Saturday, June 21, 2008

Flying in New York

<<---- This is totally not me.

Today was my first day of trapeze lessons. I discovered the Trapeze School of New York about, oh, four days ago. being fearless, and also bored, I signed up for ten lessons at the bargain price of 50 bucks each. Obviously, since I had never done this before, or even thought about it, this sort of commitment was a big leap. But fuck me, I'm awesome. TSNY is located in a Sports complex on Pier 40; that's at the far west end of Houston. Nice view of LoDo. You can see the flyers on the roof from the West side highway, but really, you should be watching traffic. There's another indoor arena somewhere else. There were nine people in my class; three (very) burly dudes and the rest 20 something girls, all cute. (Great place to meet chicks, take note!) We were most pleased to be spending a Friday afternoon playing hooky and flying.

The trick was to swing out hanging from the bar, switch to hanging from your knees at the first peak, hanging your arms beneath you, switch back again, and then rock into a backflip dismount. We thought this was kind of a lot for a first adventure.

The first time, I didn't even make the knee hang. It felt like I was doing all the work with my abs, and they were not up to the task. And my calves cramped up major bad. So, we learn an important lesson: transitions are done at the peak of a swing, when you are sorta weightless. GO to early or too late, it's all muscle work. A couple of the people had been there before, and they did alright, if not graceful. The rest of us were a little sketchy at the leg hooking thing. The burly boys had trouble all day getting their foot through to hook their knees over. Too much muscle in the way? Lack of flexibility?

Having not made it, I realized that besides bringing my knees to my chin, I also needed to rotate my upper body back. This worked out just fine, and on the next jump I pulled off the hang, the reverse and the backflip dismount. And even though my calves locked up every time - why I have no idea (that happens during sex, too) I did the trick on the next two as well.

Therefore, I got to advance to doing a catch. Did I mention that the instructors were hot? As in damn? So, I do the knee hang, and super-hot instructor is on the next trapeze and catches me and we swing for a while. We pulled off the catch the first time and the second. I am very proud of myself, and not at all sore.

If this grad school thing doesn't work out, I'm joining the circus.






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Friday, June 20, 2008

Blues in Harlem

Because I am an uptown girl (no, Billy, thank YOU) and not a downtown girl, I get my jazz n' blues in Harlem. We had been frequenting places on the West side - Smoke and Cleopatras. these places are mostly full of white people, which is okay.

Today we rolled over to check out the Lenox lounge in Harlem (Lenox @125th). It was not full of white people. There weren't many people at all, actually, perhaps because it was an early set ??? I don't know; we never go to the early sets. Those are for people who get up before noon.

Tonight was not jazz, but blues. Good ole Chicago blues. And silly blues, too, because man, you may as well have a good time. What impressed me was how chill it was. Most of New York is so crowded and hurried, everyone packed in like sardines, always rushing, and there's a continuous looming cloud of the extraordinary expenses, the weight of competition. But this was just some good music, some good food, some drinks, and a bunch of people grooving.

Purportedly there's a cover (there wasn't) and a minimum, but apparently that's only for Fridays and Saturdays. The food is soul, and it was fine, fine, fine. I tried hard to eat all of it, but thee was a lot and I couldn't make it. It was pretty oily too; perhaps not too much, but I usually eat nuts and leaves and twigs like a monkey.

Tomorrow I have a emergency outbreak training thingamajiggy and then My Very First Trapeze Lesson at the trapeze school of new york. Woot!!

Tuesday, June 17, 2008

Coney Island Mermaid Parade June 21!!

Mermaid Parade!
Saturday, June 21st - 2pm


A completely original creation of Coney Island USA, the Mermaid Parade is the nation's largest art parade and one of New York City's greatest summer events.



The Mermaid Parade celebrates the sand, the sea, the salt air and the beginning of summer, as well as the history and mythology of Coney Island, Coney Island pride, and artistic self-expression. The Parade is characterized by participants dressed in hand-made costumes as Mermaids, Neptunes, various sea creatures, the occasional wandering lighthouse, Coney Island post card or amusement ride, as well as antique cars, marching bands, drill teams, and the odd yacht pulled on flatbed.


Announcing: King Neptune Reverend Billy and Queen Mermaid Savitri D



Mermaid Parade ball!
The Childs Restaurant Building is located on the Boardwalk at West 21st Street.

Follows the Mermaid Parade, 5pm until 11 PM. 21 + over.


Tickets are $10 in advance, $15 day of. $50 VIP tickets available.


It's the 6th Annual Mermaid Parade Ball! The official afterparty of the Mermaid Parade, the ball is held in the landmarked Childs Restaurant Building on the corner of the Boardwalk and West 21st Street.

Bands, burlesque, DJs, and go-go girls!!

Relax and enjoy the Music! The Dancing! The Drinks! Bring your costumes or dress casual, it's a stunning party by the sea.
Buy your tickets now.

The Unisphere

Peace Through Understanding.

I love the Unisphere, even if I have to go to Queens. I would see it when I flew into LGA, and I absolutely had to go climb the thing. (As it turned out, I can't climb, it's beyond my skills)

It's at the 1965 World's Fair site (now Flushing Meadows park). You know the scene at the end of Men in Black where they're fighting the Edgar monster on the alien landing craft thing. That would be the park (though weirdly, the movie leaves out both the Unisphere and the theatre right next to the tower things...).


The Unisphere was dedicated to "Man's Achievements on a Shrinking Globe in an Expanding Universe." It gives me a warm fuzzy feeling. Science! Progress! World Peace! Wooott!!!

Art in the Dark and other funky shit


The Tank is a space for performing and visual arts emphasizing new work by emerging performers, designers, writers, directors and producers. They had to relocate because they're previous buildings was torn down to build apartments, or some such crap. Last time I was there, it was theatre slam - like poetry slam, only with new plawrights, 5 bucks, free if you sign up to perform. And there's beer. Church btwn Franklin and White.


The Moth is a not-for-profit storytelling organization, if you've never heard of it, check out the stories on the podcast. But it's still much better to go to a show. Events held all over town.


Abandoned Monastery in Staten Island??
St. Augustinian Academy, located on Grymes Hill, Staten Island, NY, was once a boys high school that closed in the mid to late 60's, and later became a retreat which was abandoned in 1985... blah blah blah... we came to a room blocked by wood. Behind the door were small stairs that looked like they went on forever. We followed the stairs down about ten floors, and we really starting to shake...

Monday, June 16, 2008

Drinks with shows

Rififi E. 11th btwn 1st and 2nd. We can't tell you about Rififi, you can only experience Rififi. That is where we live. Comedy.... and other stuff. There used to be burlesque, and we miss it.

KGB Bar E. 4th St. btwn 2nd &3rd. The KGB is a literary bar in the east village. Very chill, drinks are cheap. Most nights there's readings at 7ish. Downstairs is teh Krain Theatre, where they do Too Much Light Makes the Baby go Blind every Friday and Saturday at 10:30 for, like, 10 dollars or something.

SMOKE. Broadway btwn 105th & 106th. Jazz. We're here a lot. A LOT. The jazz is always really good, if rarely spectacular. Definitely better than Cleopatra's needle. No cover, but a $20 minimum at tables; sets at 8, 10 and 12. Jams monday, Brazilian Wednesdays, and afro-cuban Sundays. I love it.

Pianos. Ludlow & Stanton (LES, F to Delancey) Music. Cheap. The bands are mostly cool new, New York, way hipper than you. Nobody really cares, because it's Pianos. There's always lots of chicks and they seem to get really, really drunk.

Barbes. 9th St. @ 6th, Park Slope, Brklyn. Great music. Lots of guitar, but pretty much anything rides as long as it's grooving. Chicha Libre - rumba, baby, shake it - plays every Monday. These people produce music. There are most awesome. And they have one of the best collections of Single Malt Scotch in Brooklyn.

Restaurants: La Caverna and Inoteca


Had dinner at a dumb Italian restaurant called La Caverna on the Lower East Side with my friend T. and his fab new British girlfriend. It's on Rivington between Essex and Norfolk, just a block from the Delancey stop on the F and the J.

We were suspicious immediately: we had to go down a long candle-lit hallway and take the stairs to the basement. It was done up like a cave; stalagmites, fake rock walls, a subterranean theme that might have been cool, but wasn't. Here's the thing : there was no one else in the restaurant. I DO NOT GO TO RESTAURANTS THAT ARE EMPTY AT DINNER TIME. That is a bad sign. The food was okay, overcooked but not bad. Whatever. It was just lame.

I would have preferred it if we'd gone to the Italian restaurant two blocks east on Rivington, Inoteca, where we'd had a drink before being enticed into the cave. It was small, cozy, full, and open to the street. The food looked great. Smelled great. The people looked happy. They had a terrific selection of Italian wines, but no cocktails. Here's the best thing : they serve food until three am.

Despite what people say, this city does sleep. It goes to bed at ten. If you are like me, and you go to bed at four am, you want dinner at midnight. If you're not, I don't care, you can just drink.

The city won't love you back

My love affair with New York is over.

There are not many reasons to move to New York. There's aspiring artists of every variety, there's money, and there's those of us in love with the speed, the glamour, the opportunities, the culture -- in love with the enormous whirlwind high-chrome highdef dragonfly buzz of life in the City.

I'll admit that I moved here because I was in love with a man, but I was in love with the city too. But it is brutal - everything costs too much, the streets are dirty, it's cold in the winter and hot in the summer, and the classism and the poverty breaks my heart every day.

The point of this blog is to explore New York. More specifically, to explore Manhattan, and only the cheaper bits of it.

Everyone has their own New York, you see. There are 9 million of us, and most of us never cross paths, we have our own little hang outs, the things we like to do. Me, I tend to be on the west side. I'm not much for the bar scene, I like to be outside as much as possible, and I've got a serious itch for art.

If you want to talk restaurants, it's going to be sushi. I'm trying to go to every sushi place in Manhattan.

There's something deeply satisfying about taking on an impossible task and making progress.

My plan is to write about what I do and whatever the hell else is on my mind about the city. I'm not insanely busy every day - and I spend a lot of time in the park, or just walking around - so don't expect an action packed highly scheduled new york in three days whatever. It's the way I love, yo. On foot, at large, occasionally in disguise.