Thing-a-day.com

• dice and roast a parsnip and 3 yams at 425° for 20-30 minutes, shaking occasionally
• meanwhile, saute 3 shallots, finely chopped
• add chicken broth, bay leaf, thyme, and a bunch of kale, chopped small
• bring to a boil, simmer for 15 minutes.
• add roasted vegetables, 3 cloves whole garlic, and a can of great northern beans
• season with salt & pepper and simmer for 10 more minutes to blend flavors.
• garnish with shredded beets
• enjoy with buttered baguette bits

Day 24: city dusk

Karl and I at Eyebeam 

on the F Train, sunset.  

Day 1
Moved all our stuff to Park Slope. Two carloads.

Day 2
Send three e-mails.

Day 6
Letter to Geoff:

I am at Tea Lounge in Park Slope right now, because we have no Internet at home. We also have no bed, no food, and no pans to cook food in if we had food. It is so freakin’ loud here! I am constantly getting punched in the ear. I feel like someone is following me around with one of those trucks that cuts up old trees, and when they are on break there’s this other guy with a hammer, banging on a piece of steel and screaming. Meanwhile there is music in the background. Here in the coffee shop, they turn it up really loud so you don’t get too comfortable.

But this place is focusing my efforts. That’s what New York does. It’s one big creative constraint. Maybe it’s waking up in the middle of the night to a nuclear holocaust in sonic form, to have my life flash before my eyes only to realize it’s just the tree-cutting truck on the late shift. I don’t think that’s what it is, though. I think it’s the fact that New York is so expansive that my brain will self-destruct if I try to blindly follow my curiosity here. I must focus.

It’s hard at first because I can’t do things in the old way. I have to adopt the New York way of doing things. The whole game has changed, and I’m still trying to play by the old rules, and it’s not working. I can’t just sit around online applying for Craigslist jobs. I have to put on my best shoes and go out schmoozing. Parties, coffees, drinks and more drinks, business cards exchanged, promises made, kept, broken.

Day 7
Karl got crawled on by a cockroach in the middle of the night, so we set up the tent in our bedroom. Added three columns to the top of my personal home page: what I offer, what I’m exploring, what I want.

Day 8
Started forthcoming story about rock star web developers.

Day 9
Wrote & refined a letter to my landlord negotiating rent.

Day 10
Finally applied for a job, and they said I was too experienced! That’s a first. I’d rather hear the opposite, then convince them otherwise. In this case, nothing to convince.

Day 11

Day 12

Day 13

Day 14

Day 15

Day 16

Day 17: In an e-mail, I wrote: My personal constraint is “I won’t build anything that can’t justify itself in the face of climate change.” But now, how to enforce?

Day 18

Day 19