I Shared A Room With Bob Schieffer!

I'm more exhausted by the minute...after some 27 hours of INHALING life. Visits by Brian and/or Erik always leave me that way. There remains a slim chance I could see them again tomorrow, but I'm not counting on it. Brian stayed in the "guest bedroom" and we woke late, had a leisurely breakfast, got ready, then jetted to my parents'. Not sure where the roomie is...STILL not home since Sat. afternoon...but i'm not complaining. The silence is bliss. So after Brian had a joyous reunion with my parents, and mom drove us to the train station, we made our way to the World Trade Center, which Brian hadn't seen post-9/11. From there, a walk down Wall Street, then a stroll to Chinatown, where we met The Others, and we all wound up in an empty Chinese restaurant. Brian and I wolfed down some items and green tea before racing on foot to the Canal Street 6 train. We met the Hungarian Goddess in her elegant lobby and couldn't make it fast enough to the LIVE BAIT bar on 23rd, where Bri and I downed Yuenglings on tap and The Goddess savored a pina colada. Lively chatter ensued throughout. Sadly, we couldn't stay longer, as Bri and I had to make a 6pm COLBERT REPORT taping. Again, I zipped through NYC rush hour crowds with effortless ease, looking behind constantly to make sure Bri was keeping pace. He did well. Damn east-west blocks. Did NO ONE ever think an extreme West Side subway was necessary?! We were a mere 11 minutes late. I've never seen the COLBERT REPORT before. It seemed to me that the crowd was largely made up of bizarrely sycophantic semi-freaks who knew the pacing of the show inside and out. But, even at Letterman, whom I worship, I never seem to find the shows i'm AT as amusing as the ones I view at home. I'm too obsessed with analyzing the behind the scenes workings of everything and everyone. Also, I think this was the first audience I've been a part of since my "TV career" began, and it just seems UNNATURAL for me to be in that position. I felt like I should be running around the set. Then there's the whole warm-up act/audience prep talk bullshit squarely aimed at the yokels visiting from Iowa who can't believe they're in a TEEEEEEVEEEEEEE studio. Yes, I'm acting hoity-toity. No, I don't care. The comedian was actually someone from one of "my" shows, but I forget which one. He did the whole "where ya from, who's married?" bit, before advancing to unspeakably awkward, "just kidding around" fave sexual position on-the-spot questioning. NOT amusing...in that setting, at least. And I just have ZERO patience for the "you can do better than that!" CLAP YOUR HANDS AND YELL REALLY LOUD speech. Oy, vey! And yet...I seemed to be the ONLY one not into it. Blah, blah, get the show rolling is how I feel. I'll clap and laugh if inspired...as I WAS when I first saw Bob Schieffer stroll out, avuncular as ever. Now i've long held a bias for CBS News, dating back to Walter Cronkite. Dan Rather greatly amused with his bizarre Texas wit and general ticking time bomb personality. And now Bob...GREAT!! I loooovvvvvvve Bob Schieffer. He is indeed comforting to have in one's living room...and a solid newsman. He's real...nothing fake about him. So I DID whoop it up for Bob. He was by far the best part of the show...very funny and at ease, mocking CBS' ancient demos. We even gave him a standing ovation. Bravo, Bob! Erik's girlfriend's sister worked there...then gave us a bit of a tour. Bonus fun. And then we got pizza. And then I gave the 2 brothers and 3 sisters heartfelt hugs on gritty 42nd Street before watching them descend into the subway system that would take them to Brooklyn. Soon, I was home, too. Christ, how is it 3am already? And why does my lower right jaw hurt? Perhaps from cracking it? Or maybe my incessant gum chewing of the past 2 nights. All I know is that I've had a WONDERFUL beginning to the last week of my 32nd year. Five more days to continue the BANG!