unleash your (New Yorker) Florida Side!

[Queue infinite number of "discovering New York" songs!]

Hello and welcome to New York. How fun! you all get to travel with me as I move so many places. But you don’t even have to bother trying to find a dresser or packing a box!! That must be exciting.

One of the first things I saw when I arrived (lugging through the subway with so many bags… sometimes I really have to remember what my wise friend Eliza said, “BusinessLadies take Cabs”) was a whole slew of Fabulous Florida advertisements.

I’ve seen so many advertisements on the subway for Florida, it’s very silly and I’ve been trying to anthropologically dissect them. There’s this Unleashed, Free, Fabulous, Totally Gorgeous Fleet of Floridians (I think that would be a good collective noun for Floridians) that exist in the minds of cold, cranky, tired-of-winter New Yorkers. I’m just going to go with that, and let them assume that under my giant sleeping-bag mushroom-cloud of a winter coat I am that Fabulous Floridian of their dreams. (which I am, obviously)

Crazy to think I’ve been here almost a month (since march 1!) but I’m really loving it. I love so much going on, so many cool things and people and places and being a grown up lady, commuting to work with my coffee (ok, tea), discovering my new neighborhood, making new friends, pretending to understand the train system, going to fancy art openings, organizing the pantry, going grocery shopping (vaguely becoming an obsession? still figuring out how to shop for one person. And how these two items got shelved in the same asile:

),

solving toilet overflow crisis, and worrying about money and My Future.

There’s so much going on I had to start limiting myself because I was going crazy trying to do everything. This last week I was a crusty old lady New Yorker: there’s at least 3 awesome things (great art show openings, folksy intimate concerts, a great happy hour deal, a friend visiting in town, just the boring old Central Park for that matter) going on but they’re “too far away” (a 15 minute train ride to Manhattan — or worse a complicated transfer / longer train ride to Williamsburg (life as a hipster is so hard when your bike is still in 4 parts)) but I chose to stay home and make phone calls and cook chili and organize the bathroom. It’s been a strange transition. I feel like I just hit this point where it was no longer ok to just keep running, living out of a suitcase and rushing rushing everywhere to try and do everything, which I usually push myself to do. So things are slowly getting in order, slowly making sense.

Being at Creative Time is wonderful! Its got this supercharged energy buzzing around that reminds me so much of Elsewhere, except I’m in a clean white office with lots of computers and everyone wearing high-heels and there’s “Hollywood Cookie Diet Cookies – Diet of the Stars” (a joke-present I believe? they just taste like bad spongy cookies) in the office kitchen (instead of a full fridge of $300 groceries/week). The similar energy is the intense energy around producing a project and a vision and a piece that when I step outside of it, sometimes seems a bit silly maybe. Silly is not the right word. Its like, when I was an office Admin, it was ok and normal to be crazy and frantic and rushing to finish a really important powerpoint presentation, getting the graphic arrows just right and making sure the text had no typos and that it got to the right person at the right time. Now there’s the similar energy and intensity but it’s around producing a huge month-long community based project where one of our artists is interviewing and collaborating with all different spiritual leaders in the Lower East Side neighborhood. I love that intensity and importance — it’s being in an environment where art makes a difference and is valued and that value is known and assumed. It’s ok to be spending the same energy as someone would on “business” on a crazy project that is going to provide a whole new way of looking at that issue for viewers and the participants.

Its amazing how I can be so happy and feel so good about this step (working with great people, surrounded by incredible artists and friends that “get it”, in a beautiful place) but I can also feel crazy and stupid and insane (“how is this ever going to work? I’ll never make it, I was crazy for moving here without a solid plan”). I think I just have to keep moving and making things happen instead of listening to all those thoughts.

Here is a glimpse into my semi-settled in life:

here’s my florida key-chain pride:

my wall of support & little art:

 

my Fabulous F train arriving to take me home!!!:

Oh whoops I guess that was me hoping it was my train.

I’m almost at a point where I can set up a sewing area and start sewing and making… the Year of the Sexy Romper (or Anytime Romper – Sleeping Romper, Gym-Romper, Office-Romper, Night-On-The-Town Romper, GNO-Romper…) continues soon I promise…

Some New York highlights!!

• friends! so many lovely friends all around. and they just keep coming/visiting too!!! crazy.

Joe leading an epic journey across Brooklyn carting a shelf & table on his bike-mule

hanging out with lily-bean all the time all around town!!

And even the friends I don’t get to see in person, I keep seeing in all the signs around me too!!

• packing myself super-cute lunch/dinners (they didn’t fit inside the FACE (Florida Association of Code Enforcement Lunchbox though….)not pictured: sweet potato chili with quinoa and salsa! and (separately) homemade pancakes with strawberries and bananas, made by ms. Amber Phelps-Bonderoff and eaten in good company with roommate Lindsay and Joe.

• going AWESOME goodwill/flea market shopping with Lily! We’ve gone about every Saturday under the pretense of “getting stuff to set up my apartment” but we’ll look at the shelves and lame dishracks, and then just go to the clothes. A.) she is an ACE thrift store shopper and always good luck, and B.) so many great spots to shop! Some highlights:

BRKLYN CYCLONES (electric yellow) t-shirt! I mean, I am a proud Brooklynite now.

BARBIE RUNS FOR PRESIDENT (The Jacket):

So you see this coat from afar, it’s kinda cute, maybe “funky”, nicely cut and with an overall air of “business”. You come up a bit closer. What’s that written on the buttons? slightly rose-colored? just a bit different from the white of the rest of the coat? Oh yes. That is the Barbie logo.

This is a Barbie Jacket. This is the jacket that Barbie wears when she is running for Cute President.  I LOVE IT.

• A NYC favorite past time: staring intensely at cuties in the subway. Making up instant romance stories where we lock eyes once in the subway and fall hopelessly in love and start a cafe/art/community space together and live happily ever after just because I stared at them once and caught their attention.

• it snowed yesterday! I’m not quite as sick of winter as everyone else seems to be (guess I was too busy hanging out at the beach in January?), so that was exciting.

So that’s where I’m at! Figuring out what works. I’m gonna not be quite such a crusty old lady new yorker this week.

LOVE
ALIYA

p.s. my brother loves me:

goin travellin

hello!
aliya here again, with an update as i head west, again.
(I’m like Travel Career Barbie! with all her accesories and outfits fitting into her cute carry-on suitcase!)

this time its for another residency at the West Coast Bonar Family Satellite Residency Program. Special occasion: Bubbie and Zaydie’s 60th anniversary!!! wow!! In honor of this special event, my whole (dad’s side) family is getting together – all families, cousins, great uncles, partners, everyone. Those who were not there before, are now coming. Those who did not want to see each other are now willing to be together.

I am so excited to honor and celebrate what my grandparents have created and made possible that has us all being such great people contributing so much to our worlds!

AND NOW, the (illustrated) ALIYA TRAVEL CHRONICLES!

ft. lauderdale airport! look how FLORIDIAN this architecture is! This is part of my investigation into “Florida Architecture” — I know it when I see it, but I’m trying to figure out why. I think this shows how big everything built is in FL (many public buildings/highways I mean); the land is very open and flat so we build things big? Also, we like to drive around in airconditioned big cars? and there aren’t old little streets in the way that we have to build around, so why not make gigantic 6 lane highways? Also note, palm trees. obvi.

parking lot at work: is this a hint? whatevs– obvi i do my own detailing!! (also, sadly note how
COMPLETELY FADED! the lightning bolts/stripes have become in just 6 months! ridiculous.)

THE BEST DRESS EVER! but not in my size. or price range. at the vintage shop downtown! it’s like the cupcake dress, but upside-down and RED!!! next step: make my own.Taking care of the house before we leave: watering all the plants. I forgot how amazing our backyard smells. Kinda humid (yes it has a smell), kinda almost-rotting-fruit, and then lots of fresh leaves smell. Living in a tropical wonderland is really kinda amazing.
Most amazing, is our mango trees which are blooming now!! Starfruit in the winter, mangoes in the summer!! and in about a month… the pineapples will be ready! yes. really. (come visit)

delish! definitely not transporting these tropical fruits across state lines.

packing: usually my worst enemy. BUT i’m actually getting pretty good at it! I packed with only one slightly pathetic meltdown about what is appropriate shabbat wear. ended up only packing 1 last minute thrown in extra just-in-case outfit.
And look who’s moving west!! I realized too late that OF COURSE i shoulda brought TWO animals for an ANNIVERSARY GIFT, but oh well. i’ll have to send her partner in the mail after I get home.

A LIST: for plane and pre-departure things to remember and do and call.  (you know you were anxiously waiting to see it)

AND THIS IS MY FAVORITE PART OF FLYING OUT OF FLORIDA!! seeing my home state so brilliantly laid out in front of me!! no where else do you have the water and the coast as such a great reference tool!

I THINK THIS IS WHERE I LIVE.

LOOK AT THESE FREAKING CLOUDS (yes — that is the cloud’s shadow over the water)! beautiful.

the everglades are also my favorite part. i mean, i guess this isn’t my favorite part really, but it’s really interesting/weird/gross. I like the apparent control over nature — how we just drew a line and bam, people on this side, everglades on the other. heh heh heh, says nature. Just wait for some hurricanes.

OK, well, when I get to publish this I will be on my way to my cousins house for Shabbat! and then sam’s gonna join us later! I’m so excited to see them and hang out and do some jewish learning and but most excited for family time. in the past i’ve always gotten a little weird about being the only girl and feeling like I don’t know how to do it right or I don’t know all the rules or maybe I’m wearing the wrong thing. but! I’m just going to have fun and be a self assured young woman who knows exactly what to do and say –with some great things to contribute! Also probably upcoming: lots of questions about what I’m doing and do I have a job yet! yep! super fun!

have a good saturday!

key west-ward

[note: this blog post was written and published on January 14, 2010 as part of a now-retired half-heartedly-started blog. All Bonar Family Residency Updates will come from this source from now on.]

hello friends

well, here i sit, about 5 posts behind from where my mental blogging has been, but oh well.

if you want to imagine what those past posts are, or maybe i will get to them in the future (no promises) they were titled something like this:

1. “And then there were 14”
2. “South Florida is the Best Florida.”
3. “Miami Vice: Art Basel is weird”
4. “Western Massachusetts is the Best Massachusetts.”
5. “Lightning Fast: The Bonar Family Residency’s first visiting artist”
6. “twenty-ten: awesome”
7. “We Ate a Lot of Pancakes”
8. “Arctic Pet Shop: They’re ALIVE!!”

I guess I’m 8 posts behind. anyways. Weren’t those great updates?

Now I’m here! Welcome friends, to January 14, 2010. What a great day!

Where am I? In Key West, of course the end of Route 1, and a mere 90 miles from Cuba (julie!! come visit me and we’ll build a boat to sail to cuba!). I’m in the Business Lounge of the Courtyard Marriott Waterfront!!! I am really falling in love with this business lounge. Sorry, it’s the Business Library (but, shhhh, the only books here are Nora Roberts, Island of the Blue Dolphins, and To Die For by Linda Howard.)

I’m volunteering this week at Sculpture Key West, a public art (set in a tropical paradise) project that my former-supervisor and mentor and friend, Julia Handschuh recommended I get involved with, especially since I’m already in Florida (it’s in the same state so it’s nearby, right?). So I called up the coordinator, Vera, and told her I was up for assisting. She got back to me with a job: manning the Info Booth. I thought, ok, so i’ll take it on for real, like, “Info Booth” as art piece — over the top, flags, information about all kinds of things, really, lots of information. She thought that was kinda interesting. So anyways, I’m here as a general volunteer. Actually, my nametag says “Administrative Assistant”. Not quite what I was looking for, but it sounds really official so I’ll take it. And, I love nametags. So official.

We got here yesterday (wednesday). I picked up Julia and her partner Andrew in Miami and we drove forever down to the farthest southern point of the US. I can’t say I’ve been a huge fan of the keys during my span as a Florida Resident. I kinda avoid them. But they are incredibly beautiful. the water is so blue, it’s unreal. and I do love the extremely floridian trees and birds and architecture and residents. I think after moving away and then coming back I’m more attune to the parts of my floridian life that are really (really) Floridian, and what that even means***.

We got here… and then Vera told me to relax and we’d start tomorrow. Ok. Awesome. We checked into our room (free hotel room! awesome!) and settled in. The hotel has a free shuttle service into town every half hour, and a bowl of mints, a Business Lounge (with internetz!) and a coffee/tea/hot chocolate table. I especially like their concierge booth. It has a sign that in big letters says,

Concierge (in big letters)

services

available

9am-5pm

… usually (in big letters)

so from far away it looks like “Concierge… usually”. “We care…. but not that much.”

Ok ok. so anyways. we settled into room 107. I don’t want to complain, because it’s a free room, but we got the “reduced rate room”. Just out of curiosity, we asked if we could switch rooms. The ladies at teh front desk sorta muttered to each other, “It’s room 107 — they want to switch from room 107.” “Oh, 107?” “yeah, 107.” “Oh.”

So I guess we’re in a haunted room. I mean, a reduced rate room. whatever, it’s awesome. It’s too bad we don’t get a prime view of the Tiki hut (on the way down, we discussed what exactly a “tiki hut” is: turns out it’s the thatched roof. Any more info y’all got, lay it down in the comments.), but we got a place to sleep and a shower and a microwave!!

Last night I decided to do some business work in the Business Lounge…. sewing stuffed animals. I trucked my sewing machine into the lobby and set up shop, sewing 9 (nine!) stuffed animals on the little coffee tables near the big tv. I only had one person stop and ask me what the heck I was doing. She told me how her daughter – well, now she’s 23 years old and way beyond this stuff, but — used to make stuffed animals with her back when she was little. so funny! aren’t kids weird! yep. ok. anyways. 9 stuffed animals! and I know that i’m doing something right because each time i finish one, even though they’re all the same model and pattern, each time i finish one i think, “oh!!! it’s so cute!!!” they’re just so cute! really.

I need to come up with a good species name for these animals. thoughts? please. let me know. they look like horses/bison/three-legged things/zebras/dogs/polar bears/ant-eaters/fun-lovin-machines? All i know is that, as a group, they are a HERD. or maybe, a HEARD. (as in, they are heard and listened to?)

***

this morning, I get up, ready to tackle the whole freakin island. I walk to the Business Lounge in my Business Pajamas and do some Business while watching the news about Haiti (can’t comprehend it all. weird to be here doing my thing while whole worlds are collapsing/changing/forcing their way into new worlds). I called Vera… and she said to give her another day! she’s not ready for me!! Ok, here is a classic example of people not knowing what to do with volunteers. a classic situation really (I can say this as a seasoned veteran, knowledgeable in the realm of “having other people do your work for you”). But frustrating! I mean, Vera is clearly stressed out and has a lot on her plate, and she thinks its easier to just do it all herself rather than have me do something!!

I was a bit bummed, I mean, I took half the week off to be here and volunteer, and she was saying that I should just hang out? I’m ok with hanging out, but to an extent. I don’t vacation easily really. Especially when I thought I’d be working.

Breath in: why am I here? to make connections. to be a working artist. to volunteer, to be of service to a project to others’ visions and meet people. to have a fun vay-cay! while making art!

I took a trip to the lovely exercise room, showered, made a peanut butter jelly rice-cake (sally cake) and then a tuna fish tortilla wrap. but, shoot! how the heck do i transport a kinda sloppy tunafish wrap?? no baggies, saran wrap…..um„ ok i’ll just transport it in my belly. it was like 2 people were there, the me that knows i have a tiny belly and can’t really eat 2 sandwiches in one meal, and the me that didn’t know how else to handle the sandwich that surely would be soggy and gross later. I ate the damn sandwich. And then felt lame. of course. I hate tunafish. oh well.

And off to downtown! walked around forever. I went to the fort (where julia’s art piece is), to the cafe where we went with my family back like 3 years ago, to the giant banyan tree, to the main street with so many chain stores, to the million different locations of the “Key Lime Pie Factory” — like 1 per block it seemed. I went to the historic fort, where most of the art pieces are located, and walked around a lot. I saw this family scene: a brother (maybe aged 12? 13?) video taping his sister (aged 8? 9?) who was speaking in another language (french? or some kind of japanese? or a mixture? does that exist?) about the fort. she was the most un-animated narrator in an extremely boring documentary about this fort ever. but it was also hilarious because she was maybe 9. anyways. it was a beautiful fort. it felt very romantic. for me and myself. i am very good romantic company for myself.

I sorta half heartedly tried to assist other artists setting up for the sculpture key west project. but i didn’t know where they were and kinda just wanted to walk around. I sat on the rocky/coral beach, and combed through their shells/rocks. I love how the shells are SO SO SO different from the ones in Delray Beach, even though we’re really not that far away!

went to the Discovery Center of the Florida Keys. it was beautiful. I loved the light-up map of the keys, with different lights to signal the light houses, the ship wrecks, the diving areas, the historic sites of where indigenous people used to live, the patterns that the water flows in, the lights to mark each of the 42 bridges that connect all the keys together in one long highway.

I thought of a motto for myself, my life, my future job: “Looks like y’all could use some community up in here.” or “This could probably use some more community.”

walked back to the hotel shuttle pick up point.

In the shuttle, we listened to “98.7 Conch Country” which I wondered if the Marriott mandated the shuttle driver to play exclusively, as it’s been on every ride I’ve taken on the shuttle, and it’s so terrible I can’t imagine anyone listening to it voluntarily. I started writing down some of the lyrics of the, what I would describe as “pop country”, music. (For some reason, the only two kinds of stations you can find here are country and salsa. the salsa makes sense, but the country… it makes it seem more like gainsville than miami…)

here’s a sampling of the classy music: “I wanna kiss a girl, I wanna hold her tight, and maybe make a little magic in the moonlight. Don’t wanna take it too fast, just take it slow, but it shouldn’t be this lonely in this big ole world.”

went back to the hotel. fixed the sewing machine even though it was tired from sewing so much and never getting a tune up. resolved that i must meet an old man who knows how to fix sewing machines and will show me how to lubricate and keep good ole Elna happy. sewed 2 more animals. (I’m now known by the hotel staff as “the sewing lady”… sewing at 11pm in the hotel lobby on a wednesday night…)

then off to an artist potluck! I was so excited. Finally! I’ll get to meet some other people! I’m loving my vay-cay, but if Julia and Andrew weren’t here, it’d be mighty lonely in this weird hotel room/weird island by myself. So it was so fun! I love potlucks. It was so awkward too! I embraced it. “Hello! My name is Aliya, and I’m a volunteer here this weekend. I don’t know what I’m doing. I’m from florida.” it was great! met so many cool people. Jennifer is a collaborative artist! we exchanged business cards (yes, i have a business card. i am a business woman.) I ate delish food and finally met Vera! she told me she still didn’t have work… and i said, look, i think you do. you obviously are really stressed out, let me do something! so, suddenly, my day tomorrow went from “take it easy! enjoy Key West!” to a very full schedule! Including, driving this lady with circle sunglasses (worn at night, inside) and white long hair and cheetah print leggings and black cowboy boots to a “chachkie store”, and then driving to Marathon Key to pick up the programs, and then making a Sculpture Key West facebook page!! yes, of course i’m totally useful and important.

Andrew, Julia’s partner, who’s obviously been to a lof of these “artist gatherings” came up to me at one point and said, “so, have you had enough of the artists yet?” and I said, “Oh no, this is really fun! they’re great to talk to!” and then he went straight into reinacting some of the conversations he’s heard at these kinds of things: “So really, my piece is about every person, every individual, and how we’re all a part of the whole. Really, it’s all about our connectedness, and how each one of us is a tiny grain of the larger mass of the world. So, my art piece is the sand: the whole beach is my art piece.” He was spot on. it was exactly how the conversations were at this event!! AND… I love it. No hating here.

met some other younger people! one of the artists got a grant from his school to bring 2 of his students down with him! they were fun. and they’re staying in our hotel! pool party!!!

SO. that’s where we’re at, everyone. In Key West, preparing and counting down 7 more days until I do a complete U-Turn and fly up to Minnesota to freeze my ass off! wow. so exciting.

i’ve missed you all, my blogging readers! if you still exist!! keep checking up on me! I have some things to say, even if they’re not that interesting.

um, GOODNIGHT! leave some comments. let me know you exist.

LOVE,

aliya

***((ATTENTION:: anyone who has recommendations of books or novels or other things set in Florida, specifically southern Florida, please tell me about them! I’m really interested in this southern florida culture, something I can instantly recognize and identify with to a point, but have not yet taken the time to really understand or pin point what makes one thing floridian or not.))