So much going on last night; where do I start? That I ended up leaving late and then ended up arriving in Harlem late thanks to (me) MTA! That I dashed into LB’s crib and toss my things one way and kinda sorta make small talk with him so I don’t feel like I’m using his house as a hotel (though I am) and I was back out the door. This time in these 5 inch crushed velvet booties I’ve had for years but have only worn twice. It seemed like a great idea!

Well, I thought I was off to a great start even though I had began my departure from Jersey a few minutes late. Regardless, as I was *tipping* my way the three blocks to the subway and feeling so good about myself I decided that I could re-calculate the directions I just got from the computer at LB’s house with the directions that Max gave me via text message.

WOW..SHOUT OUT TO BROOKLYN!!

Even though my intuition made me lift my head and stare out to the platform at the stop I SHOULD have gotten off at I still thought I was winning and so I stayed on the train.

Funny how deja-vu works. I suddenly remember how long the ride used to be over that bridge/project/water..whatever that body of land is underneath the train on your way into Brooklyn. And DAM MTA for that long ass ride! I was getting more and more anxious as we CREPT along the train tracks AND they stopped the train and did one of those FUZZY ass messages that you can’t friggin understand. I realized that screaming “LET ME OFF THIS THING!” wouldn’t necessarily be productive so I gripped the pole. Shit, it worked in the past (watch yo’ mouth). I’m scared of trains.

Anyway..they tested my strength AND endurance with the whole up and down and across the platform nonsense it took to get back on the right train that would take me to where I needed to be. I fought through a second series of panic attacks as I balanced on my heels for my life; I’ve had this fear ever since my neurotic foster mother convinced me as a child that I would fall on the train tracks and die if I didn’t hold her hand! She wasn’t there last night to hold my hand but I held it down on my own and pushed on because I needed to get to the New Museum on Bowery and was already running hella late.

I text’d EM to see where he was as he’s texting me to say that there’s pandamoniom going on outside the venue. I saw the crowd from down the block and decided to slow my slow pace to a slower *tip.tip.tip* than what I was currently managing in my booties.

EM is getting heat at the door and so I tell EM to hit up Max and I can now see them both from across the street. The crowd moved in relatively quickly and I wanted to get in too. The floor to ceiling glass front of the museum made the entire party look like it was being held in a kaleidescope . And that’s dope as hell right there. Even doper is that a few sporadic hand motions in the window was all it took to get Max’s attention as I checked in with the door. I RSVP’d like I said.

It was mostly the same crowd, but there were so many more people! Very lush, eclectic fresh faces peppered the crowd. After Dror Benshetrit presented QuaDror for its USA unveiling  and the panel discussion with Arts Editor Kimberly Brooks (Huffington Post) and Design Editor Linda Tischler (Fast Company) most of the crown intermingled into the IDNY monthly Meetup. This month it was a little different. No, let me correct myself..it was slightly very different. I didn’t mind the space itself, it’s clean and open with glass walls used as the main partitioning. The main walls are covering in large art pieces; I really enjoyed the use of the lavender roses though.

There was a disco  ball in the front which caused several groups of people to attempt to come into the “club” during the evening. I had to step over one such crew to make my way back after having a fag with Max. Several groups started dancing before dispersing just as quickly. It seemed to be so much to do and in order to do it everyone continued to move around in rotation. I people watched from the bar with my camera in my hand.

And it didn’t take long for the initial jump off either! I laughed with glee as a very enthusiastic blonde woman grabbed EM and kinda man handled him into dancing with her. He’s a good dude because I can’t promise you that I”ll ever be that good of a sport. But hey, they actually got a little crowd going again so thumbs up to them. Her girlfriend and I kept each other company and had a great time giggling and taking pictures while the whole robbery when down!

This is not the dancing friend.

The pieces on the floor were terribly interesting, I wish I had more light to inspect them like you normally can do at these events. In my humble opinion part of the reason this groups meetups are fun is because you get to treat the venue like Ikea and lay and touch and rub your grubby little hands all over the merchandise. Creative people receive their information from many sources; one such place is through interaction with ‘things’. More interaction next time, please.

I know this was meant to be a party but the curious folks come to IDNY to inspect what’s going and to see something creative. So let’s SEE something creative. However, the large piece by QuaDror that sat on the main floor was awesome and he was kind enough to mix and mingle in the crowd to answer questions and hang out for awhile. His design focuses on shelters built from interlocking pieces. Some of the crew didn’t get the importance of this. But once I saw his photo (he’s a man of color..and a CUTE one too) and then  saw his country of origin (Tel-Aviv) I totally understood the meaning of his work.

All in all I had fun and I think taking the risk of trying a new type of environment for the IDNY meetups were a good idea. All ideas take tweaking but I can almost assure you that once the weather breaks you’re gonna have to know somebody at the door at actually get in. Is that a good thing or a bad thing? I don’t know..we’ll talk about it once you get inside. To see more pictures click here for the IDNY Photo Gallery.

Until next time IDNY….

© 2011, Tracy Renee Jones. All rights reserved.