love par avion, part 2

Colleen sent me this beautiful hand-thrown bowl made by some fancy ex-Alfred ceramics grad (I think he was grad) for my birthday 2 months ago. I said I'd put up a photo when I used it for noodles. This weekend I made noodles. Thanks Colleen!

We kinda kicked it in the chill out tent

Photo Margaret Conklin

I went to the free Hold Steady show at McCarren Park Pool today. What a shitty day for a concert. The weather messed up what would have been a great show. It rained twice- hard and fast. The rainfall around 2pm probably didn't really have any effect except deter a few people from showing up. I totally missed the first band, but saw the second band- J. Roddy & the Business

Andrea and Becca came at the end of their set with a stacks of postcards to promote the Block Party and Summerscreen (July 8, ya'll!). I walked around with them a bit while they handed them out. Then it started to rain. They stopped setting up the stage. Then it really started to rain. I met up with Sandy and we went to Alligator Lounge to wait out the rain. Then I got a taco at YALA's cafe (now I'll never forget the name of this place). The taco wasn't as good as the first time I had it. But to be fair, I was drunk after the L party and it was like 1am. Mexican food is always better when you're drunk and hungry.

We decided to stop by the pool to see if the Hold Steady was playing. I thought they might have just canceled the show. I drove by and heard Craig Finn's unmistakable voice. "They're playing!" So I parked the car. Sandy and I walked over and caught the last half of their set. There were still a ton of people there. I was surprised people came back after the rain...or just stayed and waited it out. Well, if any band has that kind of loyalty amongst Brooklynites, its the Hold Steady. The show wasn't as "OMG CRAZY" as Mike made it out to be. I missed all the songs they played off of Boys and Girls in America, if they played any. I bet it would have been a lot more packed if the weather was nice all day.

As I stood there during J. Roddy's set, I was thinking about the pool and how it epitomized hipster culture. It's going to be hard to explain to anyone not native to NYC because "hipster" can mean totally different tiers of stuff to different people. Like someone not very fashionable would think anyone with bangs or skinny jeans are hipsters, which is totally not the case (those people could be fake hipsters).

I'm sure someone better with words then me has already wrote a dissertation on the pool parties. In fact, I remember readying an article about it 2 years ago when they first started the pool parties and the parallels of it to the French and their fancy Sundays when the rich would go to the park and see and be seen. It's the same principle here really. Everyone is dressed in their best. It's hot, less cloths, better for everyone to see and be seen. Dodgeball and the slip and slide add to the "WHY NOT GUYZ" and "spontaneity" of being a hipster.

Too bad the first free show of the summer had to be rain on twice between sets!

Catherine (is fire)

Sales Assistant, The L Magazine

Jump

Andrea

Project Manager, yourlocal.com

But...the light!

I keep looking out the window...at the glorious "after it rains" light outside right now and no one I've asked in the office wants me to take their picture today. It's killing me.

au-ful.

bexo: can I call you the Auster?
otheradam: no.
otheradam: ew.
bexo: haha
otheradam: someone once said "au-some!"
otheradam: like awesome
otheradam: terrible
bexo: that's au-ful
otheradam: i've never heard such terrible puns with my name all in a row like this before
bexo: haha. I would have au-ssumed otherwise
otheradam: REBECCA
bexo: man, this is the best midday game ever

I'm free, bitches

I just mailed in a check for [a lot of money] to pay off the rest of my college loans. When it clears in a few days, I will be totally debt free and a bit poorer. Well, more than just a "bit".

Yay!

Chase, more like rape

Why does the Chase bank in DUMBO want to charge me THREE US DOLLARS to take money out of their ATMs? WTF. I know DUMBO is all expensive now, but geez. Not to mention that my bank would probably charge me $1.50 on top of that.

DUMBO has gotten crazy expensive lately. Bridgefresh, the local mega-deli raised almost all the prices on their menu. Small coffees went from .75 to .95 or something like that - I don't know, I stopped giving them my coffee business the second they raised their prices. And I noticed that bagels went from .90 to .95 cents also.

The place down from them, Jimi's didn't raise their price of coffee. Instead, they started using smaller cups! A small used to be 12oz. They stealth switched to 10oz cups last week. I only noticed because the goddamn sleeves don't fit on the smaller cups. Now I go to the Chinese bakery by my train station before I get on the train.

Dana

Account Executive, The L Magazine

Rent is Insane

Base asking rent in Greenpoint for a proper 2-bedroom is now $1800. $1800. That's $900 per person. Think about that and how inconvenient it is to get anywhere from Greenpoint. I'm priced out of any neighborhood I would like to live in Brooklyn now. Me moving out in the next year is now slim to none.

I really don't think Rosemary and I will find anything I would be happy to move into. I mean, for fucks sake, I was actually considering Greenpoint. And I've been priced out of the area, as I've just learned. I'm not even talking about places near Nassau St and McCarren Park. I'm talking about north Greenpoint like by India St. What the fuck.

Apartments are depressing

Looking at apartments is the most depressing thing ever. The reality is that I can't afford to live in any of the areas I want to, unless it's on the outskirts or border of the neighborhood and even then I can barely afford it.

I went to see a place in Carroll Gardens after work today. It's on Nelson St, which is like 2 blocks away from the border (and BQE). As we turned from Court St onto Nelson, I was thinking to myself "Please be on this block, please be on this block". Nope, it wasn't. It was on the next block (and that block gets cut off with the highway at the end of it).

Sooo after passing the first block I was thinking, "please don't be at the end of the block, please don't be at the end of the block". The broker parked at the end of the block.

Soooo after that I was thinking, "please don't be the corner house next to the highway, please don't be the corner house next to the highway". And it was the last house on the block next to the highway.

Uggg. The apartment was the third and top floor. It's a cute place and the space isn't bad. But the rent is kinda high and NOTHING is included. No hot water or heat. Rose and I would have to pay all utilities on top of rent. I can't afford it.

We're looking at some other places on Saturday. But I'm not holding my breath. Unless we're really, really, really lucky we're probably going to end up in Greenpoint. And even then it would probably cost more than what I can afford looking at asking prices for Greenpoint.

Elizabeth

Account Executive, The L Magazine