Hilary McHone

129 years ago today (May 24, 1883), the Brooklyn Bridge opened! Happy Anniversary!

My hope was that I’d get some photos of some uniform-clad sailors on the bridge since it’s Fleet Week. Unfortunately, there were none to be seen. Not terribly surprising, as I had to squeeze my walk in between today’s thunderstorms.

I DID see sailors earlier in the day in Times Square and wondered if any groups of them might be going to see Anything Goes on Broadway. I hope so because the thought amuses me.

Today, on a whim, I went to the Brooklyn Public Library. I lucked upon an event and met some cool people. If you’re ever all like “Should I go out or should I stay in?” I recommend going out. You never know.

Last week I went to Hot Tub with Kurt and Kristen at the Littlefield Performance & Art Space for the first time. Tonight I returned with some of my friends! The show is co-hosted by Kurt Braunohler and Kristen Schaal! Tonight also featured sets by Jordan Carlos, Eugene Mirman, Jamie Lee, Casey Ley, and Mike Recine.

My photos of all of them can be seen here.

In between “serious” band shots for Loose Cattle, we had some fun… (Okay, none of the shots were super-serious!)

Loose Cattle are (left to right): Eddy Zweibeck, Gabriel Caplan, Michael Cerveris, Kimberly Kaye, and Lorenzo Wolff. I’ve known Eddy & Michael for years and had a great time meeting the others. After the shoot, we all went to hear some music at the Brooklyn Folk Festival. I will post more photos from the day on Flickr soon.

The name “Loose Cattle” brings up a specific memory from childhood. After my parents got divorced, my dad lived in all sorts of different places – a converted church, an old schoolhouse, and even a farm. One day I was at the farm daydreaming on a swing set. I don’t know how much time went by, but all of a sudden, I noticed that cows were surrounding me! (Maybe it was only one or two, but my memory is more dramatic than that.) The cattle had indeed gotten loose. It kinda freaked me out. I was only little. Ish.

Like Loose Cattle on Facebook!

Today I tried to go to 7 Middaugh Street, where W.H. Auden, Benjamin Britten, Carson McCullers and Gypsy Rose Lee lived in the 1940s, but apparently that address has been gone since 1947, thanks to the BQE. Obviously, I don’t always do too much research before heading out my door!

Anyway, I kept walking until I got to a former home of H.P. Lovecraft. According to my reading, he lived at 169 Clinton Street from 1925-26. It was in a northwest corner room there that he wrote “The Horror at Red Hook”, which can be read here.

I can’t walk by a cat in a window without taking a photo.

This was all I could manage today. Sean, Jenn & I had a lovely time!

BAM showed Little Shop of Horrors and Dirty Rotten Scoundrels. There was a Q&A with Frank Oz. Cool!

By chance, I discovered a weekly show called Hot Tub with Kurt and Kristen at the Littlefield Performance & Art Space. It’s co-hosted by Kurt Braunohler and one of my favorites – Kristen Schaal! Tonight also featured sets by Brooklynite Eugene Mirman, Baron Vaughn, Rob Delaney, and Seaton Smith.

My photos of all of them can be seen here.