If I Need to Take a Breath, then You Can Take a Trumpet Solo

So, in case you didn't know, here's the pictures Brittany took at the May Day rally in Foley Square.  I forgot my camera a bit this past week (and actually that weekend, too, which is why I'm just now getting the pictures), so I'll fluff with these.  Warning:  Very few of these pictures have anything to do with any of the events in this post.

dare you!

seriously? that's the name?

The most recent Urban Adventures outing found me walking 13 kids and 7 adults from 115th between 1st and 2nd to 125th and 7th (ish).  So, really far.  We probably spent about as much time in transit as usual, but it's a toss up whether crossing many streets and avenues is better or worse than switching lines on the subway.  Not all of the kids were really into the bowling, but they were pretty easy to keep track of all bunched in a corner with two birthday parties between us and the exit.  After our time was up, we took them to a jungle gym at Central Park to climb really high and spin on tire swings  and east ice cream bars and drink pop.   Because there's no better time for a queasy stomach or sugar high than 20 minutes before passing kids off to their moms.

This Friday, LSA hosted a party to honor volunteers.  Hey, that's me!  Sort of.  As a full-time volunteer, I was kind of neither here nor there as far as honoring and being honored, but I still got my special gift (a reusable waterbottle with LSA's name and symbol written on it) and some awesome potato tacitos and cake.  I got to see some of my tutors again, some of the mentors and mentees talked about how they've benefited from their programs, and after all the normal volunteers staff members with kids left, those remaining got to take full advantage of the stereo equipment.  So win-win-win.

 the boat says "Santa Maria"...that was my idea

this little girl had on red, white, and blue everything, including striped shirt, stared pants, and ruffle socks

Saturday I went to the Figment Art Festival on Governors Island with Katie.  As to Part the First:  Figment is an annual, participatory art festival, meaning all the "exhibits" invite or involve the audience in some way.  Some of them exhibit provides the supplies and poses a question and passersby provide the exhibit itself (like one that asked what we would DO to create peace, what our promise was, and we had to make the postcards for them to display out of third-grade-collage-style pieces like magazines and stickers and repurposed postcards).  Some were more the bare bones and the interaction was the art (like DJ equipment that operated based on hand position or unseen audiomixers who changed the sound effects of a courtyard to reflect the activities therein.  Basically it was Burning Man East/Lite.  I really really really wish Katie or I had remembered at least one camera between us to record the chalk project where anyone could outline an endangered bird on the sidewalk, "Not Without a Trace."  Or that I had mic'd myself during the dancing blind folded exhibit.  But, alas.  Instead you get to see more pictures of another political rally from a month and a half ago.  As to Part the Second:  Governors Island provided a welcome respite from both the city streets and Central Park.  Somehow, the latter has just never grabbed me like it seems to be supposed to.  Now open to the public some times during some parts of the year, Governors (NOT Governor's) Island served as a military base for about 200 years and was the site of the Wright brother's whole first flight thingy.  Somewhere along the line, an awesome piece of paper was signed by some really important people (can you tell I've done my research? but here's the important part) that guarantees that NYU and fancy developers can't get their greedy hands on this primo real estate to build overpriced condos or honors student housing.  This banning of anything too practical or commercial allows the Island to operate as the site of public beaches and free mini golf and participatory art festivals and outdoor concerts and the like.  Plus you have to take a ferry to get there, which makes it feel a little more exotic or extraordinary or something.  Anyway, pictures to come, I'm sure.

band!

right after taking this picture, the couple asked if we were immigrants and were quite disappointed at our 'no, we just like them'

Tuesday, I had the pleasure of visiting El Museo del Barrio for the Free Arts end-of-year exhibition.  For some reason or another, the art itself was hung in an awkward hallway where the elevators were, creating a swirling vortex of children, parents, and FA volunteers trying to point out or photograph themselves with various creations.  The highlight, however, was The Story Pirates, a group that puts on short stories written by children.  They did an awesome job; even I wanted them to do more stories, and I tend to have a low tolerance for stuff aimed at kids that doesn't keep a little pizazz for the chaperone (just ask any kid I babysat for who wanted to watch The Wiggles instead of Veggie Tales).  One of the kids from LSA had her story, which was about a town in Canada with only weirdos and villains that had to be saved with the help of a superhero maker of magical shoes who traveled across the galaxy for cow oil to make her flying shoes, chosen for the performance.  It was my favorite, obviously, because Aneli is awesome, but the other stories were pretty great, too (Brittany commented that this must be what happens when you can't make it on Broadway, but I feel like there could be worse places to fall if one doesn't quite make it to stardom).  (More SP)

  some sort of fort history celebration was going on, which has to be why there was some random super old looking boat kept popping up

here it is in front of Ellis Island

This Saturday, I hopped over to Governors Island again, this time for a Gone to Governors free concert sponsored by Converse.  Due to various other commitments and plans, no one could join me, but I still had quite an enjoyable afternoon/evening, first just enjoying the island, then checking out some good/awesome bands on Converse's dime.  I headed out early since I wasn't sure how it would work (does outside have a capacity limit? first come first serve? did I need to sign up for a ferry back to Manhattan? guard a spot for myself where I'd actually be able to see? most importantly, where would I get my next meal?).  Upon arrival, I heard a band playing and momentarily freaked out that I'd gotten the time wrong before realizing it was just a sound check.  (By the way, a sound check is a great way of finding a venue when it's on a giant island with bad maps.  Right by the ferry, in case you were wondering.)  I have a bunch of pictures here, but they're mostly of the same thing, partly because it's awkward/difficult to take pictures with strangers in them (kind of a creeper thing to do, even if it's mostly accidental), so I stuck with un-easily-offended things like rivers and buildings and boats and things.  

 some remnants of last week's festival still up

 about 100-1000x prettier in person.  one band referred to it as its most beautiful gig to date

I brought some sandwiches in case the food on the Island was overpriced a la airports (with a ferry that only runs every half hour between the customer and the nearest competition, who knows how scares that falafel suddenly became?), but as far as I can tell I needn't have worried.  But sitting in some shade, finishing the book I had started Thursday, people watching, etc made for quite a relaxing afternoon before the rest of the Island closed and those staying for the show got corralled over to the "beach" (that didn't actually touch water but had volleyball nets and picnic tables).  I had fairly low expectations for the show since the three bands have released MAYBE 4 CDs between them, but they were all quite entertaining.  A Wild Thing, who I had never heard of but sounded kind of like The Smiths (no relation); then Freelance Whales, who had been the main draw for me; finishing with The Morning Benders, who were much better than I had expected plus they covered Fleetwood Mac at one point.  I don't go to too many concerts, so they stay a nice treat when I do get around to them.  Concert pictures never turn out, so I'm just including a few to give a sense of the crowd and such (awesome people watching).

Hopefully I'll make it to one more such concert during the summer.  Pictures really don't do it justice, especially from my little point-and-shoot camera, but hopefully you get the idea.  More pics on photobucket.

leaving :( so sad to go

ok I was a teensy bit of a creeper on this one, but her shirt has a bear with potted flowers and says "hairy potter."  not pictured: girl with bee tattoos on both her knees.

post title from "Hannah" by Freelance Whales

[fully support]