a nice spring day in the city :)
Today I will write about yesterday! Yesterday was lovely. I started the day off with a bike ride. Leo and I had plans to see a movie at the Metrograph, a beautiful theater in Chinatown. The Lower East side is just a brief bike ride away from our apartment in Brooklyn, and I love the ride. The journey takes you across the Manhattan Bridge, where you can see the East River and the Manhattan skyline. There are places to stop along the bridge path to soak up the view, take photos, or, as I saw one person doing yesterday, relieve yourself. I’ve contemplated stopping many times, but haven’t yet. I never want to lose momentum while zooming across the bridge, and the wind on your face feels particularly refreshing up there.
After we crossed the bridge, we parked our bikes and walked a short way through sunny Chinatown to the theater. The blocks we walked through were closed to traffic, so people were walking around in the streets. It was surprisingly empty for a Saturday morning, and very peaceful. We got to the theater a bit early so we could wander around their bookstore and eat brunch at their restaurant, the Metrograph Commissary. I love their restaurant. It has a comforting, old-fashioned vibe - “inspired by the studio eateries from Hollywood’s golden age,” according to their website - and the food is always delicious!
We saw an animated film called Art College 1994. The animation was beautiful. I particularly loved the way it captured the movement of animals - birds, insects, and fish. The simple-looking animation style also worked well for the content - I could imagine a student from their world painstakingly animating the film. And I suppose they did - the film is somewhat autobiographical. The majority of the film focused on discussions between the characters, and followed them as they made art and philosophized. The topics they discussed weren’t overly original, but were an accurate depiction of the kinds of things college students discuss. I liked getting lost in the creator’s nostalgic, beautifully illustrated world.
A beautiful spring day in Seward Park, New York City - 4.27.24
After the movie, Leo and I walked to a nearby park to discuss. The park was beautiful. The spring leaves and flowers are coming out, and it was wonderful to sit beneath their pastel canopy for a while. I miss existing beneath the leaves, as I used to in the cities I lived in in North Carolina, where much of the infrastructure lies nestled beneath hundred foot pines. It’s always rejuvenating to go to a park. The weather was nice and people seemed to be in a good mood. The park was was calm, filled with quiet conversation, laughter from the nearby playground, and the sounds of a ping pong ball going back and forth. I noticed strangers smiling at each other as they walked past.
Later that afternoon, I met up with a friend who is visiting New York from San Francisco. We went to BonBon - an amazing Swedish candy shop. They have a few shops around the city. We went to one inside their warehouse in Brooklyn, and filled up our own custom candy bag. I especially like their marshmallows and chocolates. I was glad to learn that my friend was a fan of licorice, because they have an extensive licorice candy selection that I have never been able to appreciate. After the candy shop, we went to dinner at a Mexican restaurant with nice views, and took a long walk to meet up with friends for a night of shuffleboarding. We played Clue and Uno and that silly game where you try to hook a ring on a string on a hook while we waited for a court, then had a great time chatting and shuffleboarding. I went home with such a warm feeling. Hooray for friendship!
