Profile In Thrive: Cole Escola

Dear Everyone:

          The Thrive Guide has brought you a greatly diversified group of profiles since our first interview in April.  Add to the list Cole Escola, a performer/writer who's just landed a show on Logo with his close friend and personal co-star Jeffrey Self.  If there's anything more fascinating than the new show (and I'm not saying that there is) it might be Cole's approach to living in the city and enjoying it.  One afternoon, we met in Hell's Kitchen for a boys-day-out: a romp about the river, a near-tour of a gigantic boat named Intrepid, a purusing of Bea Arthur's old wardrobe at a local Goodwill, and some wine and cheese at a hole in the wall.  Meet Cole Escola.  

JORDAN: Okay, who is Cole Escola?

COLE: Cole is your mom's idea of a best friend.

J: And where is Cole's favorite place in the city?

C: My favorite place in the city is... bars.  All of them.  Well, mainly all of them.  But I like Bar Centrale, there's some celebrities there and it feels very uptown.  It feels like what the lobby for Turner Classic Movies feels like.  They really don't probably have a lobby.  But that's what it'd feel like.  

J: You like drinking at bars-- describe the perfect night of drinking at home.  First, the solo expedition, then with friends.

C: All right, so by myself, I would have a bottle of champagne and fingerfoods... maybe like, chips and guacamole with champagne.  And i would catch up on daytime television on DVR.  With friends, I would invite them over with two bottles of champagne and we would all catch up together on morning T.V. on DVR.

J: So are you inferring that we should've got champagne instead of wine?

C: No, that's more of a celebration thing.  The wine we're drinking now is for the fruit and cheese platter.  

J: In your hypothetical evening in, what are you celebrating?

C: Friendship.  

Cole's co-star in Jeffrey and Cole Casserole, is, indeed, one of his best friends.  But before one should educate themselves on the show itself (all three of the thusly aired episodes are available online) one should know a little about Cole's past.  

J: Right now, would you describe yourself as a performer?

C: Yes.  I would describe myself as a writer-performer.

J: Give me the timeline of your performance-writing career.  Maybe in the format of a 50s book musical.

C: Picture it!  It's 1987, there's a trailer in the middle of the woods in rural Oregon, and a young boy is watching the film version of the Wizard of Oz for the first time-- I KNOW, WAIT, sounds on the nose.  He falls in love with someone.  Her name is Billy Burke, she played Glenda.  After that, I researched her the only way I knew how-- through the archives that were my grandmother, and found out that Billy Burke did another film called Dinner at Eight.  And that was the time I decided to be a performer.  Since then: community theatre, high school drama competitions, television.  

J: Where are you now?

C: Right now, I'm on... I don't know where I am now.  Right now, I have a T.V. show that's gonna come on.  I don't like talking about it, though, I don't like jinxing it.  But I will say: YouTube is the new Vaudeville.  And I feel like it's the new millennium's answer to Mickey and Judy. 

That's interesting.  Admit it.  You'll never look at YouTube the same way again.  We talked a bit more about the entertainers of the day (and the days passed) before moving onto Cole's tips for survival in the city.  

J: Okay, Cole, hit the thrive thing over the head... tell me how you really thrive in the city.

  Because like I've always said, people our age come here, they think it's going to be fantastic, and they just hit a wall.  And they ooze down the wall like a cartoon.  If you and the city are married, how do you keep the marriage alive?

C: I keep my marriage with the city alive by checking in with it.  But never fully committing myself to it.  I spend a lot of time looking at New York.  Number one: buildings.  Number two: nature.  Number three: people.

J: Where's the best place to look at nature in the city?

C: Oh, Washington Heights, by far.  There's a really great place underneath the George Washington bridge.  It's just on a rock.  And you'd have no idea that it was part of Manhattan if you didn't live there.  It feels just like a hicktown with gross factories.  And big rocks by the water to lay on.  By yourself.  In the nude?  I don't.  But some people do.

J: And what is the ideal way to check in with the city?

C: To be by yourself in the city and be okay with it.  

I completely agree with Cole about the importance of alone time, even in a city filled with people and their relationships.  It seems like simply getting lunch with a friend is a grueling process when it comes to factoring in time for trains and walking and such, as well as factoring in the schedules of your undoubtedly busy friends.  Time alone isn't so hard.  I suggest it.  So does Cole.  

J: So you wanted some hypotheticals.  

C: Yes!

J: Hypothetical one: you're in the Upper East Side, naked, and you have $27.50 to your name. What do you do with that money to make yourself feel comfortable in the Upper East Side?  Or do you enjoy being nude in the Upper East Side?  Realistically: what do you do?!  

C: Realistically, I would need to put clothes on.  Just cuz, realistically, you know, you get arrested.  That's obvious, I'm not that naive.  Realistically, I would go to 3rd avenue to the Children's Place, because I can fit into the bigger boy's size there and it's cheap clothes, and if I had $27.50 I could probably buy a pair of shorts that's $14.50.  Then, I'd go to one of the Goodwills over there for a t-shirt.  I would try, if I could, to spend the most money on the shoes.  Because you can wear awful clothes, but as long as you have fancy shoes, it makes the awful clothes look intentional.    

J: You have your outfit that you purchased on the Upper East Side.  You hop on the subway. It's time for lunch.  Where do you travel?  

C: I've probably spent most of my $27.50 so I would go somewhere where it's okay to look like shit and somewhere I could possibly get free food.  I'd go to the East Village or the Lower East Side... I would go to the wine bar across the street from where I work-- Ten Bells.  I would try to finagle some free tapas and a glass of wine, and I probably could get it for free.  

J: You get your wine and your tapas for free and your favorite waitress at 10 Bells says, you look rough, here's 20 dollars.  You hop on the train, where do you go now?

C: Well if she tells me I look rough, the first place I'm gonna stop is the Duane Reade on Delancey and Ludlow, and I'm gonna get some makeup.  Cuz if you have awful clothes and good shoes, I guess you can still look like shit, but once you put the makeup on... then it all comes together.  

J: You're about to leave the Duane Reade, and you find a ten dollar bill.  You hop on the train,

 where's the next place in the city you go?  It's about 6 PM right now.

C: I'm wanting a meal but I know that I need to wait.  I have 10 dollars.  I buy coffee.  I would go to Amy's Bread on 9th Avenue between 46th and 47th.  I don't know why I like their coffee more.  Maybe it's because they know me there, and I like it better because I taste the familiarity in the brew.  Maybe an O Magainze in the train station-- it's a good magazine to kill time with.  

J: It's about 7:30 right now, you just finished your coffee, and you bend down to tie your shoe.  Someone thinks you're homeless and, uh oh, another ten dollar bill in your cup.  It's about dinner time and you want to hang out with friends.  You look all right, so who do you call and where do you go to top the night off?  

C: If I've just been to Amy's Bread, I'm obviously really close to Jeffrey.  He'd come out, and if we wanted cheap food, we'd go to Empanada Mama, where it's like $2.25 an emapanda.  I'd probably borrow money from him even if I had the 10 dollars in my pocket, you know, just to keep it.  

J: It's nearing on midnight, it's time to go out.  You still have the ten dollars, so you have enough money to buy a drink. Take us somewhere else in the city, to a hip, happening club or bar.  Where do you go?

C: Well, with 10 dollars, I'd probably go to the liquor store in Washington Heights that's open until around 2AM, sometimes 3... there are no laws, it seems like there.  I'd go there and buy a cheap bottle somewhere.  Jeffrey and I would probably go to the river, or to Jesse's Place, which is in Washington Heights, and they have really good burgers.  

Now that I'd seen a day in the city in the life of Cole Escola, I thought I'd find out about the people who make him happiest here.    

J: Who, to you, embodies New York City?  Who's your favorite New York personality?

C: One of them that Jeffrey always picks-- so I can't claim this one-- is Regis Philbin.  He's just so classic New York.  And in the same school, so is David Letterman.  I guess I'd say Kitty Carlisle Hart, if she was still alive, she's old school New York.  But right now, I think Joy Behar is very New York.  I think Barbara Walters is part of the later part of the Kitty Carlisle Hart thing.  But New York now... I guess Joy Behar.  Or Kelly Rippa.  

J: Who's your least favorite New York Personality?

C: I wanted to say Rachael Ray.  But, no, I know there's people I dislike more than her.  Oh, I just don't like Drag Queens.  A lot of them.  I like RuPaul, but RuPaul's not mean.  But most of the Drag Queens are like... mean.  And bitter.  They're just not funny anymore.  That's a very ugly piece of furniture from New York passed.  

The day ended as it had begun, by the river.  

J: So we're sitting at the river right now, enjoying a summer ail, looking at the Intrepid, which is a giant ship.  If we were to lift ourselves from this really comfortable bench and peek over the railing into the water, and you were to see the reflection of the perfect day off in New York, what would it be?  Enjoying the city?  Taking a roadtrip out to the East coast?  What do you see in the water?

C: My perfect day in New York would be to step back in New York history into a rehearsal or an audition for chorus girls, like in the '40s.  I would like to be at a '40s chorus girl audition.  I'd like to be gay in the '40s at a chorus girl audition.  And I'd like to go out with them afterwards to the greasy spoon that they eat at and drink the bathtub gin that they drink.  And sleep with them.  Women of the '40s were a lot like men in the 2010's.  That's what they'll be saying, anyway.  Because, well, maybe I'm just speaking for myself, which is all I can do, but I have a lot of moxy.  There are a lot of things I'm lacking in, but moxy's not one of them.

I couldn't have said it better myself.  

Best,

Jordan

Special Edition: Nico Muhly

Dear Everyone:

          Three years ago I became obsessed with an album called Speaks Volumes by a young musical artist named Nico Muhly.  He was only 25 years old at the time and his track record was already really, really astonishing (he'd had a seemingly fantastical, musical child and teenhood supported by some of the art world's greatest like Isaac Mizrahi, assisted the brilliant Philip Glass, and even collaborated with the truly terrific Maira Kalman).  Since then he's released another album along with the few film scores he's composed, and my obsession continues.  His well-written, thought-provoking, intelligent and also genuinely humorous blog pushed me to wonder: what is Nico Muhly the guy, rather than the composer, really like?  Here are his answers to my 16 questions.

What do you do?  (Your career)

            I am a composer.

What do you DO? (Everything else of importance)

            I cook and I take short runs in between composing music.

 

How would you describe your music?

            Twitchy, ritualistic, and obsessive.

 

Give us a brief history of your musical career.  Humorous mini timeline allowed.

Bad pianist, decent chorister turned into good pianist, good composer.  Conservatory fermented some and expanded others and now am very happy in New York.   

 

What is your home like?

My apartment is a 1k sq. ft. loft in Chinatown.  I can see the arch of the Manhattan bridge, the Empire State Building & the Chrysler Building. I used to have a roommate but she moved with her man to Brooklyn, so now I have the largest closet of anybody I know. 

 

How do you entertain guests at home?

The most recent time: I made a cocktail with ginger + hot pepper syrup + tequila, then made mussels with coconut milk, galangal & holy basil (this is an important staple dish in my house.  very easy to make and feeds a crowd and costs like $.05 if you source everything from south of Canal), and then a roasted pork loin with rosemary & ginger (cheated and went to Whole Foods for the pork), with jerusalem artichokes and these delicious dandelion greens from the Essex Street Market.  We drank & ate and then my friend A— made a poppyseed lemon cake and I made a cardamom syrup and then we went out dancing at Home Sweet Home b/c I'm scurred to have people dance in my house.

 

Where do you go for a night out with friends in the city?

It's kind of the same thing as being at home.  But: Fuleen Seafood on Division Street.

 

What's the best thing to do on a rainy day off?  On a sunny day off?

Mildly Rainy Day: go to the Central Park Zoo (nobody will be there).  Sunny day go to the Bronx Zoo, and everybody will be there but it's still awesome.  Take the Skyfari.  Seriously rainy day like yesterday: call your friends in England and commiserate, order Seamless Web Pho and clean up mp3 metatags (classical music is hard)

 

Who is/are your favorite musician(s)?

            William Byrd, Prince, Owen Pallett, Olivier Messiaen.

 

What's your favorite meal to make at home?

Most Favorite & Easy: Pasta with broccoli rabe & sausage, a big green salad with mustardy dressing, cheese.  Most Favorite & Hard: Pork belly with lentils, pigs' feet with prunes, arugula salad, hot chocolate cake.

 

Where is your favorite place to eat in the city?

            Lupa, or Fuleen Seafood.

 

Most terrific area in the city?

            Chinatown, specifically Southeast Chinatown under the manhattan bridge.

 

Favorite shop/store?

Atelier on Hudson Street for clothes, the supermarket under the Manhattan bridge for food, and I weirdly adore B&H for electronics.

 

Favorite park?

            Central!  Old Fashioned.

 

If you had to take a visiting friend to ONE PLACE in the city, where would it be?

I like taking people to Great New York Noodletown on the Bowery at Bayard, and then making them walk halfway across the Manhattan bridge so you can see on the Brooklyn Bridge.  

 

Any fantastic ghost stories?

Every time I go to the West Village and I see a man with a bald head and oversized Japanese clothes I think it's the late Tibor Kalman and I get very emotional.  

Best, Jordan

A No-Frills Hello

Pictured above: my summer things

Dear Everyone,

          Just a quick check in.  The site is undergoing a bit of a makeup, (never a makeover! I don't believe in them, and neither should YOU) and in a little bit it'll be crisper, cleaner, and more and more like a refreshing Granny Smith Apple than it has ever been.  On a side note, I've just realized that I instantly see an elderly woman with white hair and B. Franklin glasses when I bite into a Granny Smith Apple, and I'm not so sure how I feel about that, suddenly.  Anyhow, look forward to that, and give me your feedback as it changes and grows and simplifies.  The new look is all about no-frills, as I think every summer in the city should be if possible.  See, I tie it all in.

          In other news everyone, there are exciting things planned for the coming week here at The Guide.  I'll be profiling Cole Escola, of VGL Boys fame (and recent addition to the LOGO television network lineup) as well as showcasing a wonderful restaurant and its chef, Vinegar Hill House.  I'll also be sitting down to interview THE Peggy Guggenheim.  Now I bet you're excited.  

          Before I go, I think I'll share with you a few things that are making my summer that much sweeter.  Blackberry preserves by Bonne Maman, cartoons and witticisms by Jean-Philippe Delhomme, music by Alice Russell, and t-shirts by Peg Leg.  Theme parties, too, of course, keep me motivated, energized, and constantly in awe by the creativity one musters up simply from living in the city.  Tomorrow night: a New York School Artists party.  Only in the city! 

Best,

Jordan

The Places You'll Thrive: IN GOD WE TRUST

Dear Everyone, 

          

          Yesterday I sat down with Brooke from one of my favorite stores, In God We Trust.  We met at the lovely little storefront in Brooklyn, on Wythe between North 7th and North 8th to talk a bit about the store, and about Brooke's own thrive technique.  Unfortunately, my recorder took it upon itself to disregard its "record" function, so I'll have to write all from memory.  This could be exciting, I promise.

         Let's see... I entered the store at about 1 pm, just as Brooke and another employee were moving things around for a new window display.  Things were rather haphazard, as the store had been closed for a bit in preparation for a new layout inside.  There are strange found objects, wooden planked floors, antiquated instruments, trunks, animals, old photographs in magnificent frames, truly odd lighting fixtures, yes, you've got the picture.  The layout of the store is what I love the most-- each one (there's one on Ludlow and another on Lafayette in Manhattan) is arranged by a very important, mysterious person described to me by Brooke only as Shana.  What I do know about her: she graduated from the Fashion Institute of Technology with a degree in accessory design.  The store is actually named after her clothing and jewelry line.  Right, moving on:

          Brooke chose the following three words to describe the store: awesome, crazy, sweet.  The store in Brooklyn has been around for 4 years, the one on Lafayette for 2, and the one on Ludlow... I, well, I forget.  But it's the baby, if I remember correctly.  Each of the stores sells these wonderful brass heart pendant necklaces with sayings such as Brooke's favorite, "Really fucking cute."  (I got my mother one for Mother's Day that said "Bless this mess.")  All of the clothes, even those not designed by Shana herself, are made right here in New York, in the Garment District.  If you're one of those people who only enjoy cars made in the United States, this should appeal to you... though, I'm not sure if you're the sort of person who would find Wythe and the surrounding area appealing.  Ha!  Yes, well...

          When Brooke isn't tending to "everything else" in the store that Shana and fellow employee Alexis do not do, she sings jazz music.  Brooke is a seemingly young, beautiful Bedfordite, but she describes her vocal style as Film Noir.  Julie London is the female jazz vocalist she identifies most with.  Sometimes in the evening you can hear her sing with her small jazz band at Moto, a place to have dinner in Williamsburg.  I think I'll try to catch her next performance.  

Best,

Jordan

IN GOD WE TRUST

Clothing and Accessories for Men and Women

135 Wythe in Brooklyn

265 Lafayette in Manhattan

153 Ludlow in Manhattan

Tuesday - Saturday 12-8, Sunday 12-7

PROFILE IN THRIVE: Chelsy & Melissa Mitchell

Dear Everyone:

          

          I recently spent a weekend in the Hamptons with two very wonderful people who also happen to be identical: Chelsy and Melissa Mitchell.  They're twins.  They lived in the city this year, but would, every now and then, venture back to their home in Sag Harbor.  This is how their double life began.  At home, they concern themselves with teaching yoga and and enjoying salt water and sand, and in the city they're busy dancing in the Lower East Side and hiding from (or not hiding from) the cameras.  I don't want to say too much about them in this simple introduction because I'm certain that this is one of the best, most charming and informative profiles I've done in quite a while.  If you don't want to befriend the Mitchell twins after what you learn here, you might want to reread the interview.  

The interview began on a beach in Bridgehampton on a warm Sunday afternoon.    

JORDAN: Tell the readers a little about yourself.  How about your favorite season, your favorite snack, and your favorite summer pastime.  

MELISSA: Favorite season: spring.  Chelsy's is fall, I can speak for her.

CHELSY: Well, right now it's summer.  But yeah, fall.

M: What are you talking about?  It's fall.  Favorite snack: banana. 

C: Snack?  God, I don't know.  Probably something dry.  Dry... papaya.  Do I sound like a grandma?  

M: Coming home from the ocean around 3 o'clock and taking a nap.  That's my favorite summer pastime.

C: Waking up really early, going to yoga, and then crawling to the beach.  The ocean, per say. That's mine.

As mentioned before, Chelsy and Melissa were born and

 bred in the Hamptons, but live in the city for most of the school year.  On some weekends, they trek out to Sag Harbor for house parties, family get-togethers, and the sheer bliss of a quiet coast before the summer comes and the tourists stick their flags in the dunes.  By that time, though, the twins have already moved back-- it's the city that becomes the sometimes/sometimes not weekend destination in the summer.  

J: You spend much of the off-season year between New York and Sag Harbor.  What's it like?  Sum it up for me.

M: Two different worlds.

C: The best of both worlds.

M: Can we share that as our answer?

J: Ha!  Of course.  Tell me, what's the biggest difference?

C: Between us?

J: No, between the Sag and the City.

M: The boys for sure.  

I encouraged this answer.

M: Tight pants are nonexistent in Sag.  

J: Pun intended?

No one laughs.

C: The pace is much different.  

M: It's so true.  I come here and I'm rushing for no fucking reason.

C: Ha!  What if someone reads this and says "What a sad life they have?"

M: Pathetic.  

J: Ooooh, what would you say if someone said that?

C: I'd say did you read the interview?  

Perfect.  A conversation about wet suits and surf lessons begins as a surfing friend walks by.  The twins know everyone within a thirty beach towel radius, and they have interesting things to say about each person.  A family chiropractor here, a high school friend there, a total wreck from up island, etc.  After a quick discussion of the day's surf commences, it is decided that the twins will ride the waves if there are body suits available for them to borrow.  Of course there are.  Chelsy sports the bright pink suit of a friend's middle school sister and Melissa will wear a grown man's (she'll cuff the sleeves, 80s style).  

M: I'm scared.

C: Lets try.

M: Maybe we should just wait.  I don't wanna die. I need a good swim, though.  A good swim to lean my legs out!

I try my best to steer their attention back to the interview.

J: So you're apartment hunting, how goes it?

M: Ugh.  it's a cruel, cruel world.

C: It's hard to know when you're being taken advantage of...

They're not having it, the interview must come to an end for now.  It's been decided: they're too excited about surfing.  I follow them down to the water where their friend gives them an impromptu surfer's safety talk and two minute lesson on the sand.  And before I know it, they're in the water.  Chelsy catches a few momentary waves, Melissa tries her best.  A "douche bag surfer" tells them to move because he's actually surfing.  NEVER!  

The next morning, we take the Hampton Jitney back to the city.  I'm not prepared to go back, but I take the time to conduct the final part of the twins' interview.  

J: Answer me THIS for our interview: what is the Jitney?

M: It's the link between East Egg and West Egg, filled with douche bags like the guy in front of you.

Melissa is referring to a gentleman who scolded Chelsy for using her cell phone after an announcement was made instructing passengers to resist the need for telephone conversations.  Chelsy couldn't hang up on the real estate agent on the other line whisper as she might, she was, well, scolded.  Here's how the conversation went:

PASSENGER: Did you hear the announcement, or are you just ignoring it?

CHELSY: I heard it.  

PASSENGER: Yeah?  Well...

MELISSA: We get a three minute emergency call. 

PASSENGER: Real estate is not an emergency. 

MELISSA: You're an emergency. (ZING!)

CHELSY: (Into the phone, after she has told the man helping them with apartments that she'd prefer he email her and hung up) Sorry mom, we know you're in trouble, wish we could help you out.   

But, back to the interview.

M: The Jitney, for me, is a transition.  It's the time to 

prepare for the two extremes.  I just get time to myself to think and listen to some full albums on my iPod.  Sorry if I'm coming off as a sarcastic "NB."  We're sarcastic... couture yogis... with a plan to take over the world.  

C: Just a note on our sarcasm so we don't actually seem like bitches: we are sarcastic, horribly sarcastic at that.  Only those who can handle or dish it back are our friends.  And those who can't: beat it.

J: It's fine, I love it.  Where's your favorite place in the city and where's your favorite place in Sag?

M: My favorite place in Sag is Tapovana Yoga Stuido.  If I had a choice, I'd sleep there on my yogamat every night. 

C: Yeah, same for me.  Tapovana the Ashtanga Yoga.  Gladly sleep there.  

M: My favorite place in the city is Tompkins Square Park because every time I step foot in there I feel 15 and filthy again.  

C: My favorite place in the city is Washington Square.  I like the vibe of the crowd that assembles there.  

M: I like Tompkins because it was where we always went when we came to visit NYC kind of by default.  So it's like the uncle that would get offended if I said otherwise.

The evening before we boarded the Jitney to come back to the city, there was a family get together at their home.  Chelsy and Melissa will be going to Spain on Saturday, and will therefor miss Father's Day, so the family celebrated it early.  This was my third (yes, I'm counting) holiday at the twins' home in Sag, and I loved it just as much as the others.  There's always thousands of wonder, truly wonderful and fantastic relatives, and more food than I ever know what to do with (so I eat it).  We sat outside for a bit between the cheese platter and the burgers and talked.

J: If you could take a piece of the city to the Hamptons and a piece of the Hamptons to the city, what would you take?

C: From NYC to Sag I'd take NYC's lack of shame and/or fearlessness of different styles. 

M: I'd take the boys from New York back to the harbor.  And I'd take the sense of community from the harbor back to NYC.  

C: Yeah, I'd take the willingness to say hello to your neighbor that you've seen every morning for 6 years back to the city.  And the ability to walk around barefoot wherever.

M: And Steinbeck's great stories.

They both laugh-- Steinbeck used to live in Sag Harbor.  One wonders what his stories might've been like if he'd known Chelsy and Melissa Mitchell.   

Best,

Jordan

MODEL THRIVERS: An Interview with Brad Walsh

Copyright Chelsey Pettyjohn

Dear Everyone,

          Meet Brad Walsh. He's a part-time musician, a part-time photographer, and a full-time boyfriend to a rather popular designer.  This last part makes it a bit difficult for him to enjoy the quaint markets, quiet eateries and neighborhood bars that one might like to enjoy, so when he's not doing famous things, he's enjoying himself at his lovely home in Brooklyn.  The term "famous things" refers to anything and everything from being part of the taping of another person's reality show, through seeing Heidi Klum on a regular basis, to attending the same blacktie events as Madonna and the Real Housewives of NYC.   After a wonderful day together, I realized that it is Brad's life-tactics, ideals, and plainly terrific sayings (worthy of embroidery, "Home Sweet Home" style) that allow him to thrive in such a mad, mad lifestyle so fantastically.  Balancing a music and photography career of his own with the fast-paced and event-ful life of Tim Gunn's favorite pupil is a hard job, but somebody has to do it.  It just so happens that Brad Walsh enjoys doing it.  Immensely.  

           

Bradley lives in Williamsburg, a place that he bemoans having fallen victim to camera crews and independent film directors.  There are, he points out, charming, unscripted things as well, like a man who screams in the street every day and a fantastic vintage shop called About Glamour.  His home is large and impeccably decorated-- a mix of glorified rubble, strange vintage, and merchandise given to the couple for free from certain product lines-- and is home also to his boyfriend Christian and their lovely canine, Topper (named after a Carry Grant character).  I began the interview with simple questions, with perfectly irregular answers.  Questions like, "Where is your favorite place to eat," simply do not work for Brad Walsh.  You'll see what I mean.

JORDAN: What's your favorite place for food in the area?

BRAD: My favorite food in the area in the area is this Indian place, but we always order in. We've never been there.  Every time we go out to a restaurant here... like I never go to a restaurant in Williamsburg unless Christian is with me, an then it's no fucking fun.  Because we sit there, and either the people who work there know who he is and seat us in front so people see us and want to come in, or they seat us in the back, and seat everyone around us.  So we order in.  Or we go Uptown.  Way Uptown.  Where nobody cares.  

If you haven't gathered for yourself by now, Brad's boyfriend is Christian Siriano, former Project Runway winner.  

J: Where do you go to drink?  Or do you only drink in, as well?

B: Yeah, we don't go out anymore.  We go to events, we don't go to clubs or parties and things, but we end up going to all of these things where I end up having to wear a suit and drink champagne.  Although, they just opened this place called The Gate, and it's really nice, and they let us be Ambassador members, so every time we go we get to drink.  A lot.  That's my favorite place.

J: So what's Brooklyn good for?

B: Shopping.  My favorite place to shop in Brooklyn is called About Glamour.  You go in, and it's all these Tokyo brands, but it's not Club Kid stuff... it's just different materials and different brands that I've never heard of.  And it's the only place to get Vivienne Westwood, too. 

 

I finish my bagel and we walk back to his place where we play with the dog (who has a nervous urinating habit) and discuss the basics of Brad's life.

J: So what do you do?

B: Well, it depends.  I go through waves of music and photos.  Right now I'm doing music, because I'm doing a new album, and I'm neglecting my photowork.  But, then when I'm not doing anything music I start doing a lot more shoots.  The photo stuff pays more. Because I can work for one day and get a lot of money.

J: What's the latest photo assignment that you've done?

B: I just got an ad campaign for J Shoes, and we're shooting that next week.  I think they've already taken out space in Nylon and Blackbook and it's the first time they've done a real ad campaign.  They've done lookbooks and product shots before.  We're going into an old warehouse and spending a day shooting.  It's all broken glass and it's going to be fun.  

Before getting big offers from big companies such as J, Brad was a popular party photographer at places like the Annex's Ruff Club.  

B: That was only to make a little extra money.  I haven't done party photos for 2 years.

There was a bit of party-photographer drama, and now it's all behind him.  Rightfully so. 

J: Okay, when did your music start, how did it start?

B: My music is the same as my photowork, in I didn't go to school for it.  I mean, I went to school for creative writing.  Which isn't even remotely related.  And I went to Oberlin college which is a great art school.  There's a conservatory with an electronic music program which I... never used.  I didn't take any art classes at all, except for a couple Art History classes. I don't play any instruments-- it's all producing and home recording.  And I had a little bit of success doing electro-music, and now I'm on my third album.  And I've had song on T.V. soundtracks and commercials and it's all just self-taught.  

J: How do you get your work out there?

B: I don't ever try for anything-- I don't pitch myself to anywhere, things just come to me, and that's incredibly fortunate because I know plenty of people who just try and try and try and try and try and work very hard for what they get, and things just come to me.  I'm not gonna argue with it.  It doesn't hurt to know people, to be places with people who have budgets behind them and millions of dollars and then they find out what I do and it works out sometimes, you know? 

Brad's last album was described as "indie-rock," and his latest is a definite pop album.  We listened, and I enjoyed it immensely.  It's truly good music, sticky and gooey in it's pop masterfull-ness.  If that makes sense.  We listened, and spoke about his stints as DJ.  Most recently, he played as a Celebrity DJ at the Doe Fund's charity event with people like Whitney and Olivia from The City.  They simply asked for his iPod.  Brad did not think this was nice.  After a small listening party, we discussed... LIFE!

B: There are three things: perfect home, perfect relationship and perfect job.  You will never have more than two at one time.  All I ever used to worry about was whichever of those three I didn't have at the moment.  Like, I hate my apartment, or I'm single, or I hate my job.  I feel like more than half the world doesn't have any of those three.  So, one or two out of three it is not bad.  

J: Would you say you have two out of three?

B: You know, right now, I feel like I have all three.

J: Three is sweet.  So, if people are coming for an evening, how do you entertain them? 

B: We always have a bottle of Champagne, that's my favorite.  We always have the TV on, but we usually end up ignoring it.  The thing is, we never, ever wanna go out anywhere.  We'll have two or three different events we're obligated to go to a week, and we always have people come over before hand.  And we'll drink until we're comfortable enough to leave the house. Because it's sad, I'm getting so socially anxious-- I never want to leave the house anymore, and I used to be out all the time.

J: But you like it like this, right?

B: Well, my home is... I sit here all day long, recording music, and I feel like I've done that too much, and now I'm afraid to leave the house.  Legitimately afraid, I get really anxious.  We have car services come door to door because I won't take the subway... I'm developing some sort of problem.

J: Annie Lennox has that problem too, so you have good company!  

B: It's not terrifying yet, but if I don't have to leave the house, I won't.  And I think it's going to change for the worse.  

J: The worse!  You think you'll go crazy, you mean?

B: It won't become crazy, just very introverted.  I love having lots and lots of friends over to my house.  I hate going anywhere else.  On Monday we're supposed to go the American Ballet Opening, and I have to put on a black tie and get all dressed up and we have to go and the email from the publicist says "security is going to be really crazy, so don't let it phase you, the Obamas are going to be there..."  Why do I want to go?  Why do I want to leave the house, put on real clothes, I could be in my pajamas, I don't care about the Obamas, I think they're great people.  I don't wanna go somewhere where the president and his wife are going to be, and it's going to be super highs security, and everyone's going to be pointing and talking about Michelle Obama's dress.  If they want to come to my house, I'd be more than happy to entertain.  

J: Ballet at your house.

B: I've sat at a table with Madonna.  I'm done.  There's nothing left for me to do.

J: You should contact Annie Lennox, and write a song about being introverted.  Really.  Call her.  So, how has Christian upped your "thrive" level?  Or has he lowered it?  And made you an introvert?  

B: Well, he has changed my entire life, because I used to be very party-extrovert, I made all my money from parties and DJing, but I've completely changed him.  I've done all his runway music, obviously, living together, we're inspired by each other.  We're together constantly.  And obviously, when he dresses the Pussy Cat Dolls or he dresses Anne Hathaway, I get to meet that person.   I have people in my phone now... which is fun, but I'm not going to... call up Lady GaGa about my new album.  You know.  

J: I know.  To finish up, a classic question.  What do you love and hate about the city?  

B: I love and hate that the city is so small.  Just, the circles.  If you hate someone, you can't avoid them, as far as the social.  It's so weird, because the things I do now are completely different from the things I did a year ago, but I feel like my age group has adapted in weirdly similar ways. Because now I go to much different sorts of places, and there's still some of the same old ass holes that I never wanted to see again.  For a city of 8 million people plus, it's teeny-fucking-tiny.

J: What makes you stay?

B: It's all work, that's why I'm here.  Being a freelance anything, I get a I live in New York and I can usually do something at the drop of a hat.  If someone needs something photographed or I want to collaborate with someone or have a meeting with some amazing person, there's 8 million amazing people right here and you can just go tomorrow.  But at the same time, I make more money, and then I PAY 4 times as much for everything in my life.  For the rent, for the food.  If I was making the money I'm making now for doing the things I love doing right now in any other city, or in Cleveland, where I'm from, I'd be living in a mansion by now.  

But, one cannot do these sorts of things in Cleveland, can one?  Or many other places, save those cities we're all thinking of.  For Brad, it seems New York is an essential part of living... nevermind the events and the champagne and the film crews and the Madonna.  Without the City as a canvas, if you'll excuse the painting metaphor, none of that would have ever made so much as a brushstroke.

Best,

Jordan 

Just a Moment.

Copyright: Nora Wolf

Dear Everyone: 

          The weekend brought dinner, which brought several of my new and old friends to my tiny apartment, which brought all of the furniture against one wall and the coffee table in my bedroom and food on the floor, of course.  The get-together was dubbed a Thrive Guide Launch Dinner, because, as I've always said, something isn't anything until there's a dinner to celebrate.  While I whipped up the menu for the night in my miniscule kitchen, guests got along grandly and even pitched in with dinner (because that's part of the fun of a dinner party, I'd say).  After a bit of brie, bread, grapes and pears came the main course: salmon with goat cheese mashed potatoes, asparagus and a hearty salad.  I believe this was the first time in my life that there was an unopened bottle of wine when all was said and done.

          In other news: school is slowly winding down.  I'm anxious for more free time, and more opportunities to talk with you about your methodical way of enjoying the city.  It's just about summertime, so you can expect some extremely interesting profiles quite soon.  The thrive-waters may be calm now, but there'll be great waves in a week or two, when I shut the books and go people-hunting.  

          I've got an assignment for you, in the meantime.  If you're the brave type (which, I'd say we all are.  There are simply those well-acquainted with their brave side and those who are frightened by it) I'd love it if you asked the next interesting person you see on the street if I might interview them.  Now, I'm not suggesting that you stop the next person with a fascinating pair of pants on and ask them if they'd like to talk.  I'm referring to more of the subway-musician type.  Maybe you could drop a small piece of paper in their guitar case asking if they'd be up for an interview.  Tell them my email address, etc.  I need your help.  WE ARE ALL SCOUTS.  Aren't we?  Only in this world can one be both a scout and a model.  Don't let any reality television show tell you different.  

          

          Until next time: get up, get out, and get interesting.  

Best,

Jordan

PROFILE IN THRIVE: Courtney "Fruitfly" Nichols

Dear Everyone:

          This week, Thrive Guide profiles an intensely unique woman who finds herself in an incredibly common situation.  The person: Courtney "Fruitfly" Nichols.  The situation: She's a straight girl who attracts gay men at an astronomical rate.  She documents her life with her big, fat, gay family on her personal website, FruitflyLife.  The introduction to her blog reads "My situation is not rare, and many college students are struggling to balance a boyfriend and a gay boyfriend.  Though I have yet to find a boyfriend, gay men provide me with what I need... and the rest I can do by myself."  Ms. Nichols has certainly done quite a lot for herself. At the ripe, young age of twenty she become the first female intern at Out Magazine.  Not only does she have a wonderful day job, a vastly interesting website, and a support group of some of the wittiest gay men in New York state-- she also knows how to thrive.  

          Courtney lives on the Lower East Side, but we instead meet at one of her favorite places in the city-- a hideaway named Apotheke located on a side street in China Town.  The lights might as well be out completely and candles cast an eerie glow on the establishment's inhabitants while a man with a strange hat and an uncanny resemblance to Martin Short offers tarot card readings.  The waitresses are talkative and the bartenders wear laboratory coats.  At Apotheke, you describe how you're feeling, or how you want to feel, and they serve you a potion to help.  We're surrounded by a few friends, some old, some new, and conversation is inevitable.    

Jordan: Give me one word to describe your thrive technique, or how you thrive in the city successfully.

Courtney: Spontaneity.  

J: Oooooh!  What's the best place to thrive in the city?

C: Bliss spa.

Courtney laughs hysterically, and the others do, too.  I'm missing something... and I LOVE IT.

J: Lovely.  If you could devise a drink especially for thriving, what would be its ingredients?  

C: It'd be a Jewish-themed drink, so if you could mix chicken liver, matzah, and manishevitz into a martini, I think that would work.

Our drinks have arrived.  Luckily, none of them resemble anything remotely close to Courtney's Hanukkah cocktail.  

 

J: So we're at a drinking establishment right now, yes?  Let's go off of that for a while.  How do you balance... well, first, would you say that you're a connoisseur of alcoholic beverages?

C: Yes.

J: So how does one balance being a connoisseur of alcoholic beverages and thriving?  How do you get past the hang overs and on to the next drinking night?

C: Well.  My secret ingredient is Acanacia.  I take four pills before I go out, which makes me not hung over in the morning.  And I also don't discriminate... like, I'm able to tell what's a very fine champagne but I'll also drink a four dollar bottle of wine.

Four dollar bottles of wine may be the secret to thriving.  Now, it must be noted that Courtney is not a rabid alcoholic.  The atmosphere simply begged for the question.  All right?

J: I want to discuss Out Magazine, I think.  Tell me how it happened.

C: My friend was working there and they tyically throw out women's resumes, and he said "Hold on, keep this, she has an amazing website," so I'm the first straight woman and woman in general to ever be an intern at Out.  And it's incredible.

J: Do you plan on staying within the company?

C: No, I'm actually moving back to San Francisco in July... I'm going to grad school at San Francisco Art Institute for curatorial studies.  I want to start a museum of sex on the west coast.

J: Oh!  Discuss sex and thriving.  Is it essential to thriving?  Or is thriving essential to sex?

C: I am a very sexual person without having a lot of sex, and I think that's why I consider sex to be such an art form rather than a necessity.  Like, I really love studying sex-- I've taken Writing Erotica at the New School and I'll be taking History of Porn.  I just feel like I'll hit my sexual peak at the age of 35.  I'll be a heather Locklear.  

J: How about this, then-- not intercourse, but just being a sexual person...

C: You HAVE TO BE A SEXUAL PERSON TO THRIVE.  I think that sensuality goes hand in hand with confidence... not necessarily sexuality but sensuality.    

All right, you heard it from Courtney "Fruitfly" Nichols first.  Sexuality is synonymous for thriving.

C: I believe the essence of thriving is not sacrificing your friends.  Keeping people close to you.

J: What do you do with enemies when you have thrive on the mind?

C: I, for a long time, accepted them as friends, but I recently decided that... fuck you to everyone who sleezes out, I'm not going to deal with it.  So it's really important not to think of your life as a social ladder.

J: SO GOOD!  I woke up in the middle of the night... this interview is not about me, it's the only thing I'll say about myself in this whole interview... I woke up in the middle of the night and thought of this.  Tell me if it makes sense.  "New York is not a playground, so stop trying to climb the jungle gym."  Does that make sense?

C: I love that.

J: I think that people think that the secret to thriving is networking, networking, climbing, climbing.  It's not.  I feel like you'll fall off and bruise your knees, I think that's what will happen.  So, divvy it up in percentages.  How much is thriving about you, and how much is thriving about the people around you?

C: If I picture myself like the solar system, I am the sun, my best friends are the planets, my outerlayer friends are the moons, and those really superficial people that I keep in my life just for purely knowing jobs and such are the comets that are going around the moon.  

I never thought I could be so okay with a person who refers to themselves not simply 'like a solar system,' but as the sun itself.  You can mark me on this: I will always appreciate a good metaphor, no matter how self-indulgent.  Genius is genius!  I promise.  

It should be noted that Courtney is an outrageous dresser.  This evening, she wears a yellow dress with silhouettes of excitable, dancing figures on the skirt.  There is Chanel, very big hair, and good lipstick.    

J: So, give me the aspects of an outfit proper for thriving.

C: More is more. You can never have on too many accessories.  And, mix-matching prints is important.  Whoever said that zebra and leopard cannot go together was seriously disturbed.  And, leggings are not pants.

J: Lady GaGa!  Don't tell her.

C: Three: always include at least one piece of Chanel.  

Courtney proceeds to tell a story about an encounter with an Urban Outfitters employee.  The girl asked Courtney where she got her gigantic Chanel emblem necklace.  She didn't know how to answer the question without seeming, well... she was simply at a loss.  

C: Also, I think it's a waste of money to spend your money on lingerie.  I think what's important is what you wear on the outside.  

Apotheke is lovely, however expensive, and Courtney insists that we go home and cook a late dinner with friends.  Brussels sprouts, sausage and shell pasta are served-- all of it delicious.  We have a few bottles of wine, draw on the walls with chalk, play Two Truths and a Lie, and I ask a few more questions regarding her lovely home at the Ludlow on the Lower East Side.  

J: So what are the keys to making your home thrivable?

C: The keys to making my home thrivable are... guests lists, writable walls, and a large collection of DVDs.

J: If a bunch of people came over to your home expecting to be fed, what would you make them?

C: I would make them popcorn, and then soba noodles with seaweed on them, and a soft boiled egg.  

J: So you have all these people over for dinner.  What music do you play?

C: Thrive Music is Lotus with a sprinkling of Madonna.  

J: Okay, so, last question.  Someone came over to your home and says, "We're clearing the place out."  How would you continue to thrive if you could never leave your house, and you have no earthly posessions in your house.

C: If I was in my house alone, I think I would thrive quite well, because I would have all this extra time, and what would I do with it?  I would write and _______. And really, what else do you need?

J: My mother reads this blog, so I don't know if I'm going to include the _______ part.  

Best,

Jordan

Going Green for YOU!, or: The Pretension of the Green Movement

Burn it. Or shred it, and then recycle the scraps

Dear Everyone:

          You have a tote bag (that ISN'T a plastic bag, okay?!), you recycle your bottles and cans, you keep your agenda in a planner made from reused things, and you commit all of those other eco-friendly acts that are slowly becoming annoying and pretentious. I am all about saving our environment, don't get me wrong, but planting a tree is gradually turning into a status symbol, isn't it? I find that lately is seems as though people are doing environmentally conscious things for the look of it-- as if by doing these things they become hipper, more modern, etc. A bag that SCREAMS "I am NOT a plastic bag!" is just too much for me.

Yes, it's an advertisement and an encouragement to be eco-friendly, but it's also a shout-out to everyone on the street that goes something like this: "I'm incredibly interesting and well-informed, in case you couldn't tell from my change purse made of Orangina labels." If being green continues in this trendy direction, it will crash, burn and fail and all trends do eventually. This is my fear! Being Green should be part of our lifestyle.

          Summer is quickly approaching, and as the weather turns warmer, I suggest we all return to our earthy roots. Do not even THINK about the impression others may get when you do something good for the environment-- this is a personal relationship between you and Mother Nature and no one else is allowed. You have the tote bag, you have the recycling bin, you have the reusable notebook. It's time for PLANTS!

          Fill your house with them. An apartment filled with flora is better than a garden any day, I promise. They should be sitting on every shelf, hanging from every hook in your ceiling. They should be on each

window ledge and completely overflowing in your bathroom and kitchen-- the latter is where wonderful herbs and cooking plants can come in. Have a new flower arrangement every night at dinner, I insist. You'll thrive, your apartment will thrive, and the earth, in return, will THRIVE.

          Purchase Alys Fowler's magnificent Garden Anywhere to get plenty of ideas on how to transform what little space you have into a magical field of veggie-yielding brilliance. Check out Anthropologie's terrific selection of garden things for lovely ways to house your plants in- doors, and even a few plant-your-own-tree kits. Whatever you do, though, don't carry these things home in an I AM NOT A PLASTIC BAG! tote. Burn that tote bag, all right? Trust me.

        So here's to living rooms filled with foliage and table tops never without a center piece of buds, yes? Stop worrying about how your eco-friendly actions make you look to the rest of the world and concentrate on how they effect YOUR world, and the bigger world in general: planet earth. It's all about you and the earth, really, really, really. Make your home thrive with blooms and blossoms, and give back to the environment at the same time. You'll feel so intensely wonderful as a result of it all.

Eco-Best!

Jordan

PS: We were talking the other day about making a shirt that says "I'M AN ECO-FRIENDLY BITCH." I think it's hilarious and turns the whole pretentious side of the green movement on its head. Would you buy it? I would buy it. I would buy it.