Spotlight On... Living Liberally

By Nicole Caldwell

I’m balancing a pitcher of beer and making my way to the backyard of Rudy’s Bar & Grill on Ninth Avenue in Midtown. It’s Thursday. People around me scarf down free hot dogs and pontificate on the state of politics today as I spot my group: a handful of Drinking Liberally members positioned across from four 20-somethings who’ve challenged us to a round of flip-cup. You can tell who’s who by the pins—Drinking Liberally’s master of services Justin Krebs has dutifully made sure everyone of his ilk wears a pin saying so.

Born of Necessity
Drinking Liberally was formed in 2003 by Krebs and Matthew O’Neill, a Harvard grad and Emmy-award-winning journalist and filmmaker, respectively. “After the start of the war,” Krebs says, “it felt like the Left had no voice, no leadership. But we realized even our friends weren't talking politics. So we decided to create an avenue to draw our friends into political conversation in their natural habitat.”

A year later, Cosmopolity, a social network Krebs and fellow Harvard grad David Alpert created, incorporated Drinking Liberally thereby offering online calendars and social events as a way to encourage political engagement. The next step was to establish the umbrella organization Living Liberally, which strives to incorporate a person’s political identity into his or her daily life. The program’s intimidating success lies in its brilliant simplicity. Through all of Living Liberally’s groups—Drinking, Laughing, Screening, Eating, Reading, and, more recently, Shooting, Crafting, and Singing—politics are brought to the forefront of what would otherwise be natural social interactions we take part in every day.

[Read the rest of this article here]

[Originally published in The Leaflet, December 2009, V1.7]

Former Editor: Playgirl's "A Relevant Brand Name Once Again," Thanks In Part To Levi

Former Editor: Playgirl's "A Relevant Brand Name Once Again," Thanks In Part To Levi

Levi Johnston is standing naked in a 13th-floor studio in midtown Manhattan holding a hockey stick.

He swivels his head and looks into the camera as -- click -- the photo is taken. This is the money shot: the one Daniel Nardicio is tweeting about right now; the one Levi's manager Tank Jones will gush about to Us Weekly; and the one Gawker and Life & Style and a cajillion other gossip outlets will mention as proof positive that, in the words of Tank Jones, "You'll see what you need to see in these photos."

Media Buzz: Levi Johnston tells Playgirl's E-in-C Thanksgiving with the Palins is a no-go

Gawker.com:
By Brian Moylan
... In an interview he just finished with Playgirl editor-in-chief Nicole Caldwell, Levi says of the invite, "You could tell by her laugh she was full of it." [See link here.]

AccessHollywood.com:
Levi told Playgirl Editor-In –Chief, Nicole Caldwell, in an upcoming interview in Playgirl that she was “full of it… you could tell by her laugh she was full of it.” He said the invite she made during her Oprah interview was “a nice gesture, but she didn’t mean it.” Levi said his presence at the Palin family Thanksgiving would be “awkward.” [See link here.]

MSNBC.com:
By Michelle Perry
According to a spokesman for "Playgirl" magazine, Levi Johnston said Sarah Palin was "full of it" to "Playgirl" editor-in-chief Nicole Caldwell in an interview in the upcoming magazine. [See link here.]

Zap2It.com:
By Andrea Reiher
The back and forth between Levi Johnston and Sarah Palin just won't stop -- Johnston tells Playgirl that Palin is 'full of it.' In previews for Sarah Palin's upcoming appearance on "The Oprah Winfrey Show," Palin says that Levi Johnston is loved and is welcome at their Thanksgiving dinner table. MSNBC is reporting that a spokesperson for Playgirl says Levi has a different idea about that. Reportedly, in Levi Johnston's interview with Playgirl editor-in-chief Nicole Caldwell he says, "You could tell by her laugh she was full of it," in regards to Palin's interview with Oprah. [See link here.]

SoSoJuicy.com:
In an interview he just finished with Playgirl editor-in-chief Nicole Caldwell, Levi says of the invite, "You could tell by her laugh she was full of it." [See link here.]

Blood Surges Back to Playgirl With Johnston Shoot: Former Editor Dishes On Pub's Future


By Amanda Ernst on Nov 12, 2009 03:30 PM

The Internet has been abuzz about Palin-impregnator Levi Johnston's plans to pose for Playgirl, so let's just assume you know all about the photo shoot that's going down right now here in New York. It seems the magazine, which went online only after its January/February 2009 issue went to press last year -- with little success -- is planning a comeback of sorts.

So we asked Nicole Caldwell, who formerly served as editor-in-chief at Playgirl before its print edition was shuttered, to let us in on the behind the scenes workings at Playgirl today. Caldwell has been brought back on board to help put together one "special" issue of the magazine for this year and four more for 2010. She will be interviewing Johnston during his shoot today and tomorrow, and the whole package (ahem) will run online only -- and may be up on Playgirl.com by next week. She spoke to us about the relationship between Johnston and the struggling Playgirl brand, shooting down the idea that the magazine faltered because of a disconnect between the staff and the magazine's audience.

"What matters is Playgirl being back in the public eye if for no other reason than the one I joined the magazine in the first place for: Women should have every available sexual outlet men do," Caldwell told FishbowlNY. "Levi is symbolic: He's become a public figure, he holds allure for a wide cross-section of the American public, he knocked up the VP contender's daughter, and he's willing to pose nude at a time when most people stubbornly continue to consider male nudity more extreme than female nudity. He's young, he's hot, he's virile, and he goes against every stereotype out-of-touch people have for a magazine they've never read: that Fabio-type guy with locks down his chest who I've only seen in 1980s Playgirls."

[Read the rest of this article here.]
[Originally published at FishbowlNY.com]

Community Profile: Fort Greene/Clinton Hill

By Nicole Caldwell

(Note: These segments were written for a wonderful new, hyper-local Web site called My Little O.)
History of Fort Greene and Clinton Hill
The land on which Brooklyn’s Fort Greene and Clinton Hill neighborhoods sit was created more than 12,000 years ago by dirt and rock washed south by icebergs during the last ice age. Since that time, the area has withstood war, disease, and racial tension; all the while leading the way in diversifying New York City’s neighborhoods, urban park development, and the arts.

Vanderbilt Avenue is the dividing line between Fort Greene and Clinton Hill (east and west, respectively). The neighborhoods fall south of Wallabout Bay, north of Prospect Heights; west of Bedford-Stuyvesant, and east of Brooklyn Heights. Walt Whitman, Mos Def, The Notorious B.I.G., and Rosie Perez—among others!—have called Fort Greene and Clinton Hill home.

(Read the rest of this history here)

 Playing in Fort Greene and Clinton Hill
Museums, parks, community gardens, and neighborhood events make Fort Greene and Clinton Hill great destinations for daylong adventures, and help explain the influx of families choosing in recent years to make their homes in these historic neighborhoods.

The Brooklyn Academy of Music (BAM) alone offers movies, plays, recitals, and concerts almost every night of the week. This neighborhood fixture, America's oldest continuously operating performing arts center since 1861, also has an in-house restaurant and bar. The Rubelle and Norman Schafler Gallery on Willoughby Avenue at Grand Street has rotating art exhibits. The Museum of Contemporary African Diasporan Arts (MoCADA) on Hanson Place offers exhibitions, public programs, community outreach initiatives, and educational interactive tours. Then there’s UrbanGlass, the first artist-access glass center in the United States and now the largest. The space educates 900 students from around the world per year, and offers tours, classes, and studio space.

(Read the rest of this piece here.)

Eating in Fort Greene/Clinton Hill
Behind their sleepy residential exteriors, Fort Greene and Clinton Hill boast one of the widest assortments of food you can find anywhere in New York City. From South African to Indian to Italian or French , this brownstone-flecked area presents a selection rivaling most Manhattan neighborhoods. And the best part is that you can find any genre of food to fit any budget.

(Read the rest of this piece here.)

PRNewser Party Appearance

L-R Lara Drasin, Nicole Caldwell, Corinne Weiner

PRNewser Party Recap: How Many Flacks Can You Fit Into a Bar?
By Joe Ciarallo on Oct 15, 2009 12:48 PM

SideBAR was packed last night for PRNewser's latest happy hour party. Thanks to everyone for stopping by and enjoying the drink specials, complimentary appetizers, and of course, the good company.

[sic]

There were also a few journalists that snuck in, and some racy ones at that. Playgirl editor-in-chief Nicole Caldwell told us that she is consulting with the magazine on some projects including the Levi Johnston photo shoot. That's about as far as we got on that one.

[Read the rest of this story here.]

PR Newser: Playgirl and Playboy make matching 'celebrity' PR moves

by Joe Ciarallo

Both Playgirl and Playboy are getting aggressive with "celebrity" PR maneuvers this week. Marge Simpson will appear nude in Playboy's November issue to celebrate The Simpson's 20th Anniversary.

Meanwhile, Levi Johnston, ex-boyfriend of Bristol Palin and father of Sarah Palin's granddaughter will appear nude in Playgirl. Will the PR push around these covers lead to increased sales? Time will tell. It's certainly already leading to increased buzz.

Former Playgirl editor-in-chief Nicole Caldwell, who is still working with the publication on some special projects, tells PRNewser, "Levi Johnston is the best and brightest thing to come out of the Palin campaign. It's a pleasure to go from the straight-talk express to the hot jock undressed. The shoot is tentatively scheduled for the first week of November, and I'm just sorry I won't be there to see this beautiful man in person."

Johnston, who is training six days a week to prep for the shoot, is also looking into reality shows (of course), his publicist Tank Jones told the AP.

[Originally posted on PRNewser Oct. 8, 2009]

Spotlight On... Gowanus Canal Conservancy

By Nicole Caldwell

The Gowanus Canal has a logic-defying reputation for being as repulsive as it is enchanting. Tagged with nicknames such as Lavender Lake and Perfume Creek (neither due to lovely hues or pleasant smells), you wouldn’t think much could live in or near this dirty little estuary, which stretches from Gowanus Bay on the New York Harbor to Gowanus, an industrial neighborhood in Brooklyn a mile and a half east.

Yet against all odds, this purple-hued water—Gowanus Canal Conservancyused as a virtual toxic dumping ground for industry along it well into the 1960s and beyond—has stolen the hearts and imaginations of people intent on saving it. New developments and shopping centers seem to spring up overnight along the canal. Property values climb despite debates over whether the pollution in this Brooklyn waterway causes asthma. There are documented accounts of fishermen catching striped bass and Atlantic silversides in the murky, badly polluted canal.

Read the rest of this article here.

[Originally published in the September 2009 issue of The Leaflet]

Getting There

“Everything you are against weakens you.

Everything you are for empowers you.”—fortune cookie


A few months ago, I read The Bell Jar and felt relieved that, at least, I was in better shape than Sylvia Plath’s character. A crazed electro-shock patient: This was my litmus test for sanity and coping.


Then, the veils began to lift (they really do always lift, as annoying as that adage about “giving it time” is). Drives in convertibles. Beach-sitting. Boardwalk-strolling. A sunburn that makes your flesh tingle. Writing again. The feeling that some part of you is waking up from a very long slumber. Expansion, expansion, expansion. Kayaks on lakes that look like mirrors. Carnivals. Parades. The Better Theory. Bonfires.


The biggest challenge I faced: learning to extricate myself from these attachments I form. It is so hard to let go—to grieve as you would over a death. Why usher that in?


Because, silly girl. If you get yourself healthy, health will follow.


But it’s a bear to figure out. It’s thinking with your heart and then trying to apply logic to it. It’s no longer making excuses ("Change! Outlined goals! The problem’s been recognized!”) and seeing your subtext when you speak (“Come back! Come back!”). It’s learning all of that, and seeing where there is disease, and figuring out a way to move forward without anger or hostility or resentment. Everything—and everyone—I am for, empowers me. So, I decide to root for those who would hurt me. I wish them the best, I blow them kisses, I throw them flowers and smile and say, simply, “I love you. And I have done all I can.”


True empathy—true love—is knowing when someone is better off without you.


The sense of being strong and doing what is right felt good; even as it became increasingly difficult. That knot in my belly! My growing disconnect. A burdensome sense that I’m too far ahead now; these last months reconnected me to the woman I always wanted to be: independent, unafraid, giggly, excited all the time. I’d been so worried; made timid by the possibility of sliding backward. Unhinged by all these dreams.


I did all this for you, and you still __________.

I made these changes like you asked, and you turned around and __________.

The scorecard perpetuated itself (most behaviors are quite easy to predict). And then, silence (but not always).


Travel opened up. Nigerian headpieces in church vestibules with empty wine bottles and giggling girls. Hotel bars shaped like living rooms with fishing bait available behind the counter. Speed boats down creeks. A Chevy truck on the open highway. The north, the south, the sensation of seeing something completely new.


I stop sometimes and whisper to myself, “Thank goodness it’s you. I really missed you a whole lot.”


I may actually be realizing the life I have always longed for.

Daring to Bare: Your Big Apple guide to naked New York

By Nicole Caldwell

The New York Post last July covered a recent surge in New York City's nudist culture. It seems that beyond the city's vast repertoire of adult novelty stores, gentlemen's clubs, and mature entertainment, there's an increasingly mainstream undercurrent of people who just assume less really is more—at least, when it comes to clothing.

Whether you've perfected the art of changing in public without a speck of skin showing; or drop trow anytime you're in a sauna or locker room, you may want to turn your adventurous side over to the nude events happening in and around New York City every day.

For as long as summer lasts, head over to Geocities for a comprehensive list of nude beaches in the area. Or, if you're into meditation and relaxation, pay a visit to Naked Yoga NYC in Midtown. You can also get a listing of non-sexual naked yoga classes throughout the week from Yahoo Groups.

If you’re more into being the voyeur, check out Naked Comedy Showcase on the first Saturday of every month at The People's Improv Theatre in New York (click here for tickets).

Those of you who will spring on any opportunity to let it all hang out with relish a Clothing-Optional Dinner. And if you don't mind sweating without any, ahem, support, have a go at naked hiking. Just promise to pack some bugspray.

[Originally published at Examiner.com]

How to Give Yourself a Massage

Nothing beats a great massage with a reputable therapist. But there’s also nothing saying you can’t give yourself a little pick-me-up anytime you’re stressed or sore.

The next time worldly stresses, exercise, or an uncomfortable night’s sleep catch up with you, here are some basic ways you can unwind on your own.

*First, set up your room for your massage. Turn the lights down, light a candle, and make sure distractions are kept to a minimum.

*Sit on the floor with your legs crossed on a carpet, rug, or mat for padding.
As with any stretching or yoga position, breathe deeply. Start out by taking 10 very slow, long breaths. In through your nose, hold for a few seconds, then out slowly through your mouth. As you do this, take mental inventory of where you feel tense or sore.

*Your feet, which together have a whopping 14,000 nerve endings, are a great place to start. Apply pressure to the soles with your thumbs, then rub hard with your palms. After the bottoms of your feet feel looser, go back to applying pressure along the arch of your foot and at the tips of each of your toes.

Read the rest of this blog here.

[Originally published on Massage Williamsburg's blog.]

Spotlight On... Bank of America Tower

One Bryant Park at 42nd Street

Projected completion date: 2010

By Nicole Caldwell

Skyscrapers have been called many things; but for the first time, Manhattan’s second-tallest will also be known as the country’s greenest.

The soon-to-be-completed Bank of America Tower, located at One Bryant Park in Midtown, boasts 2.1 million square feet and 52 stories of the greenest architecture in the United States—and possibly, the world. As the first skyscraper to strive for the U.S. Green Building Council’s LEED “Platinum” designation, the space was designed to reduce potable water and energy consumption by 50 percent; utilize 50 percent recycled material in the construction phase; and to acquire half of all building materials from within 500 miles of the site.

It’s not an easy undertaking, or cheap. The building in 2004 was estimated to cost $1 billion; this June, The Durst Organization developers secured a $1.3 billion loan to allow the construction to be completed. The building is co-owned by Durst and Bank of America, representatives of whom declined to comment for this piece.

Read the rest of this article here.

[Originally published by Clean Edison]