tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-79447187680732900052024-02-08T06:40:47.829-08:00The October Project 2012Boog City Eventshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01736859750137242913noreply@blogger.comBlogger1125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7944718768073290005.post-25360512982377883782012-10-31T20:16:00.000-07:002012-10-31T20:16:20.614-07:00Oct. 1<br /><br />urinating in my uncle’s toilet<br />my penis like secretariat<br />in the Belmont Stakes<br />headed to a 31 length win<br />“moving, “ as CBS announcer Chic Anderson would say,<br />“like a tremendous machine,”<br />except i don’t have hall of fame canadian jockey<br />ron turcotte to guide it home.<br /><br /><br />Oct. 2<br /><br />in kinda diner<br />in their hometown of oakland<br />hear green day come on the p.a.<br />call ian<br />“i’m in oakland in a kinda diner,<br />and green day is on.”<br />“what song?” he says.<br />“welcome to paradise.”<br />“nice.”<br /><br /><br />Oct. 3<br /><br />at chow,<br />this slightly upscale diner<br />in the castro section of san francisco<br />my folks and i went to on my dear jill stengel's recommendation<br />before the boog reading a few blocks away<br />at books & bookshelves,<br /><br />over dinner the clash's "lost in the supermarket" comes on over the p.a.<br />and i tell my dad about the clash <br />and how my first naropa summer, <br />20 years ago, <br />all the writing and poetics department boys fell in crush with the same girl,<br />jude walton, <br />in from london, <br />and how that summer,<br />in my room in the chautauqua lodge in the flatirons<br />on my cd boombox, <br />early mornings and late at night, <br />i would listen to "lost in the supermarket" on permanent repeat<br />while readying and unwinding from my day <br />because of her.<br /><br /><br />Oct. 4<br /><br />(sing)<br /><br />on the #4 bus<br />by the back exit door<br />there's the girl in a 49ers jersey<br />in tight real blue denim blue jeans<br />i love, love, love her<br />oh so very much.<br /><br /><br />Oct. 5<br /><br />’60s exhibit at the oakland museum of california<br />(when i'm in oakland i think of trane devore)<br />an anyone but LBJ for president button reads<br />A.B.J. in ’68<br />no wine at the liquor store by the bart<br />which only sells beers and snacks<br />on time for shabbat dinner in berkeley after #65 bus from bart<br /><br /><br />Oct. 6<br /><br />my uncle went insane last night,<br />so i called up new flights on my macbook<br />to cut my trip short<br />my mother said you shouldn't go home,<br />let's talk about this in the morning<br />my father said if you want to go home, you should go home<br />my mom's the only person i wanna be with from this group right now<br /><br />so i stay behind,<br />push my suitcase 10 minutes to the nearest shopping mall,<br />to the cvs,<br />two-liter pepsi products on sale, 99 cents each,<br />and a subway sandwich,<br />push back,<br />can't figure out how to watch the tv,<br />search for the local station, an oakland station,<br />to hear a's-tigers playoff game on the radio on my macbook,<br />no luck,<br />finally find the national broadcast by turning on nyc espn radio station<br /><br /><br />Oct. 7<br /><br />my uncle has the thermostat set to 77 degrees<br />so it actually blows hot forced air off and on through his central air system <br />to make sure the temperature stays at a steady 72 degrees. <br />50 shades of fucked up. <br /><br />my favorite time in my aunt and uncle's house <br />was blowing off sukkot at my cousins, <br />lowering the temperature to 67 degrees, <br />leaving the backyard door off of the kitchen open, <br />and cranking the kitchen fan. <br />if only i figured out how to work the tv without the remote, <br />instead of listening to the a's and giant's playoff games through the computer on the radio.<br /><br />picture this, true shit:<br /><br />it's 10:15 at night, <br />my uncle won't let me watch saturday night live at 11:30, <br />or my folks anything at 10:15, <br />so they went off to bed <br />an hour-an-a-half before they ever go off to bed in back home. <br />i stay up. <br /><br />my aunt screwed up taking her pills today,<br />like my dad a few days earlier. <br />i tell her, like i told him, <br />that i've been taught <br />by pharmacists and doctors <br />that you have certain times you take yr pills <br />and you can't make up doses, <br />you just skip yr dose <br />and get back on sked the next day. <br />like my dad she ignores me.<br /><br />she asks my uncle to turn on the tv <br />so she can watch tv to keep her up <br />while she stays awake to take her next dose of pills. <br />he keeps urging her into the bedroom, <br />so he won't have to put the tv on with me there. <br />she says she's gonna fall asleep in bed <br />and forget to take her pills. <br />he says he'll keep her up. <br />she eventually relents, <br />pauses as she walks by me, <br />and says "this is ridiculous."<br /><br />a few minutes later i turn the tv on, <br />it again saying hit ok so the tv and cable connect, <br />but even though i can't find the remote<br />this time i've seen that the cable box itself has an ok button on it. <br />the box turns on to channel 210, fox news, <br />the only channel we were allowed to watch on our last stay, <br />and only glen beck then. <br /><br />i need to reach a low number to get to nbc and snl. <br />i arrow up on the box, <br />figuring they have like 300 channels. <br /><br />as the number passes 300 i keep going up. <br />he must have 400 i say, <br />then 500, 600, 700. <br />in the mid-thousands it freezes. <br />i shut the box off, <br />turn it back on, <br />hit the ok button again, <br />and begin again, <br />this time going down in channels, <br />discovering channel 3 is nbc, <br />keep the volume crazy low until snl, before my mother calls me into their room.<br />"hey dad," i say, <br />"i figured out how to turn the tv on, i'm gonna watch saturday night live." <br />"david," he says, "please, please, turn it off."<br /><br /><br />Oct. 8<br /><br />there's something about listening to hole's live through this album<br />when yre wishing to commit justifiable homicide<br />that alternately tempers and inflames.<br /><br />Oct. 9<br /><br />dear jill,<br />please know that you are loved<br />and respected<br />and treasured<br />and revered<br />as human<br />as woman<br />as mother<br />as daughter<br />as relative<br />as friend<br />as neighbor<br />as poet<br />as publisher<br />from here<br />to new york<br />to switzerland<br />and all points where they know you<br />to some point<br />in between<br /><br />dear jill<br />do know how these people treat you<br />and feel you deserve to be treated<br />and that most anyone of them<br />would say,<br />"um, yeah, fuck that"<br />and open their doors,<br />and their beds,<br />and their wallets,<br />and their cupboards,<br />just saying.<br /><br />xo,<br />david<br /><br /><br />Oct. 10<br /><br />cuz's last patient ran late,<br />so no time for her to drop and wait for me while i grab food,<br />i opt for her to drop me at the recently opened old brooklyn bagel & deli in oakland<br />i've gone there my last two days in California.<br />the first time i went to the register to order i said,<br />"I grew up in Brooklyn,<br />I live in New York City.<br />I'll tell you how they are,"<br />and laughed with the cashier.<br />i order the same thing,<br />a toasted garlic bagel,<br />with lox spread,<br />lettuce, tomatoes, and onions,<br />skip the large chai because i'm broke and<br />i just refilled my water bottle at my cousins'<br />and wheel my bags three blocks back to bart to thea irport.<br /><br /><br />Oct. 11<br /><br />the last time i wished your baseball team well<br />is the last time i'll wish your baseball team well.<br /><br />Oct. 12<br /><br />who thinks yankee manager joe girardi, <br />who has four siblings, <br />is a selfish bastard <br />for keeping his dead father on ice <br />since last saturday, <br />when the yankees had an off-day on tuesday? <br />"Girardi will attend the funeral service Monday in East Peoria, Ill., <br />which would be the travel day after Game 2 of the AL Championship Series."<br />9 days after his father died, <br />in the next series. <br />Fucked.<br /><br /><br />Oct. 13<br /><br />(sing)<br /><br />if you just read it<br />you'll know what it's all about<br />you won't need me to explain it<br /><br />just pay attention<br />it ain't very hard<br />just be a bit considerate<br /><br /><br />Oct. 14<br /><br />in long island,<br />wilders for dinner,<br />chinese food at so far, so good.<br />toward the end of our meal,<br />her dishes already taken away,<br />her leftovers wrapped up,<br />kimberly points to the bowl of noodles in front of her,<br />"do you want me to have them taken away<br />so we can have more space? kimberly says to me.<br />i take a quick look,<br />"nah, i'm good," i tell her.<br />"i don't think you understood me," she says<br />"i want them to take the noodles away so i'm not tempted to eat them."<br />i pick up the bowl,<br />whisk it in front of her face<br />set it in front of me,<br />grab a noodle and dip it in the duck sauce.<br /><br />Oct. 15<br /><br />when i visit my parents<br />i visit the entenmann's discount store,<br />i just come for the bread,<br />not the chocolate chip cookies,<br />the crazy discounted arnold's light wheat bread,<br />$4.69 by me in Gristede's,<br />here three loaves for five dollars,<br />yes, here three loaves for five dollars.<br />i buy five (one for my folks).<br /><br /><br />Oct. 16<br /><br />tomorrow's tuesday<br />free movie day<br />and we're going into the city,<br />because my folks have two doctors' appointments<br />and i need to get bloodwork done,<br />and then we can make a 1:45 argo by my apartment,<br />two adults free,<br />pay for one senior.<br /><br />Oct. 17<br /><br />#18<br /><br />the girl in the black tights<br />has got the palest skin,<br />the kinda skin<br />that requires a brimmed blacked sashed sun hat.<br /><br />the girl in the black tights<br />is in a turn-around-<br />and-look-at-the-bottom-of-my-ass-<br />sticking-out-from-the-tiny-tiny-white-skirt,<br />i hope no one's walking behind me,<br />because i'm gonna turn around<br /><br />Oct. 18<br /><br />i went to one event today<br />and another was only two blocks away<br />so i went to two events today<br />i think i'm good for a while<br /><br />Oct. 19<br /><br />cvs, 3:46 p.m.<br />5 diet coke 2-litr bottles, 97¢ each<br /><br />cvs, 3:49 p.m.<br />2 diet dr. pepper 2-liter bottles, 97¢ each<br />2 diet coke 2-litr bottles, 97¢ each<br />2 coke zero 2-litr bottle, 97¢ each<br /><br />Oct. 20<br /><br />exterminator appointment today<br />8:30 a.m.-12:30 p.m.<br />to find the moths eating the wool sweaters<br />so my alarm rings at 8:20<br />just in case the doorbell won't wake me,<br />and start to watch homeland episodes<br />to catch me up on the new season<br /><br />Oct. 21<br /><br />i'm gonna say just say stop emailing me<br />it's easier<br />i can't tell what's going on,<br />it's email, <br />what's the tone.<br />we'll talk soon enough<br />then i'll know what you're saying.<br /><br />Oct. 22<br /><br />Just heard:<br /><br />"Still ahead [on The View] …<br />Alanis Morissette's performing her latest hit"<br />her latest hit.<br /><br />Oct. 23<br /><br />Dear Lauren,<br /><br />So nice to see<br />your postcard on my kitchen table<br />as i begin my night time rituals—<br />a few slices of light wheat bread,<br />often nothing on them,<br />like tonight,<br />so i can rip the crusts off<br />and eat the bread in little bb's.<br />the film she's out of my league is set in your city, pittsburgh.<br />i like it<br />and i like you.<br /><br />xo<br />dak<br /><br /><br />Oct. 24<br /><br />last money:<br /><br />cvs, 5:03 p.m.<br /><br />multigrain cheerios, $3.69<br />orange powerade, $1.49<br />half-gallon skim milk, $1.99<br /><br />gristedes, 5:26 p.m.<br /><br />store brand, from the deli slicer, yellow americna cheese, 1-1/4 pounds, $5.87<br />store brand, half-gallon diet iced tea, $1.49<br />smucker's natural peanut butter, no salt, $4.59<br />reese's pieces, $1.79<br />axelrod peach light yogurt, 60¢<br /><br />Oct. 25<br /><br />we published your work<br />you signed up for our email list<br />now you want off of our list,<br />your inbox is "overflowing"<br />just hit the delete key,<br />the overflowing will end soon enough.<br /><br />Oct. 26<br /><br />every time i hear a character in any show tell their partner,<br />"don't worry, i'm not going anywhere,"<br />i think they should worry,<br />because i said that once, too.<br /><br />Oct. 27<br /><br />there's talk of a kurt and courtney broadway musical<br />and the first reaction is a bit of a yikes<br />but then<br />i think of all the shows i've seen since i was a little kid,<br />and how there are capable people on broadway <br />(or thinking about working on broadway) <br />who can make this happen right. <br /><br />does that mean they will be the ones given a chance to do so? <br />maybe not? <br />does it mean it won't become such a big bloated excess of a budget <br />that, to make their dollars back,<br />they may feel they have to water it down <br />for the middle american tourists who sustain broadway year-in and year-out? <br />maybe not. <br />but i do think it's possible for this to reach broadway <br />and be a good show that folks like me, <br />nirvana and broadway fans, <br />will be proud of <br />and not a longshot possibility either.<br /><br /><br />Oct. 28<br /><br />a few days ago,<br />talking about the impending hurricane sandy,<br />my dad said "go out on your terrace,<br />and lay your bicycle down,"<br />so today i put my cell phone in my pocket,<br />in case the terrace door locks behind me somehow,<br />put my haven't-rode-it-since-the-last-millennium 10-speed on its side,<br />took the mannequin head i found years ago outside of the high school of fashion industries <br />off of one of the handlebars where i kept it to spook imaginary onlookers, <br />and brought her inside so she wouldn't fly into someone.<br /><br /><br />Oct. 29<br /><br />rain isn't too loud against my air conditioner<br />wind bows my big-bedroom window<br />power's still on<br /><br /><br />Oct. 30<br /><br />tv out<br />dvr out<br />the only dvds i own are less than zero and an elvis costello videos collection<br />(i just realized they're both elvis costello related,<br />less than zero named after the costello song of the same name)<br />so i look through my vhs tapes,<br />grab one labeled,<br />you guessed it,<br />gilmore girls,<br />and it's a five-plus year-old tape<br />with the last episode of the gilmore girls<br />followed by the last episode of veronica mars.<br />a while later eject the tape,<br />pull out the tab.<br /><br /><br />Oct. 31<br /><br />yesterday, <br />my cable out, <br />all of the shows i dvr'd had only sound, no picture. <br />today, my cable up and running again, <br />all of them had the picture, too. <br />i think it's because i'm a good son, <br />or something like that.Boog City Eventshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01736859750137242913noreply@blogger.com0