The Birth of Words

At 8:20 this morning, I thought I had all the time in the world. By 8:21, everything had changed.

It was at 8:21 that I remembered that I had a dentist appointment 40 blocks away in nine minutes. Miraculously, I made it.

I sat in that f’ing chair for over two hours. $750 and one excruciating cleaning later, I sprinted to Starbucks for a long overdue cup of coffee. I decided to spend a minute on the pedestrian island in the middle of Broadway watching the city pass by. It was time well spent listening to The Samples ‘Birth of Words’ and taking it all in.

For a second there at The MTV, I thought the day was going to be a breeze. But before I knew it, I was in one production/ecommerce/movie-related meeting after another, planning for what will undoubtedly be one of our most ambitious launches ever. Under my direction. By June 1.

Then I had Cockfight rehearsal. What can I tell you of it? Well, there was a minute there where I was like, ‘Mutherfucker, I’m the drummer!’ It defies logic. I shouldn’t be able to play drums at all. But there it is: I play ’em pretty well. I’m no Neil Pert. But I hold my own. And man oh man is it a good way to get my aggressions out. Now, will Cockfight be ready for a show any time soon? Doubtful.

Then I met my brother and a bunch of TV-type guys uptown at Hi-Life for dinner. It was pretty hilarious: potty mouth, porn talk, work dish — you name it. I was still the little brother (at 32-years-old), but I was laughing so hard, I was snarfing food out of my nose. My stomach hurt. Which is the kind of joy that’s hard to come by.

We repaired to Brother Jimmy’s for more beers sometime around 11. The first thing I saw was a circle of guys shotgunning cans of Natural Light. Um, hello? On the Upper West Side? It was like a time warp. Suddenly I was 21-years-old in Syracuse, NY, in some ratty, beer-soaked bar with one girl for every twelve guys. So one pint later, I walked home from 83d to 56th, my iPod soundtracking the blocks.

What to make of it all? What to say? Well, I can tell you that two Excedrin and a beer seems to do that trick. Other than that, the lesson of the day seems to be, um, brush your teeth, and get your rest.