Thanks to my (jazz) flautist buddy Carol Sudhalter, I went to the New York Flute Club’s October program.
Robert Langevin, flute, and Min Young Kang, piano, presented a program in honor of Maurice Ravel’s 150th birthday. It was all so very beautiful.
Shout out to a young composer, C.R.R. Klevin, whose Sonata (2024) was wonderful.
Inspired by this evening I googed my way to this fun overview:
I encourage you to seek out more music videos featured on YouTube, or wherever you watch and listen.
Having recently had a speakeasy experience, I am alert to hidden bars.
Having your name over the door technically disqualifies you or rather your joint as a speakeasy!
All of these are technically not secret enough to be speaks, but they harbor a mystery.
Back alleys, belowstairs steps and small doors are also mysterious. Enough for me.
There is a hidden gem in Spanish Harlem that offers a peaceful cultural experience or rather experiences. It is rare and not as well-known as it justly deserves.
I apologize for the musical oldies reference. PS109 ArtSpace is at the edge of El Barrio. It provides housing for artists, and studio spaces, as well as Salsa nights and art shows. It is gorgeous. It is pristine.
PS109 offers enough events to invite us, [you and me, everyone], to visit often.
Today, I made a repeat visit with my friend the artist LM, [we go to art venues together] with a crew of another group of adventurers.
We were given a full tour of the galleries and other public spaces. Our friend F planned a return tonight with his wife to see a play in the little blackbox theater.
We went off to dine nearby on the recommendation of Rolinda Ramos, the director of PS109 ArtSpace El Barrio.
This is the 10th anniversary of PS109, located at 215 E 99th St, which gives you the excuse to drop by at least 10 times this year.
Wood-frame houses in and near my neighborhood.
Baristas like bartenders have upped the ante. The more specific drink invention gets, the more knowledge and skill they have to exercise.
So it’s blonde and flat or almond and what have you. I don’t even know how to order from these menus.
Let’s face it, complicated is fun. And adds spice.
I thought of asking my Swiss cafeista today to prepare my cappucino mit schlag.
They call it Vienesse at Sotheby’s down the block. Adding not spice but calories.
My imagined dialog with Julia Louis Dreyfus over my quibble about the name of her [except for its name, maybe?] impeccable podcast goes like this:
Tamara: Why “Wiser than Me,” Julia, when it should be “than I”?
Julia: Because.. I don’t want to sound prissy?
Tamara: You don’t want to sound grammatically correct, Julia.
[And she aka I, Tamara goes on:] We, none of us do. We throw aints around as if we were born to them.
Now, I will pivot back to the original programming here. I developed this doubt. Than Me/I? He or She vs. Him or Her? Wiser than him? Nah, it’s Wiser than He with the is that would follow implied or unspoken.
So, running back to the quibble that brought me to this diatribe, there is an “am” to end “Wiser than I”. By the way, Julia, great work.
All The Best