Christmas List

Slobber's so BORING. I read down a little bit last night and it's so BORING. Ugh.
I left GF a msg. on his cell phone last night. I wonder if he got it.
I guess it's gonna snow this evening. Who cares, I'm strill driving in. CM invited me to the Middle East's Christmas Party, being held tonight, and I'm going. No snow's gonna stop me.
Finished my stupid Christmas list for my family. I hate writing it up. HATE it. It's silly.

I'm in Marketing

Bought the naan last night, two packages. Trader Joe's on Memorial Drive
has such unkind lighting. In addition, barely anyone beautiful EVER EVER
EVER shops there. Last night was NO exception. There were all young
urban types in the store too, which makes no sense that I saw no radiant
blue light of smooth skin, good posture, shiny hair, pleasant voice,
with all the right angles in the frozen food aisle. *sigh*. Where do
those people shop for their groceries? Nowhere. That's not true.
Handsome/Pretty people find true grocery stores; Asian markets, delis,
bakeries, fish markets, Costco, etc...to do their marketing.

No Quarter

Tuesday morning. 'Have about seven minutes to write this before I must begin my morning ablutions. Excellent work out with Aran yesterday. Sore this morning.
I think we have band practice tonight. Must remember my practice bag before I head out the door. Must remember to listen to the newest song while at work today.
I have a feeling that I won't be living in this apartment much longer. I've said that before, but I feel it coming.
Didn't have a chicken sandwich this morning, which means I'll throw out the bird tonight when I get home. It was a good chicken. To prepare it for roasting I shoved a pear in its cavity and rubbed it with dijon mustard on the outside. How dare I defy the conventional rules of cooking with my new ways?! That's what Men have always done in the kitchen, they try the universe, they play chicken with the chicken.
Led Zep played their only London concert last night. Sounds like it was a good show, although, at even $240/ticket, people were still rushing to the bar during the long, drawn out bits. Haha.
My feet don't hurt, baby. My feet feel fine.

BTD

My tummy aches. I'm having a BTD*. I hope it's not because of the meal I
made last night. It was just a stupid roast chicken with gravy, frozen
spinach, and rice and edamame. I'd be so embarrassed if my dinner guest,
CL, was feeling the same way too.

*BTD - bad tummy day, a joke from way back in registrar's office. Shout
out to JS and NL.

Second Act

Christmas Without Tears

No heat in my apartment. Landlord is working on it. Very cold in the evening/morning. Have space heater for sleeping.
Family Christmas crisis last night. Tears have been shed recently (not mine, please). Listen, how about everyone just be where they want to be during Christmas. If people join you, great, if they don't, don't worry about it (easy for me to say).

Quote, Unquote

I quoted a bit of yesterday's Slobber entry while speaking to AP this
morning. It happened naturally, although I'm sure the slight smile that
came over my face while speaking looked a bit odd. Not unlike the smile
a toddler makes when he evacuates in his diaper while engaged in play.

On The Boardwalk! Boardwalk!

N.Truro, MA, September 24, 2007

No Naan at Noon

Where do I begin? Today was another long day. Left my house at 7:45 a.m., back home at 8 p.m. This morning I spilt an entire 16 oz. coffee on the passenger side mat of my car (didn't even get a single sip). The Java House is my local coffee shop...shout out to pleasant people who work there (there's only one unpleasant one). Today, at work, I had to switch to a new email client (this time for good), which took HOURS. Worse still, I'm struggling with breaking the habits that I built from 10 years of using the same email program. Must be VERY careful sending out emails over the next two weeks.
I Lifted by myself today during the height of the gym's busy-ness. That was not fun. Had to jockey myself into position, and then wait, to get every bench or dumbells I wanted. Too much. I actually did a full 'Tuesday' workout (with slight modifications at the beginning), so I'm pleased with that. I hate lifting alone. GF can do it, I'm not so good at it.
I went to Trader Joe's after work. GF (again? Jeez, I've been writing about him too much lately) convinced me to buy some prepared Indian food in a pouch from Trader Joe's on Sunday, which I did. It's good stuff (well, the red/spicy one is). I went today to see if my local Trader Joe's had the frozen 'naan'. They didn't. GF's didn't have any either...maybe there's a national shortage?
TT's gonna by a sled. Where did I recently see some very cool sleds...some publication, can't remember. I'm getting old.
I'm thinking about moving the blog off here and really let 'er rip. Readers, could you handle that?
No practice tonight.

My Name Ain't Susan

CM was rather curt with me on the phone today. I simply selected the
wrong number when calling AP, I called his cell instead. Oh, the
vitriol in his voice as he answered the phone "Why are you calling my
cell at work?"

Weekend in Westboro, was this weekend, it was, it was. I kept losing
to GF in Mario Kart DS...so very frustrating. TT was there as well on
Saturday night. He wasn't dressed in any memorable way, which is a
bummer. I love it when he really mixes stuff up. I ended up sleeping
over. jf delighted in waking me up in the a.m. (at least it wasn't
6:30 a.m.). The guest who wouldn't leave did at 1p.m. jf was acting
up a touch, so I took that as my cue to FINALLY leave (I've only seen
jf act up one other time. I DO NOT want to give the impression that
the dear boy's anything other than a dear boy.). It was so cold and
depressing out yesterday afternoon that I decided to drive rt 9 home.
I dropped south on 128 then cut through Dedham/West Rox/Rozzi to get
home. I wonder why I did that?

A new Spring Term SMFA class:
GOING INTO THE WORLD: A PORTFOLIO PREP COURSE / DES 4075 1
M 6:30PM Hmmmmmm...Even though the last two classes I took there were
very poor, in my opinion, I do miss that wacky place.

Ben Shahn's images frighten me...and I love being scared.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ben_Shahn

I'll Eat You Too!

This Red Tail Hawk was outside my work window two days ago. If you look to the bird's feet (there's a better word for them, I'm sure) you may notice the carcass of a smaller bird. This hawk was just finishing a 3 p.m. snack when I took this snap. The top of the Prudential Tower is the blurry background image in the lower right corner.

DH, ECG and VT

DH wrote me. First time we've communicated since May 19. You could've
knocked me over with a Charlie Cahd when I saw 'his' email mailbox
pop open, indicating I had a new message from him. You know what, for
a big guy he's pretty graceful. All seems well in the UK.

Stopped by the ECG last night after work for about 10 minutes to
visit CL and enjoy a beer.

No VT this weekend. That's okay though.

Big Diet Coke

Bugger! I can't find my credik cahds. I hope they're at home. I keep
them separate, trapped together in a binder clip (GF style). I don't
feel good about this.

Yesterday was a productive day at work. I hope today's the same. Very
sore after yesterday's workout. I attribute the soreness to the
recent days off, which, I believe, are good every once and a while .
There's a guy at the gym who works out wearing those stupid rubber
shoes with the holes in them, and no socks to boot. He should be
asked to change shoes or leave.

Saw Gone Baby Gone with VT on Saturday. Two depressing movies over
the course of two weekends ('Before the Devil Knows Your Dead' was
first). VT gets the big diet coke when he's at the movie theatre, so,
of course, I had to join him. I had to go to the bathroom very badly
by the end of the movie. I tried and tried to make it to the end, but
I had to leave during the last 5 minutes. I came back and caught the
last minute. The movie wasn't edited very well, in my opinion, so
missing a 3 minute chunk wasn't a big deal. Decent movie, a bit long,
very grim, good performances by Casey A and the woman playing Helene.
Also, the guy who lives in my building on the 1st floor did a good
job too. He was in an early scene.

Saturday night was date night, as it is all around the world I
suspect. Movie, Chinese food, and a martini back at VT's. I'm digging
the 'Tivo' lifestyle, from afar, of course. So far so good. Oh, did I
do any stupid stuff? Yes, but only a few things.

Yeah, So What if I Do?

I like the new Celine Dion song called 'Taking Chances'. It's a power
rock ballad. She hits some very fun low notes in it, the song has a
great interval in the chorus, and it references Eurythmics's 'Sweet
Dreams'. The lyrics are a bit silly, but she sings the #$% out of
them.

Thursday, Friday, Saturday, Sundaaaaaay...

Last Thursday I went to the Middlesex with AP after work. We were good boys, and enjoyed only one martini* and we split a plate of their 'ten tiny tacos'. I like that place, for some stupid reason. AP and I had a good chat and caught up on some stuff (yes, we see each other at work every day, grab lunch and work out together, but it's not often that we get to relax and just shoot the breeze).

Friday's workout suffered a bit because of Thursday. It was actually a killer workout regardless of the night before. I need to eat more, seriously. I'd be in better shape if I ate more. I need to eat more, and eat better.
Friday's band practice was amazingly fun. We played well, and had a good time afterward when DL showed up. He was in good place, so we rocked the house with our unique brand of antics. People were touchy on Friday night.

Saturday was haircut morning. I love my barber and my barber shop. They have great magazines to read while you wait. I always hold out for the popular barber, so I end up doing my fair share of waiting. He's my age, I'd say. He's the best one there. I know, I've tried them all. He cut my hair v. short this time, which I usually don't dig, but with him I know it's gonna grow out just the way I like it and look good for at least 3 weeks. I hate driving to JP on a Saturday morning just to get my hair cut, but I'm happy once I get there. It's getting chilly out now, but JP looked beautiful in the crisp, clear autumn air.
Went to GF's on Saturday night. TT was there too. Checked out his new kitchen, which looked fabulous. I've been telling everyone since about the backsplash tile they installed. It's glass and it looks like a million bucks. Well done, JF. Speaking of JF, she fed all of us well with her killer salad and crazy porkchops. Afterwards the boys (GF and TT), James, William and I went to the basement to play videogames. Good times ensued, of course. Another great night, relaxing and fun. Oh yeah, we cajoled JF into sharing her grandmother's gift. I've never had chocolate like that before. It made me feel warm inside.

Sunday. Wow, there's actually a lot to tell about Sunday. I'll skip the morning bit, for now (and it's good too) and get to the afternoon/evening. Count Dracula (from now on referred to as VT) didn't cancel on me, believe it or not. I went to his first. I got there RIGHT on time, 1:45 p.m., and from there we went to this awesome movie theatre in dedham and saw "Before The Devil Knows Your Dead". That was a rough movie. Good, but very rough to watch. No one too likeable on the screen at all, character-wise. Morissa Tomei is ageless and very naked in this movie, by the way. She's in it. Brian O'Byrne is in it too, I didn't expect to see him. He's a great actor (like I've ever seen him on stage...someday) but now I know for sure that he is. I enjoyed his shirtless scene more that I did Phillip Seemore Hoffman's, haha. His first, Marissa Tomei's many shirtless scenes second and Phillip Seemore Hoffman's last. VT and I then went to the Himalayan Bistro in West Roxbury. Excellent. I had the clear tomato soup and the Lamb (Joe) Rogan Josh with moderate spice, and two Kingfishers. Oh yeah, we split some dumplingy/ravioli things for appetizer. Why did I choose to have my entree 'moderately spiced' when I don't mind spicy food at all? I just didn't want my face and head to sweat that night. Back to VT's, watched some 'telly' (Graham Norton, Logo Gay Sketch Comedy {it was funny too, who knew}, and the Simpsons episode about Marge opening up a line of women only gyms called "Shapes"), had one more beer, and I was home by 9 p.m. A good night**.


*..and two beers apiece.




**..and I'm gonna see him again this Saturday. Small print in hopes that CL won't see it.

Be Cooly Cool

CL and I have been independently ruminating on 'coolness'. Neither of
us are, we've determine. For example, I just reread an email I sent
to Count Dracula earlier today. We have a trip to Waltham scheduled
for Sunday. Film and dinner. It probably won't happen. But anyway,
this email was very brief, but good lord, am I a buffoon. Jokes,
quips, so forced, so not funny, so stupid...why? Why? I can't be cool
with Count Dracula.

Back in the Day

My nephew's about to have his twelfth birthday. To celebrate this event, let's take a trip back in time, shall we? This is a pre-Slobber post from 12 years ago:

Mon Nov 13 08:21 1995
I am already sore after my workout. It wasn’t too strenuous either. It is good for me.

Another week begins. Helen* is about to pop any minute now. It is so exciting. I wonder if she is nervous at all? I would be. Nervous and scared**.

I had a small gathering at my new house this weekend^. It was a “before Hours” bash***. Toby was the first to show up. I made him dinner, chicken pot pie. He ate while he whined to his girlfriend over the telephone. Matt Slifkin, Perry, Carrie, Steve, Robin, Joel, Mark****, and Joel’s friend all were there. I think Joel’s friend’s name is Bowen*****. I think that is what it is. I am not quite sure despite the fact that I heard the name spoken many many times and despite the fact that I talked with him for quite a bit at Glenn’s party. There were too many guys at the party******. But all the lights were low, that is good. The beer sucked, although there was a lot of it. They had VIP rooms, but not enough xxxxx. I took ONE xxxx off of something. That seems to be fine for me.
I met Hector. That guy is a character. He looks spanish and Italian. He speaks spanish with a Boston accent.******* Danny Grabxock is a good guy too. Marcy’s sister was a character. Pretty good looking. I overheard someone say that they thought she was self-centered. Who can say, who can say?******** Her boyfriend looked/seemed pretty cool. There was this fiddle player who is going to Korea to teach English in a few weeks there. He did not sound like he was from New England. He was the most interesting person that I met of the evening*********. More later. I have got to get some coffee and some Nl***********.

*My sister.
**Sondheim lyric reference.
^30 Jamaicaway (basement apt., see photo below)
***Before a GF party in Brighton. He was pissed that I held them up at my house. Haha.
****Mark? Hmmmm...that could've been MP. I think it was.
*****Bevan, not Bevin. Goodlooking fellow (which was why I talked to him all night) - a photographer now. http://www.walker-photo.com/
******Like I cared.
*******I probably meant "He speaks English with a Spanish AND Boston accent.
********S.Nicks lyric reference.
*********Anyone help me with this one? Who?
**********My secret love at the time.

I loved this t-shirt.

"I've Scarred and Marred Everyone Around Me"

I just found a special little gray spot on my arm. I haven't noticed
that little gray spot in a long long time. I accidentally jabbed
myself with a pencil when I was in junior high or high school. A
little piece of graphite stayed in my skin somehow. The tiny spot is
very faded, but it's there.

I have a scar on my leg from a bicycle riding accident. I was riding
'bi*ch' on a neighbor's bike (banana seat, sissy bar) and we had a
wipe-out going over that awesome rock that made the most perfect
little ramp. I think the bike's fender cut into my leg somehow. One
tiny pock mark on my foot from when I came down with the chicken pox
in, god knows, 1976 maybe? There are a few scars on my back and chest
from the dermatologist's scalpel - 1992 or so. Scars on my nose from
some of the most volcanic acne I've ever had, when I was a teen. I
have that mark on my upper back/shoulder that middle-aged people have
from a vaccine they received as children. Americans younger than 30,
or so, don't have that scar.

There's a long, thin scar across my inside left forearm. It's about
three inches long. It reminds me of the kind of scar you see on
teenage girls, or young women, who are 'cutters'. My neighbor,
Jennifer, wore a ring on her finger with a unicorn on it. We were
tussling or something...guess which part of the unicorn scarred me.

All of the above are nothing compared to the scars and marks I have
on the INSIDE.

Count Dracula...*sigh*. You'd never believe me if I told you.

Going to GF's on Saturday - always fun.

I could only do 25 minutes on the rowing machine tonight. Not because
of exhaustion or fatigue, but mostly because my butt was getting so
sore on that thing that I couldn't stand it any longer. My goal was
28 minutes, but I'm telling you, for some reason it was KILLING me
tonight. Twenty-five minutes isn't too bad - I was sweaty, so I was
happy.

No Small VICtory

I'm meeting MVD for a single martooni after work today. He's being
very kind, squeezing in some time for me.

I HAD plans to meet Count Dracula for dinner, but they were cancelled
early this morning at around 4:33 a.m. - a time when Count Draculas
are most lucid. Of course, I didn't receive CD's cancellation (or, I
must admit,'rescheduling') until I came to work this morning. Luckily
my corner of MIT was a bit crazy this a.m., right from git-go, so I
didn't have much time to stew and brood. A modest effort is underway
to convene on Saturday.

The Loopy Loop

I DID indeed go see Moz on Tuesday. Bought last minute tickets from a fellow selling his on Craigslist. I checked at 5:15 p.m. on the day of the show, and there was his ad. Met him in front of the Orpheum at 7:30 and made the purchase. Christ joined me for the excellent show.

The Loop, Sister I'm a Poet, Jack the Ripper, and Death of a Disco Dancer were, to me, well worth the price of admission. I was in B-side/rarity heaven hearing The Loop. During 'Sister..' he displayed that, now, all too rare, feral quality of his (wordless grunting and twisting his face up). I was VERY happy to be 10th row to experience that. Well done, Moz.

Set list:

Stop Me If You Think You've Heard This One Before / Billy Budd / Tomorrow / Shoplifters Of The World Unite / Irish Blood, English Heart / The Loop / Sister, I'm A Poet / Why Don't You Find Out For Yourself? / Stretch Out And Wait / Jack The Ripper / I Like You / The World Is Full Of Crashing Bores / All You Need Is Me / One Day Goodbye Will Be Farewell / The National Front Disco / Death Of A Disco Dancer / I'm Throwing My Arms Around Paris / The Boy With The Thorn In His Side / Dear God, Please Help Me / How Soon Is Now? // First Of The Gang To Die