The Ditmas Park Word: Jeannine Cannon, Bartender, Artist, And Science Enthusiast

From new transplants hailing from places across the city, country and globe to residents who have lived in our area for decades, our neighborhood is home to an amazingly diverse collection of people. This interview is part of our “The Ditmas Park Word” series, in which we’ll get to know some of our wonderful neighbors who make our community what it is today. For today, we interviewed Jeannine Cannon, a bartender at Ox Cart Tavern, an artist, and a science enthusiast.

What prompted the move to this neighborhood? It was a stroke of fate. I was living in Virginia at the time and a friend of a friend told me about a room for rent that was available. This neighborhood reminds me of the small town that I’m from in Virginia and I fell in love instantly. Since I was six years old I wanted to move to New York to be around different cultures and to get my art out there.

Tell me about your art. My art is encompassed under the name Be Ugly and the slogan is “Society sucks, but you don’t have to.” I’m bringing together science, feminism, and equality in my drawings; they start with just  pen and ink and are all slowly being transitioned into wearable art (shirts and jewelry). I sell my art via Etsy under the name Big Ugly Design.

Where did you study art? I studied art in Virginia. I’m hoping to go back to school to study science, either engineering or physics.

Where do you work? I work at OxCart Tavern as a bartender on the weekends. During the week I work as a nanny for Dave Pitula, the owner of OxCart. And I’m very focused on selling my artwork.

What do you enjoy about working at Oxcart? The staff are all very close and I have met many friends there.  It is a nice to see the same customers and to get to know people who live in the community. You can learn a lot about people when they are sitting at the bar.

What do you enjoy about working as a nanny? It is great to teach a child and see them learn. We do a lot of science experiments together.

What do you like about the neighborhood? There is a sense of community here; it feels like a small town with the convenience of the city.

Is there anything missing in our neighborhood? It provides me with everything I need so I hardly leave.  However, it would be great to have a book store here. I would probably never leave the neighborhood if we had a book store.

Finish this sentence, Ditmas Park is: a gem. It feels like home.

Do you have a favorite restaurant in the neighborhood? I love the Alamo burger at OxCart. I also go to The Farm on Adderley a lot and have become obsessed with Bashi Channel where I like to eat the Bao sandwich and the Kimchee dumplings.

What is the neighborhood’s best kept secret? I like sitting in the courtyard of the church on Dorchester and 17th Street and reading. I love the signs that they post about the upcoming sermons. One of my favorite signs was “Living your life like it’s golden.”

We live in a very diverse neighborhood, how meaningful is that to you? I’ve learned so much about different cultures that I would not have had a chance to learn about if I was still living in Virginia. Some of my fellow employees at OxCart are Mexican and they have been teaching me about their traditions. Many of my neighbors on my block are Caribbean. In two years I have learned so much about the world. I did not know how small my world view was until I moved here.

What do you think of Brooklyn’s newfound popularity? It makes me sad to be a witness to rents going up and that families are being pushed out of the neighborhood. One of the reasons I’m here was because it was affordable and I’m concerned that I might not afford to live here.

How many tattoos do you have? I have nine tattoos. My favorite one is of a person about to enter a spaceship and it says underneath, “Get N’ Loser.”

Do you have a philosophy that you try to live your life by? One of my tattoos says: “It is the unknown we fear when we look upon death and darkness, nothing more.” This is a quote from Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince by J.K. Rowling. To me this quote means that people are afraid of what they don’t know, but they should not fear the unknown because it could be worthwhile.

Where do you hope your next vacation will be? I want to go to Arches National Park because it is one of the places where the night sky is darkest and you can see the purple of the Milky Way.

What was the last great book you read? The Selfish Gene by Richard Dawkins. I’m also reading a book of science fiction short stories, Her Smoke Rose Up Forever by James Tiptree Jr. These stories were written by a woman named Alice Sheldon but the author used a pseudonym. She was writing at a time when she did not think people would read science fiction that was written by a woman.

Do you have a favorite science fiction movie? I’m a huge Star Trek girl. When I went for a haircut recently, I asked for Spock bangs. In October I’m going to Comic Con dressed as Spock.

What do you like to do in your free time? I mostly draw and read and enjoy going to the Hayden Planetarium. The current show is called “Dark Universe” and it is about dark energy and dark matter. I find the show very moving, it usually brings me to tears.

If you know someone you’d love to see featured in this series, let us know! You can email us at editor@ditmaspark.com.