I’m leading a free writing workshop next week with two of my colleagues, one who is an established novelist and the other who works in book publishing. The workshop will be held on January 20, 2014, 7-9pm, at the offices of Redeemer Presbyterian Church, located 1359 Broadway, 4th Floor, Main Conference Room The American Bible Society, located at 1865 Broadway at 61st Street, 11th Floor. (edit: 1/16/14)
Admission is free! Please bring 1-2 pages of your writing (any genre!) for critique.
image via 92nd Street Y
If you recall that Jack Kerouac, a native French speaker, read Marcel Proust’s Remembrance of Things Past, you may be interested in Harold Pinter’s screenplay of it at the 92nd Street Y:
In 1972, Harold Pinter wrote a screenplay from Proust’s seven-volume masterpiece Remembrance of Things Past.
Decades later, Pinter and directing partner Di Trevis adapted the never-filmed script for the National Theatre in London. It has never been produced in the US. In celebration of Pinter’s long friendship with the Poetry Center and the centenary of Swann’s Way, we present a staged reading of the play, affording us “the pleasure of providing yet another angle of perception upon a work so elaborate and many-faceted it never fails to give back new light,” wrote John Updike.
Here is the key facts:
Date: Thu, Jan 16, 2014, 8 pm
Location: Lexington Avenue at 92nd St
Venue: Kaufmann Concert Hall
Price: from $27.00
Pinter wrote “memory plays,” works like No Man’s Land (1975) and Betrayal (1978 — and yes, it was once alluded to on an episode of Seinfeld), which deal with the chronology of time and the way memory warps. He also acted and his last performance was as none other than the title character in Samuel Beckett’s Krapp’s Last Tape — fitting, you see, since the play is about an older man reviewing his earlier years.
Kerouac too was writing about memory as he mythologized himself in his series of semi-autobiographic novels, which he called The Legend of Duluoz.
One of my New Year’s Resolutions for 2014 is to have more fun! New York City is perhaps the greatest place on earth to live, but when you live here you sometimes forget that. Life gets in the way. Things like work and grocery shopping (or getting takeout) and, in my case, readings and publishing events leave little time for play.
This Wednesday is the launch of a new women-run social club that takes the work out of planning your social life and puts the fun back into it! Maria A. Pardalis, the woman behind the Greek American Fashion Shows I’ve been covering the past two years, co-founded Eventsy with marketing maven Soula Adam. They’re kicking off their launch with an event at The DL and have a slew of unique social events already lined up:
New York City’s newest and hottest upscale social club, Eventsy, will celebrate its official launch on January 15 at one of NYC’s favorite nightclubs–The DL, located at 95 Delancy Street. Eventsy is an emerging start up that was created for professionals between the ages of 21 – 55 that are simply tired of spending unnecessary time and effort into planning their social lives. Having fun, making friends, networking, meeting a significant other and discovering new things shouldn’t be complicated or another item on anyone’s “to-do” list.
Eventsy will begin the celebration with a VIP Cocktail Reception from 6:30 p.m. to 7:30 p.m., followed by an open celebration from 7:30 p.m. until 10:30 p.m. Guests will enjoy signature Eventsy drinks, unlimited access to an onsite photo booth, sweet treats from Potion Cupcakes & Xocai® Chocolate, a water station by Hint, upbeat music by DJ Paulie K and a pampering session by skincare experts Rodan + Fields®. The night will also feature a live performance by Violinist Sarina Suno, complimentary gifts and several chances to win valued prizes from sponsors.
A bold, women-run company, “Eventsy is a New Yorker’s very own personal event planner that essentially makes it easy for members to once again enjoy a rich social life, meet new people, and network in an enjoyable environment without having to be glued to a computer screen and engage in impersonal online interactions,” stated co-founder Maria Pardalis. “We are unlike any other social club in New York, as we create affordable, tailored events for our members.”
Events include weekly business networking happy hours in a relaxed environment, intimate signature dinners &fun brunches, upstate vineyard tours, riveting kayaking adventures, paintball competitions, rock climbing expeditions and weekend getaways. Members will enjoy premier access to NYC’s hottest lounges, restaurants, bars and nightlife as well as exclusive invitations to film & movie screenings, all for a membership fee that is affordable for busy New Yorkers.
Eventsy is one’s very own personal planner – events planned around core interests, full time staff with service 7 days a week, and personalized attention to detail. Individual membership is priced at $365 per year. When a member refers a friend, both the member and friend will receive a $50 event credit. For more information on membership, please visit http://www.eventsy.com/membership.
About Eventsy
Eventsy is a multifaceted members-only social club that brings a new breath of fresh air in the event, activity, and get-away arenas. By going the extra mile and only coordinating interactive events with a purpose, Eventsy bridges the current social gap by providing unique fun-filled adventures, business networking events that are actually fun, and endless travel and sporting opportunities.Based in New York City, Eventsy is dedicated to providing a friendly platform for which its members can make new friendships, meet professional contacts and/or a significant other, all while embarking on life-enhancing and fun experiences.For more information on Eventsy, visit www.eventsy.com.
See you at The DL!
Kiyun Kim’s photography series Microaggressions capture the casual racism of our American society. The Fordham University student photographed fellow students holding signs with the subtle racist remarks they often hear. The comments probably aren’t intended to be racist, and I would imagine many people think they’re actually complimenting the person.
When I found out about Kim’s work via Flavorwire, I recognized a lot of the signs as comments I’d heard directed toward many of my friends. And while White privilege means I don’t have to deal with racism in the same way that others do, as someone whose skin is too pale for Greek functions and whose name is ethnic for many Americans—not all of whom were White—I have heard my fair share of remarks that were less than culturally sensitive.
“Stephanie, can you explain to the class who the Titans are?”
“That’s so nice of you to show an interest in your husband’s culture.”
“In the Koine, there are five different words for ‘love.’ Today we’ll be talking about philia. …I hope I pronounced that correctly with Stephanie sitting in the room!”
“Which is your favorite translation of The Iliad?”
“So how did you find out about this event?”
How do you deal with remarks like this? On the one hand, you don’t want to overreact because usually the people saying these things don’t understand the hurt it may cause. On the other hand, they will continue to say these things to you and to others if they’re not corrected.
I’m eating my words from yesterday — today is bitter cold. The buzz word of the day is “polar vortex.” I actually caught myself subconsciously holding my breath as I walked to the subway this morning. I felt bad for the guy who had to stand outside the station handing out the free little daily newspapers, and I took one and told him to say warm! Sometimes I feel so spoiled having a desk job…. In the free AM New York I read an interesting factoid: this week MetroCard is turning 20 years old.
That made me feel kind of old. For my entire adult life, I’ve used MetroCards, but I remember actually using the old subway tokens during my teen years. Now I wonder how anyone commuting got anywhere. The idea of lugging around a bunch of coins to get to and from work seems like it would get heavy. And were there no unlimited passes at the time? I really don’t remember…. But I do remember when the transition from coins to cards was happening I thought it seemed so high-tech. It was like a mini credit card just for the Metro! Haha, oh how times have changed.
As I was thinking about the old subway tokens, Larry Closs’ Beatitude popped into my mind. The cover of the Beat-inspired novel features a cat with a subway token for an eye. I’m drawn to the graphic imagery and bold colors of the cover. It really pops.
It’s no wonder why — the cover was designed by award-winning illustrator Anthony Freda. Larry told the cover story on his blog a while back, and you can find out more about Anthony Freda and his art — I love his collages and political humor — on his website.
Now I wish I’d saved one of those tokens. The Transit Museum actually sells merch made of subway coins, but it’s not the same.
image by Jim Maggas via Wikipedia
After a weekend of trudging through dirty city snow, I was surprised—and thankful!—this morning to discover the temperatures had risen enough to melt away the large icy barricades surrounding every crosswalk. I changed out of my snow boots and put on ballet flats. Ballet flats! In the winter! Even my puffy black jacket didn’t seem necessary, but perhaps that’s because a few days before it had been so cold I was wearing my jacket in my apartment.
The warmer winter temperatures had perfect timing. Today is the day in the Greek Orthodox religion where the priest throws a cross into the river and boys jump in to save it. We call it Theophany, but many religious New Yorkers would more likely know it as Epiphany. It refers to the day John the Baptist baptized Jesus of Nazareth in the Jordan River and is the revelation that Jesus is the Son of God. You can read my explanation here.
I wouldn’t recommend actually jumping into the river yourself, but I have witnessed the Blessing of the Water ceremony. If you ever get a chance, it’s quite a sight to see here in New York City!
Stephanie Nikolopoulos is a writer, editor, writing teacher, and speaker based in New York City.
She is the coauthor, with Paul Maher Jr., of "Burning Furiously Beautiful: The True Story of Jack Kerouac's 'On the Road.'"
You can email her at stephanie_701 {@} yahoo.com
Stephanie Nikolopoulos 