This post was originally published March 1, 2017
This week I'll have five years of NYC living under my belt. A big part of moving here in my early twenties was to challenge myself. To say "yes," to try new things, and to assert my *indepandence. Here's five times in the last five years that I really "went for it."
1. Witchcraft Class
I may not be self-aware enough to find the humor in this but everyone I talk to about it finds it HILARIOUS that I attended a workshop on Lunar Witchcraft in Bushwick. I'm not a real, practicing witch (though I wish I was) but have always been interested in it and wanted to learn more. As a serious artform! Not for comedy!
I paid $13 online to attend a workshop on Friday the 13th in an unmarked basement in a random backwards part of Bushwick I'd never been to before. The instructor presented a slideshow off her Macbook Air (projector was "broken") and read off a printed piece of paper with notes that had no paragraph breaks. She talked fast and hyper-animated and had a self-deprecating wit that said "omg I'm SUCH nerd about these kind of things but also we HAVE to stick together as women and that's something I even have tattoo'd on my arm, also: the moon."
The class was full of exactly who you'd expect to be there. Needless to say, I did not meet the love of my life, but I'm sure if I had been more friendly I would have been invited into a coven! The girls there were really sweet.
There were a few opportunities for questions and answers in class, but I only had one:
me: "what is the benefit of synching your menstrual cycle to the lunar cycle?"
witch: "It's just cool"
I don't know. I heard somewhere that that was something people to do. Glad I know now there is no significance to doing that!
Unfortunately I'll probably never be a full-on witch because the other thing I was able to take away from this course (other than that thrilling tidbit about my period) is that witchcraft is actually kinda time consuming and hard work. I have too many hobbies what with my knitting and mix-CD making to take on witchcraft.
2. Figure Drawing
It was a drink-and-draw at a coffee shop I used to live by. About five other artists in the room, and then the nude model. The nude model had paint on her pubic hair from a previous engagement. No further questions were asked.
3. Being Mistaken for A Cake-Sitter
I went to a show at a giant warehouse, because one of my favorite bands was headlining. Before they got on stage, a masked burlesque troupe performed (nude, or course) an interesting BDSM/cake-fetish routine. This curvy girl with a long brunette ponytail did an especially impressive 'dance' on top of a cake where she sat on it up and down and grinded on it. Later a man came up to me and asked if I was her :)
4. A "House Show" at "Cat House"
I got invited by one of my favorite musicians to an intimate "house show" which is apparently a thing in the music community. The "house" was actually a street-level apartment in Bushwick where there was an old TV in one corner playing Beetlejuice on VHS, and then a makeshift stage in the other corner. It was the dead of Winter, but we did go outside to smoke a few times and found that someone's bunny rabbit lived out there.
Welcome back to Instagram. Sign in to check out what your friends, family & interests have been capturing & sharing around the world.
5. Drinking Games
This isn't necessarily "Brooklyn" but it was weird as fuck to me: at a party once I watched grown adults get really into a drinking game where you take turns eating a paper bag.
The end!
*I refuse to learn how to spell the word though. That I'll do in the next five years.