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It’s Still a Salsa Universe with Salsa Characters
Nova’s back with some salsa characters. She’s found a hot breeding ground for some interesting folks.
Shoe Brush Stealer
There is no comedy or wit in this character. To the guy who borrowed my shoe brush and never returned it, poo-poo to you.
Let’s Make Love…
Those last three periods of his name are essential in understanding this character, because that’s how he leads. You feel the dance starting out slow, as it typically does as partners feel eachother’s level and pizazz out… but then it’s one minute into a song that’s pounding away and this guy’s leading you like it’s a ballet. You don’t know what to do… Wasn’t this a quick 3 minute fling? You begin to blush as you understand, too late, that this is a salsa character who’s Westley the Farm Boy, not the Man in Black Dread Pirate Roberts you fantasized he would be in the dance (Princess Bride, people). And he’s just made salsa love to you without you knowing it. By the time you realize this, you leave the dance full of shame at the vulgarity of how you tried to do a licentious hip swivel when the poor guy was just interested in a soft brush of his hand across your back in a cross-body-lead.
Projectile Missile
Quick, duck! If you suddenly see objects shoot across the room, take cover. There is a Projectile Missile on the loose. And 95% of the time they are ladies. I myself was recently called out. A salsera has to select her outfit most carefully, as all those cutesy accessories we like to walk around in become weapons of mass destruction on the dance floor. Bracelets, pony tail holders, necklaces, earrings, and the nuclear bombs that men tend to dance with, cell phones. So if you see someone looking a little too shiny in their bling or someone who is a little too heavy in their pockets, it might be best to carve out another niche on the dance floor.
Salsa Dummy
All followers are this character to a certain degree. This is when you become lab rats for leaders to experiment their clever turn patterns on. It’s a no win situation, ladies. If you don’t do it, leads don’t get better and like it or not, your enjoyment of the dance is largely in their hands.
Get Another Hobby
thanks to JPLogan for pointing these guys out. These are the “Don’t Care” characters who have been dancing for so many years and show absolutely no desire to dance anymore. They don’t look at the girl, they barely lead, they barely do anything! Yet because they are so trained in the count, and because they have spent all their free time learning turn patterns and the latest shines, still they come like sad robots to socials to execute their programs.
Ugh… Frappe Haven Closed for Health Violations
What’s going on? Made the trek to Astoria and was looking forward to a nice, sweet, caffeinated frappe and a souvlaki to go at the great Athen’s Cafe. First noticed that the seats weren’t outside. Then saw the big health department sign that the place has been closed for health violations. WHAT? Come on Athen’s Cafe. With what’s going on in Greece, you’re needed more than ever. What’s left if we don’t have our kafenenion culture to sulk in? And you make a mean frappe, though apparently not a necessarily sanitary one.
Paying Respect
Let’s pay respect to Broadway Restaurant at 101st street and Broadway, a diner that keeps it old school in the good ways (hot, hot coffee in a nice ceramic coffee cup, good company, familiar staff) and for the prize here: still having a cottage cheese omelette on the menu. Had to search far and beyond for that.
The birds are back
It’s been awhile, but worth noting (for those who notice such things…) that the 59th street birds are back! When the Columbus Circle subway got its renovation, they uprooted the bushes by the entrance that was like a sparrow colony, probably the source of those grimy birds that resembled coal miners that you’d see while waiting for A,B, C, D or 1 or 9 train. But they planted new bushes and it seems the tenants did not waste time moving back in (more likely scenario- it’s a new wave of gentrifiers who took up this fabulous slice of real estate now that all the hard work has been put into renovating the neighborhood).
Ode to… Crawford Doyle Booksellers
With Borders closing, and the publishing industry (like all industries, it seems) in a bit of uncertainty as to the nature of its future, thought it good to note a lovely independent bookstore in NYC that continues to deliver fabulous fiction (and non-fiction). You won’t find many of the books here at the big chain retailers (or should I now say retaile-R… who is left in the area besides Barnes and Noble?) They have a small delicious fiction section which they seem to change every other day. And I rarely fail to walk out with a new book every time I visit. You’ll find a celebration of (gross term) ethnic writers and genres here, with of course a little bit more of French themed books (can’t forget it’s the Upper East Side)… Yes, I’m also biased by the fact that there has to be a philhelene working in the background of this store, or a very old-world wealth value of the Upper East Side that holds still the romantic notion of a classical Greece (or the golden years when Onasis made Greece sexy again): because I can actually find modern Greek authors here I don’t find elsewhere, and fell in love with Anne Zoroudi’s Greek Detective Series. Despite it being a detective series I found myself devouring each and every one of her books, ordering them special from England after being introduced to her by Crawford Doyle, because they aren’t all printed here.
And what is an independent bookstore without good staff? They give you recommendations, wrap your books ever so elegantly if you wish (no charge). It’s just so darn great to be in there. Save the coupons and magazine, accessory and stationery buying for the mass market products you can find in the big chains. If you want some serious good reading and to support those who supply a market for them, take your business here.
Ode to Crawford Doyle Booksellers!
Summer Musings: Urban Waterfalls
Stumbled on a little urban oasis by Lincoln Center. It was a hot day and we wandered into a shaded area. The scene took me by surprise. These folks know how to do an urban summer, thanks to the courteous entity that still values open, public space. People lined their chairs up, backs faced to the rest of NYC, and were simply watching a man-made waterfall (aka water fountain). An endearing site. It’s how we do summer.
Summer Musings: Sun-dried Clothes
Thought to break the silence with some simple summer musings… Enjoyable summer moments that can occur, yes, even in a city. First, is the simple pleasure of drying your clothes in the sun. In an urban setting especially, this is associated with poverty. Because who does this except if you don’t have access to a dryer or are trying to save money? We frown upon the look of clothes lines hanging between buildings, socks and underwear hanging from window guards instead of curtains, hangers dangling from the trellis of a fire escape. Indeed, for the most part (with some slight exception to the clothes lines between buildings, especially on a greeting card) this isn’t a good look for a neighborhood. Never mind that it’s not exactly country air that’s drying your clothes, and with all that grime you might as well not wash them at all. Even more–and this happened to me in Athens when laundromats were so few in between and forget the college giving us a washing machine–we were forced to do these things and pray our clothes (more importantly delicates) didn’t get bombed by pigeons. Still, still, if you can secure a secluded, clean spot for even a sock, there is something wonderful about drying your clothes in the sun. There is a freshness to them, an unmistakable smell. You just think they are cleaner by virtue of the rays of the sun. Yeah, it’ll damage your urban wardrobe I’m sure if you do it constantly when the sun is blazing down. Sure blasting them in the dryer aint no good either. But even if it’s just that one sock, or small handkerchief you dry out in the air of your window, on your terrace, wherever… it brings a little something special to summer.
Architectural Abominations of Gentrification
Grab your bag of popcorn and take a look at how the Upper West Side continues to gentrify and loose some of its character. Gone is the beloved Greek diner that stood here (which took in some previously displaced diner workers and patrons that were usurped by the Whole Foods construction a few blocks over) and up went this white plastic…. what the heck is it? “Hip apartments” of course, that fit oh so nicely with the rest of the neighborhood’s architecture.
Checking in or Taking Out?
You tell me if this sign looks like the entrance to an Emergency Room (which it is) or an old 50’s Diner?
Once upon a Tree… Returns?
In October I blogged about the sadness of this tree pit near 59th Street-
how final its destiny looked all bricked up. But it looks like there might be some re-consideration? Here’s what the site looks like now…
Let’s see what ending this urban tree pit gets.
