April 29, 2011

Okay, I’m going out a bit early tonight. My Mom and Dad are in town and we’re going out to eat, so I’ll take a few pictures on the way and in their hotel room and then I’m going to write a story about their reaction to when I told them I was going to move to New York when I get back home. So there!

I really hate the daytime and these fucking slow-walkers that fan all over the sidewalk. Bah!

Jeremiah Moss flashback moment!

Okay, I'm here at their hotel room. I've scrambled the number so no internet stalkers will bother them.

Mom!

My Mom and Dad in their hotel room.

They had a bookshelf and books in their room, which I had never seen in a hotel room before and was amazed by it.

Hey, look at this one, "The Runaway"...could it be...

Yes! Joan Jett! What a magical evening!

This picture of this jockey kind of creeped me out. I took a picture of him and vowed never to look at it again.

Fire!

And look, through the magic of the internet, we're already at the Chinese restaurant!

Cheers! From us to you!

I kept telling my mom to order the Chicken with Three Different Nuts. It totally went over her head and she kept asking why I was telling her to order that dish. I'm easily amused.

The chopsticks here are high-grade plastic and made me think of a swizzle stick.

So I stole one of them. Goodnight everybody and see you tomorrow, after dark.

My Mom and Dad’s Reaction To Me Moving to New York
Back in April of 1993, I decided to move to New York. I was going to cash in my pension plan from my job I had worked at for 13 years. I had no job or job offers and knew about five people in New York. You have to realize that if you grow up in Peoria, work a decent job for 13 years and then decide out of the blue to quit it, cash in your retirement fund and move to New York with no friends or job offers pending it’s pretty much the same as saying to someone, “You know, I think I’ll build a spaceship and try and fly it to Mars.” So I was a little concerned as to what my parents reaction would be, when I told them what my plans for the future were.

I remember taking the night off from work and going to their house for dinner. I don’t remember what we had, but I remember being nervous about telling them what I wanted to do. I do remember my mom saying, “You’re quiet tonight, is everything alright?”

I can be a real motormouth, so when my gums aren’t flapping something is usually up and my mom can read me like a book. So I decided to spill my guts and I told them I was quitting my job, yanking my pension fund, planned on selling everything I owned and move to New York by the summertime. I wanted to move in the summertime because “Summer in the City” is one of my favorite Lovin’ Spoonful songs. I do things for reasons sometimes I don’t even get, but Zal Yanovsky has always been an inspiriation to me and he totally kicks ass in this song.

So told them and there was a moment of silence and then I don’t exactly remember who said what, but basically what they told me was this: “If you don’t do this now, you may always regret it. If things don’t work out you can always move back here and live in the basement and start all over.”

How great is that?

In the movie, “The Last Waltz,” Levon Helm describes coming to New York for the first time and he said, “You come to New York and get your butt kicked. Then you go home, heal up and come out and try it again and eventually you fall in love with the city.”

New York City can kick your ass. And believe me, New York City has kicked me in the ass more than once. But when it does, I just pick myself up, wipe the dust off my jeans and move the fuck on. Knowing I’ve got a room waiting for me in Peoria in case I get knocked out for good has helped me fight the good fight out here. Thanks Mom and Dad.

My parents are great people.

Further reading: Wikipedia, The Basement and Wikipedia.

You might also like: Merv Griffin, Griffin Dunne and Griffin Nightclub.

Five Son of’s...
Son of Sam
Son of Dad
Son of a Gun
Son of a Preacher Man
Son of a Bitch (Scroll down to the picture of the grafitti that says: Gruber MacDougal EATS SHIT!)

Sometimes,
I feel I gotta get away.

ARCHIVES

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Bonus Linkage!
Here’s more photos from the legendary Easter Sunday at Mars Bar, via the Villager and Ace Photographer, Jefferson Siegel. Check it out: Mars Bar in the Villager.

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Bonus Swizzle Stick!

Jaws sent in his perfect gin and tonic including his very own swizzle stick. Cheers to you, Jaws!