Explore Brooklyn- Part 3- Shore Parkway Bike Trail

You'd never be able to tell that the Belt Parkway was 100 feet away...

Though I was certainly in the minority, I wore my helmet with pride!

Windsurfing on Plumb Beach (less than a mile from the Knapp St. entrance to the bike trail)

Sand travels....

One of the entrances to the beautiful, somewhat secluded and delightfully un-crowded Plumb Beach.

The view from the overpass.

This post is dedicated to Joe, who bought me a bicycle for my birthday, after MONTHS of my hint-dropping. I'd heard from other Brooklynites how wonderful it was to have a bike here, and I can now say, from experience, that I agree completely!

I entered the bike path at the Knapp St. entrance in Sheepshead Bay, and headed east. The trail was in decent condition for the most part, and not terribly busy for a holiday weekend. I quickly came upon Plumb Beach- a close cousin to Manhattan and Brighton beaches, but smaller. MUCH smaller- downright cozy, in fact... But very inviting. There's a parking area and picnic tables, along with what seemed to be a small restroom/ changing facility. It looked like a great place to picnic!

I continued down the trail, which runs right along the waterfront, and came to a bridge with a BEAUTIFUL view of the beach and ocean (photo #6). The bridge crossed into Marine Park, where the already lush scenery got even greener! It was surprisingly easy to ignore the Belt Parkway, which parallels the bike trail.

I took a little detour through Marine Park, passed Floyd Bennett Field, and then stopped just short of the first bridge over Jamaica Bay. The ride back seemed a bit quicker, maybe because I had seen the scenery once already... Probably because most of the way back is downhill...

Things I learned on my trip:

-By and large, my fellow borough bike riders DO NOT wear helmets. Yes, they look dorky, but they're a lot cooler than severe head-trauma, so strap one on, Brooklyn!

-I know absolutely nothing about bikes, besides the fact that they're fun to ride. Evidently, mountain bike tires grip the ground, and make your ride brutally slow, no matter what gear you're in.

-There are A LOT of really skilled windsurfers on Plumb Beach- next on my list of fun sports to learn!

-I love bike riding! I want to try out the Ocean Ave Bike Path next, and maybe ride up to Prospect Park for the farmers market!

Happy Summer!

Best,

Keelie

P.S. My front tire is now flat as a pancake and will not hold air when I try to re-inflate it. I'm taking it to Roy's Sheepshead Cycle- I'll let you know how it goes!

Canajoharie- Fort Plain Drama Club- "Peter Pan"

Taking notes from the house.

Observing a scene

The Pirates!

Giving notes on the relationship between your character and your physicality.

Immediately after the Miss NY Pageant, I spent a few days at my mom's house in Fort Plain, NY before heading back down to Brooklyn. While there, I was thrilled to be invited to do an impromptu acting workshop with the cast of Peter Pan, currently being produced by the Canajoharie- Fort Plain Drama Club in the beautiful Arkell Performing Arts Center (special thanks to Shawn Barnes, director of Peter Pan). Any opportunity to work with kids and theatre is my idea of a good time, but this visit had special meaning because the C-FP Drama Club is where my life changing involvement in theatre began.

Finding refuge in the theatre while growing up with considerable financial hardships in this economically depressed area inspired me to use theatre as a tool for social change, impacting both the cast and the audience. Acting Out (the no-cost performing arts program I developed) focuses mostly on using theatre as a means to obtain personal growth, development, emotional release and empathy- I've developed it to be process driven (a mainstage production, or product, is secondary). This is not to say that production based programs have no benefits, and I was thrilled to speak with the cast about the fundamentals of good acting!

The kids were awesome. Their natural ability to accept imaginary circumstances and react realistically never ceases to amaze me. There are, of course, common traps that nearly every high school or community theatre production falls into, and I was pleased to have the opportunity to point out, both from the perspective of a professional actor and an audience member, what these issues were, and how to fix them.

Unfortunately, arts are quickly cut from schools and communities when finances are tight, so the idea of being an artist for a living was all but unheard of when I graduated from high school. If nothing else, my visit was worth it solely to see the looks on the faces of these young actors when I introduced myself. "Hi, I'm Keelie. I'm a professional actress who now lives in NYC, and I got my start here."

A Bit of Back-Tracking (Sponsor Appreciation and Sendoff Party)

Melanie and I with Cheryl and Keyana Williams- I don't know what we'd do without these ladies! Thank you for everything, including the use of your beautiful club for our party!

Dermond- The Official Pageant Dad of the Miss Brooklyn Org

The lovely Karolina Almanzar! Keeping it pretty as Miss Brooklyn's official Makeup Artist!

Friends- The people I don't get to thank often enough!

The Baron of Brooklyn- My boyfriend, Joe. He gets to deal with the less glamorous aspects of being Miss Brooklyn (it's possible stress makes me REALLY cranky...)

Momma and I napping- too much excitement!

Melanie and I love us some Kim! BEST E.D. EVER!

With Todd Adelman of Block Institute. I cannot begin to describe how much of an asset Todd has been to my reign as Miss Brooklyn thusfar!

Evening Gowns!

Body by Ellen.

Talent Costume! A little blurry, but you get the idea. And all 1800 Swarovski crystals? Individually hand-applied by my mom. I know- I'm a lucky kid.

Because Kim and I operate secret-agent-stealth-style, we wanted to keep my wardrobe under wraps until I arrived at the Miss NY Pageant. This meant not posting ANY photos from my awesome sendoff party, so enjoy them now!

Miss New York 2009!

At the NY State Capitol Building in Albany with the other 20 Miss NY Contestants!

From L to R: Marina Montes, Miss Suffolk County, Me, and Courtney Sheridan, Miss Fulton County in Swimsuit

Not bad for a $175 gown!

Dancing with the other contestants in the Opening Number!

Wow. What a week. I had intended to keep up my blog, but things got crazy the moment we arrived in Albany (Kudos to Claire for somehow managing to blog TWICE while at MNY)! I am therefore obliged to give you one VERY dense and informative post.

The week was great. Many thanks to all the local businesses who made our pageant such a success, and to Art Huntsinger, who served as a liason between the media, the Albany community, and the Miss NY Organization and contestants. Also, many thanks to the Miss NY Organization Board of Volunteers, for taking time out of your personal lives to give myself and the other contestants an experience of a lifetime. Also, a special thank you to Kent, who kept things fun and light, and encouraged us all to constantly improve ourselves, and to keep the pageant process in perspective.

The other 20 local titleholders are amazing. Truly. I don't really know how else to describe them. Our first night in Albany, we got the chance to go around the room and tell everyone what our platform was (good idea, Inga), and it was really inspiring to hear all of the different ways that we, as a group of young women, were changing the world around us. The platform is a very important aspect of the Miss America Organization, and one that's frequently discussed, but the opportunity to communicate face-to-face about the social issues we were dedicated to promoting, changing or improving, and why we cared so much, was a powerful thing.

My shock at being called to the Top 10 was visible, I've heard; and doubly so when I was called into the Top 5. Don't get me wrong- I knew I had the potential to do very well, but as I've told people before, pageants are incredibly subjective, and there were A LOT of perfectly viable choices for the judges. Not making it into finals (as was the case for me last year) is not so much a testament to your weaknesses as it is to the strengths of the girls you're competing with. I'm so honored to have gotten as far as I did, and I wish a very special congratulations to Alyse Zwick, Miss New York 2009. Make us proud!

Hair Sponsor and the NY Post!

At J Taylor Salon with Ellen Stein (My trainer/ unofficial booking manager and community liason) and Joe Taylor (Hair Artiste!)

The Pageant Wave!

We only had one chance to get this shot, because there was only one batch of confetti!

At home, in bed, surrounded by plays. Ahh... Paradise.

Hey everyone! This post will be noticeably less verbose than it's predecessors, but only because I am literally scrambling to get everything ready for tomorrow!



Though a little belated, I NEED to give a shout out to J Taylor Salon, the official hair sponsor of Miss Brooklyn 2009! Joe kindly squeezed me in for a last minute cut and trim, and I was thrilled with the results! It was important for me to not change anything drastically- I wanted to look like me, but better, and he did just that! And an additional thanks to the fabulous Ellen Stein (yep- my trainer) for knowing EVERYONE in Brooklyn. (Photos to follow ASAP)

Also, if you haven't already, be sure to check out the fantastic spread the NY Post did on some NYC titleholders, myself included! We each did individual interviews/ photo shoots of us relaxing in our homes, and then we went to the NY Post's HQ for a glamorous photo shoot, complete with makeup by Smashbox and hair by Prive! The link to the article online is here.

Builders of the New World- Actor's Theatre Workshop

One of my absolute favorite non-profit programs here in NYC is the Actor's Theatre Workshop's Builders of the New World program. A self described "...Theatre, Education and Community-Building Program for Homeless Children and At-Risk Youth", Builders of the New World "is a a life-changing after-school theatre and education program for homeless children that improves reading, writing and presentational skills, instills discipline and self-esteem, and inspires the children to make educational choices today to achieve success tomorrow". Developed by award winning actor/ director Thurman E. Scott, this award-winning program, now in it's 15th year of operation, uses theatre as a medium for change, social awareness, and creative expression.

For more information on the Builders of the New World Program, click here.

NY Post Feature, Meet & Eat and Miss Delaware Pageant!

At the Miss DE pageant with Miss America 2009, Katie Stam, and Miss Jubilee 2009, Claire Buffie!

Signing an autograph at the Meet & Eat with Miss Brooklyn 2009 and Wafels and Dinges!

My official duty at the fundraiser was to dispense free whipped cream!

With Inga, Miss Manhattan 2009, at the NY Post photo shoot!

Though the Miss NY Pageant is rapidly approaching, my duties as Miss Brooklyn have not slowed down yet! This past week was exceptionally busy and exciting!

On Wednesday morning, Danica Lo of the NY Post, along with photographer Christian (a Sheepshead Bay resident!), came to my apartment to do an individual interview/ photo shoot about being Miss Brooklyn, but also being a regular person (I got to do my own makeup and wear my own clothes)! After the individual shoot, I rushed into the city to do a group shoot with a few other titleholders at the NY Post building, this time all done up, pageant-glam style! The shoot was lots of fun, with hair provided by Prive Salon, and makeup by Smashbox Cosmetics! Thanks to everyone for a fantastic experience!

After this, I rushed back out to Brooklyn for a volunteer appreciation party at Club Nocturnal. It was great to get to thank many of the people who've helped keep the Miss Brooklyn Organization running, and who've made my year so enjoyable thusfar.

I was incredibly lucky to have my mom visiting Tuesday and Wednesday, to help me get myself organized! My mom is the unofficial seamstress/ costume designer/ organizer/ personal manager/ stress reliever of Miss Brooklyn 2009, and I couldn't do it without her! On Thursday AM, she drove me to my appointment with our dental sponsor, Bensonhurst Dental (see post below), and then dropped me off at work in Chelsea before heading back upstate to attend to her other Miss NY Contestant (my little sister Courtney, Miss Fulton County 2009)!

Saturday, I visited the Wafels and Dinges truck in Park Slope, where I gave out free whipped cream and signed autographs! It was great to see some familiar faces in addition to all the new people I met! BCAT (Brooklyn Cable Access Television) came for a quick interview, and after chatting about waffles and Brooklyn, we got to taste them! YUM!

Then I was off to Manhattan to meet up with Claire (Miss Jubilee), and embark on our voyage to the Dover Downs Casino and Resort to watch the Miss Delaware 2009 Pageant! (Special thanks to Claire's friend Ilan for letting us use his awesome car!) The highlight of the night was getting to meet Katie Stam, Miss America 2009! The venue was beautiful- congratulations to the Miss Delaware Organization for a great show, and congratulations to Miss Delaware 2009, Heather Lehman!

I've got another busy week ahead of me, and then we move in to our hotel for Miss NY on Tuesday, June 22nd! I'll keep you posted!

Best,

Keelie