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How to Pick a Tomato

Some days, the act of painting seems so, well, useless. One is muse-less, headachy, hung-over, or distracted. It is then that I find it useful to pretend that I am a farmer. In my fantasy they get up early, quite early in the morning since the cows have to be milked and the growing season is short.

Where the Girls Are

This is about a long overdue visit to “the largest and oldest” repository of lesbian history in the world, a visit sparked by a tedious movie experience.

King Me Mayor of NYC

Democracy is stressful; vote for the wrong candidate and you own a piece of responsibility for whatever instability and dysfunction results. And it is hard to tell the difference between the warped personality, driven to compete at politics out of some pathology like deep feelings of inadequacy, and the natural-born apparatchik you may think you are getting.

Is Starbucks Stealing Our Mojo?

Austin Powers II: The Spy Who Shagged Me centers on Dr. Evil stealing Austin’s mojo (“the life force, the essence, the right stuff.”--- Dr. Evil) to render him ineffective and thus make the world ripe for domination. The plot is hatched as Dr. Evil’s headquarters, the Space Needle in Seattle; which happens to be decorated with the Starbuck’s logo.

Brooklyn Sweatshops

This past August, Congresswoman Nydia Velazquez, who represents Williamsburg and Sunset Park, cut her Banana Republic credit card to pieces in protest against that retailer’s alleged reliance on sweatshop labor, Standing outside the retail store she reportedly shouted, “Shame on you… we will hold you accountable!”

Demography is not Destiny: Campaign for Fiscal Equity, Inc. vs. State of New York

The racial and economic politics of Albany are robbing New York City’s students of an education.

Visions of a Tragedy, 9/11

The day was clear and the air a bit warmer than usual. The sound of sirens, helicopters and fighter jets all were new for us, or rather unusual. Confusion took over quickly and even though there were many signs that something was going to happen, no one believed it could happen to us, in our own country.

Zoning Out: The Politics of North Brooklyn

During the excessively hot summer of 1997, I was evicted from my illegal loft in Williamsburg. Being eight months pregnant, I didn’t fight it. The woman I rented from—who, oddly enough, was eight months pregnant—told me she was being threatened by the landlord.

Against the Giuliani Legacy

The first two installments of “Against the Giuliani Legacy” challenged deep-seated definitions like “quality of life” and “decency” as defined the Giuliani cabal.

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The Brooklyn Rail

OCT-NOV 01

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