Aug 26-28 - Return to NY, Still Hot, Still Having Fun

I was very happy to be back in NYC and see the scene I had missed for the past 2 weeks. Work has been under control and I made sure to get enough rest and take care of myself in order to get over the jet lag and the dehydration of my week ago vacation in the sunny vales of San Diego. I have been getting used to the strange commuter pattern of having to come up and out of the Path station and walk through downtown to get to the City Hall station. The commute is definitely more complicated but I got up and and out and through it all to make my way home. My PC problems have continued all the way until today and beyond (and even distracted me from posting to my blog over the past 2 weeks) but I have finally gotten it under control enough that I can spend the few moments and chronicle the stuff that I have been through. I was doing computer configuration when I first came home and then moved on to having dinner when it finally arrived. The steak was unsliced but tasted good enough and the dinner was good the the last bite. I then moved on to getting my hair did after a 2 week hiatus of no haircut. It worked out as well as could be expected and I was across the house and taking a shower in no time. After choosing the outfit and making sure everything was in place I checked the time and prepared to head out. Pais was going to sleep in this night so I was heading into the city alone. I walked over to Castle Car service and waited for a car to return to the base. One of my friendly neighborhood cab drivers showed up and proceeded to bring me into the city. The drive on the BQE and then the Bklyn Bridge would have been a little faster but the two checkpoints at both ends of the bridge span held us up a little bit before the driver crossed over to the west side and we headed uptown. The drive turned on 16th and he dropped me off right on 18th Street so I headed on into Gym. The bartender said hello and asked if I was waiting for Brett I said yes and he gave me my drink and began to wait. In the meantime I headed back and said hi to DJ Smoky and chilled for a little bit before his friends came to the back with a whole entourage in tow. I headed back to the front and got myself a can of ROCKSTAR while sharing greetings with the staff. Brett reappeared upstairs and went to clean his station at the bar before stepping out. After noting the direction of all eyes I followed barman Brett out into the night and we walked over the few blocks to where his other half lived. We discussed parties, fire island drama and plans for the fall. After we reached Sixth Ave we said our goodnights and I headed down the block to 17th street and
Splash. I rolled up inside and took in the crowd. The music was energetic and there was plenty of crowd for a summer week end. I picked up a frozen margarita downstairs and then headed back upstairs to look over the crowd from the stage. The DJ for the eve was Billy Carroll who I always have enjoyed on the turntables. As I watched the crowd and danced a bit I finished off my drink and cleaned up a spill on the stage that threatened to derail my evening even as I barely began my evening of dancing. The boxes were both full of gyrating professionals but I just stood back and took in the lightshow in between heading back downstairs and trying the different bartenders downstairs as I picked up my ever present SMIRNOFF ICE®s with a splash of Grenadine. Between the three different downstairs bartender's I ended up the eve with three different prices but the one that charged me the best price got the best tip. He also noted that even though they had run out of large glasses they did have plenty of margarita glasses on hand. Over the course of the eve I heard Deborah Cox "Stupid Like You" as well as a nice wide swathe of recent hits that had the guys and girls in attendance in dancing and paying close attention. When it came time to clean off the box in front of the stage and then dance some the crowd watched some while I danced but it was still plenty of fun and then of course the dancers returned to the now cleared box to do their own shaking in search of tips. I headed outside to pick myself up a bottle of water at the pizza place and on the way back in I ran into Grace. She was feeling a little under the weather and was heading home early but wished me well as I headed back inside. I almost couldn't find my hand stamp but I did locate it and was waved in so I could return to the dancefloor and hang with the peoples. As the music built I took to the speaker box in the back once again dancing to Amerie and a hot remix of "One Thing". I got energetic enough with lights in hand that the light-board guy conspired to turn off all of the lights in the place and shine down blue spotlights on my area as I had my back shining out towards the crowd, lights crossed in my hands behind me. As it finally got late enough around 3:30, I headed up to the booth and said thanks to the light board guy and also thanked Billy for a great eve and told him that I looked forward to his next appearance. The taxi was waiting right outside and I stepped in and gave him directs back to Bklyn and he got me home bound post haste. The ride was quick and I woke up at the turn up and off of 4th Ave. In front of my building I paid the driver waved goodbye and made my way inside. Another Friday Night under wraps.

Saturday we walked down the street to the Cafe to have breakfast. Russ had a bagel with cream cheese while I went for the eggs and bacon on a platter. After breakfast I picked up an orange juice and then we headed next door to the met to pick up some sodas. After heading back up to the house I spent some more time messing with the computer before it was time to head out once again and pick up some groceries from Pathmark and get some stuffing for the Shady Brook farms turkey I was planning to cook on Sunday Night. Back in the house we put away the groceries and Russ took a nap while I missed with the computer some more. As the eve moved in we ordered dinner from the Friends Cafe and I enjoyed a chicken caesar salad delivered nice and meaty. I then cleaned my contacts in the 5 minute solution as I showered and chose an outfit for the eve. After cleanup I settled on the green A/X shorts before topping with my new Rocawear shirt and Tommy baseball cap. The Jimmy arrived around 10:15 and we hung out for a bit before heading out around 11pm.

We wanted to make sure we got out early enough to find parking once in the city. After making our way through the congestion on the Bklyn Bridge (two cop cars squeezing the traffic into two lanes on the span) and up the west side we found a nice spot right on 10th ave. We then were able to walk up the street and right into the Roxy right behind the boys getting their ID checked by doorman Derek. Once past the security outside it was time to wait online for the security inside. Even though the startoff DJ was Chad Jack the later party of Junior Vasquez meant that we had to endure searches and bag checks once inside by another squad of security. After I had shown off the contents of my pockets it was time get up to the cashiers and then on inside to the front bar. I didn't realize that it had eaten up 15 minutes in waiting for security but it was still a good idea to start off my night with a bottle of spring water. After that it was time to start with a nice drink and a Stoli Orange and Red Bull hit the spot nice. Of course there was the mini-drama of the boy who drank too much who fell to the floor right next to us. He hit the floor so hard that I felt the vibration in my knees. He then picked himself up off the floor and collapsed onto the couch next to some people that he did not know and pretended that all was well but of course we knew differently... In the meantime we said hello to our friends Troy as well as Kevin and rest of the crowd until I heard the first strains of "Don't Cha" pulling me over to the speaker in the asian section and with my two side speakers (backup dancers) I listened to a rerub mixed in between the Pussycat Dolls and Mary J Blige "Your Child" with the stress being on the "Girlfriend" hook. After that it was time to step down and check on what the rest of the friends were up to. We hung out with the boys in the front and in the back and also down the stairs in the smoking section where I met some kids in to see Junior spin (he came on at 3am) and also greeted Erica at the back bar in time to get a tequila shot for her and wish her well with her evening. I danced on the front speaker next to the stage while listening to Gwen Stefani and "Hollaback Girl". We also watched and then said goodnight to Quentin Elias after his performance as well as saying hi to DJ Chad Jack at the back bar after his set was over. The energy of the party continued in the right direction well into the eve and even after the drink cutoff I found the energy to take to the speaker overlooking muscle beach and put on a final show for the crowd both hands lit and in motion. At around 4:40am we finally headed outside and found a taxi right out front that was ready to take us back to BK nice and easy. Another night finished off and oh so nicely done.

Sunday it was time for delivery breakfast and more messing around with the PC (all of the Sony Media Solutions software finally installed and working, Yay) and received a phone call from my bro on SI that he was on his way over to hang out some. He arrived soon after and we spent the afternoon playing Nintendo DS games and watching an episode of Thundercats before settling in and watching Blade Trinity on the widescreen. After the movie we dug into the great turkey dinner with a side of stuffing and some macaroni and cheese. The dinner was great and we ended the eve by driving Ian down to the SI bus to head back over the VZ bridge and then taking a trip to the 24hr McDonalds and buying a pair of Mcflurries (one Oreo and one M&M) and then settling for the eve and then messing with the PC some more before I finally thought to go to bed. I really enjoyed my weekend but it can make a body so tired. Got to make sure to get my sleep.