David Lawson

Yesterday’s “False Spring” in Madison Square Park. Trees still bare. 73 degrees. People out and about. Giving us something to look forward to.

Checking in on the construction to finally make Steinway Street an ADA-accessible subway station.

What a lovely pop up

For years I’ve followed the quest for the No Borders Collective Bookstore to have a brick and mortar location. What a thrill to visit their pop up for its soft open over the weekend. Grand opening next weekend. They’ll be there the next two months. 37th St & 34th Ave in Astoria. Check them out.

Every now and then this city will let you feel rich for $0. Like how today Free Second Sunday at the Whitney Museum coincided with the grand opening of the Whitney Biennial. Which I loved.

Saturday morning browsing at Remix Market in Long Island City, Queens.

Last night at the Astoria Bookshop Storytelling Show we heard about a rifle in an outhouse, dad being a better poet than a dad, Linden cookies, gym class, activism meet cute, a canvasser interaction, bad second date, street theatre, “ugly modeling,” an unexpected second chance at love. Next show 4/2

@nerd4cities.bsky.social: Hey Ray! When is the general on sale date for your Hunter College talk go on sale? Thanks!

World Baseball Classic 2026 has begun. The tournament’s biggest contribution to pop culture? The hats. I regularly see the Mexico, Puerto Rico, and Dominican Republic hats while out and about in New York City. Happy international baseball everybody.

TOMORROW at 7pm is the March 2026 @astoriabookshop.bsky.social Storytelling Show! Free storytelling open mic! RSVP to davidtrevorlawson at gmail dot com! Then show up, throw your name in the bucket, and perform a true, no theme, 5 minute story about something that happened to you! See you tomorrow!

A cat looking out a window onto a city street is the height of being a passenger on planet Earth.

David Lawson performing onstage, wearing glasses, a blue button-up shirt, holding a microphone in his left hand while gesturing with an open hand with his right hand.

What a joy to perform on the GatherNYC show at the Museum of Arts and Design yesterday. Thank you Rupert Boyd and Laura Metcalf Boyd for having me on the show! And to Harold Levine for always taking fantastic pictures at the show!

Last night Paige and I performed a scene from Annie Baker’s play Circle Mirror Transformation at Book Karaoke, hosted by Alexander Scott, at the BookMark Shoppe in Bay Ridge, Brooklyn. Alex is going to host it again March 28th. Show up and read something you love.

David Lawson performing onstage, wearing a black shirt with purple stripes, holding a microphone in his left hand while gesturing with his right hand.

THIS SUNDAY! 11AM! I am again performing a story on GatherNYC at the Museum of Arts and Design! The classical music show that features a storytelling set in the middle of it. Exponential Ensemble are the musicians this Sunday. See you at the show! (Picture by Harold Levine)

The crowd from last month’s show, host David Lawson and 15 audience members smiling while seated at the bookstore.

A WEEK FROM TONIGHT is the March 2026 @astoriabookshop.bsky.social Storytelling Show! RSVP email to davidtrevorlawson at gmail dot com if you want to show up, throw your name in the bucket, and perform a true, no theme, 5 min story about something that happened to you! Free! See you at the show!

I’m happy to hear that @nobordersbooks.bsky.social - the used bookstore/cafe/event space looking for a permanent Astoria, Queens storefront - will have a temporary residency at Side B at 37th Street & 34th Ave! Right off the R and M train.

Hat design is an underrated element of snowman construction. Seen a few blocks from my apartment.

Astoria, Queens at 8:30pm last night, just before the travel ban started.

Jack Hughes: Bar Mitzvah boy in 2014, Team USA golden goal scorer in 2026. USA men win ice hockey gold for 1st time in 46 years (1st time in my life). USA women make it 2 out of 3 golds and them & Team Canada women add fuel the rise of the PWHL. New York Sirens are playing at The Garden April 4th!

Performed today at the Writing and Performance Workshop at the Queens Public Library Broadway branch. Hosted by Johnny Culver. A workshop to perform a story, monologue, scene, poem, play etc. Johnny’s been in Astoria 40+ years, working with QPL 10+ years. Goes up 3rd Saturday each month. Next 3/21.

#FridayReads: For my Policy Analysis grad school class at Baruch. A portrait of a company that grows in moments of pain for the world, kills local economies, breaks bodies, believes worker stability breeds mediocrity, and is gaining more power with AI. Friends don’t let friends shop on Amazon.

TWO WEEKS FROM TONIGHT is the March 2026 @astoriabookshop.bsky.social Storytelling Show! RSVP email davidtrevorlawson at gmail dot com if you want to show up, throw your name in the bucket, and perform a true, no theme, 5 minute story about something that happened to you! FREE! See you there!

@ianferguson.bsky.social: Most relevant to your interests!!!

I’m still getting used to seeing ads for shows at the Astor Place Theatre that aren’t Blue Man Group, which ran there from November 1991 until February 2025. Burnout Paradise begins performances tonight as the 2nd post-Blue Man production there after Michael Urie’s one-man Richard II last year.

I listened to the first 3 episodes of the wonderful podcast comedy series @judgetravis.bsky.social. Constant funny gags, terrific performances (with some familiar voices: Amber Ruffin, George Wallace), sharp showbiz satire, and a generation gap between the 2 main characters that has a ton of heart.

In the crowd today at The Rat in Brooklyn for the premiere of Front of House, a comedy pilot about working front of house at a Broadway theatre.

“Once the realization is accepted that even between the closest human beings infinite distances continue, a wonderful living side by side can grow, if they succeed in loving the distance between them which makes it possible for each to see the other whole against the sky."

#FridayReads: Highlights from my Baruch College grad school classmate Kelly Luu’s excellent zine collection. A Narcan how-to guide, a guide for protestors involving gun violence, street photography of sidewalk spills and cars with trash bags over their windows.

I won’t be older than every active Major League Baseball player in 2026. Thanks to soon-to-be 43-year-old Justin Verlander. As a bonus I’d love to see 41-year-old Max Scherzer reunite with my beloved hometown Washington Nationals.

Some thoughts a few days removed from the Bad Bunny show. It had me envisioning a USA where most people know more than just English. A USA that sees itself as part of the larger Americas, as a friend and as a neighbor. What a joy for a work of arts monoculture have me imagining a better nation.