Tag Archives: Bill

Hold Me Tight

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A beautiful day today. A bit blustery though. An ambivalent day for me as well. Just feeling meh. No word from the interview yesterday but I wasn’t expecting that.

In the back of my mind there was the hope of them calling me up and saying, ‘You! John Ozed! It is you that we want! It is you that we need! So much so that we want you to write for us! We’ve seen your blog but we don’t care!’

Of course the phone didn’t ring. It did notify me that I had some texts coming in. I decided to take advantage of the beautiful day and head out with the guitar and play by Pier A.

After tying up my newspapers (which broke open of the third floor leaving me to sit on the floor and retie them up) I wandered over to the Guitar Bar where I found that Jim Mastro was en route to England to do a short tour with Ian Hunter.

No matter though when he gets back I would like to ask him to show me how to play a song or two. I just can’t figure some songs out, despite YouTube, despite watching Stine play it. I think having Jim or one of his associates show me how to play would do the trick.

I wandered over to Pier A where there weren’t too many people out. There were some on the grass and of course there were clusters of cigarette smokers outside the Wylie building. I practiced my repertoire, All My Loving, Instant Karma, Don’t Play That Song.

Tariq showed up but didn’t take his guitar out. He was just hanging, encouraging me to keep playing. I tried Visions of Johanna, Panic by the Smiths, Gangsters and Do Nothing by the Specials, and my tour de force, Hercules by Elton John.

Also trying to figure out and commit to memory, (Love is Like a) Heatwave by Martha and the Vandellas.

I’m trying to get 10 to 15 songs that I know inside out that I can perhaps play for tourists in Central Park. That’s for the warmer weather and also depends on whether or not I have a job.

Once the sun went behind the Wylie building it got a lot cooler out so I just packed up and walked to a bench that was a it sunnier and sat there, staring at the Carnival Miracle luxury liner cruising down the Hudson while I smoked a cigar.

Went to the supermarket, bought juice and picked up Bill’s laundry and dry cleaning. So while the day has been mired in the humdrum I’ve been keeping myself busy. Last night I picked up a CD from the bibliothèque, Big Star .#1 Record / Radio City.

I’ve heard it in bits and pieces over the years but never got my own copy. So the bibliothèque came through and toady I returned that and took out the latest Madness release, The Liberty of Norton Folgate. Both are good CD’s.

I also ordered the latest release from MGMT and Hot Chip as well as a boxed collection of Big Star (which was Alex Chilton’s former group). Promises to be another quiet night, not much going on. Comedy on NBC which is something to look forward to.

That’s about it on this end, how are things on your end? I know besides Harpy and Annemarie responding it’s unlikely anyone else will.

Friggin’ lurkers.

ambivalance

ambivalance


a sunny ambivalance

a sunny ambivalance


Hold On Tight

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It’s been a busy day somewhat for me today. Not as busy as yesterday and not as much fun either. Today was an interview. Didn’t get too worked up about it and was able to prepare for it at a casual pace. Got my resumes, my references and my photo ID together.

Dropped off a suit on Monday to get pressed and patched up as well as a shirt that needed a patch. Well the patch on the shirt was a bad idea, not because of the tear in the shirt, but rather because it’s a French cuff shirt and the cuff was frayed somewhat.

A letdown of sorts but luckily for me I have a few other shirts to wear. I had hoped to print out a few copies of my resume and references on Bill’s computer but it wasn’t working at all. This turns out to be the reason why Bill punched his computer a few weeks ago.

It was completely not working today. I had a Plan B lined up though. After getting suited up and polishing my shoes I headed up to Washington Street and walked to a store called The Office. Computer access and printing can be done there.

I re-did the references on Google Documents so all I would have to do was log in at The Office. I was assigned the third computer on the right and since there were 5 computers on the right I picked the one in the middle which made sense.

Logged into Google and into Documents and tried to print out a few copies. Nothing came out, not even the window for printing. It was about 1:50 and my interview was at 3:00. I walked up to the counter where I couldn’t find any help.

Finally the guy who assigned the computer to me came in after loading the parking meter with quarters. He had me log onto the computer at the counter which I did and explained to him I only needed 5 copies. What color? What paper stock? Black & white and plain paper.

Tried to use the copier in the store to make some copies of my resume as well. Now you need to purchase a card to use the copier and my dollar bill kept getting rejected. They made the copies behind the counter and altogether it cost me $1.40, but cost me more in aggravation.

I mentioned my experience with The Office with Rand who invited me to come over and do the stuff at his apartment but it was too late. Rand knew all about the way the Office is set up.

I did give myself enough time to be early for the interview and was soon on a Path train to the World Trade Center station at 2:25. Luckily for me the office where I was interviewing was a block away from the station.

The security desk in the street lobby gave me my pass as well as his story about how is ankle was all fucked up. All the security guys have fucked up ankles from working in the lobby of the former AT&T building.

I waited upstairs and Joan eventually came out. It was a good interview with Joan. Nice woman, told me about her father’s passing a few months ago. He had Alzheimer’s. After about 20 minutes with Joan I was introduced to Elaine.

The three of us sat in the interview room and I think I answered all the questions correctly, telling them the truth and what they wanted to hear, which turned out to be the truth. I think the interview went well. Maybe even a home run.

Of course they have other people they have to meet. I shook their hands and told them I hope to hear from them.

Walked around downtown for a little while, bought a La Flor Dominicana cigar at Barclay Rex and talked to a couple of other cigar smokers.

Then a short walk back to the Path train. I think the whole afternoon went well.

Game face.

Game face.