I Get It

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There are times when you just have to put down the smartphone and this is that time. I have been trying to get my smartphone to work properly, chatting with Vanessa at Samsung. We used the last resort. Resetting my phone to factory defaults.

That meant I lost everything, photos, phone numbers, apps and whatnot. And Scrabble. And Netflix. I had two Scrabble games going for the past couple of weeks, won one by forfeit and lost another. It had been years since I last played Scrabble and I wasn’t as ferocious as I used to be. My ass, it was kicked. And I had taken to watching A Hard Day’s Night on Netflix occasionally on my bus ride into the city.

Still by linking my Facebook with my smartphone I was able to get something resembling my contact list again. Some names and numbers are lost, so if you do not hear from me anytime soon, you might want to give me a call. I am drawn to the little handheld device. It occupies my mind and demands my attention. Perhaps it is a waste of time.

Today I was up and about and headed into Manhattan to see the Vivian Maier exhibition at the Howard Greenberg Gallery on east 57th Street. I trooped on in in the 20 something degree weather, sat on a crowded bus, next to the wheel well. I decided not to sit directly on top on the wheel well, sitting on the aisle. Still, I held my bag in my lap should anyone want to sit next to me. No one did so I rode into the city in relative comfort while people stood all around me.

I marched up Eighth Avenue and walked over to the Smoke Scene where I could pick up a pack of roll ups as well as some papers. As I was leaving I was telling the guys behind the counter that I work for the cigar shack and we frequently send them customers since we don’t sell cigarettes.

They were just about to thank me when I heard the sound of a certain security guard with snot running down his face. This guy is a cantankerous old fool who thinks he is funny but really is just overwhelmingly bitter. And here he was covered in mucous trying to be funny once again.

At the cigar shack, Thomas wouldn’t have anything to do with this guard since he overheard him screaming into his phone about how he was going to do his woman in. I walked out of the store, wishing the guys a happy new year and telling the security guard to buy some tissues and wipe his face which would be crusty when he headed out into the cold air. Not that I cared.

I walked on over to 57th and Madison and took the elevator to the fourteenth floor. It was a revelation to see the photographs of Vivian Maier. So many similarities between her photos and the photos I’ve been taking the past few years. Of course I have the ability to post them here on this blog as well as Facebook, whereas Vivian Maier did not have that option.

I wandered around, looking at the 50 or so photographs on the wall and wondered if it was possible to be influenced by someone whose work I had never heard of or seen before. It was a brief visit and I headed out into the cold. I lit a La Flor Dominicana Air Bender and walked down Park Avenue, taking pictures as I was doing on my way to the exhibition.

An homage or perhaps a continuation of the photographs of Vivian Maier. I stopped by Bill’s building and he came down for a quick chat and kiss before heading to the bus terminal where I waited on a very long line.

I didn’t mind, I stood and read Will Hermes ‘Love Goes To Buildings on Fire’ which is a fun book about NYC music in the 1970’s from the Bronx to the Bowery with all stops in between. Recommended!









03 Photograph

I Get Around

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Well just because it is a day off, doesn’t mean it’s going to be all peaches and cream. It started last night, really bad shit. Shit so personal and involved that I won’t get into here but I will tweak your curiosity. And no worries, none of you will ever find out what it is, even if you phone me I won’t tell.

I won’t know how it turns out for another week but it was stressful. Stressful enough that Bill had to take over since I was at wit’s end. He basically became me for an hour on the phone, talking to various supervisors and underlings. With his cool head and my frayed nerves it was all for the best and we arrived at a somewhat satisfactory conclusion though like I said, it won’t be known for at least another week.

Basically, be very very careful with online transactions. I like to think if myself as somewhat computer savvy, but I obviously tripped. And not tripped in the fun way of psilocybin or LSD or even Ecstasy, three methods of which I am well acquainted. But it’s all better now (he cautiously wrote with fingers crossed).

Today was another day spent sleeping in. I mainly stayed in today and surfed the net, readins updates and postings on Facebook. Not much worth watching on Turner Classic Movies as far as I could tell though I didn’t really look past a Dr. Kildare marathon to see what was on after those melodramas. Apparently it goes on until 8:00 when the Paleface with Bob Hope and Jane Russell comes on.

I still have some other movies to watch so I might just do that. I am slowly getting used to watching movies on the computer. Last night on TCM Bill & I watched Close Encounters of the Third Kind which he had never seen from start to finish. I am not sure if he watched the whole movie last night since he was also doing stuff on his computer.

But he was impressed by what he saw, despite the fact that the storm was wreaking havoc with the cable broadcast, with the screen dropping out for a few minutes every so often. When the storm died down the broadcast improved. We also watched part of the Rise of the Planet of the Apes and I can understand how some friends said ‘enough with the CGI’.

True it’s loaded with CGI, and Andy Serkis does a commendable job of wearing the green suit once again, but I had no real problem with it and it did thrill the 12 year old boy inside of me. Bill went to bed before the finale and after that I stayed up watching something on TV before turning in at my usual time.

And so I slept late once again, getting out of bed at the time I am usually about to head out to the bus stop. A tentative plan was underfoot, me hanging out with my niece Corinne for a bit this afternoon. And as an added bonus, my niece Cassie was joining us. A few hours with my favorite nieces who’s name starts with a ‘C’.

It was an eye opening chat as we sat at the local diner eating a late lunch. I was certainly surprised and certainly supportive and told one of my nieces that if she ever needed to talk I would be available to her 24/7 and Bill will be as well. Now it’s another night at home. Bill and I received our invitations to Rand & Lisa’s New Year’s Eve thing. Of course we’re going, it would be foolish not to.




2-13 September Girls