#60 - In the studio with my brother

Sunday, March 4

Today I am thankful for my relationship with my brother.

The team at work last night (the factory works 24/7, and so does my team) cleaned up all the outstanding problems, and this morning was free from escalation meetings.  I had a nice breakfast of muffins, OJ, hot chocolate, home fries and sausage, and scooted out the door to the train.  It's an easy 10-minute drive from the hotel to the Beacon train station, and parking is free on the weekend.  I waited 10 minutes for the train, and got a seat on the Hudson River side.

I did not know until last night that the Hudson up as far as I am is an estuary.  The river bed is below sea level, so it's salt water from the mouth all the way up to Newburgh, and changes with tides.  On the way down, I saw the broken castle, the Citadel, and what I think is a prison.  I think the phrase "sent up the river" refers to prisons on the Hudson.

The day was nice - I wandered Grand Central a bit, chuckling to myself in disbelief that I live here now.  I caught a train out to Brooklyn, found my brother's brownstone, and we hung out there for a couple hours, chatting and running through some songs.  Lunch was at a Mediterranean place close to his house, and then we went back and recorded a couple songs.  It's fun to record with him - we're both at the semi-pro ability stage, but both very relaxed about it.  Usually we can lay down a track in a couple takes.  It's not perfect (that always takes mixing anyway), but it's good enough to enjoy.  Today we did some Springsteen and Johnny Cash.

When the tracks were done, we went for a walk down to the Brooklyn Promenade.  Great view of Manhattan over the East River - Empire State Building, Brooklyn Bridge, Chrysler Building, Statue of Liberty, and the ferry boats that The Joker blew up on The Dark Knight.  Then we got a hot chocolate at Starbucks and talked for another hour or so.

A 10 minute walk to the subway, transfer at Grand Central, and I was home at 8:30.  An absolutely perfect day.  My brother is a good guy.  I understand that and him more each time we spend time together.  I can't be happier that we're close enough to see each other for the first time in our adult lives.

There were a ton of great pictures today.  The one I'll pick is just a silly one.  We were on our walkabout, looking for a place to get some hot chocolate.  I saw a Haagen Dazs shop that had a sign in front, next to a tarot reader.  The very first Haagen Dazs store in the world?  Right across the street?  They have to have coffee and hot chocolate, right?  "I got anything you need," says the proprietor.  "You don't have anything I need," says my bro.  "Do you have hot chocolate?" I ask.  The proprietor roots around the cupboards and comes up with a couple packets of Swiss Miss hot chocolate.  "No, thanks," we say, and leave the store.

I'm sure the ice cream would have been great, but we didn't sample.  We found a Starbucks close by and got our hot chocolate there.  The perfect day for me ends with a few good oranges and Boar's Head brie.  That's my dinner.  Awesome.