New York, NY

Today, tomorrow, and the next day, the Dalai Lama is in New York. He will be teaching from the Diamond Cutter Sutra and the 70 Verses on Emptiness. You need to buy a pack to go–no individual sessions are available. But why wouldn’t you go to all three. I mean, come on. It’s the friggin Dalai Lama!

Radio City Music Hall will be the site of the divine teachings of the Buddha. This event is hosted by the Tibetan Center and Healing The Divide.

Tickets range from 80 to 330 bucks so check out Ticketmaster and figure out what’s best for you. This is something different and something special.

Theatre for a New Audience was established in 1979 by Jeffrey Horowitz. The goal? To keep Shakespeare alive! Figuratively, of course; otherwise, this would be a whole other post.

TFANA presents Shakespeare and other Classic dramas off-Broadway and on tour internationally and nationally. In the city, some performances are at The Duke on West 42nd Street between 6th and 7th Aves. Also, Cherry Lane Theatre on Commerce Street and 7th Ave hosts performances.

The 2007-8 season is: Africa, Europe, America: Exploring the Connections. This season present three main plays:

Ohio State Murders, by Adrienne Kennedy, October 27-November 18 2007

Oroonoko, by Aphra Behn, adapted by Biyi Bendele, February 2-March 9 2008

Antony and Cleopatra, by William Shakespeare, March 22-May 2 2008

TFANA also hosts a reading series called Literary Supplement:

Tower of Evil, by Michael Feingold, January 28 2008

The Self-Tormentor, by Terence, March 10, 2008

The Swamp Dwellers, by Wole Soyinka, April 14, 2008

The season starts soon. Become part of the Classics.

The New York Times has a bunch of events for smart people who have money and dress nicely. I consider myself a smart person; however, I am lacking in funds. Yet, when I go to these Times shindigs, people who have money THINK I have money because I’m there and they treat me nicely.

All that being said….

The New York Times is hosting The Great Literary Brunch. See? It’s a brunch. Hip, cool people go to brunch. Hip, cool people with money spend $130 on brunch. It’s worth it though. Here’s why: Alan Alda.

I love Alan Alda. I’ve been about three feet away from Alan Alda several times (at a writers’ conference and at a supermarket) and haven’t said a dang thing to him because I’m so in awe. What would I say, anyway? “Hey, Mr. Alda, I’ve loved you since the day I first watched M*A*S*H with my grandmother.”? I don’t think that’d go over too well.

Anyway, Alan Alda is going to be at The Great Literary Brunch along with some other people whom I’ve never heard of so who cares. It’s Alan Friggin Alda. The brunch is on October 14 from 11 AM to 2 PM. A book signing will follow.

I cannot wait to read this book, a collection of up and coming writers who write their stories about New York City. The collection was edited by historians and critics Marshall Berman and Brian Berger.

If you want to check it out before you buy it, go to Barnes and Noble in Chelsea tonight at 7 PM. The editors will be there to chat about and maybe even read from their book, New York Calling, From Blackout to Bloomberg.

The collection includes snippets about rent controlled apartments, gay culture in the city, the art world, and drug-induced years.

What better way to learn about New York than to hear about it first-hand?

NYC, new york city, books

Medieval Times were not the way we think they were. They were dirty and gross and smelly. That doesn’t come across in the movies. What does come across and holds true is that the artwork was spectacular.

Go back in time at The Cloisters. Located steps from Fort Tryon Park, the Cloisters will make you feel kinda monkish. You can view illuminated manuscripts (that means that they have pretty, decorative script–they don’t light up), stained glass windows, and religious paintings.

The be-all, end-all of exhibits is the Unicorn Tapestries. They are beyond gorgeous. Go before the weather turns yucky.

Clowns may well be some of the freakiest things this world has to offer. I hate them. I hate them. I hate them.

That’s why I was highly disturbed to learn that the New York Circus Arts Academy exists.

But then I was quite relieved when I realized that it’s not clown school. It’s an athletic, fitness, circus-gymnastics kind of place. They offer classes in Aerial Acrobatics, Aerial Silk, Conditioning and Flexibility, Acrobalance, and Trapeze.

Phew. I feel better now.

The next session starts September 10. Register now so you can join the circus like you wanted to when you were a kid.

The Museum of the City of New York
1220 Fifth Avenue
New York, NY 10029
(212) 534-1672

Fall in love with New York City all over again. Start with a date on the first floor where the exhibits change from time to time. Recently they featured the Glory Days of Baseball and the role of New York in The Spanish Civil War.

Climb up the winding staircase for a second date with their permanent collections of toys and Broadway shows. Also stop by the galleries of paintings and sketches.

Seal the deal by watching a film that shows how the city became The City.

Small enough to finish in under two hours and suggested admission is a pittance. Go once and then you’ll have to keep going back to keep that passion alive.

new york city, nyc, museums, history

New York City is the place to be for writers. Publishers abound in every neighborhood. Small presses, free papers (I’m sure the New Yorkers reading this have run into those people who are handing out the Daily News for free by now), books in every store. We’re a very literate city–reading on subways and busses. Writers may still struggle, but here’s a way to hone the craft.

The Gotham Writers Workshop is a fun way to brush up on the basics, receive feedback from peers, embark on a new writing adventure, and network with people who understand who you are and what you do, and most importantly, why you do it.

Their class format ranges from one-day workshops to ten-week stints. They meet several times periods in different locations so there’s something for everyone. For writers who don’t want to travel, Gotham also has online classes.

The instructors are people in the know. The comedy classes showcase standup comics as the professors. The poetry classes introduce you to poets. So you learn from people who know what they’re doing.

If you’ve never picked up a pen to write or if you’re a freelancer for a living, sign up for a workshop. It’s a uniquely wonderful experience.

NYC, new york city, writing, classes, education

School has never been so drunkenly fun! Unless you were in that one frat house on my campus. Then you were always drunk. No matter what your study habits, if you like wine, you’re sure to enjoy Divine Bar’s Vino-Versity. These classes offer informal wine tasting educations for first timers to pros–by pros, I mean people who actually know how to taste wine, not people who down boxes of it every day for fun.

Some sessions are left in this summer semester:

8/7 You Vill Drink It and You Vill Like It: Wines of Alsace Germany and Austria
8/21 Club Med: Wines of the Mediterranean
9/11 Reds, Whites, and Blue!: Comparing whites and reds with a Fruits of the Sea (read: seafood) buffet–this one has a special $44 per person price because of the deep blue aspect
Also, Walk-Around Classes are available featuring 24-36 wines on Tuesdays from 6:30 PM to 8:30 PM.
Advance tickets for classes are $38. At the door, $48 if available. Divine Bar East is located at 244 East 51st Street and Divine Bar West is located at 236 West 54th between Broadway and 8th. Your class will state the location.

Tastings are accompanied by cheeses, breads, and dips as to not let you get too schnockered.