Hi everyone... good evening!

What's up? Not too much new with me...

Had a good leap day. My first in four years. I wandered around the the city. My wandering was actually inspired from some typing I did on the Pomera DM30 earlier this week…

I have been in New York for ten years now (2010 → 2020)...

which seems notable somehow.

I was thinking about my favorite places in New York. Or more specifically, where I like to take guests when they’re here for a little while.

When I was a guest in Japan this past summer, my friend Kaz showed me his favorite spot in Osaka. It is an overlook at a large room in a mall/train station, I think near a big department store. We watched for a long time. Groups of people saying goodbye. Some take a long time to say goodbye. They go in different directions. Sometimes they hug or cry. We guess about what is happening, or who is going to go which direction. What is their group about? There was something therapeutic or calming about watching them for so long. No one could tell we were watching. It is not a common thing to do, and the area we were in overlooking didn’t seem very popular… it wasn’t a typical favorite spot.

I don’t have a spot quite like this in New York. I imagine something similar would be watching everyone in Grand Central from the steps of the Apple Store. But I resonate with having favorite spots in a city that are no one else’s, especially in New York, where it feels like everything has already been talked about and built upon. Which is why I can’t help it but appreciate the more subtle, forgotten human creations, especially ones that aren’t even that old.

In New York, I like taking people to Hester Street Playground in Chinatown / the Lower East Side. In the playground, an area most people don’t venture into unless they are a child or observing one, there is a musical instrument you can step or dance on. It’s gold or metallic looking. It’s a 3 by 3 grid, kind of like a DDR (Dance Dance Revolution) pad. Stepping on each square produces a ring or bell sound. Each square is a different note. You can make melodies just by moving around. And you can do it with a friend if you want. I continually marvel that the instrument is engraved with the designer’s credit. It was done by some German guy, I think in the 90s. I am typing this on my Pomera on the train, so I can’t really look up the specifics right now, but that is what I remember.

I like taking people here because it is unexpected, simple, and fun. It’s kind of like a palate cleanser for other sites people typically visit in New York that are filled with a weighty meaning.

I made a short video of my favorite place you can watch here on YouTube if you want. (Note: requires internet connection).

Sometimes I joke that my other favorite place in New York City is my own bedroom. Maybe because it’s calm and cozy—something most of the city isn’t. There is so much stimulation in NYC... I mean truly it is incredible. One of my resolutions lately was to be more in awe of it, even though it is easy to be overwhelmed. Exactly how to do this I’m not sure. I'd like to have a “let’s play” attitude towards places of abundance—which is a feeling I have on vacation sometimes, or when I’m somewhere or with someone for a finite duration and I don’t have much to lose.

My friend Elliott made a “let’s play, office level” video. Ever since I saw it, I’ve been trying to walk around New York sometimes with this spirit.

Elliott also made this: http://special.fish. Special Fish is a website of profiles … anyone can create one. But what I especially like about Special Fish is its design around lists. Each profile has a place for text and then a place for lists. There are a set number of lists and a set number of items in each list, although the lists can be whatever you want. I told Elliott it reminded me of a fantasy I had a while ago about starting a social media platform called “Desert Island Lists,” which would be everyone’s top 5 songs, books, etc. they would want with them if they were stranded on a desert island. It was inspired by the BBC Radio Show Desert Island Discs.

It’s funny choosing media to keep you company for seemingly forever. If I were going on the program, I would desire a certain level of ambiguity so I could have multiple readings over time. This is what I was talking about last time, “work to hang out with.” But it couldn’t be too ambiguous or too boring, because I would want it to remind me of vitality, light, and joy possible in humanity, especially if I were truly stranded and alone on a desert island.

I’m reminded of this poet Francis Ponge, who I remember saying a sonata by Bach is better than a blade of grass because it gives us some view into how a past human interpreted this earthly existence.

ponGe pReFERS tHE CoMPaNy OF bACH, MOZArt, aND RameAu to A BladE Of GRaSs. poNGe PrefERS an Object MAdE bY mAN -- a pOem, MUsiCal score, PAinting -- To AN Object with nO PURpOSE (oNe wIThout aN AUTHOR). only tHIngS (lANGuagE, now) COuld SaVe MaN froM hIs disTrEss. ThE mANIPULATIOn oF laNgUaGE BeCAmE pongE'S WAy oF LiviNg HApPiLY, Of mAkING lIfe bearabLe.

Anyway, I hope you have enjoyed this email, which has been approximately 1046 words in length.

I would love to hear / see what your favorite hidden locations are in your city. If any of you are inspired, feel free to take a less than 2min video of your favorite spot and send me the link.

See you on the other side...

Goodnight,
Laurel

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