Short n Sweet

All I can muster while lazing on beaches

Look at me, getting a newsletter out while on vacation! But this isn’t a normal newsletter, it’s a cool newsletter 😉 I am so grateful to be able to spend a freakin week in Italy that will eventually culminate with me spending 12+ hours on a plane flying home on my birthday. Here’s hoping my return seat buddy doesn’t take his shoes off!

Anyways, since I’m officially OOO, you’re getting a short newsletter with some highlights from BCLF and from other newsletter friends. If you’re new over here, go back and read some of my favorite issues to see what you’ve gotten yourself into. And if you’re a regular, then go back and read some of your favorite issues or take a journey across substack to discover some of my other favorite writers. Stick around til the end to see some pics from my vacation so far!

It’s another clip show!

I really enjoyed researching the history of the house I am lucky enough to cat sit in frequently. How many people can say they got to go inside a real ass coffee baron’s mansion??

You all loved the fever dream I wrote up while sick with Covid, so here ya go. A thing about me is that I love the movie Deep Blue Sea, so stick around while I was poetic about that movie and the masterpiece that is on the soundtrack.

The Angel of the Waters statue in Central Park is one of my absolute favorite statues in the entire city. Read about her fabulous story here along with an account from the Prospect Park Zoo.

I love Roosevelt Island and I made Lorenzo go there with me so I could enjoy it with his company.

I had a really good lunch and a really fun museum hang with some friends in Astoria and I learned a lot about the neighborhood. Astoria, Ahoy!

Every year during Pancake Month, Danielle (who I am currently in Italy with) and I take off from work and indulge in a fat stack of pancakes.

I fucking hated Summit One Vanderbilt. What a shitty ass waste of a space that blocks out the beautiful Chrysler Building.

First issue of the 2024! I wrote about the very cool Holiday Train Show at NYBG and the history of the Landmarks Preservation Committee.

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Other Newsletters I Love 💌

This Needs Hot Sauce

is one of the first Substacks I ever subscribed to (and I’m a paid subscriber). Abigail is a NY native (Queens → Brooklyn) who writes about both going out to eat in the city and staying in to cook and she always posts a stellar collection of links for further reading. This issue featured a mesmerizing scallion wrap video and every year Abigail begins with a Gentle January and ends with a lovely Gift Guide.

xoxo Gossip Giancaspro

is written by Tara, who is a gem of a human being. Her writing is snarky and funny and raw and it’s what I strive for on my best days. I’m a paid subscriber of hers, too! She recently asked folks what their Muppet Big 3 are and I haven’t thought this hard about the intersection of me + muppets in a long time. She also has a superb rolodex of friends and sometimes has them do a guest spot - I really liked this one about the best eye fucks in movies.

The Neighborhoods

is everything my nerdy little brain wants. Rob has been visiting and photographing every neighborhood in NYC. He weaves amazing historical accounts in with his photographs and always manages to uncover something cool (even about Staten Island). This one is also worth paying for! I’ve actually enjoyed learning about the neighborhoods in Staten Island that I didn’t really know existed (Rosebank and Lighthouse Hill were two faves). The Spuyten Duyvil, Gowanus, and Corona issues are also top picks of mine!

Every August in Cefalu, a giant pole is greased, hung out over the water, and men have to run to the end of it and grab a flag. If a man fails to compete in that year’s competition, his family is barred from competing any more going forward. It’s called ‘Ntinna a Mari and I think it’s basically their Nathan’s Hot Dog Eating Contest? All of the winners have plaques of their names hanging up near the beach.

Cefalu!

Back to regular programming next week : )