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.

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.

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.

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.

 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.

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.

READ THE ARTICLE 

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.

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.

Brooklyn Reading Works presents: Writing War: Fiction, Memoir, Poetry from Vets curated by Peter Catapano of the New York Times at the Old Stone House, site of the first and bloodiest battles of the Revolutionary War. $5 Suggested donation includes wine and refreshments.

In honor of Veterans Day, veteran/writers provide insight into what it means to be a soldier in the 21st century. This is a must-see event. Important. Powerful. Pertinent.

Anthony Swofford, acclaimed author of Jarheadand a new memoir Hotels, Hospitals and Jailswill be on hand, as well as Maurice Decaul, Matt Gallagher, Philip Klay, Mariette Kalinowski and Roy Scranton

When: Thursday, November 15 at 8PM:

Where: The Old Stone House (336 Third Street, Brooklyn, NY 11215 between Fourth and Fifth Avenues, 718-768-9135 or 718-288-4290) site of the very bloody Battle of Brooklyn, the first and largest conflict of the Revolution.

BIOS OF THE PARTICIPATING AUTHORS: 

Maurice Decaul is a former Marine who served in Iraq in 2003. He is a poet, essayist and librettist whose work has been featured in the New York Times, Newsweek.com and Sierra Magazine, and has poems forthcoming in Barely South Review. He recently appeared as a poet and performer in the multimedia show “Holding It Down,” which premiered at Harlem Stage in September.

Matt Gallagher is Senior Fellow at the nonprofit Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America. A former Army cavalry captain, he is the author of the Iraq war memoir “Kaboom” and co-editor of the forthcoming Fire and Forget.

Mariette Kalinowski served in the U.S. Marine Corps between 2002 and 2010, deploying twice in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom. Her short story “The Train” will appear in “Fire and Forget.” She currently studies fiction in the Hunter College Master of Fine Arts program.

Phil Klay is a Marine Corps veteran of Operation Iraqi Freedom and a graduate of the MFA program at Hunter College. His work has been published by The New York Times, The New York Daily News, Granta and elsewhere. Forthcoming, he has a story in “Fire and Forget” and a short story collection to be published by Penguin Press in 2013.

Roy Scranton is an Iraq War veteran whose poetry, fiction and essays have appeared in LIT, The Massachusetts Review, New Letters, the New York Times, Theory & Event, and elsewhere. He is a co-editor of “Fire and Forget.”

Anthony Swofford, a veteran of the first Gulf War, is the author of the memoirs “Jarhead” and “Hotels, Hospitals, and Jails” and the novel “Exit A.” He lives in Brooklyn with his wife and daughter.

Peter Catapano, the curator of the event, is an editor in the opinion section of The New York Times, where he develops and edits series fo the Times website, including Home Fires, which features the writing of United States military veterans. His writing has appeared in several publications in the past 15 years, including Salon, The New York Times, ARTNews, Killing the Buddha and elsewhere.

Oxford Dictionaries USA has selected their word of the year. And the winner is: Gif, a verb, to make a Gif file, an image or video sequence related to an event.

Now here’s a holiday event you won’t want to miss. A real Brooklyn classic.

Brooklyn legend and acclaimed Irish-American author Pete Hamill will read The Gift of the Magi by O’Henry at The Brooklyn Holiday Book Fair at The Old Stone House on December 1 at 4:30  PM.

The Book Fair itself funs from noon to 6PM on December 1. If you’re coming for the reading, arrive early so you can browse a unique selection rare books from Brooklyn indie booksellers all over Brooklyn. Also we’re expecting a big crowd for this hometown boy.

Hamill will be reading from a very rare first edition copy of the book published in 1906 that Honey & Wax Booksellers was lucky enough to locate very recently. This will almost certainly add to the aura of an event dedicated to rare and extraordinary books—and to the story itself.

“The Gift of the Magi” is a short story written by O. Henry about a young married couple and how they deal with the challenge of buying secret Christmas gifts for each other with very little money. The story packs a sentimental punch with a timeless message about gift-giving and is popular at holiday time. It also has one of O’Henry’s brilliant plot twists. It was allegedly written at Pete’s Tavern in Irving Place in Manhattan.

Pete Hamill was born in Park Slope in 1935, the first of seven children of Catholic immigrants from Belfast, Northern Ireland.  He is a  journalist, novelist, essayist, editor and educator. He is also a Distinguished Writer in Residence at the Arthur L. Carter Journalism Institute at New York University.

Just released is THE CHRISTMAS KID,  a much-awaited collection of Hamill’s stories about Brooklyn, the borough in which he was born and grew up, and the one closest to his heart.

His 1994 memoir, “A Drinking Life”, was a critical and commercial success. It chronicled his journey from childhood into his thirties, his embrace of drinking and the decision to abandon it. The late Frank McCourt once told him that the book encouraged him to complete his own memoir, “Angela’s Ashes.”

Full Disclosure: Honey & Wax is a client of Louise’s business Brooklyn Social Media. Truthfully, though, she’s in love with the idea of the Brooklyn Holiday Book Fair and is over the moon about Pete Hamill reading at the event. Just saying.

It’s kind of a big deal that Mila Drumke will be performing in Writers Who Sing, Singers Who Write on Wednesday, November 14 at 7PM at Two Moon Art House and Cafe (also a fundraiser for Sandy).

It’s her first Brooklyn show in a long time and I’m very excited about it.

Mila has released quite a few albums including the acclaimed Radiate which was released in 2006. Before that, in 2000, she recorded an album of standards from the American songbook called Hip to Hip. Singing classics like Someone to Watch Over Me and My Funny Valentine, Drumke is earthy, elegant and sumptuous.

Radiate, an album about caring for her sister, who was diagnosed with a brain tumor at age 27,  was a critical success.  She is currently writing a memoir about this experience, All The Time in the World, which she will read from at Wednesday’s show. Below  is an excerpt from a review of Radiate from Hearsay Magazine.

“Look how everything is changing, changing where you are,” sings New York-based songwriter Mila Drumke on her ambitious, magnanimous and riveting fourth recording. We’re five years on from her last release, 2000’s Hip to Hip, a coolly-ahead-of-its-time reinvention of jazz standards and, yes, everything’s different now. While all the traits which captivated Mila’s admirers late in the last millennium are still in abundance—the dynamic, supple compositions which nod to jazz and folk without really being either, the velveteen vocals, the oblique yet vivid lyrics—no one could have anticipated an album quite so keenly felt, so moving and yet so scrupulously arranged and played as Radiate has turned out to be.

Don’t miss what will be a wonderful evening. Peter Silsbee, a writer of fiction and non-fiction, will also be performing. He is a wonderful singer/songwriter, who performs with his band, The Haywood Brothers, in top venues in New York City. He has published five young adult novels, including Amanda: Revealed, The Big Way Out, Love Among the Hiccups, and The Temptation of Kate.

The Rolling Stones. In Brooklyn. December 8. Just saying. I’ve seen the Stones three times in my life, including in 1969 at Madison Square Garden (pictured above) and they are, like, non pareil.

I. Can. Not. Miss. This.

Readers of OTBKB will remember graphic artist Liz Starin, who published a wonderful “comic” series on OTBKB during the summer called What are the Chances?

Soon after her series ran, we had lunch and she told me then about her NEW children’s illustration blog with the incredibly great name PEN AND OINK.

Love it.

Here’s how it happened (and I borrow from their About page). Liz, who lives in Ditmas Park, has been in an  illustrator’s critique group with Robin Rosenthal and Ruthie Lafond (both Park Slopers) since 2006.

The group met in children’s book illustrator Sergio Ruzzier‘s SVA class. There were about ten artists in a class that touched on “picture books about squirrels, hats, and grumpy old men.”

But a couple of months just weren’t enough. On the last day, Liz and her friends circulated a signup sheet, and the “Post-Sergio” crit group was born.

Over the years, they’ve haunted the Donnell Library (RIP) children’s room, each other’s apartments, and lately ‘Snice in Park Slope. All that time, they never really had a name. But “team post-Sergio” and sometimes “post-surgery” snuck into our planners and emails. Sergio never knew…until now. Here’s what they wrote on the About page of their new blog.

We’d like to thank our stubbled Italian fairy godfather for bringing us together. But we didn’t want to burden him with a blog named Post-Sergio, which is why we decided to christen ourselves Pen & Oink.

The blog is a must-read for all who adore illustration, specifically children’s book illustration, graphic design AND the creative process.

Please join me at Two Moon Art House and Cafe on Wednesday, November 14 at 7PM for Writers Who Sing, Singers Who Write, a Sandy Fundraiser and performance presented by Only the Blog at Two Moon.

The event is free but we’ll be collecting money and having a raffle during intermission and at the end of the program. We’ll donate whatever you give to the OSH PSP Brooklyn Neighbors Hurricane Relief Fund or another appropriate charity helping locals recover from Sandy. There will also be a RAFFLE of photos by Hugh Crawford, CDs by Mila Drumke and a book by Peter Silsbee.

Brooklyn Reading Works presents: Writing War: Fiction, Memoir, Poetry from Vets Fiction curated by Peter Catapano of the New York Times at the Old Stone House, site of the first and bloodiest battles of the Revolutionary War. $5 Suggested donation includes wine and refreshments.

In honor of Veterans Day, veteran/writers provide insight into what it means to be a soldier in the 21st century. This is a must-see event. Important. Powerful. Pertinent.

Anthony Swofford, acclaimed author of Jarhead and a new memoir Hotels, Hospitals and Jails will be on hand, as well as Maurice Decaul, Matt Gallagher, Philip Klay, Mariette Kalinowski and Roy Scranton

When: Thursday, November 15 at 8PM:

Where: The Old Stone House (336 Third Street, Brooklyn, NY 11215 between Fourth and Fifth Avenues, 718-768-9135 or 718-288-4290) site of the very bloody Battle of Brooklyn, the first and largest conflict of the Revolution.

BIOS OF THE PARTICIPATING AUTHORS: 

Maurice Decaul is a former Marine who served in Iraq in 2003. He is a poet, essayist and librettist whose work has been featured in the New York Times, Newsweek.com and Sierra Magazine, and has poems forthcoming in Barely South Review. He recently appeared as a poet and performer in the multimedia show “Holding It Down,” which premiered at Harlem Stage in September.

Matt Gallagher is Senior Fellow at the nonprofit Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America. A former Army cavalry captain, he is the author of the Iraq war memoir “Kaboom” and co-editor of the forthcoming Fire and Forget.

Mariette Kalinowski served in the U.S. Marine Corps between 2002 and 2010, deploying twice in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom. Her short story “The Train” will appear in “Fire and Forget.” She currently studies fiction in the Hunter College Master of Fine Arts program.

Phil Klay is a Marine Corps veteran of Operation Iraqi Freedom and a graduate of the MFA program at Hunter College. His work has been published by The New York Times, The New York Daily News, Granta and elsewhere. Forthcoming, he has a story in “Fire and Forget” and a short story collection to be published by Penguin Press in 2013.

Roy Scranton is an Iraq War veteran whose poetry, fiction and essays have appeared in LIT, The Massachusetts Review, New Letters, the New York Times, Theory & Event, and elsewhere. He is a co-editor of “Fire and Forget.”

Anthony Swofford, a veteran of the first Gulf War, is the author of the memoirs “Jarhead” and “Hotels, Hospitals, and Jails” and the novel “Exit A.” He lives in Brooklyn with his wife and daughter.

Peter Catapano, the curator of the event, is an editor in the opinion section of The New York Times, where he develops and edits series fo the Times website, including Home Fires, which features the writing of United States military veterans. His writing has appeared in several publications in the past 15 years, including Salon, The New York Times, ARTNews, Killing the Buddha and elsewhere.

I am sorry to report that  tonight’s Sandy fundraiser and performance at Two Moon Art House and Cafe is POSTPONED due to the threat of very inclement weather caused by a Nor’easter.

The very talented Mila Drumke and Peter Silsbee were set to perform tonight in Writers Who Sing, Singers Who Write. The new date has not been confirmed but I’m hoping for next week.

Stay tuned.

Only the Blog at Two Moon just became a fundraiser. Come Wednesday, November 7th to Writers Who Sing, Singers Who Write with Mila Drumke and Peter Silsbee and we’ll donate whatever you give to the Red Cross or another appropriate charity.

The New York Times’ today has an article about last week’s Gowanus Art studio tour  and Artsicle (love the name), an online business that rents inexpensive art on the cheap.

Artsicle caters to newbie collectors with small budgets, limited art knowledge and “no appetite for the intimidating atmosphere at many established art galleries.” Artsicles’s Alex Tryon is pictured here viewing a beautiful beautiful painting by Park Slope artist Kit Warren. 

About her work, Kit Warren writes:

My paintings are microcosms—worlds in miniature. Earlier pieces explore the landscape of the body in microscopic detail.  More recent work moves from behind the microscope and hovers far above the world.  Whether looking inside or out, at blood cells or land mass, my work examines the relationship between scale and pattern. Small patterns intimate the behavior of larger ones; repetition unifies.

On Sunday November 11 at 7PM James Braly, a friend of OTBKB (FOOTBKB) and Brooklyn Reading Works will be performing his funny funny one-man show Life in a Marital Institution at the New York Comedy Festival. 

For one night only, returning to New York City for the first time since its sold out Off-Broadway run and national tour, James Braly will be performing in the aptly named Life in a Marital Institution (20 Years of Monogamy in One Terrifying Hour), on the closing night of the New York Comedy Festival, at the awesome new Stage 72 on the Upper West Side (158 West 72nd Street on the 2nd floor).

That’s a great gig for James, and a nice opportunity for those of you who haven’t seen the show. I have. Twice. And I plan to go again. It’s that funny.

Click here to read the rave from the Times, then come hear the story of a man’s “bi-polar, passionate relationship” (according to 13 couples counselors), complete with home wrecking goddesses, pan roasted human organs, and other adventures so amusingly challenging, you will emerge from the theater counting your blessings, not least that you’re not James Braly.

Walking down the streets of Park Slope this time of year I smile a lot because of the Halloween decorations. They came out in full force last week.

In some neighborhoods you might find tasteful carved pumpkins and autumnal colors. Here it’s all about creepy. Like stretchy spider web. People around here love the stuff. Many a building has stretchable spider webbing draped from windows and covering windows, front gates and stoops. I’m seeing it everywhere.

Sometimes it looks great, sometimes it looks like toilet paper. Sometimes it has other things mixed in like screaming skeletons or black spiders.

I have to say, I’m tempted to decorate a bit with this stuff. They must sell it at Little Things or Save on Fifth. Obviously, it’s available in the neighborhood. Everyone seems to be using it.

You can bet it was stiff competition over at L Magazine. Bu tby polling their readers, they have determined, they think, the very best restaurant in all of Brooklyn.

Roman’s

What/where/wha is Roman’s and what about Al Di La?

Roman’s is a restaurant in Ft. Greene on DeKalb. I’ve never heard of it but apparently a lot of people have and they LOVE it.

It’s quite an honor to be number one. Considering the competition.  In the running were Roberta’s, Marlow & Sons, Vinegar Hill House, Park Slope’s beloved Talde.

Roman’s is owned by the folks behind Marlow & Sons, Diner, and Reynard. (That’s the restaurant in the Wyethe Hotel?)

Roman’s has been around for three years. It’s very popular. Clearly, they’ve got a lot of fans. Who voted.

Now we’ll never get in. Wonder if they serve lunch?

What I loved about last night at Two Moon Art House and Cafe was the vibe of the place, where I produced a reading as part of my series Only the Blog at Two Moon.

The Fourth Avenue space is lovely. The location does feel like a crossroads between Park Slope and destinations west like Gowanus and Carroll Gardens, as well as points south like Sunset Park and Bed Stuy.

It’s small but not that small with three distinct areas, including a great bar. There’s curated artwork on the walls, at the moment a show by Hugh Crawford. And the wine and beverages, including mulled wine, are great. One of the co-owners is an amazing baker and there’s always sumptuous desserts on hand.

The atmosphere seems to inspire a real receptivity for a reading or musical performance. It’s not a formal space but a focused space. Guests seem to feel comfortable interacting with the performers.

Last night, the microphone stopped working for a moment and someone in the audience jumped up to fix it. There’s a nice interactive feel about the place.

Peter Wheelwright and Leora Skolkin-Smith read excerpts from their new novels As It Is On Earth and Hystera respectively. The audience actually seemed to want more. Afterwards a discussion flowed freely like a dinner table conversation. And after that, attendees hung around for more than an hour drinking mulled wine and coffee and talking.

Honestly, I don’t think there’s any place like it in Park Slope. The owners are two, energetic and creative women in their late twenties with great stories of their own.

There are more events to come and I hope you’ll join me:

November 7 at 7PM: Writers Who Sing, Singers Who Write celebrates the double-threat talents of artists who cross mediums to tell their stories. In this inspiring musical and literary evening, songwriters/writers Mila Drumke and Peter Silsbee will share how their music influences their non-fiction and fiction and vice versa.

Mila Drumke is currently writing a memoir called All the Time in the World about caring for her sister, who was diagnosed with a brain tumor at age 27. The project has received generous support from the NEA/Mid-Atlantic Arts Foundation, the Millay Colony for the Arts and Hedgebrook. She has also recorded numerous albums, including Radiate, which was named “one of the top 10 album discoveries of 2006” by WFUV. “Radiate is not just an artistic triumph—it’s easily Mila Drumke’s best work to date and one of the most impressive records of the year by anyone—but a personal one, too. In taking unimaginable sadness and turning it into something both grounded and visionary, she has created a deeply humane song cycle.” writes Neil Parkinson inHearsay magazine. For more information: miladrumke.com.

Peter Silsbee is a writer of fiction and non-fiction. He is also a singer/songwriter, who performs with his band, The Haywood Brothers, in top venues in New York City. He has published five young adult novels, including Amanda: Revealed, The Big Way Out, Love Among the Hiccups, and The Temptation of Kate. 

December 5, at 7PM: Therapy Ira Goldstein will read real life stories about his work as a physical therapist, Louise Crawford will read from her book of poems 5:10 on Tuesday, expect hilarity on the subject from Karen Ritter and Marian Fontana and Leora Skolkin-Smith will read a fascinating passage from her acclaimed novel Hystera, about psychotherapy in the days before antidepressants.

You know the Black Light Halloween Puppet Show that goes on every Halloween in a window on Garfield Place?

The same folks who do that are doing this. In a shed. In a backyard. In Park Slope. Ya.

On October 26th and 27th the Shed is proud to welcome again the Dzieci theatre ensemble for their performance of Makbet, a gypsy adaptation of Macbeth.  The event will begin at 7:45PM sharp.  This is a theatrical event and no one will be admitted after 8:00PM.  There is a suggested donation of $10.00, which includes complementary drinks and divination.    http://theshedspace.org/

I’m going to remind you again: it’s at 7:45 PM. Sharp.

Situated in a Park Slope backyard, The Shed started in 2010 as a one reading event and has since evolved into a multidisciplinary space where art exhibits, plays, music, film screenings and readings are hosted on weekends.

The Shed is located at 366 6th Street in Park Slope, Brookyn. Take the R train to 9th Street or the F train to 4th Avenue. Upon exiting the subway, walk up hill on 9th St. one block to 5th Ave. Turn left and walk three blocks to 6th St. Turn right and walk half a block up the right side of the street. The house is one of two adjacent white houses. The entrance is on the 2nd floor, up the stoop.

“Absolutely extraordinary. Stunningly breathtaking.” – Cecile Pineda, author Devil’s Tango –

“Absolutely liberating!” – Russ Hudson, executive director of Enneagram Personality Types, Inc. –

“Wonderful!” “Unexpected!” “A true experience.” “Wowing, engulfing, just wow!” “Spellbinding!” “Wow!”

“Romantic!” “Amazing!!!” “The best!” “My God!!!” “Wow!” “Remarkable!”

– Students from The International Schools Theatre Association

“Witnessing Makbet and the ecstatic and organic and deeply ceremonialized process of the play unlocked places in me that I had been longing to find in the theatre but didn’t know how to create. Dzieci had found the sacred and were weaving it into everything they did. As an audience member, when you see their work, you are not simply a witness. You are on the journey with them, invited into the tribe and embraced as community.”- Isis Phoenix

“A profound, exhilarating experience that I will never forget.” – Katherine Kettle, Saranac Lake –

Darkened Sky [Single + Official Music Video] from The Universal Thump on Vimeo.

You know I have a soft spot for Greta Gertler and the Universal Thump because Greta and I share a last name though her’s doesn’t have the h (gherlter) nor are we related.

Below is the stream for The Universal Thump‘s first radio appearance in NYC and NJ yesterday. They performed five songs and chatted about their new double orchestral pop album with DJ Irene Trudel onWFMU:

http://www.wfmu.org/playlists/shows/47887

Their radio set list included the debut of three new songs including “Walking the Cat” an ode to lead singer Greta Gertler‘s cat, Minke – and an optimistic new song about Brooklyn neighborhood ‘Sunset Park’.

Yo, she’s writing about Sunset Park. Love it.

And here also is the link to their brand new music video for ‘Darkened Sky’, the stunning second single from their new double-album which was just released last week.

They have been in residence throughout this month at The Living Room (NYC), and will soon embark on their first tour of the South, performing in Athens GA, New Orleans LA, Chapel Hill NC, Austin TX, Knoxville TN and Thomas WV.