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This is my favorite writer. She grew up in Brighton Beach going to socialist preschool and then when she was older, as a mother, she wrote stories on receipts and scraps of paper, keeping them in her apron and then taping them together. She cared a lot about politics and life in the city, and she was always funny. The way she reads aloud is amazing, and there is a good recording of one of her classic stories here. You will notice it is me who uploaded it, two years ago. I had to learn how to “rip” audio.
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her voice surprisingly baby-ish for such a woman of power but have you read Source of Self-Regard? find her lectures- she will breath life into you from beyond. In my 🙏❤️❣️
May 8, 2024
đźŽ
One of my favorite playwrights of all time (just behind my dear friend Polly Stenham, who first introduced me to her work) - her book of complete plays (Blasted, Phaedra’s Love, Cleansed, Crave, 4.48 Psychosis, and Skin) is everything I love about music, films, really anything. There’s something about reading plays that allows my brain to process and experience the work differently - it’s a crazy thrill to read her,, especially Blasted. It’s intense to the bone stuff. She also made a short film for Skin in 1997 just before hanging herself in 1999.
Mar 17, 2022
Impossible to pithily summarize the force of this artist (in which any isolated "scream" is merely another register of space across a VERY complex vocalic spectrum), but I like this one-liner from RYM: "The world isn't a pretty place and sometimes people don't want to hear the truth." Also, if you live in NYC and have *read* about the 80s/90s AIDS crisis but aren't sure you can *feel* it, listen to her work.
Mar 22, 2024
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The strap of my dress snapped a few years ago and then in minutes I sewed it back on and felt a satisfaction so profound that it had to be Ancient and Just. If you don’t know how to mend it, someone does… COBBLERS are REAL!!!!! I’ve seen them with my eyes and they have re-birthed my shoes like Gods on Earth. Mass consumption has us addicted to buying and discarding but I highly recommend repairing your shit - relationships too! My uncle who doesn’t shut up once told me that “life is all about maintenance” (genius) so I forgave him for being the way that he is!
Apr 4, 2024
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Robert Moses State Park is open in the winter, and if you go on a weekday you’ll probably have the entire beach to yourself and a few fishermen. Great for a contemplative walk wherein you mull things over spiritually. Towards sunset, can start to feel like you’ve reached the end of the earth and are about the meet God. Bring a blanket, some grapes and your copy of The Power Broker.
Apr 4, 2024
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The best movie theater in New York seats 35. See a movie here you know nothing about and you will be inspired. For me most recently it was a screening of Dave Wascavage’s Suburban Sasquatch. Simple Town has been lucky enough to play videos here twice. The first night was packed, the second night we sold two tickets, and both nights were perfect.
Apr 4, 2024