summer time fun

still no interwebz at home. I realized, after not having internet access at my fingertips for a few days, that I spend a heckuva lot of time online, and that there's not much to do at home without it.

Luckily it's summer in New York.

I know, I know, technically it's summer in many places in the world, but summer in New York is special, unlike any summer anywhere else. How do I describe it? The city becomes an ultra-lively activity-driven place on the weekdays and the weeknights, and then slows down to a perfect strolling pace on the weekends. Lots of out-of towners parade through midtown, walking far too slow for anyone's good, and all the hipsters and yuppies alike come out of their hipster yuppie holes to bask in grassy ditches in Parks. Outdoor seating is set up at every other restaurant, free shows and movies and markets are offered throughout the each borough, and any mode of transportation can be taken on Fridays to get OUT of the city. Oh, and the magic word to get people to come to your party: ROOFTOP. It's like a strange mix of summer vacation and summer camp and summer projects rolled into two months worth of sun (well, this year it's more thunderstorms than sun) and humidity and friends. It's my third summer here - yikes! - and though this seasonal city-wide celebration has become quite familiar, there is a difference this year in that now I am unemployed. All the better! Also for some reason my friends have suddenly become cooler this year, more adventurous, more available to eat see hear do new things.

So what kind of "things" can one do in New York in the upcoming weeks? I, for one, am going to try to make it out to a Hudson River Flick next week. Maybe pick up some picnic fare at the Chelsea Market and watch the sun set over the Hudson. Lots of park frolicking, including NY Phil's summer series in Central Park next Tuesday and Friday (which reminds me, I should check out the much discussed Anne Hathaway in Shakespeare in the Park). There are market market markets galore in Brooklyn each weekend this summer....and something's going on between the South Street Seaport and LIC that I need to explore too. Free Dirty Projectors concert in Wburg next Sunday, and then a yoga party the Saturday after that at the studio - a yoga class choreographed to music by The Beatles. whoa, am I becoming too much of a granola nut now with all this enthusiastic yoga chatter? Sorry.

***image taken last summer from Madison Square Park looking towards the Empire State Building