Nancy Ruhling's Astoria Characters

The map on the wall is punctuated with round red pins that look like Rudolph’s reindeer nose. Each one of them, Ben Taylor explains, marks the spot where Beecher’s Fault, the band he leads with Ken Lamken, has played. The dots, nearly two dozen in number, travel up and down, round and round and sideways along the East Coast. Ken’s a native of New Jersey. Last night, the dot was Lancaster, Pennsylvania. By the time Ken and Ben and bandmates Max Maples (drums), Serge Ruccolo (bass)…

Continue Reading →

Astoria Characters: The 5-Bark Barista A chocolate Chihuahua, leading a leash-holding woman, prances into Chateau le Woof. Rocky, for that is his name, is a regular. He’s coming to meet his girlfriend, Lola, who’s sitting pretty in a sweet sweater on the sofa.Follow the barks to Chateau le Woof on 14th St. at 30th Ave. Photo by Nancy A. Ruhling In puppy love, they romp around and run in circles while everyone coos and oohs at their coy cuteness. Soon, they are joined by a parade of…

Continue Reading →

Bankruptcy is not as bad as you think. Before you dismiss this seemingly novel idea, give Phill Mahony a chance to explain it to you. “Unfortunately, there’s a stigma attached to bankruptcy,” he says. “But it doesn’t represent failure. The bankruptcy code really puts people on their feet. You come out like a new person. It’s really a good deal.” Phill has his own law practice. Phill, let the record show, is a lawyer, but this is not mere legal speak. It’s…

Continue Reading →

Raffaele Mollica is standing at the worktable in his basement studio with a half dozen tiny tissue-paper packets spread before him like a banquet. He opens one and plucks a pigtail from it, holding it up to the light of the clamp-on construction lamp. From these lustrous tresses, Raffaele, the Stradivari of wigmakers, will weave a hairpiece that looks so natural that nobody, not even God, bless him, will know the difference. The wigmaker Raffaele. “What I do is like intricate artwork,”…

Continue Reading →

Kyle Marshall is still new at this father stuff, and he wants to make sure he’s doing a good job. Kyle’s in the duo Monkey Pudding Face. It’s 9 a.m. The rest of the world is up, but Cove is ready to go down. Kyle longs to hold him a little longer. He reluctantly releases the baby to the crib for sleepy time. Kyle and Cove. Cove is only 6 months old, which is about the age Kyle was when his parents divorced. He never got to know his father but felt fortunate to have a supportive…

Continue Reading →