First of all, can I just say how excited I am that Kandinsky is at the Gug through January and I don't have to buy a plane ticket to get there? I can just get on the train!
Oh the train! I hear it every six minutes or so whistling into the station, a faint little time keeper when I get ready in the mornings to go to work. It's also a nice place to read good books and write.
Lately, it doesn't take much to get ready for work. Does that sound awful?
The Greenlight Bookstore blog posts have been about as regular as my own, which goes to show how much work it takes to open a business. Jessica and Rebecca have inspiring stamina, and while the process can be painfully slow, it also feels amazing to know that everyone is working really hard to get the job done right. Since there is still sawdust and wood stain and wood sealant all over the place (and maybe some oil-based primer for kicks), I have been wearing my grubbies to work.
That is, the same pair of jeans and a variation of band t-shirts for the last month. In that time, Hugo's Crew (the Chinese dudes) have finished painting the ceiling, installing the lights and building the bookshelf unit around the airshaft. (Click zee link, Brownstoner is a cool website for residents on the *other side* of the East River, but there are more than real estate postings for under a mil., too.)
Yesterday Hugo's Crew pulled up 75% of the cardboard around the store, revealing a bright and shiny new dance floor! No, it's just a slick wood floor that is a prime dancing surface, but also useful for traversing in the instance that one might be browsing for a particular codex.
Meanwhile, with local sculptor/carpenter Iris cutting wood, constructing the basic frame for shelves as well as a beautiful cash-wrap up front, his colleague Orien has been building the front window benches, and Greenlight's team has been sanding, staining, buffing, cleaning, sealing, buffing, cleaning, sealing again and buffing once more EVERY surface not covered by white paint, cardboard or tarp (the books are stored safely under the last two). The process is easy with shelves. The shelves are flat and easy to maneuver, don't take much time. The bookcases are a different story, so Jessica and Rebecca invited community members to come by and help out.
It was a twenty-first century barn-raising, I'll tell you what. And after copious touch-ups, the store looks amazing for a volunteer/amateur effort. We would probably be months behind schedule if it weren't for all the volunteers! It's good to see that even in New York, people aren't too busy to get a little dirty for the benefit of their community. I even met one volunteer from South Carolina, visiting friends in Brooklyn. She just heard about it and decided to come by while she waited for her friend to get off work.
(Speaking of helping out the community, UM Alumni, your alma mater's radio station needs you:
http://wvum.org/radiothon.php
THINK INDIE!)
I never thought I'd be able to add this kind of work to my resume, but the Team is lucky enough to have an incredible Project Manager behind us. She does an amazing job of assessing the daily situation, outlining tasks and delegating responsibility. No wonder, Tianna spent the summer as the Project Manager for the Swimming Cities of Serenissima.
Most of the details are taken care of, the bookcases are all stained and sealed, all the shelves are ready to be put in place, all the pilaster strips have been measured out (wouldn't want crooked shelves, now) and nailed into place. We spent yesterday finishing the stain process for the front bench pieces and all that's really left to do is finish the cash wrap, put the books on the shelves and open our doors to the public.
Thankfully, that will mean I can play around with my full-time hours a bit more, and may be able to start making services at Romemu on a regular basis. When Uncle James was up here the Shabbos before Yom Kippur, I met him on the UWS for shul. Honestly, it felt like putting on a sweatshirt, which I guess is an odd metaphor for Judaism. In any case, I was able to go to Yom Kippur services on Monday and it's the first time I've spent five straight hours in Temple and felt completely engaged the entire time. The Reb shared the traditional parsha (Aaron performing the rites of Yom Kippur, Lev. 16:1, in Hebrew folks), and invited the congregation up for whichever aliyah they felt applied to them. (So nice to know that I matter to the community, whether or not I write a big fat check). I'm still at odds with faith, but I like the tradition of Shabbat services. The Jewish Renewal aspect is intriguing, but I would like to shop around some closer congregations, too.
Speaking of shopping around, I applied to CUNY Brooklyn on Monday. I've asked some people at MAST for letters of recommendation, but the application wasn't daunting at all. I've applied for a M.A. in History, but I'd like to focus on scientific history. Father's daughter, something like that. I'm thinking student loan rates aren't too bad in this money season, and of course scholarships are available as well.
Well mischpachah, it is my day off and time for me to play samurai laundromat. Maya also bought a window garden box, so I'm going to poke around some neighborhood hardware stores and see if I can't find some pots in which we will plant an herb garden. Living with her has been awesome, she brings me all sort of delicious dishes from work (the company serves employees lunch every day, trying out different recipes for the restaurant in the East Village.) I just finished a nice gnocchi (which I heat up the oven that runs on the gas I pay for).
Coming Attractions: Next Wednesday, I'm helping out my teacher friends while they have their highschool's freshmen have a field day of sorts while the sophomores and juniors take the PSAT. Later in the evening, I'm going to a screening for Where the Wild Things Are (bookselling has its perks, after all). I'll report back later.
