The much awaited end of school for NY public schools looms large. Teen lifeguards will be out of school for summer and back on that perch as of this week. The ocean is just hitting the right temp for maximum swimmability, and I am cleared to make it the Summer of Swim. I recently started reading the surf masterpiece Barbarian Days: A Surfing Life by William Finnegan on my way to the beach. Five minutes in I was hooked on his sunset gold memoir. Thirty minutes later I was promising to lend it to the first of many friends once I finished reading. It's a Pulitzer Prize winner, so I'm not the only one who has fallen under the enchanting spell of this talented writer, and willingly I go under.

Hi, my name is Kimberly Quillin. I make things. I have been making things since I was a wee girl, figuring out how to knit, crochet, embroider, sew and do pretty much anything else a 1970s craft book could step-by-step me through. Luster lace? Beading? Sculpey? Ribbon flowers? Friendship bracelets? Painted miniatures? Painted rocks? Puffy painted t-shirts? Pajama pants? Doilies? Cartooning classes? Pottery? Weaving? Calligraphy? Poster contests? Done 'em. For the last couple of years, I have been focusing a lot on swimwear, making piles of spandex experiments faster than even I can wear them out on the beach. But I've been feeling creative in a new kind of way lately and wanted to post-up a

Summer has finally sunk in, which means for the next few months, I will be three things: at the beach, at a show or in the park. God willing, two or even three of those can happen simultaneously! This week was a great kickoff with my favorite music fest taking over north Brooklyn and the first venture into the ocean of the year. Northside Festival is the most hip music fest I know of happening in NY. It is the only one which brings the fest to Brooklyn where, guess what, all of the Brooklyn bands who are defining the music scene already are. Taking over multiple venues, killer showcases are curated by music publications and in-the-knows like The Deli, TomTom Magazine or 33 1/3. The sets are

The great part about the New York music scene is that literally everybody comes here to play.The less great part is that you must stay absolutely on top of your game knowing when your favorite groups are playing and at what moment their tickets go on sale. For huge events like Governor's Ball, it looks like this: Kanye, Beck, Robyn, The Strokes, The Killers, Father John Misty, Bully, M83, Bloc Party and, most importantly for me, my boyfriend. For such lineups, it is presumed sold out unless you pay double for a scalped ticket or have a backdoor hookup. Again, enter boyfriend. This was the first year that many friends would be playing the stages, getting VIP wristbands along with plus-ones. S