My dear father, Domenic Monaco (1948-2006) once gave my sister some dating advice by telling her a little story. He said:

“Look, you know what you want but sometimes you get a little confused. It’s like when I go to Dunkin’ Donuts. I know I want the jelly, but then I get there, and I see the cruller…and I see the Boston Creme…so I go up to the counter…and I order the cruller. And I eat the cruller, and something’s just not right. So then I go back up to the counter…and I order the Boston Creme. And something’s still not right. And then it hits me: all I really wanted was the jelly.”

Sister, Dad, and Me

I’m really lucky in that after years of searching, I have found home. Even though there is a lot of gentrification in my neighborhood (read: self-important yuppie scum moving in, behaving rudely, and causing the rents to go sky high) there is still plenty of old-school going on, lots of people who have lived in the neighborhood their entire lives, whose parents grew up here as well, and will stop you on the street to say hello and catch up.

Case in point: tonight there was a photo exhibit of the people that contribute to the rich history of the neighborhood. From 100-year-old Rose Fazio to the guy with the extensive tribute to the Titanic on the façade of his brownstone and my friends with whom I’ve shared many a glass of wine at the local bars, it was beautiful to see documentation of all of those I know and admire.

It still amazes me how my neighborhood can feel like a small town. Whenever something’s happening that’s of any significance, you can be sure to see most of the people you know. And tonight was no exception; lots of the locals were out.

Big John has a band called the Big Daddy Project, a rock band with whom I shared a bill when I was still playing with The Lascivious Biddies. (John called them “Beauty and the Beast” gigs even though the guys in the band are pretty good looking.) I’ll never forget the time we played in a mechanic’s garage! Because of all of the chemicals, no smoking was allowed as the place would’ve exploded. (literally!) The place was packed, and someone bought a keg and re-sold the beer, making the local mafia guy pretty upset as I guess we were infringing on his business or something.

Louie is my landlord. Along with having great neighbors, I live in a great house. We all get along wonderfully, and hang out on a regular basis.

Becky is another friend who lives a few blocks away, and who I met through Louie. She was featured in the show as a long-time resident. She also makes beachglass jewelry, and is always a lot of fun to hang out with.

Drew DiCamillo and Jackie Weisberg. Drew plays bass in the Big Daddy Project and recently returned from living in Italy for the last two years (and boy did we miss him!)

Jackie’s photos took up half of the exhibit, and she took an amazing picture of Drew. Jackie will be posting the photos on her web site once the show is over, at www.jackieweisberg.com

Me posing for a photo with my friend Ricardo, who doesn’t live in the neighborhood, but used to own a building about a block away from where I live and he’s in construction. Ricardo is married to Beth, and together they are a really fantastic couple!

That’s just a small slice of the people I know. I’ve only known them for a couple of years, but already we’ve shared a ton of memories…

Here’s a new one that I wasn’t expecting: Andrey had me “Simpsonized”. Who would have thought?

Next to me is our cat, Gretta.

Sorry I haven’t been blogging lately; a lot has been going on. For starters, the new CD, I Think I’ll Keep You, is out in Japan. There’s also another CD by my group Playdate that’s coming out on the Posi-tone label in the spring. And the composer Joe Phillips’s masterpiece “Vipassana” (written for 25-piece jazz orchestra!) is being released on the innova label this year as well; I feel very lucky to have been a part of that project, as Joe’s music is just perfect.

But it is a belated-New-Year’s-resolution of mine to blog more, so I PROMISE there will be more to come very soon!