Tag Archives: daily grumble

Waiting for George Michael to take the stage on Wednesday, I was grumbling to Aaron that I only went to see “oldies” acts these days, how everybody I’d seen in concert this summer had been around for 25 years or more. Yaz, Donna Summer, B-52’s, Cyndi Lauper, Laurie Anderson, etc. Aaron said, “Well, don’t you know of any new bands …

Yesterday I was watching a news story about a guy who was mistakenly arrested because he had the same name as a fugitive from a minor drug warrant. The arrested guy spent four days in jail waiting to be bailed out because he didn’t have anybody’s phone number memorized. That worried me because I too do not have a single …

As Aaron and I were walking in Hell’s Kitchen yesterday on our way to see Yaz, we ran into Cheyenne Jackson leaving his apartment, presumably on his way to Damn Yankees, where he’s moonlighting from Xanadu this month. (It was 7:30. What time do performers have to be there for an 8PM curtain? Seems to be cutting it close, even …

Antonio Banderas, for so many years one of my favorite actors (starting with Women On the Verge), is ruined for me. Now when I hear his voice, all I can think is… Nasonex.

Doesn’t it piss you off when lottery winners say they’re going to keep their crummy jobs?

The temperature in my apartment has hovered around 50 for the last week, thanks to this ridiculous “spring” weather. And don’t expect your landlord to fire up the boiler, it’s only cold enough to be annoying. Poor Shelley has spent the last few days burrowed under the comforter. I actually considered getting a space heater last night. And tomorrow is …

Last night I finished watching HBO’s superb John Adams mini-series, which is based on some Pulitzer Prize-winning book that I’ve never read. Paul Giamatti and Laura Linney are typically fantastic and I learned quite a bit more about the American Revolution. However, aside from so much of the dialog being delivered sotto voce that by the second episode I had …

Last spring my company reorganized and I was reclassified a “consultant”, hired by contract and no longer an employee. (Even though I’m doing the same thing I have been for the last seven years.) Therefore I am now self-insured and while my insurance is 100% tax deductible, I was still floored today to see this month’s increase in my premium, …

Speaking of foreign currency, I found a 1000 Bolivar (Venezuelan) note on the floor of the subway yesterday and thought, “Ooh. Sweet.” Turns out to be worth about 46 cents. Oh well.

Are plain white button-down cotton shirts simply not made anymore? Yesterday I hit up every store on the Upper East Side – Bloomingdales, Gap, Banana Republic, and on and on – and found bupkis. Either the shirts were over-fancy with ridiculous buttons or they were of some open weave that would be suitable for tending bar in a poolside tiki …

My house guest left yesterday after an eight day visit. It was great having him here, but while I’m glad to have the place back to myself and am no longer tripping over his suitcases, the apartment feels empty and quiet and I’m reminded of why I’d always enjoyed having roommates. I’ve lived alone for four years now. Aside from …

On Friday my super finally fixed my front door so it doesn’t slam shut when you let it go, after three years of my occasionally annoying the neighbors by letting it slip. Last night I noticed that my house guest had left it slightly open when he left to go out bar hopping. I “tsk tsked” him in my head …

With all this emailing and blogging and such, is anybody else losing their ability to write by hand? My handwriting was never good and back when they graded you on “penmanship” in grammar school, that’s where I always got my lowest marks. But these days, oy! I can hardly address an envelope without needing to start over at least twice. …

Every year I remind myself to take Good Friday off. And every year I forget. This year Good Friday also coincides with Purim, so ain’t nobody here but us chickens. Bah.

A houseguest reported that I was talking about Hillary Clinton in my sleep last night. This really troubles me.

In college I had a roommate whose obsession with the Supremes was so consuming and such a non-stop topic of conversation that I began to resent them. And until then I had been a (much milder) fan myself. To this day I can’t hear Come See About Me without flashing back to that roommate. His cultish worship sort of ruined …

Yesterday I walked down the long line of cabs in the taxi stand outside of a midtown hotel and not one would take me because I didn’t have suitcases and therefore was clearly not going to be a high-revenue airport passenger. I’m pretty sure that’s illegal, isn’t it? There were no hotel patrons waiting for a cab. Grrr.

When I do these weekend trips, I rarely carry more than a backpack and small carry-on, but this time since I was bringing something for Father Tony, I had to use my big suitcase….which Spirit Airlines charged me $20 to check at the ticket counter.  Grrr.  I vaguely recall hearing about this new practice a few months ago, but since …

I find it a little bit rude when your doctor finishes his annual examination of your keister, pulls off the rubber glove, and announces that he found your can to be “unremarkable.” I understand that’s an actual medical term meaning “everything is as it should be.” But still.

So last night I was watching the History Channel’s excellent documentary series The States. Oh, my embarrassment to learn that I’ve been mispronouncing “Nevada” my entire life. As the state license plate primly points out, it’s Nevăda, with the middle “a” said like the “a” in “cat”. Ne-VAD-ah. I’ve been saying “Ne-VAH-da.” Dammit.