2005 – The Year in Review!

January

2005 started in Hoboken, New Jersey, with a celebration at a bar that didn’t have any
cover charge but unfortunately did allow smoking. (Love that NYC smoking ban)

from my blog entry of January 3...
New Years Eve was a lot of fun. I spent it at a bar in Hoboken with Ben, Tracey, Tess, Malinda, Brad and Caren who stopped by for part of it. I have two observations about Hoboken – they still allow smoking in bars which was disappointing to someone who had gotten used to the cleanliness of NYC bars, and there are no streetlights on any of the corners – a death maze if there ever was one! But other than that I enjoyed my visit to Hoboken. Maybe I’ll go back again one day.

The other big social event of January was a Jets party at the Riviera Cafe. A huge group gathered to cheer on the Jets in their playoff pursuit. They lost though. However, now that the Giants have made the playoffs in ’06, a sequel party is being planned!

In the second half of the month, the temperature dropped and encouraged hibernating conditions. I watched tons of Simpsons DVDs and compiled a Top 10 list for Season 3. (My #1 episode was “Like Father, Like Clown” where Krusty makes amends with his rabbi father, voiced by Jackie Mason.)

I also started cleaning out my apartment in anticipation of a big move in the spring and found a note written to me 11 years ago.

from my blog entry of January 18...
Yesterday I was cleaning my apartment and getting rid of lots of old things. I came across a box of materials from high school including stuff from when I performed in various stage productions. Among the scripts and rehearsal schedules, I found a note written by fellow castmate, Maria Bova. The show was "Hello, Dolly" and we were rehearsing the scene where I played a court reporter. Maria wrote this note and slipped it to me during that day’s rehearsal. To find it 11 years later brought such a smile to my face and I’ve transcribed it below.
You are the guy who writes things down
Your smile is bright, no trace of a frown
That’s very good for your part
But don’t let it go to your head, that wouldn’t be smart
So keep doing what you are, that will be great
So so long Phil, we’ll probably get out late.
-- Maria Bova, 12/9/93

The other thing I should mention about the month of January is that it was cold. Really, really cold. This cold weather impacted my commute to work one day and further inspired me to look for a new apartment.

from my blog entry of January 24...
This morning I experienced the commute from hell. Allow me to explain. I arrived at the F train at Avenue U in Brooklyn only to learn that there was no north-bound service due to frozen track conditions. There was south-bound service though to Coney Island at which point we were recommended to take a Q or D into Manhattan. So I went to Coney, connected to a D, took it into lower Manhattan where I connected to another south-bound F with the intention of arriving at my 7th Avenue – Park Slope destination. Unfortunately the train terminated at Jay Street – Borough Hall and wasn’t going any further south due to the same frozen track conditions. Nice of them to tell us that! So I go outside, walk a few blocks to the 2 & 3 train station at Lawrence Street, take a south-bound 3 to Grand Army Plaza and then walk from Grand Army Plaza to my building in Prospect Park. Total time of commute? Three hours. Shame on the MTA for failing to inform commuters of the full extent of the track changes and shame on the media for failing to report them in their "morning traffic reports."

And you thought I complained about mass transit during last week’s strike!

February

In February, I celebrated the one-year anniversary of this blog!

from my blog entry of February 4...
Phil's Spin Zone is one year old today. Started on February 4, 2004, I didn't know if it would last but so far, so good! Special thanks to my readers. I hope to continue entertaining you.

The apartment cleansing for my move continued and this time I found an old notebook containing my diary from the 4th grade. My “original” blog, I suppose.

from my blog entry of February 5...
I've retyped the first entry, spelling errors and all.

September 15, 1986
Dear Diary,
A few weeks ago I built a culbhouse. One week later some girls wrote all over it. Thursday Joel, Leinord and I formed an army. Friday we had our first assenment. Leinord and I were playing in the culbhouse. One of my next door neighbors, a 12 year old kid started to hit the culbhouse with his skateboard. Then the girls were trying to sit on it but Leinord and I drove them away. Near Leinord's house he got into a fight with a 16 year old kid, it was called a draw. Then everyone went away.
- Philip

Then later on in the diary, I found this entry. The page was folded over and it said "Do Not Read." Here it is.

January 14, 1987
Dear Diary,
David likes a girl named Sally. A kid, Matthew Brown, also likes her. David wants to play a game of chess but Brown wants to fight. I'm writing a book on it. Who gets her? Who knows?
-Philip

The month continued with a Super Bowl party at Brad’s condo and an Academy Awards party at Sarah’s apartment. And for the very first time, I co-hosted Tuesday Night Trivia at the Baggot Inn!

from my blog entry of February 23...
Last night was my hosting debut at Tuesday Night Trivia and it went very well! (Except for the usual hiccups like misplacing a couple of teams answer sheets, etc. But all was corrected so no harm!) We had a good crowd of about 65 people with many new faces. One of the teams even selected as their team name "Phil, are you single?" (which I had to read out). Thanks to Barry for being a fun co-host and I look forward to doing it again soon!

I wound up hosting trivia three more times in 2005. But perhaps the most significant event in February happened at the end of the month when I went to Bay Ridge and started walking into random real estate offices, looking for one-bedroom apartments.

from my blog entry of February 26...
I went to Bay Ridge today to scope out the area. Plenty of bars, restaurants, supermarkets, shops, train access and a nice view of the Verrazzano Bridge. All I needed now was to find an apartment. I walked into the offices of five random realty offices (there seems to be one on each block!) I laid out my criteria : a 1-bedroom apartment in a rent-stabilized, elevator building with laundry facilities for hopefully no more than $950 a month. (I’d really like to avoid using a laundromat) One broker said I’d be able to find something like that but she didn’t have any at the current moment. Another bluntly said that it’s doubtful I’d find a elevator/laundry building for less than $1000. Another just had me fill out an application and said he’d get back to me. But thankfully there were two brokers who made time to show me around! Not that they showed me exactly what I was looking for but it’s a start.

Indeed, it was a start!

March

The month began with the engagement of my friends Lisa and Jay, to which I’m excitedly gearing up to attend their wedding this summer in Toronto!

from my blog entry of March 1...
First of all, I want to congratulate Jay Bartow and Lisa Annis on their engagement! Couldn't have happened to two nicer people. Lisa I knew from the dorms at Vassar - she lived next door to me. Jay I knew from our shared interests in politics, baseball, pro wrestling and Jewish stuff. We were the co-founders of the nVo. Although Jay and Lisa both knew each other at Vassar they didn't start dating until they reunited at their 5-year reunion. Best of luck to both of them!

BUT! The most exciting part of the month, and probably the year, was my finding an awesome apartment and signing the lease for it!

from my blog entry of March 10...
The building itself is in Bay Ridge, on Ovington Avenue (the equivalent of 70th Street) between 4th Avenue and 5th Avenue. It is one street block away from the R-Train stop on Bay Ridge Avenue. It’s also steps away from major shopping hubs on 3rd Avenue and 5th Avenue, which both afford a nice view of the Verrazzano Bridge as you walk down them. The building is pre-war, rent-stabilized, with an elevator and laundry facilities in the basement. My apartment is on the 3rd floor and there are 6 floors in the building. It has a very large living room, a large bedroom, a kitchen with plenty of cabinet and counter space, a nice-size eating area, a decent size bathroom, and a foyer with multiple closets. I had to slightly increase my desired price range by $50 a month but considering what I’m getting, it’s very worth it.
I’m very excited about this. There’s so much to do but the big weight of actually finding something has been lifted from my shoulders. Plus, many of you may not realize this, but this will actually be my first "real" apartment. For the past six years, since graduating college, I’d been renting my parents basement. It was a good way to save money for a while but the time had come to make a fresh start and start moving on with life. Can’t wait.

Then once I signed the lease, it was busy buying things to furnish the apartment! A sofa and loveseat (a gift from my parents), an armoire, an entertainment unit, a computer desk, mini-blinds. The whole process was so time-consuming that I actually suspended my blog! For about one week...

Stay tuned tomorrow when I will recap April, May and June!