I don’t want to go to Chelsea.

Actually, that is completely untrue. The title of this post is a line taken from an Elvis Costello tune that I remember from my college days. (My sophomore roomie at Northwestern was a punk music fan.) The truth is that I am very excited about going to Chelsea (New York’s West Village) for a day. I will be there for only several hours. I went on-line to find the perfect cafe to hang out and read or write in, and I picked out a place. Or maybe I will just walk around a bit. Actually, I doubt that I will do much walking. My knees hurt after too much walking. (Note to self: another reason to work out and strengthen my knees…) Actually, I have no schedule. But I am excited about being in one spot in the village for a day. I may document it – or not – depending on my activity, but I will have my cameras in hand. Maybe I will go to the Chelsea Hotel.

Before my Chelsea adventure begins I will stay in the Bronx at the home of my dear kindred spirit: my cousin Bill. I found out about Northwestern University because of him. He attended NU and I (along with my mom and Aunt Adeline) visited him there one summer and I fell in love with the place. Bill and I shared the experience of attending predominantly white schools most of our lives and of attending Northwestern in particular. That’s a bond that only a few Black folks share, and trust me, the experience does create a kinship especially if you socialized outside of the black social network on campus – which I did – and still do, so to speak… (Hey, I started this blog post quoting an Elvis Costello song – need I say more?) and so did Bill. And I wouldn’t change a thing – it’s who I am. Plus our mothers (Bill’s & mine) were sisters and though he is closer to my brothers’ age – thus almost ten years older – we kinda grew up together.

I am very excited about this trip!! Stay tuned…