I’m late writing today because I have been trying to clone myself all morning. I am getting so busy as a DJ that I may have to give up my pottery or my vegan cooking classes. Tonight I am double-booked by people who must be tone deaf. First off, I will DJ a birthday bash for my pal Greg “The Smile” Brier, who is also celebrating the 2-year anniversary of his restaurant/joint Aspen Social Club. This Times Square affair starts at 5pm for the locals and goes real late for the loyalists who love the joint. My name is listed on the invite along with other DJs, but appears 3x bigger than the rest, who are absolutely 10x better than me at making music. But I am pretty, and sometimes that will get you through the night. Shoot, it got my ex’s through years.

It's always intriguing to watch a former West Coast denizen make their way in the Big Apple. Their itineraries have a slightly sunnier edge, quite literally. They seek out roof tops and tiki bars, their drinks are sweeter, their style is fashionably laid back - they've mastered that whole California-cool thing that's a stretch for the native New Englander. Natasha Huang is of the West-turned-East school. A native of the Bay Area, she graduated from the University of San Francisco and worked in health care for hospitals before moving to the city as the Director of Marketing for Encore Magazine. Shortly thereafter, she struck out on her own to start a company: NH Media. As an entrepreneur in the PR field, Natasha is often out and about, raising her public profile and collecting business cards with the best of them, while still maintaining her distinctly relaxed, and, let's face it, friendly West Coast nature. The places she's deemed her favorites reflect her sunny disposition.

Tonight’s ROOFTOP DRIVE-IN movie at Highbar will be The Wizard of Oz. The W of O is one of my favorite flicks and I’m going to rush over to Highbar right after that Pharrell N.E.R.D thingy at Irving Plaza. My dear pal Greg Brier, the wizard of Highbar, is wonderful because because because because because because of the wonderful things he does. I’ll be there to support and ooh and ahh and tell how I met actual Munchkins at the 70th anniversary party at Tavern on the Green. Tavern was a bit like the Emerald City, a place where dreams were fulfilled, but is now for all intents and purposes buried under a sea of bureaucratic red tape, in-fighting, bad intentions, and greed.

Industry Night at Highbar has gotten my attention. Tonight, they’ll screen the Rolling Stones movie In The Park, which shows the return of the Stones to concert making after a couple-year hiatus. The concert took place under a cloud of grief, just a few days after the death of ex-Stones guitarist and founder Brian Jones. Jones left the band just a short while before filming began under confusing circumstances. Some say he quit; while others say Mick Jagger and Keith Richards pushed him out because he’d become a drug-addled waste of space left in the dust, musically. He was perceived as a liability. He was found drowned in his own swimming pool. Was it a suicide or accident?

For many, the summer means long romantic walks on the beach, working on tans, and romance under the stars. For me, it’s long walks on hot concrete sidewalks looking for furniture and fixtures for places opening in the Fall. It’s getting a tan as I lean against scaffolding while sipping a coconut water, escaping a 100-degree job site. It’s summer in the city with my constant companion, a fly swatter, as the only creatures that want to sleep with me are mosquitoes. It’s even too hot for baseball, and although I tried to get into it, I find soccer—or whatever they call it—to be a colossal bore, punctuated with moments of extreme excitement. It’s exactly like my second marriage. I rushed home for the 4th as I was invited by my friend Matt DeMatt to view the fireworks at Lucky Strike Lanes. Alas, traffic and obligations wouldn’t allow me to get there. I viewed the rockets' red glare at Greg Brier's Highbar. I love the Highbar crew: Greg, Holly Roberts, and the staff have seen me through the best and worst of times. DJ Tommy James played an incredible set of Independence Day themed music in sync with the explosions. It was surreal and sublime.

The ghosts of Christmas past drive me to self-analytical frenzy, that gets mixed in with the shopping and the holiday greetings whirlwind. Then there's the, "I love her, she loves me not, she loves me, I can't stand her 75 percent of the time” pantomime. That leads into who? what? where? New Year’s Eve desperation. With work and traffic, money runs and non-stop Christmas muzak, I think I'm starting to lose it. Gonna leave you to your thing and I’ll go do mine. Before I go, I’m going to give some clubs some uncle Steve advice: What "should" each club want for Christmas?

Tom Dunkley and Alejandro Torio of GBH have established their brand over a dozen years by consistently producing a party which pushes the envelope of music to a hip, interesting, and interested crowd. They aren't promoters supporting a night at a club but directors who create a weekly event. Their Saturdays at the Tribeca Grand sink the great lie that there is nothing to do in this town. Nightlife is as vibrant and relevant as ever -- it just doesn't live in one space every night. There may not be a true great club at this time, but there are great parties every single night of the week. For instance, tonight I am visiting Emma Cleary at her "Don't Feed the Models Party" at Katra, James Coppola's "Cool Jerk" soiree at Sin Sin, Mey Bun's birthday bash, "Monarch Mondays" at Above Allen, and then to the Jane for Greg Lucas' birthday gathering. I may even stop at the still fabulous Butter to say hey to the fast-lane crowd.

The Stay Hotel opened up just as the economy sank, but through a series of adjustments it has managed to stay ahead of the recession. New still sells, and Times Square ain't what it used to be ... it's stocked with a steady stream of tourists. It's better in many ways than it was before the sanitization, but I, of course, miss the old Times Square. When I was young -- yes, there was a time -- I had a strange hobby: I would put on some very old clothes, a hat to cover my face, and put a bottle of Welch's grape juice into a brown paper bag, then lay down or sit propped up in a doorway in a very dangerous pimp-thug-whore environment and listen, watch, and absorb street life. No one ever noticed me. I was invisible. I absorbed the jargon, learned the rules, and saw incredible things. Later, Times Square would become Disneyfied, and the old ways were exiled to another Main Street. The Minnesota strip where pimps would turn 15-year-old runaway farm girls into women who were never saved by Travis Bickle has been converted to some Midwesterners' vision of Times Square, with new neon and less risqué messages. Girls, girls, girls turned into McDonald's, Burger King, and Ruby Foo's.

A game of musical chairs is being played by most of the major promotional entities as the summer roof season is upon us. While the highly successful 230 Fifth will still dominate this market just as the Empire State Building dominates its incredible view, some places remain unsettled or don't have a clear opening date due to a myriad of problems. Highbar is getting a quick polish, while the roof at the Stay Hotel is still under construction. Mixed reports come from Cabanas and The Park, and the highly-touted Above Allen will finally get to open its windows amidst hopes that the sound spill doesn't disturb too many hotel guests and nearby residents. Daemon O'Neil, Rose Bar's patient, sweet, and very good-looking door guru (not to be confused with Damion Luaiye), is packing his clipboard and heading over to the Bazaar Bar at the upcoming Trump Soho hotel. The economic downturn, a weak dollar, and a laundry list of safety issues make travel abroad a lot less attractive this season. I hear reports that Hamptons summer rentals are sluggish, yet the Surf Lodge in Montauk is riding high.

I've been talking lately about how my career as a hospitality designer can be used as a sort of canary in a coal mine to judge the state of our economy. As a firm, we picked up very little new work from mid-December until just recently. At one point, we had 16 jobs on hold while our clients secured loans. Ten of those jobs have in the last few weeks given us a call and indicated positive movement forward or in fact funding coming through. This means jobs. The restaurants and clubs I am building will need to hire staff two to six months down the line. People who have been futilely looking for gigs might be back on track.