djali rancher blog
Piri Thomas: September 30, 1928 – October 17, 2011
Rest in peace Piri Thomas, one of my favorite Latino writers. His memoir Down These Mean Streets is a timeless classic. I met him once at an event honoring him at my mentor’s home in Greenwich Village. Mr. Thomas was accessible, eager to bond with the next generation of djalis, and totally unpretentious: a national treasure who possessed the kind of character I aspire to.
Breathing Inn
Over the weekend, my husband and I disconnected from the world in celebration of our wedding anniversary by venturing to one of our favorite upstate sanctums. Breathe Inn.
I love this place because of its history (this was once a refuge for people in the Black Panther Party and Abby Hoffman); the eclectic collection of art, much of which is graffiti and street inspired (one of our favorite Lee Quinones pieces hangs beautifully on a wall in the cozy living room area); the Moroccan themed bedrooms and movie room reminds me of the most beautiful country I’ve laid eyes on so far. There’s a teepee outside and a front porch reminiscent of a southern plantation. Depending on where your gaze falls, Breathe Inn offers a motley array of rich and sometimes ethereal experiences.
The only awkward moments happen in the morning, a few minutes before 10AM. This is when co-owner/private chef begins to set the communal dining table for breakfast. My husband and I scramble to get ready and are usually the last to arrive. There’s something a bit daunting about beginning the day with a group of total strangers. Most of the time they come in to the dining table showered and eager to get their day started while we haphazardly check one another like chimps for eye crust and struggle to make ourselves presentable for the imminent meet-and-greet.
Back from Virtual Purgatory…
Thank you for your patience during my brief website black-out. Had to fix some kinks in the chain. I’m back and excited to share all some of what I’ve been up to.
My current doc, Before I Deconstruct is really taking off. We recently received a Nathan Cummings grant during the summer to push production forward. Filming has been rewarding, professionally and personally. This experience, so far, has been illuminating on too many levels to get into right now. More on that later.
I’m also writing like a mad woman, as the first draft of my book, is (kind of) almost due to my editor at Atria/Simon & Schuster.
Stay posted for updates and all sorts of stuff, like this, my favorite video of the week (so far)…courtesy the The Daily Show with Jon Stewart.
“This is it! This is it! This is it!” Style Wars Restoration Online Auction
What do Eric Haze,Shepard Fairey, Brad Pitt, James Franco, CRASH, Spike Jonze, and Kelly Klein have in common? They all donated rare and original artworks to the Style Wars Restoration Project‘s online auction. An extension of a superfresh party at the Bunker Club that went down last Wednesday hosted by Catherine Keener, The Common Good’s Jen Regenstreich, the goddess Kathleen Chalfant and the Bunker Club/Tiny’s & the Bar Upstairs co-owner Matthew Abramcyk, yours truly, and others, this online auction will be be updated throughout the week and will go on until next week (or so).
Please support and read more about our efforts to restore the original negative of the first hip-hop documentary. To read more about the restoration project visit www.stylewars.com.
