Today is Thursday, February 13, 2025 and it is 46°, which isn’t so bad but I am indoors and probably won’t be out again until tomorrow. It’s been a mediocre day mostly. Not much to report. When I last wrote in my blank book 42 years ago I was mostly hanging out in Bergen County. I glanced at an entry from when I was 20 years old.

My friendship with the guy who lived on Lanza Ave in Garfield, Perry- was deteriorating rapidly. I read about stopping by his house and he was going out. His brother Darren invited me to hang out with him but I didn’t. That was a weird thing. Darren and his buddy, (I’ll call him Rusty because I think he had red hair) were gay. Gay recognized Gay back then but it was unspoken.

Darren was very handsome, not my type but still…

Perry’s sister Tina and her husband Kenny, lived two blocks away from my house on Riverview Ave and their apartment was an occasional hang out. Mainly smoking pot though I think cocaine was introduced once during those days. Mainly it was hanging out, smoking pot, and listening to records.

One time, Darren and Rusty were there with Tina, Kenny, and Perry. Something was said which was interpreted with a gay slant from Darren & Rusty & myself and we giggled quite a bit. The other three did not get what we were laughing at and being in 3 separate closets, we didn’t say anything.

Once the friendship between Perry and myself was severed I never saw Tina and Kenny again. Frank and Elaine lived in the same apartment complex at the time and one time Tina saw Frank and told him to pass along a message that whatever happened between Perry and myself could be forgotten, and I was always welcomed at Tina and Kenny’s spot.

But I wasn’t going back. I was going to Hoboken more and more and having a much better time there with people who liked me for who I was, there was no need to pretend to be something I wasn’t. And the music was so much better at Maxwell’s than on Main Street in Lodi.

I did run into Darren once after the falling out with Perry. I drove by the rest area, a cruising spot near Riverview Ave. It was during the day and I was completing a run from Saddle Brook NJ to midtown Manhattan. I recognized Darren’s car and we wound up on Riverview Ave, just talking for a short while.

The only time that Perry or his family were mentioned was when Darren pleaded with me to not say anything about Darren being gay.

I kept my end of the bargain which is more than I could say for Perry, who I came out to and asked him to not say anything. He said something to his girlfriend who we worked with and she told two friends and so on and so on. I stayed silent on Darren (and Rusty). I did go to the funeral for Darren, Perry, and Tina’s mother when she passed away from cancer.

After that, I was bound to Hoboken and friends there. Perry was the first person I came out to and he betrayed me. The second person I came out to was Jet Watley who supported me and proved to be a far better friend, whom I had many adventures with.

Sad to say Darren Dedovitch eventually died from AIDS and I think Rusty died soon after that. I have no idea if Darren died in the closet. It would have been a shame if he did.

36° Wednesday evening in Bohoken. It’s been an interesting 48 hours. I had done something I had never done before. I was number 45 and an extra on a TV show that was shooting in Lower Manhattan. Bill has done these things a few times and yesterday was my first.

Bill wasn’t doing it yesterday, I was going it alone. Bill’s guidance and suggestions definitely came in handy. At his direction, so to speak, I made some sandwiches because in the holding area, there is a hierarchy to eating lunch, and my class of employee was at the bottom.

There was enough food though. I went to bed early on Monday night, around 10 PM. Bill was on the road as I fell asleep. There was a plan for Bill to get access to the company La Carre, but that fell through. The alarm went off at 3:45 AM and somehow I had the foresight to set a different alarm for 4:00 AM.

I was stumbling around the apartment, showered, had one cup of coffee from the full pot that Bill programmed, and a jelly donut. I put on a charcoal gray pinstriped suit from Ralph Lauren which looks sharp if you don’t look too closely.

I wasn’t sure if I remembered how to tie a tie, but my four-in-hand skill came through to my chagrin. I don’t recall the last time I was up and active at 4 AM, I certainly don’t recall the last time without artificial stimulation.

The Hoboken PATH station is shut down for much-needed repairs for a few weeks. There are scheduled shuttles to nearby stations in Jersey City but they weren’t scheduled to start until the time I was supposed to be at the day’s location on Liberty Street.

That meant I needed to use a rideshare and it was fine. The car was on time and though I usually chat a bit with the driver, it was too early and I hadn’t had enough coffee to engage in conversation. I got out of the car at Exchange Place and descended the elevator and stood on the platform waiting for the next WTC train.

More people than I expected but I really had no clue. And the train was crowded but that didn’t matter since it was only a 10-minute ride from New Jersey to Lower Manhattan. It was still dark out at 5:30, and no one else was on Broadway.

I liked it though I was guessing at where I was supposed to go. I scanned the map online a few times so I had a general idea. I got to the sidewalk of where I was supposed to be but not the entrance of where I was supposed to be.

I lingered and eventually asked a woman by a door and asked her if she was with the show. She wasn’t. She worked construction but pointed me in the direction of where I should go, a security desk down a ramp. I signed in and was sent to the holding area.

There were a handful of people and we were there before the people who were to sign us in for the job. They showed up and I sat at a table which filled up with nice enough people. Some were union, others were non-union like me. I could have gotten some coffee but I didn’t think about it.

To pass the time I pulled out the blank book which was last written, on October 16, 1983. About 2 years after it started. It wasn’t like this here blog, with a near-daily entry. Some friends were made, some friends fell off, and some friends died. My world, while a bit more expanded than the people in the world I was in then, was still quite limited. I was still in the closet to most everyone except the guys I was fooling around with.

I felt like an anachronism putting pen to paper while everyone else was on their phones, tablets, or laptops. I eventually put it away and pulled out my phone. We were called out to a plaza where it was February, cold and damp and a touch windy.

I was set up with a young man from Ukraine, Stepan. He was a good guy, still learning the English language. We got along nicely and did what we were told, which was to stand here and look there. Now do it a few times. Then wait until this or that could be done. Yes, there is a lot of waiting around. I’d like to know what that’s like when the weather is nicer but this was not that.

Still, I got through it. Stepan, a few years younger than me seemed to be in considerable discomfort. The time crawled and we, the people were shuffled around, to holding, to the street, back to holding then back to the street, this time to walk around back and forth so the drone camera could shoot some footage.

That gave my group the name of ‘the drone people’ which came in handy when we were back in holding and spread out among other extras. They could just yell out ‘I need the drone people’ and about a dozen of us would follow their lead.

There was a problem with the herders. They weren’t public speakers and it was difficult to hear them direct or instruct us as a group. I usually followed the people I recognized and followed them.

Lunch appeared and the hierarchy was in place. Union first, crew next, and then the plebes. There was enough for everyone and I held back since I did have a sandwich that Bill suggested I take and I did and I ate it.

Things wound down after that, it was around 2 PM. A few more walking down the street scenes where I made the acquaintance of a gent named Chris who was funny and affable. We had a few laughs and we strolled up and down Liberty Street.

Then it was back in and after a short while, some of us were dismissed. I hoped to see Chris again to say adieu but he was nowhere to be found. I was back on the PATH to Exchange Place. A very nice bus, Van Hool which Bill has driven. I was the only one on the bus besides the driver for about 15 minutes.

Then it was back in Hoboken. I had been up for about 12 hours and not much coffee. The cold and damp did a number on my legs and they felt stiff as I walked home. Then it was four flights up before I was able to relax and decompress.

Bill came home after that, and Mike called eager to hear how the day went. Bill was understanding and knew exactly how the day went on a set. Mike was most attentive. I’ll do it again if asked.

Since I was a businessman type, I wore the suit I wrote about earlier, some shoes and thin socks which generally are fine on cold days provided you have somewhere to go and won’t be outside too long. But no, next time if the climate is anything like yesterday, I’ll wear thicker socks, which won’t be seen on camera anyhow. Lesson learned!