I hated math.
I had a notebook filled with algebra equations and messy scrawled calculations.
On the last day of school in 8th grade, I got off the school bus, threw that f*@ker into the air behind me and ran.
I didn’t look back.
The school year had rules, schedules, and guidelines.
But the Summer was mine.
In New York City, Summer is in full swing. I’ve got 10 easy tips on how to make it your best yet:
1. Get Thee to The Tilt-O-Whirl. It’s not Summer unless there is some rickedy falling apart carnival out there waiting for you to find it. Cotton Candy! Flashing lights! Rides! Throwing up on your friends after they drag you onto the Cliff Hanger! Who wouldn’t want this?
2. Decorate Your Bare Summer Skin.
I adore tattoos, but if you can’t handle the commitment, henna is a gorgeous way to express yourself. Henna is a plant based ink, that has been used in cultures throughout the world to adorn skin and color hair. If it’s good enough for Cleopatra, it’s good enough for me.
3. Stay Up All Night And Watch The Sun Come Up. There’s something about those early morning hours when the colors start to flood the sky and the night silence is broken by birdsong. I’ve had two of those nights in the past week alone…and there is a certain feel of triumph in seeing the dark turn into dawn. Relish those moments, welcome in the Summer day and pass out for early morning dreaming.
4. Free Your Inner Mermaid. Find a body of water and jump in it. Swing from a rope into a lake. Go on a moonlight swim in the ocean. Whether you live by a stream, an ocean, a river or a lake, let the water free your spirit. Bonus points if you decorate yourself in blue glitter fabulousness, go to the annual Coney Island Mermaid Parade and then go for a group plunge into the ocean at the end. Sarah Sparkles shows you how it’s done:
5. Be a Rock Star of the Volunteer World. Put the needle in. There’s a blood shortage in New York City right now, and I’m proud to be a regular blood donor. If giving blood isn’t your thing, there’s so many ways that we can help out our communities and our world. Pick out a cause that is dear to your heart and get to work. Volunteering is sexy.
6. Heed the Call of the Road.
My favorite line from the movie, Blues Brothers is: “It’s 106 miles to Chicago. We’ve got a full tank of gas, half a packet of cigarettes, it’s dark, and we’re wearing sunglasses… Hit it.” I’m in love with Kerouac. I’m in love with Bonnie and Clyde. I know all the words to the Muppets “Moving Right Along”. I have lived half of the last six years of my life on a tour bus. The road and I are long-time lovers.
7. Rock It Out at an Outdoor Summer Concert or Play. I love seeing and supporting live shows. If it’s a Summer outdoor concert or festival, I am there. I have danced with abandon in the pouring rain at outdoor festivals, I’ve swayed under paper parasols to protect me from the sun, I’ve shimmied under a wild moon as a band roared on. This is a photo of Me, Sparkles and Dicie rocking it out at the front of a Jane’s Addiction show outdoors. We got a chance to meet revolutionary rock star, Perry Farrell that night and he dubbed us “The 3 Muses of Brooklyn”. INDEED.
8. Do Something You’ve Never Done Before. Summer is about new discovery. It’s about growth and unlimited possibility. Take the leap and commit to doing one thing you’ve never done before by this Summer’s end. I was terrified for my first ukulele concert, but I did it and I’m already learning new songs and planning the next one. Hell yes, new discovery! Technically, the below picture was from my very private second show. It was spontaneous and it was held in a sketchy tunnel in Central Park while it rained. What else do you want?
9. Find Your Spiders Across The Stars. Wild nights of dancing fill my heart until it bursts. Use the gorgeous long days and nights of Summer to find your tribe and do what you do best….live it to the fullest! Anything I write here will not be enough to honor the fierce imagination and the passion of my friends….so I will just quote Kerouac: “…the only people for me are the mad ones, the ones who are mad to live, mad to talk, mad to be saved, desirous of everything at the same time, the ones who never yawn or say a commonplace thing, but burn, burn, burn like fabulous yellow roman candles exploding like spiders across the stars.” In awe.
10. Roll Down a Hill. Seriously. Do it. You’ll love it. Get grass stains on your clothes. Who cares? That’s what they invented laundry detergent for. If you need instructions on how to make that happen…this is worth watching a second time.
Niney, Chihuahua of the Sunshine, approves of this post.
Now share this post with your friends and make a Summer plan, add your Summer ideas to the comments and then shut your computer and go dominate this day.
Seriously.
Don’t make Niney mad.
xox
Vv
