Fire Sale 2.0
Kid Robot set up a store next to Phil’s office in Soho. It’s going to be there for about a month, then the brand will vacate the space and you’ve missed your shot at getting the sick merch. The goods are, well, good, but you can get most of them online. What the store sells is cache. I was there. I saw whatever famous gigantic bunny painter. But it’s over now, so you can’t.
Our economy is largely sustained by buying stuff we don’t need. And marketers have been brewing up new devices to convince buyers they need to throw down their dough now. The temporary store is the next iteration because it elevates buying something from getting a good to getting a good and getting social capital in one hit. Just more evidence to support the migration from a tangible economy to an intangible, idea-driven economy.
OPaD: Junkyard dog
There was a car squashing place across the street from one of the apartments we looked at. And it even had a junkyard dog! And the yard workers loved him…they were playing with him until they spied me shooting them from the window and then posed kissing him.
Glad we didn’t take that place. Much as it would be fun to live by a big friendly galoot of a dog, I think the constant noise of compacting metal would get to me. We were up by Atlantic Ave on Bergen and my overwhelming impression of the neighborhood was that it was a concentrated biosphere of the whole life cycle of a car…from brand new with a price chalked on the windshield to getting the everything that makes it a car compacted out. So uh, no bars. No grocery stores. No coffee shops. No me.
OPaD: Damn, it’s good to be home
Here I am, coming in on 35W South from Mom and Dad’s house. Two and a half hours on the road, proceeded by hours of lectures, early bed times, and the inevitable near-wreck experience with the car.
I’m happy to be home.
Every time I see that skyline come into view, I feel a sense of freedom and relief, and excitement about my life. This is where I live. This is my home. And isn’t it amazing.
This is where I live. This is my home. And isn’t it amazing. Part Two.
Easter
I’ll admit. I cried a little bit when I drove away from home this time. I hope this kind of thing can stay the same.
Around the table: Mom, Kay Rivers, Uncle Wally, Carol, Gary, Chris, Samantha, Ethan, Joy, Gail, Dad.
OPaD: Kids at Easter
Cousin Samantha, 5.
My hand dyed eggs. A childhood tradition lives on in 2008. We insisted on finding hidden Easter eggs, too.
I think the traditions around holidays make us feel safe and together…they’re the activities that we can predict and understand because we’ve done them so many times before. Maybe it’s just our family, but I think traditions reassure us that, despite all of the changes going on in our own lives and relationships, we are still the same family that we’ve always been. In some ways, it’s very escapist to retreat back into childhood activities, but in some ways, I think it lets us tell our parents that they are still our parents and we are still their kids, and that we like it that way.
OPaD: Glee Boots
Take THAT melted snow!
My flower power wellies will get me to and fro without a single cold or wet foot, and without a splashed pantleg to be seen.
Thoughts on Moving
My roommate told me that Oprah said that keeping stuff is a sign of depression. Going through this process makes me wonder whether it is KEEPING the stuff or the pain of getting rid of it that signals depression. The last few days have been a purge, and it hasn’t been particularly easy. All of my “what ifs” were stuffed into garbage bags and dumped off at Goodwill. I guess all I have at this point is laser vision and 50% fewer polka dotted skirts.
Meg and I talked for two and a half hours the other night, and the two things that she really impressed upon me were:
1. People dress snappier in New York.
That means it takes longer to get ready and it costs more to fit in. Fck on both accounts. I am excited about expanding my wardrobe, but Meg’s suggestion was to go all out and spend a whole paycheck on some nice stuff that will look classy forever. Yikes. That scares me. Since paycheck after paycheck seems to be spoken for lately!
2. Be patient with each other.
She said that it took her and Brian a year to come to a comfortable existence together. That they spent the first year sensing tension and feeling anxious about their decision to move away, and move in, together. I really respect that advice and am taking it to heart. I know that it will take us a while to find a rhythm; there is a vast difference between hanging out during the week (and going home at the end of it) and living a cohabitated lifestyle. I know I have lots of idiosyncrasies, habits, and preferences that Phil doesn’t know about. And I can only imagine that he has the same.
I am also learning lessons on how to break up. For me and my roommate, it hasn’t been easy. Seems like honesty and openness are the best practices, but timing trumps them all. Say the right thing, yes, but say it at the right moment, and you’ll get a lot further.
