Surprise Surprise - she's at a library
I'm at the library, I'm at the museum, I'm at the combination library and museum
I spent the last week dog sitting in Kips Bay for a friend and I absolutely took advantage of my temporary Manhattan home and went hard on exploration. I attended 2 Jane’s Walks, took 2 museum tours, ate at 4 new restaurants, and got to take a train to Long Island out of Grand Central (so much nicer than Penn)! This babygirl is tired, but fulfilled emotionally and also filled with so much new knowledge. This was also my first time ever dog sitting and I think I’ll stick to cats tbh - dogs are a lot of work and I prefer the “lounge around and poop in a box” kind of vibe.
As an aside, I’m trying to plan Juneteenth activities/learnings for my employees and since this is still a new-to-me holiday and not something I grew up with, I’d love to hear what you’re doing to celebrate or just any recommendations for learning opportunities or organizations to volunteer with. Holler at ur girl!
1. Noshing 😋
Almost exactly a year ago Lorenzo, his brother, and I enjoyed a delicious meal at a Korean restaurant called PALPAL. Unfortunately, that place lasted less than a year but a new Korean spot opened in it’s place - Hojokban. This place serves “Korean Soul Food” which may not be what you think it is. To me, soul food is indulgent yummy yums that are probably bad for me but feel good in my tummy. To Hojokban, “a meal is not just sustenance; it represents the soul essence of our being” and so their soul food is meant to be artful, carefully prepared, and welcoming.
The thing I love about Korean food is the little endless snacks that come with every meal - the banchan. Hojokban presents you with tiny bowls of kimchi and roasted sweet potato and they were both so good! The kimchi was perfectly tangy and spicy and the slightly soft sweet potato provided a nice cushion for the spice. I wish we served whole ass roasted sweet potato here like they do in Asian countries - I would for sure munch on a potato as a slightly sweet snack and it would be better for me than the shit I currently snack on.
Lorenzo isn’t good with spicy food, which is why I sometimes consider leaving him, but for the moment we compromise and order some less spicy items when we eat out together. The Octopus Tteokbokki, however, was not something I was willing to give up. I love tteokbokki and I love octopus and his spice intolerance/shellfish allergy be damned! The dish arrived and I was thrilled to see about 6 little squiddies in there. I love the texture of the little octopus tentacles so I immediately got to work separating those from the heads (I ate some of the heads, but I like what I like!). The sauce was spicy enough that I should have gotten some rice to eat with it and the octopussies and tteokbokki were both cooked to a perfectly soft/chewy consistency.
One of our compromised non-spicy dishes was the Garlic Pork Jowl. The presentation was impressive; it looked so beautiful! This is for sure the type of “soul food” that the restaurant had in mind with their concept. But as far as taste, it was alright. The pork itself was very soft….but kind of too soft? I would have liked a little char or crust on it to give it some texture. The taste was also quite bland, but I guess that’s why there was a literal conga line of garlic on top. The garlic combined with the ssamjang was really good, leaving the pork as just a vehicle to drive garlic and sauce into my mouth. I loved the spicy celery pickle accoutrement though - I wish that was part of the banchan that they kept replenishing.
I really wanted to try the Perilla Oil Noodles, but once again compromised and let Lorenzo order the Jangjorim Fried Rice. I didn’t eat any of the fried rice because I had plenty of tteokbokki and pork to get through, but Lorenzo said it was some of the best fried rice he’s ever had. That’s a big statement coming from him because he orders fucking fried rice everywhere we go! Though to be fair the rice was filled with beef shank and butter so it was obviously going to be good. Lorenzo did ask me if he was supposed to mix in “all of the leaves” on top - it was cilantro and he was delighted to discover that it wilted under the warm rice and also tasted good. Someone help this man.
2. Exploring 🛼
The Morgan Library and Museum is currently celebrating it’s 100th birthday and as a gift to the people they waived the usual $25 admission fee last Sunday! I feel like I always see influencers going here and marveling at the beautiful architecture and I wanted to see it for myself goddammit. Also, they have a Beatrix Potter exhibit going on through June 9 that looked very cute so I figured my time had come!
I managed to take 2 tours while at the museum and I learned a lot about the history of the building and collection. It was originally John Pierpont Morgan’s private library and if that name sounds familiar it’s because this is the JP Morgan. My dude was quite the collector, as evidenced by the whole ass wall of bibles I found inside one of the wings in every language you can imagine (and maybe some you can’t), little trinkets, and manuscripts upon manuscripts. When his collection outgrew his brownstone at Madison Avenue and 36th Street he did what all rich people do and hired Charles McKim (of the famous architectural firm McKim, Mead & White) and built a whole separate library for all of his stuff. In 1924, JP Morgan Jr opened up the library to the public and now here we are, 100 years later, able to traipse around this beautiful building as if we too are wealthy bankers with fabulous mustaches.
I really enjoyed the Beatrix Potter exhibit! Although Potter was born in London in 1866, she would frequently visit the countryside and really grew to love being in nature. Her whole family was quite artistic and they would always be doodling and creating things. She developed a love of botany and had a whole series of illustrated mushrooms! She also frequently wrote letters her governess’s children and would illustrate them Can you even imagine having such a dedicated pen pal?
Her most famous book, The Tale of Peter Rabbit, actually began as a letter she wrote to Noel Moore, her governess’s son. Once it was published, the book was an immediate success! However, the publisher didn’t copyright the material right away so a bunch of unlicensed copies popped up, making this essentially Limewire for books. Something unique about this and Potter’s other books is their size - they were all tiny books, which were the perfect size for kid hands.
I also took a tour of the Walton Ford exhibit currently on display. At first, I thought it was just a bunch of pictures of animals, but after reading literally every plaque and speaking with the tour guide, a much fuller and more interesting picture began to emerge. Ford’s watercolors of animals are inspired by myths and stories of encounters of humans and wildlife. He would essentially hear a story about an escaped panther and imagine what might have been, mostly from the animal’s point of view.
I especially liked his take on “The Doomed Barbary Lion.” His giant painting of the MGM lion lounging near a pool like a washed up movie star with the logo “ars gratia artis - art for art’s sake” was my favorite and instead of me trying to wax poetic about it, I’ll leave you with the artist’s words:
“The thing is, the lion doesn’t give a fuck about whether he’s a star, or whether he’s the MGM lion, or whether he’s this human symbol of nobility. He’s just driven from his home-land, being killed and being imprisoned and driven to extinction…There’s nothing in it for the lion, being a superstar of human culture.” - Walton Ford
I’ll share some additional photos and videos on the BCLF Instagram because… I found a secret door in the library and I can’t attach videos here!
3. What’s Good 😎
I love Welcome to Chinatown (I’ve volunteered with them & attended events) and right now they’re raising money to complete construction on their Hub, which will be a space for coworking, events, and all around good community stuff. Donate to them if you can!
Over the weekend I learned that John James Audubon was actually horribly racist and The Audubon Society is actually thinking of changing their name, so that’s a bummer. But, I believe you divest your love of birdwatching from one icky dude. May 11 is World Migratory Bird day and NYC has events in all boroughs for budding ornithologists.
This next one is a NYC Parks Exclusive! For only one day every year, the Queens Greenhouse opens its doors to give New Yorkers a sneak peek inside. This is where all of the trees and flowers and shrubs that get planted around the city are grown. Best of all, this tour is fucking free and you can just shop up at the greenhouse on May 11.
It’s official - NYC and Dublin are finally connected via The Portal. New Yorkers can head to Flatiron to look through a big ol’ portal that shows real time images of Dublin on the other side. Do I have any Dubliners reading? Let’s have a meetup!
The Met Gala was this week and while I do not watch because it is far too dystopian, I did enjoy listening to this person explain the story behind the theme. Also, did you know that Brooklyn hosts the People’s Ball every year, giving us regular folks the chance to dress up and walk a catwalk for free? This is the way.
Last week I was alarmed to see tons of smoke near my apartment and I later found out that a huge fire destroyed a bunch of buildings, displacing about 55 residents. Local Council Member Sandy Nurse is running a collection for items for folks who were displaced - you can drop off clothes and hygiene products at 56 Pennsylvania Ave in Brooklyn.
Finally, you’ve been living with your head under a rock if you haven’t heard about all of the campus protests going on in NYC, let alone across the country. I found this article about the Columbia protests to be incredibly well-rounded, including perspectives and accounts from all sides. I haven’t spoken about this issue much because I honestly don’t know where I stand at any given moment. I hate that anyone is being killed or oppressed or hurt but I don’t know what the path to peace is in this situation.
4. Watching🍿
I saw two movies last weekend that were not my usual bag at all: Challengers and The Idea of You. I like challenging myself by watching movies that I would normally not like and sometimes I end up surprised. Gran Turismo wasn’t a movie I would gravitate towards, but I actually really liked it. Unfortunately, the same cannot be said for either of these movies. Am I missing something?
Folks have been describing The Idea of You as a Harry Styles fanfiction, which I agree is missing the point. Also, what’s wrong with fanfiction? I was a devout follower of an X-Men fanfic on fanfic.net back in the day and the way I lived for chapter updates (also, someone archived that entire website). Basically the story is reduced to a piece of lady fanfic fluff because how dare anyone tell a story about a woman over 40 having desires? Yes, I think casting Anne Hathaway as your art gallery owning woman over 40 is definitely creating a bit of a Mary Sue (some fanfic lingo for you), but I understand why an actor of her caliber would have been needed to get this movie made.
Here, the narrator (Helen Mirren) can be heard saying: “Note to the filmmakers: Margot Robbie is the wrong person to cast if you want to make this point.”
The part of this movie that really stuck out to me was how fucking sad it is to be a mom. And I don’t mean this in a derogatory way, I’m not a mother-hater. But Anne Hathaway literally has to give up the person she believes to be the love of her life, the person who makes her so fucking happy, because her daughter is unhappy. And yes, I do believe that choosing to be a mom means putting someone before you (at least for 18 years), but how fucking sad is that? Ugh, that just hit me in the feels and really solidified my choice to remain child-free. I would resent the shit out of my child if they were the reason I couldn’t make out with Nicholas Galitzine anymore.
Switching gears, let’s talk about Challengers. Every time I saw a trailer for this movie I was confused - what the fuck is this story about? Is it a tennis movie? Is it a ploy to get two dudes to eiffel tower Zendaya? And after seeing the movie, I’m honestly still not sure what the whole point was and I’m chalking it up to the director just being very European.
The NYT wrote a little piece on the ambiguous ending and while the article itself is meh, they did bring up one good point: “This is a sex movie with barely any sex and an eroticism whose bud never blooms.” If you wanted to go to the theater to watch Zendaya get railed by two dudes, I’m sorry to say you’re out of luck. The movie barely even gives us a “will they, won’t they” tension with the supposed love triangle as Zendaya makes her choice pretty early on and sticks with it (at least until the end). So while I thought I might get to watch a crazysexycool movie, I instead got to watch….a bunch of people playing tennis with europop music playing.
My only real exposure to tennis is playing Mario Tennis on N64 (Yoshi FTW) so I couldn’t give a shit about watching actors play tennis. But this movie contained Dragonball Z-esque tennis scenes that were incredibly drawn out with a level of drama accentuated by the booming music and fast camera shots. This took an absurd turn (for me at least) when in one of the final matches, the camera lingered for so long and the music played loudly for so fucking long and at some point the ref blew the whistle and gave them a violation for fucking dawdling. So am I to believe that all of this standing around and all of these suggestive glances were happening in real time?? I know sound can be diegetic or non-diegetic in a movie and I think to a degree drama can be diegetic or non-diegetic too, which is to say are the things we’re watching literally happening or are they being accentuated by cinematic techniques. When Bug Bunny gets hit on the head and birds dance around, that’s an example of non-diegetic drama; there aren’t really birds there but that accent tells us how fucked up he is.
I cannot stress enough how little this movie moved me. It was hard to even want either of the guys to end up with Zendaya because her character was an absolute brat throughout the movie. She wasn’t particularly nice to anyone, she was incredibly self-involved, and she just came off as very bitter. Even if you’re playing a shitty character, you have to imbue them with something that makes the audience care about them and in this case I’ve got nothing. If anything, I just wanted those two boys to end up together, happily eating churros and jerking off on opposite sides of the room. That said, Zendaya could spit on me and I would say thank you.
5. Learning 🧠
I’m taking this whole thing full circle and writing about an event that happened outside of the former JP Morgan building at 23 Wall St. I used to work in the Financial District and every time I exited the Broad St station I’d look up at this building to see some remnants of a past crime that, to this day, remains unsolved: the 1920 Wall St Bombing.
23 Wall St was used as the headquarters of JP Morgan & Co for a bit in the early 1900s, but they actually outgrew it pretty quickly and moved down the block. However, the building was in use by the company on Sep 16, 1920. Right at lunchtime, 12:01pm, a horse and carriage pulled up in front of the JP Morgan building, which is right across from Federal Hall, and a bomb went off. The streets were packed with folks on their lunch breaks and the blast killed 30 people immediately, and seriously injured 143. Another 10 died later of wounds that they sustained in the blast and the total number of injured was in the hundreds. It was bad and the damage was exacerbated by the inclusion of cast iron weights in the bomb, which shot shrapnel everywhere. That shrapnel went right through the windows of the JP Morgan building and caused extensive interior damage in addition to killing one bank teller.
The BOI (predecessor to the FBI) investigated the incident and eventually concluded that it would be classified as a terrorist attack. At first they thought it might have been an accidental explosion due to careless transport, but lots of radical groups were using violence as a means of protest around this time, so it seemed to track that this could be the work of anarchists. Additionally, flyers were found near Wall St that read "Remember, we will not tolerate any longer. Free the political prisoners, or it will be sure death for all of you." They were signed: "American Anarchist Fighters."
The prime suspects that emerged were the Galleanists, an Italian anarchist group. Historians believe Mario Buda to be the bomber, as revenge for the indictment of Sacco and Vanzetti, his friends. Strangely, tennis champion Edwin Fischer was also briefly a suspect because the day before the attack he sent warning postcards to friends, telling them to leave the area before September 16. When police questioned him, he said he received the intel "through the air from God." They promptly agreed that he was “insane” because he regularly issued weird warnings like this and had him committed to Amityville Asylum. So we’ve come full circle on tennis stuff too!
This was a terrible thing that happened which killed many innocent people and damaged many buildings in the area; violence like this is never an acceptable means of protest. And despite the chaos that occurred on Sep 16, the streets were cleaned up like nothing had happened by Sep 17, just in time for The Sons of the American Revolution to have a rally to celebrate Constitution Day on that exact street corner. But one piece of destruction would remain until this day and I’ve gotta give JP Morgan credit because he refused to make repairs to the exterior of his building in defiance of the bombing's perpetrators, refusing to cover up what they did. 23 Wall St changed hands numerous times since JP’s day and no one has repaired the pockmarks on the exterior from the attack.
Now I'm sure you listened to the This is Love about Beatrix Potter. Your Criminal/This is Love fandom is shining through.