January 28, 2010

Craigs List Missed Connections As Muse


Craigs List is great for many things; finding a job, a roommate, someone to buy your couch, or even sex/romance in their "personals" section.  But the most entertaining section of their infamous personals is by far Missed Connections, especially here in NYC where there are more than a thousand posts a day.  Lately, though, this section has been more than entertaining people...it's been downright inspiring.  


Tonight, a new show called "Missed Connections NYC" premieres at the Ars Nova performance space in midtown.  It's a compilation of short plays and songs inspired by the bulletin board of the same name.  The title of some of the mini-plays sound cute too: Missing Jonathan, Doritos Boy and It Was Wong Of Me That I Touched Your Butt On The L Train.  Unfortunately, the show's short run of five performances is already sold out.  But Ars Nova often extends shows that are popular--just check their website for updates.


Another case of CL inspiration can be found in the The New York TIMES. They have been running a semi-weekly feature by Alan Feuer where the postings are turned into romantic poetry.  The ads are broken up into quattrains and stanzas, sometimes hilariously and other times quite beautifully.  The last one was holiday themed and my favorites were "SantaCon Love" and "A Christmas Miracle on the LIRR" which has the best opening line--"If this actually works, I will eat part of my shoe." Ahhhh.....love.