THEY CUT HEADS

It's Saturday! April 30, 2016!

Got my first paycheck from my latest gig. Now I'm gonna treat myself to a fucking cheap haircut in Chinatown!

HEY, CHINESE PEOPLE -- HERE'S $10, NOW CUT MY GODDAMN HAIR!!!

Wallet World

I wasn't going to write about this but now I am.

Thursday, April 21, 2016, PRINCE died at 57 years old.

The same day... I lost my wallet.

AGAIN.

The 2nd wallet lost in less than a month.

Thursday evening, I was walking toward the subway station after work. Stopped by a liquor store on the way to the train to pick up some reinforcements.

Simple transaction: Retrieve my wallet, give card, replace card in wallet, POCKET wallet.

Somehow... stone cold sober... I screwed this up.

The actions: replace card in wallet, replace wallet in pants pocket, place liquor bottle in backpack, cross street while listening to ipod.

I guess this was too many actions for my 40-year-old mind to keep in check.

Halfway to the train station, I realized that my pants pocket felt light...

I didn't have my wallet.

I proceeded to pound the pavement, back and forth between the liquor store and the train station.

I returned to the liquor store. The woman who took my order was really nice. She even REPLAYED the security cam footage so that we could all review my transaction!

There I was on the screen. Buying a bottle of whiskey. Shoving my wallet back into my pants as I placed the liquor bottle into my backpack. Nothing dropped on the way out of that store.

The worst part was that this was the 2nd wallet in less than a month that I'd lost.

Thing is, I was fucking stranded. I had to call a friend to come by to loan me some cash just so I could make my way home that night.

How could the same thing happen in less than a month? While I was being completely paranoid/careful...?

Thursday night, I got home around 9:30ish. That was my 2nd day on this new job and I'd already suffered a major setback. I canceled/ordered-replacements-of cards and had my bottle of booze for dinner. On the phone with the Mastercard girl, she seemed oddly sympathetic and after I told her my sob story she even proffered, "I'll be thinking of you when I get off work today..." Which, oddly, made me regret not asking for her information before I ended the call... but I was in a funk...

Friday, I got to work hungover. Over an acceptable amt of time, I shared my misfortune with my new coworkers...

.. and not too soon into all of that, I received a message from a person who FOUND MY WALLET.

This kid who worked at the SVA Theater in Chelsea found my goddamn wallet on the street near Steiner Studios and he fucking looked me up on internets and got me.

Friday night, I met him after work, while he was working at the SVA Theater. I bought him a bottle of booze as thanks (from the same liquor store where I'd last used that wallet), using the one credit card that I still possessed.

I am no religious person but god bless this kid. I was damn near losing my goddamn mind. Wish I coulda afforded him a bigger bottle of the top shelfer I bought him as thanx.

Prince Has a Posse?!??

Prince Rogers Nelson
June 7, 1958 – April 21, 2016
Prince has a posse.

Today was a bad day.

57 years old.

Prince is dead. Long live Prince.

The Deuce (Season 1) Start Date

Today, I begin a day-job gig working on the new David Simon HBO show called "The Deuce". Period piece about the origins of the porn industry in NYC, starring James Franco.

Should be a longer gig. New crew with some familiar faces. New responsibilities. Shittier commute.

I miss the days when it was the same familiar crew and I didn't have to wonder how messed up the gig was gonna be.

But we always begin at the beginning. First day is about calibrating the commute time.

Wednesday. April 20, 2016. Start date of The Deuce, Season 1.

Guns N' Roses 2016

In 1991, Axl Rose sparked a riot in St. Louis when he saw a fan taking pictures during a Guns N' Roses concert and flipped out.

25 years later, I'm sitting in my bedroom watching someone's bootleg livestream of GNR's reunion tour.


Not talking about buying a bootleg CD or VHS tape of some show years after it happened. (And I easily spent hundreds of dollars on live/rare GNR bootlegs, back in the day.)

Last night, at 3am, I am in my bedroom watching live footage of a Guns N' Roses concert happening on the other side of the country.

This wasn't even something I planned or sought out. I just... stumbled on it! Through a fan's link on the Guns N' Roses subreddit.

With all the effort and expense of a mouse-click, I'm transported to this concert. Terrible picture and sound, to be sure, but better than some of the videos I spent a lot of money on back in the 90s.

Fortunately, Axl didn't flip out like he did back in the day. Probably helped that he'd broken his foot and was mostly confined to a rockstar throne that Dave Grohl had loaned to him. (I guess this means GNR and 1 member of Nirvana are cool now?) But it's kind of a marvel at how much technology has advanced since the founding members of GNR performed live like this.

In conclusion, Libya is a land of contrast. Thank you.

Here's a review of the show with some videos.

2015 Taxes: COMPLETE!

Everything's submitted to my accountant this evening, at least. Who knows when it'll actually get done, though I have to say their office is a lot more calm than it usually seems around this time of year.

I really dragged my feet getting all my docs together this year. With the time off, I should have been able to get it done faster.

There is something cathartic about handing that shit off. It's all, "Okay, here's everything I've got for you this year. Please make this go away!"

New job set to start on the 18th (possibly 20th?), so I've a little more time before I get back into the chain-gang.

No sign of my wallet. Still hoping it's here somewhere but I had to order replacement cards. Start moving forward with life.

I'm walking to Chinatown tomorrow to have lunch with old coworkers. That'll be... something? I just hope they don't give me any shit for taking this other gig.

April 7. 2016. It's always a big deal for me when I get my taxes done. It's one big thing in the new year that I can clear away. The year is young. I've got to do some good this year.

Hunter Gatherer

Practicing timing in After Effects by trying to adapt a Far Side comic.

The original below:


I know, it runs a little fast. It's all about comic timing with these things. Since it cycles, you can kind of *get* it. Could use a little more breathing room in the final shot.

Wallet Interrupted

Went out Saturday night, impromptu. Met someone I don't know that well, to have some drinks with her and her friends. We went to two different venues. Bought a few drinks at both venues, nothing I couldn't handle.

I ended up bouncing early without saying goodbye which is my move.

On the way home, I bought a sandwich at the deli that's right next door to my apartment building. I had my wallet there. It literally takes about three steps to go from that deli register to the interior of my apartment building.

I always put my wallet and keys in the same place when I get home.

I had another drink when I got home. Then I ate my sandwich and went to sleep a little early because I wanted to go to the movies in the morning.

Sunday morning -- right before I was about to head out -- I notice my wallet isn't there. I've got everything else. My iPod. My keys.

Since then, I have been searching my bedroom an apartment looking for this thing.

I checked at the deli downstairs to see if a wallet was found. I'll probably try that again.

I've checked my card activity online and nothing has been used since I last used those cards. Which I guess is a good sign.

A sane person would go about the task of replacing everything. I am stubbornly convinced it has to be somewhere here. I spent all Sunday digging through every possible scenario. Cleaning and upending everything. And I'm just continuing that today.

I've lost my wallet before and retrieved it in far more unlikely scenarios. Several times over the years. I've had this wallet for an incredible amount of time. I'm fighting the creepy sensations of demoralization and depression because of this. I just need to find this thing. It's killing me.

Trust No One Today

Thank God It's April Fools Day.

Trust no big announcements made for the next 25 hours.

Here are a bunch of GIFs I made in After Effects this week.