Summer 2024: Entertainment and Recreation

July 18, 2024
It's hot! Brooklyn is blazing right now and I am baking in this atmospheric energy. Fortunately I have enjoyed ample time off and have ensconced to cooler climes frequently over the past month. Our annual Taylor convention in Maine is always a highlight and while our general itinerary is the same; great company of siblings, parents, nieces and nephews, aunts and uncles and cousins, fantastic food, boating, fishing, island camping in Casco Bay, hiking in Acadia and relaxing at the cabin, we somehow manage to improve it every year and enjoy it even more as the nine cousins rise in…

Long Play

May 7, 2024
This is my perfect music festival; situated in my hometown across multiple venues over three days, featuring an eclectic mix of some of contemporary music's most interesting composers and performers, this year's Long Play Festival was beautifully curated and well-organized, and it introduced me to some phenomenal new music while showcasing some of the best modern classical and avant-garde of the past 50 years. The range and diversity of the concerts was vast and every one that I saw was unique and fascinating! Patti Smith and Soundwalk Collective performing spoken word with field recordings, ambient sounds, cello and percussion to…

Biden/Harris 2020

November 7, 2020
What a glorious day! It was an absolutely gorgeous morning, 70 and sunny, so we made a family excursion to Prospect Park. We have been making almost daily journeys there for the past several months; Ivy and Miles love riding their bikes and we have a well-established route around the lake, which I have been really enjoying on my new longboard! Today was truly special and I will never forget exactly where on our loop we were the moment Alaina said to me: "They're about to call it..." and instantly the entire Nethermead erupted in euphoric hoots and joyful hollers.…

I Skied Today!

October 11, 2020
October 10 (Andrew's Birthday!) Earliest start to my season ever! It was at a mall in New Jersey, but it was with my kids and the snow was consistent and the turns felt GREAT! Big Snow American Dream has been a fantasy teased by reality for over a decade; a derelict development dead and dormant after the 2008 financial crisis. A giant metal sloped barn, rising several hundred feet above the parking lot it shares with MetLife Stadium (where the 0-5 Jets were losing to the Cardinals in front of 82,500 empty seats), chilled to 28 degrees and covered in…

Homeward Bound

July 18, 2020
We are headed home to Brooklyn in 24 hours! We packed up hastily and evacuated the city on March 14, as the virus began spinning out of control. There was very little understanding of what was happening at that time and it became clear over the next few weeks that the city was infected much more than anybody realized; peak hospitalizations and deaths would occur about a month later, which we watched in horror from seclusion in Warwick. Fortunately, the numbers have diminished steadily in the city since then, although they have risen almost everywhere else in this country as…

The Movement

January 21, 2017
Today was incredible and deeply inspiring. The people appealed beautifully and powerfully for Women and against our newly inaugurated president, who has disrespected, disparaged and expressed disdain for the entire gender. After months of dark anxiety and absolute dejection, this was the only possible antidote; a rallying cry from millions of American patriots rejecting the fraud and deception now in the White House and demanding decency, respect and compassion for all people. Alaina got on a bus this morning to be in D.C. for the main event, so I packed Ivy and Miles into the double stroller and, bearing through…

Halloween

October 31, 2016
Tonight was one of my all-time parenting highlights; watching Ivy spend 2 hours handing out candy on our porch and 1 hour trick-or-treating around our block was absolutely amazing. I have never witnessed such a dense swarm of people, mostly kids, in our neighborhood like that; there were times when the line stretched from our porch 30 kids deep down our steps and walkway to the sidewalk, each waiting for Ivy to drop a piece of candy in their sack. It was a constant flow of candy from bowl to bags and we ran out way before we anticipated, even…

Labor Day

September 5, 2015
What a Summer for this guy! I currently sit in one of my favorite spots in the known universe: Eventide Cabin on Mt. Desert Island. Acadia is a personal paradise and spending time here with my wife, child and parents is very high on my who/what/where triangulation rankings. I have been consistently scoring very well this Summer, packed with fantastic weekends around the Northeast: The Land, Bellport, Osterville, Vermont, Maine, and even a few in Brooklyn; Ivy and I rolled all over town on my bike and explored beaches and amusement parks (Coney Island!), swimming pools and water playgrounds (Sunset…

Sufjan Stevens at BAM Again!

January 25, 2015
A few years ago, I witnessed a performance that still ranks as the most incredible live event I have ever attended. Sufjan Stevens' BQE at BAM: video of the Brooklyn-Queens Expressway with a live score performed by large ensemble and hoop dancers. It was such a unique and special event and I cherish it as an inspiring and beautiful demonstration of audio-visual possibilities. Last night, he performed his newest piece, Round-Up, with slow-motion rodeo footage and an entrancing score performed by Sufjan and quartet Yarn/Wire. It was phenomenal. The music was layered and textured, with a propulsive Steve Reich feel,…

Busy

November 9, 2014
The fact that I have not written here in over two months speaks to how fast time has accelerated recently. I am working more than I have ever worked and doing my best to learn new skills and techniques of teaching older kids. It has been a challenging period for me, but I am enjoying it immensely. Seeing the musical abilities of children rapidly improving through the elementary years is awesome and inspiring! Unfortunately, this schedule has made Ivy time increasingly rare. During the week, I see her from too-early in the morning until I leave for work. She is…