Winter Wonderland?

It’s going to be 53 degrees in New York today – this is just not winter weather. Yeah I know it is snowing out west – I am not out west. This time of year in NY we are usually talking about an average low of about 32 degrees (F) and a high around 40. (For my international readers – Hello Linda – that’s about 0 degrees (C) to 3 degrees (C)). It’s not the hard cold that in New York comes in January and February when it can stay in the 20s (- 2, -3 degrees C) for days at a time but right now we’re running about 10 degrees (about 4 C) above normal and look to continue for some time.

Right now in my neighborhood the squirrels are wandering around looking for things to eat. This morning one of them was sitting on a fence and as I passed by, instead of leaping to a tree gave me a look that said “Hey I was hibernatin’ here” (hey it’s a NY squirrel so I feel no shame in giving him/her a New York accent). This weather can’t be very good for them. The reason they hibernate is that there isn’t a lot of food about – so is better that they just sleep – let winter sort itself out. And small dark furry objects walking about in the snow are easily seen by things you don’t want noticing you if you are a squirrel so it’s just better all around.

Trouble is the alarm clock is the temperature and it’s telling them it’s time to get up – when it isn’t really. So we have a lot of groggy squirrels wandering about like I after the alarm rings and I haven’t had enough sleep. i.e.: Get up turn off alarm. Go to kitchen to make coffee. Turn on radio. Forget why I was walking to kitchen. Remember again go to make coffee. Watch coffee brew trying to remember what else I need to do today. Remember – I have to get dressed and go to work. Start to do so, realize this will be a totally futile exercise without coffee. Stare at coffee pot slowly coming to the realization that I have not turned it on yet which is why coffee is not brewing. Turn on coffee pot. Walk back to living room sit on couch and start writing morning pages (This is from The Artist’s way I’ve been doing this for years now) find self writing lyrics for a song about a man with imaginary friends – self critical part of brain, (which never seems to need coffee by the way) calls idea stupid. I finish pages anyway. I’m allowed to be stupid from time to time. Get up pour coffee in cup – one sugar – sit down on couch turn on TV discover I left tape of Mothra in machine – they are singing that song. Now fully awake I prepare for the day.

I notice in the news a study has revealed that about 95% of Americans have had sex before marriage – and the other 5% (who all seem to have right wing blogs it seems) hate them for it. Whatever. Still this study is bound to put a few noses out of joint. Expect the entire war on sex crew’s heads to spin about like Linda Blair’s.

I’ve also noticed there is this ‘nice guy’ thing going around. It’s kinda weird but it boils down to ‘I’m a nice guy, why aren’t women clawing at me? Why do they go for the Jerks’? I’ve seen posts about this here and there.

This stuff bothers me. There is a strong sense of entitlement here. “I did this therefore I should get that.” I remember a lot of kids’ books that I read or where read to me or those odd educational films had this formula: “if I do this, I will get X because I am a good boy. “ Well old sport a) the world doesn’t really work like that much and b) this is a pretty shallow way to behave isn’t it You’re only being a decent human being because you expect a reward for it in the form of wild sex? That isn’t very nice at all really.

I try to be a nice person, sometimes however I freely admit, I’m not always. I can be grumpy, self centered and just plain mean or neurotic as hell. I don’t like it but I’m human I’m not always to quote Tom Petty “A summer day”. And while I do get jealous of couples (not Neal Diamond) I am enough of an adult to know the source of my romantic problems are staring me in the face when I ‘m saving, not in some presumed inherent weakness of women for Jerks.

Had a fine time at the Waltz Astoria Open mike last night – we did Ethelred the Unready which went over nicely – and we did the bondage song – which got better laughs last night than it did the night we did it at the comedy open mike – why? Who knows? Maybe me lashing the ground with the mike cord to imitate a whip had something to with it ( a real whip might work better but I’d worry about putting an eye out maybe a stage whip of some kind – if such things exist) but we got a good reception.

Afterwards the Enemy Below sang solo – doing his lovely version of Halleluiah by Leonard Cohen and then covered, with a straight face Brittney Spears “Hit Me Baby One More Time”. Which was hysterical.

Long term after recording we are looking to do a musical – yes – the Enemy Below feels, if we write a good one –(that’s a big if) that we might be able to put it on. That would be something O’Hanlon’s to off off Broadway.

Well. We will see.

“Your skin starts ichin’”

Peace Love Iggy Pop.