I’m a big stalker walker. I am also a big sitter on my couch stuck to my computer. So much of my life and what I find inspiring involves discovery, which is why I love Greenpoint so much. There is always something new to find, a new place to eat, a weird sticker, a lost cat poster, a stoop sale, an idea, a photograph. The work for this website is endless and computer time can feel isolating and disconnected. So I walk because a website about Greenpoint isn’t about staring at a laptop, it’s about being part of the neighborhood in an active way.
I introduce to you: “Walks of Inspiration” (It sounds cheesy because it is cheesy!)
They won’t be this long, but there is a back story. Two years ago when I was still living in Queens, I had to make a decision whether to invest a large part of my small life savings into Paulie Gee’s. I was in my dark little basement apartment in Maspeth, marinating. So I got up and left the house, knowing the only way I would make this decision would be to walk it out.
It was a freezing day in December, with clear blue skies and that winter sun that warms you up. I realized on that walk that the only reason I was thinking twice was because I was really scared. I went with my gut.
I called Paulie and said, I’m in. That night I joined his family at Roberta’s and afterwards we came back to Greenpoint to the raw space that would be transformed into Paulie Gee’s. I just knew the minute I walked in that I was doing the right thing.
Which reminds me I am due for the best named – Greenpointer pie!
There have been some hefty decisions on the table for me lately. I might buy an apartment, but I can’t talk about it because buying real estate in New York City is a mystical process and I don’t want to anger the real estate gods.
Also, this website has such potential for growth and I am standing in the way because even though I don’t believe it, I am actually one human being with a full-time job, and it is impossible to manage creating content and doing the business side of things. I need help! Help is on the way, thankfully.
In the meantime, I can’t sleep. Then I’m tired and need to take a nap. Then I’m groggy and need a shot of espresso. It’s a bad cycle. So what do I do? I walk.
On the walk, I take pictures and strange notes. I also make a map.
So here it is, Walk of Inspiration #1:
Notes:
Dusty
Bridgewater St
Bitter Pill?
Dump here
Asshole magnet to stick on cars when they don’t STOP for pedestrians
Turn at whistles (from men in trucks)
Mounting Lion Statues – literally humping
3X4 tree casket with Cinderblock lining
Brown bird barbed wire massage
Tri Lox
Order in bulk on the asshole magnets
Add ping pong at Risqué to to do list!
Mcguinness Pedestrian Mall –Â AstroTurf – no cars!
Will they ever run out of claw foot bath tubs? Google.
The siding won’t last. Brick has better chances.
Need. Dog.
Chorizo Manchego Sandwich at Troost. Half.
Pick-up mugs! (at hippie shack)
Paulie called – serendipitously!
Send Lawyer info to Bank
