Tag: Queens

Neighborhoods, Part 2

Continued from Neighborhoods Other girls lived nearby but were not eligible to join our group. Tribal affiliation was accounted block by block. You belonged to the group of kids whose block you shared. Woe to he or she who lived on a block without other children of the same age and sex. The isolation would … Continue reading Neighborhoods, Part 2

Neighborhoods

The following is an excerpt of The 12-Foot Teepee by Marilyn Armstrong: People are surprised when I tell them that this town, with its oak woods, huge plots of land, picket fences, and farms, reminds me of the neighborhood in which I grew up. I was raised in the middle of Queens, one of five … Continue reading Neighborhoods

Woodcleft Canal

Freeport, Long Island. It's in Nassau County, the closest county on Long Island to New York City. I grew up in the city ... in Queens, which is a borough of New York. Each of New York's boroughs has its own character and, in many ways, is a city in its own right. Certainly, people … Continue reading Woodcleft Canal

A GLACIAL QUARTER

Someone suggested I dig through the couch cushions, my purse or the floor of my car and find a coin.  See what year is engraved on it. Then, try to recollect what I was doing that year and write about it. The idea intrigued me and I took up the challenge. My desk yielded nothing useful. … Continue reading A GLACIAL QUARTER

WAITING TO GO HOME

I moved to New England 35 years ago. I don't want to sound like a cliché, but it feels as if it was no more than few months ago. On some level, I think like a transplanted New Yorker. Yet I've lived up here longer than I lived in New York. I've live here more … Continue reading WAITING TO GO HOME

School days: Boredom and Fear in Equal Measure

Childhood is a challenge. We romanticize childhood as a time of innocence and play, but childhood isn't necessarily easy. Many of us struggled. We had problems at home we couldn't or wouldn't talk about, social issues grownups dismissed, and lived with bullying tantamount to torture. Even today, with the attention these issues get in the press, … Continue reading School days: Boredom and Fear in Equal Measure

A Palace in Queens: Loew’s Valencia

Growing up, my favorite theater was the Valencia in Jamaica. No mere movie theater, it was an experience, a Hollywood production its own right. Here with my brother Matthew, I first experienced the glorious, magical world of movies. It wasn't my first trip to the movies, but it was my first trip to a real movie … Continue reading A Palace in Queens: Loew’s Valencia

Too much of a good thing? Richelle Mead’s Storm Born

Eugenie Markham -- AKA Odile Dark Swan -- fights creatures from the Otherworld for a living. She a shaman and she's at the top of her game. It's one Hell of a game she plays. Even so, she find it slightly disturbing to discover her name has become public knowledge in the Otherworld. Her true name, … Continue reading Too much of a good thing? Richelle Mead’s Storm Born

Neighborhoods, Part 2

Continued from Neighborhoods Other girls lived nearby but were not eligible to join our group. Tribal affiliation was accounted block by block. You belonged to the group of kids whose block you shared. Woe to he or she who lived on a block without other children of the same age and sex. The isolation would … Continue reading Neighborhoods, Part 2

Neighborhoods

People are surprised when I tell them that this town with its oak woods, huge plots of land, picket fences and farms reminds me of the neighborhood in which I grew up. I was raised in the middle of Queens, one of five boroughs that make up the city of New York. My neighborhood was … Continue reading Neighborhoods