Donna Minkowitz wrote to say that she’s teaching a memoir writing class this spring starting Wednesday, January 28, which will go through Wednesday, March 18.

This class will be taught out of her apartment in Sunset Park, Brooklyn. (Check it out — there is world-class Mexican and Chinese food nearby.)

The workshop will focus on using emotional and sensual details, musical language, and storytelling to help you build your memoir and give richness to it.

It goes for eight weeks, and runs from 7 to 9 p.m. Writers at every level are welcome. The cost is $300. Here’s some info about Minkowitz’s class:

My memoir writing workshop is focused on craft. The class is limited to eight people. Students will get frequent feedback in a supportive atmosphere. All questions will be happily answered at minkowitz(at)earthlink(dot)net.

Donna Minkowitz is the author of Ferocious Romance: What My Encounters With The Right Taught Me About Sex, God and Fury (Simon and Schuster), a memoir that won a Lambda Literary Award and was shortlisted for the Quality Paperback Book Club’s New Visions Award "for the most promising and distinctive work by a new author." A former columnist for The Village Voice, she has also written for The New York Times Book Review, Salon, New York magazine, Ms. and The Nation. Minkowitz has performed her work at The Kitchen, the avant-garde arts space, with The Storytelling Center of New York City, and at Time & Space Limited in Hudson, N.Y. She was awarded a writer’s residency by Ledig House and has taught memoir writing workshops at the 92nd Street Y, the In Our Own Write program of the Lesbian and Gay Center, and The Kitchen.

A group of girls in Times Square, part of a demonstration numbering in
the thousands, seeking to call a halt to the rising civilian death toll
in Gaza.

photo by Tom Martinez      

Wondering when to toss your Christmas tree?

Sanitation Commissioner John J. Doherty announced that the Department will
begin its annual Christmas tree curbside collection and recycling program
on Monday, January 5, 2009.  The program will run through Friday, January
16th.

Residents should remove all tree stands, tinsel, lights, and ornaments
from holiday trees before they are put out at curbside for removal.  Trees
must not be placed into plastic bags.  Clean, non-bagged Christmas trees
that are left at the curb between Monday, January 5th and Friday, January
16th will be collected, chipped, and made into compost. The compost will
be processed and subsequently spread upon parks, ball fields, and
community gardens throughout the city.

In January 2008, the Department collected over 160,000 discarded Christmas
trees.

"The Department is very pleased to offer this special recycling service.
Providing collection and recycling options for residents is
environmentally valuable and benefits our neighborhoods.  Working in
conjunction with the City’s Parks & Recreation Department allows residents
to take part in the recycling process and permits them to even reuse their
composted Christmas trees to fertilize for the spring.  Compost is a
natural fertilizer and is an excellent soil enrichment that promotes the
healthy growth of plants and grass," said Commissioner Doherty.

And you’re probably wondering when the Mulch Fest begins.

The Parks & Recreation Department will be hosting Mulchfest 2009 on
Saturday, January 10th and Sunday, January 11th from 10 A.M. to 2 P.M. at
more than 80 sites throughout the city.  To find citywide locations, visit
the Parks & Recreation website at www.nyc.gov/parks.  The citywide service
allows New Yorkers to drop off their holiday trees at designated parks for
mulching and event attendees can pick up free mulch.  All lights,
ornaments, and decorations must be removed from the trees prior to
drop-off.

For more information on Christmas tree collection and recycling and/or
Mulchfest 2009, visit <http://www.nyc.gov/sanitation> or
<http://www.nyc.gov/parks> or call 3-1-1.

Check out what’s been going on all year at Sustainable Flatbush, which is more than a blog. It’s a way of life. Here’s an excerpt. Go to the SF site to read more.

2008 was a wonderful and productive year for Sustainable Flatbush! Our
work ranged from activism and advocacy to fun community-building
activities. We also redesigned our website, created a Facebook page and a monthly e-newsletter, set up a listserv for planning events, polished up our mission statement, outlined our initiatives, and clarified our vision for the sustainable neighborhood we are helping to create.

The IDT Energy scammers showed up at our building yesterday. Hepcat listened over the intercom while they spoke with one of our neighbors on the stoop. They said they were employees of ConEd and wanted to change their payment options or something like that. They asked to see my neighbor’s bill. That’s all that Hepcat heard.

Hepcat found an article about this scam online. The idea is to get customers to switch from ConEd by posing as ConEd workers and using misleading sales tactics.

They say something along the lines of "We need to make sure you got a discount on your last energy bill .Just sign here…"

Just making sure you got a discount. IDT Energy may be a legitimate company(?) but they use terrible tactics to get new customers.

Beware. This is a scam. Mindy Bockstein, Chairperson and Executive Director of the New York State Cosumer Protection Board, had this to say back in December of 2007.

"It is disturbing to hear that many consumers are being taken advantage of by unsavory marketing practices being used by some energy service companies (ESCOs). I am calling on the Public Service Commission to review exisiting policies and to move forward by establishing new and enforceable marketing rules. The new rules should be accompanied by a range of sanctions…"

But this problem persists. So beware.

Parents in Park Slope and especially those who subscribe to Park Slope Parents are upset that Noggin, the groovy kid’s cable channel popular with Park Slope toddlers was not being provided on Time Warner Cable in the last few days. Seems that there’s a very public conflict going on between Viacom (which provides the programming) and Time Warner Cable. Here one member of Park Slope Parents explains the situation.

So sorry everyone is missing Noggin and Dora!

The crux of the matter is not a local one, and phone calls to Time Warner Cable
won’t do a whole lot, I’m afraid. Getting the message to the central
bodies of these companies may do more, but voting with your dollars
will do even more than that.

Viacom is a huge company that essentially provides programming and
channels to the huge company that delivers them to your house, Time
Warner Cable. Viacom thinks they’ve been underpaid for their
programming for some time and are demanding an increase in what TWC
pays them, despite the current horrific economic conditions. TWC has
said no, so Viacom stopped providing the channels. As of this morning,
Nickelodeon, MTV, and Comedy Central are on track to return ASAP.

Expect the “blackout” to persist for quite a while for some channels-
until TWC loses too many customers or some agreement is reached.

I am uncertain but strongly suspect that all other providers still
have the Viacom channels (DirectTV, RCN, Optimum, etc). As of this
morning, we definitely do and are a non-TWC family.

My friend Michele Madigan Somerville sent word of a performance of ”Amahl and the Night Visitors “ at her church TONIGHT.

She writes:

“…well, it’s for the worthy cause of the bricks and mortar of the baby cathedral. Ann the soprano singing the lead adult role may be the best singer I’ve ever heard. Her voice makes me cry. The ticket prices are a litle steep for some, but they are donations and there are student and senior rates too. No one should stay away because of a price of a ticket.

“‘Amahl ‘ is a Christmas opera. It’s short (one hour) and it’s in English — a great introduction to
opera for younger children! It’s in English. Dancer and Berkeley Carroll teacher Dalienne Majors has
directed this performance for the past three years .

I saw the dress rehearsal tonight. Nicholas Frieman
is wonderful in the role of the boy and Ann Beirne, a wondrous and exquisite soprano, plays the role of
the mother.

The opera is performed in St. Augustine Church proper. As you know, St. Augustine Church
is an architectural masterpiece , a unique brownstone church – a Gothic –Romanesque blend — built in
1887 -1890. This performance of Amahl is a benefit for the restoration of the church and bell tower.
(An extensive, expensive restoration of this landmark and local work of art has been ongoing for the
past few years.)

The Where and When

Amahl and the Night Visitors
Friday, January 2nd 8pm
St. Augustine Church
116 Sixth Avenue
Between Park and Sterling Places in Park Slope
$20, $10 for students and seniors (suggested donation)
(718) 783-3132.

I know what Park Slope jazz musician Joshua Shneider is doing tonight:

Come spend New Year’s Eve with me and my Quartet featuring Monte Croft, keyboards and vocals; Gregory Ryan, bass and Eric Halvorson on drums, at Bussaco in Park Slope, Brooklyn.
 

Bussaco is a fabulous new restaurant with incredible food and
drink which was just opened by my old friend Scott Carney and his wife
Melanie Kozol. It is a beautiful, spacious room with a full bar and a
warm comfortable vibe. Scott is a sommelier who has been in the
business for many years and has now created a first class restaurant in
the Slope. Check them out at www.bussacobklyn.com.
 

As for my fine band, we will be playing some of the greatest hits from
the last 100 years, as well as whatever we feel when the spirit visits
us.
 

Please join us for the night or, if you’re already booked, just stop by and have a drink first. We’d love to see you.
New Year’s Eve at:

Bussaco

833 Union St

Brooklyn, NY 11215

Reservations Recommended 718.857.8828

www.bussacobklyn.com

I just got this note from Fonda at Zuzu’s Petals:

We are going to need all our best everything in the coming year.

For The Zuzus that means the freshest, most long lasting well priced flowers, plants, gifts and the best energy we can generate.

To all zuzushoppers and their families we wish good health, and all the usual joy, love and peace the average person might desire.

Here are the latest greetings from Scott Turner of Rocky Sullivan’s in Red Hook!!

Greetings Pub Quiz Midnight Revelers…

One of the wonderful and maddening things in this world are the parallel happenings that re-define irony.  Sometimes, we giggle.  Others, we turn away in horror.  Occasionally, it’s both.

Diane, the dogs and I were returning from Pittsburgh on Sunday evening.  One signpost that we’re closing in on New York City is when 1010 WINS
starts coming in on the radio.  There’s not a lot of radio between
Pittsburgh and New York — well, there is, but there’s, you know, not.  This includes driving through Pennsylvania’s capital region, Harrisburg.

Between Brooklyn and the Steel City sits my favorite radio station that I’ve never actually listend to: WMLK, the short-wave station transmitting from the Assemblies of Yahweh. Right off Interstate 78 in Bethel, PA.  No AM or FM for WMLK.  You can only get it on short-wave frequency — 9265
                kHz.  According to WMLK’s website, the station targets Europe and the Middle East.

Testing one…two…three.  WMLK founder Elder Meyer in the early days…or the early End of Days, perhaps.

I
have no idea whether I’d like what WMLK bounces off the clouds.  Prolly
not, but since I don’t have a short-wave transmitter, who knows?
According to WMLK’s website, "The steel posts that were used for the antenna construction
  fulfilled a prophecy found in Jeremiah 31:21. "Set yourself up
  waymarks, make yourself guideposts [sign‑posts]; set your heart toward
  the highway, even the way by which you went: turn again, O virgin of Israel,
  turn again to these your cities."  This would give some indication of the Assembly of Yahweh’s stance on things.

Transmitting
the word of some version of some god not enough for you?  WMLK sells
its spare parts, too!  If you need various components from a RCA BTA 50G and a RCA BTA 50F ("priced to sell. You can make your needs known via e-mail") or the empty cabinets from the BTA 50F ("we were intending on using these cabinets for a 100KW Short-wave
                  unit.
                We
                  have since purchased a BBC 250 KW unit and installed this instead"), your prayers have been answered — undoubtedly by folks who like answering prayers.

Look at the bright side — you can’t get O’Reilly, Hannity or Limbaugh on WMLK.

We were hoping to find news on the Israeli decimation of Gaza.  News, analysis, discussion.  Nothing.  We did find religious proselytizing, Ravens and Eagles and Jets games, mainstream country stations and oldies which, imposingly, now include songs from when I was in high-school.

1010 WINS finally broke through the I-78 corridor static with an advertisement urging us to donate our car to the L’Chaim Society.  "L’Chaim means life!" the narrator cheerfully intoned.

That was followed by the latest from Gaza — a second day of Israeli military bombardment, hundreds of Palestinians dead, two confirmed Israeli deaths from Hamas missles.

"L’chaim means life!"

History tells us many things.  One is that bullies have a hard time maintaining the moral high ground.

This has been a
year to remember.  Sadly, it’s so memorable because of all the terrible
things we’d like to forget — the economy, the continued foreign-policy
wastelands of Iraq and Afghanistan, people close to us we’ve lost (hope
you’ve escaped your demons, John Costelloe), the human inability to
solve disagreements without weaponry, the seduction of easy solutions
for tough problems, the vacuum of leadership, the dearth of people
getting involved, and cutting-edge technology cutting us off from one
another with increasing frequency.

That so many of you come out to the Rocky Sullivan’s Pub Quiz
week after week pushes that last item to the curb.  A little bit, at
least.  It’s a chance to rub shoulders with other folks, be part
something fun, thoughtful, challenging and inebriating.  For one night
a week, we can lock arms with the world and at the same time reject the
notion of a culture where everyone’s no closer than arms-length.  The
arms being our computers, PDAs, cell-phones, TMs, IMs, WWWs, PlayStations, Wiis, movies-on-demand, Netflixes and anything else that replaces hand-shakes and hugs with ones and zeroes.

There
are still a lot of options for being with each other in the flesh.
It’s an honorific that you choose Rocky’s and the Quiz come Thursday
night.  Thanks also to everyone who’s spread the word about Rocky
Sullivan’s Pub Quiz — the grapevine, the bloggers, the word-of-mouth,
the forwarding of these e-mails.

…and yes, this is another irony — thanking you for being human by sending a group e-mail.

Life ain’t perfect.  But it sure is lively.

Ring in the New Year with a quirky display of new works-in-progress and stop motion puppet animations from The Lab at St. Ann’s Warehouse.

On Thursday, January 1, 2009 at 12 Noon in Coney Island express how you feel about what’s going on in Coney Island. Join others on West Tenth Street at the memorial shrine on Boardwalk Gates of Coney Island’s closed and dismantled Astroland Park…Bring photos, drawings, letters,  poems, flowers to add to the shrine.

Residents and tourists who come to Coney Island on New Year’s Day will be shocked to find historic bars and storefronts closed and colorful signage obliterated by Thor Equities “Space for Lease” banners. A few days before Christmas, Thor CEO Joe Sitt’s agents began evicting longtime tenants by cutting off locks, asking for triple the rent, or refusing to discuss 2009 leases. On Christmas Eve, huge custom-sized "Space For Lease" banners were put up on Ruby’s Bar & Grill, Nathan’s Boardwalk store, Cha Cha’s, and others businesses on Thor owned property in Coney Island. On September 7, Astroland closed forever after 46 years as Coney Island’s largest amusement park when Thor refused to grant a lease for the 2009 season.

"Especially in this economy, the city should not allow Thor Equities to displace an entire community of successful, thriving businesses who are contributing tourism dollars and tax revenue to the city,” says Dianna Carlin, owner of the Lola Staar Souvenir shop who found out on Christmas Eve that Thor Equities was evicting her from her shop on the Boardwalk.  "This is the type of economic climate where Coney Island, the People’s Playground, would thrive because it provides accessible recreation for all during tough economic times and instead they are allowing it to be senselessly destroyed."

Why are Mayor Bloomberg, City Councilman Domenic Recchia and Lynn Kelly, President of the Coney Island Development Corporation, allowing Joe Sitt to get away with murdering Coney Island?  This is your opportunity to say Thor No More!… Mayor Mike, Give Us Back our Playground!…Hey Domenic, Don’t let Pal Joey Kill Coney!….CIDC, Go Back to the Drawing Board!

“It is tragic that the City’s flawed redevelopment plan allowed predatory developer Thor Equities to take over and darken Coney Island,” says historian Charles Denson, a Coney Island native who began documenting his world-famous neighborhood when he was 12 and Steeplechase Park was set to be demolished. “The only way Coney Island will be saved for future generations is if the Bloomberg administration modifies its unrealistic rezoning plan and preserves the existing amusement zoning in its entirety. It is hard to believe that a shopping mall developer from Bensonhurst has brought the Bloomberg administration to its knees.”

The City’s rezoning plan is a capitulation to Thor Equities and almost completely abolishes the amusement district for the sake of high rise condos disguised as hotels and generic retail. Coney Island is currently zoned for 61 acres of amusements; the city’s new proposal reduces the amount of amusements to 9 acres. This reduction of the Amusement District will destroy Coney Island’s legacy as "the People’s Playground" and defeat the goal of creating a world class amusement and tourist destination.

“Change is inevitable in Coney Island but it MUST be change we can believe in,” says Dick Zigun, the founder and director of Coney Island USA .   Known as the unofficial “Mayor of Coney Island” and the spokesman for the amusement district, Zigun was on the board of directors of the Coney Island Development Corporation until he resigned in protest in June 2008. “The CIDC compromised its plan for the amusement park last May to the extent that I had to resign to live with myself,” says Zigun. “Now its becoming clear that they city doesn’t have any interim plan and as a result, five hundred working people have lost their jobs in the amusement industry.  The Municipal Arts Society of Manhattan has come forth with a plan for a world class tourist attraction in Coney Island for the 21st century. It is faster, better and cheaper.   The CIDC must go back to the drawing board!”

For additional information on Coney Island redevelopment & how to help visit:
–Save Coney Island @ http://www.fightforyourrighttoconey.com/Home.html
–Save Coney Island @ http://www.myspace.com/saveconeyisland
–Municipal Art Society’s www.imagineconey.com

Tonight: The 27th annual New Year’s Eve fireworks spectacular at Grand Army Plaza . The free celebration, sponsored by BP Markowitz and held in partnership with the Prospect Park Alliance, starts around 11 p.m. with music from Blacksmith Organization. Hot refreshments will be provided by Starbucks.

Best locations for viewing the midnight fireworks include anywhere in Grand Army Plaza , inside the Park on the West Drive , and along Prospect Park West between Grand Army Plaza and 9th Street.

.