Open letter to a demon

To: L. Diablo

Dear L,

Thanks for commenting on my blog post the other day. That was swell! I really appreciate the fact that you took a break from your demonic duties to write to me. I mean, how many demons would do such a thing? You're special.

Today, I just want you to know that I'm not angry at you or any of the demons who infest my home. I say this because it's finally hot and humid here -- and I know it's you guys who've been keeping the heat at bay for me. For almost the entire summer, you kept NY cool.

But I also know that you do important work here on Earth. It's you and your demon pals who keep the religious gits at bay and prevent them from going totally postal on everybody. I'm sure that takes up a lot of your time. The fact that you still managed to cool NY this summer is, well, it's downright impressive.

So I want you to know that I'll happily put up with a few days (or even weeks) of hazy, hot and humid weather. And I'll do it with a smile. It's my way of saying thanks to you and all the other demons who make life so nice for us humans. Stay well and don't forget me.

Sincerely,
Keith O'Connor

PS: Do you know B.L. Zebub? I've heard he's cool, too. Okay, later.

Cuomo: the make-believe progressive

Governor Cuomo is a joke. He's been making all these noises to sound progressive, but it's just not there.

His latest scam has been to tell all and sundry that he'd sign a medical marijuana bill as long as it met his personal requirements. Well, we just found out what those nebulous "requirements" were, when he put the kibosh on a perfectly good medical marijuana bill that was sent to him for his signature. It's a no go. And why?

He was upset that there was no provision forbidding smoking it. Srsly. That's his story and he's sticking to it.

"This was supposed to be for very serious diseases. There's not supposed to be loopholes you can drive a truck through."

Like...(ahem)...smoking it. I guess he thinks smoking cigarettes is helpful too -- unless you, you know, use your mouth.

The man is a joke, he's always been a joke, and anyone who falls or his shtick is a fool. Dog help us if this guy becomes president (which is the only thing he wants to do).

It's too cold to blog

It's a balmy 14 degrees at 3 in the afternoon in upstate NY, where I hold court. Going down to 1 tonight. And then there's the wind to consider. It's cold. As I said recently, I don't recall this intense a cold spell in New York. It seems downright strange.

On last night's local news, as a reporter was doing cold man in the street interviews in Times Square, he stuck a microphone in the face of an old Canadian man. I was surprised to hear the fellow say that this cold was worse than anything he'd experienced in Canada. And these old Canadian guys know their cold!

The good thing about cold weather, of course, is that when you get inside everything seems so cozy. Cozy is the winter god and it's so easy to summon up. You just grab a cup of espresso, turn up the heat and voila: cozy. This is a trick that summer cannot do. Try to picture a cozy summer scene. See? Summer is not cozy. It's free and relaxed and sweaty, but cozy? Never. That belongs to winter.

Anyway, the news today is the same old irrational stuff that we see every day. There was nothing there to inspire a blog post. So instead of blogging, I'm going to hunker down in my extremely cozy house. Mmmmmm. Nice.

Tch. It seems I accidentally wrote a blog post. Whatever. Mmmm, espresso! Stay warm, kiddies. It's the prime imperative.

Polar vortex strikes again

Jeebus! It's -2.7 degrees outside with winds gusting up to 19 mph. And they say this time it'll last two weeks. Two weeks!

No way I'm going outside today. I opened the door to feed the birds and squirrels, and that's it for door-opening. I'm set for the duration.

But it's pretty weird. I don't remember cold like this in NY. Then again, we former hippies don't have much in the memory department. Lotsa rainbows -- that, I recall. Pretty! But other stuff? Not so much.

Don't forget to feed the wild animals today. They need our help. Also, keep your pets inside and call your elderly friends to see if they need food, help or heat. Remember, we're all in this together.

So how are you handling the cold? I know it's even colder in other areas of the US. Brrrrrrr.

Devil baby quite funny

I roared laughing last night when I saw this on the news. (Video at bottom of linked page.) It surprises me that a stunt that frightens people this badly is legal. I mean, it's not far-fetched to think that one or more of the people in this video could have had a heart attack and died on the spot. But I guess it's okay to scare Americans, what with us being so terror-oriented. The emotion probably felt normal to these passersby. They may not even recall it this morning, because by now they've moved on to new terrors.

Anyway, I thought it was very funny.

Heatwave's almost over. (Cheers from the crowd!)

What a week this has been. I recall experiencing high temperatures in the past, but the humidity wasn't this high. Usually temps of 100 degrees or more produce a dry heat. Not this time. And the heat seems to last all night. Again, I don't remember this happening in the past.

We're expecting a storm tonight in NY, which will bring a subtle change -- and hey, we'll take anything at this point. Then Monday it should feel almost normal, about 82 degrees. Thank dog!

Usually, I don't mind the heat because it brings baseball along with it. But the play this year has been so dog-awful, it's hardly worth watching. I don't know whether it's the absence of steroids, or what. But something has brought baseball to its knees.

No one can hit. No one can catch a ball. The defensive play on the field is like watching the Keystone Kops. Sheesh. Heat and lousy play. I want a refund for my Summer.

Still no cicadas

Every day I listen for cicadas but hear only silence. They're waiting. And what are they waiting for? Outdoor graduation parties, of course!

My nephew just graduated from high school and we're having a garden party for him in less than two weeks. That's what the cicadas are waiting for. They love graduation parties. Just think what fun it will be when they fly into women's hair, and whatnot. And forget music. We'll just have that constant cicada drone in the background. Festive!

It think they're moving north slowly because of the temperature differences in the ground. Three weeks ago, they showed up in New Jersey. And my nephew just got a warning from a fellow graduate in Newburgh, saying "be ready for the cicadas" at this weekend's party. So they're out in that city, which is about 30 miles south of us.

Yup, they're waiting for my nephew's party. Sweet.

About a foot of snow here

The snow is piled in drifts this morning, making it hard to say how deep it is. But I think there's about a foot or so of snow out there. The predicted high winds never arrived, so no trees fell down -- and I've still got electricity. That's so nice.

If you live in the northeast, chime in. How much snow did you get?

Nemo? Meh.

New York: the new home of disaster

It's disheartening to hear the weather forecasters speak of an "historic snowstorm" descending on New York and Connecticut (and Massachusetts). They're using the same terminology they used for "superstorm" Sandy: monster storm, Frankenstorm, storm of the century. Sigh.

There are many homes that are still a wreck from Sandy. People are living without electricity, without heat, without internal walls. This storm is not what they need. They're already getting meals from tents each day, and working as hard as they can to repair their houses as they wait endlessly for FEMA money.

Looking out the window now, there's just a fine, dusty snow falling. I sure hope they're wrong, and the storm takes a turn and heads out to sea. As for my neck of the woods, I'm sure we'll lose power. There are going to be 60 mph winds at the height of the storm. (I don't ever remember seeing wind like that in a snowstorm, BTW.)

Another reason why this storm is so reminiscent of superstorm Sandy is that it will be a full moon when the storm hits, making the tides higher. And with fierce winds blowing onshore, it seems many areas will be flooded yet again. This is not good news.

I wish everyone the best. We'll see how it goes. And again, if I disappear, it just means my area lost power. See you on the other side!

Lots of snow on the way

If you don't see me here tomorrow, it means I've lost electricity. According to the weather folks, my area is expecting between 9 and 33 inches of snow. I'm hoping for the big-time: 33. We haven't had a real snowfall in years. It's definitely time.

The computer forecast that shows 33 inches is the European model. You may recall that it was the European model that correctly predicted the course of "superstorm" Sandy. So I guess we're in for a huge snowfall.

I think that's great. The Australian Baseball Championship Series is on ESPN this weekend. Three games, starting on Friday. Given satellite TV's difficulties in a big snowfall, I may miss the Friday game. But I'll still have two more.

One last thing. It's nice that normal, everyday people will be able to earn money by shoveling snow. That's one of the best things about snow and it comes at an opportune time, when many people's wallets are empty.

Let it snow, let it snow, let it snow!

Here comes the storm

It's snowing outside and we're expecting high winds. Here's hoping our Sandy-battered electrical system can handle it. There must be a lot of tree limbs out there, hanging by a thread right over a power line. We're expecting up to five inches and this is a wet, heavy snow. In other words, I may lose power. If I disappear, it's not by choice.

Good luck to all the Hurricane Sandy victims who are trying to weather the cold in half-destroyed houses. New York and New Jersey are still a major wreck. I don't think people outside the area really understand how bad it is. The election was a nice intermission but reality is returning with a vengeance.

I'm not ready for this

NASSAU, Bahamas (AP) — Hurricane Sandy raged through the Bahamas early Friday after leaving 21 people dead across the Caribbean, following a path that could see it blend with a winter storm and reach the U.S. East Coast as a super-storm next week.  

Oy.

With storm conditions projected to hit New Jersey with tropical storm-force winds Tuesday, there was a 90 percent chance that most of the U.S. East Coast would get steady gale-force winds, flooding, heavy rain and maybe snow starting Sunday and stretching past Wednesday, U.S. forecaster Jim Cisco said. 

Oy again. The center of the latest storm track goes directly over my house.

Last year an October snow storm knocked out power in my area for days. This sounds like it might be even worse. This two-year trend shows tremendous disrespect for the national gay holiday of Halloween. I shall be filing a complaint shortly.

This comes as news to me

In an article about a woman being sentenced for punching a 70-year-old Walmart cashier on Xmas Eve -- very atmospheric, that -- they say the woman got:

"2 1/3 to seven years in prison under New York's Granny Law, which makes it a felony to intentionally injure someone 65 or older if the defendant is at least 10 years younger than the victim."

I had no idea this law existed. That's great! I'll turn 64 later this year. So the year after that, I'll be sure to antagonize every young man I meet. I mean, it'll be irresistible! How could I not? Talk about a get-out-of-jail-free card!

Black and white memories

There's a cool exhibition at the New York Public Library right now. It's called "Lunch Hour NYC". It brought up all sorts of good memories for me, but I especially loved being reminded about Horn & Hardart Automats.

The only real Horn & Hardart Automat was the one on 42nd Street, across from Grand Central. I used to adore that place. In my dissident teens, I'd go there at 1 or 2 in the morning, just to see the people. It was terrific. Among the customers were hustlers, queens, travelers, beatniks transforming into hippies, night-shift workers, cops -- just all sorts of people. I couldn't get enough of it.

And in those sophisticated days, you could smoke at your table. I'd fetch a black coffee for 15 cents (three nickels; you had to have nickels at the automat) and smoke myself into a coma. Pall Malls, unfiltered. The Automat was exciting to me when I was 16. I wasn't just a dumb teenager, either. I was reading underground novels at a furious pace, so I understood exactly who these people were. It was so cool to be there with them!

Anyone else have memories of those days, or old-time eateries? The article mentions the 2nd Avenue Deli, too. I worked a block from this deli in the 60s, and bought a sandwich there every workday. It's fun to waltz through old memories. Unless you're an oldster like me, you don't realize how completely that old world has vanished. It's like it was literally replaced by a new reality.

Old memories, anyone?

Why was this necessary?

I'm wildly irritated by something the police in Putnam County did. When a local family was killed in a fire, the son survived. His mother, father and two sisters died in the blaze. Turns out the fire was accidental.

So why did the police feel the need to hold a press conference to say that ashes from the surviving 20-year-old son's cigarette set the house on fire and killed his family? Why? The kid is already devastated. When they revealed this information to the public, they added significantly to the burden this young man has to carry for the rest of his life. I have no problem with the police telling him the truth in private, which they did. But why did the public need to know this? Now everyone thinks the fire was his "fault". It was an accident. From the story:

“He’ll count on the support of his family,” she said. “He’ll count on his faith. He’ll count on the support of the community.”

Well, he certainly can't count on society, which let him down big-time. Holding this press conference was a heinous, unreasonable action. There was no need to say anything beyond, "the fire was accidental; there was no criminality involved."

Our society has become so vicious and vindictive that I don't recognize it anymore. America used to mean something.

Mayor Mikey Jackboots

So mayor Mikey Bloomberg wants super-sized sodas off the menu. Because he cares about people so much. Uh-huh. And then he sends his troops out nightly to scour the city for young people of color to harass and intimidate.

I swear this frisking of young people, based totally on race, drives me wild. And he doesn't even see anything wrong with it. When questioned about it, he says, "It's working." The man doesn't get it. He is blind to the existence of other people. To Mikey, there's only him and his rich friends living on this Earth.

Perhaps this will wake him up a bit. This practice has to end immediately.

Lost power again

Since the early snow in New York, power has become a sometime thing. It comes and goes, almost every day. Today it was out all damn day. Just came back on at 4 pm. Aaaargh!


If I disappear, you'll know why. Here's hoping.

Many New Yorkers still without power

Although we got our power back on Sunday after a 30-hour blackout, much of the surrounding area remains unplugged. Local schools cancelled classes and most nearby businesses remain closed at this hour. We (the folks at my house) are apparently living within a small pocket of power that is surrounded by a continuing blackout.

Unaware of the problems we would face, my sister and I went food shopping today -- and found ourselves in a huge, dark grocery store. There were emergency lights around the perimeter that produced occasional pockets of weak light, and that was it. Luckily they had enough power to run two credit machines, so shopping was possible. But the aisles were totally dark. And no, we didn't have a flashlight.

Bigot tosses job so she can hate on full-time basis

In the NY Times today is a story about the poor, beleaguered marriage clerks who can't be hateful to gay people anymore, at least at work. The poor dears!

Ms. Fotusky, a Republican, said she had submitted her resignation on Monday because she otherwise would have no choice but to issue marriage licenses to gay couples.

“Because protections were not provided for us to be able to practice our freedom of religion in our jobs,” she said in a telephone interview, “then I had to choose between my God and my job.” 

No dear. You chose between being a hateful pinhead and your job. Congratulations on your choice. Now go home, go into your bathroom and don't come out. Nice knowin' ya, bigot lady.

I heard the news today, oh boy

Pretty cool: gay marriage is legal in New York state. I didn't think it would happen, at least not now. New York is famous for filling legislator positions with troglodytes. But somehow, some way, they managed to pass this bill.

It's great. I feel officially accepted in New York for the first time in my life. But it's still degrading that a huge number of pig-people believe they have the right to decide if I can marry another man. Who they hell are these people and what are they doing in my pants?

I'd be even more excited, I guess, if I believed in relationships. Oh well. It's still nice.