Tag: bushwick

The Clown: Part 2, Heinrich Boll and Pierrot

I recently read Nobel-laureate Heinrich Boll’s The Clown. This short masterpiece describes the plight of a monogamous clown whose wife has left him. He’s had a bad review and it’s become evident that he has to take time away from the stage to become better at his craft. Throughout the novel we meet his rich… Continue reading The Clown: Part 2, Heinrich Boll and Pierrot

Why Bushwick is Beating Williamsburg

When was the last time you went to Williamsburg and had the time of your life? Better yet, when was your last adventure in Williamsburg? For me it was a while ago. Part of that has to do with the high-priced condos and the papoose-slinging parents who fill them. This is nothing new– gentrification did… Continue reading Why Bushwick is Beating Williamsburg

Why the Dalai Lama is Like Stalin

Dharamshala, in Northern India, is a lot like Bushwick. During the day, see people working on crafts, wood carving or knitting; water coloring; playing guitar; smoking hash; drawing in coloring books. Almost everyone smokes cigarettes. There are communities of Israelis, Russians, Australians, Japanese, Americans, Tibetans, Indians. Some are traveling like me, but only in India,… Continue reading Why the Dalai Lama is Like Stalin

Daniel Adler Samples the Berlin Underground

Kreuzberg is the Williamsburg of Berlin, and Cecil had told me that on the southeast edges it’s like Bushwick. Linda gave me a couple of recommendations too, but it wasn’t until I sat in the cafe and heard the guy next to me speaking American English and asked him for some tips and he wrote… Continue reading Daniel Adler Samples the Berlin Underground

Learning Berlin Like I Learned Bushwick, Kinda

I am sitting in a cafe in Berlin in Rosenthaler Platz and I just finished drinking my americano, which the man at the counter recommended (over the girly Milkmadchen Espresso). I am upstairs sitting in a room filled with young people on their Mac Books. Most are German. I am reminded of the tea rooms… Continue reading Learning Berlin Like I Learned Bushwick, Kinda

The Dying American

Anthony came back from the contemporary art museum and told me to stop being a pussy. I shivered and my neck hurt. I couldn’t leave my bed. I would freeze. So he went out to get me soup. I realized that I was just like his friend, the Dying Spaniard. I am the Dying American.… Continue reading The Dying American

Daniel Adler’s Letter to The Thessalonians

When we arrived in Thessaloniki, I felt a pull to stay, and not just leave immediately to Istanbul. There are no international trains to or from Thessaloniki ever since last March, when the “troubles” began. We took the bus and with the help of an androgynous young Greek with halitosis, got off on a main… Continue reading Daniel Adler’s Letter to The Thessalonians

How to Go Out In Tel Aviv, Part 1

The Israeli weekend begins on Friday, Shabbat. But it’s a religious weekly holiday–everything’s closes at sundown. Of course, there are bars open; Tel Aviv likes to model itself after New York. But it’s oddly quiet. Many people go out on Saturday, the day before most people begin their work week. That the Jewish culture doesn’t… Continue reading How to Go Out In Tel Aviv, Part 1

Three Bushwick Characters

Last night I learned a valuable lesson: you don’t talk about circumcision or herpes at parties. At the next party I went to, in Bushwick, I met a bunch of different characters. Chris, a handsome melancholy German stood outside on a stoop and lamented the divide between architecture’s aesthetics and context. He was the son… Continue reading Three Bushwick Characters