Pros: All of the above, namely the artful blue aesthetic that reminds me of Maggie Nelson’s Bluets, and her confession, “And so I fell in love with a color-in this case, the color blue-as if falling under a spell.” In addition to library books and swatches there are dozens of books on sales for $5 - $10 as well as spools of Japanese Habu yarn in, you guessed it, varying shades of blue. It is also home to thousands of textile objects: things you can touch.” Not drawn to the sack-like offerings of the trunk show happening in the spacious studio, I spent an hour swooning over the library that, according to founder Jordana Munk Martin contains, “more than 5000 books, periodicals and exhibition catalogs on the subject of textiles, textile-related crafts, textile history, techniques etc. Then I went down the hall to meditate on fabric in the calming blue surroundings of Tatter, complete with blue shelves and tableau of blue cloths decorated with sashiko embroidery, blue Shibori-dyed kimonos, cerulean and ultramarine objets d’ art. I wondered if having separate meditation sessions was really a way to create harmony in diversity Sue was running late, so I popped into the Zen center and asked a waif with a pixie hairdo, “Any sessions going on now?” She told me, with no irony in her voice, that I could join the “ Undoing Whiteness” session, which would be followed by a “ People of Color Sangha.” Hmm. Tatter is in the same Gowanus building as the Brooklyn arm of The Textile Arts Center and The Brooklyn Zen Center. Best to come back here on a slow saggy baggy weekday morning.īLUE: Tatter Library: This magical textile library is open by appointment only or for special events like the State of the Label trunk show I went to after Madcap, meeting sis-in-law Sue. So, consider that con along with brusque service and the fact that they had already run out of BACON by 11:40 on a weekend brunch day (Madcap’s ill-timed shortages are a frequent Yelper gripe). Look at Yelp and other reviews to find other favorites.Ĭons: No decaf! My harassed waiter (All two were harassed) said Madcap was too small to offer decaf, which is ridiculous. It comes wrapped in foil that you need to hold it all together before it reaches your mouth. Pros: The generous amount of eggs cooked to fluffy perfection and laced with melted white cheddar spilling out of Madcap-made puffy flatbread. Meanwhile, I lapped up a flatbread egg and cheese sandwich ($5.00). By the time I left I saw a waiter remove a tray of dishes and cups, but never once did I see them eat or drink anything but only lap up each other’s faces and words. Words spilled out of her and they rubbed each others thighs as she talked, and I felt a small pang, remembering that state of Saturday morning after-sex thrall. His back was to me and she had the look of a 30s starlet, with blond ringlets framing her face, a face so full of rapture, I thought she would swallow him whole. From my solo seat I faced a young couple sitting at the bar. Madcap Café : My sister told me about this well-reviewed, airy cafe full of Brooklyn families with precocious children and outsized demands, “This biscuit is not really shaped like a biscuit,” the man behind me complained bitterly to the waiter as his children stood up and bumped incessantly against my chair back. Here’s a recap of my Brooklyn Saturday which zig-zagged from Carroll Gardens to Gowanus to Cobble Hill, with pros and cons of each venue: Last Saturday, I knew the day would have to swirl around the pin placed squarely at the Cobble Hill Nursing Home, the dutiful visit to mom, so I needed some extra pins to keep the visit, often so saddening, from swamping my entire day: I went from breakfast at Madcap Café, to a Trunk Show at Blue: The Tatter Textile Library, to “Kabul,” as we sibs call it, and then to Bergen Spa. When my sister lost her job and entered the freelance life, this was my frequent advice to her, and it’s one as apropos for the weekend as the workweek.Īnother weekend comes, so promising, but threatens to slip away without putting down some “pins” in the luxurious two days. A practice I’ve developed from 25+ years of freelance writing is to “put pins in the saggy baggy week.” Work ebbs and flows, and during slack times it’s good to have “things to do,” i.e., “pins,” to put in the week, when time hangs saggy baggy, loose, around your ankles: swimming, writing or art sessions, a museum visit, or a social outing to defray the loneliness of the long distance freelancer.
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