March Catch-up and End of the Year Thoughts
This has been a crazy month, in many ways. My design practice has really been taking off, I've begun working at a wonderful co-working space in Downtown Brooklyn, and I've made wonderful connections that include an official sit-down with one of the owners of my newest favorite coffeeshop (which was my 'office' until I started working at the Treehouse) and presentation to a great group of visual arts students at Bennington College in Vermont.
I've been a regular at Flying Saucer on Atlantic Ave in Boerum Hill since I went out on my own in October, immediately getting to know Nick, Rob, and Akhila, among others -- the daily counter staff. It's a warm, friendly neighborhood joint that feels like a living room, has free wireless, cheap refills, and a small army of us independent workers that take advantage of it all. When I started hosting the Brooklyn Likemind, it was no-contest that I would hold it at Flying Saucer. I had also met Emily and Ivan, a young couple who seemed to be in charge, but it was only recently that I realized they were the managing owners. I sat down with Emily a couple weeks ago and told her about my project and got the full scoop from her. She's younger than I had even imagined, and previously working in the criminal justice industry in the Bronx, it turns out they're almost accidental owners. Brought in by a couple who owns a number of local businesses, including the bar down the street, Emily and Ivan run the day to day business, and are looking into buying the shop outright soon. They've designed the menu, and the space. Oh, and the living room feel? Apparently the coffeehouse looks just like their living room at home.
Just a few days later, Joe and I drove up to Bennington, Vermont. Just following the NPR piece about my project, I had been invited up to talk to a class there about design, consumption, production routes, and manufacturing chains. If I didn't know better, I'd think the course was designed just for me to come speak to it! I presented for nearly 2 hours and excitedly incorporated all of my interests, including the awareness, reflection, and actions we can engage in as designers promoting community over commodities (my new tag line, of sorts). I'll give a similar presentation as part of the Rusty Bucket Series at Sprout Creek Farm in Poughkeepsie later this week.
And so it is on this Poughkeepsie farm, milking goats and cleaning barns, that I will turn 31 and come to the theoretical end of my consumer experiment. I've been asked many times what I will do then, and if I'm excited to run out and buy whatever I want, blindly and wantonly. I'm not sure of the exact next step, but I know these habits and this passion that I've found over the last 12 months is not about to disappear. And though I might allow myself to buy some Q-Tips and new work-appropriate footwear, I don't think this is the end of my project.
I've been a regular at Flying Saucer on Atlantic Ave in Boerum Hill since I went out on my own in October, immediately getting to know Nick, Rob, and Akhila, among others -- the daily counter staff. It's a warm, friendly neighborhood joint that feels like a living room, has free wireless, cheap refills, and a small army of us independent workers that take advantage of it all. When I started hosting the Brooklyn Likemind, it was no-contest that I would hold it at Flying Saucer. I had also met Emily and Ivan, a young couple who seemed to be in charge, but it was only recently that I realized they were the managing owners. I sat down with Emily a couple weeks ago and told her about my project and got the full scoop from her. She's younger than I had even imagined, and previously working in the criminal justice industry in the Bronx, it turns out they're almost accidental owners. Brought in by a couple who owns a number of local businesses, including the bar down the street, Emily and Ivan run the day to day business, and are looking into buying the shop outright soon. They've designed the menu, and the space. Oh, and the living room feel? Apparently the coffeehouse looks just like their living room at home.
Just a few days later, Joe and I drove up to Bennington, Vermont. Just following the NPR piece about my project, I had been invited up to talk to a class there about design, consumption, production routes, and manufacturing chains. If I didn't know better, I'd think the course was designed just for me to come speak to it! I presented for nearly 2 hours and excitedly incorporated all of my interests, including the awareness, reflection, and actions we can engage in as designers promoting community over commodities (my new tag line, of sorts). I'll give a similar presentation as part of the Rusty Bucket Series at Sprout Creek Farm in Poughkeepsie later this week.
And so it is on this Poughkeepsie farm, milking goats and cleaning barns, that I will turn 31 and come to the theoretical end of my consumer experiment. I've been asked many times what I will do then, and if I'm excited to run out and buy whatever I want, blindly and wantonly. I'm not sure of the exact next step, but I know these habits and this passion that I've found over the last 12 months is not about to disappear. And though I might allow myself to buy some Q-Tips and new work-appropriate footwear, I don't think this is the end of my project.
posted by Scott at
9:53 PM
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