Good afternoon, Thursday. I'm hanging in midtown for a minute and damn if it's not the most heavenly day. The cherry blossoms are blooming in midtown to deflect the hustle and bustle and it doesn't get much better weather wise than it is today. I hope you are all enjoying it. Well played, Mother Nature. Well played.
So it's no secret that New York can be an absolutely excruciating, life suck of a town to live in. It's expensive, overcrowded, intense. There's too many one percenters and not enough room for the rest of us. There's too much kale, too much soul cycle, too many people pretending this city is not the warped metropolis it is and turning it into a mall in Portland. But then there's nights like last night, which make a girl pause and remember just what a gift it is to live here.
Last night found me in a basement of a sushi restaurant on St. Mark's Place, at a table full of interesting, fabulously funny people, all gathered together to eat passable sushi, drink cheap wine (lots of that), and watch a belly dancing performance. At 8 pm at night. On a Wednesday.
Sure, your city may have that too. But there is something about a New York show that is just so bad ass and raucous and raw. Every woman that came out (of all shapes and sizes, and I do mean every size of the spectrum) danced her belly off, with the accompaniment of a fabulous guitarist and a cowboy boot wearing, bald beatboxer (sounds awful but works), to a packed house. Our table boasted a videographer, blogger/supreme connector, set designer, high end hair genius, and that was just at my end. Looking around at the crowd, everyone was there and part of it and enjoying each other's company while watching a fantastic performance. My friend took to the stage with one of the dancers and improved a great performance, while a Yoko Ono type hit the stage and did an impromptu performance of her own which was better than some of the performers themselves. I'm not sure where else one can sit in a basement sushi den and watch bellydancing, surrounded by interesting people who are all in on the madness and want to have a fantastic time and always get all of your jokes. As I stepped out on St. Marks Place, laughing and chatting with my friends, I realized that living in New York, though oppressive and frantic and arguably not as cool as it once was, is still pretty freaking cool. I hear there's a Japanese game show night at this place too- gathering a posse for that as we speak. Who wants in?
If you are living here and are too tired to drag yourself out of the house after fighting the hoards and smelly subway people all day, force yourself. New York, I will always love you- your wackiness, your depth, and your ability to throw a party like nobody else. That and the Springtime happy vibes have a hold of me. I love discovering new things here, and there's always something new to see- it's just a matter of getting out of your own head to get off of your sofa and go see them. I miss doing nighttime activities and have to remind myself that what's even more amazing than NY by day is NY by night.
Cause that's what's up this NY is still awesome kind of Thursday in the 212. Yours in bellydancing, belly laughing, and still being crazy, after all these years. I still count myself as one of the lucky ones to live here. XO