As the New Years festivities subsided, and the long, cold month set in, a gallant plan was formulating. And although it seems as if winter has already slapped us by declaring our semester start with a blizzard, we can still win. Behold, a brief guide to pleasures that will keep you going through the rest of this cruel month.
BECOME A GOOD GUY
The Kennedy Park Study Center is a place where frolic meets fundamentals, as local students gather after school gets out to get homework help and hang. From 3:30 to 7:30 the Study Center is full of elementary to high school-aged students who just want help taking bio notes or want to show you their latest watercolor. Contact young coordinator Elliot Long to pick a day, and go. [email protected] You will not find a more outgoing group of students.
If youth are not your cup of tea, find a volunteer opportunity that fits your interests in your town. Type in your zip code and a keyword that has to do with your curiosity or concern. In Gorham, for example, there’s a home full of elderly bingo-lovers, who just need a “bingo caller” every so often. “B-11!” You can choose a one-time-only gig, or a more long term service. http://www.volunteersolutions.org/me/volunteer/
MUSIC MADE IN BROOKLYN
It’s purely coincidence that these two sounds were born in the same place, but Brooklyn, as a pit of arts and culture, is no surprise.
RATATAT will serve you and your dance parties well. It’s going to be a warmer January when you can unleash the beats on your unsuspecting guests: their music can be likened to a mixtape of playful rap songs infused with a dance ‘aura.’ Preview at myspace.com/ratatatmusic, where a link to their website allows you to download their new mix-tape for free.
FLYING is a Brooklyn-based trio specializing in the creation of a sound that floats along in a somber melancholic current broken by quirky instrumentals. Their second album, Faces of the Night, is dreamy at the least, but wrought with electronic sounds to prevent drifting too far into the heavens, adding some toughness. Nice for coming inside from wintry wonderlands to apartments and dorm rooms and winding down with. flyingflyingflying.com
BOOKS TO TRAVEL THROUGH
The surefire way to get through a cold few weeks like the ones before us is to find the book that will captivate you.
WHAT IS THE WHAT, by Dave Eggers, is a novel that serves as the autobiography of Valentino Achak Deng, a Sudanese refugee who lived through unbearably harsh African civil war, a devastating journey to refugee camps and was eventually plopped into an America that can be blind to the issues beyond its own borders. For a clear reading of the events of East Africa, this book is a treasure. Oh, and the NY Times has not stopped raving about it since it was published.
EAT, PRAY, LOVE, written by magazine writer Elizabeth Gilbert, is a memoir of the young woman’s year of travel through Italy, India, and Indonesia on her quest to discover happiness. She searches specifically for pleasure in Italy, meditation during her time in India, and balance in Indonesia-knighting the title of the book through eating, praying, and loving: exactly the subject matter. Overlook the book’s feminine cover: the book is meant for the traveler, the adventurer, for the wit and humor in Gilbert’s language. Her story serves as a push towards finding true balance in the truly ‘lived’ life, and could inspire you to do just that-or at the very least, keep you captivated all through January.