Fearless Movements

With a nod to Kamasi Washington's album, comes the mid-year review. 

As the summer heat takes hold, we enter the last week of June. I know it sounds crazy to me too. 

The first six months have come and gone so fast. 

I ushered in the new year,  sick. All the coughs for about a week straight. And there I was, worried about having my probation at work extended instead of taking care of myself. But thankfully, I was well enough to see Monty Python's "Spamalot" on Broadway. Laughing at every joke and singing "Always Look On The Bright Side of Life" in full voice come the show's end. 

As January progressed, a hint of something not seen in the air in a long time. That's right, it snowed not once, but twice. After seven hundred and one days of cold, snowflakes filled the air. The scenes of St. Paul's Chapel and the adjoining courtyard covered in snow will not be romantic. 

My creativity was working overtime as the year began. From taking on the 30/30 challenge for Tupelo Press, to going through another round of Bad Poet. A steady stream of poems each day as I tried to fundraise for the former. It didn't go exactly as planned as I fell well short of my fundraising goal but I still made it to the finish line, nonetheless.

If you had told me that I would be part of a photo studio's advertising campaign, I wouldn't have believed it. But that's what happened with Shoott. I entered their Valentine's Day giveaway and my letter of self-love was enough to be one of the chosen entries. Thankfully, the timing worked out as I was able to complete the shoot over my lunch break. Though the weather was gloomy, the scenery at Brookfield Place wasn't. It was a perfect sign that the photo shoot took place on Groundhog Day, a moment of deja vu from my first shoot with them last October. I couldn't post about the entire experience enough on every platform. 

Mid-February, on a freezing Sunday afternoon. It was the perfect weather for the Stadium Series at MetLife Stadium. Ranger and Islander jerseys as far as the eye could see. A spectacle that day was, from the Jets and Giants players welcoming the teams out to the ice to the band AJR performing at the first intermission and the roll call of New York hockey legends in the second intermission. Oh yeah, a hockey game happened too, with the Rangers winning the game in overtime 6-5 over the Islanders. It felt like a playoff series had ended as both teams met at center ice for the handshake line.

When March had begun, I was still in the cocoon. Not quite ready to go full tilt at social events, but not quite a homebody either. The trying new things side of me was front and center here. With the month beginning inside of a floatation tank. That’s right, a floatation tank. This like many of my explorations began while scrolling mindlessly on Instagram.  The prospect of being able to relax in a place where no one and nothing could bother me was too good to turn away from. Arriving at Holos NYC, I wasn’t sure what to expect. As I undressed, the salt water held me up and I floated on for an hour.  It was a time to turn off the noise of the outside world and worse, one’s mind and just relax on a spring-like day. 

As the Flamenco Festival at mid March brought a hint of Andalusian air back to New York. The flamenco dancer Olga Pericet had brought her show, “La Leona” to the states for the US premiere. Between the dinner at Boqueria and the pre-show flamenco lesson, I was back in Spain again, if only for a brief moment in time.

In April, the seasons changed as the month began. It felt like something from the universe was also in the air. Friday the 5th felt like a normal day. With myself at my desk and a stack of rescheduled cases that needed to be processed. At 10:23 AM, the room was shaking. We wondered why that was, was it construction. No, it didn’t feel like construction, as the shaking kept happening. A 4.5 magnitude earthquake was in progress. After calling everyone to make sure they were okay, the day continued. It was hard to act as if everything was normal, but the Yankees home opener went on that afternoon. I was wondering when the next aftershock would occur. And it did later that evening as I was sitting down to dinner and a drink before Storm Large performed at 54 Below. After delaying this due to being sick in January, the earth moved once again thanks to Storm’s larger-than-life stage presence. 

The eclipse. It had been on the mind for months and on Monday the 8th, the date had arrived. Paying no mind to the fact that New York was not in the path of totality. I was able to scrounge up goggles to see the eclipse at the last minute, thanks to the bartender at the Tin Building waiving the purchase requirement of alcohol. As the 3 PM hour passed by, I was desperate to see the eclipse, even if it was a tiny glimpse of it. With management gone for the day, I saw my chance and stepped out of the building. But there was nothing to see, just skyscrapers. A kind stranger told me to keep walking down Broadway and sure enough, there was a crowd of people looking down Broadway from Cortlandt Street with goggles in tow. Looking through my camera lens, a bright white ball appeared in the sky. Through the glasses, a blazing orange ball of fire. A moment of wonder that won’t show itself again until April 2044 in North America. I wasn’t going to miss it, not for the world. 

With April in the books, so was NaPoWriMo. Thirty days of writing poems on the fly. Some of the poems came easier than others, but I made it through the month. As May began, it was time to keep looking for a new interest, other than writing. 

I didn’t expect Pickleball to end up on my radar, though. Yet there I was at Court 16 during a Single Saturday's event. This was quite an experience. From not having a drop of wine, beer, or any type of spirit nearby, to being with a group of strangers. Let alone trying to pick up a new sport from scratch. I silently told myself as the Silvercup Studios sign appeared in the background that everything would be okay. No one there is an expert at this game either, except for the staff at Court 16. I did my idle best and I realized that I had more power in my arms than I realized, as the plastic ball flew farther from the serve. I was sweaty in the end, but euphoric, and the idea that I was physically active for the first time in quite some time. 

With the first long weekend in a long time, came the biggest event of the year. I went to see The Rolling Stones at MetLife Stadium. Twenty years of waiting, as numerous tours had come and gone. But for timing and ticketing reasons, I wasn’t able to go. And it looked like this time was going to be another on the list as they only announced one date on Thursday the 23rd. I held out hope for a second date to be added and just my luck, it was. At 9:25 PM, the opening notes of “Start Me Up” rang out and the entire stadium went crazy. That sense of energy was with the band and the audience for the rest of the two-hour set. Nineteen tracks that showed Mick, Keith, Ronnie and Steve defying time, age, and space to rock the house still. With a chilling version of “Gimme Shelter” that lingers in the back of the memory banks to this day. I didn’t mind the fact that it took three hours to get back to my door in the early morning hours of Memorial Day. 

There was one more event to round out the first half of this year. But we have to go back to April 20th. 

On that day, my sister messaged me on Instagram. A reel from New York Bucket List promoting the pasta-making experience at the Upper East Side restaurant, Aunt Jake’s. I had wanted to do something like this previously, but the timing of the dates that Closer offered wouldn't work with the end of the work day. But this did. There we were early on a Sunday morning, with drinks in hand before the class began. In general, anything to do with hand-eye coordination is going to be a struggle. This was no exception, from cracking eggs on the table instead of in the mound of flour, to awkwardly rolling the dough. I did the best I could given the situation and tried to play off my difficulties. It didn’t hurt that there was a three-course lunch coming after the class ended. A good meal, a bottle of ice-cold Peroni beer, and my sister’s company. I couldn’t think of a better way to spend a Sunday morning and afternoon. 

Here we are in the last week of June. A lot of moments have happened in the last six months, some of which didn’t make it into this post. From going to see my friends Eliane Amherd and Dawn Drake perform on separate occasions after years of not seeing either of them in person. To the wealth of food on offer during the Downtown Aliance’’s “Dine Around Downtown” event.

This has been a time of trying many new things.  Meeting new people and broadening horizons that didn’t exist when this year began. All while navigating ongoing family health issues and a fractured dynamic that’s existed since my childhood years. 

So, what’s coming shortly?

I will be re-releasing my book of poems, “A Poetic Journey, Staying At Home” through The Key Publishing House. With a follow-up book of poems coming later in the year. Trust me, you will hear plenty more about that in the weeks ahead.

All roads will eventually lead me to Croatia in early October. From Zagreb to Split, Hvar to Dubrovnik, I can’t wait to explore the Pearl of the Adriatic over ten eventful days. 

Between those events, there’s plenty of room for more things to be added to the calendar. More fearless movements to be undertaken before this year comes to a close. 

But for now, that’s a wrap for the first half of 2024!