Tall Ginger in New York

I'm in New York for four days, motivated by our book party tomorrow night.  I lived here for many years, until family obligations took me back to California.  You know, you can live without something and not know how much you miss it until you get it back and then have it taken away again.  That's the way being in New York is for me.

Haven't done too much Gingerish so far.  Oh, yeah.  I've walked around.  Gingers are in the minority here so I've turned heads.  I take the turning as a compliment.  When I do see other Gingers I want to reach out to them with my arms wide open and yell, "Compadre!"  I don't of course.  There are enough crazy people on the streets of New York already.  But it is visual how few G-people there are in New York compared to SF--and I am staying in the East 50s where there are multiple Irish pubs.  Whole blocks of bartenders who know how to pour a Guinness but not a lot of redheads walking around.

There has been one other exceptional experience.  I had breakfast with my friends Greg Newton and Donnie Jochum in Soho at Brown Cafe and the place was full of Gingers.  For starters, all three of us were/are Gingers and our peeps kept pouring into the place.  I am going to suggest they change the name to Rouge.

Greg and Donnie have opened the new Queer bookstore in Manhattan, BGSQD, 27 Orchard (between Canal and Hester) in Soho.  Right now it's a pop-up for two months but, with a little help from their friends, they want to rent space nearby.  I will let you know when I get info on their venture capital campaign.  There are so few Queer bookstores any more, they deserve our support.  Plus, they want to do more than be a bookstore.  They want to be a Queer hangout, a safe place for Queer kids, Queers with kids of their own, and the unattached.  What better way to hook up than over good books?  Cool tshirts too.  Back in SF I'll take a pic of myself so you can see.  Preview: it's orange, which btw is a Ginger color.

Good news!: BGSQD will stock Ginger Snaps: Photos & Stories.  Rush on down and buy a copy!

Here's a bit of nonGinger good news too.  I have another book partner.  Michael Broderick, an excellent Gay line artist, has agreed to collaborate: his drawings and the stories they tell me.  EXCITED!!  Of course now I have three book projects and a new blog to start in January but, dudes and dudettes I am up for it all and you know I will make sure there are some Gingers in my stories.  Check out Michael's work on www.hottlead.com.  His current book is G Is for Groundskeeper, an alphabet book like you've never seen before.

Tuesday, I'll be back in SF and will let you know how our Nueva York book party went.  I bought the prizes for the game.  Next: think of the game.

Check out our Ginger stuff:
   Preview our book at http://www.blurb.com/bookstore/detail/3577527
   Buy your ginger or gingerphile tshirt at http://gingergingerphiletee.logosoftwear.com

New York, New York!

My eyes have been staring at The Weather Channel, CNN, and online as much as possible the last couple of days, watching the heart wrenching reports of Hurricane/Super Storm Sandy.  David is from New York and I lived there for many years.  It's a relief to know our family and friends are ok but impossible to fathom the destruction and disruption in Jersey and the city, across Long Island, and everywhere else in the Northeast.  What does ok mean anyway?  They're alive; their homes are intact.  But can you get from home to work?  Does the lightbulb work?  Can you drink the water?

The mind tries to make massive tragedy specific to understand it.  Flooded subways?  I thought of the RR and the D trains I used to take.  Can't get there by subway?  I thought of the days Brooklynites walked together back and forth or hitched rides with strangers (sorry, Mom) over the Brooklyn Bridge after a blizzard or subway strike.  East Village under water?  I thought of the good meals on 6th Street and good times in bars and bedrooms, of still feeling brave wandering around Alphabet City.

Of course humans are resilient--New Yorkers may be the most--but saying so minimizes the mess you have to deal with.  We shouldn't ignore tragedy, any more than we should wallow in it.  Lives are gone; lives are disrupted.  Let's think about that and honor them, grieve with them or their survivors.  Let's also take time to ask and say what lessons have been learned here.

Anyway, I'm off the podium now.  No more lecture.

David and I did do our teeny bit to soldier on.  We sat down and made plans for the Ginger Choo Choo stop in Manhattan Nov. 19.  More than the book though, I just have to see the great city and my friends.      It's been a while.  It's been too long.

New York, baby!