malady:how food gets to you notes

in the 60's and 70's: new england summer: we'd make a night of it. drive a few towns over to a local fry shack. feast on fried clams, onion rings, my favorite curly fries...we'd make a night of it.

order at the take out window, sit at a picnnic table. eating in the comforts of nature.

the other day i rode my bike through union square park. a young boy, uban clothes: layers of baggy t shirts and drooping pants. he was leaning against an official looking small, white car. green uniformed parks police were around him. 3 men, all over 30. he was handcuffed. he could have been 10 , he was small and scRAWNY, THEN AGAIN HE COULD HAVE BEEN 12 -14 EVEN 16.....THAT was his strong point, maybe that he could pass for a kid but do a young mans job.

what had he done?

a small crowd had gathered around him. were they the victims, or his teammembers? or just curious onlookers.?

we love a spectacle ,...looking on at others misfortunes, misadventures. we love a fight. th eother daY A TRUCK HI A TAXI ON SECOND AVENUE. THE MEN SPILLED OUT onto the street, ther vehicles blocking traffic midlane, harsh loud words a swing bravado bragga doccio like a great itlaian opera. ther emust be screaming, wheels skidding, lots of loud noise...

but this boy just stood there

the park \police gingerly trie dot search his pockets, look through his layrs of clothing
it was difficult and awkard for them, their hands were too big to fit into the boy sized openings

his drooping loose-ee pants

what had he done/ where did we go wrong that he was here??

________

i'l gingritch goo dyear, my friends call me woody. if something bad happens, dont's say "why"?
say where do we go from here!!??
that's the sermon for today,now mam's gonna say her line

mama:now it's time to pass the collection basket.don't be afraid to be generous. it's 4th of july weekend and i want to buy a new car.__
__________

what did you like to do at age 8? 12? 16?
chances are you're not that different now


YOUNG BOY arrested by park police. i don't need to know anymore. i wanted to stare there, gawking at the spectacle.
what did he do? where did we go wrong?
boy's name , couldbe....."MALADY".
)(on projectionscreen , 2 lesbians)

that poor boy, malady.
he was handcuffed, the park police were searching through th epockets of his droopee loose-ee pants

urban casualty
how old is he?
what did you like to do at age 8? 12? 16?

malady is a scrawny, funny looking boy
he was leaning up against a white car, with 3 green cops around him.

outrage
curiousity
spectacle
entertainment
wow!what had happened?
i saw handcuffs on the boy
the small crowd seemed to know, they also had an urban sensibility
were they his friends? his handlers?
his betrayers?

MALADY!!!!!!!!

his pockets were so deep, he had on 2 or 3 layers of clothing,
had he stolen clothing?
the parks police were being carefulas they searched his pockets, through several layers of baggy t shirts
careful not to humiliate him
they just oculdn't get their man hands into that boy's boy sized pockets

____________
what had he done , to get arrested by the parks police??

SET THE GRASS ON FIRE??

_______________

you cant' win when it comes to food. the ny times criticized the long island fishmonger. if he winced at paying for locally caught fish tha thad been trawled, how could he ever ante up the cash for line caught fish?? people really don't want to know where their food comes from, or how it gets to them. like fiji water- so pure, ancient aquifiers...we could discuss the merits of local, organic , line caught, hand fed , breast fed....

but most kids are running around eating corn syrup, corn fed

-----_____________

when iwas a young, malady age

if i were in a store, boys clothing, or boys model soldeir shop, i would stare at soemthng, not talk to anyone, with th ehope aND BELIEF THat someone would walk up to me and give me what i wnated for free

no one ever did

now i'v elearned to ask

they jus tsay no

this mute, staring boy

stare and pray hard enough and you will get what you want

i was brought up that way, you know. malady probably was too. a nice catholic boy
just stare and pray and you'll get what you want

it still holds me back to this day
________________
film: while wenarrate the arrest of malady, we shoudl project a short video of a little kid getting arrested
maybe a 4 yea rold oboy dressed like a teeneager for emphasis

_____
now the itlalain lesbian scene

should we translate?

molto bene
amiche lesbiche di brooklyn
caio bello

very well. our lesbain friends froim brooklyn will be with us tongiht. good bye love.

can i see the lesbiche di brooklyn's tito's??
non lo so
non lo so
ma
farse si!

no way
noway, will they say yes

italian is sexy
no need to translate
i will imagine

va bene
questo e il migliore
modo in cui
fare cose a presto un bacio

????

let's make this into a dance. i will read the lines, you dance

yikes, i was joking. mi dispiace
la prossima volta forse.

________________________

young traveler from mexico.
he found a guitar, learned to play one song. tries to earn food money ro soemthing. this mexican guy, he came onto the subeay car. i know he copuld only play one song becasue i sued to do that too when i was younger and travelkng, hungry
i was new to a city ourt of money in munich i bought a guitar..how did i buy it??
i lkearnd 1 song
"a"universal soldier"
the mexican played his one song, not really a singers voice but he tried. he plcuked a few strings. he wasn;t bad at all jus tnopt a practiced musican. after the one song he waited, he car pulle dup tpo a stop, he moved tpo the next car and as the i walked away i saw him start over the same routine the same soong

beautiful
real life
proud yet stupid tobe working for himself

________________
appropriate subjects for dinner conversation

how many miles hve you logged this week (running)
discussion about the poresident
fvorite movies/recent movies you'v eseen

not appropriate
family questions 9maybe someone died and you didn';t know)
favorite books (most peple dont read books or if they do you will argue about it)
matters of finace ( most people are terrified that people will know their true fiances)
anything that might requirea group decision (like what kind of wine to buy)



I'm sure you'd all like to hear my stroy, of how i've been wokring at starbucks, 20 hours a week, so my family can get ehalth insurance. but that's not my story. it's one reason i liv ein nyc......