April 29, 2011
Okay, I’m going out a bit early tonight. My Mom and Dad are in town and we’re going out to eat, so I’ll take a few pictures on the way and in their hotel room and then I’m going to write a story about their reaction to when I told them I was going to move to New York when I get back home. So there!
I really hate the daytime and these fucking slow-walkers that fan all over the sidewalk. Bah!
Jeremiah Moss flashback moment!
Okay, I'm here at their hotel room. I've scrambled the number so no internet stalkers will bother them.
Mom!
My Mom and Dad in their hotel room.
They had a bookshelf and books in their room, which I had never seen in a hotel room before and was amazed by it.
Hey, look at this one, "The Runaway"...could it be...
Yes! Joan Jett! What a magical evening!
This picture of this jockey kind of creeped me out. I took a picture of him and vowed never to look at it again.
And look, through the magic of the internet, we're already at the Chinese restaurant!
Cheers! From us to you!
I kept telling my mom to order the Chicken with Three Different Nuts. It totally went over her head and she kept asking why I was telling her to order that dish. I'm easily amused.
The chopsticks here are high-grade plastic and made me think of a swizzle stick.
So I stole one of them. Goodnight everybody and see you tomorrow, after dark.
My Mom and Dad’s Reaction To Me Moving to New York
Back in April of 1993, I decided to move to New York. I was going to cash in my pension plan from my job I had worked at for 13 years. I had no job or job offers and knew about five people in New York. You have to realize that if you grow up in Peoria, work a decent job for 13 years and then decide out of the blue to quit it, cash in your retirement fund and move to New York with no friends or job offers pending it’s pretty much the same as saying to someone, “You know, I think I’ll build a spaceship and try and fly it to Mars.” So I was a little concerned as to what my parents reaction would be, when I told them what my plans for the future were.
I remember taking the night off from work and going to their house for dinner. I don’t remember what we had, but I remember being nervous about telling them what I wanted to do. I do remember my mom saying, “You’re quiet tonight, is everything alright?”
I can be a real motormouth, so when my gums aren’t flapping something is usually up and my mom can read me like a book. So I decided to spill my guts and I told them I was quitting my job, yanking my pension fund, planned on selling everything I owned and move to New York by the summertime. I wanted to move in the summertime because “Summer in the City” is one of my favorite Lovin’ Spoonful songs. I do things for reasons sometimes I don’t even get, but Zal Yanovsky has always been an inspiriation to me and he totally kicks ass in this song.
So told them and there was a moment of silence and then I don’t exactly remember who said what, but basically what they told me was this: “If you don’t do this now, you may always regret it. If things don’t work out you can always move back here and live in the basement and start all over.”
How great is that?
In the movie, “The Last Waltz,” Levon Helm describes coming to New York for the first time and he said, “You come to New York and get your butt kicked. Then you go home, heal up and come out and try it again and eventually you fall in love with the city.”
New York City can kick your ass. And believe me, New York City has kicked me in the ass more than once. But when it does, I just pick myself up, wipe the dust off my jeans and move the fuck on. Knowing I’ve got a room waiting for me in Peoria in case I get knocked out for good has helped me fight the good fight out here. Thanks Mom and Dad.
My parents are great people.
Further reading: Wikipedia, The Basement and Wikipedia.
You might also like: Merv Griffin, Griffin Dunne and Griffin Nightclub.
Five Son of’s...
Son of Sam
Son of Dad
Son of a Gun
Son of a Preacher Man
Son of a Bitch (Scroll down to the picture of the grafitti that says: Gruber MacDougal EATS SHIT!)
Sometimes,
I feel I gotta get away.
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Bonus Linkage!
Here’s more photos from the legendary Easter Sunday at Mars Bar, via the Villager and Ace Photographer, Jefferson Siegel. Check it out: Mars Bar in the Villager.
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Bonus Swizzle Stick!
Jaws sent in his perfect gin and tonic including his very own swizzle stick. Cheers to you, Jaws!
28 Comments
Reader Comments (28)
To your parents! Without them, we wouldn't have MAD! Loved the story!
Very Nice, great story!
LOL@ Chicken with Three Different Nuts. Your a sick and twisted man, Mr Wombacher!
Your Mom is kinda cute
@MAD Glad you moved to NYC, even happier you don't work for the Witness Protection Program. (see: "Mom!")
@Barfly: Thanks!
@Harry: I come from a long line of twisted people. We're like a family of pretzels.
@Rosie O'Donnell: You quit stalking my mom or I'll call the cops!
@csp: Once again, your comment flies over my head. Mom...witness protection?? Please explain or this will drive me nuts!
@MAD: Look at second picture of the hotel door before Rosie does.
@csp: Just fixed it, thanks!
Good seeing your Mom and Dad again!
Stay away from the pool chalk in their presence.
Kind of like the "Tri-Ball Chicken"
Have a great time with Mom and Dad.
Its awesome having parents that you know will always have your back. I'm lucky enough to have some of those too. The Merv Griffin set episode of Seinfeld is one of my favorites. I've always liked the song Son of a Preacher Man other than the fact that she is talking about making out with her cousin and I always found that odd.
That's a cool story Marty, everyone should be lucky enough to have parents as supportive as yours. Keep fighting the good fight, you're not missing a whole lot here in Peoria anyway!
Does your Mom mind that you say Fuck alot? I like that your folks seem to be ok with your madness! Mine are stiil adjusting to it! Enjoy the time with the folks! Cheers!
Great to see your folks again,,,,they remind me of, well, my folks. Same age. @Kari: Dusty in Memphis was a great album, I really liked her bravado and along with Petula Clark, they were real pioneers in popular music in the sixties. @Marty: Enjoy your Parents and thanks for that clip of the Who,,,,a great song. ( I would of ordered that whole crispy sea bass, hunan style)
@"Boris:" I just snorted an eight ball, but don't tell my folks!
@kari: I never knew she was singing about her cousin, I have to re-listen to that song.
@TheChief: I really do feel lucky to have the parents I do. Most other parents would've disowned me long ago!
@Professor Dungpie: My mom doesn't like me cursing and once asked if I would publish a "nice" fishwrap that she could show to my relatives and their friends! That cracked me up!
@Al: Thanks! I had a half Beijing Duck, delicious!
Marty, just want to say that you're so lucky to have parents like that. My parents were the reason I joined the army before my 18th birthday. This was in 1972 just after high school. My parents were the exact opposite of yours...dad was a bi-polar megalomaniac who got off looking down on anybody like you who wasn't afraid to take a chance doing what you did, and wouldn't have held back at all letting the world know about it. My big hope in the summer of '72 was that the viet nam war would still be going on when I was through with basic so some V.C. would put a bullet through my head and put me out of my misery. Really. But I went to Germany and had the time of my life instead. When I got home three years later, you should have seen the look on dear old dad's face when he realised that he had a hashish smoking, FTA screaming (that's Fuck The Army to you non-veterans) lunatic for a son. His reaction was similar to that of our dachshund that I told you about when he got his yap sucked into the vacume cleaner hose.
Oh, by the way...at least your mom and dad didn't get a room with paintings of those mutant children in them...you know, the ones with the huge blue eyes that look like the Children of the Damned...brrr...those paintings were in all the hotels back in the day and they really creeped my ass out.
your parents are cute and i love the fact that you look forward to hanging out with them!
@Jaws: Sorry to hear about your dad, but at least you got out!
@rita r: I really do, in fact I'm heading out now. Sneeze all of yez later!
I think everybody has already said plenty.
You're a lucky guy Marty !
It's not all luck, it's also a lot of Marty's hard work. To tell you the truth, I'm starting to think that MAD stands for Multitasking All Day. By only stealing one chop-stick, Marty can poke his food with one hand and clap with the other.
Great to see the Wombachers out in force once again. Tell Jerry that the coasters are holding up fine and that they're getting a solid work out.
Your parents do seem really nice! Mine were also very good about me taking off - Africa & the U.S. - particularly as I had a brother die overseas, & I didn't realise til I was a lot older how cool they were about my moving so far away. I remember my mom visiting E.1st in the 80's- she loved it!
Good music links. I bet Zal Yanovsky's name is still carved into a tree where I grew up - my sister was obsessed with him. And Dusty - brilliant!
great to see mom & dad wombacher on MAD,,,a bookcase and books in a hotel room...aw hell they gave your folks the insomniacs' room...no doubt...
jaws...damn man...one for the books...
csp...deep man...very deep...
MAD...that tale deserved a page or three in "firetruck"....
“I feel like a defective model, like I came off the assembly line flat-out fucked and my parents should have taken me back for repairs before the warranty ran out.”
Elizabeth Wurtzel
rr
@GENE: I agree!
@csp: Clap on, clap on...clap off!
@Clacky: I will tell him, it made him feel good the coasters were doing duty in the land of Oz!
@onemorefoldedsunset: Zal Yanovsky was one of the coolest rock 'n' roll players ever! Glad you got a pass from your parents as well!
@rr: True, I just couldn't fit everything into the firetruck book. Nice Prozac quote!
Your parents are so cute!
I'm kind of surprised I've lived here longer than you (only by two years though). :)
@Roger_Paw: Thanks! Hard to believe I've been here almost 18 years! As I always say: "Fun flies when you're having time."
Chan Do Chicken , LOL
Hope she didn't order that , it comes with extra Chan sauce .
@JHwang: She didn't order it, so we're safe from the Chan sauce, whatever that is.
Hooray for the Wombachers and NYC!
@Biff: Hooray for you!