Swim Float or Drown

03/16/11

Roman Forum

“I’ve spent as much time over the last 30 years as I possibly can because Italians seem so ambivalent about the modern world’s arrival.” —All Broads Lead to Rome,  By Michael Wolff,  Vanity Fair, September 2009

Posted at 04:12 PM | Permalink | Comments: 2

10/15/10

Tidal Wave

Me at sea.

Posted at 03:58 PM | Permalink | Comments: 0

09/30/10

Whole Fooding: Part 2

A starving artist in NYC: Visualizing abundance won't stop your stomach from growling.

Posted at 05:19 PM | Permalink | Comments: 0

08/26/10

Whole Fooding: Part 1

Living small in the big city.

Posted at 12:14 PM | Permalink | Comments: 0

08/05/10

Addendum: My Favorite Ways to Run from the Heat

Previously I wrote about how to stay relatively cool in blazing temperatures without air conditioning. At that point N.Y.C. was suffering through 95 degree weather. Now the thermometer is flirting with 100. Last night I spent trying to levitate; the friction of lying on the bed created a heat pit. By the foot of the bed two fans blasted in different directions, which created an excellent wind plume, but which really had the effect of moving blazing hot air around. “Her hair was windswept; about to catch fire.” This is the first line in my poem about last night: “Ode, to a damn hot night.” When I woke up this morning I felt vaguely hung over as water evaporated in droves from my pores even lay motionless with my eyes closed.Perhaps yesterday I should not have...

Posted at 03:52 PM | Permalink | Comments: 0

07/19/10

My Favorite Ways to Run from the Heat

This week in NY we’re suffering from heat that brings me back to my days in insufferable, congested Bombay.Remember when it was December in NYC and coldcoldcold? I looked at my summer clothes and said, “Ha! When the hell it is ever warm enough to wear that?” It happens every year! Damn it! My weather memory doesn’t extend for more than two weeks. When the seasons change I’m just as surprised as I was when I was seven.The most upsetting thing about modern air conditioning is that you relish in the chill but then inevitably have to go back outside. I actually don’t live in a place with air conditioning. In its place, a Vornado fan. The little gem creates a wind effect which causes every piece of paper in my apartment to go a’ floatin’. The...

Posted at 05:40 PM | Permalink | Comments: 0

07/02/10

Bass for Picasso

There is nothing that teaches me more about acting than theater.If things are funny when they are supposed to be, sad at the right moments, it is a beautiful meeting point of writing, directing, acting and production.When the production is flawed I ask, "Who messed up?"My mother always blames the actors. Although she doesn't get to theater much she is an avid TV watcher. According to her perspective as a RN for twenty years, Edie Falco is the devil for portraying a pill-popping nurse. "Like weer awl on drugs?"Before I became an actor I followed that judgment pattern. Now I know better.Last Friday I saw "Bass For Picasso" at the Kirk on Theater Row. Written by Beebo Brinker Chronicles writer Kate Moira Ryan, it portrays a volatile dinner between a one-legged...

Posted at 07:57 PM | Permalink | Comments: 0

06/11/10

An Ear to the Ground for the Queer in Baltimore

When I received an invitation from the Baltimore tourism folks to go down there for the LGBT show-and-tell weekend I thought: “What the hell is special about Baltimore?” The first time I had gone to Baltimore it was in high school traveling for an ASA softball tournament. All I saw of the city was fields. I missed a fly ball in the ninth inning which cost the team the tournament.I did not have pleasant feelings about the place, but I decided to accept, because I was intrigued. There must be something about the city besides softball fields! Also, with other bright stars crowding it out on the eastern seaboard — New York, D.C. and Boston — there might something about the city that everyone is missing.Hot Spots As we cruised around the city it was clear that the...

Posted at 01:36 PM | Permalink | Comments: 0

05/20/10

Survivor and the Tea Party

Although I would like to be on TV, I don’t watch it. Bad form, I know. Sometimes, however, a show sucks me in and I go back to where I was when I was 13 and watching 25 hours of TV a week—enraptured and engrossed in drama that will not help me learn more about the world. Or will it?Last night I happened upon the Survivor finale. Within five minutes I was cursing the world about a particular player named Russell. This chap was a “good Southern boy” (as described by a player who was being mislead and about to get played by him). Interestingly enough, Russell was recently arrested for punching a woman at a street fair. He is a stand-up kind of person who sweared on his family, children and grandmother when telling blatant lies. At Tribal Council (where the players...

Posted at 11:17 AM | Permalink | Comments: 0

05/13/10

Louisiana Tid-Bits

Here are observations from spending a week in Louisiana: 1. The best way to read a book is on a porch swing. 2. It possible to fry all types of food: from gizzards to shrimp to vegetables. 3. Alligators are road kill near the bayou. 4. The neighborhood areas of Louisiana look like the set of Forrest Gump (which was in Alabama, but for Yankees it's close enough).5. Folks in the deep South still call Northerners "Yankees."6. Cajun accents sound a lot like Brooklyn accents. 7. One should question the usefulness of exerting effort when its 95 degrees with 100 percent humidity.8. Life is much more pleasant on eight to nine hours of sleep daily. 9. If you are working so hard that its stressful, then its probably not worth the effort. I'm hoping to take a more laid back...

Posted at 12:28 PM | Permalink | Comments: 0

	03/16/11 Roman Forum “I’ve spent as much time over the last 30 years as I possibly can because Italians seem so ambivalent about the modern world’s arrival.” —All Broads Lead to Rome,  By Michael Wolff,  Vanity Fair, September 2009 Posted at 04:12 PM \| Permalink \| Comments: 2
	10/15/10 Tidal Wave Me at sea. Posted at 03:58 PM \| Permalink \| Comments: 0
	09/30/10 Whole Fooding: Part 2 A starving artist in NYC: Visualizing abundance won't stop your stomach from growling. Posted at 05:19 PM \| Permalink \| Comments: 0
	08/26/10 Whole Fooding: Part 1 Living small in the big city. Posted at 12:14 PM \| Permalink \| Comments: 0
	08/05/10 Addendum: My Favorite Ways to Run from the Heat Previously I wrote about how to stay relatively cool in blazing temperatures without air conditioning. At that point N.Y.C. was suffering through 95 degree weather. Now the thermometer is flirting with 100. Last night I spent trying to levitate; the friction of lying on the bed created a heat pit. By the foot of the bed two fans blasted in different directions, which created an excellent wind plume, but which really had the effect of moving blazing hot air around. “Her hair was windswept; about to catch fire.” This is the first line in my poem about last night: “Ode, to a damn hot night.” When I woke up this morning I felt vaguely hung over as water evaporated in droves from my pores even lay motionless with my eyes closed.Perhaps yesterday I should not have... Posted at 03:52 PM \| Permalink \| Comments: 0
	07/19/10 My Favorite Ways to Run from the Heat This week in NY we’re suffering from heat that brings me back to my days in insufferable, congested Bombay.Remember when it was December in NYC and coldcoldcold? I looked at my summer clothes and said, “Ha! When the hell it is ever warm enough to wear that?” It happens every year! Damn it! My weather memory doesn’t extend for more than two weeks. When the seasons change I’m just as surprised as I was when I was seven.The most upsetting thing about modern air conditioning is that you relish in the chill but then inevitably have to go back outside. I actually don’t live in a place with air conditioning. In its place, a Vornado fan. The little gem creates a wind effect which causes every piece of paper in my apartment to go a’ floatin’. The... Posted at 05:40 PM \| Permalink \| Comments: 0
	07/02/10 Bass for Picasso There is nothing that teaches me more about acting than theater.If things are funny when they are supposed to be, sad at the right moments, it is a beautiful meeting point of writing, directing, acting and production.When the production is flawed I ask, "Who messed up?"My mother always blames the actors. Although she doesn't get to theater much she is an avid TV watcher. According to her perspective as a RN for twenty years, Edie Falco is the devil for portraying a pill-popping nurse. "Like weer awl on drugs?"Before I became an actor I followed that judgment pattern. Now I know better.Last Friday I saw "Bass For Picasso" at the Kirk on Theater Row. Written by Beebo Brinker Chronicles writer Kate Moira Ryan, it portrays a volatile dinner between a one-legged... Posted at 07:57 PM \| Permalink \| Comments: 0
	06/11/10 An Ear to the Ground for the Queer in Baltimore When I received an invitation from the Baltimore tourism folks to go down there for the LGBT show-and-tell weekend I thought: “What the hell is special about Baltimore?” The first time I had gone to Baltimore it was in high school traveling for an ASA softball tournament. All I saw of the city was fields. I missed a fly ball in the ninth inning which cost the team the tournament.I did not have pleasant feelings about the place, but I decided to accept, because I was intrigued. There must be something about the city besides softball fields! Also, with other bright stars crowding it out on the eastern seaboard — New York, D.C. and Boston — there might something about the city that everyone is missing.Hot Spots As we cruised around the city it was clear that the... Posted at 01:36 PM \| Permalink \| Comments: 0
	05/20/10 Survivor and the Tea Party Although I would like to be on TV, I don’t watch it. Bad form, I know. Sometimes, however, a show sucks me in and I go back to where I was when I was 13 and watching 25 hours of TV a week—enraptured and engrossed in drama that will not help me learn more about the world. Or will it?Last night I happened upon the Survivor finale. Within five minutes I was cursing the world about a particular player named Russell. This chap was a “good Southern boy” (as described by a player who was being mislead and about to get played by him). Interestingly enough, Russell was recently arrested for punching a woman at a street fair. He is a stand-up kind of person who sweared on his family, children and grandmother when telling blatant lies. At Tribal Council (where the players... Posted at 11:17 AM \| Permalink \| Comments: 0
	05/13/10 Louisiana Tid-Bits Here are observations from spending a week in Louisiana: 1. The best way to read a book is on a porch swing. 2. It possible to fry all types of food: from gizzards to shrimp to vegetables. 3. Alligators are road kill near the bayou. 4. The neighborhood areas of Louisiana look like the set of Forrest Gump (which was in Alabama, but for Yankees it's close enough).5. Folks in the deep South still call Northerners "Yankees."6. Cajun accents sound a lot like Brooklyn accents. 7. One should question the usefulness of exerting effort when its 95 degrees with 100 percent humidity.8. Life is much more pleasant on eight to nine hours of sleep daily. 9. If you are working so hard that its stressful, then its probably not worth the effort. I'm hoping to take a more laid back... Posted at 12:28 PM \| Permalink \| Comments: 0

Because it's not cute to flounder