finally a break!

Friends is open today, but only for parent teacher conferences. So I am free. Funny feeling last night, coming home from Paul Pinto's project at HERE, understanding that I would not be going in today, a kind of looseness in the air. So, worked at Friends for the last eight school days, also some sessions, mucho exhaustion, but it has got to be. Now I have two days of work for the two days prior to Thanksgiving---creating a kind of comfort zone for me financially. Happy about that.
   What to report? Was it only on  Saturday that I saw my friend Kendra dance at BAM in the David Dorfman project. She is a wonderful dancer---the choreography---a series of moves and encounters by the six dancers, also some monologues, seemed incredibly inventive Show ran about an hour---perfect timing---just enough to get everything in, but its shortness avoided repetition and a kind of "look at me"  stance that often encourages artists to extend their work. Dorfman's work is about a kind of love and friendship---all hashed together in one group of six. No story but lots of ideas about intimacy. Ultimately a joyous feeling of comradeship  among the six dancers. Nothing too heavy, but nothing too light.  Really glad that I went;  said hello to Kendra and her family afterwards,
  Earlier in the day found cityboy at another place in Brooklyn, 60 Turner Place to take part in a protest against an aggressive super in a large building who seems to enjoy harassing the tenants of color who live in the building. Met of few of the tenants who are protesting; they are really lovely people, joined about 10 others who stood outside the building and chanted against the landlord and the tenants. There is something so important about doing this. Turner place is a small block, near the northern border of Ditmas park. Very quiet, the building at 60 is the only apartment building on the block. Would love to know the story of the block and its evolution for the past 50 years.
  I spent the rest of Saturday wondering around Brooklyn while I was waiting for the Dorfman piece to begin. I was determined not to return to Manhattan, and that meant killing a lot of time between two and six thirty,when I got my senior ticket for the dance. The trip from Ditmas park to BAN included a visit to the much reviled (by BAN) Industry City food court--which turned out to be just another noisy consumer oriented stretch of land. Had a nice cup of coffee and some organic ice cream---they did not disappoint, but the cost---$7.75 was of course, bloated. After the "city', I walked through the southern part of Park Slope, then the train to the BAN area, and then the long round of bookstores and coffee shops while I was waiting for the dance. I love to browse in the bookstore on Fulton, everything looks very interesting.
  Books: Just finished All Quiet on the Western Front by Remarque. I think it is an amazing book, the way he talks about how soldiers become killing machines, despite their better natures, is really strong. Hard to read---very little let up from the killing and the monotony of waiting in or near the trenches. The end is very hopeless. There are some great passages, that I think should be read to high school students, as they study war.
Last night, the Paul Pinto project at HERE---about Tom Payne, an intense, sometimes unintelligible piece---full of piercing cries and repetition--quite an assault on the audience---but very unique to itself. Met William and Julia, a playwright and actress couple and had a great talk with them before the opera. Nice to remember that I am part of that community---with all the work I think I had left that behind for a while. Tonight will see my friends Jess and Jill in a play about autism, then tomorrow night to the Brick for a fantastic piece that my friend Rolls is in. After that...well let's leave
it for now.
 Hope to report again tomorrow, if not then soon...