Party in the Borough

Hey there. Well here is a quick review of the Annual Ruby's End of Season Party. I will post some pics from it later. The problem is that I post 'em up to Facebook, then forget about it. The blogger photo upload sucks.
The end of season thing there is all the more special knowing that this may be the last real end of season party, as next year may be the closing forever party. I know we've been saying that for years, and with the current economic downturn and everything, it may be several years yet before that parcel of land is actually vacated and prepared for "renovation".
Michael says that they don't have a lease for next year, and won't know until December if they are going to get one (oh I'm pretty sure they will), but if it ends up they don't there could be a pretty huge pre-season party - before Diane (?) (one of Ruby's daughters, can't remember her name) takes everything offf the walls and transports it to her private residence on the jersey shore. I think we should get an injunction to prohibit her to do so, and use all of it as part of a Ruby's that stays under the new plan (I'm a dreamer). If you go to www.imagineconey.org you see they had a charette (holy shit who knew they still did that kind of thing!! awesome!!) and you can submit idears and stuff for Coney. I think I'm submitting a tribute to all things old and dingy - I think having a bar on the beach, where a kind of rag tag history of the area is plastered on the walls would be amazing.

It's funny there were people there that I know only online, and I wasn't sure (like Lola Staar) if it was them or not, so I just hung out (with a friend) and had the most lovely sunday afternoon , drinking beer - people watching- listening to the guys play guitar - having some free barbeque and generally just being chill. The thing I love most about Coney in the off season (meaning after Labor day) is that there are few people, the pace just seems to wind down - and since none of the rides are open - you got it....no children YEAH!!!!!! Though I did want to do my hairstyle pictures from that crazy photo booth at Deno's - but you know it's just much better when it's not all ages. 21 and over please!!!

I'm not going to complain about the 20 people who online said they would come, but didn't even bother to call or post me a note saying they couldn't make it. Oh, yeah that is complaining about it, well I'm back to this again. I know this is beating a dead horse, but why do people feel compelled to RSVP yes, and then not bother to show up? If I'm doubtful I say no. Unless I get sick, in which case I will email or do something to let people know that I'm not going to be there. Fucking people.

Back to the topic (I get so off topic) the beach season is officially over, sweaters and coats and hats are in. see you next year oh great ocean!!

As the weather has been turning cooler, I've spent a few Sundays in The Green Wood. I've found my Autumnal habitat, the place to go where there are no people - well only dead ones. I think I may go again if it snows this year. I just love photographing it, the angels and statues make fabulous models and the landscape is sublime with rolling hills and sculptures. I'm also on a mission to photograph places I've never been in The Borough- Like Ft. Hamilton - which has amazing views of the Verrazano and other places... and out of The Borough: The Unisphere...you know I've never been there during daylight. I was thinking also about how capturing street scenes in neioghborhoods also becomes a point in time reference - looking at pictures of my neighborhood in the 70's really shows you how much it has changed. fascinating.

It's been a bit hectic, which is why I haven't written ( I know you're sitting on the edge of your seat all the time waiting for me to spout and wax poetic about The Borough). I have been busy with my own personal issues (yes yes anger management is one of them..along with a host of others). The hectic nature of life in NYC and in The Borough - I'm not sure how I ever kept up with it before (is that just age speaking?). I've decided to give up not drinking. Things were less hectic and more fun when I was drinking alot, I think I'll try that again. I learned my lesson about alcohol - don't drink too much all the time - but don't stop completely or your tolerance is fucked.

I know I said I was going to write up stories and document things before my brain cells completely eradicate my past entirely. I started, and then moved onto a painting I'm working on, watched some movies, went for a walk, did some laundry and forgot all about it. It's on my to-do list, I just have no completion date set. The more things change the more they stay the same.

Leaky Faucet In The Borough

No, there is no plumbing mystery to be solved, I get bored with trying to come up with catchy In The Borough titles. I guess I could stop and just call these posts something else, but I'm like a dog with a bone. Once I got it - it must be that way. I could say that I just feel like a drip..so there..there's your friggin freakin' frakkin' connection.

I was going on last time about the social networking thing. Now I'm at the point where I'm finding out that people I know know each other - through incredibly random ways. I think I've got 2 degrees of separation from the world. Or as my friend Heather said "There ARE only 2,000 people in the world and I've met them all".

It's fascinating to me how all in-person discussion are invariably turning to the phenomenon - especially for the newbees. Most of the time I gotta tell you, I find it quite uninteresting. Most people who know me well, know that telling me about your marital status and breeding status is of very little interest to me - I mean it's great, if you're happy and you like it - kudos to you. Just don't expect me to congratulate you on doing what monkeys have been doing for thousands of years (not the marriage part, the breeding part). I really wish people would tell me about what they are doing - how are you contributing to society at large (and no breeding doesn't count), what are your passions - hobbies - where have you been? what life lessons are helping you to evolve your view of the world. what do you dream about?... These are the questions that I find more interesting. But I guess you have to get through the trivial first before people are willing to expose their inner selves. Mnay people, I'm finding have no inner selves. They dion't even have jobs - they sit around and do fuck all.

So what has The Borough had goin on in the last month...welll I guess not a whole hell of a lot. Holidays, family get togethers...very sad my brother and his wife lost a cat this week. She was only 12 and died very suddenly. We've all been in mourning - We'll miss you Tabby, you were awesome. She died on Yom Kippur - which I guess means she was not written into the book of life...

Getting back to the online world, all this connecting with the past has made me thinnk about how I should document my memories of the past, while I still have them. I started writing down some stories - slighly fictionalized since my memory is not so great - of the life and times of me. Some stories I thinnk I made up in my head, and never happened - like when Liz and I told Amy Margolis that peanut butter would make her hair smooth - did we really say that? - did she really put a jar of peanut butter in her hair? did we really get in trouble for that? or was that some kind of wish fulfillment fantasy I worked up? I cna;'t tell the stories in my head from the real past anymore.

There are other stories, ones that I know are true and really happened - and writing them all down has been quite cathartic. I'm going to start putting some of the shorter ones up here - see how they look all in public and all.

I have a big update, which will go up as another post on coney island, dreamland and the Ruby's end of season party...I may wait until after the party to post it in its entirety. Smell you later.

Oh Oh Oh in The Borough

I can always tell what kind of day it will be by how in focus everything is when I sit down at my desk, and let me tell you - today is blurry. I feel a migraine coming on. Or it could be rain. It's probably rain.

Things in the Borough are trucking along - We're already half way through September - and it's starting to feel like summer is over - it's getting cooler, and rainier and of course the sun is setting earlier and earlier..... I know I always say that wherever you live - if the climate and weather are not to your liking - then move! and otherwise you have to enjoy all the seasons (or weather variations) you have. I still hate winter. I dread the dark days and persistent cold. But for now I'm kinda stuck here. So you make the best of it - and buy warm clothes. I am going to miss the lazy hazy hot days and sweating while sitting still- I'm not sure why it makes me feel so good. I did get over my dose of Vitamin D this summer - but I know it fades fast - by Halloween I'll be as pale as the rest of y'all.

The socdial networking update. So after a year or two of basically the few people who have me in their email - facebook has exploded with blasts from the past. And when I realized that you could just think of names and type them in - woah - there is no escaping the past online. And the proliferation of social networking platforms just keeps expanding. I'm sticking to 2, and even though technically one is for business ocntacts (linkedIn) and one is for friends (Facebook), it seesm that there are alot of friends in my LI account and alot of people I know through business in my FB account. one big social networking glob. Some people I actaully have faint memories of, or I remember the name (and not much else). It's like an opportunity to get to know people all over again, without the inconvenience of actually having to interact with them.

I'm having a hard time sticking to my anger management lessons - (who could have predicted that!! ok everyone...) but I realized last week that the reason why the hordes of tourists stop in my office building is that ITS FREAKIN LISTED IN TOUR BOOKS. kill the writers of those books. I mean it IS the News Building, and it's a fabulous piece of architecture. And I'm sure the people who work in the cast iron building feel the same way (can you imagine working in Empire State Bldg - I'd go postal!). There were some tourists - arguing about whether to go inside to look at teh giant globe in the lobby - they looked at me and said "we go inside?" I said looked at them and said "Why?" they had no answer they just kind of shrugged and said something like we see it's interesting (meaning it's in our book, we better look at it). I rolled my eyes and said "It's an office building, Why?" They went inside took their pictures of themselves in front of the giant globe looked at their tour book - like Ok we went to this place thats listed in here and now we have a picture to prove it. SO very unintersting - I would hate to see their vacation photos -" here we are in front of an office building in NY, and here is another one, and here is the lobby and here is the sculpture in the lobby, and here is the elevator". I still think most tour books are useful, but not necessary and I certainly wouldn't sit and go through one and go to every building, object or place it reccomends - I mean I'm not that incompetent on the road. I still flip them off if they dare to get me in their damn vacation photios.

more later...must drink coffee.

Summer In The Borough

Holy crap Batman, did you see that flash? it was summer flying by.

You'll have to exuse my prolonged absence - it seems that when the weather is nice I don't sit by a computer for very long, only long enough to upload pictures to facebook. If only I had patented that device that takes your thoughts (as you are thinking them) and transcribes it, spell checks it and posts it. If I was more technologically savvy - it probably already exists I just can't afford it.

So I'll have to go back and recount for you July and August 2008. So where did I leave off? I'm sure I already went on at length about Greenwood Cemetery..an amazing place just steps from my house. I don't think I wrote about Ali's wedding - which was not in The Borough (shame on her!), but was up in some bum-fuck place north of the city. It was a beautiful affair, and for someone who is never happy - Alexis was ear to ear grin. Everyone else was their usual crazy selves - and the day was not without drama - Mishy dropping glass minutes before everything is to start - Nicole's asshole husband who missed the entire ceremony because he was watching sports in his hotel room. I was really excited to see the other cousin Rachel , who I hadn't seen in 15 years or so - we joked about things that happened when we were 12 and remembered how much fun we had when she came to visit. Except for the gargantuan cramps and not so nice feeling that goes with it I had a blast.

Soon after that, Mom and I tried over and over again to see Shakespeare in the Park - either it stormed or it was one of those "special" nights where you couldn't actually get tickets. The whole process really annoys me - (what me annoyed?) you have to get on line at 1pm (luckily I can send my mother for that part) - I mean other people don't have mothers to go stand in line for an hour or two (and complain about it for the next week or two). In the end we both decided that Hamlet was not worth the trouble (Can they pick a play that has not been done to death?), we'd both have rathered seen MacBeth (which I thought it was). Actually, I'm a bigger fan of Richard III, and I'd like to see some of the histories or even some of the lesser known dramas performed somewhere. And no, I don't want to trek up to Harlem to see a Midsummers Night Dream, again. leave it for those who have never seen or read it.

There has been alot of beach time for me this summer, since my monthly metrocard not only takes me to work everyday but also takes me to one of my most favorite places on the planet - Ft. Tilden. I'll put the link on the sidebar - but suffice to say Gateway National Recreation area - is the largest national park in the country - covers huge swabs of beach and is home to many species of endangered and migratory birds and butterflies (wow orange and blue and monarchs so many everywhere). This past weekend was dragonfly weekend ( I forgot about this from last summer) the giant ones (as big as your hand) start buzzing around this time of year.

Mom and I did manage to go see Encounters at the End of the World (Herzog) an a amazing documentary that takes a quirky-herzog like view of Antarctica. I watched it purely for the ice diving scenes - which made me want to buy a dry suit.

The July4th weekend here was a washout - it stormed on the 4th - the fireworks went on anyways - but it was a soggy mess. I stayed home. On Saturday, I trekked out to NJ for a day of fun (no sun) at Keansburg - aka the poor mans coney island - on the nasty smelling NJ side of the harbor. The beach there was disgusting, smelly and not nice. the amusements were amusing and we had a fun day.

That Sunday I went to my beach (back to Tilden!) and enjoyed a pristine day on the beach. So many pristine days this summer - the sun glistening off the water and cool ocean breeze, sailboats off in the distance...gulls stalking you revery move (don't open that plastic bag - they know whats inside!)

The following weeks passed uneventfully, leading up to Coney Friday night - I managed to go to more than half of the Coney Friday Night happy hours - fireworks thangs. It was awesome each time - I met strange and unusual people- discussed strange and unusual topics and drank alot of MGD. I really will miss Ruby's whenit's gone, if only for the fact that I feel so at home there.

In July as well, the Philharmonic came to Brooklyn, that was a nice show - and I was not-so-secretly chuckling when the cops made the yuppies get rid of their wine bottle...open container laws are open container laws - and they apply equally to the rich (fuckers) as to the poor. when I heard them whining I just could not hold back (well I could have, but what fun is that!). I exlplained to them that they were not above the law and if they were stupid enough to bring a bottle and a cork and uncork it 10 feet from the cops - I mean c'mon. I have friends who understand that in these situations it's called a plastic soda bottle. uncork it at home, pour it in the flask or other container, then don't bring fancy wine glasses - think stealth - you are breaking the law after all.

There is a long list of things I did not attend this summer, or I should say things I did not show up at. MetalJohns last gig, (or two), Scott's b-day (sorry Scotty), some opening he invited me to in the far west village, readings at Unameable Boooks, game night and diorama night at Freddy's (why on a sunday - when I don't want to move after the beach). The thing I most regret missing was my friend Mike's party last week - I haven't seen him in 20 years and I was really looking forward to it. But a nasty cold and a late start time (if it was at 7, I may have gone by for an hour - but 9pm is just too late for this old lady!)

There were fun films at the bandshell (Enter the Dragon was awesome)..I missed Farenheit 451 and Philip Glass. I did make it to the Magic Garden daytime party in Coney but who goes to Coney in the DAY. It was Ok once (for Zoe), but you will never find me there during the day. Who would have thunnk 15 years ago I'd be saying that - it used to be when it got dark you got the hell out of dodge. Times have changed, and luckily so have my underwear. So the last summer(I say this every year now) of ghetto on the beach, fireworks and fried food has come to a close. well except for this coming Friday......

Back to July - many things I didn't attend and many more got rained out. We had a few weeks of almost nightly storms that didn't ease anything - steamy hot and full of insects. Let's not even talk about waterbugs (or american roach as they are actually). They were crawling out everywhere. huge (in some cases 3 inches long) fast and generally gross. yuck.

The first week of August Mom and I (I try to spend time with her y'know) went to Moztly Mozart and had the worst time ever. If you are buying tickets to any show there - BE WARNED - look at the entire program - call them if you have to - we thought we were seeing Mozart's 40th symphony - which turned out to be 25 minutes long - followed by over an hour of Mahler Opera (I HATE OPERA) - it was german torture. I like Mahler's symphonies - but this was painful and so not worth it.

The days and nights go from work to lounging at home, day after day - reading, doing chores and generally just chilling out- then I went for the 3rd (or 4th) year in a row to Hal Willner's project at the Prospect Park bandshell - this year it was Bill Withers, and it was a great show. A few family BBQ's later and a weekend in hiding with cramps (sucks to be me again). I dragged myself on an Eco Cruise run by National Park Service to Jamaica Bay. Next year I'm going on every one of these, it was excellent. I'd like to live in the middle of jamaica bay except for the airplanes - constant barrage of air traffic heading into JFK could make you go postal.

Oh, I'm welll into August now, I went to see a film at the elevated acre, Kubrick's "Killers Kiss" is one of his earliest films (go look on IMDB yourself) and even though as a film it was ok- I could see how he was developing his style. It was beautifully filmed and very interesting. If they show films up there again next year (which I'm sure they will) check it out - it's part of River to River, which makes finding the schedule difficult if not impossible.

I kept wanting to get out on the one day getaways to fire island - but it's just too expensive for the same ocean I get for my $2 (or free on my monthly card). I get sick to death of rich people talking about their summer homes - they make me sick. pretentious assholes who change their online status to show that they have summer homes. can I punch them all?

Amituofu. balance, acceptance, namaste.

Well that about wraps it up. I got a nasty bug last week and spent too much time dealing with the illness - but it's all gone now!! I hope your summer was as good as mine, or better. And that you get off your fat ass and do something.

With Fall around the corner, I'm looking into what volunteer prgrams I can get involved in (hard when you're working) and see what kinds of community service I can muster.

I'll be back soon.

A Weekend In The Borough

I hope you had a nice weekend, full of relaxing and cavorting and not too much stress or worry. It was another one of those weekends in The Borough, where I managed to make it to some things, arrived horribly late for others, missed other entirely, and spent alot of time watching time go by.

Friday night in The Borough, I managed to get to Coney to meet a few friends for some beer and sundries. Of course I was late, hopelessly late - and to anyone who may have actually shown up at 7 - thinking I'd be sitting there with beer in hand - I must apologize. As usual there was a string of events that deterred me from my goal. I'll be back there on 7/11, ontime - ready to drink, smoke and cheer on the last summer of Coney. Though the guys at Ruby's are already saying that they think they'll be back for 2009. Yeah well....I 'll believe it when in July 2009 I'm sitting there saying "shit, I guess we have one more summer", but for now I'll be saying that this summer is the last. I tried to get the "virtual" friends to come out and enjoy, but as always the virtual world is not one where people keep their word or even reply. Why do I continue to invite people and let them know about amazing cool things - when I know they are already too self involved to make an effort? you got me, but I do keep trying. maybe one day people will surprise me.

Saturday I made it out to Riis (Tilden), just slightly out of The Borough, and met some amazing people - including Rob Jet and his wife Robin - who are the coolest beach couple I've met so far. He is an avid birder (check out I've posted the link to his blog) - this dude knows everyone (even the guy who calls me to do plum beach clean up for Audubon- I've added their link too). I'm always talking about how I want to be more involved in the things that I find worthy of my time and effort - and I take meeting him (and his lovely wife) as a sign that advocacy and environmentalism are within reach. You know my life has changed when I'm more interested in talking to someone at length about bird migration and habitat than going to a club or bar.

I felt like in a 20 minute conversation I had been given a chance to educate myself - trying desperately in the summer heat to remember all the names and websites that rolled out of his mouth. I wish I was one of those people that could remember things for more than say 20 or 30 seconds.

The beach was as lovely as always, and I don't think I'll even bother this year with going to the beaches in The Borough, not that I'm becoming a Queens convert or anything - I just like being on the ocean rather than the inlet. Besides there are no radios, fewer people and a feeling of peace and calm that I don't think is possible in Brighton anymore. I try not to have too much of an us vs. them mentality - it's somewhat racist and wrong - but I can't stand the Russian teenagers - they blast horrible crappy disco dance techno music - sit on top of you (c'mon minimum 10 feet when the beach is empty) and have no regard for peace and quiet (this is one place the pod people are welcome!). It could be that it's just teenagers I despise, and since the neighborhood over there has been overrun by the new wave of eastern european immigrants, it's just more likely that they are the ones going to that beach. It's fine, let them have the beach in The Borough, I'll skip over to the peace and quiet and enjoy my communing time with the ocean. Crowds and loud music are for the young - and I wouldn't give back my own youth in Brighton, probably pissing off a whole bunch of people. Such is the way. See anger management is helping.

I got caught in a thunderstorm on the way home (soaked to the bone) and even though I left the beach at 5:30, I didn't get home until after 7. I was to tired, without even showering (and I was very sandy) I fell asleep on the couch. So Saturday night's plans went down the tubes, which I feel kinda bad about - since it was yet another metaljohn gig - and he had specifically called me and told me not to be a weenie and show up. I woke up briefly around sunset and thought shit. I'm a weenie.

Sunday provided me with an early rise (that's when happens when you go to sleep at 7:30pm), and I did the laundry, cleaned the bathroom and did all of the tasks I never get to do...then a nice afternoon vegging in front of a movie put me right out again. I love weekends where I can just sleep and eat and lay in the sun. Oh yeah it would be nice to hang out with people, but frankly I find them overrated.

Now I got some time in the sun, some time on the couch and I even managed to clean things up a bit so I don't have to worry about that after a 10 hour workday. life is sweet in The Borough, enjoy!

A Finger in The Borough (aka the Saga of the finger)

So I’ve been talking about how the last few months seem to be just incredibly busy. It’s like there was 4 months of nothing..Dead of winter. And then everything just woke up all at once. Suddenly there are events several times a week, the kids are actually showing up for the volunteer reading program I signed up for and everyone has a project they want help with or want me to work on. The only dark spot in all of this has been the finger. I think I may call it the finger of doom or the cuticle of catastrophe.

Right before my birthday, back In April, I had a hangnail. Now for most people a hangnail is a minor annoyance. I took a small scissor and cut off the offending straggler. Then the swelling started. It seemed like I had a blister or a wart. And I basically ignored it. Through birthday celebrations- cocktails, dinners and general festivities, it just got bigger and bigger.

I was having dinner with someone, the day after my birthday, that I don’t know that well, and we were using chopsticks - it got to a point where I could not hold the chopstick, so I just stopped eating - I just did not want to explain why I needed a fork, after my whole lecture about chopsticks several days before. The friction of trying to use the chopsticks had only inflamed the finger of doom - and it was throbbing. Having drinks the next night with some other hooligans - I noticed that it was blistering - great now it’s the finger of puss and doom. Just what I needed.

By the next day it was purple and my whole hand was swollen, just in time for houseguest #1 to arrive. I quickly ran to pick a new doctor on my new health plan - but to no avail since Friday night is not the night you go searching for a doctor. Luckily, I have a connection, someone who hordes prescription meds like penicillin and amoxicillin - just in case of an infection she keeps stocked on these things. I wrangled out a bottle of penicillin, and the meds helped bring down the swelling - but it continued to feel like I had tiny grains of sand in my cuticle.

I’ve never had so much pain and angst about a finger in my frakkin’ freakin’ life. It’s June now, and it still hasn’t healed completely. I’m sparing you the pictures, only because I never thought to take any, I mean who takes pictures of an infected cuticle? Ew.

A Cemetery In The Borough

While houseguest #4 was in town, we took the first warm and sunny day to head over to Greenwood Cemetery. It’s twice the size of Prospect Park, and aside from groundskeepers (they were mulching and doing heavy machinery stuff in one section) and some obnoxious tourists who brought their screaming children to wake the dead - it was a lovely peaceful escape. We walked and walked and walked, for what seemed like hours - winding up and down hilly enclaves with 18th century (and 17th century) graves, newer ones mingled in. I kept using various stone angels as markers for what direction we were headed in, after circled around - then soon realized that their must be hundreds of the same angelic faces everywhere, covering the entire cemetery. We found ourselves at a pond, with a great view of the rolling hills of markers leading off into every direction. We had some fun with an egret (actually, it was something else lI have to ook it up)

And then after when we looked at the map we realized we had covered 1/10th of the grounds….making me remember their tag line..”Come for a visit, Stay for an eternity”. Shit if I can’t find my way out, I may just be doing that.

There are all kinds of famous people in the cemetery - and they do have some great tours - but mainly it is a beautiful respite from the city - maybe not as nice as wave hill or the Bronx botanical garden - but for in The Borough - it’s a place you should visit…but not stay an eternity -