Holiday in Bohemia Part Two

so where did we leave off?

Mic's bathroom was flooding, I joined the rest of the unwashed on the subway... and I was off to visit Gillian in her new Bachelorette Pad: Loft Edition (BP:LE) which she shares with three others.
It was only about 15 mins to get from Mic's to Gillian's. So easy. When I got off the subway I was in a very loud area with lots of trains, bridges and underpasses... I milled about wondering where to go for a while. Incidentally, I was also wondering if taking a pee on the street would be neighborhood appropriate because I had to go so bad. I called Garth to get help with directions and he directed me. The first thing I saw was an interesting concrete park. See the green painted grass?

It wasn't long before I found Gillian who, to my pleasure and envy, has attained hotbody through marathon training. She has a specific category of hotbody: hotlegs!!! I need to run a marathon to get these legs. Check them out.

Stepping into Gillian's loft was quite a contrast from Mic's tiny East Village apartment. It was a huge 3000 square foot loft! Gillian lives with a photographer, a painter and a musician (Anna, Leigha, Daniel) I spent about 30 minutes walking around in complete awe of their cool pad.

Luckily Gilly was up for an adventure. The Prosecco began to flow so the adventure started in her living room (well the couch part of the one gigantic room). Gillian's friend Chad was in town. He looks such a lot like Colin Firth that after about 1.5 glasses of Prosecco, I started calling him Colin. It was quite rude, yes, but don't you think he looks exactly like a younger Colin? He really does. (Chad + Prosecco = Colin)

After drinking and talking with Colin and Gilly's roomies we all went out to dinner at Superfine. I had a steak dinner and Colin and I were partners at pool. I think I was drunk at Superfine because I have vague memories of a small child buzzing around our pool game...but who knows? After the superfine food (it was really good!) we visited a studio for an exciting private viewing of Leigha's paintings. Leigha is the woman on the right in the picture.

The next leg of our adventure (with some prompting and pleading from a certain Canadian visitor who loves sing-alongs) was a sing-along at this park which has views of the Manhattan bridge and the Brooklyn bridge. Daniel brought his guitar and Gillian and I brought mugs of sparkling wine. (Adventure = drunk) Check out some pictures of the antics. (Antics = sitting on the grass)

After that we went out to a dance club called Rebar. As you can see I was dressed for success and spent the time that I was not dancing (ie the whole time) chatting with a cute bartender. For me, the highlight of this leg of the adventure was being told by a young black man with dreads that I looked like Ellen DeGeneres. Let's face it. He was really, really right. I still felt like I needed a comeback so I said 'yah well you look like Milli Vanilli.' I (like Ellen DeGeneres) have been blessed with the quickwit and usually find myself making a joke or comeback before I even consciously think the thought of it. Well the timing was excellent but it is not until this very moment that I realize how much he DID look like Milli Vanilli (either guy really because of the hair and skin tone). Good one!

We closed the place, went for snacks at Peas and Pickles, witnessed a store clerk hit a complaining patron in the mouth and headed home to the BP:LE.

The next afternoon I was back in Toronto with my head just full of ideas about film and the arts and community development. I was really inspired by the holiday. (Inspired = want to quit my job) Anyway, that was holiday in Bohemia. Thanks to all who made it possible.

My next adventure in NYC is Nov 1-6th when I will cheer Gillian on at the NYC Marathon and enjoy New York with Shirley, my friend and Gillian and Garth's mum.

Things I'm looking forward to in this next visit:

1) Seeing Gillian's hotbody legs in action at the marathon and cheering people on. I really love marathons. The energy is incredible.

2) Bonding with Shirley. Shirley was the 'designated mom' who dropped off and picked up Garth and I at Oktoberfest. The pickup was hilar because everyone was drunk outside Concordia club and they all started cheering 'Mom!!!' and Shirley got out of her red convertible so someone could take a picture. The police told her to move along. THEN didn't we take the cake?! Shirley, Garth and I went through the Taco Bell drive through!

3) Seeing Odd Todd in Brooklyn. I've tried twice already and he has blown me off but I can't give up because it is on my list to find him and his dog Roscoe.

4) Going to a museum with Chetan (previous Northwater coworker) - either the Museum of Natural History or the Guggenheim. TBD.

5) Seeing Mic again. We are doing so well with the visits. She is a consultant so she can fly to Toronto easily for free. We've got a plan for that in the hopper too. I'm hoping we can have a painting party with Anthony too. This was something we ran out of time for last visit...

Stay tuned for an update after my next trip to NYC... In the meantime, it's time for Hallowe'en!

xo

d

Holiday in Bohemia

To celebrate Thanksgiving, I headed to New York City... centre of the universe! The theme of the weekend: Creativity! Photography, film, poetry, music, painting, and of course, Fluevog.
My trip allowed visits to two friends: Mic in the East Village and Gillian in Brooklyn (formerly Park Slope, recently relocated to DUMBO) I was there October 5th - 8th but the weather was what you'd expect on the hottest weekend of August. Mic still managed to shop like a trooper but I was put off buying sweaters!

The weekend was so much fun, I must give the play-by-play!

Friday I flew in and took a cab to Mic's place in the East Village. I buzzed and upon entry began to carry my bags up the stairs to the fourth floor. Immediately, I heard a huge racket of running and stomping, stomping and running. I thought it must be kids playing upstairs. Still, a small part of my brain played out an 'imagine if' (does anyone have a brain that generates scenarios ranging from marginally to completely unlikely several hundred times per day?) and I imagined: "What if that stampede is actually Mic running down cuz she's so excited to see me?!?" Well believe it or not... (and this never happens with imagine ifs)... it was! In seconds Mic and her roommate Anthony were there whisking my bags away from me and carrying them up, up, up. I can't say why this sticks out so much but I guess I just felt welcomed. This hospitality was to set the tone for my whole visit.

Mic and I has some Prosecco (drink of the weekend) and I got meet Anthony and his brother Paul. Now these were two bantertastic high brows brothers of the highest order of funny and I was immediately relishing the richness and colour of the conversation. Mic and I decided to mission out in the East Village. Since the theme was Bohemia, we started out at the Bowery Poetry Club. Since it was Friday night, there was no poetry, only a dj spinning some sounds with video in the background. Very cool but we could not hear our own conversation very well so we moved on. Next we tried to find the Korova Milk Bar, inspired by A Clockwork Orange. Sadly, it had been relocated to White Plains, NY! Dammit! I had my heart set on a little of the ol' in-out in-out along with some ultraviolence! Instead, we went to KGB Bar, which was a lot of fun. Still, the conversation in Mic's own apartment clearly stole the thunder...

Saturday morning, Mic and I got up and went shopping in SoHo. I bought two new pairs of Fluevogs, in the spirit of artistic expression. Seriously, these things make me happy, happy, happy. Mic is always a healthy shopper. She bought a dress, a sweater, some lingerie, a green purse, some cards... I am apparently a good catalyst for her in shopping situations!


At 3 pm we headed back to the apartment to help out Anthony, and his business partner Martha with a segment for their way cool project: The Greatest Living Writers Project. They film poets performing their works and then provide the video to schools so students get exposure to a broad range of spoken word. The poet they filmed was Nikki Batin. The filming was done on the rooftop of Mic and Anthony's building and I even got to help with lighting and one of the cameras. Nikki's work was amazing. It really resonated with me (many of us I suspect) as one of her themes is body image. After the filming, we ate and drank with Nikki and her partner Brooks in the surreal pink light of sunset. As far as moments of appreciation, this was way up there. I felt happy, thankful, and inspired.

Back in the apartment, after the guests had left, Mic, Anthony and I had a groove session including a keyboard (Mic and D), a guitar (Anthony) and a harmonica (Anthony again). That Anthony... so full of tricks! I became addicted to the keyboard and really started to find my groove. Next time I will heighten and explore ;) Mic and I went out to a bar in the West Village called the Ear Inn and met up with some of her friends from North Dakota.

Sunday morning (hungover, second night in a row!) Mic and I headed out to brunch (NoLita Cafe? To be confirmed) and by 'brunch' I mean a huge burger, fries, 3 coffees and 2 sangrias! Mic and I were giggly since we had not slept much and were weak. Then we walked around and did some window shopping but our anticipation of a shower got us back to the apartment quickly. Sadly, no shower was forthcoming. While we were out, a toilet above had continuously overflowed and was leaking water all over Mic's bathroom including the window sill, toilet and part of the shower. Not only were we not taking a shower, we couldn't even pee!

This was when one of my favourite Mic traits emerged... (and there are many!) Mic just took the whole leak thing in stride. She called Anthony, called the super and then... just chilled. I honestly don't remember her dropping an f-bomb or anything! She is so freakin' cool like that.

Unshowered, full-bladder be damned, I was packed and on my way to visit Gilly in Brooklyn...

Stay tuned for holiday in bohemia part two...

xox d

Look Sunny - You can see forever!

This weekend I headed to Waterloo. It turned out to be a hard visit. Our dog Winston is not doing well now. He is 12 and recently started limping a lot. Turns out he has a bad knee in one of his back legs. The vet gave two options a few weeks ago: 1) Limit his activity - no jumping, running, playing etc. and maybe it will heal itself since he is a small guy or 2) an expensive knee surgery with a painful 4 month recovery.

Well we tried option 1 and it is not working. Given his age and the seriousness of the surgery, we have ruled out 2. Argh. So we are having a sad time. Crying in the living room. Crying at brunch. Crying on poor Hop Along himself...


Sitting outside in Sunny's backyard with her and Garth this afternoon, I heard the leaves rustling in the cooled autumn sunshine. Many of you know that my favourite season is approaching. There is such a depth and wisdom to the beauty of autumn. I always experience the excitement of it, but there is also a sadness, and this year I feel it acutely.

We talked about seasons and about getting older. We talked about how older people live in a memories of happy times and we wondered in what space and time we would place ourselves when we were senile seniors. Sunny said she would likely be back in the time when Garth and Gillian were young. She remembered a summer in P.E.I. when Garth was 4... They climbed to the top of a high sand dune. Garth, on his belly, looked over the edge and said 'Look Sunny! You can see forever!'