Tag Archives: Elaine

Don’t Tell Mama

Oh it’s Wednesday and it’s been merely alright. Of course there was room for improvement but I wouldn’t know where to begin. Most likely I would begin on Thursday. Pet peeve time. I usually zoom around the city, I’m a fast walker.

In never ceases to fail that I can pick someone who maybe be 20 feet away from me that they will stop exactly where I need to walk. Every single time. It’s almost like they see me coming and think, “See that big guy, 6’2” coming in our direction? I’m going to stand right here and I don’t care if he’s bigger than me.”

I’m convinced that people are getting dumber. Even in the bus terminal. It’s so much easier to push the door rather than pull it, but 9 times out of 10 they pull. I wait until it’s clear then I push making it easier for all those behind me.

Last night was ok. Bill came home after my niece Corinne dropped me off. Gave her and her mother Elaine a nice big hug and kiss before I climbed the 4 flights of steps to my apartment. Bill came home a little after that and told me of his plans for me to write a play that they could work on for the workshop he attends.

Sounds like a good idea but I was trying to figure out what I should write. He mentioned 10 pages should be enough and that’s the rule of thumb, one minute for every page. It’s mainly an African American theater group but Bill says that doesn’t matter.

I’m sure I could write something color blind, but I think it might lean to existentialism and I don’t know how that would go over. I’m thinking like maybe a Beckett play. Write now I am writing about writing which could be a line of thought, a one person play.

Still looking for things to do. I did go out on a personal errand. I need hair gel. As usual the things I use seem to be on the way to being discontinued. I like hair gel and where I bought a few jars of it last year, now they’re unavailable online.

So I walked from 50th and Third Avenue to 36th Street. That’s where I almost ran into the various people in my way.

At one point as I was waiting for a light to change, some handsome young man in a truck says, ‘Hey hows it going?” I say, ‘It’s good. How about yourself?’ ‘Good good’ he says, adding ‘Are you still working over there?’ I say, ‘No man, I’m working over here now’

The light changed and he was on his way. Turns out he was a fling from many years ago, Jose. Still handsome and hot but he was the passenger in a delivery van so it obviously couldn’t get much further than a 30 second chat.

I didn’t figure out who he was until I was in the line to get my hair gel. And that was odd. The bill came to $6.13 and I had $6.12. I asked if they had a save a penny/leave a penny and she looked at me as if I was speaking Latin.

All I had was a $10.00 bill and wound up with a pocket full of change which seems to be heard by anyone standing on the street asking for change.

Another interesting thing happened to me while I was running around outside. I’m heading back to my office building when an attractive woman jumps in front of me.

She asks where I got the suit I was wearing and I tell her Syms, where an educated consumer is their best customer. She asks if I ever heard of Tom James. I did and ask if it was the maker of bespoke suits and it was. She tells me I look good and asks for my card which I gave her in exchange for hers.

I’d love a bespoke suit, which is basically a suit made from scratch. You pick out the fabric and they make it according to your size and tastes and will alter it if you gain or lose weight.

That was nice, telling me I looked nice, and it’s also a nice selling point, compliment the potential customer and maybe they’ll spend $1000.00 on a new suit, with 3 free shirts! That Amy Sacks knows her stuff, but I have about 12 suits now and I really don’t need anymore.

I am saddened by Natasha Richardson’s accident. Falling while on a beginner slope while skiing. Apparently something happened with her brain even though she was walking and talking afterwards.

I’ve hit my head many times, one particular incident was when I was working in a book warehouse. I was under the racks getting some books and I thought I had cleared the steel rack and stood up and smacked my head. I literally saw stars and had to sit down for a few minutes.

I guess having such fatty tissue for a skull had an advantage. Now apparently I would be taken to a hospital to be checked out. Not then. And now if you’re going skiing, helmets are almost mandatory.

I didn’t see Natasha Richardson on Broadway in Cabaret but I know the soundtrack inside out and she’s on it. She certainly was a beautiful actress and a pleasure to watch and to listen to. It doesn’t look good for her, reports are that she’s brain dead.

It’s been said that she was scheduled to be on Broadway again with her mother the great Vanessa Redgrave in A Little Night Music, but now that isn’t going to happen. I would have loved to have seen it.

8:08 PM- New York Times
Natasha Richardson, Actress, Dies at 45, Family Says

Natasha Richardson, a Tony Award-winning actress whose career
melded glamorous celebrity with the bloodline of theater
royalty, has died following a skiing accident on Monday north
of Montreal, her family said.

She’s So Modern

Yes, it’s a late posting tonight and yes I went out and had a few pints after work. And yes I have a good excuse. Being St. Patrick’s Day my niece Corinne and I have decided to continue something from last year, basically creating a tradition of going to McSwells and having a pint for this day of enforced Irish-ness.

Last year it was Corinne and I with her boyfriend who shall be known as Doofus. Corinne and Doofus are no more so he wasn’t around. Corinne’s mother, my sister in law Elaine joined us. It was good. Elaine definitely needed to get out and let her hair down. No table dancing, just some pub grub sitting at the bar and chatting.

A nice end to a decent St. Patrick’s Day. The day started ok, Bill telling me it was 6:40 as he lay in bed next to me, me telling Bill to go ahead and do whatever it is he has to do, I’ll keep sleeping. That lasted about 5 minutes once he got out of bed. I couldn’t sleep anymore so I got out of bed.

Bill was getting himself together, doesn’t take as long as I do since he just puts on clothes and goes to the gym. I shower and shave here, not being a gym person. I wore a double breasted suit with a green pattered tie and my late cousin Jackie’s overcoat.

Made it to the office a little after 8:30 which is earlier than it’s been the past couple of weeks. Quiet again, though on the street were occasional groups of people, mainly in green headed towards Fifth Avenue. The St. Patrick’s Day parade was scheduled at 11:00 and at 9:00 that was the destination, to get a good spot on the curb.

My day was quiet enough that I was able to go and check out the parade for an hour. That’s what I’ve been doing the past few years, checking out the parade on my lunch hour. Previous years had easier access to the parade route, but not this year. I walked over to 50th and Madison where I found out that I would have to go to 42nd Street or 55th Street to get to the parade.

I asked why they were doing it this year and the cop told me he didn’t know. I wound up walking up to 53rd Street where there wasn’t a police office controlling the flow of people to the parade. It wasn’t like Hoboken’s parade a few weeks ago. This was more subdued despite 5 times as many people.

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The weather was agreeable and I smoked a Padron and took some snapshots. I would have stayed longer but the batteries in my camera died after 48 pictures. Back to the still quiet office, looking around for things to do, things to pass the time. Somehow I did find things and soon enough it was time to go home.

The original plan was to meet Corinne at 6:00 so I took my time, enjoying another Padron, weaving my way through the crowds and saw Bill for a few minutes. He looked good in his green tie. Didn’t get a picture of him in his green beret and scarf.

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"Ernie"

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That’s how he dressed for St. Patrick’s Day. I had the green patterned tie and 4 leaf clover cuff links that I got cheap a few weeks ago. Got a pair for Bill as well.

Walked to the bus terminal, taking my time again. It was 5:30 when I got a text from Corinne asking if we could meet at 6:30 instead. I said ‘ok’ and decided to go home and change out of my suit into more casual fare.

Walked up to McSwells a little before 6:30 and got to the bar where it was fairly quiet. Not much going on which was fine by me. Elaine and Corinne were looking for a spot and I suggested parking in a garage, I would pay the cost.

It was $7.00 easily affordable but they had to pay once they got there so I was off the hook for that one. They showed up and we sat at the bar, eating and drinking and catching up. I had 4 pints, Corinne had 1 and Elaine had 2 Coronas.

Nobody out of control and after an hour or two it was time to go. A very nice, nothing over the top St. Patrick’s Day. That’s about it. No complaints.

Elaine, Me, Corinne

Elaine, Me, Corinne