Archive for August 13th, 2006

Admit it. You can’t think of any better place to spend a mild summer weekend than at…the Meadowlands? Surrounded by 10,000 people belting out off-key renditions of Alicia Keys? Sounds like a nightmare.

Photo from AP

That was my first thought when my brother, Gerald, jazzed up from deejaying, barged into my place at 3:30 a.m.: that I was dreaming.

“Let’s go,” he said. “Oh, and you’re driving.”

The keys hit my comforter. No, this was not a dream, I was wide-awake.

It is a well-known fact amongst my friends and family that I wake up very early most days.

But 3:30 a.m. is obscene. Ungodly. In New York City, the night is young. 3:30 a.m. is just a natural continuation of the evening. It’s unnatural to be rising then.

Even the coffee machine seemed surprised that I was up.

There was a chill in the air and dew on the car windshield. We tossed blankets in the trunk and began our trek.

Gerald asked if I wouldn’t mind stopping at a gas station. “Coffee and cigarettes,” he said, by way of explanation.

“Don’t smoke cigarettes in my car,” I said.

“I think, technically, this is my car.”

“Whatever. And I made coffee.”

“I don’t like it,” he said.

Yesterday’s phone conversation with Gerald flashed through my mind.

“Hey, it’s me,” he began. “Would you mind picking up a copy of the New York Post? It’s got an American Idol article in it. Oh, and some snacks from Trader Joe’s would be good. And listen, we’re going to be leaving pretty early, so you might as well load up the car with gas tonight.”

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