Elinor Nauen

Look! the mutant giant pigeons of San Francisco! I'm going to do a little more bird-watching. I'm trying to do one thing every day this week that is out of my routine. Yesterday I checked out the pop-up food court in the island on Broadway across from Madison Square Park: mostly pork or alcohol, or I would have eaten something.

I might be the only person who played in a punk  Read More 

Our hotel was across the street from Chinatown's dragon gates & just a few blocks from City Lights. The wallpaper has the text of On the Road and there was a copy of that book and of Howl in our room. The Beats are here the way the East Village sells its punk past.

The staff is local and hip. One had "Dan Savage" under his name. I asked why. He said they're encouraged to add the name of someone or something that's a big influence on them, then started to explain who Dan Savage is. We cut him off: We live in New York, we know who Dan Savage is. Everyone in the United States knows who Dan Savage is. OK, I didn't say that last, but anyone who would  Read More