Returning to WIlliamsburg.....

for amazing desert with my friends Clint and Kim. A really good time talking---full of energy. Then it was time for them to go---and, at around 3, I was left with choices of where to go--how to finish this trip to the neighborhood that, beween 07 and 18, I spent so much time in.

So I walked around this neighborhood, actually walked south from Metropolitan---went to South fourth and then to Berry---a new bar-restaurant now takes South fourth's place---and then south again on Berry to Broadway. Looking at it now, the next morning, I feel a sadness---with more spare time this summer should I return---and come to terms with the memories of the past. So much has changed since the bar closed in late July of 18---I have changed so much physically---not sure how will I feel about another trip back soon. Anyway, afterwards, walked over to the major bus stop, under the Marcy Street J station and took the 46 east on Broadway and then south on Malcolm x boulevard. Interesting trip---although I know that Bed-Stuy has absorbed many white gentrifiers in the last 15 years, the bus was mostly black and hispanic--I don't think anyone taking this trip would imagine Bed-Stuy as a highly gentrified area. Of course, I did not travel on the side streets---that is where most of the change has taken place. I left the bus at Fulton, and took the C to Lafayette, near BAM, and then got my much needed ice coffee from the Center for Fiction cafe, and stayed there for a while, reading Tony Kushner's very interesting play, The Intelligent Homosexual's Guide to Capitalism and Socialism, etc. My plan was to go from there to outside the Public Theater in the East Village to watch the free performace of the musical version of The Comedy of Errors, but by the time I left, my body let me know that the choices were over---it was simply time to return to the upper west side and rest for the rest of the evening.

One more memory: the subway moved very quickly on my first trip, so I decided to get off at Lorimer on the L,instead of Bedford, which was closer to the desert place. Sat down in a semi-park near Union and looked around. Felt very refreshed by the space---everyone was young, which I liked---a sharp contrast to the cold, upper west side where everyone just walks past you with very little interest. Felt like I could just stay on those benches for a long time---but of course, didn't. Moved through the almost completely rebuilt and expensive Williamsburg to my desert destiny. More to follow.

another long stretch without writing

 Why? Hard to say[--so what about now? At a turning point. Summer for you, cityboy, is almost here. That means less tutoring--more free time, and a lot of careful budgeting. So what can be done? 

Interesting weekend---Saturday saw Three Houses, the musical conceived and written completely by Dave Malloy, for the second time. Better this time---I know why I came back--an intense study of "aloneness"; but musically expansive--I am awed by how many amazing ideas are in the music.  Second time seeing it meaans one can focus more on the stage craft--lots of integral work with puppets in the musical which I did not realize before. And an amazing cast of six people. One of them, Henry S, is an actor I have known threw the years---probably since the eighties. We never worked together when I was directing, but there is some comreadeship. I had seen him after my first visit to the musical and told him I would return. After Saturday's performance we said hello--he seemed really happy that I had come back. His appreciation meant a lot to me. It is rare that a theatrical event really absorbs me---this one did. Walked back to my apartment from the theater--on 42nd and 10th, to where I live---76th and West End. Had to do it---needed solitude---a sense of my own identity---separate.

Yesterday---a little more difficult---tired but decided to visit Brooklyn---first stopping off at the Center for Fiction, then a movie at BAM. Got my ice coffee at the Center--(there are three other coffee places within the three blocks that surround BAM---is that all people do in Brooklyn--just drink coffee) but the reading room was closed---took a seat in the main room but felt cramped---tried to continue reading The Rainbow, by Lawrence, but was not happy. Soon it was time to see the movie I had come out to see. It was called Naked Acts, and was made in 96. The lead was played by a woman who at that time was a close friend of mine; she was not at this screening, but i returned to see the movie again as a way of remembering our friendship. Her performance dominated the movie--also in it was the late, great Ron Cephas Jones, just beginning his career as an actor---but the movie itself disappointed me---a little too obvious. Left a little down---stopped off at the Fulton Bar---one of the few bars that I now visit---and had a Ceasar salad--not much conversation and two tv's that were not showing baseball---and for some reason could not be changed to the channels that I wanted. Not great---but needed to do it. Restless subway ride home.

On Wednesday the librarys will be closed---so it seems like less tutoring. Will try to see at least one more play this week---take advantage of the free day. On Tuesday at Queens College, there is a play about Andrew Goodman, one of the three Civil Rights Workers killed in the summer of 64. I want very much to see it--not sure if I can make it out---there is also a foundation in his name that I should be more aware of. His name, along with the other two killed workers---James Chaney and Mickey Schwerner---has been basically forgotten by history--no schools or streets in the city named after them. How much of my imagination and 'life" can I give to this and other issues? Let's move on......