I solemly Swear..

Welcome to the 6th floor. 

Today's contributors are: Ann

Subject:  Ann's 2009 Promise

 

I don't do 'normal' blog posts here often, preferring to stick to the group style.  This feels a little like the Fourth Wall of a Broadway play.  However, with my putrid care of the blog over the last couple of months, I feel to necessary to take a step back and try to work harder at creating something that people actually want to read.  Some bloggers or writers may say that they do it for themselves, but in my opinion every writer wants his story to be read.  Stories are like a writer's babies, and no one wants their baby to become a dusty paperweight in the back corner of some library, or the unread feed in someone’s feed reader.  So I'm going to lay out some rules and goals for 2009. 

 

I like the number 10.  10 posts a month, which seems like the right number since there isn't always a 'story' to blog about around here.

 

Try out different angles.  I've made a couple of posts which are more of my personal train of thought and observations, and I'd like to do more of that.  I'd also like to explore some of the more personal matters that go on around here.  I rarely blog about personal relationships, or any real negative stuff.  There will be more fights in 2009, more breakups, and hopefully more fun.  Reader input on the

 style of blog posts they like best are always welcome ,and encouraged.  Do people like it best when it's all six of us? Or are lesser, two-person blog posts exciting too?  I enjoy occasionally doing review type posts, particularly after a movie, or finding a cool new product.

 

More pictures!  I like pictures.  I probably could have a dozen blog posts just on some random observation we make, and if I photographed it, all the better.

 

Promote the blog better.  I think comments make blogs better, and an interactive readership is something that would be great.  If I get links out there, and draw more people in, this could happen.

 

I installed a Twitter feed on the top right of the site.  It's probably silly, and there is no way I'm going to start regularly sending in updates multiple times a day.  I've encouraged people to tweet the random one-liner though.  I may just do away with it entirely.

 

I intend to start writing a book.  I’ve been floating around ideas for a while, and It’s time to actually put pen to paper (fingers to keyboard) and start something.  I may post some blurbs here, and I’ll definitely upload much of it and link to it in the sidebar.

 

I’ve thought about buying a domain, for this as well as other things.  I’m not overly impressed with blogger, but I also don’t need bells and whistles.  The thing I hate most is the width of the actual text area. I wonder if I can get Sara to look at some of the code behind it and tweak it..hmm..

5..4..3...2....1.....Happy New Year!!

Welcome to the 6^th floor.

Today's contributors are: Sara, Tabitha, Frank, and Scott.

Subject: 5..4...3...2...1....Happy New Year!!!

“Happy New Year!” Frank shouts, blowing on a noise maker as he enters the 6^th Floor wearing giant 2008 flashing light-up glasses with the 0’s as eyeholes.

“12 hours Frank. The new year starts at midnight, not noon.”

“I can’t believe you bought those glasses.”

“I can’t believe you didn’t buy a pair for Tabitha!”

“Oh! But I did!” Frank says, pulling out five more pairs of glasses. “And for you too!”

“Shit.”

“I wonder what they're going to do in 2010. No more double zeros for eyeholes.”

“They could make the 1 a little higher up on the nose, and use both zeros still.”

“Maybe, but once they get to 2011 it's definitely over.”

“That's kind of sad. I've grown accustomed to seeing those silly glasses around.”

“I thought you hated wearing those silly glasses.” Scott says, entering the room.

“I do! I still like seeing everyone else wearing those silly glasses though!”

Scott takes a pair and puts them on. “I have to go to work for a couple of hours. I'm going to wear these silly glasses the whole time!”

“Oh, and don't start rocking in the New Year until I get back!” Scott waves, and exits.

“Well then. I know Ann invited Amy and Sue, but do you know who else she invited?”

“A bunch of people. Most of them aren't showing up though, so no worries. I think maybe Mike from downstairs, and that might be it.”

“You mean Mike from upstairs right? I don't think we know any Mikes downstairs.”

“Sure, maybe. I don't know where he lives. I only ever see him downstairs, and I don't often take that sketchy elevator up so I don't see where he gets off.”

“I probably should take the stairs more often, it's good exercise. I don't see what you have against the elevator though.”

“I think it might be the feeling that I'm in a coffin that does it. And it certainly has a distinct odor.”

“I know they clean it, I've seen them cleaning it. I don't know why it still smells like that.”

“The stairs are safer..although I should be careful tonight and tomorrow. It always seems like stairwells are where drunk people go to puke.”

“I've noticed that too!”

“So..Anyone want to see if Scott is really wearing those glasses at work?”

“I was thinking the same thing.”

The three of them rise, grab their jackets and head out to see Scott at work.

Before you ask, he did have them on when we arrived. When we arrived, an old lady was praising him for being in the spirit of the holiday while she ordered her frappachino.

Inspired by Ann, brought to you by Scott

Welcome to the 6^th floor.

Today's contributors are: Scott, Ann

Subject: Inspired by Ann

Not only is this post topic inspired by Ann, the whole post is! She told me she's hiding all of my beer until I post something. I think she was upset when she left the apartment for four hours and when she came back I was in the same position playing video games.

Starbucks was slow today. Maybe the caffeine addicts had finally gone cold turkey, or the slew of businesspeople that are usually here decided it wouldn't be a horrible idea to actually do some work rather than sipping coffee and checking their blackberries. Bruce was in about mid-day, bored as he usually is. I mentioned to him about Ann's hair, and after reassuring him that she was definitely still hot, we had an idea.

An older man with black hair walks in and orders a coffee.

“That's an easy one. Definitely yes.”

Bruce: “For sure.”

A woman walks in with long blond hair and orders a frappachino.

Bruce: “I don't feel this one.”

“Definitely yes. Her order clinches it.”

A college-aged woman walks in with blond hair with a blue streak in it and orders a soy white mocha with sugar-free vanilla and no whipped cream.

“That's not even a challenge.”

Bruce: “Who's next?”

A middle-aged man walks in, wearing a baseball cap and orders a double espresso.

Bruce: “That's not fair!”

“It probably wasn't an option for him, hence the cap.”

A pale skinned teenage girl with short red hair enters and orders a large double chocolate chip frappachino.

“I say definitely.”

Bruce: “Her? No way! You're trippin'!”

An attractive early 20s woman walks in with red hair and orders a cappuccino.

“I'd bet my life on this one.”

Bruce: “I'd bet something alright.”

“What are you betting on?”

“We're discussing whether or not the customers have dyed their hair or not.”

“I see. Don't you have a job or something better to do Bruce?”

Bruce: “Job? Hell no! What would I want one of those for?”

“Umm..nevermind. I gotta get to work, thanks for the coffee.”

“Sure thing firecracker.”

Now time to crack open a cold one and watch the game.

Death of Blond Jokes

Welcome to the 6^th floor.

Today's contributors are: Ann, Sara, Tabitha, Frank, Billy and Scott.

Subject: Ann's Changes

We arrived at Catalina's at 10:30. Sara and Frank wanted to watch the game at home, not knowing if they'd have a seat with a good angle for the televisions at Catalina's. When we got there the crowd was thinning out a bit, but there was no one at the hostess stand, so we stood around waiting until a red-haired girl approached us with menus.

“Ann?! You dyed your hair!”

“You work here now?”

“Ann! Lookout, your hair is on fire!”

“Why didn't you tell us?”

“Can you get us a discount on drinks then?”

“Well I'm glad you approve. I did indeed dye my hair, I figured it was time for a change. I cannot get you a discount though. I'm off at 11, so I'll seat you now and join you after my shift. We can discuss how I've actually seen all of you recently and you didn't notice.”

“Wow, she looks so different.” Sara says as Ann walks away after seating them to finish her duties for the night.

“I know. It's a nice color on her though. Will definitely take some getting used to.”

“It eliminates the blond jokes too. Redhead jokes just aren't as funny.”

“I'm going to order a Killian's Irish Red to celebrate.”

“Me too. Here's Clarence now.”

Clarence: “Hi guys. Isn't Ann's hair just fabulous?”

“Just blazin'. It was quite a shock. So when did she start working here?”

Clarence: “Just yesterday afternoon. Usually we wouldn't have her working Friday night, but two of our regulars called in sick.”

“Sick sick? Or I have tickets to the Yankee game sick?”

Clarence: “My guess is the latter. Crazy game today huh? I didn't know the Yankees knew how to steal that many bases. And what was with all the swinging bunts?”

“No idea. I'll take it though. 10 of 11!”

Clarence: “They're definitely getting back on track. So what can I get you tonight?”

“Let's start with five Killian's Irish Red in honor of Ann.”

Clarence: “Sounds perfect. I'll be back shortly to ask you what overly greasy appetizers you want.”

“Ann isn't Irish is she?”

“I don't think so.”

“Then she's not really an 'Irish' Red.”

“Did you have a better drink to order?”

“Could have gotten strawberry margaritas.”

“Well there is always round two.”

“Very true. Ann's not even off yet.”

Clarence: “Here you guys are. Appetizers?”

“We are going to wait for Ann to order food. I imagine she's hungry.”

“We are? Oh fine. Could you bring us some breadsticks to hold me over?”

Clarence: “Certainly. The firecracker should be here shortly.”

“Firecracker?”

Clarence: “Yeah, I thought it up myself.”

“I kind of like it.”

“And here is Ann herself!”

“Introducing yourself? You really are a firecracker.”

“Firecracker? I guess it beats blond jokes.”

“Fess up! You said you've seen us in the last couple of days. Where?”

“Well I saw you at work. I was sitting in the corner on my laptop for about an hour on Tuesday.”

“What? No way..”

“Yup. I ordered a Java Chip Frappachino from..I can't remember the girl's name. The one with the nose ring.”

“Ring Girl.”

“Her real name Scott.”

“I don't know her real name. I've called her Ring Girl since she started working there.”

“I'm sure she loves that. Anyway, you actually made the drink for me, and handed it to me.”

“If you say so. I guess the hair totally messed with me. Of course, I rarely look at a pretty girl's face.. Wait, Frank was at Starbucks on Tuesday too. I remember because he complained about losing $100 to an idiot with jack five.”

“Fucking newb.”

“Yeah. I saw Frank there.”

“Wait, so why didn't you just say hello or something? Instead of stalking us from a distance?”

“I was going to when Scott didn't recognize me, but then I decided it'd be funny. Anyway, you guys did your own stalking it seems.”

“We certainly did..you were successful though. Where did you see me?”

“You don't have to worry about not recognizing me. I boarded one of your trains this week. I was in the front car and saw you. I wasn't sure it was you at first, but then I heard your announcement. 'Union Square. Transfer here for the N, R, Q, W, 4, 5, 6, 7 ,8 ,9, 10...wait, only the 4,5,6 I just can't help counting once I start.'”

“Ahh yes. I'm worse at 6^th, because then I have to start with 1,2,3. The nine used to help but then they abandoned that line.”

“Sara walked down the stairs and right past me onto the train on her way to work. This was earlier yesterday, I was coming home to pick up some clothes. If I was a little faster she would've actually seen me at home.”

“No guarantees. I can be very zombie-like in the morning.”

“Saved the best for last?”

“Certainly. You were walking on Park with your friend Melissa, and I suddenly stopped because I wanted to grab an Onion from one of the boxes, and you actually walked into me. I thought for sure you'd recognize me, but you just said 'excuse me' and hurried on your way.”

“Oops. Serves you right for suddenly stopping in front of me though. We were in a hurry, Melissa had made lunch reservations and we were running late.”

“So that's how I've been stalking you all week. Now to the important stuff, where's Clarence with our second round?”

Here I Am!

Welcome to the 6^th floor.

Today's contributors are: Ann

Subject: Ann's e-note

I'm not at home, but I read my roommates' post searching for me, and decided to leave an e-note instead of responding directly. At least this way they won't make fun of me using whole pads of post-its for my note. I feel like Nemo after reading the post; Tabitha as the father clown fish, and Scott as Dory.

First I want to say thank you to the Barmaid and hope she's okay after her last post. We got more traffic from her link to our blog Sunday than we'd had all of the previous three months, and I think we may have even snagged a regular reader or two.

I've had a busy week, and certainly a better one than the Mets. (Sorry Sara) I've got two big surprises, which I don't want to reveal in this note, but if you're all in for late night snacks and drinks at Catalina's Friday night, I'll meet and explain it all to you there. Frank and Sara, you guys aren't headed to one of the subway series games this weekend right? Both surprises will be explained when I show up, although they're not related in any way.

I visited my parents out on the island. I was briefly hanging out with an old boyfriend, who it turns out only actually missed one part of me. I had some of my mother's delicious ravioli, and caught up with my family and read some books I'd been meaning to read for a while. I really enjoyed Angels and Demons by Dan Brown, I'd been meaning to read that since Sara lent it to me after we saw the Da Vinci Code.

I left my job at the library, which is what allowed me the time to visit my parents. The job wasn't bad, and I wasn't worried about being stuck under a pile of Harry Potter books, (excellent visual there Scott, thanks.) but it was time for me to move along.

My writing ambitions have picked up again, and I think a lot of it has to do with making myself write this blog. Having my roommates help out with it has been a great relief too. I was discussing the blog with an old friend, and she mentioned that our lives resemble the tv show Friends in many ways. She suggested I should write a script based on the blog, like a Friends episode. I've never written anything in that format, but I might try it just for the sake of trying something new.

I have been coming and going at odd hours, especially since I haven't wanted to pay the peak LIRR train fare to go out on the island. However, I have indeed seen my roommates this week, even if they haven't seen me. I'll leave the details for discussion over drinks Friday night.