Tuesday, April 27, 2010

Long Island City and Astoria

When I originally began my quest - "to Discover New York One Neighborhood At a Time", I planned to start in Lower Manhattan and work my way up, so that each neighborhood would be connected in my brain.  But this Saturday is bright and sunny, I have to babysit in Astoria, so I decide, that maybe order is overrated.

I have to babysit at 5:15, so I make it out of the door at about 12:30. Banana, check, Map, check, Sunglasses, can't find them.  I decide to squint.  The F and G trains are  literally right below me, so I hop on the G and take it to Court Square in Astoria. I have to get out of the subway station to transfer to the 7, and as I walk there I see a big sign that says "PS 1 MoMA".  I had read about this "Contemporary Art Museum", and since it was right there, as clear as day, I decide to go on in and see some art.

Here's the thing with me and art museums - I can't spend hours at different exhibits, poking into different rooms.  I usually focus on one exhibit, sometimes even one or two paintings, I stare at it, take it in and leave.  It's easier for me to appreciate one piece than glance at hundreds, and have no memory to leave with.  This isn't the most cost effective way to look at art, (which is I was a frequent visitor of the Chicago Art Institute on Thursdays evenings when it is free!) but luckily they are installing a new exhibit today, and they're only asking for donations.  I donate the student rate: $2.  (General Admission is $5)

The museum is in an old public school, and as I walk through the hallways, it feels like I am in a nightmare, or a horror film that takes place in an old public school. (See the picture below) It is very raw, desolate, and institutional, and there aren't many signs directing me, so I end up on the 3rd floor where there is an exhibit called "100 years version #2".  This is a sort of multi-media history of provocative, groundbreaking performance art spanning the 20th century, including  videos of Martha Graham's "Lamentations",  Yoko Ono's "Cut Piece" (in which she sits motionless on a stage while audience members cut pieces of her clothing off until she is almost nude) and a Cuban artist (whose name escapes me) painting with her body as the tool and blood as the paint.   



(a stairwell in the museum/creepy school)

I let that marinate and find my way out of the museum.  (It's so cheap (and quite close to home)  that I'm sure I'll be back for more)  I hop on that 7 to Vernon Blvd, get out and walk through an industrial area that is turning up condos everywhere.  Here I find the most wonderful spot called Gantry Plaza State Park!  This is a beautiful green spot with 4 piers that stretch out into the East River.  On this sunny Saturday afternoon, there are families playing, and  couples strolling the boardwalk, but it's not nearly as crowded as I'd thought.  I sit, eat a banana, wish that it was Chris' day off, walk the boardwalk, watch two little girls fight over a doll, and then I get up and go look for a tea shop that is in my guide book.  I fail miserably at deciphering addresses in Queens, (It really is a different language) and I just get back to the train, happy to have found such a lovely treasure!


 (you can lay down on those wooden benches)



I'm on the 7, to the N, and I'm back in Astoria (Gantry Plaza State Park was in Long Island City) at Ditmars Ave.  I am super excited to find this cafe called Freeze Peach (my book says it's very vegan friendly).  I'm at the exact spot, I'm checking my address reading rules... this is it, right?  Why is there a bank here?????

My poor, unsuspecting  Columbia Guide to New York 2007 was written before the "economic downturn"  (later that night, a cab driver tells me that it closed in the fall) .  Lesson learned.  Double check before you hit the hot spots! 


I settle for a tiny cafe called Bistro 33: Side Door.  I can't eat much there, so settle for a salad.... it's a salad.  (They don't take plastic, so I have to find an ATM) Then I rush around the corner to "pretend to play Super Mario Brothers" with a 4 and a half year old,  and snuggle a chubby 6th month old. 

A lovely day!

Sunday, April 18, 2010

new yorkers: an empire state of kind?

the other day i say to chris, "i think people are nicer in new york, than they are in chicago".  i didn't say this without thought,  i had been caught off guard by people in subways, cafes, on the street, who are just personable, friendly, and happy to help me.

of course chris replies "is it possible that they aren't actually nicer, but they are just more everything, because there are more people and they are more extreme in every way". hmmm, that would mean that they're really mean too... oh no!

i don't think so, i just haven't seen it. 

the day before i leave chicago, i get into a fight with a man in the alley behind my apartment.  he tells me i'm the dumbest girl in the world and that his son went to school with barack obama, he keeps going as i just pretend he isn't there.  so maybe i have a chip on my shoulder. maybe chicagoans deserve to be a little cranky, i mean, the weather for one thing, the politics for another, the cubs, i could go on...

it also occurrs to me that maybe i am different. maybe because i'm happier and more carefree, people find me more approachable and easier to be nice to.   i've only been here for a few weeks, and i've helped out a lot of strangers, mostly elderly people, asking for help.

one young man, a tourist, with a french/african accent, asks me if i am american, i say yes.  he asks, "what does this bull mean?"  (there is a huge statue of a bull in the financial district) i am actually able to share with him my knowledge from the amazing Columbia Guide to New York 2007!!  "the bull is a symbol of power and money"

speaking of money, i still haven't found a job. can you get paid for being happy and carefree, wandering new york, blogging.  let me know!

Friday, April 16, 2010

a puff of smoke

it's monday afternoon, about 3 o'clock, i hop on the f train, transfer to the a, transfer to the 5 and get off at bowling green. (this sounds tedious, but it's really quick, actually) this is battery park, and awfully familiar. i am conquering the financial district today, but i guess i didn't realize that i had been to battery park before. i am immediately excited because the blossoms on the trees are oh so beautiful, and they weren't here when i was here last, and it was also dark then. not today. today is a bright and sunny, blue sky, warm enough to take off my sweater day.



tourists are promenading along the promenade, and i feel like one of them, because i'm wearing tennis shoes with jeans. ( a new yorker would never wear such a get-up.) i'm also carrying the columbia guide to new york 2007.... and not working on a monday. (so when exactly do i stop being a tourist)


(an unnamed couple having a moment)

i wander for a while, sit down, and then i stand up and decide it's time to get financial already! i walk to wall street, where it seems like everyone and their hedge fund manager is outside smoking a cigarette, i mean really, i didn't stop to take pictures of the new york stock exchange because i thought i'd be enveloped in a puff of smoke. get me outta here! cough!

i pop into a borders to sit down for a minute and put a mailing address on a birthday card. i'm back out and i fall in line with the suits that were just released for the day, and i'm looking for a mailbox. i figure i'll find one if i just fall in line... and then there it is... as plain as day...not a mailbox - ground zero.

i'll be honest, i was not looking to visit the site of the world trade center. i'm that person who visited auschwitz and secretly regretted it right after. and 9/11 was a mere 9 and a half years ago, there is no way i want to visit the very spot it took place.

i'm standing here looking at this huge area. things are moving, in and out, construction workers, trucks, equipment, there is so much productivity. this may sound wierd, but i really feel, as i'm watching all of this movement, a sense of rebirth, and even... hope? is that a platitude? cliche? probably, but there is a sense of a new beginning here, and frankly that's kind of the theme of my life...

...so i'll go with it.

Thursday, April 15, 2010

accidental exlporation!

i officially began my journey to "discover new york, one borough at a time", on monday in the financial district, but the day before i did some impromptu exploring in the upper west side:

chris and are awake at 7am to go to a church called redeemer. a few of his company mates attend that church, so after service we are at brunch with them at mermaid inn. (makes getting up early so worth it). it is such a sunny, gorgeous day, we sit outside on their patio. i'm having the steel cut oatmeal (dee-licious) and green tea (one lump or two? they have sugar cubes at this place), they're discussing (and tasting) the difference between frittatas, omelettes, and egg casseroles.

they all have two shows afterward so, at the suggestion of their stage manager i make my way to the 77th street sunday flea market! now, i don't have the patience to look through racks of random clothes, but if i had my own home right now (i'm subletting) i would be in heaven. they have the most amazing home goods for a great deal. and a little haggling never hurt anyone either. (i too was nervous about haggling until i read this: http://www.womenshealthmag.com/life/bargaining-skills)

after dreaming about the day i can fill my home with baskets and mirrors and antiques, i am wandering, looking for a place to print out more resumes, and babysitting flyers. go-go-gadget blackberry map, and i decide that i can just walk to a fedex office. i start out and get distracted by this shop called therapie. difficult to describe, but i think i'm in love with it. you walk in and there's all of this beautiful stationary, but they also have a large selection of high and low end hair and beauty products. (including devacurl a few dollars less than you'd find it at ulta; a curly girl's dream). they have a little loft area with undergarments and their accessories, i buy what is called a "comfy bra" for $9, ( my regular bras give me acid reflux, and this has worked wonderfully for that) they also have an overwhelming basement toy area. i'm not going down there.

after this, i say "tia focus!!!" and i continue to walk toward fedex office and find myself in a very familiar space. "i've seen that urban outfitters before" i say to myself. i text my pal andrew " i think i'm in you neighborhood" he texts back "stop! what? don't lie... it's not funny... wait for real?" i don't think he knows i moved here. we meet up for about 5 minutes, until he has to run off to a meeting. sigh.

it was nice to see a familiar face.

more on monday's adventures to come. it's time to get up and make someone hire me.

Saturday, April 10, 2010

what i've learned about my fiance; ms. frizzle and julie and julia.

chris (or ck in some circles) and i have been together for almost 3 years and we have been long distance the entire time, until a week and a half ago. now we are a 10 minute bus ride away from each other. which is amazing and wonderful, and a whole lot of other adjectives. best of all, it just feels normal. i have always believed, and even more now, that distance is the perfect test of commitment. things have not always been rosy for us, (we have had miscommunications, heart-wrenching fights and taken breaks) but the bottom line is that i'm supposed to be with him. he's a dream come true! that said, i am learning new things about him everyday, for example:

the kid can NOT relax: he teaches on his days off, (after a week of 8 very physical shows) and his idea of relaxing is watching a show that makes my heart race more than ryan's bootcamp, "24"; and playing a very disturbing video game called "modern warfare". very bloody. not relaxing.

while i'm not relaxing with him, i'm looking for a job a bit more vigorously. today, i'm sitting in starbuck's making a flyer for babysitting, trying to make my text vertical for those little rip-off tabs at the bottom, and a nice lady stops and asks for my card. gotta love people who look over your shoulder at your computer screen. (i mean that with all sincerity because i do it all the time).

***
my true-blue-friend-til-the-end Lindsay gave me this amazing guide book called the Columbia Guide to New York 2007. So yesterday I dig it up and find some very interesting information! for instance, did you know that the island of manhattan was "bought" from native americans for the equivalent of $24! and also there is a magical bus in china town that will take you to boston for $15! yowzers! (as i'm typing this i realize that i'm picturing ms. frizzle and the magic school bus taking me to sensational, yet educational destinations)

anyway, i decide to be very "julie and julia" and make my way through this guide book, visiting each burough and neighborhood. dining, visiting museums, seeing the sites and blogging about it along the way! i will get through it by the end of the summer! i start monday in the Financial District! which i hope is more exciting than it sounds.




Saturday, April 3, 2010

purging, and why i'm doing nothing right now.


there comes a point in the moving process when you just start to throw away everything. (that tiny sewing machine that i used for making small purses out of placemats one Christmas - trash; that bag of old cassette tapes, including hanson's mmmbop single - trash; old notes from jr. high and high school still in their fancily folded glory.... hesitation... deep breath... trash!) after you've been to the salvation army a couple of times, and just really don't think anyone will have use for the recordings of your old voice lessons, the only place for it is the trash. i've never been a minimalist, but i must make room for blessings to come. i've even parted with my shoes that i bought in prague (the soles are finally so worn that i slipped on concrete.) and i've even cleaned out my e-mail box, unsubscribing from hanes.com's weekly e-mails and other guilty pleasures.

here's a quick replay of march:
week 1: friends over for "packing sessions" (note: when these sessions involved wine, they did not involve much packing)
week 2: more vigorous packing waylaid by a sneaky cold that attacked my voice... and redbox movies.
week 3: a farewell cabaret composed of my favorite chicago voices (pictured below), including a wacky medley of my favorite audition songs.
week 4: working, wrapping up my glee club, sneaky cold morphs into coughing up blood, packing, selling furniture, community group farewell karaoke vegan party, cleaning, loading up car, driving to michigan, cleaning out my old things from parent's basement (to make room for the things i can't take to new york with me), driving through the night to get to brooklyn by morning (getting a speeding ticket in ohio (don't tell my mom)), getting mad lost in new jersey (at the very end of my journey when i'm starving and i've been up all night), and finally settling into my new neighborhood in Brooklyn's delightful Cobble Hill.

so, i'd like to say that i'm anxiously looking for a job, but i'm not. i'm exploring and sleeping, and i'm okay with that.

don't tell my mom though.