: And Stay Off My Lawn
I can tell you where Eric is *not*. He is not out in the yard mowing the lawn, trimming the edges, or hacking dead branches off the shrubbery. After years of half heartedly taking care of our front and back yards, Lisa & I have finally given up the fight and (queue in the Darth Vader theme music) hired a lawn service.
Like many things in my life I feel somewhat ambivalent about this. The part of me that wants to be self reliant & sufficient feels guilty about shirking my duty as a home owner. However, when I come home after a 10 hour day at the office and I see the neatly mowed and trimmed front yard, my whole body just goes “aaahhhh”.
Likely some of you have your sarcasm detectors on. I can just hear you. “Oh, poor, poor Eric. He can afford to hire a lawn service and he feels guilty. The poor dear liberal lad. Cry me a river” To which I reply, “Guilty as charged.”
And speaking of taking care of your house, we have an old model snow blower which has seen better days and we’re getting rid of it. It will need work. It runs for maybe 5-10 minutes and then it stalls out. If anyone out there is handy with machines or is willing to go to the effort of getting it fixed, it’s yours for $50 – or make me an offer I can’t refuse.
Meanwhile, after a quiet April I’ve got a busy month ahead…
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May 3, Saturday, 10:00PM-1:00AM – Better Off Dead at The Great Notch Inn, Route 46, Little Falls (973) 256-7742
There’s a chance of showers this Saturday, so the parking lot may be bereft of hogs, but the music inside will be honking good.
http://www.betteroffdead.com/home.htm
http://www.agreatertown.com/little_falls_nj/great_notch_inn_new_jerseys_rockin_roadhouse_00089580
May 9, Friday, 7:00-9:00ish PM – Better Off Dead, Ruthie’s BBQ, 64 1/2 Chestnut Ave, Montclair (973) 509-1134
We’re having a mini Better Off Dead road tour this month. It will be the same music as last Saturday only in a much more mellow setting. If the weather is good we’ll be out on the veranda with the full band, otherwise we’ll have to squeeze inside sans drums. As always, BYO at Ruthie’s and be patient when ordering food – it’s worth the wait.
http://www.ruthiesbbq.com/
May 10, Saturday, 8:00PM-9:30PM – Shuffle, Jump, and Moan at Hat City, 459 Valley Street, City of Orange, NJ 07050 (862) 252-9147
It’s a busy weekend for me. SJ&M has been having a great run at Hat City, this is our 3rd (or maybe 4th or 5th – I’ve lost count) appearance at Hat City. If you want to sit and have dinner, I strongly recommend making reservations and showing up a early, the last show was sold out. If you don’t want todo dinner, there’s always room at the bar. The food is excellent, I’ve been there on off nights just for dinner. I believe there’s a $10 cover charge.
http://www.hatcitykitchen.com
May 21, Wednesday, 8:00PM-11:00PM – with Rob Signorile at The Box Car, 25 Chatham Rd, Short Hills, NJ 07078 (862) 912-0002
This is a new venue for Rob & I – and a rare mid-week show as well. The Box Car is located in the Short Hills train station (hence the name) – and given that this is Short Hills it’s likely to be, umm, refined. Rob & I will do our best to shake things up a bit.
http://www.boxcarbar.com/
May 30, Friday, 7:00-9:00ish PM – with Arne Englund Band, Ruthie’s BBQ, 64 1/2 Chestnut Ave, Montclair (973) 509-1134
And rounding out the month I’ll be back at my favorite neighborhood BBQ joint with the Arne Englund Band. It’s been far too long since Arne & I shared the veranda together – I’m looking forward to a great night of rockin’ blues.
http://www.ruthiesbbq.com/