Tag Archives: Julio + Stine

Pata Pata

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Well today was the day of the dolphin. No wait, the day of the gate sale. No porpoises involved. Last night was a quiet night. I even went out for a spell. Walked up to the Malibu Diner for a burger and coke, reading the dreadful Songs of John Lennon. It wasn’t what I was hoping for when I ordered it from the library, but it was something to read while I ate. After that I fired up a Padron and walked down Washington Street putting up fliers for the gate sale.

Stopped outside of McSwells, couldn’t go in since I was smoking a cigar. Saw Rand having dinner with his wife Lisa, and also saw Roda. Gave a flier to Rand to post in the wall where the cigarette machine used to be. Wandered further down the street, all the bars and restaurants were full.

Came home and watched Keith Olbermann mourning Tim Russert. I wasn’t that much of a fan of Russert, but condolences for his family. I’m sure he was a decent guy. Actually I’m not sure he was a decent guy, all the other broadcasters seemed to think so.

Watched a DVD, A Stephen Sondheim Celebration which should have been great but was merely so so. It was made in 1992 and doesn’t hold up these days. Can’t really put my finger on why that is.

Woke up early enough this morning, went out did some errands, came home ate breakfast went out to the bank. I had the foresight to get singles in case I had to make change. Saw Julio who was up since 5:00 due to Alexander being a baby. I wasn’t in too good a mood since I had a felling that the gate sale wasn’t going to go that well.

A little resentment towards no one in particular over the fact that I would be doing my part of the sale on my own, where Rand had Lisa, Lois had Fred and Jackie had Dave. I was solo. I made sure I had a big bottle just in case I had to piss, trucker style.

Eventually I came around once I started setting everything up, after moving items down four flights of stairs from the fifth floor. I was drenched in sweat once that was done. Hooked up the iPod and some speakers and waited for the sales to begin. I started out playing Rubber Soul, then Revolver, followed by Sgt. Pepper and Magical Mystery Tour.

The first 90 minutes were the busiest. Sold a few items that I didn’t want or need anymore. Sold some records, some books by Beat writers and a few other items. Rand stopped by checking in to see if I was doing ok.

I was fine and he was on his way. An hour or so later Lisa arrived checking in. I ran up to pee, and then ran to the liquor store and bought a six pack. Lisa didn’t want one and soon she headed back. I sold a few empty cigar boxes which I usually throw away, actually I leave them by the trash and someone always scoops them up so I was happy to make some cash on that. I told the guy to come back in a few months and I should have some more boxes for him.

Rand came back after hearing I had some beer and we hung out and chatted, eventually needing to get some more beer. It was a good hang and I eventually made a profit of $40.00 US. Soon though the skies opened up and Rand made a beeline to his spot to help Lisa bring stuff in. I managed to salvage most of my things, a few books didn’t make the cut, winding up in the bin. I eventually needed to use the big bottle, knowing that I wouldn’t be able to make it upstairs in time.

Trashy novels that I got when I worked at People magazine that weren’t going to be missed. Came upstairs, made some dinner and now I’m really tired, more than likely from the beer and moving things up four flights of stairs. Here are some snaps of the day.

Here’s Alexander!

Stine, Dita (whom Stine used to babysit for 20 years ago), Alexander and Julio

Some of my stuff

Beware of Tiger!

Vinyl

Lisa/Lady Gigglepuss

Rand/El Jefe

Me

and here’s something sad yet worth watching.

This Is What We Find

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Ok, a pretty good day. Teeth still in the head, some money still in the bank. Bill came home to my surprise last night. Unfortunately he called during the big revelation during Lawn hor d’oeuvre SVU so I have to admit I was distracted. He noticed my lack of enthusiasm, but when the killer is about to be revealed and to get a phone call… well, I hung in there and paused the show thanks to the gadgetry of modern cable TV. And was it worth the pause? No. This is the second week where it seemed they were stuck for an ending.

Last week they had Robin Williams jump in the river and never looked for his body. This week, the 98 lb. killer took her unrequited love who weighed lets say, 170 lbs and jumped off the edge of a building ending the show with Stephen Collins screaming “No!” as his son landed on a car several stories below. Next week is the season finale which looks to be extra lame. I went to bed after the news, Bill stayed up watching David Letterman.

I woke up earlier than I had been since clients were coming into the office for a breakfast meeting, meaning I get a free breakfast. I asked Lydia to come in early and offered her a free breakfast, but she ate already. The people that came in were nice, I had met them before. Slowly the office is coming to life. Moe Stooge sat in his soon to be rented office and grunted a few times as I walked by. I guess I am now ‘the enemy’. He’s a dick, and a tiny dick at that.

Spoke with dear Connie. She’s been sick for a while, she got the lupus. She was able to get herself together to make it to a party in Manhattan a few weeks ago and I admit that I was hurt that I didn’t get a chance to see her, but then again I wasn’t invited to the party. She told me she has been off her meds since they didn’t seem to be helping, but after a considerable amount of time, she’s going back on them. There are some days she can’t even get out of bed, and it seems out of most of her friends I am the only who doesn’t give her a hard time when she doesn’t answer the phone. I can be the forgiving type.

It’s hard to believe but I haven’t seen Connie in a few years, and this summer seems unlikely since Annemarie and company aren’t making it to NJ this year, and Julio and Stine now have Alexander to consider, effectively making me the number 2 baby, so no beach days I guess. Wah wah wah.

On one of my errands I saw someone I used to work with 25 years ago. Just a guy from the mail room, Lloyd I think his name was. He didn’t recognize me and for an instant I thought about introducing myself but changed my mind. I figured there would be too much catching up on who was dead, who’s alive what’s what so I kept on walking. Perhaps if I saw him again I’ll say hello. Perhaps.

Had a good ride home, reading Christopher Hitchens, ‘God is not Great’. I love it, I’m chuckling throughout. Hitchens can be a boor, but he is erudite and occasionally funny. And I appreciate his take on religion. As I was climbing the stairs, I heard an infant crying. It was Alexander Frederick Sorensen Lopez! With his mom, dad and Grandma who is going back to Denmark with Grandpa tomorrow. Alexander was hungry and just like his father, incorrigible.

No, Alexander is not incorrigible. He’s a sweet little angel with quite a head of hair coming out. I saw that a package came from Arcata arrived and I handed it to them. But Alexander was hungry and you don’t get between a Lopez and their food so I quickly took a few snaps and made a hasty exit to the fifth floor.

And here are those snaps.

Alexander Frederick Sorensen Lopez for President!