Spring Rains

"Be still, sad heart!  And cease repining; behind the cloud is the sun still shining; the fat is the common fate of all, into each life some rain must fall."   
                           Henry Wadsworth Longfellow 

Russian Orthodox visiting the Memorial

It’s been a tough month, while so very grateful that No one I know personally was hurt or killed by the Marathon Madness, it’s still surreal.  Honestly, feel some guilt pangs with the frustration (unexpected vacation which my checkbook is not happy about), the news trucks which just recently left Boylston Street onto the next disaster (I have no idea how people deal with that nonsense), the memorial which is hauntingly beautiful and still growing…

So, once again, the Hx3 is healing on yet another level.  The last couple of weekends, I’ve felt less the need to be doing something New York-ish so feverishly, but just settling in, relaxing.  Of course, the spring rains have helped with that.  It’s been nice to simply read (although I’ve been ignoring Uncle John’s letters for awhile..), catch up with Kristi, quietly being together, sharing light meals..going to Sojourn for late night dessert and wine.

Greeting us @ School

I’m really enjoying my Philosophy classes.  As the teacher guides us and reminds us that it’s Practical Philosophy, not airy-fairy stuff it’s another process which is truly healing.  As I have been able to go pretty consistently on Saturday mornings, I understand why it’s recommended that you try to commit to one class.  Connections, comfort level of communication, are made.  Last week I discovered that the youngest member of our class is at NYU’s Dental School.  We had a lovely chat during break, and shared phone numbers with the plan to connect and chat some more!  Another lovely Lady and I made a connection during an exercise during class, and have a date following next week’s class! 

Spring rains smell wonderful, don’t they?  I love naps, as I think I’ve mentioned.  I’ve gifted myself with a few in recent weeks.  The smells, even in the City, the sound of the rain.. tranquil, rejuvenation at its best. 

Clemente Solo Velez

Mother’s Day Sunday, I ventured down to the Lower East Side to an Art Show, cutlog.  From its catalog:  “cutlog has built in Paris over the past five years a platform where emerging, under-represented and off the grid artists gain global visibility in the contemporary art market.  Since its inception, cutlog has been repurposing the trading floor of Paris’ historical stock exchange into an art fair.  For it’s New York debut, cutlog will occupy three floors of the Clemente-a former public school that for twenty years has been a community cultural center, Clemente Solo Velez, and is now an authentic symbol of the Lower East Side.

It was great.  The building is beautiful, neo-gothic.  The art was interesting and varied.  My favorite two "shows were, of course, by women.  They weren’t the artists.  Angelica Francis is the founding direct or of Per Partes Projects, an institutional and private art advisory services, a pop-up art gallery of sorts.  Angelica represents different artist and has shows in different venues,  and spaces.  Very interesting, a Lady who turned her passion of art into a small thriving business!

The second was Time In (www.timeinkids.org).  Time in was founded by Cybde Bellen-Berthezene, an opera singer, when her daughter was young.  It’s mission : Joyously engaging the arts to ensure underserved children the tools and support they deserve to flourish, thrive & hope.  A number of wonderful artists donated their work to TimeIn for the show.

After that great experience, I met with my New York Friend at Bemelman’s Bar at the Carlysle Hotel.  I was able to share one of my favorite places with a New Yorker who had never been there! 

Last Saturday night, I ventured to Carroll Gardens in Brooklyn for Lit Crawl.   (I am determined to get to know Brookyn a bit while we have the Hx3.)  From its brochure: “New York’s Lit Crawl is a madcap concept first created by San Francisco’s Litquake literary festival in 2004.   It’s a bar crawl with literature!”

"To anyone and everyone who would rather jam to Virginia Woolf than a woofer. Who still fancies Hemingway the all-time bar-brawl champ or has, at some point, uttered the word “transcendental” in a social setting. To anyone who has ever snuck a flask into the library. This is your night."
-The Village Voice

My first event was “Prompt.  Write.  Share.  Rinse.  Repeat.  Write-in with Gotham Writer’s Workshop” at Ceol, the Irish word for music, on Smith Street.  It was the quintessential Irish Pub (so hard to come by in NYC), so I went early to have a light bite, and enjoyed their shepherd’s pie.  I ended up sitting with the President and his Wife of Gotham Writer’s Workshop.  (I have been wanting to take one of their classes for years.)

The second event I went to was “Smith Magazine’s Six-Word Memoir Slam” at the BookCourt (small indie bookstore) on COurt Street.  Storytellers (published authors: Amy Sohn, Dave Bry, Nelson George, and Cheryl Della Pietra) each told a Six-Word Memoir, followed by a back-story, in six minutes.  An audience participation followed with prizes.  The theme was Sex, Drugs, and Rock n Roll (or Hip Hop).  Fun!   

Sunday presented with another rainy, raw day.  What better time to enjoy a neighborhood brunch?  Kristi and I thoroughly enjoyed a long, lazy one at the Spanish Tapas restaurant, PilPil, around the corner on 78^th Street!