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March 15: In the Year of the Dragon at the Old Stone House
On Thursday, March 15, 2012 at 8 PM, Brooklyn Reading Works at The Old Stone House presents: IN THE YEAR OF THE DRAGON: A Celebration of Asian and Asian-American Writers.
Curated by author Sophia Romero (The Shiska from Manila), IN THE YEAR OF THE DRAGON includes a Brooklyn Poet Laureate, a playwright, and three novelists and a childrens’ book author/illustrator, all of whom will read excerpts from their latest work. A Q&A will follow the reading.
You won’t want to miss Brooklyn Poet Laureate Tina Chang, Novelists Susan Choi, children’s book author Hoong Yee Lee Krakauer and Sabina Meyer and playwright Linda Faigao-Hall.
A $5 donation includes light refreshments and wine.
The Old Stone House
336 3rd Street Brooklyn, NY 11215
(718) 768-3195
Between Fifth and Fourth Avenues.
Due to construction in the park, enter from the Fourth Avenue side of the house.
Ben Flanner and his cool parents
Dinner and a movie on the roof
Are vegetables good for you?
Of course!
Are they fun?
Fun? And cool.
Here at the SMP Building in Long Island City, up on the roof, Ben Flanner has created a one acre farm with a killer view. Ben has always wanted to run a farm, according to his mom. I don’t know if he ever imagined that farm to be on top of a former auto parts manufacturing building on Northern Boulevard but that’ s what makes his farm so cool.
We had a dinner for about fifty people followed by a screening of one minute videos created by local artists in their favorite restaurants in Queens.
This is a little film project we call the Moveable Feast. Do you want a peek at where artists like to eat? Check these out.
We had salad with greens from the farm and desserts made by aspiring pastry chefs from the food incubator program down the block. I nibbled on beet greens which are a beautiful deep red color and delicious in a mixed green salad.
Locals Rule
I love being a local.
I love buying local produce, working with local artists, supporting local businesses. There is an unmistakeable sense of pride that is part and parcel of local creative industries. It is a distinctive Queens edge that comes through.
Especially in the lettuce.
Get more Wow!
If you want style notes and more for people who change the world, please check out:
Getting to Wow! to feel good, do good and look good
Nonprofit Knitwear for all things knit and nonprofit
Style Notes from me, your artspy
Hoong Yee
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Thanks so much! I really appreciate your help.
Word of mouth is the best way to share, don’t you agree?
The season of flip flops, guys in shorts with baseball caps, American flags flapping wildly in the ocean breeze, boys like Sky, with boogie boards tucked under their arms riding their bicycles to the beach and beach bums has finally burst through the last gasp of winter. Welcome summer! Welcome to Rockaway Beach!
My summer checklist
Outdoor grill working? Check.
Outdoor shower stocked with towels? Check.
Patio furniture hosed down? Check.
Fresh supply of sunblock? Check.
Summer in Rockaway Beach is not a season. It is the point of the exclamation ending the sentence, “Surf’s up!” It is the sand in your shoes that will not go away. It is “Margaritaville” cued up as your personal soundtrack.
Did I mention pride?
Locals are swimming in it.
I must confess that Seth and I started our weekend in Manhattan at a Ford dealership on the west side of Manhattan. It is hard to believe but we had a great experience mostly because Todd Nighe, the guy in the picture next to Seth, really took care of us. And you know what? Great service like this just made us lifetime Ford Explorer fans. I feel the same way about my dentist, the woman who cuts my hair and the bank representative who does our refinancing.
Weekend of Gay Honkers
We spent a few early morning hours by the water waiting for our car to be serviced and were startled out of our caffeinated stupor by a sudden flock of geese landing in front of us.
“Honkkkkk!” yelled one of them swimming towards us.
“Honkkkkk!” replied the other one swimming away from us.
Rinse and repeat.
This went on for a while. “They must be mates.” said Seth. “Or they’re flirting with each other.”
I peered at their coloring and said, “Those are males, that’s why they’re honking at each other. Females have different colored feathers and they are much better behaved.”
Seth shook his head. “Those two look the same to me, ” he listened to them squawking across the water and said, “They must be gay honkers.”
Gay honkers.
With that image fixed forever in my mind’s eye, clearly, it was time to get out of Manhattan and back into the Rockaways. I simply cannot take him anywhere anymore.
This first weekend on the beach swelled with high numbers of beachlovers, surfers and boogy boarders. Rockaway Beach shone like seaglass. Hey, we are a beach town nestled in the borough of Queens, really not far at all from Manhattan. Closer than you think. Imagine, a New York City beach!
Here’s how to make sure your inner beach bum rocks:
Wear sunblock
Bring a beach book
Stroll down the boardwalk and people watch
Have a Blue Island Coffee or a Rockaway Taco
Take a surfing lesson
Still here after the lifeguards have gone? Check out the Bungalow Bar for a great meal by the water
Get more Wow!
If you want style notes and more for people who change the world, please check out:
Getting to Wow! to feel good, do good and look good
Nonprofit Knitwear for all things knit and nonprofit
Style Notes from me, your artspy
Hoong Yee
– Subscribe and get a little Wow! every day
– Forward the link to someone you think would be interested
– Link to a post on Twitter (follow me @hylkrakauer)
– Put a link to the blog in your Facebook status update
Thanks so much! I really appreciate your help.
Word of mouth is the best way to share, don’t you agree?
On the first Saturday night at Boulud Sud, we descended with an unexpected crowd of eight.
Mais sans doute, it was a typically magnifique! Here we are, moi, Daniel and Mikki.
It is tres difficile for me to imagine the life of a successful restauranter as he continues to build his empire without wondering what the secret sauce is.
What is it about Daniel Boulud that brings him success, the three star Michelin rating, his restaurant’s ranking among the best in the world?
The vodka gimlet elegantly served in a slender carafe?
The Lamb Cleopatra that was simply delicious? The accompanying roasted beets in pistachio yogurt?
How about that Turkish pudding surrounded by some kind of rhubarb swirl?
The edgy grapefruit sorbet? The mint chocolate pave with pine nuts, jasmine flower and chocolate sorbet? Yum!
The smartly attentive staff?
All that, and Daniel himself, working the room and making all of us feel extremely especiale and enchantee. Of course, the food and the service are exemplary. The ambience is chic and inviting. But I think that intuitive ability to connect with with his guests is the cherry on the cake. It is what makes an evening out with friends memorable and it is what makes us his best word of mouth warriors.
Boulud Sud. The new star in the empire. Ask for Michael, the guy with the cool tie and glasses. He will make sure your evening is heavenly.
Bon appetit.
Get more Wow!
If you want style notes and more for people who change the world, please check out:
Getting to Wow! to feel good, do good and look good
Nonprofit Knitwear for all things knit and nonprofit
Style Notes from me, your artspy
Hoong Yee
– Subscribe and get a little Wow! every day
– Forward the link to someone you think would be interested
– Link to a post on Twitter (follow me @hylkrakauer)
– Put a link to the blog in your Facebook status update
Thanks so much! I really appreciate your help.
Word of mouth is the best way to share, don’t you agree?
This post first appeared on the Queens Council on the Arts blog
my desk at the Writers Room
Are you an urban ninja?
If you live in a jungle, you will need to know where to find food and shelter. If you spend time underwater, it is helpful to know where the coral reefs are. No matter what world you are a citizen of, your survival depends on your knowledge of the environment and, more importantly, how to navigate it.
I am a writing machine. I may appear to be a slightly flustered nonprofit executive director en route to another meeting but no! – do not be fooled by my facade. Its my way of gathering material.
And what I need in my environment is a place to write. Enter the Writers Room, an urban writing colony on Broadway and that is a picture of the desk where some of my best writing emerges.
Feel like taking a coffee break? Slip into the kitchen and sip your brew while talking a little shop with other writers. How about a nap? There are several large inviting recliners and a couch where you can relax by a large window with a great view of the city.
This is one of my secret gardens of bliss in New York City. If you are a writer who needs a place to write, check out the Writers Room.
Katherine’s field office
Meet before you pitch
If you have a merry-go-round of meetings like I often do, here’s another way to get off the ride and regroup. This is the time Katherine, my consultant extraordinaire, and I spend a lot of time sitting with legislators doing a one two punch round of funding request pitches. Clearly, we needed a bull pen of some kind to get our game together. Katherine found this little place on the corner of Chambers Street and Broadway tucked in the back of a Starbucks. It is great place to get it together.
This is a city with a lot going on all the time. If you are part of it, you will need to stop the pinball with your flippers every so often and halt the game, take a deep breath, take in the moment -
- and then let the game resume. When you are ready.
You need places like these.
photo by Leandro
Where is your batcave?
Get more Wow!
If you want style notes and more for people who change the world, please check out:
Getting to Wow! to feel good, do good and look good
Nonprofit Knitwear for all things knit and nonprofit
Style Notes from me, your artspy
Hoong Yee
– Subscribe and get a little Wow! every day
– Forward the link to someone you think would be interested
– Link to a post on Twitter (follow me @hylkrakauer)
– Put a link to the blog in your Facebook status update
Thanks so much! I really appreciate your help.
Word of mouth is the best way to share, don’t you agree?
I write for love and money. It is my everyday passion. What's yours? 
