Pasteur Pharmacy

I was looking for mouse glue. I have lived in various apts. in Manhattan for the past 20+ years and this is the first apt. that I have had univited visitors. They visit every several months (like once every season). They are cute. About the size of my pinky but plump. I have caught tan, black, grey, black, once a spotted tan and brown one, would luv to get a white one. They're really cute squirming on my trap. They chirp like small birds. Unlike cockroaches, which I actually don't have at all here, that I just step on, these guys, I look at them while they squrim. I feel bad for them when they do land on a trap but they are unfortunately unwelcomed. Apparently, even Jerry Seinfeld has these little visitors from time to time in his multimillion dollar apt. Btw, I do not leave food lying around. I take out garbage every night.

So anyway, I go out to Duane Reade to get some more of these glue traps but they only have those wood traps with auto guillotine. I don't like those. I don't want to see the result. So, I walk over to another and another and none of them have the glue trap. I grab lunch then head back home. Half a block away is this pharmacy that is 1/10th the size of a regular Duane Reade. I have been there before and marvelled at the variety of shampoos and conditioners there. Ranging from regular L'oreal stuff to $40 shampoos. I stop in and look for mouse glue. They too only had the guillotine one. I obviously did not get those. Too cruel. Plus, these are Park Avenue mouse, they wear top hats and ascots. Respect.

So, I'm just browsing and my god! there is an entire mens' section (albeit it small) that I had never seen. It had all sorts of stuff, and most impressively, gentlemen's grooming items straight from London. They had shaving bowls, colognes, mosturizers, after shaves, talcum powder, etc. ALL from London. I tried almost every cologne there and they were all great. They all came in very small spray bottles the size of a tic tac container. They ranged from $50 to $60. That's comparable to my L'artisan cologne prices (at $130 a bottle). I was just amazed at the variety of men's grooming supplies and I felt like a peasant. Needless to say, the women's stuff is even more amazing. Face mask cream for $85 for a container the size of a scented candles vase. I was in heaven.

The only thing is that I am not a metrosexual. I don't get manicures or do skin exfoliation, etc. Not against it. I used to have a gallery of Bulgari skin care products but I hardly ever used it. My skin is naturally youthful and I don't want to jinx it by applying extracurriculars to it. But I did see a beautiful packaging. It was Eye gel for puffiness under the eyes. The picture above does NOT do it justice. It also comes in a little box. It's one of the best packagings that I have ever seen. It belongs in a museum! I opened the box and the equally impressive white jar (very small jar. fits in my palm. almost the size of a lip balm jar)and it looked half empty. I looked for finger prints to see if anyone may have taken some. But I saw none. So despite the fact that the jar looked half empty, I assume that it was the way it's supposed to be and bought it ($13, Given the volume, I can probably, at best, use it for 12 applications. I don't care.). I have it sitting on my coffee table now. I just look at it. Will use the gel later after my nap(s).

The funny thing... I brought it to the cash register girl. The price was clearly marked on the box and I saw her punching in the price and the receipt coming out but the girl held the box in her hand for literally a minute, just staring at it and turning it around and staring at it. Then finally, she put it into a bag.

Btw, DR Harris is over 200 years old family run pharmacy with their own brand as you can see. They are the official 'chemists' to the royal family, namely Queen Elizabeth and Prince Charles. It's on the label.

Crying

I saw 'The Sea Inside' last week. I cried 3 times. I'm proud of it. That fckn movie was relentless. Tears ran down my cheeks for 3 mins. straight. I felt like a school girl. Now I am watching 'The Pianist' again after having seen it a few years ago. I am almost in tears. I like crying from time to time. Actually, I would like to cry at least once a week if possible. Crying makes me feel human the most and quite therapuetic for my soul. I encourage everyone to cry at least once a month. It feels really great. Equivalent to 10 great laughs. I have never cried looking at a painting or reading a book. That's more of an intellectual exercise. But I have cried over a few songs (usually Beethoven Piano Sonatas and Concertos or a nice Tony Bennett tune) and a few times watching world news (for real). But great movies get me everytime, Casablanca, The English Patient, Gone with the Wind, the Color Purple, etc. My heart aches and I weep. I wish I had the vanity enough to put my tears in vials and label them and keep them frozen in the fridge. A frozen catalogue of my tears. Then one day, in a middle of a party or dinner party at my place, I want to debute my tear gallery and show all that-- I remain human after all these years (in chronological order). Tears of joy, tears of sorrow. Human, all too human. Btw, once, like a true dandy, I cried out of envy. I was particularly pleased about that one. That particular species of tears don't occur that often, if ever.

Retired at the Age of 29

So, after having done absolutely nothing all day except watching bunch of nature documentaries on cable and writing a blog about 'doing absolutely nothing,' I got bored after midnight and decided to stop by my bar for a break from doing absolutely nothing.

I usually don't go to my bar on weekend nights after 11pm because it's usually a zoo and I can't even find a seat. But having accidentally gone into Marquee on Weds. (their popular nite) and seeing the zoo in there, I figured anywhere I went, it was going to be a zoo. So, why not go to one that's 2 blocks away vs. cab downtown for a quickie. Well, thank the gods for Passover. There were less people last nite and it was quite nice. I love Passover, Manhattan is a third empty during Passover.

Well anyway, I was having a smoke outside and I saw a new regular there who is a friend of my bartenders. I said hi and said "hey, your frequency has increased." He said "yeah, my daughter works on Broadway and I dropped her off earlier." Then we have a convo about something which I've forgotten but my curiosity peaked when he mentioned that he gets up at 5 or 6pm everyday. Another idle man? I asked, "so do you work at night?" He said, "no, I'm 36 and and I retired at 29." and he smiled nicely. He apparently started early and went into real estate. No place that's fancy. A 45 family unit in Brooklyn, another in Montreal, a beauty shop, and a couple of restaurants. Retired.

Doing Absolutely Nothing

"May I introduce to you, my friend, Lord Kwon, the idlest man in Manhattan." I have told some of my friends that this would be the highest level of introduction for me and I would totally adore that introduction. It is actually, and most likely, not untrue for those who know me. My life is equally divided between work (when I have to), sleep, and sloth (sloth includes texting with my friends, hanging out at Bungalow, writing blogs from time to time. In a nutshell, leisure).

I hate the obligation of busyness (business?). I hate the obligation of productivity and industry. I like to be a sovereign of my own time and decisions. Today, more than ever, we are all under the tyranny of obligations. Obligation 1) Work- generally, this is appx 10 hrs. of one's day. After 7 hours of sleep, one only has 7 hours left to oneself and the remaining 7 hours after daily upkeep like grooming, eating, errands, and miscellaneous, one has very little time for doing absolutely nothing; 2) Social- with more friends one increases the chance of disappointing them or oneself. It's also a burden to harmonize with one and all. It's quite stressful and strenuous. I prefer to have less than 5-7 great friends. I prefer to be known for my great taste and judgment vs. quantity of my friends. All of my friends are exceptional. Attractive, intelligent, loyal, quirky, fun, and have fantastic tastes (and of course, get into any exclusive club-- which is important-- that is, the ability to out rank others). I have, however, separated from a few in the past when we grew apart. I will cherish the memories but I will not miss them. To thineself be true; and 3) Expectations-- One needs to live free without the obligation and the expectation of a 'should' placed at the doorsteps of one's own house by strangers! Expect nothing from me nor demand that I should do this and that, I live for myself and for those I care for. Period.

I enjoy doing absolutely nothing. This is one of the only activity that makes me feel free, alive, and rejuvenated. The other 2 are when I am with friends having a great conversation or just fun in a great atmosphere or if I were to have a hobby (e.g. making art which I used to-- pastels, poems, aphorisms) and being totally in the zone. Sex? Well, yes, but after a few months with the same person, the excitement naturally wears off, so that's more ephemeral and therefore, less distinguished for me. Actually, I am alittle apprehensive of sex, girlfriends etc. because it'll become an eventual burden unless the gal is divinely unique.

Doing absolutely nothing takes balls. Balls to say, "yeah, I have been completely unproductive today" and potentially get the facetious response of "oh, that's great" from someone who totally thinks that you are a loser for not having accomplished anything that day just being lazy. It's so unamerican to be so unproductive! But you see, I like being lazy. It keeps me from going insane from being over obligated and consumed by endlessly prostituting my brain, energy, and youth to things that are not my priorities. My priority in life is gaining wisdom, obtaining serenity, a peace of mind, and happiness. Activities besides the ones that I mentioned that I enjoy don't do anything for me. Like going to Central Park and laying down and people watching on the Great Lawn, having brunch with people, going to birthday parties,... none of these things mean that much to me. It's herding. It's group grazing. It adds nothing to my life. Albeit from time to time, I like doing it because I'm with friends and a part of their lives. Afterall, one should strive for some balance. Total anything, selfishness or selflessness is a sign of a cripple.

But the ultimate test of my sovergnty and where I feel like I am somewhat in control of my life is when I choose to do absolutely nothing. I believe that without leisure and indolence there is no time for inspiration and true achievements. I gestate my own greatness to be realized at an appropriate time when I allow room for myself and cultivate me. Activities and obligations rarely add to who or what I am but only supplies the veneer of productivity. This is consistent with the Tao and Siddharta's last temptation (that of princely obligation to his subjects while he medidated 'selfishly' under the tree journeying into himself to find himself. So, I go offense on this not defense. "It takes character to endure the rigours of indolence!"- Wilde

Post Script-- ALTHOUGH, I must admit that some positive activities and hobbies won't break the bank either and that I should put some more structure to my life towards this end. Afterall, routines become habits and habits can be self fulfilling destiny, and without some goals and milestones, indolence alone would lead to nothing but postponements until death arrives-- when any achievements hereto in gestation would go to nought. So, indolence can be good if confidently placed and smartly paced but may also be malign if it is out of control. But I also know that I do not have a busy nature nor the psychological need to be busy like so many of our city dolls today and that I am more a creature of leisure than a busy bee booked for the rest of the month for brunchs, parks, birthday parties, and other similar self enforced obligations. This is abit of a conundrum.

Dancing In The Dark

I have decided to start a new genre of blogs for myself. The genre will be called 'Guerilla Blogs.' It/they will be temporary postings only lasting a few days max. Most to all will be from YouTube. The sole reason being indolence. I will put these on whim. It is an age of multimedia and fast food afterall and my compositions will be either my own,borrowed, stolen, permanent or ephermeral. I will exercise caprice. It's a sort of an experiment for myself. Thanks.

Barbarella (Note: If you have speakers, crank up the volume. It's groovey and yummy.)

Welcome Back Baby

When Ferrari is the daddy and Maserati the mommy (for real),you get this baby: 2009 Alfa Romeo 8C Competizione. Alfa Romeo discontinued selling in the U.S. in 1994. This baby is back in the U.S. in 2009. 90 babies arriving in 2009 in the U.S.