Author Kim Masson and her husband, artist Teo Gonzalez \ Photos: Rosie de Belgeonne
“Online dating can work,” insists Kelly Brixi, heroine of Kim Masson’s debut novel, Craig’s List Chronicles: byte-size tales. “I know a girl who met her husband that way. When they got married, they gave out little chocolate computers as gifts.” The year is 2000, and Kelly is heading off to a blind date at the Met. She runs through the safety precautions with her best friend and hopes for the best, at least when it comes to looks, because she’s never seen her date before.
“Back then, Craigslist did not have pictures,” explains Masson (because I was born in the late ’80s and have no memory of those times), “blind dates were true blind dates.”
We’re sitting outside at Baoburg, where a few diners are bent determinedly over their phones, and I turn my microphone app on, slide it across the table, and begin asking Masson the hard questions about writing your first novel, indie publishing, and meeting the love of your life online. Continue reading →
Have you read A Tree Grows in Brooklynby Betty Smith? It’s one of those classics that you think everyone has read. I picked up a copy in a free book pile (score!) on Norman Ave and got instantly hooked. After asking around, ALOT of people haven’t read it, either!
If you haven’t read it – YOU SHOULD! Especially if you live in Greenpoint or Williamsburg because the entire story takes place here at the turn of last century and the descriptions of the area, with references to places like Cheap Charlies (perhaps at a different location with surely a different sign) are unbelievable!
It’s a great summer read in that I have been reading it all summer, but that’s what makes it great, nothing really happens, but everything happens to Francie the main character who grows up poor in Brooklyn and aspires to become a writer. After putting it down for a bit, you can just pick it right back up and begin where you left off, like having coffee with an old friend.
Here are some looks we put together from local shops so you look HOT at McCarren Park Pool, which opens Thursday, June 28, 2012. Remember, they won’t let you in unless you have a bathing suit and a lock. Pick up a lock at Jam’s Stationary (835 Manhattan Ave.) or Crest Hardware (558 Metropolitan Ave.) Continue reading →
