The ARTS & LEISURE section

Blame it on my Ivy League education, but I'm a bookworm with the wardrobe of a fashion geek. Any day you can either find me with my nose stuck in a book, or my tail in a dressing room. I think it keeps me balanced this way.

The following is what I'm reading, listening to, and debating with my fellow bluestockings.

WHAT I'M READING...
"OPEN CITY" by TEJU COLE
Cole, a Nigerian born scribe and NYT darling, is responsible for one of this year's most celebrated books, and even more remarkably shares an uncanny resemblance to rapper, Mos Def, that makes you go "hmmmm". Following the solitary but incredibly introspective life and walks of Julius, a Nigerian-born psychologist, around the electrifying streets of New York, "Open City" unearths a locale that is often hidden even to its residents. Cole's poised, elegant, and almost hesitant language, tells a sprawling story of a man's life that stretches across two continents, several cities, and much unspoken pain.

"MALCOM X: A LIFE OF REINVENTION" by Manning Marable
The last work of my former mentor, I know all too well the significance this book has had on many lives. Malcolm X is a hero, and Manning Marable is a saving grace, so it's taken me a while to plow through. A devastating blow personally, but a triumph for history.

WHAT I'M LISTENING TO...
"Mama's Boyfriend" :: Kanye West
"The Birds (Part 1)" :: The Weeknd
"Marvin's Room" :: Drake
House of Balloons :: The Weeknd
"nature feels" :: Frank Ocean
"Glory Box" :: Portishead
"June" :: Van Hunt
"Say You Will | U R The One" :: Mos Def
"Do You Mind?" :: XX
"Dog Days Are Over" :: Florence + The Machine
"Tell Me Why" :: M.I.A.

WHAT I'M ATTENDING...
Kara Walker, "Fall Frum Grace, Miss Pipi's Blue Tale" :: Lehmann Maupin Gallery, NYC
A small and intimate affair, Walker again crafts an engaging, creative, and subversive world set against the backdrop of antebellum South. Puppets are her stars this go around in this seventeen minute video, and each character is entangled in a (sadly) historical conflation of sex, race, power, and violence. I watched it twice, mesmerized. 

Alexander McQueen: Savage Beauty :: Metropolitan Museum, NYC
Everyday I wear a knuckleduster of a cocktail ring on my right index finger, its bedazzled gold skull gleaming out at the world, with a bumblebee askew on its head. It always incites questions and stares, and at this point is so much apart of my daily life, that I often forget its almost menacing but mostly comical appearance. It's McQueen and therefore, it makes sense (at least to me): that dark beauty and glamour mixed with the everyday. I will traverse through the crowds, the lines, and the out-of-towners pushing up on me to simply take a look at this man's legacy.

Rooftop bars :: NYC metropolitan area
Any one will do, as the relentless New York summer heat makes me none too particular, but I did like the view from Jimmy, the James Hotel's spot, and I definitely want to see what the Dream Downtown is looking like. It's always a wonderful thing to gaze upon this fair city, as if you're above it all.

WHAT I'M TALKING ABOUT...
* Brooklyn rent. It's often higher than you think, but no: I won't be revealing how much I actually pay.
* Andrew Weiner's wife, Huma Abedin, who in 2008 was voted one of Vogue's Best Dressed. Perhaps one of the most impossibly elegant women I have ever seen, it's a shame her man was besieged by his own insecurities.
*NBA World Champions, the Dallas Mavericks. As a Dallas-native, the week has had a certain auspicious air about it, like I could tell anyone to essentially suck it.
*Hermes bags and the culture that surrounds them. It's thick with tradition, codes, and insider knowledge: the stuff that fashion is made of.