Random things...
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There are some things I miss from New York.

Me: I miss the New York Post..... coffee and donuts made in the bakery I bought it from...
JT: There is a sign when you come into Florida.. it sez "Welcome to Florida.. We dont CARE how you did it up North."
Me: <-- cracks up
JT: I think its when you come in from Alabama by I-10 somewhere ...
Me: I gotta get a picture of that...

Southerners do get sick of Northerners and their superiority complex.

But this comes from a man who inhales the New York Times every morning. :-)

If I could get it the same day - I would subscribe the Post...

Screw the Times.
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One day before I left Bayonne, NJ I decided to grow a beard.

Now its grown in to the point of needing frequent care and grooming.

Like a lawn kinda.

THis is where Im ready to cut it all off.... specially as it is very grey, more snow than peppery - for a man only of 37 all that grey freaks me the hell out.

I know its a family trait, but still.

Sooooooooo....

It only stays cuz Im not in the mood to cut it off yet.
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Do things have to make sense?

Ive come to believe, yes. Given time and acceptance, they usually do.

Why am I in Florida. Didnt really make sense when I came, doesnt really make that much more sense now, and the reasons Ive been thinking didnt really add up.

I really should be elsewhere. Really.

I hoped it would become clearer sooner than later.

Tonight, watching Rosie O'Donnel and her cause for children.. it became clearer.

I dont understand it, but Im being prepped I believe.

With time and acceptance, it'll become even clearer.

Yeah, there are reasons.
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I may not be overly fond of Florida in general, but it has its good points.. among them, the sublime sunsets. With delicate colors and hues I dont remember seeing anywhere else.

So, I went outside with the cat to check out a simple pleasure.





StonerKitty enjoying the warmth. He doesnt get to go out much...





You can see where the patrolling F-15's make their turn above Orlando.





Still behaving and enjoying.





After awhile the show is over...



And we head back in.
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Early yesterday morning.. about 5am..

*KABOOOOM!!!!*

That rolled me outta bed, instantly in flight or fight mode.. checking for flames or burning.

After a minute, I thought it was just a huge thunderclap from a passing cloud.

Until about a half-hour later.. the news said:

"If you heard a loud boom, that was the sonic boom from the Space Shuttle landing from the Hubble mission."

You know, until I heard that and watched pictures of the shuttle landing in the darkness.. the Space Shuttle didnt really seem real to me.

Sure, theres tv and and images and reports and whatnot.

It felt outside my realm.

Then I got tossed outta bed by a landing space ship.

Cool. :-)

Random mindstreams..

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In no particular order, I need to learn:

Page Layout schtuff, specifically Quark, Pagemaker, Framemaker.

Design and imaging production.. specifically Photoshop, Illustrator, Freehand..

(Fred, the Freehand/Design goddess is gonna take care of summa dat.. although she skeers me with her ruler...)

Craft skills.. high-end picture matteing and framing

Basic video production for broadcast.

Oh, yeah.. print production, design theory .. ah yeah, screen printing...

Book and magazine production, editorial production...

Thats my partial shopping list for San Francisco.

All this, if I were taking the normal route would get me a position earning the princely sum of 28 to 35 grand a year. Woohoo.

I must be mad.

Well, some of this I need to learn on my own... but I need to go to school also.

What are some decent skools in San Fran for this crapp?

I just found a CD that Id stolen from LilBro....

Bob Marley's "Trench Town Rock" from 1972

Most of this is old skool Bob, before he became a megastar worldwide...

Funny, one of the things I sing to myself to calm m down is the refrain from Trench Town Rock.

"..one good thing about music, when it hits ya...you feel okaaaaay..."

Growing up, I never really dug Reggae - but it brings back memories now that Im older.

In any case, whenever I would walk through the World Trade Cener concourse - I would hum

"..one good thing about music, when it hits ya...you feel okaaaay..."

I would hum this in the concourse, to counter the *#^$%#^ crowd control muzak theyd play.

Gah, it would give me headaches that crappy music.

So this calmed me down every time I hadda traverse the concourse

Eh, the strangest things...

Gah. Now blogger is effing up natural linebreaks. My IM's are looking crappy now...

*#^$%^@%$

Sumthin from Mary Forrest's MonoBlog...

"I did not miss you much. I did not suffer. What did not kill me just made me tougher."

I only heard the second half of that lyric when I heard it last night, and I thought it said, "What did not kill me just made me suffer."
And I would have wanted to write that down. But it turns out I misheard it. Typical.

Hmm.

True, not the absolute truth, not the whole truth, could be a lie, but true nonetheless.
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Readers respond.
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Reader: Fredlet

Re: StonerKitty

phred: lov'd the happy cat photos!
JPennant: heheh.thats just obscene tho ;-)
phred: kitty porn
phred: reminded me of Otto
phred: yup. i miss my 15 lb slug
JPennant: thats what he was like?
phred: he was such a momma's boy. loved me to distraction

JPennant:
aww
JPennant:
yes sounds like Casey. he loves women
phred: boy cats and boobies. potent mix
JPennant: YES!!
phred: hee

JPennant:
I was trying to be polite, but yes!!
phred: heh

phred: i'll spare you the attempt.
JPennant: My belly is a pale imitation of boobs.. but he 'kneads' it anyway
phred: playing the piano, we call it
phred: or happy feet
JPennant: oh my god :-)

phred: heh. can you imagine a cat orchestra?
JPennant:
<--- falling over laffin
JPennant: You KNOW this must appear on the blog, right? ;-)
phred: its my duty to embarrasss the world :-)
JPennant: Im tellin you, thats Casey tho
phred: i know, boy cats are so funny
JPennant: he's a riot
JPennant:
in fact, at 3pm eastern. he will jump into my lap here, demanding affection

@ 3 pm on tha dot...


JPennant:
aright, the cat is here for lovin.. talk to ya latah?
phred: you bet
JPennant:
<-- cat crawling over me

phred: hee hee
phred: rub his ears for me
JPennant:
will do. AND he loves the scratching of der head
JPennant:
he goes limp
phred: slut kitty!
JPennant:
Hee. jt calls him lovah boy
phred: that's about right
JPennant:
the kneadings have started. im out :-)
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Reader: Tish
Re: New York Apartments on TV and the movies

tisha: hey joey
tisha: i so totally agree with JT (the post on your blog)
JPennant:
which one?
tisha: well.. the one where he says that "If you go by TV and the movies - everybody in New
York lives in a spacious loft or fabulous apartment."
JPennant:
Hehehe. And you know its true too
JPennant:
I was sayin tho,
that although most folk dont live in places like that.. those apartments DO exist.
JPennant:
Just few folk I know personally

tisha: yup
i saw that photo'
tisha: you
had one of that place you were talking about
tisha: i
think there was some sunlight streaming through..
JPennant:
could be
JPennant:I remember taking pictures of items there, but not the place. I should have.
tisha: i can only imagine
JPennant:and there are some places that make that pad look low rent ;-)
tisha: lol

JPennant:I still have a Central Park West apartment with a view as a goal/dream
JPennant:but even the President had a hard time getting such a place..;-)
tisha: whoa! yeah yeah go get it!
JPennant:
LoL. Youre bad. :-)

tisha: :-)
we'll grab our dreams eventually.. it just takes some time and a whole lot of patience
JPennant:
heh. Im already living the dream hon.. most people dont notice that..;-)

JPennant:
Use this as a criteria

JPennant:
If you won the lottery, and you could do anything you wanted
JPennant:
and you say to yourself..

JPennant:
"Im already going for what I want already. I wouldnt change this."
JPennant:
then youre living the dream.

tisha: true true i agree with dat
JPennant:
So what if Im also homeless and poor. ;-)
tisha: heh. hey i must go now
JPennant:
awright.
good times. :-)

tisha: bye :-) take care

Six months and a lifetime ago, two hijacked planes came out of a clear blue sky....

As JT watched the nightly rotation of Law and Order and other NY based shows, he commented:

"If you go by TV and the movies - everybody in New York lives in a spacious loft or fabulous apartment."

Heh. I dont need to expound on this - but I have to admit - part of the strain of living in NY is trying to live and trying to keep where you live.

I could tell you stories, including what my family is going through, where most of the major decisions are based on keeping the NY place.

Sometimes, people even get murdered for it.

But, I pointed out to him.. those fabulous New York apartments, (except for the Friends set ;-), do indeed exist.

Just nobody I know personally.
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Well, apart from the client I had in the East Village with the apt that had a living room that could comfortably hold 50 people and a dining room built for 20.

Genuine Warhol prints on the wall, a kitchen more spacious than many studio apartments, fresh flower arrangements daily.

A spacious private patio with several levels.

I got persian rug burns on my jaw every time I walked into the place and gazed up at the 25 foot ceilings....

Oh yeah, and the building is right beside a Catholic soup kitchen, with nary an indication of whats behind the doors.

New York.
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Pappa Joe's Pizza, Lake Mary Florida

JT: "This is really a New York pizza place.
Me: " Nah, this place - apart from the Calzones.. isnt really a New York kinda pizza joint."
JT: "It is. Look at how the people are hustling behind the counter.."
Me: " *pshaah*. In New York, theyd be moving twice as fast and more efficiently. Plus they wouldnt be chit-chatting as much."
JT: "Look at the guy behind the counter.. he looks like he's from Brooklyn."

We turn to look at the goateed guy with the shaved head.

Me: "Nah, he's a Jersey boy."
JT: "You sure?"
Me: "I'd say so. Lemme ask him."

I go over to DaGuy..

DaGuy: "Jersey. Bergen County."
Me to JT: "See?"
JT: "I was sure you were from Brooklyn."
DaGuy: "Nah, they havent let me into Brooklyn since 1985. The Port Authorty police keeps us riffraff outta the tunnels. "

Me to Daguy: " I stayed in Bayonne for awhile.."
DaGuy: "Oh yeah?? Maaan, the women in Bayonne are crazy!"
Me: "TELL me about it."

We laughed. Yep, Jersey Girls.
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