the art parade

first off, let's get amazing...


now that that is all taken care of we must discuss the brilliance of the art parade! this afternoon, lil man and i took the m down to canal to attend the events. walmart lovers and zombies united with fat-bottomed girls and odd creatures to march up and down west broadway. marshmallow heads, unicorns and carmen mirandas paraded with naughty cops (complete with sparkly nipples!) and little aliens. and to top it all off, motherfucking fischerspooner played in a magical silver float crusing down the street!!! casey spooner wore a bright red tinsel gorilla coat singing as writhing bodies in silver contorted and spun. they finished up with "just let go" and made room for a brilliant b-girl battle, the greatest single hip-hop booty dancing girl i have ever seen (she could do the splits and pop at the same time!), twelve (or so) saggy-assed dazzle dancers who got naked before too long...

we continued the evening walking through the lower east side past former tenements and signs written only in chinese.

the only times i've left the cave in the past week seems to be for extended periods of quiet and pseudo-contemplative walks. it rained on tuesday as i walked covered only by a hood down essex and avenue a, dipping into small boutiques and a record store remniscent of thirty three degrees and an overly priced home store, on my errand to get a library card at a manhattan library. they really do have almost anything. before this stop though, i also got a brooklyn library card in the williamsburgh branch. i read through the latest new york magazine (quickly becoming my favorite source for the nyc) and was eyed by hasidic jews and kids fresh from the first day of school.

the new nyu crowd was in abundance at union square, some with that freshly applied freedom look sparkling out from their darting eyes as other took a more subtle approach. i debated salad dressings and picked up chai soy milk at whole foods and made the long, crowded trip home. at least we're far enough away that seats pop up over time. the subway is a very internal place to be, both literally and figuratively. even when i'm riding with someone, conversation doesn't always happen which allows my head to wander into a trance. which of course is plagued by the woes of the jobless.

earlier this week, wednesday i think, aubrey and i attempted to get into the michel gondry exhibit, but were quickly denied after glancing at a long line. she complained about how this was to be a congregation spot for us to meet with her friends and how we weren't even able to attend the event we were congregating for. in order to alleviate the situation, i met about six girls at once and we all dashed off to find something to do. which of course, as understood by the austin ladies as well, drinks and snacks. i met the most radical girl ever. and this has nothing to do with girl crushes. basically, she was so awesome it made me depressed b/c i have been feeling less than awesome as of late. like i described to nick later that evening, over the summer i've met a couple people that really remind me of myself circa a year (plus?) ago before all of the assorted things that now bog me down piled up into such a situation. is it fair for me to be whining about being more like i used to be than who i am now? b/c frankly, i think i'm being way too much of a middle-aged baby.

i just started watching the pbs documentary epic new york (fourteen hours!) and decided i loved alexander hamilton. hamilton, a "bastard from the west indies", immigrated to new york before the revolution and basically over the spanse of his political career shaped new york into what it is today with his outlook on meritocracy. pure brilliance. anyway, this documentary is a full on love affair with this city and i'm fine with it b/c i've learned many interesting historical facts and names in the process. facts include the following:
one) manhattan was named after the indian word manahatta which was believed to mean either "island with many hills" or "place for the perpetually inebriated".
two) at one point under dutch rule (before the hard-assed, wooden-legged peter stuyvesant took over as governor), there was roughly one bar for every twenty men.
three) it was under the ten-termed governor dewitt clinton, that the grid system of new york was created (this whole concept has to be explained to be even more fully appreciated and it should be known that this plan razed all hills, valleys and forests in manhattan). dewitt also spawned the idea, garnered support and raised the funding for the erie canal. which, if you didn't know, was the final piece in connecting new york to every part of the world.
four) thomas jefferson, hilariously deluded. as claimed by one historian, he envisioned america's future as a utopian world of yeoman farmers and was disgusted by cities.

anyway, this long winded account of my lessons about new york had a point of sorts. hamilton loved new york and cities in general b/c they allowed people to be free and for anyone to raise themselves up in the world with their own abilities. i'm currently attempting to take this to heart as my budget dwindles and my frustrations with css grow. someday, you will be mine. (imagine a david sedaris voice...)