Apr 29-May1 - Visions in the dark and always time for shopping.

The week slowed down at a well controlled and well deserved pace. I was able to get out just after 7 and head into the city and get to the gym. At the gym a little earlier than usual I was able to get in the full workout without rushing and get back to the house to clean up and get ready for the weekend. The steak, spinach and potatoes was all good and I watched a little television before the final preparations. We had a short visit from Ernesto who regaled us with tales of life on Long Island. He hung out for a little while and then headed out with a new gift CD in hand before it got to late with the drive back. Shortly afterwards the Jimmy arrived and we watched weather highlights and other television before heading out at 11:25 and making our way into the city.

The usual city traffic in the damp was in effect but we made it up Hudson street and into the environs of Chelsea in good time. We even found a parking space not 2 blocks away on the very avenue and walked up to the slowly thinning crowd in the still very packed place. Pais and I held onto our coats inside as the coatcheck was once again closed. However after our first drinks under our belt I felt warm enough to walk back outside and leave our coats in the car so we would not be loaded down with them for the stay in the bar. We hung out with barman Brett, Tony and David and I also chatted a bit with the doorman and DJ Smoky. We hung out for a little while but around 1:15 we were heading out into the night and bar hopping. We found a parking spot just down the street and made our way into
Splash amidst much noise and fanfare inside. The place had its normal high energy amid wide swaths of darkness and we headed downstairs to coatcheck and to get our drinks at the downstairs bartender. On one of my trips back upstairs to dance I ran into Ayinde just arriving. We picked up more drinks downstairs and hung out back and forth splitting time between floors as the night continued far into the fun and past 4am. We walked out around 4:10 and caught a taxi home with no trouble. Another Friday under wraps.

Saturday I awoke just after 11am with a little bit of hunger but with an apple and an orange eaten and some juice I was able to sit and watch cartoons from the DVR without being distracted. Pais was already out having woke up to no rain on the ground in the morning and having to play a double header out on Randall's Island with another split win with the opposing teams. He picked up cheeseburgers at Lindo's on the way home and I ate that before deciding that I would take the Macy's discount I had picked up in NJ and use it to see what was available in the big Macy's on 34th Street. I left Pais napping and headed down the street to catch the local train and switched to the express at Pacific/Atlantic to get uptown fairly quickly. I headed into the Macy's and stopped off in the menswear section before heading upstairs and checking out the outfits for summer before stopping at the fragrance counter and picking up some Aqua di Gio before heading back into the street. The dryness in my mouth due to lack of water reminded me that I needed more mints before heading out at night and ended up on an hourlong trek for mints at 2 different Duane Reade drugstores and even Kmart before giving up on the city and taking the train back into BK to stop at Target to find my sugarless Altoid mini-mints. In between my different store appearances I spoke with Ian and with Nadia by cellphone and after Target, even though I missed the Vitamin Shoppe, I was able to transfer to the bus and ride back home in short order in time for dinner. The Penne a la vodka and grilled chicken before 9pm and I finished off my latest chill out CD (Cool Me All Over).

We had decided after picking up the invite (and after some urging from Brett) that we would try out Spirit (in the former Twilo space) and see what DJ Peter Rauhofer was up to in his new digs. We lucked out with a parking space just 2 blocks over and made our way to the club but needed help from the invite to nail down the address (no sign outside, just the awning with the number). Once inside we stepped into the dark and rather close indoors to some very laid back and not rousing beats at all. Of course Peter was not there when we walked in and even though he came on the boards around 12:30 the music still was no reason to get excited sounding far too out of place with the boring yellow blow up beach balls hanging from the ceiling and the nearly empty dancefloor with the no rhythm sole shirtless boy on the floor not enough to lift the mood. Feeling antsy and uninspired by the slow influx of random people into the space I decided to salvage what I could of the night and head out to the coat check, find out which line to stand on and then headed out into the downpour to find the car after a walk through the park. We were prepared to pay for parking but ended up finding a spot just 2 blocks over and walked right up to the front to say hi to Derek at the door (better late than never) and turn up at the party at Roxy at 1:45. We bumped into Duane and pals as soon as we stepped up into the party and picked up drinks with Barman Barker shortly afterwards. The beats being thrown down by DJ Tony Moran was much more upbeat and great sounding than the more depressed supposed b'day party back at Spirit. I immediately clicked with the music was soon drawn into the flux of the party and ended up dancing on multiple stages and boxes. The performer Jody Watley had cancelled but I just viewed it as more dancing time for me and all of my friends agreed too. We especially like the remix of "Holla back Girl" by Gwen Stefani (as the song goes, that's my sh*t) . We ended up staying well past the cutoff and enjoying the sounds until it was time to head back home.

I awoke around 1pm in the afternoon and spent the afternoon playing video games and watching tv programming until it was late enough to begin dinner preparations. I cooked a turkey breast, stuffing, and macaroni and cheese. We spent the evening watching The Simpsons, Family Guy and American Dad before going back to the video games and using up the final hours of my night just chilling. Another weekend almost lost to the blur but saved by a little strangeness and a lot fun once again. Until next time, oh so far away. like a whole 5 days...