Tag Archives: Alan Bennett

Hairdresser On Fire

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Well yesterday was fraught with nerves. Me snapping at Harpy, me joining a Facebook group dedicated to the Manhunt Boycott, posting a comment there only to have it deleted. The guy from Quebec who now resides in New York decided what I had to say was bound to distract from the topic of the boycott.

I thought if he had mentioned his problem with it to me I would have reworded it but he didn’t, it was his prerogative to do so. So after being censored on Manhunt, and then censored again by the Boycott of Manhunt group which was less than Jake, I quit his group and started my own which was my intention in the first place.

Jake was awfully nice to allow me to repost but by then I had left his group. Basically I was fired up and felt I had no support from people that I expected support from. C’est la vie. I’m over it. I have three people in my Facebook group, Boycott Manhunt.net and that’s fine by me. I’m quite apathetic on the subject today.

I don’t really give a damn. I got way too worked up on it. I would like to think I won’t get worked up on political matters again, but who knows? I’m sure there’s something down the line which will light my fire again. Too much passion. And the William S. Burroughs paraphrase was off putting to those who don’t or can’t think for themselves.

Woke up feeling not so bad physically but mentally I just wanted to stay in bed. I had to go to work since from what I heard yesterday, they are totally inept without me. Got to the office early. Been leaving the apartment a little before 7:00, no sign of Casey. Bill ran into the Caseys last night while he was at the laundry. Perhaps he’s been leaving later.

In any event I’ve been plowing through the New Yorker, and I’m almost done with it. I’m also in the Afterword part of Rip It Up by Simon Reynolds and Alan Bennett is patiently waiting in the wings. Got to the office, I was the first in. Got an email that someone was going to be late since he had gone out drinking with a coworker who was let go yesterday.

Not for doing anything wrong, he was doing a good job, it’s just that there’s no money. Greg Stevens once again reassured me that my job was not in any danger. Vivek flew to India to try to get some more money.

They have a plan to try something which if it doesn’t work by the end of the year, the company will possibly sink. I’ll hang in there, and see how it turns out. So now I work with five people whereas last year it was ten people.

The benefit of selling myself short. Don’t make enough money to be of any concern to the powers that be.

I did find a check for $78,000 on my desk this morning, but alas, it was not for me. Now it’s lightning and thundering outside.

Bill just came home and I’m tired. That’s all for now.

Smell ya later.

PS- Hello Sandy Allen, a song by Split Enz. Sandy Allen was the tallest woman in the world. She died yesterday. Split Enz wrote a song about her and her positive spirit after meeting her when she and the group were on the same talk show in the 1980’s.

No video for Hello Sandy Allen, but this is from the same album

I Don’t Need No Doctor

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Last night was a wee bit intense. Juan came by after going head to head and toe to toe with both his mother and his father. He was fairly livid when he came by and I did my best to chill him out. Ninety minutes of Weeds and a half hour with a London call girl did the trick or at least that is what I had hoped.

He also used the computer and I was silently amazed at how fast he can type. Then again he was basically raised with a computer keyboard underneath his fingers. His words per minute skills must be close to triple digits. Impressive. I did have to kick his ass out so that I could get ready to go to sleep. He understood, he’s good like that.

Also chatted for a bit with Song in Sydney. He got his visa and should be back in the states next month. It would be good to see him and Ray again. Been a while. Last time they were in town I fell ill.

Slept really well, good old air conditioner humming along as I slept. I didn’t want to get out of bed, but of course that is what I had to do. I was out the door before 7:00 again and got on a soon to be crowded bus.

I sat in my usual spot and read An Uncommon Reader by Alan Bennett, author of The History Boys among others. He’s a favorite author lately. This is about the Queen taking up reading which she never had time for before. That description doesn’t do it justice, but it’s not much more complicated than that. It’s an entertaining novella and after starting it yesterday I am almost finished with it. I’m so lucky to have the library just down the street.

Oh what an idiot day I’ve had. Work was busy, Tom Chin out of the office and John could you do this, John can you do that all day long. Not that I minded, not at all. It makes the day go faster and makes me feel somewhat needed. Vivek, the managing director and Greg Stevens the president of the company were getting a letter together to send out and I had to rewrite it an proof it a few times.

Unlike this blog where I sometimes post without fully checking for errors, I sometimes go back and make the necessary corrections after it’s been published. Today with Greg and Vivek I looked like a buffoon. They’d make edits, I’d work them into what I was writing and occasionally I’d omit something that they would point out after I printed out the letter.

I did my best and tomorrow is the day they go out so I’ll be bringing a fine toothed comb to the office.

But the thing that was the most idiotic was truly my fault. I’ve had some problems with the eyeglasses I got in November of last year. I had them fixed, then there was a problem with the lenses. So I brought them back after Evan, the nice guy who may or may not have a ‘thing’ for me was going to have a new pair made.

The lenses came in last week and he told me to bring in the frames. I said that I didn’t have the frames, that I left them with him. He looked and looked but they weren’t there in the shop. I wound up getting a whole new pair of glasses which I got today.

They look great, better than the old pair. As I was dealing with Greg and Vivek, I was cleaning up my desk getting ready to go home. I open a drawer and find an eyeglass case. I open it and what do I find, but the eyeglasses I said I left with Evan.

Oh I laughed through my horror, my idiocy. I guess I have to do the right thing and bring back the old pair that was missing and tell him it was all my fault.

I’m an idiot.

Tonight, I’m going to McSwells again. What is this? The eighties? I’m meeting with my friend Lois to discuss music since I am DJ’ing at her wedding party at the Rainbow Lodge in Walton NY on August 2. Then I’m meeting my brother Frank to see the Individuals reunion.

Oh but tomorrow, going back to Evan, humble and apologetic. Years ago, I would have had the ‘get over’ attitude, nowadays, I just want to do what is right.

And that means eating humble pie.