Random Sunday

NEW YORK CITY—Brooklyn Gang, 1959.

The Urban Ballerina

Kanye West 

The Ballerina Project 

The Ballerina Project 

The Ballerina Project 

The Ballerina Project 

The Ballerina Project 

The Black Swan

I did ballet for a while when I was younger, the after-school practices in mirror-lined rooms, the leotards and leg warmers, the tutu-wearing recitals, all of it. But the truth is, I was always more into soccer and spent most of my ballet classes being too chatty in the corner until the bun-wearing instructor told me to keep quiet in that elegant ballet teacher way. I ended up quitting right before I got on point shoes, but despite my lack of ballerina focus and affinity for rowdier things, I still hold a soft spot for the graceful dance, and I am not the only one.

I am seeing ballerinas all over, but the ones as of late have been taken out of their usual settings and given an edge that makes them so much more intriguing. First there is Kanye West's "Runaway," which in all its (and his) splendor was stolen by those dancers in black. I may have been indifferent about the other 25 minutes, but the ten with the ballerinas were absolutely stunning. Honestly, I haven't seen anything so cool-ly beautiful in quite some time. I was completely transfixed by the colors, the contrast and the movement.

Then there is The Ballerina Project, a series of photos of beautiful dancers striking poses all throughout the urban environment of New York City. Subways, scaffolding and rooftops are certainly not what you usually think of as dance floors, but the contrast, like that of hip hop and ballet, once again works.

And lastly, the upcoming film The Black Swan, with Natalie Portman and Mila Kunis (two extremely beautiful ballerinas who I have heard share some sort of onscreen kiss), directed by the same man who did Requiem for a Dream and The Wrestler. Not exactly the kind of movies one would ever associate with something like ballet, but after watching the trailer, once again, the ballerina thriller seems like an interesting combo. What are your thoughts on the new urban ballerina?

Random Sunday

NEW YORK CITY—Edie Sedgwick dances at a party at Andy Warhol's Factory on 47^th Street, 1965.

Berlin Weekend Roundup

This weekend started out the complete opposite of last weekend: mellow and cold. With all the activity and heat of the past days, staying in and wearing a sweatshirt was actually a nice change. But things picked up when at the last minute we decided to go out on Saturday and ended up having one of those nights I always equate with NYC, where you end up in random places you never planned having fun you never expected. Love when that happens, but still my favorite part of the weekend was making dinner before we went out. Despite the cold we decided to barbecue on the balcony and I introduced Karsten to the world of watermelon salad: a weird and wonderful place where watermelon is mixed with feta, olives, mint and more. Sounds crazy I know, but for some reason the combination is amazing. I included a recipe below and highly suggest that you try it if you never have. As for the rest of the weekend.

It all went something like this: staying in, tuna melts, David Lynch, house shopping, Baltic Sea booking, balcony bbq, watermelon salad, random Neukölln party/show, dancing, Konrad Tönz, Club der Visionaere, sleeping in, breakfast/lunch in bed, Neukölln swimming pool, water slide, Vietnamese food, reading, bed.

Ingredients
3/4 cup halved, thinly sliced red onion
1 tablespoon fresh lime juice
1 1/2 quarts seeded, cubed watermelon
3/4 cup crumbled feta cheese
1/2 cup pitted black olive halves
1 cup chopped fresh mint
2 tablespoons olive oil

Directions
*Place the onion slices in a small bowl with the lime juice. The acid of the lime will mellow the flavor of the raw onion. Let stand for 10 minutes

*In a large bowl, combine the watermelon cubes, feta cheese, black olives, onions with the lime juice, and mint. Drizzle olive oil over it all, and toss to blend. Dig in and be prepared for a pleasant surprise!

Friday Morbidness

Okay maybe this might be a regular occurrence. At first listen this indie pop goodness by the Drums doesn't sound all too morbid, just a good sweet tune to play when hopping around in the sunshine. But then in fact it's all about a "best friend but then you died, when I was 23 and your were 25." Bummer. But I am gonna stick with it as a good poppy little diddy that gets me excited for more and more and more and more and more sunshine.

And I swear to God I know someone who dances like this? Anyone got any ideas.

Berlin Weekend Roundup (Spring Fever!)

Saturday was the first day of spring, and thank the lord spring has finally sprung in Berlin. I am still waiting for the flowers, but the sun will do just fine for now. Oh man, it makes my life so much better and contributed (among a few other things) to making our weekend quite lovely.

It all went something like this: our first dinner guest, my first attempt at cooking for a guest, yummy enchiladas, sleeping in, new bike!, walking in Friedrichshain, carrot cake and coffee, skate park and graffiti photo shoot, a Cold War history lesson over beers, lightning, house party, dancing dancing dancing, cheese fight (don't ask), guacamole, Weeds, Sunday cleaning, a much needed phone call with Miss Diebel.

The Best New Year's Eve, The Best New Year

After a long hungover day of traveling (can you believe the flight from Germany is nine hours?) I am home in the States and a new year is upon us. I was supposed to already be back in NYC to celebrate New Year's, but as luck (that didn't seem like luck at the time) would have it, my flight got delayed a few days and I ended up staying through the end of the year and having the loveliest little New Year's Eve celebration on a snowy night with lit up skies. It was all sans makeup, fancy dresses (even though I love them), countdowns, and parties — just the two of us, a few bottles of champagne, some delicious cheese, an awesome dance party mix, and the most intensely overwhelming amateur firework show seen from a fifth floor balcony (our extreme proximity to the blasts made me hyperventilate with a crazy smile for at least an hour, no joke they were 10 feet from our faces). So simple, so crazy, so fun.

If this perfect evening is any indication of the year to come, bring it on 2010...and I wish the same to all of you.

               

Tears, Snow Angels, and Sequins

On Saturday I spent my day crying more tears than I have shed in a long, long time. Maybe I was being punished for blatantly bragging about my life as a jetsetter, but the day I chose to fly out to Berlin just happened to be the same day as the first huge snowstorm of the year and not only was my flight cancelled, I was told that there was no way for me to get on another flight until after the holidays. I went from thinking I was going to see my boyfriend in less than a day, to thinking it would be months until I would get to Berlin. It was pretty awful, but luckily after much time on hold ironically listening to "Let it Snow" and much back and forth with some non-helpful and finally one very helpful Delta operators, I got a ticket to fly out on Christmas Eve and back New Year's Day. Not ideal, but totally worth it. And if this whole debacle hadn't gone down, I wouldn't have gotten to experience one of the loveliest days (and a not too shabby night) I have had in NYC in long time.

I can't believe I have lived in New York for almost five years and it has taken me this long to get to a park after a snow storm. Until yesterday in Prospect, I guess I just didn't know what I was missing. It was pure unadulterated fun — sledding, snow angels, snow ball fights and just so many people out enjoying the almost two feet of snow that landed on our city. I felt like an eight-year-old soaked to the bone but having too much fun to care.

The evening was more of an adulterated affair and Sunny and I got all decked out in our finest attire and headed into the city for my one and only Christmas party of the season and a Bon Voyage evening for Megan. The usual debauchery and dancing to Liz and Legs' tunes proved to be even more satisfying when decked out in fur and sequins. So anyway, long story sort of short, it's not so terribly bad that my flight got cancelled because yesterday was just perfect. Here are too many pics.

                

            

          

             

 

                        

Bars/Clubs I Like, Berlin: Wilde Renate

Why: I was told I would like this place and I finally made it there on my last week here in Berlin. Vintage wallpaper, brick walls, deer antlers, old lady lamps hanging from the ceiling: uh yeah, Renate was made for me. The whole Brooklynesque vibe got me of course, but it was the European touches that truly made it a standout: the old piano, the coal heating, and the castle-like cold wall atmosphere that you just wouldn’t find in Williamsburg.

I would have been happy just sitting in such an environment, but since I was so drawn to the dance floor and spent most of my night there, I suppose I should somewhat wax poetic about that. This was the first club I have been to in a while that I wasn’t disappointed with the monotonous techno that some of these Berliners love (hence me not going to clubs very often) repeating the same beat over and over. If I am going to get into some electro, it’s got to be that house that builds up and climaxes into something so powerful it makes you hit the floor hard with your dance moves dictated for you differently each time—ideally with some melody and lyrics thrown in there too. And well that is what I got and I spent hours on the perfectly intimate but not overly crowded dance floor.

Also, on more low key nights Renate replaces it's dance floor with a pool table which is actually not that easy to find in this fair city.