mostly good things.....

have happened since Friday--Saturday being the most interesting day.
Where to begin. After session, off to Brooklyn to visit my friend Liz'z art studio. Spent a lot of time looking at her paintings; her ability to juxtapose colors and use black as an unsettling gash separates her paintings from the others. Spent a good deal of time talking to her about the content of the work; she seemed happy that I saw so much in her paintings. A good meeting.
   Her studio is in the former Brooklyn Navy Yard, so when I got out of the space I landed on Flushing Avenue and Carleton Street. What to do? Return to Manhattan and get ready for going to Dixon Place in the evening, or spend the afternoon in Brooklyn and then return to the lower east side without touching home. My wanderlust (or at least my "Brooklyn wanderlust") got the best of me, and I walked south to Myrtle and then began my "Myrtle adventure" a walk east down that avenue that ended on Throop Avenue in Bed-Stuy---probably more than a mile away.
  What did I see? Well, lots of development, there seem like gazillion new (and expensive) buildings built along the Myrtle corridor---also many between Myrtle and Flushing---the first part of my trip. The corridor closest to downtown Brooklyn has several new apartment buildings, and with that the requisite new eating places and bars (many of them). Then a little before Bedford, the Orthodox Jews have taken over, much housing that seems only slated for them. A little while later come the projects; this happens as we approach Broadway, but right after the first set is an amazingly large empty rectangle----probably near Tompkins, which of courses is being turned into luxury high rises.
The frightening "progress' of northeastern Bed-Stuy.
   On Throop and Myrtle, decided to turn north and follow Throop to the end of Bed-Stuy (about three blocks down) and then watch it drift for its last five blocks, into Jewish Williamsburg (for those five blocks it runs parallel to Broadway). Geography of Brooklyn in that part still seems hard to understand, the "straight" line of Broadway, which is actually running sharply south as well as east still confuses.
  Still time to kill, so took the Broadway bus to WIlliamsburg and stopped off for a coffee at South fourth---had a nice chat with bartender Jack, then walked up Berry to north 5th, stopped in the bookstore on north fifth and Bedford, spent much time browsing there---then over to the L, out at First Avenue in Manhattan, down first to Houston, and over to Chrystie, three blocks later I arrive at Dixon Place.
  Wow! How much walking did I do that day/ Amazing thing is, my body dealt with it very well, no real fatigue until after watching My Old Man at Dixon Place. Which, by the way is a very inventive one act play, written and directed by Jess B (can't really spell the last name accurately, so it will have to stay that way). Great acting from her seven member cast, the script is wonderfully inventive; I hope it has a life after this, but like so many other interesting new work, you wonder if it will have anywhere to go, (Maybe one of the winter festivals: Coil, etc.and then picked up by colleges).
Anyway, had a good time, saw some friends, and headed home pretty tired.
  Sunday, was tired, did not leave Manhattan until around 6, to go to reading at Bushwick Starr---had a nice time, afterwards stopped off at Starr Bar for a coke (can order a coke at that bar, because it is an "activist" bar) Walked on one block in Bushwick before hitting the subway---the air was nice, felt very serene, as if I wanted to be here on that block more. Will it happen...well, with everything else that is going on, who knows?
  Yesterday, a good day at Friends, then able to go to BAN meeting had a good conversation with one of the new participants---looking forward to interacting with her at the next couple of events.
That's all for now...