The other day, an elderly woman boarded the train I was riding home after a long rehearsal. I wouldn't have paid her any special attention, except that she didn't manage to grab a hold of the pole before the train lurched forward. She was thrown at least five feet, landing hard on her back. Instantaneously, the people on either side of the aisle leapt up, helped her to her feet and sat her down in one of the empty seats. They made sure she was alright, dusted off her handbag, and after she gave a reassuring smile everyone went back to their books or ipods.
That same afternoon, I was sitting at one of Schnipper's Quality Kitchen's street tables outside the New York Times building, half-reading, half-mulling over some impending decisions, when a woman approached me. "Sweetie, are you alright? You look sad," she said, obviously concerned. I assured her I was fine, that I was just thinking over some things, to which she responded,"Well, you're very pretty, too pretty to look so sad. I just know that everything's gonna be okay for you." Then she wished me good afternoon, and went on her way.
Anyone who tells you New York is only full of mean people obviously hasn't lived here.
Getting back to my November adventure: Jaime and I took our time wandering through Brooklyn, following Flatbush avenue and stopping to look at any graffiti or odd house that interested us. Eventually we stopped for some hot chocolate (and a chance to warm up/dry off) before heading to our real destination: Galapagos Art Space. This unique performance venue in DUMBO, Brooklyn (which stands for "Down Under the Manhattan Bridge Overpass") boasts an indoor lake (with "island" tables in the middle of it) and quirky, out-there shows. We planned to see one show at 7:00 PM, then stay for their weekly "Floating Kabarette" at 10:00 PM, but we ended up getting there a bit early; they were still teching the first show. Of course, DUMBO is full of all sorts of fun little nooks and crannies, so we just ambled over across the alley to what looked like a party in a warehouse. I mean, that kind of randomness is what NYC adventures are all about right?
The warehouse actually turned out to be The Powerhouse Arena, a sort of gallery/performance space/book store hybrid, which was amazingly beautiful. And the party was actually the culmination of Page Turner: The Asian American Literary Festival. Not a bad event to stumble upon, when you consider they welcomed us right in to the free drinks, snacks, and readings from such notables as Tony-winner David Henry Hwang and Pulitzer-Prize winner Jhumpa Lahiri. I can think of worse ways to kill time.
Unfortunately, the first show at Galapagos was a bit of a wash - not near as much fun as waiting around for it was. After it finished, we decided to find some food and see if we felt up for the second round. We were pretty hungry at this point, and would have settled for just about anything. However, inexplicably, we happened to stumble upon one of the most legendary Brooklyn pizza joints, Grimaldi's. Even more inexplicable: there was no wait (sometimes, it takes upwards of an hour to get into this little pizza place). Needless to say, it was incredible. The pizza itself was classic New York, with its big, floppy slices and tons of cheese. It was only surpassed by the enormus cannoli we split afterwards (yes, somehow after downing an entire pizza, we found room for dessert too). Un-believable.
By the time we headed out for the Galapagos Floating Kabarette, we were stuffed but determined to give the venue another shot. We were glad we did; this show more than made up for the first. How to describe it? It was sort of an underground circus/burlesque show with singing, and lots of aerial acts. And free hair cuts. And remember, there's an indoor lake too.
Yeah, it was sorta wild. And lotsa awesome.
After staying way too late at the crazy show, Jaime and I slowly made our way back to Inwood (choosing to go by subway rather than foot this time, thankfully). But the adventures didn't stop there... little did Jaime know that he was going to make his theatrical debut the very next day!
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