trees nearby it wasn’t so bad and I was able to read all about the Minutemen in Michael Azzerad’s ‘Our Band Could Be Your Life’.

Man, the Minutemen were my favorite indie/SST band from the 1980’s. I was fortunate enough to see them a few times at Maxwells, one time it being so crowded that I stood next to Rand on the back bar itself since there was no room on the floor. I never said hello to D. Boon, Mike Watt or George Hurley since I always figured I would further down the line.

Then D. Boon died in a car accident and that ended that dream. I played Double Nickels on the Dime by the Minutemen as I read their story and felt really good walking back to the cigar shack. It was nice to get in touch with my punk rock roots and it was a reminder that punk was not just about music, it was about the DIY attitude.

Oddly enough before all that Thomas asked about punk rock and why it was so nihilistic and all sounded the same. It was an odd thing to hear, something that I hadn’t really had to explain in over 30 years, since high school where I was sometimes abused verbally and physically for liking music that was not what my classmates were listening to.

I explained that the Fall doesn’t sound like the Ramones who don’t sound like Television who didn’t sound like The Clash or the Minutemen. I had to keep in mind that Thomas is 25 and his idea of relaxing music is Nat King Cole. Juan is the same age and he gets it. ‘Some people do and some people don’t’ I thought to myself and played the Ramones first album in its 29 minute 17 second glory.