This is the end...and the beginning

While free dance performances can be, admittedly, hit or miss -- particularly if you are not familiar with the performers or the choreographer -- tonight's performance will assuredly be interesting and potentially awesome. My lovely friend Laurie B will be performing and I have never ever ever been bored at one of her shows.

CHRISTINE ELMO: This is the end
with performances by Laurie Berg, Megan Byrne, Jessica Cook, Elle Erdman & Janet
Wednesday, June 30, 8 pm
Kate Werble Gallery
83 Vandam Street

Whether on or off the proscenium, performance is happening. Identities are concepts inherited through a person's DNA. How those concepts manifest in time and space is the performance. In Elmo's most recent work, she uses extractions from your unison uses unicorns and her own DNA, both physical and abstract components to create a performance of a performance to be performed in an environment reserved for performance.

This is the end has been created on the premise that authenticity is an illusion rather than a reality. This is the end strives to not-strive for utopia. This is the end is non-repetitive pop. This is the end is a collection of peacocks, unicorns, pirates, parrots, shooting stars and singing men. This is the end is a social experiment that engages the directed performer and the voluntary audience in an environment that acknowledges what happens beyond the designed environment is all just the same.

Christine Elmo is a NY-based artist who writes and uses dance, text, bodies and inanimate objects to create performance that hyper-accentuates the 4th wall. Her live work has been presented with AUNTS, The Bruce High Quality Foundation, The Bryant Lake Bowl (MN), Dance Theater Workshop, Dixon Place, Kate Werble Gallery, Live Sh**, The Poetry Project and at the Sirály in Budapest. Her video work has been presented in Galway, Ireland.

Reading series in Madison Square Park

Madison Square Park is a favorite spot of mine, a surprisingly rejuvenating patch of green in the Flatiron District, and even if, like me, Shake Shack is not in your budget this week, it is a peaceful place to enjoy a (brown bag) lunch or read for a bit. If you haven't been there lately, swing by before August 15 to take in Antony Gormley's eerie and ethereal sculptures observing you from the rooftops. And if you're near MSP (yeah, we're intimate, so I'm allowed to use acronyms) on Thursday evenings, they offer a free reading series at 6:30 pm from July 1 through August 5. I'll definitely be there on July 8 for former NYT food critic Frank Bruni. Here's the lineup and a little text from the Mad Sq. Reads website:

Mad. Sq. Reads 2010
July 1 - August 5
Thursdays at 6:30 pm
At the Farragut Monument in the north end of the park

July 1: FOR THE LOVE OF FAMILIES: Dave & Jane Isay
Jane and Dave Isay: she writes about children and sibling behavior, he writes about mothers. It’s no coincidence that they’re mother and son. Dave is the founder of StoryCorps and the recipient of a MacArthur “genius” fellowship. His mother Jane is the author of Mom Still Likes You Best: The Unfinished Business Between Siblings (Doubleday, 2010).

July 8: FOOD NIGHT: Frank Bruni
Frank Bruni was born into an Italian family that equated food with love. As a child, he dieted with his mother; as a college student, he became bulimic. Before, in between and after, he gobbled crummy processed food, sleep-ate, and eventually pigged his way into size 42 relaxed khakis and no love life. Born Round: The Secret History of a Full-Time Eater (Penguin, 2009) is the hugely praised bestseller of the New York Times former chief restaurant critic.

July 15: TO THE MOON ON APOLLO 11: Craig Nelson
In Rocket Men: The Epic Story of the First Men on the Moon (Penguin, 2010), Craig Nelson “captures the drama and chaos of July, 1969 and the almost unbearable tension of the moon landing, (which is) described so vividly that the engrossed reader isn’t sure that Armstrong and crewmate Buzz Aldrin are going to make it.” (The Washington Post).

July 22: DONALD BARTHELME CONSIDERED: Panel Discussion
Critics can’t quite agree: was Donald Barthelme the end of modernism or the first practitioner of American postmodern narrative? Join the National Book Foundation and acclaimed writers Emily Barton, Tracy Daugherty, Stacey D’Erasmo, and David Gates for a discussion of Barthelme’s legacy, influence, and narrative innovations.

July 29: FICTION NIGHT: Allegra Goodman
Of Allegra Goodman's The Cookbook Collector (Random House, 2010), Publishers Weekly proclaims, “This dazzling novel is [Jane] Austen updated for the dot-com era, played out between 1999 and 2001 among a group of brilliant risk takers and truth seekers. . . . [Eventually] career paths collide, social values clash, ironies multiply, and misjudgments threaten to destroy romantic desire...this is Goodman’s most robust, fully realized, and trenchantly meaningful work yet.”

August 5: DOG DAYS OF SUMMER: Rachel McPherson
Rachel McPherson is the founder of The Good Dog Foundation, the largest animal-assisted therapy organization on the East Coast, and based on years of experience there has written the ultimate “dog message” book, Every Dog Has a Gift: True Stories of Dogs Who Bring Hope & Healing Into Our Lives (Tarcher, 2010). She'll be bringing dogs to love!

Up for grabs: Food Film Festival tickets

I've got four tickets to tonight's sold out NYC Food Film Festival event - Edible Adventure #001: Smokes, Ears & Ice Cream (there'll be pig ear sandwiches, people) and I won't be able to make it. The extravaganza features smoked meats from Fatty 'Cue (which you know you're dying to try but can't afford), ice cream from Max & Mina's, and other assorted goodies. The film program is a smattering of shorts on topics of produce, sex, and pork fat. And if all that hasn't won you over: it takes place at the Water Taxi Beach in Long Island City. That's almost tropical.

Message me for the tickets. Don't ever say I don't love you.

(Oh, and p.s.: Volunteering at last night's Asian street food event by Chef Brad Farmerie was a blast. Not to say I told you so, but...I told you so.)

(p.p.s. UPDATE: Check out the event and watch ticket winner Miranda's favorite videos on her blog!)

Lessons in nonattachment

Exploring my new city is a source of both inspiration and disappointment, friends. I won't say that the McCoy Tyner Quartet last night at SummerStage was anything short of excellent -- it wasn't -- but I went to it with definite expectations of what the environment would be like. These expectations included: soft, grassy, blanket-oriented seating; open, expansive park vistas; cool, refreshing breezes. What I encountered was a small structure tamed with artificial grass carpet, folding white chairs to which my sticky thighs clung desperately, and a cranky line of hundreds waiting to get in by the time we left after the first set. We had 7th row seats because my very thoughtful husband arrived at 3 pm to stand in line, but if we had both arrived, as I did, at 6:45, we would have been crammed onto the bleachers in the back. This was no verdant paradise.

What we did learn, though, was that just outside the official concert area is a huge, shady, grassy lawn, perfect for the picnic you're NOT allowed to bring inside and the peaceful feeling you want to have. There, fireflies put on a performance to rival the main act, blanket space is abundant, and overpriced vendors are not there to tempt you with underwhelming food. Folks said the sound quality was perfectly acceptable...which is all I'm asking for from a free summer concert.

So with that, dear readers, I'm christening Summer 2010 as the Season of Nonattachment, in which I will try to learn to let go of the expectations I have forced onto our new life here. It's time to accept, in a real way, that New York does not look, feel, smell, behave, or taste like San Francisco. In that spirit, today's offering: free meditation sessions at the Shambhala Meditation Center of New York. They offer weekly drop-in Learn to Meditate classes on Wednesdays and Sundays (donation-based, but I did not pay and did not feel uncomfortable). Weekly Group meditation is free and open to the public Wednesday nights and Sunday mornings. If, like me, you're not sure how to let go on your own, try a little guidance. It can't hurt.

p.s. Thanks to Mike for beautiful photos, as always.

Alright. It's time...

...that we talk about SummerStage. Honestly, I've been avoiding this one because it's such a MASSIVE offering of events that I wasn't sure how to go about describing it to you - especially since I've not yet been to one of the performances. However, that will all change in a few hours - Mike and I are going to check out jazz with the McCoy Tyner Quartet in Central Park tonight. The show starts at 7, but true to form, Mike has just texted me that he and a dozen other people are already there, patiently awaiting the opening of the doors at 6 pm. I am a lucky lady.

I'll admit that I'm not familiar with most of this summer's performers (except Jimmy Cliff, who is apparently a doctor of something, according to the SummerStage website). That's one of the glories of free shows, though: because there's no financial commitment, you can explore music and performance that you wouldn't take a risk on if you had to buy the ticket. Be empowered by this freedom, my broke friends! There are 33 free concerts at the Main Stage at Rumsey Field alone from now through September, and additional shows throughout the five boroughs, spanning Afro Caribbean dance, Italian pop, Jamaican reggae, Turkish rock, Mexican folk dancing, and more. Good old American snarkiness puts in an appearance when contributors from The Daily Show do stand-up comedy on July 21. Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater performs July 23 and 24, and beatbox artist Doug E. Fresh makes strange and amazing sounds on August 11. This is just a taste - you get the idea. Poke around the SummerStage website and see all that's in store.

Make your own kind of music

Each day I commute downtown at lunchtime via the N-R-W train at Times Square. I generally attempt to numb as many of my senses as possible, trying to forget the experience as it's happening. New York in the summer is a particular assault on one's delicate sensibilities - too loud, too hot, too goddamn PUNGENT (that's a nice way of saying "reeking of urine"). As a side note, I'm having an extremely difficult time negotiating crowded sidewalks lately - does that ever happen to you too>

Today, though, as I was shuffling along, the sound of a piano drifted toward me with the marvelous strangeness of music out of place - rich, full, lovely. It was a brief moment - I was, as always, running late - but it breathed a little life into my harried day.

British artist Luke Jerram has placed sixty pianos all over the five boroughs as a part of his installation "Play Me, I'm Yours". The pianos are an invitation to passersby to play, talk, engage, make music, pause for a moment, experience their space in a new way. Musicians (and would-be music-makers), yearn no longer for an instrument to charm - you've got from 9 am to 10 pm each day, now through July 5, to work your magic. You might just change someone's whole day.

Volunteer for the NYC Food Film Festival

NYC Food Film Festival 2010 Trailer from George Motz on Vimeo.

This is another example of an awesome event that you either can't afford or didn't get tickets in time for before it sold out - the 2010 NYC Food Film Festival is hosting a ton of chances to eat delicious food and watch films about that food - what better combination can you imagine? And here's your in: they are in desperate need of lots of volunteers. The festival begins Wednesday and runs through Sunday (July 23 - 27). The Food Bank for New York City receives all the proceeds, and they're coordinating the volunteer efforts - visit their online signup to get involved. The deadline to sign up has passed, but as a volunteer coordinator in a former life, I would bet my student loan money on them taking folks up until the 11th hour (but don't make them wait that long. Sign up now).

You've got a friend...who wants you to see more free music

I had no intentions of posting this one, not because of how early in the morning you must be there, but for a number of other reasons:

1. The Toyota Concert Series? Perhaps more aptly named the "Safety First Concert Series"...or maybe the "View at Your Own Risk Concert Series"?

2. How inclined are you to battle a herd of French 13 year olds on vacation or Midwestern grandmas with frosted hair at 7 am? About as likely as I am? (=not at all. Summer subway travel is perilous enough, especially now that one of my jobs is in Times Square.)

3. Honestly, something about the Today Show just gives me the creeps. Always has.

HOWEVER, when I learned that James Taylor and Carole King will be giving a short free concert tomorrow morning, I decided that I can suspend my judgment for just a day. The duo's Troubadour Reunion tour has been selling out stadiums all over the place, and their voices both still sound amazing. Bonus: on Carole King's website, you can enter a contest to win tickets to the show of your choice (which I probably am silly to tell you, since I want to skew the odds in my own favor, of course. But I can't help. I like you.) (And on that front: when you're down and troubled, and you need a helping hand...visit James Taylor's website and watch his heartbreakingly earnest entreaty to join his email list. You'll hope that he's adopting grandchildren.)

So anyway, the concert starts at 7 am, and they recommend you get there by 6. It's at 49th Street and Rockefeller Plaza. Details on other upcoming shows are here.

5/14 Sting
5/21 The Script
5/28 OneRepublic

6/3 “American Idol” winner and runner-up
6/4 Justin Bieber
6/8 Christina Aguilera
6/11 Rascal Flatts
6/15 Katherine Jenkins & David Foster (in studio)
6/16 Andre Rieu (Plaza)
6/18 James Taylor and Carole King
6/23 Herbie Hancock & India Arie (in studio
6/25 Maxwell
7/2 Maroon 5
7/9 Lady Gaga
7/16 Enrique Iglesias
7/23 John Mayer
7/30 Carrie Underwood
8/6 Train
8/13 Ke$ha
8/20 Keith Urban
8/27 Katy Perry

I'm sharing the love

I swear, friends, that this blog will not be SOLELY dedicated to free yoga events...but right now, that's what I've got a lot of information about, so I'm sharing it. So chant and be happy.

Want a spot on the Great Lawn for the big ol' yoga extravaganza next Tuesday? Those of you who read yesterday's post will recall that although the tickets are free, you have to WIN them - so not everyone who registered automatically gets in. I, however, scored some tickets, and have three extra to share. First three people to message me will get 'em.

Volunteering: it's not just for nice people

If you were planning to attend the Yoga on the Great Lawn event on June 22 (like me), perhaps you read the fine print (UNLIKE me) and discovered that you have to WIN the free tickets to the event. You can't just show up. Damn it!

But what you CAN do is register to volunteer (and by the way, my fellow financially-challenged friends, volunteering is one of the best ways I know to get to go to cool stuff for free): the Flavorpill team seeks 100+ volunteers to distribute flyers between now and June 15th and to support the event on June 22nd by arranging mats, checking in participants, and shuffling yoga participants around the space. All volunteers will have the opportunity to participate in the class and will get a free week of classes at YogaWorks. If you're interested, send an email to volunteer@flavorpill.com.

See concerts you'd never be able to afford if they were indoors

Okay, this one I selfishly wanted to keep under my hat. There are SO many amazing performers coming to the Prospect Park Bandshell as part of Celebrate Brooklyn this summer, and honestly, I want a big old spot on the lawn all for me and my peeps. Back in San Francisco, my husband would rise each summer Sunday at 5 am (no joke), take a cab to Stern Grove (our most beloved summertime free music venue, and where we got married), and reserve a space for us and 20 of our closest friends for the day's concert. (I rolled in around noon, after a busy morning of elaborate picnic treat creation.) He refused to tell people how early he got there for fear someone would beat us to our favorite spot (it only happened once in four years).



The good news: there's plenty of space at the Prospect Park Bandshell, and I'm happy to share the news. We arrived for Allen Toussaint on Saturday only half an hour early, and there was a huge amount of lawn space near two adorable little girls with a hula hoop, which was amusing and also infuriatingly tempting. So the moral of the story: Chelsea, quit being so stingy. There's room for everyone to have fun.

My top picks of the season: Ozomatli on July 9, Sharon Jones and the Dap Kings on August 7, and whoa - Sonic Youth on July 31! (Did you know Kim Gordon is also making art now? Random.) The bandshell is at 9th Street & Prospect Park West in Brooklyn. The bad news: you can't bring your own beer - they sell it there for a painful $6 - but I'm pretty sure that the "no cooler" rule is not strictly enforced, so at least you can smuggle in sandwiches.

Wednesday 6/9: Norah Jones
Saturday 6/12: Allen Toussaint; Davell Crawford
Thursday 6/17: Eugene Mirman & Pretty Good Friends
Friday 6/18: JG Thirwell's Steroid Maximus; Dr. Lonnie Smith
Saturday 6/19: Bitches Brew Revisited with Graham Haynes, James Blood Ulmer, DJ Logic, more
Thursday 6/24: Orquesta Buena Vista Social Club featuring Omara Portuondo; Nelida Tirado
Friday 6/25: Kid Koala; Hess is More
Saturday 6/26: Texas Tornados; Red Clay Ramblers
Thursday 7/1: Zoom: Zvi Dance; Son Lux with Lottdance
Friday 7/2: Fab 5; Uzalu
Thursday 7/8: Itutu: Armitage Gone!; Dance featuring Burkina Electric
Friday 7/9: Ozomatli; Fidel Nadal; Toy Selectah
Sunday 7/11: OkayAfrica with The Roots; Talib Kweli, and more
Saturday 7/17: African Festival with Konono No. 1, Omar Pene, Super Diamono, more
Thursday 7/22: The Chaplin Mutuals: Carl Davis; The Two Man Gentlemen Band
Friday 7/23: Bomba Estereo; La Selecta Allstar; Navegante
Saturday 7/24: Field of Dreams (Un Mundo Nuevo): Andres Levin & The Bruce High Quality Foundation
Thursday 7/29: MI21: Mother India 21st Century Remix with DJ Tigerstyle; Falu
Friday 7/30: The Swell Season; The Low Anthem
Saturday 7/31: Sonic Youth; Grass Widow; Talk Normal
Thursday 8/5: Metric; Joan as Police Woman; Holly Miranda
Friday 8/6: House of Usher: Marco Benevento; White Magic
Saturday 8/7: Sharon Jones & the Dap Kings; Budos Band, more
Sunday 8/8: Brady Rymer; Elizabeth Mitchell

Take a walk, and learn something too

Ever notice how the weekend feels longer if you make it action-packed? I'm planning a multi-activity Saturday, starting with a walking tour of Central Park at 10 am. My friend Cris gives fantastic tours for the Central Park Conservancy, and this one is the Cross Park Promenade. I've always felt a little embarrassed to take tours of public spaces that are already free - shouldn't I be able to figure this stuff out on my own? The weird facts that you learn make these walks totally worth any lingering feelings of nerdiness, though - like how you can tell exactly where in the Park you are by the lampposts. (I'm not going to give up the secret - you have to go on the tour.) Mike and I recently took the Amble Through the Ramble tour, on which it really is possible to forget that you're in the middle of the world's 4th largest city (by population) - and isn't that one of the most delicious surprises in an urban park, when you momentarily forget where you are?

Tomorrow's tour meets at 10 am inside Central Park at Fifth Avenue and 72nd Street, in front of the statue of Samuel F. B. Morse (who shares my last name, but is no relation to me. My friends did used to prank call me in college, though, frantically shouting, "What's the code??? What's the code???" - and I never understood the joke until they explained it a full decade later.). Visit the Central Park Conservancy's calendar to learn about the many other free tours available all throughout the week, and give your brain some fresh air after a week under fluorescent lights.

Today's free adventure: armchair travel

...or desk travel, as the case may be. (If you're reading this at work, I won't tell. Hell, I'm writing this at work.) I couldn't resist the urge to share with you the beautiful prose today of Francis Lam, one of my favorite writers on Salon.com. He's traveling around Paris, eating his way through the city, and his post today is pure poetry. A little sample of his words:

"MasMoudi is fascinating, a shop on the chic Boulevard Saint-Germain that looks like a fancy jeweler, selling instead gemlike Middle Eastern sweets in a room so intensely, gorgeously blue you'll feel like you're fever-dreaming on a raft in the Mediterranean. Skip the baklava and pay attention to the phenomenally meticulous quarter-size pistachio and pine nut confections, made with the crispest, lightest phyllo dough, rich nut bases, fragrant floral essences and stunningly arranged as if flower buds themselves."

Even if you have no desire at all to ever visit Paris, the sheer experience of reading his description of shopping for a picnic is heavenly. Enjoy.

(UPDATE: If you too were watching Top Chef Masters, you might want to check out Eater.com's exit interviews with all the contestants.)

Update: more free yoga!

Well, Mother Nature conspired to keep me indoors tonight, rather than at the free yoga in the park I had planned on attending...which was actually perfect. I spent a lovely cashless night roasting kale and cooking cranberry beans (using my all-time favorite go-to Jamie Oliver recipe and catching up on Top Chef Masters.) I'm grateful when the weather slows me down and guides me toward taking care of myself in a more subtle way. My fridge is now full of veggies for lunch for the rest of the week, and I am cozily moving toward an early bedtime.


I also cleaned out my inbox while lazing on the couch, and discovered another free yoga series to check out soon! Here are the details:

Yoga - Evening Salute to the Sun, every Wednesday, 6:30 - 7:30 pm, from June 9 to Sept 22, at the plaza at 66th Street in Riverside Park South (on the Hudson River between 59th and 72nd Streets). BYO mat. There is a TON of free stuff going on at this park, which I've just discovered. Stay tuned to future posts for more ideas.

Screw AMC. Catch movies al fresco...e gratis!

Going to the movies is one of the biggest pleasures I've had to put aside in my current state of brokeness. It's nearly impossible to justify a $13 risk that a movie *might* be good - whereas at least with a $13 cocktail, you know that you'll have a slight buzz afterward. But outdoor film series are the best answer to the movie theater dilemma: even if you end up hating the movie...well, you don't feel guilty leaving - it was FREE. And beyond all that: Bryant Park is one of my favorite urban havens. The way the lawn is snuggled in amidst the towering buildings makes it feel like a nest.


Bryant Park Summer Film Festival - Mondays, June 21 - August 23
The lawn opens at 5 pm for blankets (no plastic tarps please) and picnicking. The films begin at dusk (typically between 8 and 9pm).


JUNE 21
Goldfinger
The third James Bond movie has it all: Sean Connery, a catchy theme song, ingenious gadgets, scary villains, an iconic Bond girl, and a hair-raising climax inside Fort Knox. Honor Blackman achieves cinematic immortality as Pussy Galore. (1964) 111 min.

JUNE 28
Carousel
Shiftless carnival barker Billy Bigelow (Gordon MacRae) returns from purgatory to right some wrongs in this musical of Rodgers and Hammerstein's Broadway smash. Shirley Jones co-stars as the woman who makes Billy want to change his ways. (1956) 128 min.

JULY 5
The French Connection
Gene Hackman won an Oscar for his portrayal of Popeye Doyle, a profane NYC narcotics cop obsessed with stopping an international drug ring. Much of the action was filmed in NYC, including the greatest car/subway chase of all time. (1971) 104 min.

JULY 12
My Man Godfrey
Socialite Carole Lombard hires "tramp" William Powell as her wealthy family's butler. Not quite what he seems to be, Powell ends up teaching her frenetic household valuable life lessons. A wonderful mix of crazy screwball comedy and trenchant Depression-era social commentary. (1936) 95 min.

JULY 19
The China Syndrome
Ambitious TV reporter (Jane Fonda) and her radical cameraman (Michael Douglas) work to expose the cover-up of an accident at a nuclear plant, aided by an earnest shift supervisor (Jack Lemmon). Prophetically released just two weeks before the real-life disaster at Three Mile Island. (1979) 123 min.

JULY 26
Monty Python and the Holy Grail
A huge hit that introduced many throughout the world to the Python troupe's insanely funny characters including King Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table, the taunting Frenchmen, Knights who say "Ni!", shrubbery, and one nasty rabbit. (1975) 90 min.

AUGUST 2
Rosemary's Baby
Roman Polanski's satanic shocker still packs a punch. Winsome Mia Farrow is married to a selfish actor (John Cassavetes) who will do just about anything to land a role. Ruth Gordon and Ralph Bellamy lend creepy support, as does the Dakota apartment building. (1968) 136 min.

AUGUST 9
The Goodbye Girl
Struggling NYC actor Richard Dreyfuss unhappily shares an apartment with an unemployed dancer (Marsha Mason) and her precocious 10-year-old daughter. Neil Simon's romantic comedy testament of just how the ones we grow to love drive us crazy. (1977) 110 min.

AUGUST 16
12 Angry Men
Henry Fonda is the lone holdout on a jury deliberating a murder trial on a hot summer day in NYC. A stellar cast of character actors lends superb support as jurors initially convinced that the accused is guilty. Can Fonda persuade them otherwise? Sidney Lumet's first directorial masterpiece. (1957) 95 min.

AUGUST 23
Bonnie and Clyde
Warren Beatty and Faye Dunaway are the two most attractive bank robbers ever to rampage across the Midwest. The supporting cast includes Estelle Parsons (who won an Oscar), and Michael J. Pollard as the gang's none-too-bright accomplice. One of the most influential movies of the 1960's. (1967) 111 min.

To get there: Bryant Park is situated behind the New York Public Library in midtown Manhattan, between 40th and 42nd Streets & Fifth and Sixth Avenues. Take the BDFV to 42nd Street/Bryant Park, or the NQRW to Times Square, or the 7 to 5th Avenue.

You too can afford peace of mind.

The biggest deterrent to mass enlightenment may be the high cost of doing yoga. Doesn't it seem like we'd all be nicer and...calmer...if it wasn't so damn expensive to sweat out our junk and quiet down our heads? I used this as my excuse for not practicing for my first few months in New York, and then realized that not going to class was making me crazy - literally - I was thinking mean, ugly thoughts, and feeling dizzy and spacy. That's when I got serious about investigating free yoga...and not just occasional events, but places where I could practice REGULARLY.

Summertime and warm weather brings with it a ton of options to take your downward dog for a walk in the park. All classes listed below are all levels, but contact the individual studios for details. Here are a few highlights:

TUESDAYS
Lululemon in Bryant Park: every Tuesday, 10-11 am, from May 4 to Sept 30, on the upper terrace. Mats are provided.



WEDNESDAYS
Laughing Lotus in the Park: every Wednesday, 7-8 pm, from June 2 to Sept 1, in the park at 10th Avenue between 14th & 15th Streets. BYO mat, if you have one, but they have a few available too.

THURSDAYS
Lululemon Union Square: Thursdays 8-9am, from June 17 to Aug 12, outside in Union Square Park. BYO mat.

Lululemon Union Square Mommy & Me: Thursdays 10-11am, from June 17 to Aug 12, outside in Union Square Park. Mats are provided.

Lululemon in Bryant Park: every Thursday, 6-7 pm, from May 4 to Sept 30, on the lawn. Mats are provided.

THURSDAYS
Bend and Bloom Yoga in Prospect Park: every third Thursday of the month, 7-8 pm, from July 1 to Sept 19, in Long Meadow (by the Grand Army Plaza entrance). BYO mat.

SATURDAYS
Lululemon Union Square: every Saturday (except some - check their website to be sure), 9-10 am, ongoing, 15 Union Square West (between 14th & 15th Streets). Mats are provided.

SUNDAYS
Yoga Sole in Prospect Park: every Sunday, 10-11 am, from July 11- August 1, under the big oak trees by the 15th Street F stop and the park entrance at Bartel Pritchard Lot. BYO mat.



Bend and Bloom Yoga in Prospect Park: every third Sunday of the month, 10-11 am, from July 1 to Sept 19, in Long Meadow (by the Grand Army Plaza entrance). All levels. BYO mat.

Lululemon Soho: every Sunday, 9:30-10:30 am, ongoing, 481 Broadway (between Broome St and Grand St). They provide mats, and breakfast! Just put on your blinders on your way in and out of the store so you're not tempted to compensate for the free yoga by blowing your rent money on new pants.

Lululemon East 66th: every Sunday, 9:30-10:30 am, ongoing, 1127 Third Avenue @ 66th Street. They provide mats, and breakfast!

ALWAYS DONATION-BASED
Yoga to the People: It's least crowded in the middle of the day but...it's always crowded. You're not the only one who's broke. Three locations: 12 St. Marks Place (between 2nd & 3rd Avenues), 115 W. 27th Street @ 6th Avenue, and 1017 6th Avenue @ 38th Street.

Laughing Lotus Community Class: Teachers in training provide donation-based classes everyday from 2:30 to 3:45 pm, Monday through Friday. 59 West 19th Street (between 5th & 6th Avenues).

UPCOMING ONE-TIME EVENTS
Monday, June 21: Mind Over Madness in Times Square, Broadway between 46th & 47th Streets. To celebrate the solstice, there'll be free classes all day. Pre-registration is required.



Tuesday, June 22: Yoga at the Great Lawn:Doors open and performances begin at 5 pm, class 6:45-8 pm. Yeah, okay, you have to sign up for Flavorpill emails to get in, but you could use a little extra culture in your life, right? They're expecting 10,000 people, and are already calling it the world's largest yoga event, ever. Really? This I gotta see. Free mats. Pre-registration required.

Is that enough to get you started?

Thanks to Alex at Yoga City NYC for many of these tips!

A Far Rockaway of the Q53 Bus

We finally caved in this morning when the 10 am temperature had surpassed 90, and set up the air conditioner. While my broke side hates the idea of giving Con Edison another cent on top of our already exorbitant bill, my newly married side likes to think it might be cool enough in our house someday to have a sex life again. Our whirring Samsung box o' magic in the window promises to deliver. My husband is looking better and better already.


Yesterday, though, we weren't quite ready to commit to electrically-generated bliss, and set off for a Bored and Broke Outdoor Adventure...to the beach! I tend to forget how close NYC actually is to real, honest to God OCEAN. When we tell friends that our expedition took us all the way to Rockaway Park, their universal response so far has been: "Whoa. That's a haul." And yes, they're not wrong, but it was worth it.



At the tip of the Rockaway Peninsula, just south of the Jamaica Bay Wildlife Refuge (didn't know Queens had wildlife other than late night Ouzo-induced Greek dancing in Astoria, did you?), Rockaway Beach is technically part of the five boroughs, but it feels like it could be one of the less ritzy towns on Cape Cod. The beach is blessedly unglamorous - plenty of overweight ten year olds and leathery grandmas to balance out a smattering of bikini-clad teenagers posing for one another. The sand is soft, and because the beach is technically part of the NYC Parks & Rec Dept, it's not a total shithole. And Italian Ice vendors circulate constantly, much to the frustration of the many parents trying to rein in their hyperactive preteens.


We packed chopped up watermelon to help deter ourselves from buying junk food on the boardwalk - the easiest way in the world to save money is to BRING YOUR OWN FOOD. But if you're not that organized, visit the 11 day old Rockaway Taco on 96th Street and Rockaway Beach Blvd, next door to a fledgling organic produce stand that offers just-harvested carrots, small sweet potatoes, and beautiful strawberries. The menu is simple and cheap, and you can grab an iced coffee next door afterward at Jack's Coffee, which also opened at the end of May.

And as it turns out, seems as though we're not the only ones who have sun and waves on the brain this weekend. When our next Con Ed bill comes in, we're shutting off the A/C and heading back to the beach. An awesome cheap day.

To get there: Take A train to Broad Channel (one stop past JFK airport). Wait on the same platform for S shuttle train and take that two stops to 98th street. The beach is a 2 minute walk from there. Another option: we took the R train to the Q53 bus from Astoria, which is a nice ride through the Jamaica Bay marshes. (It's nice to be above ground for your transit every now and again, isn't it? Makes you feel less rodent-like.)

**Update, 6/30/10: that produce stand that I mentioned is getting some attention! It's apparently called Veggie Island, and is described in yesterday's Times.

Where it all begins: I'm broke. I bet you are too.

I'm approaching my first summer living (is this living? surviving?) in New York City on a grad student's budget, and I have to admit that this horrifically expensive city does actually offer a TON of free stuff to do. So much so, in fact, that I'm having a hard time keeping track of it all. There are lots of great resources for one-time events and freebie giveaways - more on those sites later - but I haven't yet found anywhere that compiles the many ongoing offerings - film series(es? how do you pluralize that word anyway?), literary readings, outdoor concerts, discounted/free museums. This, dear reader, is the gift I aim to give you.

Check back here when you're bored, when your rent check has just cleared, when you need something a little bit artsy and a whole lot cheap to take a date to. Posts will be tagged by category, day of the week, and neighborhood. Have a free Sunday afternoon and no cash? Come here and find something fun to do that won't compound your (already unmanageable) credit card debt.

We're all in this together. Don't be stingy with the goods - let me know if you hear of events you want to share with the world. And with that, away we go...