Grimaldi’s | johnozed

Yesterday was definitely a better day than the sturm und drang of the days preceding it. Last night Bill came home from his deep tissue massage therapy and I was clearly in a better mood and happy to see him.

All the worries from the days before were talked about and resolved nicely. We watched some Herbie Hancock on Sundance channel and also enjoyed some Grimaldi’s Pizza. Also watched a documentary on Cary Grant which was very good. Bill once again went to bed earlier than me and I stayed up watching who knows what.

I do remember the Simpsons which was great as usual. After that, it was off to bed for me as well. Bill was up early, rented a Zip Car and drove out to Clifton NJ for a medical exam so he could change his license from New York to New Jersey. Since he’s a professional bus driver there’s a hoop he has to jump through.

I of course slept in. Rainy and gray outside. Bill was picking up the paper and the bagels so there was no need for me to go outside. Eventually I did go outside. I needed a haircut and walked by Mr. L’s. Of course my barber, Tony was busy.

Walked over to the library and dropped off some items. Did not bring and umbrella and I should not have been surprised that when I left it was pouring out. Once again Tony was cutting someone else’s hair.

I came home a little bit soaked. Bill came home from Clifton. Unable to get his exam completed since there were a few people ahead of him and he needed to return the Zip Car to Hoboken by 11:00. He took a nap and I watched a DVD about Beyond the Fringe. It was definitely funny.

Watching Peter Cook, Dudley Moore, Jonathan Miller and Alan Bennett in the early 1960’s doing their final performance on the West End. Jonathan Miller and Alan Bennett are still alive perhaps they decided early on that the life of a performer wasn’t for them.

Peter Cook & Dudley Moore obviously thought otherwise and made big names for themselves but both came to untimely ends.

Bill was out on the road once again this afternoon and I sat and watched various clips about Peter Cook. I ventured out into the rain again, this time armed with an umbrella. And since I had an umbrella it didn’t rain.

A trip to the supermarket was in order so I walked by Mr. L’s once again and once again Tony was busy. Dropped off the items in my hallway for a trip to Hoboken Daily News that has milk cheaper than the supermarket.

Walked by Mr. L’s and saw Tony was free. He was happy to see me. Hadn’t sat in his chair since July. No more monthly haircuts since I didn’t have any need for upkeep. Just a trim for me. My hair grows thick and not long so it was a few layers taken off which made everything lighter and cooler.

And a haircut will do me some good in case some job interviews appear on the horizon. Tony did his usual ace job, trimming most of the gray hairs from my goatee. I was growing a beard but shaved it the other day before the interview.

Bill is in Atlantic City leaving at 1:30 or so and coming back to Hoboken around 7:00. I’m laying low as usual. Planning on watching Adventureland and probably some more Beyond the Fringe clips online. It’s going to be a mellow, quiet Saturday night and I am fine with that.

And it’s been quite a nice day spent with my sister Annemarie and her son Earl. Earl is now 6’1”. Almost as tall as me, and as tall as Bill. A not so angry inch on this end.

I met up with them last night. They stopped here in Hoboken where we had pizza at Grimaldi’s. They can’t get pizza like that in Arcata. It was a quick stop before they headed up to Garfield to my brother Frank’s house.

I stayed in Hoboken, eventually going out for a stroll, walking off the pizza I helped inhale. Nice night smoking a cigar, listening to some of the London Calling album up to Lost in The Supermarket before switching over to the first side of Talking Heads: 77.

Bill came home a little after that, watched Lawn hors d’œuvre Criminal Relent up to a point when Bill switched into stage manager mode and hit pause on the digital cable box for about 50 minutes. He un-paused it when the news came on and his phone call was finished. The news was nothing in particular, mostly bad.

Then the Simpsons came on and Bill was off to bed, me joining him a little while later. He was off in the morning and kissed me goodbye as I lay in bed.

No work today. Annemarie called a little while later, checking to see if I was awake and also to see if anything was planned for the day.

At that moment I didn’t have any plans but after a cup of coffee I had an idea. A trip to the city and visiting some art galleries. Always fun to do and also easy on the wallet.

Anne and Earl rode down to Hoboken and found a spot on my block and we walked over to the Path, riding to 14th Street and walking up Fifth Avenue.

I had hoped to go to the Not Fade Away Gallery to check out the New York City 1970’s photos of Allen Tannenbaum. Despite getting there after 12:00 on a Friday when they were supposed to be open, they weren’t. It was just a little bit disappointing but other galleries lay ahead.

We walked down 20th street and wound up having lunch at the Rocking Horse Cafe which was good as usual. Then it was off to the galleries, first stop was a Stephen Shore exhibition.

In the 1960’s, Stephen Shore was a young man in his 20’s and took a lot of classic photos of Andy Warhol and the Factory crowd. I had seen some of the pictures in books but it was great to see them blown up in a gallery.

Then it was a hodgepodge of gallery hopping mainly from 22nd street to 24th and 25th Streets. Earl had gotten a phone call from a friend back in Arcata about completing his college registration today so I made a call to Bill and the three of us hopped in a taxi and rode up to midtown where we met up with Bill.

Bill was kind enough to bring his laptop down to the street where Earl worked the wireless connection and my cellphone and spoke to Susan, the administrative help at Humboldt State.

The process didn’t go as planned and Bill needed to get back to his office so we meandered down Broadway, saw a big chess game in Herald Square and hopped on a Path train back to Hoboken.

We came back here where I set Earl up on Bill’s Mac and I played DJ while Annemarie read some magazines and eventually catnapped. After Earl completed his registration, they were going to get some food in Hoboken before heading back to Garfield so I joined them for dinner at the Karma Cafe.

After that a quick visit to Julio & Stine’s apartment where they were able to finally meet Alexander who clearly loved being the center of attention. Still an adorable lad, running around trying to communicate.

I sat in the next room and read to Alexander while Annemarie and Earl caught up with Julio & Stine. A perfect finish to a perfect day. Simply a nice, nice, nice day with some of my favorite people.

And now, the pics