Friday Night I got home and enjoyed delivery dinner from Friends Cafe, Russ decided on the Steak, I had the Pot Roast myself. Nice juicy chunks of meat, not too greasy or undercooked. I would dip them in the mashed potatoes and enjoyed my dinner nicely. Afterwards I finished up setting up my CDs to give out later that night and moved on to cleanup. After the haircut and shower were over I checked to see if Russ was ready and after finishing up the last CD printout we headed down to the Murano and took off for the city. The night was particularly balmy with no jacket required. We headed up Hudson street and dodged all of the Cinco de Mayo revelers and made our way up to eight ave. Russ found a spot just 2 blocks up from the club and we parked and made our way over to the bar. Gym was nice and full with plenty of people watching the NBA playoffs, MLB games for NY teams and UFC cage match playback on the screen in the rear. I said hello to the bartender in the front and moved through the crowd inside before saying hello to a few friends inside. Ernesto even stopped by briefly and said hello before him and his posse headed back out to Long Island. I made my way to the back and said hello to DJ Smoky and gave him the "Lighter Dayze" lounge mix along with the "Pop and Ride". Ty wasn't working tonight so one or our other friends got a gift CD of R&B/Rap music. We stayed until around 1:20am and after telling everyone good night we headed back to BK to rest up for the next day.

I had to wake up early, just before 8am so I could be out of the house and arrive at my bus over in Flatbush, BK on time. Russ had a late afternoon game so he was able to sleep in a little longer. I walked down to the taxi stand and was directed right back outside so that I could get into a white livery car that the driver had just finished getting cleaned. I had printed out directions just in case but after telling the driver the cross streets he had a pretty good idea. He brought me over by way of Atlantic Ave but he had driven down too many streets and had to come back like 4 blocks after turning onto the right street. We pulled over not too far from where the bus was and I said hello to Shamika's Aunts and a few others shortly before Shamika arrived herself. We took a short trip to the store to pick up some orange juice before we all boarded the bus and waited a few minutes before Lynda arrived. After all of the supplies were packed into the bus overheads and the front seats and everyone was on board we were on our way. We drove through Flatbush and then Borough Park and I watched all of the Jewish men and women walking out in the streets in their black finery. Before the speed of the bus picked up too much they handed out food and juice to all on board and everyone got their breakfast underway before we were even on the highway. We made good time until we got onto the BQE before the Manhattan Bridge and drove in moderate traffic until we passed the Battery Tunnel which put us into a nice little plug of cars that all appeared to be heading out towards Staten Island. After we got to Staten Island we made pretty good time and headed over the Outerbridge Crossing and into NJ and then the Garden State Pkwy before heading down the road deep into NJ and the shore points. The in bus movie for the trip down was "Madea's Family Reunion" The movie was good despite the DVD being a bootleg which had its own laugh track and people getting up and walking in front of the screen. I liked the movie and it put me in a good mood before we arrived in Atlantic City. We arrived and disembarked from the bus at 12:25pm and I met up with Shamika, her cousins and friend and the five of us headed over towards the outdoor mall and shopping strip not too far away. The shopping jaunt ended up being not as fun as we originally had expected as none of us found too much to get excited over and did not buy too much (which might be a good thing, but anyway). We all did like the guess store and I ended up picking up a T-Shirt to wear the following weekend. With all of us with bags in hand from the various shoe stores, Sephora and Guess we headed over to Ruby Tuesday to have ourselves a nice sit down lunch. After a 20 minute wait for a table we ordered our food and waited another 20 minutes before it arrived. When it did come the food was actually very good and we were all happy with our meals. We commented on the oddities in the various pictures as well as the fact the bill was automatically split up by seat so we did not all have to guess what we needed to pay. The meal was not that expensive and was a nice size for the individual dishes we had ordered (I had a bacon cheeseburger that was very good). From salads to chicken everyone enjoyed what they ordered. After that was over we headed back to the Sands casino and after some problems with using our cards we gambled away our various $20 in different machines. I won $13 at first but quickly spent it back in the machine. After that was over I found a seat to sit outside for a bit and then went to the CVS and picked up a Milky Way candy bar to eat when I got back on the bus. I then waited for a bit with the old people in the lounge before our bus finally came up. Everyone piled in pretty easily and we were underway after a much shorter wait then when we started out and we were rolling out and on the way back to NYC. The on bus movie on the way back was "Scarface" which was quite a change from the movie on the way down but since no one else complained I guess it was OK. The movie was a little loud though so I kept on waking up when someone was shot or a particularly loud argument broke out on screen. After the movie was over we sat in traffic in Staten Island for a bit heading into the city and then we were in Brooklyn and quickly back to the neighborhood we started in. After we all got off of the bus the 5 of us in our little shopping clique walked down to the corner and waited for a bus for a bit before the first bus came the one girl riding by bus home said goodnight and headed home. The rest of us flagged down a taxi in the sudden night chill to take us over to Shamika's neighborhood several blocks away. The ride was not too smooshed despite the 5 people in the car and we had a nice cab driver. After Shamika and the girls got out and said good night I asked the driver to take me back over to Park Slope, He drove down Vanderbilt and then over to Grand Army Plaza and down Prospect Park West to get over to my neck of the woods but we made good time and I was out of the car and saying thanks after just a $15 dollar cab ride. I was upstairs and in the house by 10:15. Russ was resting but I cleaned myself and re-outfitted as he called and made sure that the Jimmy was also going out and we hung out for a bit before Jimmy came around 10:45pm. We headed out at 11:10pm and made our way into the city.

No Nintendo DS for me this night as I had killed the battery in all of my Tetris play earlier in the day. The ride wasn't that bad and we found a parking spot over on 20th St. and after some backing up into another spot we were ready to head out.

I walked down to the Roxy and waited a brief moment on the short line before heading inside. I said hello to doorman Derek and then headed inside to the cashier and coatcheck. I gave the girl at coatcheck my latest "Listen 2 The Street" R&B mix and took the rest of the CDs inside to be handed out shortly. I did not want to have to carry them all night so I walked up to the DJ booth and got Mitch Amtrak's attention and he came down and opened the door. I told him the top CD was a gift for him and the other 3 were for DJ Chad Jack. He seemed a little reluctant at first like I was handing out devil music CDs but he said thanks and took them back inside the booth and I headed to the back bar with barman Louis. We exhanged hellos and talked for a bit before I brough back Russ and the Jimmy to get their drinks. We started the eve with the same mood as always with a lot of expectation and I liked the energy and familiarity of the beats as we heard the very familiar "The Lover That You Are" which had been out 10 yrs ago but was still appropriate with the right beat behind it. The music moved on and we moved around the club. I stopped and talked with Sean and Rick for a while and discussed where they were from and how long they had been in NYC before telling the same about myself. I decided not to monopolize their time before heading to the front and bumping into T.J. at the front bar. He picked up a bottle water for me and I went out to dance with the crowd. I was on the dance floor for a bit with Russ, the Jimmy the rest of the dancefloor crowd before I danced on the stage for "Dibiza". As usual Chad did some great preparations and gave us a very good set and kept the crowd dancing and feeling the groove. The electro heavy beats were held together than the last few sets by Merritt and had enough familiar tunes thrown in that we were happy and I stayed until 4:30am and danced my last dance on the box near the front bar to "Someone to Hold". The extended version was unnecessary as it has a long slow interlude in the middle but I hoped my gift CDs give him some new musical ideas for the next time he visited. I even had given out my new business cards with my email address on them and not just the phone #s and blog address. We said goodnight to the Jimmy and I picked up my coat at coat check and headed out into the night. Having picked up the magazines the previous night at Gym Bar I was able to just head out, pick up random flyers from the glad hand guys and get Russ to flag us down a taxi on 10th Ave. The ride home was quick and uneventful. Goodnight Saturday Night.

Sunday I woke up around 12pm and got my delivery breakfast and began to clean house. Rug vacuumed and bathroom cleaned I sat down and watched some tv and web surfed. Russ and I watched NBA Playoff games before we got our call from Cherie telling us she would be over soon. Cherie arrived around 3:30 and we hugged hello and then sat on the couch and talked about all the stuff we needed to catch up on since we had seen her last. She was looking nice and big entering her 7th Month of baby carrying but she was looking nice and maternal and looking forward to July when it would be over. We headed out for dinner around 5;30 and Russ called ahead before we picked up our dinner at The Good Fork. I stuck with the burger while he picked up something else. Cherie wanted chinese food so we stopped at Uncle Liao's on the way home. Once back inside we all chowed down and Cherie enjoyed the first good chinese food she's had since she moved to her new neighborhood. She took the leftovers home with her along with the food we had picked up at Pathmark and we said our good nights before she left and headed back home. I chilled out for a bit and took a short nap before watching the Sopranos. The episode was good but not great and afterwards Russ cleaned up some more before heading to bed. I watched DVR programming and had a nice big bowl of rice krispies watching TV before turning in myself before it got too late. Always hate starting off the week in a sleep deficit.

I was able to hangout and meet some nice new people while with Shamika. Had fun telling jokes and seeing the sights while in AC. I also was able to navigate my way back home afterwards and had plenty of energy to hang out and do the usual do. I am feeling a little more upbeat despite the struggles with allergy season and have big plans for the rest of the year. Stresses at work mean that I am really going to have to get serious on either writing my novel or starting up my DJ gig. What to do, what to do. Anyway keep up the good work and do something serious though not work related every day. All is as it should be. But not as good as it could be. We'll see.

Another full weekend to look forward to next week and a good time will be had by all.

4/28-4/30 - Friday Night at Standard, Saturday Night at Roxy, and Always With Friends in the Place II

The Friday end finally arrived. The last day at work for Rene and Donzel and the tearful send offs were all in place. I thought they would do the last hang late in the day but they both left before it got too late and were gone midafternoon. I was still preparing myself for the afterwork hang with Mitzi downstairs at Ole and was very happy to see many had stayed until 7pm and got a few drinks with the guys and girls before I headed back upstairs grabbed my Target bag and headed home. I had finally remembered my full allergy set of not just generic Claritin but also Sudafed which when taken together with the antihistamine calms down my rampant seasonal tree allergies. It only took me two weeks of nose stress and headaches to remember this. Anyway once home I at leftover chicken Caesar salad for dinner and watched DVR programming of "Charmed" before Russ returned from his gym workout and ordered ! his own dinner from Jack's. We watched basketball playoffs and mostly chilled out before Russ went to bed to rest up for his triple header on Saturday. I decided that since I was not planning on being trapped out on the Randalls Island for 3 straight games I would spend the evening getting sufficiently tired out that I could sleep late on Saturday morning. I finished cutting my hair around midnight, took a shower and got my clothes changed and stepped out in the Tommy Hilfiger cargo pants and the G-Unit heavy tee. Address firmly in mind I walked over to the taxi stand and was picked up by a waiting driver on the street who was more than happy to take me into the city at 1:30 am. I arrived at Bassline at Standard around 2am no trouble finding Van Dam at all. (The driver actually knew where the street was and even knew which street to approach to avoid the one-way). I got on line, showed my ID and was inside. The place seemed sm! all at first but I got my drink at the bar and then headed up the spir al staircase and was immediately engulfed in the mass of people populating the upstairs room. Even though there seemed to be no where you could really get out of the direct press of bodies or the line of sight of the speakers the music was not at earbleed levels so anyplace you went you could hear the beats and feel the crowds energy. The place was very packed but I made my way over to the alcove near the DJ booth next to the bar and struck up conversations with Billy Carroll and Chad Jack, two of my favorite DJs to move a crowd. They were both very friendly and Chad even got my email address so he could send me a remix. I split my time between upstairs and downstairs at the bar and got nice and toasty dancing with the crowd but without any real peaks that would wear one out. The crowd was a nice mix of a cross section of Soho types, gay boys, hipster girls and people who thought they were entourage enough to be someplace hip. I only glimp! sed DJ Junior Vasquez on the decks in passing but the beats sounded like him and the crowd was living for it so it was good enough for most. I decided to leave around 4:30 since I was light on alcohol and still had plans for the next night. I was glad I had checked out the space but missed the fact that besides the DJs I did not really see anyone that I knew. I was able to get my coat from coatcheck rather easily and then walked just one block downtown to the next corner and with relative ease I flagged down a taxi that agreed to take me back to BK. The driver was friendly, the ride was quick and cheaper than usual (not as far uptown) and I got home around 5am. Another night on the town handled and I made it back safe and still engaged (in my surroundings).

Saturday I woke up briefly as Russ left the house to go to his games and I caught a few more winks before getting out of bed around noon to hang out in the livingroom and check out what was on the tube. A bowl of breakfast and I was happy to chill out,, watch some DVR programming and then do some shopping on iTunes and watch some Logo programming on travel to Dublin and to Thailand. I also received a call from Amy and fielded a call myself and left a message with Cherie letting her know that I had not heard from her in a while and hoped she was doing well. Russ finally called back late afternoon to tell me the team had one all 3 games. Two come from behind victories and the team was on a high place and very happy. We decided to get burgers at The Good Fork and after printing out directions to Red Hook I ran downstairs hopped into the Murano and we trekked over. I directed right instead of left but then af! ter we turned around we found the hidden section of Red Hook that housed the people eating out and the spot we were looking for. The place was small and for Fridays and Saturdays they require reservations but because we were taking our order to go we just took seats at the bar and waited for the cook up. The burgers were done in short order diner speed and we took our bags and left for home. The burgers were just as good as we expected and we marked it up as worth the trip. The bread was doughy like a fresh baked yeast roll and the burger was juicy and flavorful. We were also happy to have gotten the last ones coming off of the grill due to a developing smoke ventilation issue they had in the restaurant kitchen. Dinner out of the way we relaxed and spent the rest of the evening messing with music CDs and watching basketball highlights. Russ was too tired and too stiff to head out with me so I was going out alone.

I just missed the train and waited at the taxi stand for 20 minutes before a driver pulled up and took me into the city. We discussed gas prices and other current events and I got to the city with no issues as he let me off on the corner of 10th ave and 18th street.

There was a line in front of ROXY but I was able to step over past the main line to the second line and get waved in by Derek. I got my ID checked and then dug in my pocket and picked out a "Spring Storm X" mix CD and enjoyed his look of surprise and a Thank You before I turned and headed inside. After I had my armband and ticket from the cashier I was inside and waited a moment for my coat check friend to return since I knew she was in. She was nice enough to take my coat for me and I headed inside to check out the crowd. One of my friends commented that his friends thought the place was kind of empty but they never had arrived at Roxy so early before so I told them this was the usual and pointed out the crowd around the front bar and behind the couches and at the back bar. I found my bartender Louis at the front bar and even though for some reason he was taking longer to get through his crowd than usual I waited until he was free and said hello. With drink in hand (Absolut Mandarin and Red Bull) I said hello to Erica who had thoroughly enjoyed my "Lighter Dayze" lounge mix CD and I then gifted her with the "DivaSpring" CD. I also said hello to Duane who was also happy to hang and told me he appreciated my intermittent company as we hung out behind the couches for a bit before I went to dance in on the speaker in the asian section. We met up again and wandered back to the front bar to pick up drinks and I spent the rest of the eve trying to move with the maddening crowd and yet not quite give myself over to it. On my way back to the front I ran into Brett and his crowd even though I suspected from friend sitings earlier that he was in fact in attendance. He decided to wait until later for me to get his own copy of the "Spring Storm X" CD and so I did not have to rush out to the coat check just yet. DJ Peter Rauhofer was celebrating his birthday with us this eve but besides snatches of "How Do You Say" and a few other familiar beats such as Wonderbox (Turn Me Over) I did not find the music even close to what he had done for us when he plays in other cities and very reminiscent of the wall of sound approach he did at the Black Party but without the good song selection. Around 2am I also made sure to give Cathy her very own copy of "DivaSpring" when she had a moment between drinking customers and she Thanked me as well. I will have to say that I found a pretty good spot near the stage in the back to watch the performance by Maya (the Offer Nissim vocalist and songwriter) but her songs were a big slowdown from the rest of the beats of the night and she should have just stuck to 2 songs instead of 3 as it seemed to go on for too long. I left the stage area in the middle of the last song (and missed the CD giveaways) but knew I had most of the songs from Star 69 Records that I wanted from that 2-CD anyway. I watched over the crowd for a long while and then headed out to the coatcheck to get Brett's CD and held it in the cargo pocket and went ahead and danced some more. I said hello to promoter Lisa and stepped up onto the box near the door and waited for the music to get better. When I figured out that the music was not going to peak and play anything beyond random snatches of familiar beats but no real vocals I let myself enjoy it anyway and finally lit my hands and danced over the crowd for a bit before finally calling it a night around 5:30 am. Brett had walked up around 5am and said that he was leaving and he was able to walk out with his gift CD then but I tried and waited for the music a little bit more and finally had to give up and go home. After retrieving my coat from the coat check and saying good night to my friend there I went outside and walked over to 10th Ave. The cab pulled up and waited in front of me so I asked him if he was taking passengers and could he go to Brooklyn. I then climbed in and rode all the way home with no stress and fairly quickly. It was already starting to be light out but I really didn't need the sunglasses yet. I got into the house, cleaned up and went to bed. Another Saturday Night all wrapped up.

Sunday Morning I awoke but decided it was too early and slept until after 1pm. I definitely needed the rest after my long weekend but after digging into my delivery breakfast. After that I got dressed up and we piled into the Murano to drive up to Bronx. Russ was visiting with his family for a bit so I tagged along for the ride and to listen to my new Pop CD in the car "Pop and Ride" The tunes were good and except for some pacing at the end I had finalized the playlist for that CD. After the ride up I read the end of my Simon Greene novel and then played Tetris on my DS. On the way back we listened to the CD again and got off of the highway in a crush of traffic (fire near the exit at a fire house) and drive through the neighborhood for a bit before heading over to Dallas BBQ and picking up dinner. The food came pretty quickly and I was back out and headed for home in short order. We watched Fox programming for a bit before catching the Sopranos. After that was over Russ did some work in the office so I watched the movie "Final Fantasy: Advent Children" which was a great CG film that I definitely enjoyed. The movie was well done and I can definitely see some more films by Square to show off animation power that they are. After that was over I settled in to watch DVR programming before finally slowing down my weekend and head to bed. Another weekend through but so much seen and done.

No real down parts with plenty of introspection and involvement with my friends. I look forward to next week with my trip to AC and a long Saturday ahead of me. Like the continued thought on being a force for good in my own sphere of influence. Also am looking to get more serious in my non-work related pursuits. At least one thing finished every day that doesn't have to do with work and everything to a life outside of work. I can waste hours online and doing nothing or I can work to do things that will improve my chances of being among the content and happy in the near future. Keep up the good work.

04/21-04/23 - Wet Weekend, Family Fun and Friends till the End

I think I have missed the point of this opportunity. I have tried to keep my blog all happiness and spunk and I have not used it as the introspective piece that it should be. Very vacuous, very empty and not much substance. I think I will still keep the focus on my weekend and leave the rest of my lift to my other blogs. But I will be more honest about how I feel and what is really going on.

The weekend had much rain and darkness incoming so I really did not stress any Friday Night plans. Besides my brother wanted to come over and hang so I was all for the family time and opportunity to finally give him his Tetris game for the DS. After much competition and finding we both had our Tetris specialties we took a break and watched the season finale of the Teen Titans that Ian had missed. We then watched the first two episodes of "Yo Momma" on MTV (The DVR is a wonderful thing) It also finally let me clear those episodes off of the DVR. The late hour finally called and I let Ian go to bed watching TV in the 2nd BR and I went to bed myself. Russ had already gone to bed and commented on hearing me at 2am yelling at my DS as I played "Brain Age". I was able to get in a good nights sleep and wake up hale and hearty.

Saturday we ordered in breakfast from the bagel place, Ian and I had bacon and egg bagels and Russ had his usual repast. Ian had to return to Westchester and left midafternoon to arrive home around 6pm (he paged me on the phone to let me know of his arrival). I decided that my 3 gym visits through the week were enough and skipped the gym for my Saturday afternoon and just watched some more DVR programming and caught up on my music online. Lunch was picked up at KFC and munched on before I caught up on my Beatport and iTunes before falling asleep in the 2nd bedroom as I do seem to always get tired viewing multiple song lists in the late afternoon. I awoke 2½ hrs later and turned down the delivery dinner so I could prepare for my night out. Haircut, cleaned up and all set to go we awaited the arrival of The Jimmy who was a little late as he had to clean up the drain in his driveway to make sure his downstairs did not get flooded. He was only 20 min. late and we all said our hellos and then went goodbye and out into the rain. The ride in was very quick due to my bringing along my Nintendo DS and playing Tetris DS until we pulled into the parking spot. Once again the convenient space on 20th street and then walked down the street to the club.

We ducked under the awning and out of the rain and said hello to doorman Derek before heading inside of Roxy. Cashier and then coat check and then we were all inside and ready to party. Louis was at the back bar this night so we waited for him to return from the his errands before we were able to order our first round of drinks for the night. I was back on my party horse and doing my best to personify all that is good about the party and made sure to be there for all of my friends. Stephanie was celebrating her b'day so I made sure to get her a birthday cocktail (my very own Absolut Mandarin and Red Bull). Fresh from hanging with his parental units, Duane got in his time with the laser and met some new friends and I also did some work on finding out what his type was (asking pointed questions and also letting him know more about me as well). He started out with a red bull and moved on to the Coronas and we split out time between the two different sides of the front bar. He made me feel very special when he took out a moment in the midst of all of the party to tell me he was happy to know me as a friend and thought that I was very genuine. Especially since I am in the midst of finding myself I was happy that my "joie de vivre" was showing through and on my sleeve. My one slightly sad point of the eve was saying goodbye to Dave who was on to greener pastures after his times dancing at Roxy and was going to be performing in New England for a few months. I gave him a gift CD of "Diva Spring" as a going away gift and wished him well. I also hung out with Erica for a bit and we traded drinks and gifted her with the lounge CD "Lighter Dayze" before she left around 3am with her boyfriend. Russ and The Jimmy also seemed to be having a good time but I was sure to bring us all back some water and kept myself well setup with the Gatorade and Red Bull between drinks. Of course DJ Manny Lehman was there for us all the way through with one of the best Roxy sets he has layed on us in a while. Manny played everything from bookends of Mariah (We Belong Together at 12:40 and final song of Don't for Forget About Us at 4:40), MJB (Be Without You), Rihanna (SOS), Danny Tenaglia (Dibiza), 8 Letters vs Let the Music Use You Up, Pink (Stupid Girls), Donna Summer (Power of Love), Offer Nissim (On My Own), and Suzanne Palmer (Offer Nissim Mix of Fascinated). Despite people not moving from sitting on the front of boxes (weirdo tourists) I still made do with the available space and put on a good show for the friendlies. Lights flying from the stage to the usual boxes I felt the night was great all the way through. It was even fun to tell Russ at one point the only song that the DJ had not played was the one that was my FINAL song of the night before we bid good night to the boys and headed out into the night. The rain made it a little more desperate to pick up a taxi and Russ was happy for the baseball cap and me for my black rubber raincoat as we spent a few minutes to flag down a taxi on 9th ave. Once a driver finally pulled over for our very wet selves we were happy to kick back and finally head home and out of the wet. The fast and furious four hours under wraps, I was happy with my Saturday night.

Sunday was spent relaxing and hanging at home before it was time to head out with Russ and handle some legal issues up in the Bronx. While Russ headed inside I stayed in the car and got in touch with my DS playing Tetris Touch and found I enjoyed the touch version just as much as the other versions on the cartridge. Before too long Russ returned with a cruller from Dunkin Donuts that I found too much after a few bites. Back home I set out to cook dinner and made one of my favorite dishes of fried chicken and macaroni salad with the "golden" can of tuna. The dinner was great and we sat back and watched the Sopranos for the silent NY hour before heading out and picking up our Sunday night treat of McFlurries at Mickey D's. The night came to a close with watching DVR programming of "Charmed" and "Ghost in a Shell 2nd Gig".

The weekend as always went too fast but that just means the next one comes up just as fast as well. As I get older I find the days run together so I look at the small moments and want to add them up so the whole is better than the individual parts. I don't think I have done all that I can do and I have GOT to be better with my attitude and stop waiting for my life to happen. I seem to do very badly with long rang plans but short range plans work out just great for me so breaking up my big tasks into small manageable parts is what I am now focused on doing. So much to do and no way to do it all is not a problem if I stop wasting time on stupid things and make sure I engage in at least one if not more things daily that work toward my goals of being self-sufficient, and able to have the means to help my friends and my family no matter what may come. I have always believed that if you can imagine the worst that can happen you can prepare for it and I am happy to say that despite many accidents the worst has not happened yet (or at least not the totally unexpected).

Future Author, Future DJ, Future Entertainer and center ring attraction. If I put my mind to it I know I can do all that I need to do and the wants and desires will surely fall into place. Beauty within and I will definitely enjoy beauty in the rest of my life as well. Remember, I am a force to be reckoned with, and a good one too. : )

4/14-4/16 - Day in the Sun and then the Night Comes (and the Music Stops too)

Friday I stayed in. No plans, no sickness, no club closures just staying in and resting up for a full Saturday.

Saturday I awoke and ran through the Fiber regimen and then had breakfast. At 12:20 we headed out of the house and made our
way to Randalls island for Softball Practice. We got to the fields an hour early so we ended up waiting around for an hour before everyone
else showed up. The weather was great and the sky though full of clouds had plenty of blue and not too much wind either. Our practice time actually started at 2:30. I made sure to load up at the blue truck that came through the park and picked up water, Gatorade and a diet coca-cola. I also had a hot dog and got a hamburger for Russ. The practice lasted until 4pm and everyone was warmed up nicely especially the 3 newest from the draft, Brook, Barbara and V. We had a little drama making sure everyone had rides back off the island but everything was sorted out shortly and we were headed back into the city and home to BK. We picked up an early dinner at Wendy's and after the long wait on the pick-up line we headed home ate dinner and rested up. I created a Diva Mix from the last 3 Dance Mix CDs I had made and then got myself ready with the haircut, clean up and dressing in the newest Akademiks shirt, red and white. The Jimmy arrived at the house at 10:30 and we all watched sports highlights while I made sure I had not forgotten any of the gift CDs and dressed warm enough to head out.

I played Tetris DS once again on the way into the city and happily sat in the back seat and waited after we found parking on 19th street. I then finally lost my vs. game and headed inside at 11:47 and got on the line in front. After a short flash of drama with people who thought I was cutting, Doorman Derek let me in after saying Hi and I headed inside to be wrist banded and get my jacket checked. The girl in coatcheck got my Street Classic CD as a gift and held onto my coat for me as I headed inside. The guys took 20 minutes before they showed up but I could understand the place might have been a little hectic out front. Tonight the Roxy had DJ Brett Henrichsen who had already proven himself able to bring in the crowds. Just 3 weeks ago he had been here and showed the crowd a good time. I was still waiting to see what he would do for the crowd this eve. My first distraction was this totally drunk guy in a pink shirt who when approached by the bar back sat down on the couch and refused to leave. He returned later at the front bar near the door after having fell down the stairs at the front. John Blair even helped him off the floor and his so called "friend" instead of helping mr. pink drunk out he took him upstairs to the Crystal Room with the pop DJ. Soon afterwards he was back downstairs harassing Dave who was dancing on the front bar. I moved myself to block his forward progress and he turned and went up stairs next to the dance floor and stood looking out over the dance floor from the back of one of the lounge couches, with his face doing various contortions as if he was having a fit. I told a passing security guard who ended up chasing pink drunk to the back of the club and this time he did not return to sully our poor eyes and sensitivities. I made sure Russ and the Jimmy had their drinks and I then said hello to my friends Duane and Joseph who had not hung out with us since February. Duane even got a gift CD of my new Diva Mix since both Hal and Dave were not able to make it and I had a gift to give. We were all having fun until for some reason the music cut off for 10 seconds. The music would mysteriously jump or skip 3 more times over the course of the night and I was not sure if the cause was faulty equipment or too many visitors to the DJ booth. With the DJ trying hard to sound different than he had 3 weeks before I found his music choices very still constrained by the playing of himself and DJ Escape over the previous two weeks. The boys did enjoy Black Eyed Peas and "My Humps" but even I was surprised to hear "Stroke, the Percussion Mix" again and I am sure that even Manny will play it next week since it is on his "Freedom" album. He had already played Mariah Carey and "Say Something" and followed that up an hour or so later and played MC and "We Belong Together" but I sorely missed my Tony Moran mix of "Don't Forget..." but that's just me. I was happy with the night overall but hated the music skipping more than once (and even getting cut off for 15 seconds) and also except for Black Eyed Peas there was no other peaks to the night. A whole lot of unknown songs thrown on to be different and stuff that was just remixes of stuff we already heard (like Dreamer '06) Despite starting late (around 12:25 when the guys got inside) but I still was able to get my drink on, hang with all my friends (despite having to turn down a drink with Erica because I was waiting for the boys) and get my dance on from the box in the Asian section to the stage but I did not get to do my good night dance on the speaker near the door. We turned in early for once, leaving just after 4am and after retrieving my coat and picking up mags and invites outside we were on 9th ave and flagging down a taxi. The ride home was quick and easy and after much digging for funds we were paid up and heading upstairs to catch some sleep. Another Saturday Night under wraps.

Sunday was pretty laid back with watching DVR programming and movies on HD and contemplating my weekend and the coming summer. Russ was at his accountant wrapping up before all is due. I fell asleep around 6pm and woke up before the Sopranos and ate my delivery dinner of chicken teriyaki from Sushi Yama. The chicken was plentiful but the sauce was very generic and I only ate half of the food. The Sopranos was OK but after making a trip out at 10pm to Pathmark to pick up juice and soda, Mickey Ds to pick up 2 Mcflurry and then the final stop at Neergard Pharmacy to pick up the Icy Hot patches for Russ to use when he went to bed. The final part of the night for me was spent drinking Tea, eating Rice Krispies and watching Cartoon Network and episodes of Charmed from TNT HD. I was happy with the weekend overall but no real peaks and the weekend is over so soon. Back to work. We await the next coming.

04/07-04/09 - Closure and Return of the Escape

Friday was spent at home, watching DVR programming and resting up (all bars closed anyway). I slept in on Saturday Morning and woke up had the juice and the breakfast and went to the gym on. After the workout we headed over to Century 21 to pick up gifts for the fam in NJ. The wrapping of the gifts I felt was unnecessary but Russ and I waited until both gifts were fully prepared and then headed back to BK. I spent the remainder of the afternoon and early eve finishing the setup of not one but 2 CDs (Storm X and Lighter Dayze) and then cleaned up to prepare to go out. Shaved, Showered and shoved out the door we rode into the city with The Jimmy. I played Tetris DS on the way into the city and whiled away the time in our parking spot on West St. with my new travel choice.

I headed over to the club about 11:45 to walk in before it got too hectic. Good thing too because the boys told me the line got out of hand before they were able to get in. I gave my bartender Louis my latest Trance CD (Technical Ice 2) and began my evening with the sounds of DJ Escape. The
Roxy had not heard him spin in quite a while and I was interested in seeing what he would do. His specialty is playing two songs at once that you do not expect to hear together. Around 12:35 a group of girls made their way inside with their own camera crew and two moving light sources (like Chinese light globes) held overhead as they parted the crowd. They went first to the DJ booth, said hi and then headed onto the stage and danced for a song before heading back to the DJ booth and then out of the club. Interesting, but not enough to make me get off of my speaker watching the whole episode from the asian section. Over the course of the night we heard quite a few new tunes as well as some beats we just could not wait to hear. From "Say Something by Mariah Carey", songs by Mad8 and Danny Tenaglia. I made sure to stay well hydrated throughout, say hi to Thomas, Sean and my other friends and even cool off outside when I felt the dancing got me a little heated. I stayed until the final dance on the speaker that lasted until 4:45pm and then jumped down past one of my stalkers from Splash, got the attention of Russ and we retrieved my coat from the coatcheck and we headed home in our friendly neighborhood 9th Ave Taxicab. Another night all wrapped up.

Sunday I got up, did the fiber regimen and then had delivery breakfast. We hung out for a bit before 2pm and then headed over to NJ and the dual B'day celebration for Emily and Sylvia. The traffic was surprisingly light and we made very good time, arriving in about 45 minutes. Gifts in hand we made our way inside and said hello to everyone. I helped them with burning some wedding photos of Emily's friend onto a gift-ready CD and then it was about time for our meal. I took the wine despite the fact I was already alcohol full from the night before (but I spilled half the glass during our meal so I really didn't have the whole thing anyway). That will teach me to demonstrate a softball pitch while at the table. But anyway minor disasters aside the food was very good (stuffed pork chops), and we settled into conversations about the movies we had seen over the past few months. Many movies and personal conversations later we said goodnight around 7 and headed back to BK. The traffic was only slightly heavier than when we came out and we got back home post haste. I fell asleep almost immediately but woke up to watch The Sopranos and put Footballer's Wives on the DVR to watch later in the week. The rest of the night was spent resting some more until bedtime and I was ready for another week at work. (Calgon Take Me Away).

Invited some friends out for next weekend and will see what occurs for my next Saturday will bring. Keep it coming.

03/31-04/02 - So Low and back again and Saving the Day

Friday was bad. I thought Russ was sick on Thursday and he was but my own experience was the icing on that cake. It kind of snuck up on me.
The Fiber and all that water in the Dr Natura supplements meant my system let the food go a long way and had relatively little to impede its progress until it had gotten much farther in the digestive process. I ate no solid food on Friday and was still sick beyond all that was reasonable. I had to leave work early, around 1pm and got home and promptly stayed glued to the coach in total discomfort and melancholy until deep into the night. I could not get comfortable, could not stand the smell or sight of food and would upchuck even if all I drank was water. By the time 1am rolled around I was finally able to eat cookies and milk before bed but the cup of tea that was supposed to get my stomach moving along moved it too much and it was back to the bathroom but I was able to recover enough to have a drink of water and then go to bed safe in the knowledge that tomorrow was another day.

Saturday I was able to eat breakfast and then even go to the gym in the afternoon. Russ had some errands to run and picked me up at the gym and brought us back to BK where we both had Caesar salad for dinner from Friends Cafe. I knew that I was recovering from being ill but instead of just thanking the heavens for my good fortune I decided it was time to celebrate my wellness and go out. I cut my hair and got all cleaned up to head out Saturday Night. Their had been police sponsored closures of several places in Chelsea on Friday Night but the Rox was not one of them. I dressed in the blue pants, white Akademiks shirt with blue trim and the NYPD cap. The Jimmy arrived at the house at 10:35 and we all hung out for a bit watching TV and discussing the Final Four before we headed out at 11:05.

We cruised into the city and made it across the Bklyn Bridge and over to the West side with no stress. We even found parking a soon as we turned onto 19th street. I let them converse while I read my Laurell K Hamilton Novell (Incubus Dreams) I was so into the book that the guys had to call me when they walked away from the car and headed down the street. I caught up quickly and we made our way down to the front of the club. Doorman Derek waved us in and we headed on inside of Roxy. Armbands once again and onto the cashier and coatcheck (just for me, Russ and the Jimmy were going with shirts tonight). I then headed inside to the already busy inside. For some reason everyone seemed to have come out earlier than usual and there were already around 25 people dancing on the dancefloor that was usually empty before midnight. I caught up with Barman Louis at the back bar and then after retrieving the guys I ! had to wait until he had returned from having dinner. It was no biggie however and the night was still young. The DJ for the eve was Chad Jack who got the crowd into the beats with a nice energetic blend of classic vocals and brought us into the more current vocals with a lot of interesting twists thrown in. Instead of letting the beats try too hard he caught the crowd with the well known vocals and had them hooked by the time the meat of the music was thrown in and we were dancing to music that segued right into the tried and true. I was already on the speaker in the asian section, having chased over some guy who was just up there standing while he drank his drink, and heard the first strains of Mary J and "Be Without You" when the DJ mixed in the unexpected but perfectly blended "Stand Up" from Thunderpuss w/ Latanza Waters ("Throw Your Hands in the Air" cross mixed with "Everybody put your Hands up"). The crowd ju! st ate it up and since it was 1am I knew it was time to finally light my hands and just dance over the crowd with everyone putting their hands up like they were supposed to. By the time I finally stepped off of the speaker around 10 min later I was very warm and needed to take a break near the front doors with the guys. I stood out there and chatted for a minute and then it was back over to the bar. The armbands meant I could not take the drinks away from the bar and had to wait for Russ and the Jimmy to show up to claim their glasses. No biggie tho since the back bar was busy but not full like the front bar. I proceeded to continue with my night, with high energy and much fun despite the drink cut off at 3am-4am for Daylight Savings Time. Despite the early drink cutoff I still had 4 drinks and after the last I climbed onto the speaker around 4:30 and danced until after 5am (really 4am on my body clock) but the long wait was worth it as I was able to due a full choreagraph routine when I know the song to &qu! ot;8 Letters". I stepped down from the box, waved over to Russ and headed out to coatcheck to retrieve my rap. We headed outside and Russ flagged down a taxi on 9th ave and we headed home to Bklyn. No problems with the ride and we got home nice and fast. Another Saturday Night nicely done.

Sunday afternoon (after 12) I awoke to delivery breakfast and we proceeded to find out that I need vacuum cleaner bags. I decided to pick them up during the week after work. I settled into the afternoon and watrched TV with Russ until it was lunchtime when we headed out to Wendy's and picked up a Double for each of us. We headed back home and we watched more late day programming until the energy I expended had caught up with me and I passed out. I slept on the couch until after 8:30 and woke up to watch "The Soprano's". After that episode was over I recorded "Footballer's Wives" and we headed out to pick up ice cream at Mickey D's. When that didn't work out because the ice cream machine was broken we headed over to 9th Street and Baskin Robbins and got ourselves some double scoops. Back home we watched Footballer's wives and then I caught up on some DVR programming before finall! y calling it a night and turning in my Sunday.

I hope I never get food poisoning like that again, but at least the fairly clean colon means the stress of it did not last except for one day. I am still feeling nicely energetic and have a lot to look forward to this summer. I will endeavor to due my part to guarantee its success. We shall see.