Tao of Pauly

Pressed...

By Pauly
New York City

... for time. I don't have any of it these days. I had less than four days in New York City in between a 2+ week assignment in Atlantic City and a 2+ week sojourn to Europe. It seems like I'm constantly in perpetual motion. And NYC is nothing more than an air craft carrier where I land, loaded up on supplies, get a mail call, and hit the road again.

This is no way to live.

When I return from a trip, I dump everything from my backpack into the washer machine. Then I reload for the next trip. It's officially the autumn in Europe, so I have to pack a few extra items. Traveling in the summer is easy and I can go light. Now I have to get creative in my packing skills in order to add heavier clothes while still packing in a limited space.

I have books piled high to the ceiling. Marty Beckerman sent me his latest book that I want to review but had zero time to even pick up his book. I also got a couple of books for my birthday and Mary gave me something from Warren Ellis. So many books, so little time. The depression sinks in because I wish I had time to devour each one. The written word intoxicates me, yet I find myself struggling to find time to even open a book, let alone write one.

I finally finished my NASA conspiracy book called Dark Mission. It was tough to read and if you can skim all the unnecessary academic crap, it is a fascinating read... like what's up with all those glass towers on the moon and all the temples and pyramids on Mars. Shit will blow your mind.

The email backed up like a clogged shitter. I'm in one of those phases where I'm saying, "Fuck it." In the previous months, I devoted 10-15 minutes a day unclogging the jam. That's a waste of time because it keeps building up. Don't flush.

I watched the Jets on Monday Night Football. Even with Favre, they still suck. And I lost my fantasy football game by 0.4 points. That blows camelballs.

The one highlight was watching up on three of the newest episodes of Entourage. You gotta love Johnny Drama. The first two episodes were a B- but the last one was a B+.

The birthday was better than average. At my age, birthdays don't mean as much as they used to. If anything it's a reminder that I'm not getting any younger. The tickets to the Yankees game with my brother were an awesome present. Derek also got me a Dead in Egypt DVD and CD combo. And Nicky redecorated a room in the LA apartment for my birthday so I officially have an office to write in. Awesome gesture, but God knows when I'll find time to actually write.

The rest of my year looks like this... NYC > Amsterdam > London > Amsterdam > NYC > Mohegan Sun > Rhode Island > NYC > Denver > LA > Vegas > LA > NYC > LA > Vegas > LA > NYC. And you know, there might be a work assignment or two thrown in there. That's a ton of traveling and lots of time wasted in airports. A 10 day stint in London might be the longest I'm on one city for the rest of the year.

Constantly on the move. Nowhere to run. Nowhere to hide.

At least I get to rage solo in Amsterdam for three days.