Category Archives: Wonderful World Beautiful People

I Disappear

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I can’t go on, I’ll go on. It’s later than usual, but I have a good excuse as well as a note from my roommate. It’s been a really special day for me today. Truly things were all up up up. It started out nicely, sleeping in as it was my day off. Bill went to work later than usual, and left me a very nice, very sweet birthday card.

I read it while still in bed and it proved to be a most excellent way to start off the day. If only I could start off each day like that, the man I love kissing me goodbye and leaving me a nice card. If only everyone could start off their day like that. Since I did not have any coffee in the apartment I had to get myself together and go out and get some.

It wasn’t so bad and surprisingly I did not kill or maim anyone. As I was doing some shopping a handsome young man approached and said ‘Hey John’. I scanned his face, initially thinking it was someone from the cigar shack, but no, it was from a long time ago.

It was Jason, a kid I used to work with at Right Track in the 1990’s. He was just an assistant engineer then now he’s a father to be as well as an award winning engineer. Despite the lack of coffee we were able to have a nice discussion on things, his impending fatherhood, fixing up his apartment with his wife and his part of Hoboken being under 2 feet of water thanks to Irene.

It was good to see him and we left the store at the same time, Jason offering me a ride home and me telling him I only lived around the block. I came home and had a nice breakfast and of course, made some coffee. After reading the paper and thanking each and every person who wished me Happy Birthday wishes, I did some laundry.

I also heard from Rand who was able to get a few of thousand songs from my old, now deceased computer. We planned to meet around 1:00 so he could give me a flash drive. We were both on time and Rand brought up the idea for a birthday lunch.

Sounded good to me so he then called his wife Lisa and we all met up on Washington Street for some Mexican food at Qdoba. It was my first time there and it was very good. I used to prefer Mission Burrito but the last time I found them to be lackluster. Qdoba was good and the company I kept was better.

After lunch I headed to Mr. L’s to get a haircut but Tony was busy so I went home and took some clothes out of the washing machine and hung them on racks and in the bathroom to dry. I headed out again and Tony was free this time.

About an hour after that I was on the bus heading into Manhattan. Bill asked me to meet him at his office around 5:30 so we met up. We had some really good, really big hamburgers near his office, and then walked around midtown enjoying some cigars. I had no idea what I was in store for, I figured we would be heading back to Hoboken in a little while.

After the cigars we headed back towards Times Square to my surprise. It was so crowded with tourists, but I was following Bill’s lead. We walked past the Palace Theater and Bill said we could stop there. We were going to see Priscilla, Queen of the Desert. I was definitely surprised at that.

I didn’t really have any desire to see the show. I did buy the DVD of the original movie years ago for Bill’s birthday and we both loved it, watching it a few times. This was totally out of left field. We had good seats in the balcony and much to my surprise again, I loved it.

It was just as good as the movie, even more visceral. There were times where my eyes welled up a bit. I was blown away at the end as was Bill. So damn good and the ending to a very good day. Perfectly magical.



And thanks for all the good wishes my friends!

I Cigni Di Balaka

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I just got back from seeing Bill at Le Poisson Rouge in ‘Destinations’ once again. It was enjoyable once more. I decided to sit further back from the stage so I can take a few photographs and not interfere with anyone’s sightlines. I wasn’t supposed to and Bill didn’t know anything about it.

I know the staff at Le Poisson Rouge didn’t care since they asked me while I was taking photographs if I wanted something to drink. It was an entertaining show and it was a lot tighter than it was when I saw it initially. Of course I saw it on opening night, or rather opening afternoon.

I took several hundred photos, so many that my camera was getting hot. And seeing it a second time, it felt a lot faster. I could easily see it becoming an off Broadway show and perhaps with some fine tuning it could even be a Broadway show, though if a show like Passing Strange which did boffo box office off Broadway and faded too quickly on Broadway, maybe the chances for an original rock and roll show on Broadway isn’t the way to go. Hedwig & the Angry Inch did very well off Broadway too, though I never saw it there.

We had a nice dinner at a restaurant around the corner, Rocco’s. Bill and the cast ate there last night and Bill liked it so much that of course he wanted to take me tonight. Then a walk around part of the West Village. I hung outside of McDonalds while Bill ran in and used the bathroom. It was a long wait and of course Bill had to buy something, so he bought a hamburger to give to a homeless person.

Then another long wait on Eighth Street where Bill got his hat cleaned. I waited for a while then told Bill I was going to Barnes & Noble across the street. I browsed for a while and was followed by the security guard while I scoped out them music books slim selection. I was hoping to get back to Hoboken before the sun went down and at 8:00 I knew it would be dark when we returned to New Jersey. That was alright, just a slight crimp in my plans.

Bill didn’t know that cleaning his hat would take so long. We walked through Hoboken, bars getting crowded, outdoor seating at the restaurants were pretty much full. Good business in Hoboken. We came home, and once inside I set about uploading a ton of photos, over 400 that I took at Destinations. Then I posted them to Facebook which took a while.

Bill and I were just settling in when I got a message on Facebook from Bill’s cousin. She tried to get in touch with Bill on his phone but it was dead and getting charged up in another room. Bill’s mother was rushed by ambulance to the hospital after getting very sick. I told Bill the news and he went into full panic mode and headed out the door to the Path train, back into the city.

I offered to go with him, but he told me I should stay home in case he needs something. So here I sit, phone nearby. Other than the last hour, it’s been a really good day. Perhaps it still is, maybe Bill’s mom will be diagnosed with something that isn’t too bad. All we have is hope.






Gangs of New York











The one that calls itself Shack Master commented again on the previous post. This time he said that if he was a monkey from Kiev, he would take into consideration my poor attitude and lack of ambition and wouldn’t think he could trust me to check ID’s.

Wow, Miss Shack Thing has really gotten bitchy!