Categories
How we live

Justice and Joy for Black Lives outside my Brooklyn window

“Black Lives Matter” echoed outside my window afternoon into dusk every day this summer. My view overlooked Flatbush Avenue on Bergen and Dean sharing blocks with the Barclay Center and Police Precinct 78th in Brooklyn. It was the initial epicenter of the peaceful protests in New York and my second year in NYC.

Before the George Floyd was brutally killed on May 25, 2020, streets were in a silent war with Coronavirus.

https://twitter.com/ninamehta/status/1240426733322600448?s=20

Silent streets, erupted

Busy avenues were uncomfortably desolate during lockdown. I wouldn’t leave my studio for days or weeks at a time. We didn’t know the virus was airborne and washing groceries was futile. All I heard was the echo of the Bergen Street Subway underground and ambulances speeding to overwhelmed hospitals to with COVID-19 patients.

Then, like whiplash the streets filled and virus was secondary.

https://twitter.com/ninamehta/status/1266502021248671745?s=20

Days after George Floyd’s murder, before protest in New York I was on a stressful visit to my bodega that allowed for 2-feet of distance at most. With shock and whiplash, I found hoards of people in protest against police at the Barclay Center. I positioned myself between two police cars, where I could get some amount of social distance to have an internal conversation with myself about what cause was worth risking Coronavirus. Black Lives Matters, yes, of course.

New to New York City, my personal comfort with the NYPD waned. I came home and was horrified I was only feet away from horrific brutality:

https://twitter.com/ninamehta/status/1266563625248010241?s=20

Much later, we did learn peaceful, masked, protesting did not significantly contribute to the spread of Coronavirus. But wih the nation on fire, I could not leave my apartment without facing 30+ unmasked Police and having to show ID to enter my block. Seeing police actively step on the gas, into pedestrians with my own eyes shifted something deeper inside me.

The protests continued. The virus continued. Living on Flatbush, continued.

Every single peaceful protest was needed and warranted. But in my studio apartment, during a performance review or design critique, I really wished I too had a cabin upstate or an easy way to escape to the suburbs. Just some quiet and relief for my nervous system. Every visit to the grocery store or walking call with my therapist was also a short march in a protest.

Only later could I appreciate the front seat and ease to participate in history in the making.

  • Peaceful protesting down Atlantic Avenue
  • Police who lined my street
  • View out my window
  • Cops blocking my front door
  • Street art in progress
  • PRIDE

As autumn turned and friends returned to New York City, they questioned why I would stay here all summer. And now, I cannot imagine having been anywhere else. The city too, came alive, together.

Summer of Joy and Community

I believe Black Trans Lives matter and I know Black Trans Lives are a central community and arts in New York City.

“It was so big, it was impossible to tell from the ground what we had created” – @SarahMilstein, a friend and leader I look up to.

I was comforted, relieved, and felt connected to see people from my music world out marching. And especially Fran Tirado, who I got to know with when he visited Mailchimp in Atlanta, a keynote speaker at the Black Trans Lives Matter march, and collaborator on underground music events I attend in Bushwick.

https://twitter.com/ninamehta/status/1272259942511259651?s=20

Summer of Music and Justice

There was so, much, dancing this summer. I went from prancing around my studio to Honey Dijon in my apartment with visiting-cat Jeffy, to in the streets of Clinton Hill with my now neighbors.

After so many months of lockdown, we felt our bodies come alive. I was afraid I forgot how to hug, kiss, move, and play. But at the first sound of a bass, my body knew what to do and I met new and old friends again on the stoops and dance floor.

And lest you not forget Black Trans queens were voguing long before Madonna. Disco, that influenced house, influenced something you dance to, also started with Black Trans artists as tastemakers at the center. Many, who we lost from AIDS, from the biggest epidemic in American history.

We were in it

I waited to write this post.

New York City was like a cinematic sonic boom. Silent and then fully erupted.

We never got justice for the endless souls who were and will be innocently murdered for being Black. We might never. I feel the progress was incremental as best. And we’re still in it. Children hundreds of years from now will read a line in a text book, maybe a paragraph, about this summer and hopefully find our whole way of being, disorientingly archaic and backwards.

I waited to write this post because my voice was not the most important, then. It wasn’t safe to share where I lived. And I was in it. As I pack my Konmari books and gorgeous framed photo of Indya Moore, I am enthusiastic to sign a new lease in New York City. A place that has made it so easy to call home, especially this summer, and especially because of the people who stayed.

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How we live

This normal isolation

Note: This post was written on May 8, 2020 and published unedited on July 31, 2020. In the spirit of charting the course of this crisis for my personal records, I’m posting it anyway. It’s incompleteness somehow captures the sentiment of these times.

First, we were wishing to go back to normal, then protested that going back wasn’t possible. But here we are in it, waiting for the other side to know what the end looks like. I’m writing this post to chart personal, tactical, tangible change that will continue stay when we’re together again and close.

A liveable studio

My office, bedroom, kitchen, yoga, studio, art space, and living room is one big box with a hallway and bathroom. It’s tight but fine tuning the details every day is leading me to fall in love with my home and this city in new ways.

Night Pool 1, acrylic and oil on canvas

I recently collected a Night Pool print from Robert Bingham. This print took an already used wall space in the bathroom by other pieces. When those former pieces were hung in my entry way, I saw new possibility to turn my entry way into a yoga studio and place to take casual calls.

I deal with stress and loss of control by tidying and organizing. So needless to say, less important drawers and shelves are in tight shape giving me an overall sense of ease and order. After the isolation, I will be looking at new art and moving through the space differently.

The waking working life

The people I work with on a daily basis recently shifted, unrelated to COVID. Considering we spend the majority of our waking hours at work, the bulk of my day is look quite different than sixty days ago. Of course folks at HQ have much more empathy for being on Zoom every day, I hope that stays if we ever go back to offices.

Reading the cards

I’m taking a Tarot 101 class with Catland Books every Sunday in May with my friend Amy. I was looking for something playful, creative, and low pressure. Sure, it’s helping me tune into visual interpretation and my personal intuition. This is a new skill Amy and I are developing together, that did not exist months before lock down.

Loneliness

Exactly 57 days was the last time I made physical contact with another human. This two month hiatus

Categories
How we live

Face Mask Required signs

As our stores, restaurants, and cities are opening, we must also take more precaution on our streets. In my neighborhood, some shop owners expressed a hesitancy to enforce wearing masks without a rule posted anywhere, especially with the NYPD. I made these signs for my bodega guys and for anyone else who needs it. I’m hopeful a sign helps create a policy backed by the business owner to create safety for my local community.

Download Face Masks Required signs

Relatedly, I politely queued outside my local deli while awaiting unmasked police officers to exit. When some new unmasked police were entering, I mentioned I had been waiting awhile for a safe time to enter and kindly requested they wear masks. The response from one NYPD member was:

“I don’t have a mask. My body, my choice.”

– NYPD, June 8, 2020

Categories
How we live

Black Lives Matter Posters

Download and post these posters in your window to show your community you support your local black community. Each day I see a new banner out my window and it changes how I feel about my home, street, and neighborhood: activated and safe. If you have a printer, share a few extras with your neighbors.

Download Black Lives Matter Posters

Posters in series

  • Black Lives Matter
  • No Justice, No Peace
  • Stop Killing Black People

Categories
How we live

Life Before Quarantine

By now it’s clear the world will be very different tomorrow, next week, next month, and next year. What we don’t know is how. I’m writing this to help future me have a record what the past was like. I want to remember this turning point or later know if I was foolish to think this was the moment when everything changed.

The proverbial watercooler

I started optionally working from home on March 2, 2020. I immediately went stir crazy and visited the office and gym a few times. The few half days I went to the office, work felt business as usual with extra Purell. There was more signage in the bathrooms about washing your hands for two happy birthdays. Coworking spaces are so high traffic, it was hard to feel like it mattered.

At yoga, I got a few funny looks when I insisted on using lysol wipes instead of whatever is in those spray bottles. I never really liked the used rag method, but I guess no one wants to lug their own yoga mat around dirty NYC.

Zero feet apart weekends

That Friday, March 6, 2020, I had a date with someone I had been seeing for a bit. It was hard not to talk about anything but Coronavirus. Even when the topic shifted to something positive, there was a heavy weight in the air. Even his pup was stressed out. Eventually, I suggested I go home. In your 30s, Friday date nights are hard even when a pandemic isn’t looming. I stayed up feeling low until 3am watching Jessica become Messica.

Hangin out zero feet apart

Saturday morning, friends who live on my street hosted a bagel brunch. Like any New York home hang, we were shoulder to shoulder. “Six feet apart” wasn’t in the daily dialogue yet. Someone I met at brunch invited me to join a dinner with more friends in the neighborhood. I enthusiastically said yes. Needless to say, that dinner never happened.

That night, I rode the subway to LIC. No gloves, no mask, no fear. My eyes were shamelessly glued to my phone, watching the finale of Love is Blind. I almost wished the ride was longer, just to finish the episode.

I met friends for dinner at Adda Cantine. We squished six to a table and shared a single travel size Purell bottle. “Covid Nineteen” was in the air. Some friends at dinner practice medicine, so of course I asked how worried we should be. All logic pointed to staying home– but still, we went out. From one squeeze to another, we piled into a Lyft, back to Brooklyn.

Before the dancefloor was full at Public Records

Daniel Bell was playing at Public Records. A remarkable artist at a tasteful club. If you’ve been there before, you know they graciously cater to a slightly more mature demographic, which includes placing a high value on keeping hydrated. Friends pulled clean tin cups from the community stack and dispensed water from the tap. I wonder if we’ll bring our own cups in the future.

We’re very lucky no one got sick. I say the following because we were so fortunate. I’m glad I went out dancing. We shouldn’t have. But it seems like I might not get to move my body in a large gathering for a long time. It’s something I need, it gives me energy.

I bumped into a few friends there. One being a promising young designer I met at a Carbon 5 mentor night. She had just gotten her first job and finally had health insurance. I hope she’s still employed, I should look her up. I left early, though. The BPM wasn’t picking up and I liked the idea of a good night’s sleep — ok fine, the finale of Love is Blind, was calling me.

On the other side of Brooklyn, my brother was DJing a party in Bushwick. At the time, opportunities to hear him play in a night club felt like great abundance. Bushwick was far, and I wanted to lay down. Read the quote. It was the best gig he’s had in NYC.

https://www.instagram.com/p/B9mRDlRJN6Z/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link

I wish I was there. I regret going home. Netflix and early bedtimes are painfully abundant now.

That Wednesday, March 12, I went for dinner with some coworkers to celebrate a new teammate joining. We considered canceling and thought to keep one last hurrah. Upon entering the restaurant, I forgot all the rules and side hugged my new teammate and sat zero feet apart from another. That’s was the last time I made contact with people.

I’m not sure when I’ll dance with friends again, or meet for dinner, go on a date, or stroll to my neighbor’s house. Heck, I can’t even predict when I’ll hug someone again.

All of these things will happen. But New York will be different. I’ll be different.

Isolation is not for New Yorkers

I won’t sugar coat it. It’s scary in New York right now. What I know is my friends and family are staying home, washing their hands, and keeping a distance if they have to go out. If the numbers get worse, there’s not a whole lot more we can do. The only way out is through.

Friends and family are asking how I’m doing. I don’t know how to answer this question. Bad? Fine? Hangin’ in there? We’re all living through this pandemic, with our own unique challenges. What’s less visible to the rest of the world, is what transplant New Yorkers signed up for when they moved here.

In a few hundred square feet, I sleep, where I eat, where I work and design, where I exercise, and where I write. Most of us don’t have spare bedrooms, porches, back yards, garages, cars, and now barely the subway. The promise of moving to New York is the gift of walking out your door with the entire world at your finger tips.

My situation is not worse than yours. But every morning I wake up and I am exactly where I’ll be, with nowhere to go but inside.

I hope you’re doing ok. Please stay the fk home.

Categories
How we live

Slack Group Template for Apartment Buildings

I created a Slack group for my building to help feel more connected locally while in quarantine at home. Here’s the template for the steps I took:

  1. Create a new group on slack.com
  2. Upload a group app icon
  3. Create a few channels
  4. Set up welcome messages
  5. Post flyers so neighbors know the group exists

I made a template of the flyer and messaging. Take whatever is useful for you! Here’s to more connectivity in these isolating times.

Download flyers and templates

Categories
Travel

Holé Mole Mexico City

After years of reading rave reviews, I finally made it to the capital city of Mexico.

Street art in the Metro Station

There are endless lists, guides, and maps, especially from New Yorkers and Californians on CDMX. Read them! This is my particular view on the city and intentionally leaves out more common recommendations like the National Museum of Anthropology and the Teotihuacán ruins.

Learn Some Spanish

CDMX is a Spanish speaking city. Unlike Amsterdam, Montreal, or Hong Kong where you can get by on English, you will need some Spanish in Mexico city. Brush up on the language basics or keep Google Translate handy.

Book the Taco Bar at Pujol

Pujol’s soft and warm living room

Ok, fine. I’m starting with an obvious recommendation, but only because I really mean it. Absolutely have lunch at Pujol, one of the top rated restaurants in the world. Book yourself for the 1:30 Taco Bar, which is a 10 (?) course lunch for about $200. The lunch includes many riffs on classical Mexican dishes, excellent wine or beer pairing, a 5+ year old mole, never-ending desserts, and world class service, sight, smell, touch, and of course taste experiences. Get ready to eat some bugs! I absolutely recommend the Taco Bar over pre-fixe menu at the tables. It’s more relaxed and has a wider variety of tastes.

With so many drink pairings, you’re bound to pee a few times. I sure did. Enjoy the toilets: the lighting, scent, and sounds are a tropical delight. Our table spent a couple hours after the meal on the lush green patio digesting and trading stories. Take your time and soak it in, they’ll wait for you to request the bill.

Brush up on chef Enrique Olvera’s Chef’s Table Netflix episode before you go. Yes, make a reservation and ignore the haters who say it’s overrated.

After lunch, saturate your senses with a stroll around the corner to Xinu, a local, boutique fragrance shop. While yes it is pretentious, the curators source from local plants, and offer a full tasting menu of scents and ecological boutique packaging.

Take a Yoga class in Spanish

Mexico City, like most cities, has what seems like infinite yoga studios. On this trip, I took my classes in Spanish. Over time I’m realizing Vinyasa classes are the easiest to take in a foreign language since the sequences are somewhat predictable and often rely on Sanskrit for the brass tacks information.

Beautiful terrace view at Green Yoga

Green Yoga – I attended the Juárez studio for a Yin class the day I landed. Their first course is free so you have little to lose here. The studio was bright, clean, and friendly. My particular instructor was somewhat transactional from pose-to-pose, but I still left feeling refreshed, stretched, and reconnected. Immediately next door is Cicatriz Cafe, perfect for a coffee, snack, dinner, or drink.

Cafe Cicatriz
Blanco Yoga

Blanco Yoga – While Green Yoga wins on physical space, Blanco offered more skilled instruction, deeper poses, and more cohesion flow-to-flow. The Condessa studio itself was less inviting but none of that mattered once I began the practice. Highly recommend! Around the corner is Pasteleria Suiza with some stunning desserts, especially the puff pastry cream pies.

Pasteleria Suiza

City Art

Most of the big museums are situated by the park. I’ll skip my review on the big ones and recommend:

James Turrell at Museo Jumex – He has several new installations on view including previews from Roden Crater. Be sure to book in advance. I recommend taking the first showing at 9am before the crowds.

Skalar, Fronton Mexico

Skalar – Kangding Ray and Christopher Bauder, Berlin artists, brought an immersive light, sound, techno installation to CDMX. If you’re into electronic music or immersive art, it’s worth the trip to Fronton Mexico.

Galería OMR, Roma

Galería OMR – Lovely multi-floor gallery in Roma presenting local artists and contemporary work in a brutalists space and lush garden in the back. It’s near Rosetta Panaderia and the Museum of Objects, if you’re in the neighborhood.

Wide views of Mexico City from the Tower

Mexico City Tower – Ride up to the 37th floor for a drink and stunning view of CDMX. While I don’t usually spend time at these kinds of tourist traps, it was a nice place to rest after an afternoon in the Zocolo and shows how truly expansive Mexico City is! Check it out.

National Palace – Home to a huge Diego Rivera mural and several smaller pieces, this spot is unmissable. The wikipedia page on the History of Mexico mural was enough to help me orient the vast range of imagery. Murals aside, there’s a gorgeous desert garden, interesting sculptures, and lazy cats enjoying the sunshine.

Shopping Local

Roma Norte and Condessa didn’t have as many boutiques as I hoped for. However here’s some cuties for ya:

Carla Fernandez, Juárez

Carla Fernandez – fabulous haute couture designer. Though she’s outside price my range, the brutalist architecture of her flagship Juarez location is worth the trip alone. I enjoyed seeing a Mexican expression of avant-garde style.

Mercado Sabado – This Saturday Market was a day of commercial indulgence for me. Though it’s clearly marketed for tourists, the food, art, and wears are indeed local and well crafted. They range from street to boutique prices and is not far from here is Frida Kahlo’s home museum and neighborhood.

Xinu Perfumes

Xinu Perfumes – see review in the Pujol section

Utilitario Mexico – Simple home goods (around the corner from Green Yoga and Cicatriz)

The Shops at Downtown – Nice spot for window shopping, especially if you spend a historic afternoon at Zocolo. Azul Historico here!

180 Shop – has your hipster basics covered and is across the street from Rosetta and the Museum of Object.

Dining Quick Hits

You could come to Mexico City and only eat. I won’t even try to compete with the dining and taco guides. So here’s my quick hits on what to try and what to skip:

Azul – I much preferred the environment at Azul Historico to Azul Condessa. We ate at Condessa. The service was transactional but the mole was some of the best we’ve had. I regret ordering the enchiladas after I tasted the yellow mole and perfect steak.

Kura Izakaya – I highly recommend visiting Kura for a few Japanese bites. We had the delectable Chutoro Tuna and tea after a quick taco dinner. The interiors are beautiful and include a lush green garden en route to the bathroom.

El Moro – great spot for churros on the go, though a bit too crunchy for my taste. However, Pujol will ruin your churro palate for life in the best ways. If you go get the dark, not light, hot chocolate. Cute tote bags!

Rosetta Panadería – This bakery has serious Tartine vibes. If you’re in CDMX for a few weeks, this is a good dip into European breads and croissants. But if you only have a short time in Mexico, keep your eyes on the tortilla prize.

El Califa – no idea why people keep recommending this chain. Skip it.

Tacos – I don’t think we/I aced it on the taco front. There’s a lot of great guides here and my favorite bites were from unnamed street vendors.

Travel by car, bike, and train

Most guides recommend ubering everywhere since the cost is so low for travelers from the US and Europe. Do this instead of taxis.

I quite enjoyed taking the metro (about $0.25 USD a ride) during rush hour. My friend noted that each of the stops also includes a visual icon which I appreciated from a design, accessibility, and literacy perspective. This can be the better option when traffic is awful.

Uber Jump bikes are fairly pervasive around Roma Norte. On such a short trip, this nice pedal-assist ride let me see a lot of the neighborhood while preserving my energy. If you don’t have experience with acute driver awareness and city-biking, I do not recommend this option for you.

CDMX is Credit Card Friendly

Most shops and markets took credit cards. I only used cash on hands for street taquerias. If you plan to shop from local artisans, they pay an extra tax for credit cards, so the cash is appreciated.

Double check your Airport Terminal

Double check your departure terminal upon departing home. Some flights fly to the US from Terminal 1 (International) and some from Terminal 2. You’ll need to take a train to change terminals!

Categories
Design

Leading Design 2019: better peopling

Now that I’m here in New York, I see so many problems and opportunities through the lens of people. Big numbers of people, of all kinds of people. The Leading Design Conference for the first time held in the United States, was in New York. I’m taking three themes home with me from the conference: diversity, authenticity, and human centered design.

The three themes are so interconnected. A team with different experiences and perspectives is only if they can bring their whole selves to work. We have to recreate our spaces, meetings, conversations, and ways of working so approach work in new and more open ways. We lost along the way was human centered design, as Kim Goodwin put it. Not the user, not the customer, not the business, but the human being, their feelings, emotions, family, and life experiences. And sometimes, daily survival

We learned in so many ways that if we move fast and break things, we break things. Technology changes elections. Elections change real policies. Janice Fraser is the only conference speaker who ever brought me to tears.

How can we come to work fully if we are not safe at home? The same applies for the people on our team.

Abortion bans are a workplace issues.
Immigration is workplace issues.
Shootings are a workplace issue
Who you sleep with is a workplace issue

It’s our job as leaders to make safe work environments. The tech industry, especially the platforms, no longer get to claim impartiality and neutrality to politics. To change the culture we have to change how we bring ourselves to work.

In journalism school, I learned the best way to make a story relatable is to make it personal and specific rather than generic and all-encompassing. When people understand another persons’s experience, they’re more likely to feel real deep human connections.

Margaret Lee, Director of User Experience Design, Google

So many of the speakers at leading design talked about their childhoods, their parents, their children, their challenges with race, accents at school, and their real life daily struggles as leaders. Only in the last few years have I heard other Americans telling the No, where are you really from? story. Who we are, is how we lead. And it lets the designers on our team bring their full selves to work, comfortably, and safely.

Farai Madzima, UX Lead, Shopify (Canada)

So we have to earn back the trust from our customers. Kim Goodwin reminded us to come back to human-centered design. How are we building in terms of our goals and values? I so appreciated she reminded us to remember what we’re not willing to sacrifice to meet our KPIs. What is not negotiable? What do we stand for?

Every speaker, in their own way, reminded us to reflect on our own personal values and beliefs. What and who do you want to bring to work everyday? Be that person. No less and no more.

Categories
Design

Product Design at Mailchimp in Brooklyn

We’re hiring designers for more than email at Mail…kimp?

Designers, engineers, and PMs at Mailchimp work together to build tools for new and growing companies. We’re a leading marketing platform for small businesses that build tools to help music producers, kimono designers, and ski-slope enthusiasts maintain their livelihoods. It’s truly a delight to serve them and empower the underdogs.

Continue reading on Medium

Categories
Travel

Illuminated Montréal

I love Montréal. Politics times south of the border in the U.S. does help make this French-Canadian city all the more lovable, but even on its own it’s hard to not adore.

June, I’m told, is one of the few months it’s nice to be here. The sun is out and festival season is in full swing. I came here on a little jaunt with my aunt to get lost on the city streets. Review the festival guides before picking your dates, we landed here on the one quiet week/end of the summer, and there really is something for everyone.

While you’re there, take special note of the light fixtures: in restaurants, bathrooms, hallways, museums, and nightclubs. I wonder if cities with long dark winters take more care on light design. Montreal certainly does and artfully so.

Hotel / Neighborhoods

I recommend staying in Le Plateau near the Mont Royal station or in the Mile End district for friends and peers in my demographic. However, if you prefer a hotel, I had a wonderful stay at Hotel Monville (and got a great deal on Hotels.com). This newly opened spot downtown near Old Montreal is in a touristy district but is close to a few primo museums and the Place d’Arms station which is on the Orange line (fun stuff goes on here). Monville recently opened and has a modern interiors true to their press photos, friendly service, reliable wifi, and a rain shower. Below I’ll link to a few fantastic restaurants in the ‘hood.

Dining

Food in Montreal is well priced and very delicious. I’m sure many people will give you recommendations but you can always rely on Eater Montreal in a pinch. We got gourmet poutine at hipster, open-air, slightly chic-punk spot Suwu. Have it somewhere! For a great view, book a table at Les Enfants Terribles at Sommet Place Ville Marie. A local friend took us there and several others recommended it. It’s a great way to start or end a visit to Montreal.

In old Montreal there are three yummy fresh, healthy vegetarian spots: Lov, La Mediterenee, and La Finca (a nice quick spot next to Hotel Monville)

Lov

Lov is a mid-range boutique vegan spot is full of plants, wicker, and botanical cocktails. An expert in millenial pink and mint must have done the interiors. While the color and styles are trendy, I have no problem with plants being a trend. And anyway, it’s done well here and the food was excellent–even for a carnivorous enthusiast like me. A few locals and blog posts pointed us here.

Botanical pleasures

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La Mediterenee

We stumbled upon this understated middle-eastern spot when we first arrived and may have been our favorite meal of the trip. Fresh, light, herbacious, quick, and probably the best service of the whole week. Lucky for us it was closed on weekends or we may have gone three times!

Fresh, light, friendly welcome to Montréal.

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Bagels

Bagels in Montreal are a thing. If deciding between the Fairmount and St. Viateur’s, go for Fairmount (full review in my IG post). Although a friend of a friend recommended Real Bagel. I can’t say for myself, but it seems like there is no wrong path here.

Ssense

The cafe on the top floor of Ssense in Old Montreal is slick. But to get there you have to hustle through the rag-tag Gucci adorned hipsters on the ground floor and ride the elevator all the way up. You’ll either find yourself rolling your eyes, feeling unnecessarily uncool, or if you’re anything like my aunt, wonder why these young kids in expensive clothes have holes in their shirts and unkept haircuts. Don’t take it too seriously and enjoy the bookstore and concrete on the top floor. Adore the beautifully designed stairwells on the way down.

I love me some good concrete

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Art

Biospehere

Architect futurist Buckminster “Bucky” Fuller designed the biosphere (not the biodome) on the island built alongside Montreal’s Old Port. I recommend reading the wikipedia page on the biosphere and Buckminster Fuller as a minimum. Save this activity for a sunny day, and if you can, plan to ride bikes around the island, I wish we did!

If you have some experience with light and music acts you can skip the immersive show. But it’s cute if you want to hang around. The coolest part is certainly the actual dome itself, and is indeed worth going. In fact, we went twice! Ok confession, we went twice because we needed to pickup something in the lost and found, but coming back a few days later, in different weather circumstances, did have a completely different feeling.

They didn’t call him Buckminster “Bucky” Fuller for nothing.

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Société des Arts Technologiques

Check out whats happening at the Société des Arts Technologiques. We saw a lovely 45-minute immersive piano concert in their dome. There’s a proper bar and restaurant on the same floor if you want to bring a drink in with you or get a few recommendations for your next destination.

Debussy in space

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Murals

The painted walls were vibrant and and rich during our stay since we came just after the Mural Festival. Follow the links on the festival’s guide or stroll around the Plateau area off the Mont Royal Metro station.

Blanc in the Gay Village

The city is working on bringing in more public art, including this fantastic illuminated free open-air exhibit blanc. One of the exhibits (not pictured) had an Augmented Reality component. It was surprisingly not gimmicky, quite funny, and worth downloading an app for a one-time use.

Out in the wide open

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Music

Stereo

What a wonderful nightclub. This after-hours spot has great sound and a clean and positive vibe. They don’t serve alcohol but you can get a Redbull at the bar or a vitamin water from the vending machines downstairs. Full review in my IG post.

Picnic Electronik

It rained on Sunday during my visit so I missed Picnic Electronik but I’m told it’s a wonderful, sunny, day party with great bookings. Have a look.

Mightykat

Lovely lady and talented DJ, Dominique Thibault (Mightykat), is based in MTL. During my visit she was co-hosting a few all-female dj lineup parties. I remember her sound as bright and housey. See if she’s playing anything in the ‘hood on Resident Advisor or her Facebook page.

Things to skip

MTL blogs insist on going to the Jean-Talon market. It was yummy and cute. But if you’ve been to a half farmer’s market/produce market elsewhere in the world, you have been here too. I’m told the Botanical Garden is missable. We didn’t go, but a friend told us if you’ve seen one, you’ve seen them all. I like flowers so I think I’d still like to have gone. And finally, the famous underground city talked about in blogs seemed to be mostly chain stores. Don’t sweat it if you don’t find yourself accidentally wandering around down there.