Annemarie | johnozed

It’s a dreary gray Friday afternoon. I got out of work around 2:30 this afternoon and rather than walk across midtown enjoying a birthday cigar I took a subway which I rarely do. It was raining but not hard enough to warrant an umbrella since I only had to walk a block or so.

Now I have that ‘I might have napped too long’ feeling despite the fact I didn’t really have a restful nap. Phone calls and phone buzzing kept interrupting. Missed a birthday greeting from Chaz, but earlier I did speak with my sister Annemarie, as well as a voice mail from her and my nephew Earl.

Also heard from Queen Jane Approximately, Constant Connie, Sweet Sarah and Brenda Bubbles, Adorable Adrienne and Lovely Rita and Harpy and Julio and Stine with a picture of that adorable little man, Alexander.

Text messages from assorted nieces and maybe my brother Brian or his son Brian. I just can’t tell. Actually I can tell. I just checked and it was from my brother. My other brother Frank hasn’t called and that means if he doesn’t call later, he will call on the weekend and feel bad about not calling on my birthday.

It’s not a big deal. It would have been years ago. It might have been last year. But this year? Eh, no biggie. Last year Bill gave me a saucepan for a birthday present. I found it an odd present since I’m not much of a cook or a foodie.

I don’t watch the Food Network, or Armenia’s Next Top Chef or Gordon Ramsey or whatever. But since the spot where I get my penne, pesto and chicken in Manhattan, Cafe Fonduta went under I have been lacking pesto in my life.

So having watched the guys prepare the pesto, I think I can do it myself and finally have a reason to break out that sauce pan. It’s still in the box. I figure I can take a teaspoon of pesto, some heavy cream, some olive oil and imitate the guys. Or I can try to look it up online somewhere.

Perhaps there’s a video on YouTube that shows the How To.
Or perhaps you dear reader, would have a recipe to make a nice pesto sauce.

Bill just came home and we’re going to go out for some steaks at Arthur’s steakhouse on Washington Street. Hopefully it will be better than last year, when we went for my birthday after a few other things going wrong earlier in the day.

My churlishness towards the saucepan (embarrassing 365 days later) and the fact that some disgruntled mail room worker wished that I would die since I had decided to smoke a Padron and walk along Park Avenue during my lunch hour.

Birthday wishes also came from some new Facebook friends (Andres et al.) as well as a dear friend, Betti Cola. It’s still raining and my bones are tired after tossing and turning in the late gray afternoon but in a few minutes Bill and I will head over to Arthur’s where hopefully they will have their credit card machines up and running, unlike last year.

Just got back, excellent dinner with Bill. Arthur’s wasn’t too crowded, credit card machine in order and I was caught by surprise with a few waitresses singing Happy Birthday to me with a wonderful slice of chocolate mousse cake with a candle on top. I turned a thousand shades blushing.

A walk around Washington Street followed, me finally enjoying my birthday cigar in the misty evening.

That seems to be it for the day. Loveliness abounds.

Here’s some quite recent snaps as well as something else. Thank you for your good wishes

and here I thought I wasn’t going to write tonight!

“People the world over have always been more impressed by the power of our example than by the example of our power. “ Bill Clinton said that last night. Bill and I watched the convention again. A rousing speech by Clinton & John Kerry. But Beau Biden introducing his father was touching as was the embrace by Joe Biden when he came out for his speech.

Really a beautiful moment. I don’t recall my father ever hugging me like that, then again I don’t recall my father hugging me at all.

I sincerely hope that Barack Obama wins the election in November. I can’t afford to be optimistic but I can be hopeful. One of the most depressing days in my life was when John Kerry lost the election in 2004. I certainly don’t want to go through that again. But watching Obama come out after Joe Biden’s speech was electrifying.

I just think it would be phenomenal if he would win. A black man as President of the United States was something I thought I would see in my lifetime, just didn’t expect it so soon, and now that it’s a distinct possibility it really gives me a hopeful feeling. And whatever ambivalent feelings I may have towards Joe Biden have fallen by the wayside.

I didn’t know his story before and now that I do I am impressed. I stayed up and watched the entire convention last night. We’ve been watching it on CSPAN, rather than MSNBC. Occasionally we catch it on PBS, but CSPAN doesn’t have commentators, just a nonstop camera on the stage. No talking heads there. No advertisements. And it’s up to us to make up our own minds thank you very much.

Woke up around 8:00 which was pleasant. Went out got the papers, went to the supermarket. Did laundry, talked with Angry Juan who was very angry. Not at me, but rather mad at the world. It’s a good thing they have a cooling off period when buying firearms. Not that he bought firearms.

But if he did…

I went into the city, saw Bill, saw my friend Jesse and watched a building on fire, or rather watched a fire being put out on top of a building. I was going to head down to Farfetched and came close to jumping on the subway but wandered around midtown instead and went back home.

I had other things to do, co-edit the other blog and see if my sister got the Mets souvenir visor I bought at Shea Stadium on her birthday. Heard from Song who was asking me if I wanted to have dinner with him and Ray in the city, but since I was mere feet away from the bus terminal I passed.

I had hoped to meet up with Song and Ray when they were in town but things being what they are, it didn’t work out. I found out Raphael Saadiq was playing the South Street Seaport tomorrow night and I am definitely going to that. I saw Raphael Saadiq last in 2000 on tour in Lucy Pearl.

He was so magnetic on stage and when he smiled I could have sworn he was smiling right at me. Who knows? Maybe he was. I was smiling at him thats for sure. Anyway, that’s where I will be tomorrow night. Last show of the season at the Seaport, featuring Raphael Saadiq.

Do youself a favor and check out his website: http://www.raphaelsaadiq.com/ I just love his voice, ever since hearing him sing with his cousin and brother in Tony Toni Tone. Good for the soul. I’m psyched!

Here are some pics!

This afternoon’s fire