Bluestockings

Stopped by the Pulse Art Fair launch party at the Thor hotel on the Lower East Side last night around 9:30 PM. French was being spoken all around me as a crowd of art fair visitors converged on the entrance. Inside everything was monochrome - white folk dressed in black, in a black and white interior. Cruised through the crowd enjoying the scene of packed sardines for awhile but realized my heart wasn't in it.

Stepped out into the fresh air and busy night of Rivington street and headed West towards the F train. Turned up Allen street and saw a sight which cheered me - the brightly lit windows of an old fashioned book store where studious, coffee-drinking people sat at small tables reading books and working at laptops, doors open to 11 PM.

Make mine a chamomile from the selection of loose teas in glass jars behind the counter. Perused the volumes on politics, activism, culture and gender issues. Found a seat and drank my tea, book in hand, while overhearing an animated conversation about the Verge Art Fair between a girl with dread-locks and a young man in Doc Martins eating Vegan noodle soup.

Bluestockings, 17 Allen Street. Great tea, interesting books, long hours, right in the heart of Lower East side gallery district. I'm heading back there soon.

Cup of the Day : Gwyneth Leech

India ink on white cardboard cup

Drawn at Artists Meeting, NYC

October 2008

Size small