Monthly Archives: February 2017

Brooklyn. Over and Over Again.

“I look out the window and I see the lights and the skyline and the people on the streets rushing around looking for action, love, and the world’s greatest chocolate chip cookie, and my heart does a little dance.” Nora Ephron, Heartburn.

This blog post is dedicated to my neighbor down the street, Lisa, who, like me, has lost a child to Brooklyn. She wanted some ideas for things to do in Brooklyn. First of all, anyone who has lost a child to Brooklyn should buy this book: City Secrets New York City, Robert Kahn, editor. I’ve had the book for a long time, but ever since my son added his heartbeat (four years ago) to all the others keeping the Center of the Universe alive and vibrant, I’ve started to make my way through all the dog-eared pages of the book. It’s been a lot of fun.

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Wintertime in the northeast can be cold and snowy. If you’re looking for some heat, there’s good news: This weekend’s forecast for New York City is promising BALMY temps. So put on your stylish boots, sassy scarves, and go.

We usually base ourselves in Brooklyn because, like everyone else, we love Brooklyn. Here are some of the things we might do on a warm winter’s weekend in Brooklyn:

Stroll the neighborhoods of Brooklyn to enjoy adorable dogs, graffiti decorated buildings and warehouses, charming ethnic enclaves of cultural foods and languages, parks, colorful human beings, neat architecture, cool cemeteries—it’s everywhere in all parts of Brooklyn.

If we are feeling brain dead, we might choose to go to a museum. The Brooklyn Museum of Art is filled with surprises. Try going without researching what is there. One of the  treasures I came upon the first time I went to the Brooklyn Museum of Art was their fabulous Art Nouveau Butterfly Gate by Emile Robert. Can wrought iron be sensuous? It sure can!

In Long Island City (not far from the borders of Greenpoint/Williamsburg) there’s the Isamu Noguchi Museum. Perhaps a bit too esoteric for some, but maybe not. Restful, civilized. Tres serene.

We have a process for visiting the Metropolitan Museum of Art in Manhattan which is to slowly see the permanent exhibits by choosing one or two exhibits, instead of trying to walk through the entire museum. That way, we don’t have to spend an entire day in the museum or subject our brains to a meltdown. The Met has a suggested admission price—you can decide for yourself how much you want to pay or you can choose not to pay at all if you can’t afford to pay. If you are only heading in to see one thing and planning to stay for under two hours, (probably not possible, but maybe), you could pay less for your admission. That’s what we do. Since it’s going to be a balmy weekend, a walk through Central Park to the Met (or from nearby subway stops) would be very nice. Here are a couple of cools things to choose to see at the Met. (Don’t be surprised to find yourself falling down rabbit holes as you try to see just one thing):

  1. The Gubbio Studiolo featuring mesmerizing intarsia—an elaborate form of wood inlay marquetry created in 15th century Italy. Bazillions of pieces of walnut, beech, rosewood, oak, and fruitwoods have been used to create a stunning interior. This Italian studio from the Ducal Palace is a masterpiece of human obsession and a surprisingly charming place to find oneself in NYC. You will feel such delight if you go. It’s the most fascinating treasure hunt to find objects in this artwork. Hopefully you’ll have the studio all to yourself.
  2. The 6th century BC Etruscan chariot. Craftsmanship? Without climate-changing industrial manufacturing plants? Whoa.
  3. Not far from the chariot display there are Roman rooms with lovely frescoes, including one from Boscoreale, a village north of Pompeii, which was buried in the infamous eruption of AD79.
  4. The Damascus Room. Here you will find, of all things to find on a winter’s weekend in NYC, the residential winter reception chamber from a wealthy Syrian 18th century residence. Poetry is inscribed on its walls—forty stanzas—inspired most likely by the 13th century poet, the eminent Sufi, Imam al-Busiri of Egypt. He wrote what many believe to be the most recited religious poem in human history, the Qasidah al-Burdah, also called The Poem of the Mantle and The Celestial Lights in Praise of the Best of Creation; written as an ode praising the Islamic prophet Mohammad at a time when the poet had suffered paralysis from a stroke and was healed in a dream.

You can find translations for the poetry in the Damascus Room on the Met’s website and read it while you are riding the subway. (You do ride the subway, right?)

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Back in Brooklyn:

If it’s balmy, walk over the Brooklyn Bridge. Read Walt Whitman’s Crossing Brooklyn Ferry and an old blog post of mine Doing Lines in Brooklyn. 😀

https://theresajohnsonbertz.wordpress.com/2015/11/05/doing-lines-in-nyc/

It’s fun to walk to Manhattan at sunset, watching the sun fade away. Then walk back in the dark with all the city lights. Remember to spot the Statue of Liberty on the horizon!

Saturday morning: Grand Army Plaza Green Market—a farmer’s market I’ve never been to during wintertime, but I would check it out on a warm winter’s day.

FOOD! Here are some fun food stops in Brooklyn:

Radegast Hall and Biergarten. Afternoon happy hour with lively bands. My husband and I were the oldest partiers there during one afternoon in October. Our kids didn’t mind.

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We all like to draw in my son’s journal when we are observing, and participating in, beer hall behavior.

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PEACHES HOT HOUSE. Bedford-Stuyvesant. Southern comfort food. You will want to be comforted by everything on the menu. Nashville-style HOT chicken. Not a fancy place. GOOD food.

FETTE SAU. (Williamsburg I think.) It means “fat pig” and it’s a barbecue place in a converted garage (so, you know, HIP) where the chaos of craft beer, beef, and American whiskey will make you feel like a jolly fat pig. We stood in a line that snaked outside and we ended up eating outside. Maybe it will be warm enough to eat outside during the upcoming balmy weekend.

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THE BROOKLYN STAR (Williamsburg.) Great for Sunday brunch. All kinds of comfort food and drinks to soothe overstimulated, overfed, and overindulged brains before you exit The Center of the Universe at the end of your weekend. Get in line early. Family bonding over shared mac-n-cheese is a new kind of religion for Sunday mornings in Brooklyn:

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As always, before traveling to Brooklyn,

REMEMBER TO READ THE FINE PRINT:

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***ALSO***

***THE NEW YORK TIMES TRAVEL SECTION JUST DID A “36 HOURS IN BROOKLYN” FEATURE THIS WEEK with a lot of great ideas! You can find it on the Internet!***

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We love Brooklyn. Share your ideas with us too!

NE Patriots. Cheating. And WIN WINS.

This blog has a happy, hopeful, and fun ending. But first, true confessions:

I live in New England and the Patriots are my least favorite team. Why? Because they are cheaters and they have cheated more than once and they never even had to cheat in order to become champions. (Please note: By calling this a true confession, I am admitting to knowingly having committed a sin. I know it is a sin to doubt the integrity of the NE Patriots, especially if one lives in New England.)

Does this mean I think it’s okay to cheat sometimes if that’s the only way to become a champion? Yes. I think it’s okay to cheat sometimes. I will, in fact, look the other way if cheating allows you to achieve something you otherwise might not have achieved because you weren’t given a fair chance from the get go. For instance, I think it’s okay that some women have cheated by using a man’s name in place of their own name so that their writing would be considered for publication. I also thought it was okay for Gloria Steinem to cheat and became a Playboy Bunny (even though she never wanted to be a champion bunny) in order to investigate how women were being treated in Hugh Hefner’s clubs.

I’ve done some cheating in my life, too. And, of course, since I am the writer of this blog, I will choose to share one of my more charming cheating stories:

One sunny spring day, my fourth grade teacher made me skip recess so that I could administer a spelling test to students who were continually failing spelling tests. I was annoyed I had to miss recess. Soon, my pain was replaced by the pain of my classmates who not only had to miss recess, but would continue to miss recess until they learned how to spell. One doesn’t realize how one will handle positions of power until they are placed within such vainglorious places. I had been chosen by my teacher to stand as a leader (preferably an honest leader) before students in an American public school classroom and to administer a spelling test to those students. (My peers.) Indeed, in front of me sat a handful of bad spellers with papers, pencils, and wistful stares which never looked at me, but were bound instead for the world beyond the classroom windows where all the good spellers enjoyed the privileges of romping in sunshine and fresh air on a playground. Behind me loomed the chalkboard with beautiful, fresh, long white pieces of chalk. (All students, back then, lived for any opportunity to write upon the chalkboard.) So, I called the classroom to order and commenced announcing the spelling words. The students didn’t furiously begin writing the words onto their papers. So I said, “Raise your hand if you don’t know how to spell the words and I will write them on the chalkboard.” As you can imagine, this established me as a great leader. Everyone passed the test; we all returned to the regular schedules of recesses; and poor spellers were never denied equal access to recess again.

Fast rewind back to the true confessions beginning of this blog. If the Patriots aren’t my favorite team, which New England team is? That would be the UConn Huskies WOMEN’S Basketball team. They are not, as some male sportswriters claim, boring to watch. They play basketball with artistry, finesse, and athletic excellence in harmony with true teamwork. The universe will never again bring forth a greater organized group of women athletes. Soon to come—UConn’s 100th straight victory. After UConn, I like the Celtics (LOVED the Larry Bird era), the Red Sox, and then the Bruins. Sports are fun in the scrappy city of Boston and the fan base is wide ranging. The rivalries are energizing, too. Here’s a pic from the immigration line as my family was entering the US after traveling through Oaxaca, Mexico. I don’t know if these two hombres were good or bad or legal or just passing through, but they obviously could deal with their differences and probably enjoy one of the most enduring rivalries in American sports: (In case you can’t see, it’s a Red Sox cap chillin with a Yankees cap.)

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My differences with the New England Patriots have created a lot of great discussions with my family and friends. We all know that when it comes to cheating and being caught and being punished and being superstars, things can get unfair. But then—

The Trump thing landed in deeply blue New England. The leaders and the star quarterback of a team called the Patriots in New England were outed as fans of the new president. Ick. Ick. Ick! But not surprising.

What to do?

My daughter (a Trump disliker and total Boston sports fan and all-around awesome kid) reminded me: “Mom. Don’t judge a whole team by the political views of some. Don’t judge the entire NFL by the bad behavior of some. And don’t judge a person’s whole life by their political views.”  And then she did what I suppose I might have taught her to do—she expanded my consciousness by bringing to light something good.

“Martellus Bennett,” she said, “will not be going to the White House with the team to celebrate their Super Bowl victory.” That’s nothing unusual—Tom Brady didn’t go to Obama’s White House. Larry Bird refused a visit to the White House. So did many other sports superstars.

Nevertheless, I decided to see if I could find out why Bennett had chosen to protest Trump. What I found (via Internet postings, a Forbes article, and Bennett’s Twitter) was that Martellus Bennett appears to be a pretty cool and obviously fun man who doesn’t want to be defined as “just an athlete” or someone useful for promoting the products of other companies or someone without a strong moral base or someone without a voice.

Bennett wants to be the product he promotes and what he promotes is imagination.

WIN!

His company is The Imagination Agency (www.theimaginationagency.com) and he is the Creative Director of Awesomeness. Bennett was inspired by his love for his daughter to create a black female protagonist in picture books—a protagonist with all the freedoms to dream and imagine adventures the way many white kids grow up so freely imagining such things. When Bennett was young, he wanted to be Willy Wonka. He also wanted to go to Hogwarts. One of his favorite quotes is from author Ursula Le Guin: The creative adult is the kid who survived.

From Bennet’s website: The Imagination Agency is a wondrous group of monsters and imaginary friends tasked with creating, drawing, writing, and imagining fantastical adventures for kids all over the world.

According to the heartfelt beliefs of Martellus Bennett, you can have more than one dream. He has always been an artist—drawing, making films, animating, writing—and he claims that, “Every day I wake up a new me. I go to sleep in a cocoon and wake up a new beautiful butterfly.” Pretty fluttery sentiments for a man who is 6’6′ and weighs 270 pounds! Bennett wants his daughter and all children from all backgrounds to grow up learning how to let their imaginations run wild. He wants to inspire a sense for unlimited adventure.

It all sounds so wonderful doesn’t it? Lots of WINS!

Bennett’s Imagination Agency also features the HugFootballMartyPillow on their site and a campaign to “Spread the Hugs.” The pillows can be purchased for children undergoing heart surgery at Boston Children’s Hospital and are used to alleviate pain by giving the children something to hug when they have to cough after surgery in order to keep their lungs clear. For every ONE pillow purchased, ANOTHER pillow is donated to a child recovering from heart surgery. WIN WIN!

(BTW—when the scrappy Boston fans call Martellus, Mahty, it only makes him feel more at home.)

Imagination is a powerful, powerful, powerful attribute to respect, honor, and develop. We can use our imaginations in good and bad ways. It is always refreshing and restorative to discover the ways people are using their imaginations in positive ways to create a better world for ALL children from ALL backgrounds.

Bennett says, “Football is not something I can hand over to my kids. Creativity lasts forever.”

And now for some Friday Fun entertainment. Here’s Martellus Bennett in an animated story of the time he saved a fan falling over a railing. Bennett says he is just your friendly neighborhood superhero and he has actually saved several lives. “People need me. I am there for the people.”

If the video fails to work on this blog—just go to youtube and search for “Martellus Bennett saving a fan.” The video is funny, the animated art is great, and you might get inspired to awaken the adventures and superheroes inside your own imagination.

All wins.

I dedicate this blog to my daughter. Thank you for keeping the conversations going. You have always been about LOVE and I was so proud to use your childhood artwork to make my sign for the Women’s March.

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