Handbill Handout

60-ish, cloudy, drizzle, supposed to get up to the low 70s later today. Remember that new computer I was talking about yesterday?  Of course you do.  Well anyway, one of the security protocols here at the office is that every computer has a PIN that you have to type in before you even get to the legal screen that basically says "surrender all privacy right ye who enter here" followed by the network login screen.  On my prior machine I was able to choose my own PIN but on this one the PIN is an abbreviation for the company (not one used publicly) followed by your employee ID number that you were assigned upon hiring followed again by the company abbreviation.  I took exactly one psychology course in college so I'm far from an expert but boy howdy, the message that they own my ass comes through loud and clear, doesn't it?

Around 60 with mixed sun and clouds. I got a new computer at work three weeks ago.  They made the switch a little after 11am on Tuesday.  How do I know this?  Well, there's a radio show on WFMU called Garbage Time that airs from 9am-12noon on Tuesdays and every week at 11am the DJ plays "Heavy Metal" by Don Felder and that's what was playing when the IT guy came to make the switch.  He happened to like the song so he waited until it was over to shut down my old machine and install the new one.  The FM reception for WFMU is pretty much non-existent in the building where I work so I listen via the Internet even though I can see Jersey City which is where the station is located from some windows on the floor where I spend my days.  So now every week when I hear "Heavy Metal" I'm reminded that another week of my career has come and gone, I'm that much closer to retiring and everything else that comes with getting older.

Just under 60 degrees and raining on Memorial Day. I made an admittedly tasteless joke on social media yesterday and in return was reminded how old I was.  Under "R.I.P. Gregg Allman" I posted this photo thinking people would get the joke. Naturally the first comment was "Isn't that Sonny Bono"?  Well, yeah, it is and the joke is that Cher left Sonny and married Gregg and made a record that's not even as well regarded as Sonny and Cher records.  Sometimes I overestimate the pop culture literacy of the few people who haven't unfollowed me on social media but then again I don't know who the hell most of the "stars" that young folks worship are so let's call it a push.

Low 70s and mostly sunny but still unpleasantly humid. When I was in college I remember reading a story somewhere about a human cannonball.  I forget the guy's name but at the time he was approaching retirement age (whatever age that is for human cannonballs, there was no number given) but he wondered if he could give it up.  See, he was really good at his job of being a human cannonball and the crowds loved him and he loved the adulation of the crowds.  When he wasn't being a human cannonball nobody knew who he was or particularly cared about him.  Even his coworkers at the circus didn't really care about him.  They didn't dislike him or treat him poorly exactly but they didn't go out of their way to socialize with him or even check on how he was feeling every night after he did his act.  However when he was human cannonball all eyes were on him and for a few moments he was the center of and the most beloved thing in his universe. Being a human cannonb...

Low 70s and treading that line between damp and humid. Greenmarket shopping and some food prep today.   The lack of sun is relaxing.   No bright light insisting that I do something.   In the absence of pressure I get more done.  Funny how that works.

Mid 70s and variable.  Already had a rain shower, bright sunshine and now we have clouds. More signs of aging in my small group of city-working friends.   Everyone who I would have had a few drinks (or more) with on this holiday weekend Friday opted to just bolt the city early.  So I opted to not go into the office and instead am working from my dining room table.  Win?  Maybe.  Certainly a healthier choice at my age though it's rare that a good story comes out of working from home.  The pre-holiday pub crawls on the other hand, well, that's something else, something that I'll save for a day when there's nothing else to talk about.  Meanwhile the wind is picking up and the traffic on my block is increasing, the escape is on, millions moving from one place to another in the hope of finding whatever's missing somewhere else.  Try checking that last place you left it maybe.

High 50s with frequent heavy rains, fog when it isn't raining. I see today is the 40th anniversary of the release of Star Wars.  The days do run away like horses over the hills as the saying goes.  I'd love to be able to write something about how that movie was life-changing blah blah blah but the reality is I was a 10 year old kid who was already predisposed to like space operas by being raised on a diet of Star Trek, cheesy Japanese monster movies (sorry, "kaiju" as the kids say today) and my dad's handed-down sci-fi pulp novels that he read until he died.  So while Star Wars may have been the entry point for millions into the world of the space opera it was just another well-loved entry in the genre for me.  Don't get me wrong, I loved it and saw each of the first three movies multiple times in the theater.  I even did something rare for me for Return of the Jedi which was to cut out of high school and head over to the theater for an afternoon showing. ...