Open Wounds

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Cid Wymann Tour

Penn Station 11am

Dr. Digby’s English (American Literature) class of 10 from CWPost LIU was on tour with me yesterday through New York City’s Chelsea neighborhood circa 1940. We pretended and the city Obliged.

We started at Penn station at 11am and ended at the Mason’s building on 6th avenue and 23rd, around the corner from Cid’s Gotham Fencing Club at 3pm.

The Highline – The Old Rail to the Meat Packing District

On the way we visited the Highline to imagine what the waterfront looked like (crowded with boats bringing goods from all over the world to NYC and lined with factories and warehouses), what the elevated trains to the meat-packing district smelled like (like a slaughterhouse), and why this part of Chelsea was called the wild wild west (longshoremen, sailors, saloons, prostitutes, factories, and Italian/Irish/Greek immigrant rivalry). We could imagine the Irish bar where Lefty brings Cid to teach him what choreography is by getting into a fight with a giant longshoreman.

Lunch at Uncle Nicks 29th and 8th

Lunch at Uncle Nicks (Greek) was awesome.

Blade Fencing Shop on 29th ‘tween 7th and 8th

We stopped at Blade (one of the few fencing retailers left in the city) where all twelve of us crowded into the tiny retail space filled with swords – both competitive and theatrical, masks, bags, pants, sneakers, socks, and jackets. I don’t think the store has every been that crowded before. The owner just watched and smiled as I talked about the difference between foil, sabre, and épée.

The Fencers Club on 28th

The Fencers Club (where foil, sabre, and épée were all being demonstrated with great physicality) was next. The salle was packed. The manager, Jonas, was kind enough to come over and give us all some background on the sport and the club while everyone sat on the wall benches looking past him to gaze at the action on the strips. Four students left with club brochures. I overheard them making plans to come back and try the sport out. “You won’t regret it,” I said. Outside of rugby, it’s about the greatest sport/martial art ever created.

Reading the Avenue

Then we snuck into the Hotel Chelsea (it’s under renovation but we made it into the bare lobby for all of fifteen seconds before we were shooed out.

The Patisserie Macaroon on 23rd near 6th Avenue was another nice break (who can resist their 20+ savory flavors?) and a quick look at the Mason’s Building and their high tiled ceilings, marble floors, large murals, all built in 1931 and stunning. We didn’t get to look at the creepy amphitheatres (there are 12 and I’ve seen three of them) because you have to go on the building tour to see them (I just work in the building so we had access). We all imagined the Gotham Fencer’s Club around the corner where Cid meets Tomik and Edward Farthings once again.

I stopped after all had left at Madison Park, only an avenue away, to look at my favorite views, north to the Empire State Building and south to the Flatiron Building.

Where are we again?

I never tire of it.

Posted by  |  October 22, 2012 | Categories: Blog | 2 Comments

Sights, Sounds, and Smells

Fencers engaged in match

My friend and mentor Dr. Digby from CW Post LIU (my alma mater) has asked be to take her small English class to Manhattan to see the world of Cid Wymann first hand. They’re reading Open Wounds now. I’m going to talk to them about how you can make the past come alive in a historical novel.

I’m very excited about it (not the amount of work I will put into it – more than I need to probably but that’s my problem). I went to talk to The Fencer’s Club (on 28th) folks today to see what time on a Saturday October 20th, would be good to bring a dozen non-fencers to watch the goings on and maybe get a short talk about the history of the club – and… not get in the way of the fencing.

I’ll have them sit and listen to the sound of fencers going at it. I love that sound. Then there’s that smell of sweat from fencers who haven’t cleaned their uniforms in ages. Ahhh.

Then the Hotel Chelsea where Cid lives with Lefty down on 23rd. It’s under construction with a new interior renovation and new owners so we can’t go inside but at least the outside looks the same.

Then two avenues over to where I placed the fictional Gotham Fencer’s Club but where at some point prior to 1930 there was an author’s club near 28 West 24th Street.

Then down by subway – the R train – to the bloody angle (not from Gettysburg) in Chinatown on Doyers where the Rescue Society Mission used to be and where I placed an alley that leads down and deep underground to an opium den where Lefty tries to disappear from the pain of life.

Finally we’ll end up a little north at the lower east side on Grand where Siggy lived at the Amalgamated and over to Orchard where he worked selling pickles from a push-cart.

I might be a little too ambitious.

We’ll see.

I’ll let you know as I get closer.

Oh… and just ignore the fact that I’ve been away form a month and some. I’ll tell you about it later.

Posted by  |  September 28, 2012 | Categories: CW Post, Events, Fencing, Historical Fiction | 7 Comments

Zen Dad-dito Post

I’ll be posting a bit on my Zen Dad-dito blog the rest of this month and into August so take a look. Here’s the link. It’s my blog on fatherhood and all things Dad-dito.

Posted by  |  July 25, 2012 | Categories: Blog | 1 Comment

Wizard 101

It is summer.

We’re at my in-laws home in Rockaway recovering from yesterdays annual block party. My son is playing wizards 101 on his aunt’s PC. We only have Macs at home.

My son goes away to sleep-away camp in 7 days. He’ll be gone for two weeks. Can you hear my silent scream? It’s in Connecticut so only a couple of hours away. We’ve never been away from him for more than a day. Well, my wife hasn’t. I travel for work so I’ve been away, but I’ve always known he was with her. I’m having a hard time with it. I can’t imagine what it will be like when he goes to college. Thankfully he’s only 10.

Recently my wife asked my son if he wanted me to run a small writing workshop for him and two of his friends who also like to read and write. My son said no. It works that way sometimes. There are some things he doesn’t want me to teach him. He lets me read his work. That will have to be enough for now.

Sometimes, when we cross streets together and are talking (about a book he’s reading or a book he wants to write one day) we reach for each other’s hand and hold as we cross. Sometimes he doesn’t pull away and we walk that way for a block or so before our hands part ways again.

Now he’s going to sleep-away camp for two weeks. 7 days and counting.

Posted by  |  July 15, 2012 | Categories: Blog, feelings, My Son, Reading | 1 Comment

A Gunslinger Walks Into a Bar…

I’ve got a guest post up on Gotteenfiction today on facing the blank page – a feelings perspective.

Once I was conducting a training of trainers in Dallas on a Cultural Proficiency Course for court and treatment practitioners and a judge got fed up with me asking the process questions, “How did that exercise make you feel?” and “What did you notice about yourself during the exercise?” When I asked, yet again, after another experiential exercise that needed processing these same two questions, he stood up, slapped his hand onto his table, and said, “I don’t care how I feel. I don’t care how you feel. And I’m sick and tired of you asking us that question. And… I noticed that I’m getting more and more irritated when you ask.”

Now he was a judge.

And I was in Dallas.

And let’s remember, I’m a New York, non-practicing Jew.

“So,” I said. “You’ve got some feelings about that.”

Posted by  |  July 4, 2012 | Categories: Blog, feelings, Got Teen Fiction Blog | 3 Comments