Thomas Ng

I met Thomas a little over a year ago at McNally, a Soho book shop. He asked what I was writing. I told him. He showed me a few sketches he was working on. We exchanged names for FB, communicated a little through there. But that was it. We did not see each other again after that first meeting.

When the the idea of interviewing Nyc residents sprouted, I thought of Thomas. I knew he was there, somewhere, but I didn't know him, so I invited him for a coffee and a recorded conversation.

                    Thomas is Thomas Ng
Thomas left home, Guam, at 17 to attend GWU in DC
           He then moved to Nyc to attend  SVA
A boast worthy factoid about Thomas's experience at SVA:
Dear Thomas, with a sign in hand, posed nude in front of the university in order to get into a closed class (It worked)
Thomas is currently a book cover designer at Simon & Schuster
                           Shall we?

Do you like living in New York? "I haven't technicially lived in the city for like 5 years now? I live in Greenpoint, Brooklyn now. I def like it there, it's half young people and half families.....I could never move back to the city. It's too "on" all the time. Sometimes you do want that peace and quiet."


Were you always into art? "When I was in DC I studied business, and when that ended, my family was like, "you gotta come back to Guam." And I was like: No! At that time all directions were pointing towards business, and I was super depressed about it. I thought, I don't like any of these things, but I felt like that was all there was. And then I discovered things like art programs and I taught myself how to draw at 21/22. I didn't think you could learn how to draw. I thought you were born knowing how to. You know like gifted people? I found this teach yourself book. When I was able to master the skill, I was like, o cool. And now I'm inspired, kind of. Actually, I felt like that was a big hurdle, or a test to pass, and when I passed, it was the most confidence building thing that I had ever done..


Then what? "Well, I was lucky enough to meet Stefan Sagmeister, who's like a super big cheese in the design world. I heard about how he carved letters into his chest to do a poster. Which blew me away. So anyway, I got to sit in at a dinner thing with him, where everyone else was pretty big. The Director of the Smithsonian was there. It was crazy, they were talking about designing blimps and so forth. I just stayed quiet until I could ask him: Should I go to art school? I felt like I had just put my life into his hands at that moment. He said, "yes," and gave me some advice. He was very sincere too. I headed off to New York and art school after that."

So, what's it like designing book covers? "It's like: speed-read, learn about a violin, borrow my friend's violin, do a photo shoot, scan some loose change, show tons of ideas and thank the skies that they picked my favorite." (And apply this to every other book.)


What are a few things you have done, or are doing? "I'm just going to plug this book, I don't even know why, I'm not his publisicst. I'm not getting paid for this. But it's good karma......Right now I'm designing a cover for Fiddler in the Subway. It's a collection of feature stories written by the very talented Gene Weingarten (Winner of two Pulitzer prizes.) The big story is about an experiment. What if you took the world's greatest violinist and put him in the subway, would anyone notice? The story unfolds and there's tons of great features like this."

"A few things I have worked on are:  I Slept With Joey Ramone, it's his Memoir. Very cool. -- Stir-Frying to the Sky's Edge, which is a Chinese cookbook. I'm sending that to my mom. Shadow Knights, the first book in a series of Pulp History stories. Real-American-Hero types. We went for a pulp "action comics" look. The cover looks different now, sadly. And, The Playbook, which is part of The Bro Code series and was inspired by, How I Met Your Mother. The book is sort of comical advice, or tricks, on how to pick up girls. I'm pretty sure none of them work, but it's pretty funny."

Contributed: "I also design T-shirts for bands sometimes. Fashion merch is my little pet project."

Now back to my current obsessions, Nyc, and City verses the country...Who has is right?  "I think my friends who are married with kids are the ones living in the real world. (Although Thomas appears like he should be carded, he is slightly beyond that age.) One of my friends, I haven't seen since middle school, now has a daughter that looks like she could almost be in middle school. It's a little crazy. And when I talk to my family is when I get a reality check, '"What do you mean you work this hard for this little?"'  New York is like a career Disneyland sometimes. I still love it. But I'm trying to make more money now."

Are ya happy? (Long pause) "Do I have to say 'yes'?"

No, you can say "no". (Long pause)  "I work too much. So now, my favorite thing is to do anything on the weekend that's not related to work. I just moved, so painting and decorating the apartment has become a fun new project. I also do some yoga. I'm exercising again, which feels really great. I was limping for 3 months on a foot injury because my body was super unhealthy. Now I'm eating better and exercising again. That and taking moments to just, this is going to sound dumb, but just look at the sky and appreciate my new quiet neighborhood. I think I'm getting happier."

Are you lying about any of this? "Nope. Wait, just don't ask me my height. I always say I'm 5'8", but I'm really 5'7 and 3/4. I'll never let you measure my height without putting up a fight."

The plan was to end there, until I stummbeled upon a certain New York Times article. This article covered a story about this guy who posted flyers all over Union Square and the East Village, (In order to lift a friend's spirits.) asking folks to call a voicemail box he had rented for his friend Gary. The flyer read, ""Please say, 'I love you, Gary after the beep." The guy who posted the flyers is Thomas Ng.

UnTapped

This past Monday evening I attended an UnTapped event, hosted by Ms. Jordana Hazan, at the Rivington Hotel.

The purpose of the event was to assist the launching of designers/stylists who are warming up to hot, as well as raising money for FAVALA's, Alicia Sanchez. (Ms. Sanchez is a fellow designer who is struggling with two things: cancer and paying the lofty bills that come with being sick. This is an injustice.)

While there I spoke to a number of the models who were donning these elaborate getups or jewelery with their own clean slate clothes. The idea was, the models were assigned to mingle aka fill in the invited guests with the who dressed them info.

Initially the models weren't as talkative, actually they never really broke out of those shells, which was fine because I am not a shy person. While trying to decide on who to approach, I saw a group of four male models, and thought, there's good.

After introducing myself we talked a little  about the decorative ornaments they were wearing, the Rock Band leather wrist bands. After 15 or so minutes of chatting, I learned that I was among two aspiring actors, an aspiring model, and the fourth was a bit more cautious with his words. (You do what you got to, to make it.) Around that time I realized that the conversation had turned to personal matters, so I advised myself to stop giving looks and step away from the male models.

After breaking away I met a Ms. Veronica Kelly of Veronica Ariel.  Her calling card goes: Personal Shopper, Stylist, and Designer. She isn't bored. One of Veronica's models had on a one piece that looked like a two. It was something that could do well at a night event. (Not the movies.) It can be barely seen at the top photo. The second girl from the left. The picture posted beside these words is a clearer visual of what Veronica is up to.

P.s. On route to New York from Chicago she lost her wallet, got to the event, printed business cards on the fly, and told me this as if she were recalling something pleasant. Ms. Kelly is cool. (Veronica currently stalks Stella McCartney and New York for inspiration.)

With that story stashed away I walked across the room to a black dress. I had purchased something similar to it, then returned it due to it not fitting correctly. But, this dress canceled that dress out. Both dresses were a simple cut, but this one had the balance between modesty and strength. I hate admitting this on here, but I thought Gaga.

When I spoke to the designer, Tina Tandon, I expressed excitement. She said thanks, and a few things that I could not recollect afterwards, so I contacted to ask a few questions. What she had to say was:

"I am always inspired by vintage, and also by nature. All my collections have a bit of that influence. For Fall-10, I was more interested in combining the opposites - The soft and the hard, the feminine and the masculine, the fluid and the sturdy. There are feminine silhouettes with hard edge, rocked-out details with chains, and studs, and soft flowy silk fabrics molded into structural details." (Ms. Tandon's dresses can be found at Foravi in Soho, as well as other locations. Her site is linked above.)

Hmmm who else do I want to sing about? Dutch. No, not the language that is spoken in Western Europe. Dutch is a jewelery company. The designer, IJfke Ridgley, (pronounced "eye-f-kuh") uses recycled and vintage material for the necklaces and bracelets she pieces together. According to her business card, these body garnishes are "90% Virtue, and 10% Vice." Ha. Clever. (Although I would switch the two around.) Hey Ijfke, that Green Lace & Gold necklace, I like.

There were also a number of other designers there, but this is not the song that never ends.

But I will do shout outs. Silhouette was present, a Brazilian brand that focuses on bikinis and gym clothes. (Hoje é um dia de sol) (They have items at Equinox.) Jacqui Bennett was there representing her baby, Yarhn. A few words to describe what she's up to: organic fabric, crisp cuts with soft materials. And lastly Rachel Brown was there with her Kabbalah jewelery. When I spoke with Rachel she explained that the engravements on her pieces were supposed to be read right to left, in doing so, releases a positive energy. Do I believe in Kabbalah? Not that I know of. Did I get a good case of goose flesh after hearing this? Yes, the mind is powerful.

Last statement: The night in it's entirety was fun. I also met a guy named Dino. Is it silly to like someone because they have a fantastic name? (I say no.)

'Anna Karenina'

I kind of have this thing with reading, cuz books are the things that separate us from hairy creatures. And yes, this does fit in with the Nyc theme, since New Yorkers are the folks who know too much for their own good.

I finished 'Anna Karenina' the other night, so let's start this label with Tolstoy.

Since this isn't a book report, I'm not going to feed it to you. He's right. Every activity is repeated in one fashion or other. And, why do we do the things we do if the reality of the matter is that death starts at birth?

Yeah, there's some suicide talk, but it's the good kind. It's the acknowledgement that everyone thinks about it at some point, and those who go through with it are temporarily crazed, or just crazed.

This being said, 'Anna Karenina' has great things to offer. I usually back books with conscionable insight, such as, live your life while you have it. And live it righteously.

What Tolstoy, I mean, what Levin eventually learns is that it's hard to be conscience of the soul when faced with the daily conversations of life, coffees, and annoyances. Yet, these distractions do not extinguish the purpose, it merely leaves it in the trunk of one's car for awhile. And O, there is a purpose, but disclosing it would do away with the incentive for this read.

 Throughout the first section of pages, I thought, "I am her, I'm Anna." Then came the never getting what she wants and the whole, I'll never be happy bit. She never gets it, not once. "It" being the larger picture, she insists on looking at life through a key hole. Have you tried looking through a key hole? There isn't much to see.

 Vronsky's old mother gets it right when she says, "It's all just to prove something special." When I read that line, I didn't want to believe it. But it's true, except it isn't special.

There is no gnarly way to discuss this in one blog post. I recommend you read it for yourself. This will make you think.

(I didn't really want to go into the Country verses City argument since Tolstoy roots for the simplicities of country life, and I'm not sure if I agree with him on that one. But I am getting closer to the truth, my truth.)

Marco The Great

Two weeks or so ago I decided to stop at La Crepe for a taste. I was in one of those somber and indecisive moods. I wanted cream cheese in the berry crepe, then didn't, then wanted just a little. The crepe guy dealt patiently, he even joked with me a little.

At the table I wrote in my journal until I became distracted by this crepe guy who sung and danced to the music behind the counter. I wrote, "The crepe guy is happy today."

A week later, a friend and I were walking around Soho as (I took her to McNally.) I told her about this concept of studying New York and it's residents. When we walked past La Crepe, a light bulb moment fell at my feet, so I asked if she minded to stop.

At the takeout window I told the Crepe guy he had left an impression upon me due to his musical inclination. I then explained my goal.  He seemed somewhat sold. I left my e-mail address there. He contacted. And now he isn't the Crepe Guy to me anymore, he's Marco The Great.

Here are a few raw facts about our dear Marco:

Marco The Great is Marco Motti Shalma

Born in Johannesburg, South Africa.

Moved to Israel at age 4.

 Served four years in the Israeli army.

He is a bad-ass.

By day Marco manages La Crepe. By night he labors with his talent, his films. Correct, this means he completes 40 hours of work to pay the bills, while putting in another 30 for the good stuff, his super objective in life. It's called self-discipline.

When we met to chat, I showed prepared with a number of questions and a tap recorder. (It's gotta get done right.) Shall we?

Where do you live? "I live up in Harlem, Spanish Harlem."

How do you feel about that?  "It's a fucking shit-hole. Anyone who's gonna tell you nice things about Spanish Harlem is a freakin liar. And when I first got here I lived in Brooklyn. And yeah, Brooklyn sucks too, I don't care what other people say, get a real job you hipster." (Heavy sarcasim here.)

So, what is Marco working on? He is currently working on a number of projects, his main baby being, Plastic. (A short film about an American woman, who lives her life according to intense perfection, until her husband cheats, forcing her towards the other extreme.) Marco is also working on a TV pilot about Nyc artists who are striving to make it, and two other scripts. (You read it here.)

What is your take on Nyc? "From the moment you realize, okay this is what I want to do with my life, till the moment you make it, New York, is the place to be."

What do you think of New York's pace of life and energy? "At one point for a few years I kind of neglected myself with my writing and film making, I concentrated on the day to day living. The easiest thing to do in the city is to be like, well I'm working so hard, 60 hours a week, I don't have time for anything. It's easy to get lost in this city that way. The difference between the people who are really gonna make it, or are in the process of making it, is that perseverance, that focus on where you need to go."

This was volunteered. "The people that make it have the ability to say, "I have no plan B." When you have a plan B, you're going to end up at plan B. When you have something to fall back on you will never push yourself to the limit of plan A, because you can always fall back on plan B. I've never seen anyone become successful by half-assing it."

And what about now, where are you at with the focus? "Even now, I have all these networking events, which is supposedly networking, a way into the industry. It's the biggest fucking bullshit in the universe, because all you do is go over there, pretend to be somebody you're not, and get drunk. You never make contacts except for FaceBook fucking friends. And that's supposed to be networking? Now, I try not to schedule meetings past 7 p.m. because nothing gets done otherwise."

Are you happy inside about what you're doing? "What I do makes me happy. And sometimes it makes me sad. It depends on my emotions. But, there is nothing else I would rather do, there is nowhere else I would rather be. I'm at the point where I am content, happiness is about being actually content. If I I'm happy about where I am and what I'm doing, I think that's where happiness at least starts."

Are you lying about any of this?  "No."


Any final declarations Marco The Great? "I'm here to make my dream come true. And that's it."

McNally, It's A Book Spot

This is a book shop. This is a cafe. This is a place I bring my journal or labtop along with a head full of thoughts.

It's changed since I found it. The cafe's back wall was blank, and now, it is covered with pages of notable novels.  There are books on the shelves, there are books hanging from the ceiling. This is not Barnes & Noble. The table arrangements have also changed. I'm going to have to say thumbs down to those class room type desks. But one can love a person without approving of their shoes, right?

Now the coffee. Yeah, it's the good stuff. Their flavored lattes part clouds, it's that good. It may be a bit more costly than Starbucks, but if you're paying that much anyways, this is worth a try. Tis true, Starbucks is good ol' dependable. They are also second rate to what McNally is putting out. (Sorry Sbucks -- I hope we can still catch that movie next week. I still loveee you.)

As we u-turn back to the head full of thoughts. I am not the only person who trudges to McNally with stuff on the mind. This means don't tinker with the creative energy. If you want to go there to chatter with a friend about a man or woman problem, don't you do it. For the most part this place is a haven for taskers. There is a time and place for everything. May I suggest Starbucks?

And of course I am going to make a scene about the washroom. Um, it's a forest. No, really it's a forest. The wilderness wall paper paired with the delightful babeling brook sounds say so. A few people have taken to signing the walls. Yeah, I signed it. Would you expect any less of me? Common.

Once you're there, that feeling you'll have won't be deja vu. You read it here.

Hair & Fashion

A day last week I submitted myself for a modeling gig. Sure, I white lied about my height, as well as claiming that, "I can walk in heels with the best of 'em." And sure, these nontruths were evident upon meeting, but if had not done that, I would not have discovered the following.

~
At arrival at the 147 W. 4th Street studio, I smiled at the Galanga Thai restaurant next door since I celebrated my eighteenth birthday there. It's funny how many secrets the city holds in it's hands. (Good omen.)

Once inside my ears perked to the Brazilian music. I asked Ms. Jordana Hazan, the brain and face behind Untapped Fashion if I was correct about my assumption of the tunes, and if she was in fact Brazilian. I pleasantly heard her say that she was from Rio. My mother being a Carioca, we exchanged a few words of Portuguese. (Another good omen.)

After the word exchange I took a look around. I noticed the two salon chairs parked in front of two mirrors hung on the brick wall, the large bed behind the curtain, a very handsome dog sitting upon it, the small workspace that fit with the classic/romantic decor, and I thought, what is this place?

While Ms. Hazan's Argentine Boyfriend, Sergio took photos of me (I guess for fun's sake.) she explained the setup: Sergio is a known celebrity hair stylist, who is currently styling strands from their studio at a pay - whatever you can - rate. On Jordana's end she sells clothing created by up and coming, and here designers. (Meet Sergio D' Larosa, isn't he hideous?)

That's called making their space work. It's also called conquering New York. Ever feel like you've just fallen in love with a place or brownie because it's just that good? That is how I feel about what they are doing.

Will I be getting my next snippety snip there? I have too many good feelings about the place to ignore it. If you're thinking, same, the logistics are:

An appointment can be booked with Jordana Hazan at 561-400-2990 or at untappedjordana@live.com.

Fri. - Sun. clients get the good treatment, a caipirinha or a bikini martini. Go with the Caipirinha. ("The girl from Ipanema goes walking")

Do not show up with a twenty in your pocket. I do not condone that type of behavior.

Lastly, at arrival one may think -- It can't be here, this is a residential building, that's because it is a residential building, just press one.

The Grey Dog

When one stops to think of all the selections one has when dining out in Nyc it's simply small minded and rude to continue on eating out the way I have been doing, same spots, same meals. It's time to explore a bit more -- I owe it to this one life.

I'm a picky lady, so these, are truly must tries.

Last Thursday I walked into the Grey Dog on University Place, I've been meaning to for a longish time, but never did, since I feared I would not like it. Stupid fear.

Yeah, I approve. Which hardly ever happens. As I sat with my portabella mushroom sandwich (Yum), the four girls beside me shared one sandwich, that's how large their sandwiches are. And not only were these four girls sharing one sandwich, but they were not getting any judgmental looks by the staff for the sharing.

The framed sketch/art work on the walls.... Clever! I laughed when I read the one liners as I waited to order.

The restroom! I've gotta say, I loved it. Ha. The Grey Dog theme continued in the loo. You'll see. (I am a stickler for lavatories. I tend to get annoyed when more than decent restaurants have restrooms that are comparable to really bad disgusting restrooms. When the bathroom is thoughtfully planned, I think, they care, they really care. I smell a label category for NYC washrooms that should be experienced.)

What more can I say, but go. Grey Dog has three locations I will vouch for the one at:

90 University Place

New York City 10003

O and one more thing that I appreciated; The "Prevent Table Hibernation!" sign. It's straightforward, and I like it.

New York

New York it's the place I am invariably going to and leaving. (Let's see if that can change.) After a number of unconnected hours of idly walking around, I got to thinking. What makes New York, New York?

The answer to this question came hastily as I sat in the sun on a bench at Washington Square Park. It's the people. A city is nothing without it's people. I wrote something similar to that in an earlier post, regarding another city, but New York's nourishment is it's people. New York would not be what it is known for without the small populations of persons who represent each culture, each category of life: the artists, the non artists, the buyers the sellers, how-ever which way one would like to paint it, Nyc would not be what it is without the mess of people that reside there.

In regard to these people: I want to know if they're happy. What are they doing to achieve this happiness? Are hopes and dreams being realized? Where the heck are they from? It's important to know these things.

So, from here on this Blog will actually have a focus. Will I stop writing about myself altogether? No, I think not. But there is an hour for everything. At the current time I am going to do a bit of listening and looking around. I will naturally report on other New York gems along the way.

Let's do this.