Gotham Gal

The Story of Forgetting

Not sure I how I came upon this book but I am glad that I did.  The Story of Forgetting is a first novel by Stefan Merril Block who is 26 years old so he probably around the book when he was 23/24.  Quite impressive.

The story weaves together 3 separate stories.  The two main characters, Seth and Abel, and each of their stories.  Seth's mother has early stage Alzheimer's and he is determined to look into the history of her family and find out why.  He knows very little about her except that he is his mother.  He is a geeky nerdy kid who is sort of an outcast who's determination makes the book a page turner.  Abel, is a reclusive old man still living in a shack among mansions in Dallas holding on to his land and life.  His story is of his life with his brother, his wife and daughter.  They are also affected by Alzheimer's. 

The other piece is the story of Isadora which is a place where nobody remembers anything.  A tale told through out the book.  Sort of like an Aesop fable.  There is also the piece of history which is how genetically Alzheimer's has moved from generation to generation across continents.

A really well written book.  Interesting voices.  The culmination of all these stories at the end puts the whole book together.  A worthwhile read.   

Taste of the Nation, Share Our Strength

I have been going to the Taste of the Nation event for the past 4 years.  Last year I brought Jess and Josh and this year Em joined along.  Unfortunately for Fred, he is in San Francisco this week.   

There are many things I like about this event.  All the proceeds, due to the sponsors, go directly to their mission which is feeding and educating the hungry.  The event in NYC is also put on in other cities around the country so Share Our Strength is a national organization.  They don't try to reinvent the wheel.  Every year the event is a success and they stick with a formula that works. 

The formula is getting high level sponsors to underwrite the event, get top restaurants and chefs to set up a table and give away tastes from their establishment, have a live and silent auction and above all, enjoy and eat.  It completely works.

My kids loved it.  Going with them is a serious outing.  They go to every single table (there are a lot) and try and discuss each thing.  First we begin with the savory and then make the lap around again for desserts.  The hardest thing is finding water because most of the refreshment tables are liquor.  Josh and I thought the best two dishes were from Union Square Cafe and Kobe Club.  Kobe Club served a beef cheek ravioli covered in a brown sauce with a slight hint of truffles.  I think Josh ate three if not more which is why he was ill by the time we left.  Union Square served a mini thin layered beef lasagna covered with a pea risotto with large peas through out the sauce.  We were happy to see Ricks Picks giving out prosciutto wrapped smokin' okras and sliced baguettes smeared with goat cheese and layered with phat beets.  Right near Rick was Greyston Bakery giving out their brownies. 

Highlight of the night, the kids hanging and chatting up Spike from Top Chef.  They love the show and have watched all four seasons.  Spike is the chef at Mai House which had a table there.  A very cool guy. 

From Up Here

One of my favorite moments last night after seeing From Up Here at Manhattan Theater Club was the crowd at end of the show.  As we were leaving the show, both my friend and I decided we would go home and read the New York Times review again to see their take on the play.  Obviously we weren't the only ones a bit confused when we walked out.  The crowd, which was at least 25 people, were all straining to read the New York Times review that had been blown up and plastered on the wall.  It was a very funny sight.  Smart minds must think a like. 

Conceptually, the play is an interesting topic.  Seemingly a normal family is trying to get back to their day to day life after the teenage son walked into school one day with a gun, unloaded, and a list of who he would like to kill.  Hmmm.  If you over look all of the credibility issues in the play, then the story could be interesting.  You would assume that if a kid did something like that they would not go back to school, have to give a speech to the school apologizing for their behavior, spend time speaking with a teacher (not a therapist), have to work with another random student to help him feel comfortable about his re-entry into school and the only annoying nuisance is having someone check his back pack daily and a parent must sign him in and out of school.  Hmmm.  I would hope that is not how a school or community or family would deal with an issue like this but in this play, they do. 

Tobias Segal, who plays Kenny (the main character) and Aya Cash who play his sister Lauren and Will Rogers who plays the sort of boy friend of Lauren are all fantastic.  They are young and talented and we will be seeing more of them in the future.  That is the good thing.  The other good thing is that the play only lasts an hour and forty-five minutes with no intermission.

Shootings on high school and college campuses happen way to often these days.  Once is too many times.  There have been a few movies that have been made on this topic.  Although the play attempts to tackle this topic from the "normal" family angle, it really comes up short.  I couldn't look past the unfocused plot and the credibility issues. 

I am still a fan of MTC.  The play did give you food for thought but fell short on the execution. 

Greyston Bakery

Greyston Bakery has the ultimate business model.  It is a $6.5 million for-profit business which gives all of the proceeds to the Greyston Foundation.  The Greyston Foundation then supports community development initiatives from low-income housing, childcare, health services, technology education, HIV health care and community gardens mostly for Yonkers.  They supply desserts and baked goods to top-rated restaurants in and around NYC.  They also supply the brownies in Ben and Jerry's ice cream.   From the beginning, Greyston employed economically and socially challenged people.  Through Greyston's efforts, they have helped break the cycle of poverty by creating opportunity for the hard to employ. 

I also like that they are a profit company with a social conscious.  They have decided to pour all their money back into the community but it is run like a profit business which makes all the difference in the world.  The profit world creates a different set of standards which is probably one of the many reasons for the success.  The people who have been employed by Greyston see what it means to run a profit company every day.

They have just launched a new product.  It is called the do-goodie brownie.   You can buy this brownie at Whole Foods, Balducci's, Gristedes, Good & Natural (Bronx), Health & Harmony, Park Slope Co-op and Westerly Natural Market and at their site.  All profits from the brownie are donated directly to the Greyston Foundation so as they say, you can feed your conscience too.

There are four different flavors; chocolate fudge, espresso bean, walnut fudge and brown sugar brownie.  Yes, good for your conscience but they are delicious.  I mean fantastic.  Rich, gooey, full of flavor, intensely delicious.  Also, they make cakes to order.  Next big event,  I am going to buy from them.  They make wedding cakes too.  If the brownies are any indication of what their other sweets taste like, then doing business with Greyston Bakery is a winner on all sides.  Good for the soul and good for the taste buds.   

Mother's Day Gift

I had no idea what to expect.  This year was a total winner.  An espresso machine.  Super strong, user friendly and delicious.  I am looking forward to mornings and being able to  just walk into the kitchen and get a fantastic cup of joe.  I have the French press but just put it in the closet for a hiatus.  The side gift was beans from Joe's, Gimme Coffee and 9th Street Espresso.  Three of the best coffee places in NYC.  Delicious!

ByKids.org

Last night we went to a fund raiser for the organization BYkids.  BYKids give 5 kids, each year, the tools to create a documentary about their life and package them to show to a worldwide audience.  Great idea.  Having just seen Baghdad High where four kids documented their life, through a hand held camera over the course of the year, was incredibly powerful and I would hope that it will be seen by a vast audience. 

What was impressive about last nights event that it was put together by a 17 year girl who is a junior in high school.  She is the daughter of a couple we became friends with when we lived in Chappaqua 10 years ago.  We have kept up our friendship and I get together with the Mom a few times a year for lunch.  Their daughter, who I knew when she was 8, is now six feet tall and beautiful, just marks how much time has passed.  Is everyone taller than me?  She did a fantastic job last night and it is quite impressive that she pulled off this event and raised a significant amount of cash for BYkids.  Bravo.

Jessica came to the event with Fred and me.  She too had not seen the majority of people at the event in 10 years.  One person at the event I actually worked for briefly.  Helped him target new business.  Our families were friends and our kids were all the same age.  We'd hang out on Sunday afternoon with the kids eating and drinking.  A very suburban thing to do.  His company wasn't my thing but it kept me busy as I was also working for Silicon Alley Reporter at the same time and realized quickly that was where I wanted to spend all my time.  It was really nice to see him last night.   No surprise to me, he has grown his business and done really well.  Very entrepreneurial guy. 

Last night, he said to me "you never liked Chappaqua".  It wasn't quite that but I always had one foot in the city.  I never wanted my head to leave the city.  In many ways, my life in the city has benefited from our 5 years in the suburbs (Fred refers to that time as our time in purgatory).  I take in the city with gusto every day.  I also thank my lucky stars that I live here every day.  My friend wanted to know if the kids have any interest to return to suburban life.  I laughed and said our kids are total urbanites.  He asked me what was it that I don't like.  It is simple, I don't like the woods.  Obviously there is more to it but that is the simple answer.

For Jessica, the night was interesting too.  She said that if we had stayed, she would have been just like all the kids there.  She is so completely different than all those kids.  The difference between city kids and suburban kids at that age is huge.  Being empowered at an early age to own your own town breeds a certain maturity at a young age. 

When we left ( which was early ), Jessica thanked us profusely.  She said the best decision we ever made as parents is leaving the suburbs.  She talked to Emily on the phone and continued to espouse that same thing.  Who knows that life would have been if we had stayed but lucky for us we didn't.  Jessica is right, it was not only the best decision we made for her but it was the best decision we made for us. 

Mother's Day

Yesterday someone told me that they tell their kids that every day is Mother's Day.  I thought everyday was Kid's day.  I guess it is all how you look at it.

Happy Mothers Day to all Mothers.  Today is your day to be doted on.  Enjoy it. 

Barrio Chino

In general, I am not a big Mexican food lover probably because I find it very hard to eat just one chip.  For lunch today, I ate at a at Barrio Chino which is located on Broome between Orchard and Ludlow.  My friend who I went with said her friend, from Texas, thinks it is the best Mexican food in NYC. 

What I love about the place is the atmosphere.  Granted it was lunch and the evening is probably a total hipster 20+ crowd but it is quite mellow at lunch.  The windows are open, the noises of the street comes in.  Tables are community style and others are not.  The menu is simple.  The fish tacos, three small little ones with grilled fish not deep fried, were tasty.  Three salsas were a nice addition on the side.  The guacamole is thick and chunky, the chips are home made.  But my favorite part is the grittiness to the place.  The decor is simple, the walls are as is, actually everything is as is.  This is what I love about NY. 

As NYC continues to change and grow, the grit seems to be lost.  Some restaurants are so coiffed, others are perfectly modern, others looks like fern bars from the suburbs but Barrio Chino has kept that edgy down and dirty feeling that I love about NYC.  Gets the juices flowing.

A worthwhile stop.  I will be back for dinner because the cardboard list with margaritas look too good to pass up.

Top Girls

I have been reading about Top Girls in magazines for the past few months and then yesterday in the NYTimes.  It is one of those plays I couldn't decide whether or not if I should buy a ticket.  Last night Fred and I went to see a MTC production ( we are members ) and I had no idea what we were seeing.  We walked up to Biltmore and low and behold, we were seeing Top Girls.  Guess I didn't need to worry about buying the tickets after all.

Just as the NYTimes says, the first act is the best act.  The play was written in 1982 so that is when it takes place, right around the beginnings of the Thatcher era in England.  Marlene, who has just been promoted to managing director, throws a party for herself.  She invites an interesting cast of characters.  Pope Joan who ruled Rome and the Catholic religion until she got pregnant and everyone realized she wasn't a man, Isabella Bird who is a British world traveler having been abused by her husband, Dull Grett a peasant warrior heavy on the peasant and the warrior, Lady Nijo, a concubine of the Japanese emperor who had a variety of children that were taken from her as she slept with the emperor and his pals, and Patient Grisdela who was a commoner that married a Prince who abused her as she smiled.  This cast of characters, all from different centuries, get obliterated while they eat food and toss out their stories of male abuse as they climbed their way to the top.

The other two acts are not as intriguing.  Act two shows Marlene as she is about to enter her role as the managing editor of a job placement agency.  The women in the office interview possible candidates for the jobs that are open.  What is interesting is how the job placement staff (all women) interview for each position telling each of the women candidates that men get these jobs or this is all they can expect.  Funny considering they are women in decent positions themselves.  At one point, a wife of another partner comes in the office and cries to Marlene about how her husband should have had her promotion. She continues on how hard it is for him to be working for a woman and he has a family and this is just awful obviously having no respect for how hard Marlene has worked to get where she is.  Her view is that those jobs are for men, not women.

The last act sums up the role of Marlene in her family life.  Her sister has stayed in the same town she came from, taking care of her mother and daughter (who happens to be Marlene's although the girl doesn't know it).  Her sister is unhappy, her husband left three years ago, the child she is raising (which is Marlenes) is dimwitted.  Come to think of it, everyone is unhappy.  As Marlene says at her party in the first act, "Why are we all so miserable"?  Yet, we are all supposedly so successful.  That she doesn't say but that is the underlying thought. 

What exactly is Caryl Churchill trying to tell us?  That being a woman is one sacrifice after another regardless of your success.  You can't do it all and be happy.  You must sacrifice for any road that you decide to travel down?  Regardless of the many questions need to be answered and discussed, the acting in Top Girls is brilliant.  Marisa Tomei and Martha Plimpton are fantastic.  They grab each of their characters with incredible gusto.  Just keeping an English accent going every night for 2 1/2 hours is plenty.  The level of acting and the first act is worth the price of the ticket alone. 

Nils Folke Anderson

The art world, although huge, is a very small place.  Everyone seems to know each other.  Each opening is certainly a celebration of the artists work but also one big schoozfest. 

Last night we went the Robert Miller Gallery to see the opening for an exhibit of a group of artists titled Geometry as Image.  A variety of artists from young to old who use architecture, math, shapes, etc to create images on paper, canvas, with neon and as sculpture.

We were invited by our friends to see their son-in-laws work, Nils Folke Anderson.  His work is made up of polystyrene (styrofoam) built into large open squares interlocking with 9 pieces of the same size and scope.  It is quite cool.  I stood there with two people discussing the sculpture.  One guy was a serious collector from Florida and the other I am not sure about it.  We all decided it would be fantastic if he could take the structure and have it coated in titanium or steel because it would be a great outdoor sculpture.  Each angle is different.  You want to walk around and around and look.  The styrofoam has started to shed all over the floor and it is really a site specific piece.  Not sure he could do it but it would really take the structure to another level.

The other artist that I really liked was Kenneth Snelson who used steel and aluminum rods arranged geometrically so that the cables were able to hold the piece up with only three rods touching the floor.  It c creates the illusion that the piece is floating.  A piece of art but the mathematical equation behind the piece allows it to stand on solid ground. 

I have been seeing more and more shows that are curated from the galleries with a variety of artists involved.  It creates interesting conversation to see a cross section of artists concentrating on the same concepts but coming up with completely different bodies of work.