Emily's May Inspiration "There Goes The Hood"

It was more than a restaurant, it was a symbol. And in the past decade, the last man standing in a sea of homogeny brought on by outsiders visiting the East Village on the weekends; dabbling in the hip, artistic, and edgy. Fact is MAMA'S was the neighborhood. At ten dollars a plate with a choice of meat and three sides, MAMA's was the spot you went for down home comfort. Nestled on 3rd St btw A & B, I walked past this soul food spot daily back in the nineties, sometimes stopping in just for a side of mash potatoes when the city got rough. They had the best veggies too, and if you didn't want meat you could get an extra side with their mac and cheese rivaling no other.

I encourage my yoga students to embrace change, to accept the only constant in our lives is just that. But as my old street in Alphabet City morphs into more and more sameness - that chain store, homogenized look that plagues our country - I have to cry out, 'Why this hood!?' Why the spot where artists flocked to so they could be different and accepted? With the fortune tellers, druggies, and performance artists singing their tunes, graffiti walls and dive bars that embrace all kinds... Why must the demographic who desires sameness, who feels more comfortable in an OLIVE GARDEN than an authentic Italian dive invade the one place on the planet where we screwed the Man?

Those who infest the East Village on the weekends are in no way supporting the community and those who inhabit it. They leave and go back to their commutes and cubicles, and tell stories about how they had a 'crazy' weekend in the village. We lived there, many old-schoolers still do. It's our home, and place's like MAMA'S, or the old KING'S PHARMACY replaced by a DUANE READE were our pride, our joy and choice to remain original, authentic to ourselves. Most moved to the East Village against their society's wishes. To a far away land where parentals did not understand paying a thousand dollars a month for a shoebox apartment on Ave C, but we did and sacrificed to be there. The natives know the secret to Alphabet City is its character, its funkiness, and constant groove we so adore. With the closing of MAMA'S, I dare say...there goes the hood.

PEACE,

Archived Inspirations

on Seasons

THE LONG GOODBYE

I'm not sure when I first heard of an Indian summer…perhaps it was my days spent in the Midwest, when the humidity would hang on so long that Daddy would let us take the boat all the way to Chauders Dock past Labor Day; or my days in New York where even that particular September morning was so reminiscent of the summer that just passed.

I have declared this summer an Indian one; which means for me that summer doesn't officially end until September 8th, the night me and my new favorite Taurus see my all-time favorite band The Black Crowes live at the smallest outdoor venue in Santa Fe! And still I feel the shift; the subtle awareness that everything's about to change. Fall comes, schedules begin…people lose touch. But it's what makes an Indian summer so bittersweet, the very long good-bye.

I recently waded in the waters of Lake Michigan, watched the moon rise over it from my best friend's new high rise view. As I watched the light reflect off the water I could already feel this change in the air, this letting go of summer and making way for fall. I returned to Santa Fe to discover the nights got colder while I was away, soon the logs will go on the fire and we'll huddle around for conversation.

Change is difficult sometimes, we are such creatures of habit. It's so easy to hang on to what we know, the patterns we've developed. But the very best thing for us is to embrace what is, to open our arms to what is right in front of us. It is a bittersweet goodbye...'Goodbye' to late nights in tank tops and leisurely mornings with nothing planned. 'Goodbye' to days spent poolside and summer heat lightening to entertain. 'Goodbye' to meandering talks of spaceships and afternoon storms…

Fall means business; years of school schedules and new dorm room assignments have taught us that. So I shall begin to wave goodbye…ever so slowly to an amazing summer, and a welcomed productive fall.

May you do the same,

Enjoy,