Your Next Big Thing
This handsome fellow is Ben Michaelis, a PhD, clinical psychologist , and author of the new book Your Next Big Thing.
His writing has been featured in The Huffington Post, Parents magazine, Entertainment Weekly, the New York Times. He’s also a popular weekly blogger on Psychology Today.
When he and his wife lived in Manhattan, they realized that all their friends lived in Brooklyn and they were spending all their time traveling to and from the borough of Kings. In less than week of that realization they found a place on this side of the river.
That focused energy and get-up-and-go exemplifies his concept of 10 small steps that get you MOVING and HAPPY.
I spoke to him on the phone recently and had the feeling that he might be very good at what he does. Then I looked at his new book, Your Next Big Thing, and I was pretty sure he has something to offer.
In the book, Ben provides visionary yet practical strategies, quizzes, and exercises to teach you about your true self. In the book, which is bright orange and really nicely designed, he’ll pinpoint exactly what you need to realize your purpose and progress toward your goals.
Get this: Whether you’re in need of business or personal guidance, this ten-step plan helps you look forward without fear—so you can achieve joy, passion, and the enriched life you never thought possible.
Sun: Josh Shneider and the Love Speaks Orchestra at Roulette
Playing at 5PM on Sunday night at Roulette: The Joshua Shneider Love Speaks Orchestra is a 19 piece ensemble comprised of some of NYC’s most illustrious and adventurous improvisers, interpreting the music and arrangements of Joshua Shneider. Melodic, grooving, searching and harmonically inventive, the music draws inspiration from Jazz, R&B, Classical, Latin and American Pop elements.
Sunday’s concert will feature the premiere of a new piece by Shneider entitled “Madness and Joy,” a meditation on the relationship between the essential familiar and the unknown. The program will also include material from a new CD to be released this Spring which features vocalist Lucy Woodward and guitarist Dave Stryker. Acclaimed vocalist Carolyn Leonhart will join The Love Speaks Orchestra for this performance. Leonhart, a Sunnyside recording artist, is also a session singer and veteran of tours with Steely Dan, Donald Fagen, and many others.
Jan 27: Grace and Spiritus Chorale in Brooklyn Heights
Sunday at 4PM, the Grace and Spiritus Chorale of Brooklyn, a 75-member chorus, will present three settings of the Latin mass from three continents. This program features an eighteenth century Austrian setting, a late twentieth century Canadian setting, and a mid-twentieth century Congolese setting.
Grace & Spiritus Chorale of Brooklyn will perform Mozart’s Coronation Mass, Canadian composer Ruth Watson Henderson’s Missa Brevis, and Miss Luba, a Congolese adaptation of the Mass, based on Congolese folk songs, which is rarely performed. These cultural expressions of rhythm, harmony, and melody bring the text to life in wildly different ways. African Drummers and Saint Ann’s School dancers will accompany this mass. South African singer, Peter Ncanywa will sing the tenor solo in the Missa Luba.
4pm Sunday, Jan. 27, Saint Ann & the Holy Trinity Church,157 Montague Street
Brooklyn, NY 11201-3587
The group is dedicated to promoting and cultivating the art of choral singing in Brooklyn by presenting a wide variety of choral music, including newly commissioned works, to audiences through concerts, partnerships and educational outreach. They offer amateur singers the opportunity to study the art of choral singing under dynamic and professional leadership.
Jan 17: The Truth and Publishing at Brooklyn Reading Works
Brooklyn Reading Works at The Old Stone House presents The Truth and Publishing, a panel discussion about the future of books, publishers, authors, agents and readers, curated by the truth seeking and erudite John Guidry.
We often think of writing as a lone pursuit, a lone artist or dedicated journalist pursuing the craft with every ounce of dedication they can muster. If we think in the plural, it’s usually in pairs. Yet behind the work of writers is a larger cast of professionals every bit as dedicated to the written word and concerned about its future. They include editors, agents, publishers, critics, and others whose work helps make the printed word possible. On this panel, we will meet editors, publishers and agents who will share their perspective on the process behind the written word and what lies in store for those in the publishing industry.
And what a gathering of publishing luminaries:
With Rob Spillman of Tin House, Tamson Weston an editor of children’s books, agents Jonathan Lyons and Renee Zuckerbrot and Josh Rolnick author and editor of Shma.
The panel will be moderated by John Guidry who publishes the blog The Truth and Rocket Science. This is his fourth event at Brooklyn Reading Works. Previous events have included The Truth and Money, The Truth and Oral History, the Truth and Ghost Writers and now The Truth and Publishing.
Date: January 17, 2013 at 8PM at 8PM
Location: The Old Stone House 336 Third Street between 4th and 5th Avenues in Park Slope. F train to Fourth Avenue. R train to Union Street.
A $5 donation includes refreshments and wine
More info: Louise Crawford 718-288-4290 or louise_crawford@yahoo.com
The Three Magi at a Park Slope Bus Stop
Saint Saviour High School is an all-girls school located in Park Slope. Victoria Fiquet, a junior at the school, is one of two students whose drawing was selected to decorate the school’s official Christmas Card this year. The artwork was hand drawn and then colored-in by computer. It features three young women standing around a lamppost on a Brooklyn street corner.
The three women, representing the three Magi, are holding handbags containing gold, frankincense, and myrrh.
The lamppost has two signs: “Bethlehem” and “B67″. The B67 is the bus line that travels to Saint Saviour High School. The “25″ atop the lamppost signifies Christmas Day, December 25.
Site-Specific Photo Mural at Brooklyn Library by Hugh Crawford
Come to an opening reception to celebrate the installation of a site-specific photographic mural by Hugh Crawford for the Grand Lobby of the Brooklyn Public Library. The piece addresses issues of transition and change both at Brooklyn Public Library and the borough of Brooklyn. It combines items from BPL’s collections, ephemera, and other momentos from the library’s past with the library’s latest technological offerings.
“I’ve been working on a big project for the last few months about memory, books, libraries, Coney Island, Brooklyn , severe weather, the old and the new, the old future, the new future, Apollo, and Laocoön,” writes Hugh Crawford in an email. “It even has a tiny bit of overlap with some ideas I’m working on with the Jamie Livingston project.”
Dec. 13, 2012 from 6-8 p.m.
Brooklyn Central Library
10 Grand Army Plaza
Brooklyn, NY 11238
718-230-2100
Holiday Market 2012 at Littlefied
Called the best 11th hour shopping at Holiday time, Deb Klein, who runs Brooklyn Craft Central presents Holiday Market 2012 over the next two weekends.
On your mark, get set, go shopping for high quality gifts for friends and family made by local artisans.
For the past five years, Deb has brought crafty shopping to Park Slope. I usually find a thing or three at this carefully curated event.
On Dec. 15/16 and Dec. 22/33, the Holiday Market 2012 will be at Littlefield Art Space, 622 DeGraw Street from 11AM until 5PM.
Take the R to Union Street and you’re practically there.
Tonight: Only the Blog at Two Moon Presents Therapy
Writing is definitely a form of therapy. But this reading is devoted to writers who WRITE about the talking cure and other forms of therapy. Join us for a 50-minute reading that will be in equal measures serious and hilarious with Leora Skolkin-Smith, Marian Fontana, Karen Ritter, Ira Goldstein and Louise Crawford.
Only the Blog at Two Moon is a monthly reading series produced by Louise Crawford (Only the Blog Knows Brooklyn, Brooklyn Reading Works and Brooklyn Social Media) at Two Moon Art House and Cafe (315 Fourth Avenue between 3rd and 2nd Streets in Park Slope).
Join us for a relaxed, social evening/performance at the Slope’s newest cultural spot with wine, coffee, delicious soups, sandwiches, salads and desserts.
Tom Martinez, Witness: Coney Island Post-Sandy
New CD From Louis Rosen: Time Was
There’s a new album out from my good friend and OTBKB fave, Louis Rosen. Time Was takes the listener on a journey across the landscape of American roots music.
On Rosen’s new album you’ll find songs about love and lust, dreams and pipedreams, fortunes made and squandered, the joy of creation, faith, loss, death, murder and salvation.
The album really is just that complex and interesting.
Some of the songs were adapted from poems by late 19th and early 20th century poets such as Edwin Arlington Robinson, William Butler Yeats, Sara Teasdale and Langston Hughes among many others.
The lyrics of quite a few of the songs were penned by Rosen himself offering intensely human portraits and stories in ways that feel fresh and yet timeless. ”I think TIME WAS is my most dynamic album yet,” writes Rosen in an email.
Right now you can purchase TIME WAS from: http://cdbaby.com/cd/louisrosen ($15.99 + shipping) or Louis’ Store at www.louisrosen.com ($16.50 including shipping)
Brooklyn Holiday Book Fair with Pete Hamill
It’s been in the works for months and months and now, it’s finally here. I am so excited for Honey & Wax and all the Brooklyln indie vintage booksellers who will be under one roof for the very first time.
The Brooklyn Holiday Book Fair on December 1, 2012 from noon until 6PM at The Old Stone House will be a wonderful holiday shopping experience for book lovers and those who love beautiful things.
Great gifts for the interesting people in your life.
Best of all, acclaimed author and Brooklyn legend PETE HAMILL will read from a 1906 edition of “The Gift of the Magi” by O.Henry at 4:30 PM. Pete will also be SIGNING copies of his new book of stories about Brooklyn THE CHRISTMAS KID.
To open the holiday season, a group of independent Brooklyn booksellers with a shared interest in print history will fill the Old Stone House with some of their favorite rare, vintage, and out-of-print books. Get to know your local booksellers, and be surprised and inspired by books you didn’t even know you wanted!
Participants include:
Book Thug Nation, Williamsburg, est. 2009
Freebird Books, Cobble Hill, est. 2004
Honey & Wax Booksellers, Park Slope, est. 2012
Human Relations, Bushwick, est. 2012
Open Air Modern, Williamsburg, est. 2009,
P.S. Bookshop, DUMBO, est. 2006
Singularity & Co., DUMBO, est. 2012
Unnameable Books, Prospect Heights, est. 2006
Also for sale: antiquarian maps and prints of Brooklyn, offered by Prints Charming.
The ‘tails:
When: Saturday, December 1, 2012 from Noon until 6 p.m.
Where: The Old Stone House in Park Slope, 336 Third Street between 4th and 5th Avenues. Subway: The F train to 4th Avenue, the R train to Union Street.
Admission is free. Drinks and refreshments will be available.
Rick Moody, Darcey Steinke and Daniel Meeter on Progressive Christianity
Last night I attended a fascinating conversation at Old First Dutch Reformed Church in Park Slope with novelists Rick Moody and Darcey Steinke and the church’s Rev. Daniel Meeter about progressive Christianity and other topics related to an open and humane interpretation of Biblical text. The event was moderated by Jessica Stockton Bagnulo, a member of the Old First congregation and the co-owner of Greenlight Bookstore in Fort Greene.
Here in the United States, Christianity is often associated with right-wing politics and fundamentalism. But increasing numbers of contemporary Christians are trying to change that.
Rick Moody and Darcey Steinke attended Sunday school as children but drifted away from religion as adolescents. As adults, they explored the teachings of the Bible in their own work and as co-editors of the anthology Joyful Noise: The New Testament Revisited.
The critically acclaimed author of the novel The Ice Storm and many other works, Rich Moody takes a decidedly non-fundamentalist view of the Bible. He urges people to read it with an open mind-set. “There’s a politics of reading. One holds that you have to control interpretation. That it’s dangerous…The other holds that you are free to engage with the text,” he said last night.
A minister’s daughter, Darcey Steinke is the author of five books, including Jesus Saves, and Easter Everywhere. She described the discomfort she often feels sharing the fact that she is a Christian with secular colleagues. “People would act like you were going to give them the flu,” she said.
Rev. Meeter, the author of Why Be A Christian (If No One Goes to Hell) from Shock Foil and pastor of Old First Church, talked about the way that he approaches the Bible: “How do I pretend that John is Shakespeare? It’s a matter of letting go.”
Indeed, his engagement with the Bible is passionately rigorous, even playful. “I am in the Bible a lot. I have a daily conversation with the hymns, the prayer book.”
Progressive values, same sex marriage and the mesh of religion and politics were also discussed. Meeter told the crowd that nowhere does the Bible reject homosexuality. He rankles at the idea that “the God that we worship is the God that blesses America. It’s a weird nationalistic religion.”
In answer to a question about how he balances his progressive politics and his role as leader of a Park Slope church Meeter said: “This church specializes in providing sanctuary, comfort and safety.” He admitted that he tends to be quiet about his opinions on specific political policy. ”I don’t want to be a trumpet, I want to be a first violin.”
The event was part of a new series at the church called Fourth Mission, providing community outreach, predominately through hospitality to the arts
It was also a fundraiser for the restoration of Old First’s ceiling. In September 2011, plaster suddenly fell from the ceiling of the sanctuary. Upon review it was determined that the ceiling damage is not localized, but is a systemic failure in the attachment of the plaster ribs and crosspieces in the ceiling; after 120 years, the structure is failing. Restoring the ceiling will cost hundreds of thousands of dollars; assessments are still underway, as the Old First congregation is rallying to raise funds for repair. A grant from the New York Landmarks Conservancy has kick- started the restoration fund, but Old First is also reaching out to the surrounding community to invite them to help restore this irreplaceable community resource.
43 Notable Writers are Movie Extras at Kos Kaffe
Everybody is making such a big deal about this film shoot at Kos Kaffe on Park Slope’s Fifth Avenue.
As I understand it, 43 notable writers from Brooklyn and elsewhere were used as extras. Pictured here are Elissa Schappell, Nick Flynn, Darin Strauss,Michael Cunningham, Stephen Hubbell, Mary Morris, Jennifer Gilmore, Glenn Kurtz and Roxana Robinson.
The film is called A Short History of Decay, written and directed by Michael Maren, starring Bryan Greenber, Linda Lavin, Harris Yulin, Emmanuelle Chriqui, Kathleen Rose Perkins and Rebecca Dayan.
The photo is by Heidi Gutman.
Hand Painted Scarves and Colorful Pottery for Gifts
It’s holiday shopping time in Park Slope and that means Susan Steinbrock will be selling her hand-painted scarves pillows and napkins with Claireware, maker of gorgeous and colorful pottery at Claireware’s studio and shop at 543 Union Street on the corner of Nevins Street in Gowanus. Brooklyn. The date: Saturday, December 8th, 10-5 and Sunday December 9th, 12-5.
Steinbrock will also be selling her wares at Stuff, PS 321′s annual craft Fair at PS 321, 1st Street and 7th Avenue, which is also Saturday December 8th, 10-5.
Pete Hamill on WNYC: The Christmas Kid
Here are a few random quotes from Pete Hamill, interviewed on WNYC’s Brian Lehrer Show this morning. He has a new book out, The Christmas Kid, a collection of his stories about growing up in Brooklyn. At 4:30, he will read excerpts from that book at the Brooklyn Holiday Book Fair on Saturday, Dec. 1 at The Old Stone House. He will also read the story, The Gift of the Magi by O. Henry, from a 1906 first edition.
“If we recognzie the humanity of other people we’ll sit down somewhere with a pen and try to tell those stories. I hope that’s still going on.”
“So many writers are residing in Brooklyn. I think it’s because of the human scale of the architecture, you’re not overwhelmed by the buildings. That helps attract writers that I hope will write about the people who pass them on the street.”
“To me where I lived in the so-called South Slope, everything has basically survived. The buildings didn’t burn down like they did in Brownsville where they were erased. I can go around and remember people…There’s a grid that underlies what’s there, a kind of palimpsest. I am hoping that the young who live there now understand that there were people there before. Living there is a richness. Pay attention. Lives of immense density were lived by people even though they didn’t put statues of them in the park.”
“When the world changed, the commerce of the wharf ended ( the trade of the waterfront), there was still a human element going on. We have to recognize the humanity of each other otherwise it’s a very lonely existence.”
This Saturday: The Brooklyn Holiday Book Fair
The Brooklyn Holiday Book Fair on December 1, 2012 from noon until 6PM at The Old Stone House will be a wonderful holiday shopping odyssey for book lovers and those who love beautiful things.
Best of all, acclaimed author and Brooklyn legend PETE HAMILL will read from an early edition of “The Gift of the Magi” by O.Henry at 4:30 PM. Pete will also be SIGNING copies of his new book of stories about Brooklyn THE CHRISTMAS KID.
To open the holiday season, a group of independent Brooklyn booksellers with a shared interest in print history will fill the Old Stone House with some of their favorite rare, vintage, and out-of-print books. Get to know your local booksellers, and be surprised and inspired by books you didn’t even know you wanted!
Participants include:
Book Thug Nation, Williamsburg, est. 2009
Freebird Books, Cobble Hill, est. 2004
Honey & Wax Booksellers, Park Slope, est. 2012
Human Relations, Bushwick, est. 2012
Open Air Modern, Williamsburg, est. 2009,
P.S. Bookshop, DUMBO, est. 2006
Singularity & Co., DUMBO, est. 2012
Unnameable Books, Prospect Heights, est. 2006
Also for sale: antiquarian maps and prints of Brooklyn, offered by Prints Charming.
The ‘tails:
When: Saturday, December 1, 2012 from Noon until 6 p.m.
Where: The Old Stone House in Park Slope, 336 Third Street between 4th and 5th Avenues. Subway: The F train to 4th Avenue, the R train to Union Street.
Admission is free. Drinks and refreshments will be available.
Martha Rosler’s Garage Sale at MOMA
For her first solo exhibition at The Museum of Modern Art, Brooklyn artist Martha Rosler is having a garage sale. In fact, the piece is called Garage Sale and it is currently showing in the The Donald B. and Catherine C. Marron Atrium at the Museum until November 30, 2012.
Rosler is considered an influential artist of her generation. For more than 40 years, she has made photography, performance, video, and installation about, she says “the commonplace, art that illuminates social life.”
Rosler held the first Garage Sale, Monumental Garage Sale, in 1973 in the student gallery of the University of California, San Diego. Like the MOMA exhibit, she sold clothes, books, records, toys, costume jewelry, personal letters, art works, and other mementos, as well as soft-core pornographic magazines.
December Events: Brooklyn Holiday Book Fair, Therapy, Feast
December is a Feast for lovers of rare books, shopping, and literary events. Here are three that I had my hand in. Please come!
December 1, noon until 6PM: The First Annual Brooklyn Holiday Book Fair at The Old Stone House featuring rare, vintage and out-of-print books from independent booksellers from all over Brooklyn. Antiquarian maps, prints and ephemera. Get to know emerging local booksellers, jump-start your holiday shopping and be surprised by books you didn’t even know you wanted. Book Thug Nation, Freebird Books, Honey & Wax Booksellers, Human Relations, Open Air Modern, Prints Charming, PS Bookshop, Singularity & Co., Unnameable Books
December 5 at 7PM: Only the Blog at Two Moon Presents Therapy, a 50-minute reading by writers who write about the talking cure and other forms of therapy in ways serious and hilarious. Leora Skolkin-Smith, Marian Fontana, Louise Crawford, Ira Goldstein, Karen Ritter. Two Moon Art House and Cafe: 315 Fourth Avenue between 2nd and 3rd Streets.
December 6 at 8PM:Brooklyn Reading Works presents Feast: Writers on Food curated by Ame Gilbert at The Old Stone House, 336 Third Street between 4th and 5th Avenues in Park Slope. Writing about food as memory, food as metaphor, food as subject matter, food and sex; food and death, food as trigger for sensorial and tasty writing with Molly O’Neill, Sara Kate Gillingham-Ryan, Aarela Martinez, Sarah Safford and Ame Gilbert.
Tonight: Musical Extravaganza to Restore Red Hook
Tonight at The Bell House at 7PM (6PM doors open), The Musical Extravaganza to Restore Red Hook (presented by Jalopy).
Apparently, the evening kicks off with a square dance, hosted by NYC Barn Dance. Roseanne Cash will headline the evening, and Jesse Lenat, John Pinamonti and the Brotherhood of the Whiskey Spitter Rebellion will play. Michael Buscemi will screen his new film on the bus that runs through Red Hook, called “B61.”
The show will benefit Restore Red Hook, which aims to raise funds to help the small businesses of Red Hook, Brooklyn reopen their doors as soon as possible after the devastation of Hurricane Sandy.
Tom Martinez, Witness: Pig Roast at Fort Defiance
At 3PM this afternoon, there’s a pig roast at Fort Defiance in Red Hook and then there’s a benefit at The Bell House in Gowanus at 7PM with Roseanne Cash and other performers.
Both are fundraisers for Red Hook recovery efforts after Hurricane Sandy. In between, there’s shuttle bus service from Red Hook to The Bell House.
Video of Writing War: Fiction and Poetry by Vets
Thanks to filmmaker Lesley Topping, we’ve got video of last Thursday’s Writing War featuring five veterans who write fiction and/or poetry. Thank goodness Lesley decided to show up with her camera. I am so grateful.
Writing War was curated by Peter Catapano of the New York Times’ and presented by Brooklyn Reading Works at the Old Stone House in Park Slope.The featured writers were Phil Klay, Mariette Kalinowski, Roy Scranton, Matt Gallagher, and Maurice Decual. We had a full house and a wonderful evening of readings and Q&A
Lesley is a New York based producer, film editor, and video maker. At lesleytoppingmedia.com, you can see videos and clips from her projects.
Tiger Blanket Records Vintage Clothing Boutique
It’s a vintage clothing store. No, it’s a record company. Well, it’s both as reflected in the name. Tiger Blanket Records Vintage Clothing Boutique.
Say it three times fast.
Tiger Blanket is a record label AND a unique line of glam rock Americana vintage clothing on Graham Avenue in Williamsburg. The owner, Emmy Wildwood, personally curated the vintage gems, which she has collected over the years as a musician and vintage fashion fanatic.
The official Grand Opening is this Wednesday, November 21st. It’s from 6-8PM. So this is a call out to all of you who love rock and roll AND vintage clothing AND are not going away for Thanksgiving.
Emmy, pictured left, is the coolest. And she’s got plenty of attitude. ”We don’t like music snobs, pretentious pricks and stereotyping. We don’t assume all male musicians are in indie rock bands, we don’t assume all female musicians play acoustic guitar but its ok if you are and do. We like whiskey, french-kissing in private and birth control. We are a lady in the streets and a freak in the sheets,” she writes on her website.
Emmy will be serving wine and appetizers and giving awesome door prizes and giveaways during the event and I’m sure there will be music. And lots of it. Because Emmy’s in a band called Velta.
Annoying Beep
Our dishwasher broke down the other day. It still runs but it makes a terrible grinding noise when it’s turned on so we can’t use it which is a bit of a disaster for Thanksgiving.
I know: First World Problem and a very small one Post-Hurricane Sandy.
Still, it’s an annoyance. But worst of all: every minute it beeps. There’s obviously some kind of timer in there but we can’t figure out how to set it OR turn it off.
So every minute: Beep. A minute later: Beep. In the middle of the night: Beep.
Hopefully, the dishwasher repair person will come soon and stop the beep and fix the dishwasher because that effing BEEP is driving me CRAZY.
Note: The gorgeous dishwasher in the gorgeous kitchen above is most definitely NOT my kitchen.
Literary Film Shoot at Kos Kaffe
A great lede and a buzzy Arts Beat article by Jennifer Schuessler in the New York Times. Apparently there was a film shoot at the newish Kos Kaffe in Park Slope and a host of Brooklyn opulent literati were there. Jennifer Egan, Mary Morris, Tad Friend and others…
Brooklyn is famously lousy with writers, as Holden Caulfield might have put it. But at 7 am on Monday morning, Kos Kaffe in Park Slope was even lousier than usual.
At one table, Jennifer Egan sat scribbling on a yellow legal pad, not far from Roxana Robinson, Philip Gourevitch, John Burnham Schwartz and Jane Green. Across the room, Michael Cunningham chatted with Nick Flynn, while Mary Morris sat with a battered notebook and a pile of printouts and Darin Strauss checked ESPN.com on his laptop.
The occasion was the shooting of a scene in Michael Maren’s forthcoming film, “A Short History of Decay,” that aims to show off the most impressive mass literary cameo in recent film history. But some in attendance, perhaps hopped up on free espresso, jokingly reached for even more grandiose claims.
“This is our Black and White Ball,” said the New Yorker writer Tad Friend (referring to Truman Capote’s legendary 1966 party at the Plaza Hotel), before turning back to revisions on his upcoming article about underwater mortgages.
New: Landhaus Indoors on Union Street in Park Slope
Say hello to Landhaus, the new and groovy sandwich place on Union Street just off of Seventh Avenue. It’s the spot that was People’s Pops during the summer.
Now it’s Landhaus, faves of the Brooklyn Flea and Smorgusburg (see left). Landhaus creates “addictive, tasty food with the best ingredients available in the Northeast.” You can find them weekly at both Smorgasburgs (Williamsburg and DUMBO) & Brooklyn Flea and The Woods Bar daily in Williamsburg.
I haven’t seen the Union Street menu yet, but they’re famous for their Grilled Maple Bacon Sticks, which were voted the best bacon in NYC by the Village Voice Newspaper. On a stick with maple syrup and secret spices.
They also serve a BLT with Landhaus Bacon, Red Leaf Lettuce, Lucky’s tomatoes, bacon infused mayo on toasted Napoli Bakery Bread, a Lamburger, a custom blend of grass fed lamb and pork fat-back, whipped sheeps milk feta, house made harissa, grilled onions and cilantro on Napoli Bakery roll.
Interview with Victor LaValle in Days of Yore
I’ve been a Victor LaValle fan since he read at Brooklyn Reading Works a couple of years ago in Young, Gifted and Black (Men) curated by Martha Southgate.
Today, there’s a nice interview with him in Days of Yore, a site which interviews artists before they had money, fame, or roadmaps to success. It’s a great site and you should know about it.
LaValle is a writer and teacher who was raised in Queens, New York and now lives in Washington heights with his wife and young son. He is the author of the short story collectionSlapboxing with Jesus, three novels, The Ecstatic, Big Machine, and The Devil in Silver, and an ebook only novella, Lucretia and the Kroons. On the back cover of Big Machine, Mos Def proclaims that LaValle’s writing, “is like nothing I’ve ever read, incredibly human and alien at the same time.”
Here’s an excerpt from the Days of Yore interview:
When did you first start thinking that you would write, or when did you first write a story?
I wrote my first story when I was 13 or 14. And then I even sent it in to magazines. I sent my first story into a magazine called Grue Magazine, a horror magazine put out of the lower east side. The woman who was the Editor in Chief is now either the vice president or the chancellor of the Church of Satan. The magazine had closed, but the church of Satan took her in, I guess.
But when I sent my story in, she sent back this great rejection sheet. It had a list of all these craft issue like characterization, plot, language, pacing, and beside each of them this chart: “good, very good, not so good.” She went through and checked off all these things and then gave notes like: “characterization: good—and here’s why.” It was a real labor of love because I’m sure it [the magazine] was not a money-making venture. At the bottom she even wrote a little note —because I must have said in there that I was like 13 or 14— that said, “This is an auspicious start for someone so young.” And I saved it.
Dec 1: The Brooklyn Holiday Book Fair with Pete Hamill
The Brooklyn Holiday Book Fair on December 1 from noon until 6PM at The Old Stone House will be a wonderful holiday shopping opportunity for book lovers and those who love beautiful things.
Best of all, acclaimed author PETE HAMILL will read from an early edition of “The Gift of the Magi” by O’Henry at 4:30 PM. Pete will also be SIGNING copies of his new book THE CHRISTMAS KID.
To open the holiday season, a group of independent Brooklyn booksellers with a shared interest in print history will fill the Old Stone House with some of their favorite rare, vintage, and out-of-print books. Get to know your local booksellers, and be surprised and inspired by books you didn’t even know you wanted!
Participants include:
Book Thug Nation, Williamsburg, est. 2009
Freebird Books, Cobble Hill, est. 2004
Honey & Wax Booksellers, Park Slope, est. 2012
Human Relations, Bushwick, est. 2012
Open Air Modern, Williamsburg, est. 2009,
P.S. Bookshop, DUMBO, est. 2006
Singularity & Co., DUMBO, est. 2012
Unnameable Books, Prospect Heights, est. 2006
Also for sale: antiquarian maps and prints of Brooklyn, offered by Prints Charming.
When: Saturday, December 1, 2012 from Noon until 6 p.m.
p.m.
Where: The Old Stone House in Park Slope, 336 Third Street between 4th and 5th Avenues. Subway: The F train to 4th Avenue, the R train to Union Street.
Admission is free. Drinks and refreshments will be available.
Sophia and Dan: Making It Last in The New York Times
I was told that there was a possibility that Sophia Romero, a published novelist who writes the blog, The Shiksa from Manila, and her husband Dan Schwartz, a technology expert at a bank, were going to be featured in the New York Times column by Samantha Storey, Making it Last. But I was sworn to secrecy.
I kept the secret.
But now I can kvell. The two, who live in Park Slope and celebrated their 25th wedding anniversary on the Saturday before Hurricane Sandy made landfall in New York City, are a fascinating couple.
On paper, the marriage doesn’t make sense. She’s a devout Catholic from the Philippines who is passionate about pork and he’s a nice Jewish boy from Queens, who doesn’t eat meat. But clearly they share that intangible, je ne sais quois that makes a good relationship tick.
When Dan told Sophia that he wanted to raise their children Jewishly just days before the wedding, Sophia didn’t have a problem.
Dan: On the way to the wedding, which is on the way to the airport in Tokyo, I told Sophia I’d like to bring up our kids Jewish. Sofia is a devout Catholic. She goes to church every Sunday. And she says, As long as they are raised with God in their life, it’s O.K. That part has been amazing. In fact there have been religious-oriented events when she was more familiar with what was going on than many Jews in the room.
In the Times article/interview, we learn in their own words how they made it last. Part of the reason, clearly, is that they’re both enthusiastic and bright people who are up for the roller coaster ride of life if the tracks are greased with love. And by every indication, there’s a great deal of love between them.
It also helps that they’re very good at dealing with conflict. And there’s been plenty:
Sophia: My husband is calm and measured, and we try never to be angry at the same time. He is much better at saying to me, I can’t talk to you when you are like this. When you are finished, I am happy to talk to you and until then this is not a good time. And I think we have learned from that. We use that method a lot. We use it on our children and they use it on us. And it’s a good way of calming everyone down, and then once you’ve reached a level of peace, you can begin to address and unpack whatever issues there were to begin with.
At the anniversary party at the Audubon Center in Prospect Park, there was a chupah, a ceremony presided over by Rabbi Andy Bachman and a priest from St. Saviour (who read beautifully from the Song of Songs). There was also an exchange of vows that was tear inducingly moving—and hilarious.
They made it last and we are very, very glad that they did. The adorable couple are pictured above in photographs by Julie Markes that accompany the New York Times story. Sophia is wearing a feathery, sparkly dress designed by the Philippine designer who also created her wedding dress. Dan is wearing a traditional Phllippine wedding shirt.
Tom Martinez, Witness: The Babe in Red Hook
I’ve never seen this poster of the Babe with the gates open. Suspect it’s hurricane related as it’s in Red Hook next to Baked on Van Brunt. Seems oddly fitting though, as if the power of all the ghosts of the past are being summoned.
Spirit of community in Red Hook is truly, truly inspiring. What New York is all about.
Great Night of Writing from Vets at The Old Stone House
Last night’s reading WRITING WAR at The Old Stone House was quite amazing. Thankfully, Leslie Topping came by with her trusty video camera and taped the event. Stay tuned for info on that.
Blogger Jess Ruff was at the show last night and she wrote about it on her blog, So, What Happened. She also created the drawing above. Big shout out of thanks to Jess.
