Jan 21 - 23 - Out of the Cold and Into the Blizzard and back again...

I came into the weekend happy that it had arrived. The workweek was mercifully one day shorter but still, the end of work cannot come soon enough. We prepared well ahead of time making sure all of the varied cast would be out there. Phone calls, invitations, outright harassment, all the usual goads to get the friends and "family" out there. I planned on going to the gym on Friday eve but forgot my locker lock and had to come straight home like a bad kid. It was ok though as I was still feeling the burn from the last workout earlier in the week and I figured I would do a little dancefloor working out anyway. I got home at 8:45, ate my steak and spinach and started to pick out the wardrobe for the evening. The doorbell rang and Ernesto arrives first with his own dinner to eat (chicken and broccoli). Shortly afterwards the Jimmy arrives in his goosedown Starter. We all say hi, chill out and we watch a little TV. I was back and forth between entertaining in the living room and picking out a playlist for my next mix CD. I finally pick out the last song right before its time to leave and we decide that we are going to drive into the city in the Murano.

Nice and spacious, nice and warm and very comfortable, we roll into the city easily as the traffic wasn't too bad and the city streets were only a litte broken up and we arrived easily. We couldn't find a parking space out front but after a quick turn around the corner we were parked and ready to go. I attempted to go to an ATM first to bulk up but after walking a few blocks I realized I had come out without my ATM card. I walked back down the block, passed the guys at the car and went right in. Said hi to the doorpeople, hi to the cashier and headed for the coatcheck. After checking a few coats I headed up to the front bar and braved the crowds around the bar to say hi to barman Brett. All of us piled up underneath the monitors and toasted to hanging out and having fun this year. I turbodrank for the first hour before I realized I needed to slow down and enjoy the the whole evening and not just the first 45 minutes. This evening Splash had DJ Eddie Elias on the turntables and despite the cold the place was fully packed by 12:30. We moved around and went downstairs which was kinda empty at first but gradually over the course of the night it filled out some. I headed back upstairs to dance and hang out with the crowd and even danced on the stage for a song before heading back into the crowd to hang with the boys. Over the course of the eve we hung out with Shawn and Reggie and I even said hi to Ra who was hanging at the front bar but almost lost his scarf. I chided him a little and made sure that he knew that we do not lose D&G accessories. Brand name stuff must always be accounted for. The DJ made sure we kept up our energy and even David noted that so many times after 1:30 the music is all downhill but DJ doubleE kept the tribal hits and fierce beats moving late late into the night. I danced up on the speakerbox with one boy who couldn't decide if he was up or down and lit up my hands and showed off a little on the box. I then got down and danced in the middle of the dance floor amidst the turbulent crowd and let the lights flash over me. At one point during one vocal dance song, Reggie, myself and a few of the boys in front of the stage put on an impromptu dance show showing off and generally dancing our butts off. At one point one boy dance challenged Reggie to who would show up who and while the boy was russian dancing towards him, Reggie did a cartwheel sideways up and over the guys left shoulder and landed on his feet facing the guys back. Couldn't have looked better if they had choreagraphed it. I found the boys rest of the boys back at the front and we decided it was time to head out. I picked up the coats, loitered around the front until everybody was ready and then we headed out into the night. We all piled back into the car, all 5 of us and headed back into BK. After we got back to the house we bid the boys goodnight and they all drove off in their own vehicles. I was home already so I just had to have drink of water and get ready for bed. The usual.

Saturday I awoke to the bright whiteness of snow and the blustery winds of our first big blizzard of the year. Despite plenty of notice we had run out of the essentials in the house such as dishwashing liquid and diet coca-cola. So I had the brainstorm to test out the four wheel drive on the Murano with a trip over to Target at the other end of 4th Ave. We listened to chill-out music as we rolled up the drive and dodged snow covered pedestrians on our way up the ave. We parked in the lot underneath Pathmark and made our way upstairs and across the bridge into Target. Surprisingly I was not the only person who thought it was a good day to go shopping and the place was full of people out looking for a good deal. We wandered the floor buying soda, bubble gum, a Scunci steam cleaner and a window brush/ice scraper for the new car. The checkout was a breeze and after a nice cup of starbucks we were ready to go. I waited by the elevator as Pais traveled back to the car. I read the latest Honor Harrington novel by David Weber as I waited for Pais who was stuck in traffic coming out of the lot. After waiting a bit I headed down on the elevator and waited with the rest of the peoples by the outside door. As soon as I got the cell call I headed out with a set of bags into the white wind. Pais was NOT right by the door but I found him soon enough and convinced him to move up a little before I headed back for the final two bags. After packing it all in we drove out of the little lane between the buildings and headed down the ave back to our neighborhood. For lunch we decided not to go to the first KFC we happened upon (ghetto) and drove further down the street to our usual KFC. After picking up the extra-crispy and the best cole slaw in the world we headed back home, parked under the carport downstairs and brought the bags into the house. After a quick lunch and some experimenting with the new steamer on the stove and in the bathroom we watched some of Will Farrell in Anchorman. I started the mixing on my latest CD while the defrost started on the turkey wings in the m-wave. Between checking on the weather reports and getting DB's mobile number into my phone and my cellphone I put together a nice dinner between sessions at the computer and sat down to eat at 8:25. The macaroni and cheese and the turkey were both excellent and we polished the dinner off quickly. Despite the ominous predictions for the weather, a timely upper air disturbance cleared out the tail end of the winter storm sooner than expected and by the time 10pm rolled around I called up DB to say the trip into the city was on, she said she had already called ahead to Roxy and was told that they were definitely open. We synched watches and began preparations to head out. Showered, shaved and sprayed (cologne) and picked out the outfit. All accoutrements accounted for and we decided to leave a little early to account for the slower driving speed on the road and we left the house at 11.

We cleared off the car, opened the driveway door and jumped over the pile of snow out front onto the street. We dodged a few pedestrians walking in the street and slalomed a few disabled vehicles at the bottom of the hill on third ave. The streets were clear but very quiet and pretty. Some cars, especially the limo drivers, were still driving like it was just rain, but a snowstorm when its 20 degrees out means you are supposed to 4wheel it or stay home. On the approach to the Brooklyn Bridge we got a call from DB that said she could not get a car service to come and pick her up. The companies were telling her no cars were available or they could not go that far (crosstown?) Anyway we decided since we had plenty of time we would just make our way up the FDR, get off at Houston St and pick her up in alphabet city. Pretty soon we said our hellos to DB and CK and we made a quick stop crosstown at the Chase branch on Bway for some wallet fuel. We made it all the way crosstown to the west side and made it up 10th ave to park in the lot (no street parking today). We had to brave a few snow hills and walked in the street right up to the front door. Since the girls had their invites in hand we didn't have to ask for any from doorman Derek and we said our hellos (no line) and went right in. Despite a last minute money placement and shoe change by the girls at the coat check we headed inside in short order and got our first drinks. I said hello to barman Barker and we looked out on the dancefloor which was still mostly empty. I showed the girls the upstairs lounge which was still very quiet and the upstairs balcony in the front. We looked down on the slowly filling dancefloor and then after talking some we headed back downstairs to the main floor. After checking on Pais we headed to the back which was very empty and showed the girls the balcony over the back bar. We commented on the view, looked out over the floor and then decided it was time to get another drink so it was back downstairs for us. Our DJ tonight was Chad Jack who is always adept at throwing us plenty of surprises so we kept on hearing the dance beats calling us out until by 1:30 the dancefloor seemed pretty full. It was nice to see that even without the full complement of the B&T crowd the place can still pack them in on a Saturday night. Me and DB headed out to the dancefloor ourselves and proceeded to work up a sweat to one particularly hot tribal beat. Afterwards we picked up Pais and CK and walked around the club some more. The girls liked my choice of drink for them to try of Mandarin Orange and Cranberry (but I did miss the Stoli Orange so..). We hung out some more in the front and then I told Pais that if the girls looked for me I was going to appear on the speaker. I ran across the table tops and stood behind the box for a moment and then stepped up onto the speaker and began to dance. I ignited the hands and proceeded to put on a dancing show for the boys who had braved the cold to dance in the club with us. I also noticed that there was not another lit up person in the house (no glo sticks - no flashlights, even the only one with the green laser). Pretty soon DB and CK were right there next to the speaker cheering me on and taking pictures and I did my best to keep up to the music and have fun while I was up there. After I stepped down and rejoined the crowd at the front we took to the floor and did Salsa and Meringue over the beat of the dance music. At one later moment I noticed the stage was empty except for one boy sitting on the corner. I forget the song I danced to but I was really just dancing in front of the DJ and appreciating the beats. Later on after dancing on the dancefloor with the girls I put on my final speaker dance in the asian section to Abel's take on "La Puta". The girls enjoyed and so did I as we danced and I overlooked the slowly contracting dancefloor. I lit my hands and felt the tide turn against the impending blackness but in the end I left the speaker when it was time to go. The girls told us that they were finally tired and footsore and were ready to go home so we said our goodnights and I walked them out to the coatcheck. We waved goodbye at the front entrance and then I returned back inside to spend some more party time with Pais. The lights and the music were still going at full swing and plenty of other boys had followed my example and taken to the speaker to entertain and dance too. Finally at about 4am we decided to call it a night and we turned from the crowd, put our shirts back on and made our way to the coatcheck. After we picked up our coats and made our way outside it was back to the snow. Thankfully they had plowed the sidewalk so we did not have to walk in the street and we picked up the car without too much trouble. We drove over to 6th Ave and Joe's Pizza and I braved the crowds to pick up two nice slices for us to munch on in the car. After that we headed down Broadway and turned onto Canal street to cross the Manhattan Bridge. The streets were still quiet but the ride was effortless in the 4wheel drive and we made it back to the streets of BK with no trouble. We parked right next to our usual spot and headed indoors to end the evening. I was happy we made it out and was happy with the music, the friends and another good time in the city. And then I got some rest.

Sunday the storm thankfully was ended and the time now was for the cleanup. Thankfully because we had taken the car out the night before there was nothing really to clean off except some ice. A toasted bagel, and some housecleaning and we ready to 4wheel out in the streets once again. After watching some football we were able to head outside to the car, brush off the windblown snow and take off through the plow drift at the end of the driveway and dodge pedestrians once again. We headed up 4th ave once again, this time heading for Macy's to see the store almost empty like we were there for a pre-sale closed door famous people shop. Anyway we did not find anything to truly take advantage of the emptiness and non busy-ness and headed back outside to make our way over to Wendy's for lunch. There was no line inside and we were able to get our food quickly and it tasted nice and fresh. Outside in the cold we noted the poor unfortunate souls waiting for buses ouside and we were verry happy that we had our own wheels and were not beholden to the MTA on the weekend. I walked back to the car singing belly laugh ditties about waiting for buses (so coldhearted) and I warmed my cold hands in my lap and my gloves on the heated seat. We drove down Atlantic ave and headed up 4th ave back towards the house. Back inside once again I settled in to watch some TV and I promptly passed out on the couch. I woke up around 8pm and new it was about time to cook dinner. After some defrosting and boiling of water I was able to throw together a serviceable dinner of spaghetti and meat sauce and we were happy enough with dinner to even go back for seconds. After the football game was over we watched DVR episodes of Family Guy and The Simpsons. After watching the news and the weekend wrap-up it was time to get ready for bed. Another weekend all wrapped up and then we return to the real world.

Can't wait to hang out with friends once again with a weekend untainted by the specter of impending snow. Until we tap into that well of endless energy known as another great song once again (real soon). I plan to stay friendly and stay warm. New hotness warm.