MotherSister Brooklyn

I’m back in Brooklyn and in serious withdrawal. But not from the Florida sunshine. Oh no, my little cabbages. I’m in withdrawal from Chick-Fil-A.

I’m not going to waste space explaining why Chick-Fil-A is the best fast-food treat in the entire U.S. of A. Take it from Keith Shaw, or if you’re lucky enough to live near a Chick-Fil-A, run, don’t walk, and order up a combo. However, although New York City is the greatest city in our nation in many ways, it has one major flaw: A dearth of Chick-Fil-A. There is one tucked away on the N.Y.U. campus, apparently; I say “apparently” because the security guards refused to overlook the fact that I have no tie to the N.Y.U. community when I attempted to infiltrate the student union food court to get my hands on that nuggety goodness, so I have no proof that it actually exists.

Instead, I’m forced to get my fix whenever I’m in the other continental 47, and in Florida, I ate it nearly every day. Which for a person who doesn’t eat any other fast food is quite the shock to the system. So many nuggets, waffle fries, and god help me the best chocolate milkshake ever — even better than Dairy Queen. And now I’m back in Brooklyn and bereft. Whoever opens the first franchise in downtown Brooklyn is going to make a killing. Mark my words.

I don’t want to come across as ungrateful. It’s lovely that the USPS puts an eminent black person on a stamp every year or so. But the Black Heritage series stamps have been visually clunky — I think the chunky “BLACK HERITAGE” branding is part of the problem, but the photo/image selection hasn’t been compelling either.  (The Langston Hughes stamp feels better composed than most.) Better to be commemorated in a non-ethnicity-focused series, it seems, such as this Literary Heritage stamp of Zora Neale Hurston:

I’m rarely impressed by U.S. stamp designs, but I like this one and I’m glad I saved a couple before they stopped producing it. As I’m not terribly far from Eatonville this week, it seems like a good moment to praise Drew Struzan for creating a vibrant rendering of this daughter of Florida. If you don’t know much about Ms. Zora, I recommend Wrapped in Rainbows, Valerie Boyd’s biography of the fun-loving folklorist and novelist.

Five things about the Clinton Hill Library that this degreed librarian didn’t know until she became a regular patron with The Scamp:

• You can check out magazines! If you’re not a magazine junkie like me, then you might not understand why this is a big deal. But it helps me tremendously to know that if I need to get my junk fix — fashion magazines being a particular weakness — I don’t have to lay out any of my ducats to do so.
• The children’s section includes Spanish and French titles. The selection of Spanish and English/Spanish titles is far more developed than the French ones, but The Scamp will tolerate my French babble if it’s Qui Mange Quoi? or one of the Barbapapa series. He also really digs the Spanish/English Dear Zoo.

• Actually, it doesn’t matter what’s on the shelves — thanks to the magic of ILL. I don’t know why it took me so long to discover how efficiently you can now reserve books in BPL system online and have them show up at your local branch within days, but I now do this all the time. It has made up (somewhat) for the lack of a large general-interest bookstore in the neighborhood, and it has stopped me from impulse buying on Amazon. While I do wish the permanent collection was a little more interesting or at least well-equipped, I’m kept pretty happy with this hold/request service. (Even though I’ve been waiting for Pattie Boyd’s Wonderful Tonight for 2 months.)
• The meeting room is available for private events. A local grandmother I know hosted a birthday party for her 2-year-old grandson there, which I didn’t even realize was an option. Apparently there’s even karaoke!
• There’s a Friends group. Maybe. Word is that only pre-approved media outlets can discuss the existence and meetings of Friends groups, even though the fact that one exists is all over the branch’s website. If you want to get in on the action, I’d recommend asking the librarian about it or contacting the Office of Friends & Volunteer Services.

A bonus tidbit: According to the NY Times, our humble branch might be headed for a makeover.

Your Brooklyn correspondent is MotherSister Orlando this week, having traded the high-priced confines of New York City for the House of The Mouse, where three-quarters of a million dollars will get you more than a studio apartment — a 6-bedroom, 4-bathroom house with a 3-car garage and a swimming pool, in fact. Of course, you also have to drive absolutely everywhere.  Can’t have everything, right?

Part of the “How MomSis Got Her Mojo Back” campaign includes a wardrobe update, as I more or less stopped buying clothes for myself for a year after delivering The Scamp. (I was afraid that everything would go permanently south, but luckily I, ehrm, bounced back.) There are some cute boutiques around, but the place I’ve come to count on for recapturing my hottie-hood is Addy & Ferro. Fashion industry vet Erica Hutchinson has lived in Clinton Hill for a decade and has graced the neighborhood with a boho style mecca that perfectly captures the funkiness that I (and others) migrated here for. Vintage Vanity 6 and Carole King album covers on the wall, “I Love Black People” t-shirts and copies of The Way We Wore: Black Style Then on display, and seriously stylin’ women- and menswear on the racks –  it’s pretty much impossible to leave the shop with just one thing. The Scamp (who was only 18 months old at the time) nodded in solemn approval at three dresses I modeled in the store earlier this summer, and he wouldn’t steer me wrong. Erica kindly took a MotherSister Minute to tell me more about her store.

OPENED:  March 2005.

WHY FORT GREENE/CLINTON HILL:  I wanted to do something in the neighborhood, to contribute to my community.

BESTSELLING ITEMS:  It’s kinda all over the board, it’s hard to say. It really varies. I would say for fall, our coats are really popular, and in spring, it’s dresses. But the accessories, shoes, handbags, and menswear also do well.

COFFEE SHOP:  Smooch.

ADVICE OR TIPS ABOUT THE NEIGHBORHOOD: I love the diversity of it, the ethnic makeup, ages….I hope it’s something we can maintain.

Addy & Ferro is at 672 Fulton Street, between S. Elliott Pl. and S. Portland Ave. (tel. 718/246-2900). Open Tuesday through Friday from noon to 8pm, Saturday from 11 to 8pm, and Sunday from noon to 7pm.

After the disappearance of my friend Claudia Kirschhoch during a press trip in Jamaica, I developed an aversion to flying. (I’ll spare you the psychological analysis.) I’m better about it now — with the help of Calms Forte — but I still try not to fly. I hate the hassle that air travel has become, especially with a small child in tow.

I adore train travel, however, and have often thought of permanently relocating to Europe for the sole reason of enjoying the benefits of the continental network. I’m still wide-eyed with amazement that I can board a train in London and emerge in Paris just a couple of hours later; it’s a journey I’d like to do over and over again. Railing it seems far less sexy and convenient in the United States outside of the northeastern corridor, and I haven’t been enticed to do an Aretha Franklin whenever I need to cross the country. But the discovery of The Man in Seat 61 has turned me right round. Mark Smith, a career railman in the UK, has created a fantastic resource for people who would gladly recapture the romance and the enjoyment of travel by trading planes for trains and ships. Whether it’s a trip across southern Canada, from London to Bologna, from Havana to Santiago de Cuba, or from New York to Orlando, Mark provides current routes, timetables, and prices — no mean feat, given the sometimes hopelessly confusing resources we’re usually stuck using.

Mark was game to answer a few questions not already addressed in his informative FAQ. Find out why transcontinental trains are better in the United States than in Europe and why taking a train is an ideal way to travel with children after the jump.

(more…)

At not quite 2 years of age, The Scamp has an awesome t-shirt collection, including robots, squirrels, and turntables, all emblems of this Brooklyn boy’s life. I feel a little twinge of sadness every time I cull his closet for outgrown clothes. I’ve been setting aside the most memorable of the t-shirts, though, to make into a quilt.

T-shirt blankets and quilts are popular practical keepsake items; sports and band t-shirts seem to be especially common material. Unfortunately, I didn’t learn to quilt from my grandmother before she died, so I’m going to have to figure out how to put it together myself. There are instructions online, as well as classes in the area for quiltmaking. I suppose if I feel truly at a loss, I could always outsource it, but it feels important to me to attempt to do it myself. I know how special I feel when I curl up in a quilt made by my grandma’s own hands, and I hope The Scamp will feel the same way about his t-shirt quilt, even if he becomes a surly teenager.

Photo above of one of the better t-shirt quilts I’ve seen, by Beverly St. Clair at Genome Quilts. If I were to commission a quilt, it’d likely be by her.

Last October 31, I awoke to find a leopard in my living room. He was stealthy and sly, and he had the eyes of The Scamp.

I’m more excited for Halloween hijinks than I’ve been since I was a child myself. For years I’ve watched the fun stuff that goes on around the neighborhood — including the Clinton Avenue haunted house — from the sidelines, but now that The Scamp is here and old enough for action, I can’t wait to make the rounds, check his candy for razor blades, and eat it all myself. There’s certainly no shortage of events happening in the immediate area:

Saturday the 20th
Still Hip’s Costume Swap from 1 to 4pm

Saturday the 27th
Fort Greene Park Halloween Festival from noon to 4pm

Wednesday the 31st
BAMboo! from 4 to 7pm
Children’s Halloween Walk from 5pm (pick up map at DeKalb Ave. and Hall St.)

Photo courtesy of The Hub. 

I have a special affection for Greene Farm, long one of the best places in the neighborhood for organic goods and other tasty stuff not available in your average bodega. Kay Lee and her husband, who also own One Greene Japanese Restaurant and Mirai Wellness Spa, have a knack for identifying business opportunities that offer residents goods and services they usually seek in other neighborhoods. Their next project, Fresh Garden, will attempt to answer the growing demand for popular organic foods and goods, fruits and vegetables, and fresh flowers. At 2,000 square feet, the store will be a mini-market that Mrs. Lee hopes will capture those who would otherwise go straight to Perelandra or Whole Foods. With the new store’s impending opening in a couple of weeks and three thriving businesses to tend to, you might expect Mrs. Lee to have no time to chat — but she savors every opportunity to connect with the community, and she didn’t mind giving me a MotherSister Minute.

OPENED: 1991.

WHY FORT GREENE/CLINTON HILL: We were referred here by a friend at Pratt. We see the potential [of the neighborhood].

BESTSELLING ITEM: Organic milk.

COFFEE SHOP: Actually, I don’t really go to coffee shops. Greene Farm has very good coffee.

ADVICE OR TIPS ABOUT THE NEIGHBORHOOD: I see newcomers around and I always ask, “How do you like Fort Greene?” And they love it here — it feels homey, it’s warmer, comfortable.

17 Greene Farm is at 17 Greene Avenue (718/643-1717), open daily from 7am to 11pm; One Greene Sushi is at 1 Greene Avenue (718/422-1000); Mirai Wellness Spa is at 670 Fulton Street (718/875-0369). Fresh Garden is expected to open at 729 Fulton Street near South Elliott Place by the end of the month.

Saturday, October 13
Pre-Holiday Craft Fair at 168 Lafayette Avenue
From noon to 5pm (+ Sun 14)
Admission $2 (to benefit the Fort Greene Association)

Bike-Friendly City at Fort Greene Park
From 2 to 3:30pm
Free

Meshell Ndegeocello at the Hiro Ballroom
From 8pm
Tickets $25

Grady “Naughty Number Nine” Tate at BAMCafé
From 9pm
Free

Sunday, October 14
Walk Don’t Destroy Brooklyn Walkathon
Sign in at noon, walk from 1 to 3pm
Free

Reggae in Symphony feat. Freddie McGregor and John Holt
From 7pm
Tickets $60-$110

Monday, October 15
Jonathan Lethem Selects begins at BAMcinématek
Through November 19
Tickets $11

Out of Fashion: The Absence of Color at NYPL’s H&SS Library
From 7pm
Tickets $15

Thursday, October 18 (+ Fri 19)
M.I.A. at Terminal 5
From 7pm
$old out

Saturday, October 20
It’s My Park! Day at Fort Greene Park
Volunteers needed from 10am to 2pm
Free

The Brownstoners’ 29th Annual House Tour
From 11am to 4pm
Tickets $20

Thursday, October 25
Rockers screening at Frank’s Cocktail Lounge
From 9pm
Free

I harbor a secret desire to be a letterpress printer. Hatch Show Print is a major player in my college town, and I’ve turned to them to mark major milestones in my life, with wedding invitations and birth announcements. But only recently have I started to pay closer attention to the book arts. I’ve joined the Center for Book Arts, and I attended the recent NY Art Book Fair (picking up a Scream at the Librarian chapbook by Booklyn), but there’s quite a lot more I’d like to learn about the craft.

A compelling place to start would be We, Too, Are Book Artists, a recent well-received exhibition of work by black book artists at the Minnesota Center for Book Artists. The show was curated by Amos Paul Kennedy Jr., a letterpress printer and now the Barbara Bishop Endowed Chair in Art at Longwood University in Farmville, Virginia. Mr. Kennedy, who is also in demand at a new book center in Gordo, Alabama and in Cameri, Italy, was asked to curate the exhibition by Jeff Rathermel, the MCBA’s Artistic Director. Mr. Kennedy says, “The work [included in the show] was as varied as the artist[s],” who included Kara Walker, Ellen Gallagher, and Carrie Mae Weems, visual artists not necessarily known for book building. “It went the full spectrum of book arts. Most of the work was personal.” For finding artists to participate, Mr. Kennedy credits Ruth E. Edwards as “a lifesaver. She has been working with black book artists for years.”

There’s no indication of whether the exhibition will travel; naturally, I’m hoping it will come to the New York area. Edwards’ organization, Books in Black, has also mounted a traveling exhibit of works focused on black inventors (it’s currently in Boca Raton, Florida); in the past, Edwards has also curated shows at the Center for Book Arts and the Brooklyn Public Library. I’ll be keeping my eyes peeled for what she does next.

It’s all well and good that Dear Abby has clarified her position on gay, lesbian, and bisexual people’s rights to love and commit to whomever they want, but I think the future of advice-giving rests with Dear Tionna, Gawker’s new Brooklyn-born advice columnist. Today’s nugget: “Jobs Treat Their Employees A Certain Way Because They Don’t Need You.”

Enough with your $150/hour therapist. Get more life guidance — including “Most women say they will take love over success but bump that” and “Stop the hate and get the cake”– here and in her self-published book.

Everywhere you look in Fort Greene and Clinton Hill, old shops are closing and new ones are opening up with a quickness. But one little trend seems to be emerging: With the imminent opening of EN of Africa, a new Nigerian restaurant at the corner of Lafayette and Cumberland, the area has a growing selection of African cuisine. There’s Keur N’ Deye, Joloff, and Le Grand Dakar (all Senegalese), Madiba (South African), Kush (West African), and abistro (West African/French fusion)….How excellent it would be if an Ethiopian place joined the ranks. (The Hub and I had our first date at an Ethiopian joint that no longer exists in SoHo [Abyssinia on Broome Street, IIRC]; clearly I was charmed by his attempt to choke down a plate of spicy raw meat without batting an eyelash while flirting.) I’m An African In New York takes issue with service in some African restaurants; however, Madiba met with his approval.

I can understand why people might wonder about the opening hours of Peace of Mind Bookstore, having stopped in myself during the middle of a weekday to find it closed. Dwana Hope, the store’s proprietor, has a perfectly sensible explanation: maximum foot traffic. “The subway stop is right at the corner,” she pointed out, “so I get people coming home after a long day at work.” And of course, it’s open on weekend afternoons, which is when I stepped in to buy a YogaKids DVD I’d spied in the window. Less understandable is why anyone would take the store’s focus on well-being — featuring yoga, self-help, and nutrition books, CDs, and DVDs — as a personal affront, since there’s certainly room for Peace of Mind, DARE Books (with its educational mission), PrattStore (art books), and a potential future general-interest new/used bookstore to co-exist in an area as large and diverse (and apparently yoga- and nutrition-conscious) as Fort Greene/Clinton Hill. Indeed, Dwana observed that despite some initial naysaying from those who might’ve preferred a mini-Barnes & Noble, her patronage is “increasing from year to year. More people are coming around.” A former ESL teacher, first-time business owner, and longtime Fort Greene resident, she’s gratified by the nature of her venture: “There’s a lot of positivity. I feel good about that.”

OPENED: 2005.

WHY FORT GREENE/CLINTON HILL: I perceived that the neighborhood would be open to this type of store, since it has been an activist, artistic neighborhood.

BESTSELLING ITEMS: Learning to Love Yourself, Post-Traumatic Slave Disorder, and Energy Vampires. And incense.

COFFEE SHOP: I like Academy Restaurant.

ADVICE OR TIPS ABOUT THE NEIGHBORHOOD: I would say that it is in the process of reinventing itself.

Peace of Mind Bookstore is at 112 South Oxford Street, between Fulton and Lafayette Avenues (718/855-0787). Open Wednesday through Friday from 4 to 10pm, Saturday from 1 to 7pm, and Sunday from 1 to 6pm.