Wednesday Morning Wetness

it's wet outside, this morning; like, Atlantis kinda wet. it's been raining since yesterday afternoon (it was supposed to be snow and aren't we all glad it ain't) and sometime around midnight (i'd only been asleep for an hour but it felt like 3...thanks Wii Fit), i woke up and thought about how much i didn't wanna come in to work today; i then rolled over, spooned with stephen under the 4" thick comforter and fell back to sleep. the feeling didn't much abate when my alarm went off at 5:15, nor when i was standing at the bus stop. it wasn't gone by the time i hit 34th and trudged into the subway, nor when i stood outside the Man in the Box waiting for my coffee.

it's still no different now that i'm sitting at my desk contemplating what's before me, but the coffee is deliciously strong and hot (much like our Hump Day model, on the left), i've got a Kashi bar in my man-bag and Rufus Wainwright is providing a nice alliterative soundtrack to what's sure to be a long, dark and dull day.

"People will know when they see this show/The kind of a guy I am/They'll recognize just what I stand for and what I just can't stand/They'll perceive what I believe in/And what I know is true/And they'll recognize I'm a one man guy Always was through and through "~ One Man Guy (Rufus Wainwright)

This Used to Be My Playground

When i was a kid, summer was day camp, trips to the park, drive-in movies and Friendly's, staying up late, and sleeping in. summer was strapping on my blue Snoopy rollerskates, with the yellow wheels and stopper, and skating for hours on end. summer was riding my bike around the block again and again and again (till i was old enough to cross the street). summer was was my birthday (July 31st)which always fell within days of our neighborhood's block party and included a Baskin Robbins Circus Tent cake (Mississippi Mud and French Vanilla) with ice-cream cones on top that looked like clowns and toys, lots of toys.

As i got older the idea of summer changed, slightly: week long trips to Boy Scout camp, a weekend job at the local mom & pop video store, and then later on a volunteer position at the NY Aquarium, in the penguin exhibit. in all, summers meant staying outside for most of the day, getting brown as a nut, and recovering from nine months of school related stress with the few friends i had. i enjoyed summer despite my natural aversion to the heat. trucks selling soft serve definitely helped.

summers in college were pretty much the same, with the added bonuses of disposable cash from my mall job and friends with cars. we went to concerts and the beach, and hung out in the pool; every day was something new and different (as long as we didn't have to work that night). summer, which started in May and lasted thru September, was great!

after college, summer was Pride. summer was spending my days off cruising the beach and the woods for hours; having fantastic sex with good looking, scantily clad, guys. summer was going out five nights a week to the local gay bar, hanging out on their patio till they closed and still getting up for work at the mall the next day. summer was eating chicken rings and mozzerella sticks, in White Castle's parking lot, at 3am after seeing a drag show.

now, everything's different.

summer means schlepping back and forth between Staten Island and downtown Brooklyn, through furnace-like subway tunnels, five days a week. summer means sitting at a desk under fluorescent lights, getting text messages from friends who are at the beach or on vacation. summer means worrying that the central air is costing us hundreds of dollars a month because leaving the windows open, in July, in New York, is ridiculous. summer is fighting the urge to use vacation days and sick days, because i get so few that they're better spent on doctor's visits and waiting (in vain) for repairmen. summer means standing on 34th street, in the sun, on a line of 75 people for a fucking bus that never comes. summer means hoping we don't have plans on weekends, so that maybe i can sit outside in the sun for an hour to get a tan and stave off rickets. summer is hoping i don't look too ridiculous in shorts. summer is no different than winter, except that i wear slightly less clothes.

it makes me miss the penguins.

Spring Fever

ugh.
i'm just feeling such a sense of malaise and disinterest in...everything.

while i'm hardly a "grass between the toes" kinda guy, i'd much rather be outside, sitting on the deck, music blasting from inside the house, reading a book and sipping an iced coffee with the puppy, than here. it's just too beautiful out to be cooped up. these middle-of-the-week days off*, are terrible cock-teases, but no matter how i try and schedule them, wednesday is the only days i can get appointments.

c'est la vie.

*to get the dishwasher repaired and for my annual round of MRI's to determine if ye olde brain tumor is really gone)

I Hate New York In June (How About You?)

Ninety-five fucking degrees? are you kidding me?!?

Nothing Says January Like a Pair of Flip-Flops

ironically, over Christmas Eve dinner, my father-in-law vehemently denied the existence of Global Warming. he says it's greatly exaggerated by the liberal media. i almost choked on my lasagna.

Slippery When Wet

it's been raining since late Saturday night. not, like, normal everyday April Showers kinda rain. no...we're talking monsoon-esque torrential downpour. think Noah.

ordinarily, this wouldn't bother me; i like the rain. i like the dark grey sky and wind. i like the feel of the rain on my face and in (what's left of) my hair. i like the sound of the rain on the windows, roofs etc. i don't even mind driving in the rain; i'm not a bad driver, i can handle it. on Staten Island, people drive 90 mph, on small streets through puddles that come up to your door. i've been trained.

This week, however, i'm back in NJ for work. i'm driving every day on the NJ Turnpike, with people who can't handle the rain. i don't know what it is about people in the Garden State, but rain turns 90% of them into complete and total idiots; they just can't handle it. the minute the 1st drop hits a windshield, traffic slows to a crawl and people completely forget all the rules of the road: windshield wipers without headlights, turn signals, left lane speed limits, etc. it's terrible. i understand exercising caution in inclement weather, but (like everything else about this state) this is ridiculous.

i like this downpour though...it's very alliterative in a German expressionist film sorta way. today's the kind of day when one should be listening to either Dark House music (read: anything mixed by Chris Cox or Peter Rauhofer), 90's alternative rock (read: Live, Pearl Jam, STP) or vocal blues (read: Billie Holliday, Marlene Deitrich)

"Let the rain fall down/And wake my dreams/Let it wash away/My sanity/'Cause I wanna feel the thunder/I wanna scream/Let the rain fall down"~ Come Clean [Chris Cox mix] (Hilary Duff)

A Few Thoughts on a Friday Before a Three Day Weekend

1. it's so wonderfully cold here! we're talking, teens and 20's kinda cold...the kind of cold that stings your face, causes awful hat-hair for an entire day, and makes your venti-5 shot-skim-caramel-latte` (6 points) tastes so much hotter and sweeter and more delicious.

2. Junior's short mix of AbFab: Thin and Gorgeous is just as relevant and topical today as it was 10 years ago. it doesn't sound dated in the least. the man is an absolute genius and altars should be built to him.

3. Taking the A train at 34th and 8th actually gets me to work a few minutes earlier than the F train at 34th and 6th. of course that means that i'll be spending another 10 minutes with Merlin...

4. Casey Stratton's cover of Tori Amos' Butterfly is so much better than the original (even though his voice sounds exactly like Tori) it's almost shocking. i'm surprised he's not more popular. Junior remixed a couple of his original songs (House of Jupiter and Blood) both of which are phenomenal both as piano driven sob songs and as dance music.

5. Buffy, Season 7 is the best of the whole series. it's building to such a wonderfully dramatic climax. on one hand, i'm sad to see that we're almost done with the series (again), but on the other the last couple of months watching have built to this inevitable conclusion, so i'm psyched...even though i know how it all turns out...cause we watched the whole series a couple of years ago...boy i feel just a tad more geeky than usual.

6. last night's Chinese food extravaganza was amazing. my mom wound up cancelling at the last minute, so we just ordered in (and watched Buffy and Angel). i don't know why, but it was the best Chicken Chow Fun (7 points per cup) i've ever had. maybe the food was just that good or maybe it was because i've not had it in weeks.

7. this weekend, stephen is giving me my Valentine's gift. it's a surprise and involves cabs, mass transit and "dressing nicely", he's also told me to pack a bag because we'll be "sleeping out". now my interest is piqued. my gut instinct is that he got us tickets to a show, but the "pack a bag" thing really has me guessing. he's a notoriously good gift-giver, so i know that i'll like it, whatevr it is. we shall see...

8. truly creative people make me sick. ok, not really sick, just incredibly jealous. take this collage made by MS. it combines two of my favorite things (Buffy and collages) and is so fabulous that i wanna throw up. thanks alot M. (btw. if you think this is as amazing as i do, then you should check out her photography; you'll be blown away).

9. speaking of creative, did anyone else watch Chocolate Runway Challenge, on the Food Network, the other night? i was so completely transfixed, like a bunny in the headlights. it'll probably be re-run to death later this month, and if you get the chance, i highly reccomend watching it. i mean, who knew that the fashion industry had a place for chocolate?

Weather or Not

have we really fucked the planet up so badly that winter is a thing of the past?

i'm not sure where you are, but here it NYC it's been "unseasonably" warm and balmy (they're predicting 70o for tomorrow and not a chance of >50o till at least the end of January). did i miss a memo? is it not the week after New Years? Where's the snow? where's the visible breath and big ski jackets? New York is in a complete mind-fucked because of this "unseasonable" warmth: people are getting sick, the animals at the Zoo are coming out of hibernation, trees are blooming and the Staten Island guidos and Chelsea Boys are walking around in basketball shorts and wife-beaters (ok so it's not all bad news).

what really bothers me are the people who are all sunshine and lollipops about the heat; running around like it's a blessing from Cher, not worried about what it portends...

How (Hot Is It)

Ah...October in New York City.
it should be cool...crisp...like lettuce; allowing me to flaunt the fabulous new denim jacket i got at Old Navy ($29 on sale). the leaves should be turning all those gorgeous colors that i can't see: brown, orange, red, ochre! it should look like the cover of When Harry Met Sally, and make you wanna sing Louis Armstrong or Ella Fitzgerald while wearing corduroy, falling in love and sipping cider, mulled wine or a Hot Toddie (not that i know what a Hot Toddie is, but it sounds autumnal, doesn't it). instead, it's balmy and gross out.

welcome Indian Summer.

it's 80 degrees today. the air is humid and putrid; the smell in the subway is absolutely apalling. my gorgeous new jacket is stuffed in my bag, wrinkled like Bob Dole's scrotum. i'm an absolute mess in the heat (as you may recall), and this wave is no exception. it's unatural and unfair. clearly the engineering department missed the memo about the heatwave, 'cause there's hardly any AC on today. maybe it's the heat, or maybe it's TNG, but i'm cranky and sweaty and i want to go home and take a nap.

"I am calling you/I will answer too/That means I offer my love to you/If you refuse it I will be blue/And waiting all alone"~Indian Love Call (Oscar Hammerstein)