"Expect great things": Stoop Moments and Last Days before Berlin

 

Expect great things: Stoop Moments and Last Days before Berlin

Shannon and @seashipsailing cheered me on as I packed up for a year away. It may not look like it at all, but I'm a clothes horse. Packing for a year in Berlin traveling was not a simple proposition. None of us have any idea of what we’re doing. So we’re doing it. 

Schools and lives and apartments opened for us in Berlin. We are going for it. 

In between packing up for our renters, we ran around, making arrangements for our visas, seeing as many people and events as possible, going to the beach, Rev Billy shows, etc. 

 

The teenager and I sat at Valentino Pier in Red Hook, listening to songs on Spotify. 

“That summer feeling, it's gonna haunt you for the rest of your days,” sings Jonathan Richman.

We talked about Leslie F and Leonard and all our heroes. 

 

I meet the other teenager, the first one at Veselka, eating  pierogies, chatting about the good things here, about New York summers:

Skating, they remind me. 

Of course. 

The city, the people, the streets, the abundance, going to the beach all day, with the French surfers drinking Aperol Spritz, by day, and off to the disco at night, dancing late into things. 

Bike rides to Valentino Pier

The Statue of Liberty in the distance. 

Window shopping at Search and Destroy, 

Running into former students.

Going to Tompkins and seeing Peter. 

To earth church and seeing Rev Billy, 

Judson and seeing Micah and the performance artists, 

THE guys who still say smoke.

Surprise art shows on Ave. C. 

Sharing stoop poems. 

Sonatos from the activists at Union Square. 

The yoga teachers reminding us to chill it out on Sackett Street.

The friends who drop by to sit on my stoop, Yana and her rads from the fringe, Andrew and Virginia, and Max and Jenn, Ken and Babs, Meghan and Greg, my ride or die, chatting all afternoon long, dancing along with Marlene and the boys in the backroom. 

Each night, a different crash meeting, 

Al on Wed at Bijans, recalling the history of friendship. 

Jim and Melissa at Gage & Tollner, Fulton Street,  retro decor, serving oysters.

Fragole on Court Street, where we celebrated before walking through Carroll Park. 

History leads out at us on this anniversary night... 21 years together.. walking past the scene of the crime where 17 years prior.  

It all started off innocently enough. 

Off the bteenager ran into the park, hurled her body through the park head over heels she spilled into space... back home ... tears ..watching Wings of Desire... about strangers in Berlin who feel like they've been there before...I'm a stranger here ... myself...happy anniversary @seashipsailing... glad you are still here flying through time @mothtreee ....bear necessities on the move....

Thinking about Columbo walking through Berlin, looking down at us from above. 

 

The last few days were a whirlwind of friends.

Erin and Kevin at Shan…

Jack Powers and CUMGIRL at Market Hotel, biking into the night, dancing, punk and merging into a low fi. trash disco/ performance art piece.

 

The kids zipped out to goth shows.

Friends on the stoop. 

 

Last full day in nyc for a while: attended a wedding, went to a funeral for a legend, rode bikes to greenpoint and east village, took the ferry to staten island and back to brooklyn for a stoop hang. Love to nyc and it's strange lovely inhabitants @brennan_cavanaugh @barbararossnyc @immegburke @emschuch @seashipsailing @mothtreee @joanieroney

 

Expect great things, Kevin paraphrased his hero at his wedding.  Henry David Thoreau:  “In the long run, we find what we expect,” he said. “We shall be fortunate then if we expect great things.”

 

At La Plaza Cultural, Brian remembered our friend:

She was the Harold to my Maude, but not because of gender, but only that I was the younger one (she would appreciate me holding on to that). She was a one in a million friend to us all. Magically Madge, making it better, with more understanding... She was my friend. Miss u Betsy! Thanks @harbrian9

 

Our of the East Village, I zipped down to watch the water on the ferry. 

Lots of friends joined, reveling in the motion of light in water, chatting late into the night on the stoop.

Thank you Samuel. 

Thank you NYC. 

 

 

We started the year sitting in Williamsburg watching, B-Movie: Lust & Sound in West-Berlin, Mark Reeder’s doc about the music scene in Berlin during the 1980s, dreaming about being there, with Bruno and Mark. 

 

Our favorite song from the film ws Ideal’s homage to the city:

“Berlin

Zoo Station, my train rolls in

I get off, good to be here again

Past alcohol and down to the U-Bahn

Towards Kreuzberg, the journey is clear

…

I feel good, I'm into Berlin!

I feel good! (We're into Berlin)

I feel good! (We're into Berlin)....”

Yes, the journey is clear. 

We’re into Berlin.