Musings on Manhattan

It is Saturday evening and I just put down Friday’s New York Times. I picked it up on my way to work when I stopped for a hit of Starbuck’s coffee. I envied the folks in there sitting at their tables reading or chatting with each other. I truly miss my leisurely mornings in my Manhattan neighborhood café’s with coffee and the NYT. I left the paper in the car as I trudged into work, thinking I would read it at lunch. I finally get a chance to catch up and join the debate, at least to myself, whether the latest installation by Christo and Jean Claude in Central Park is truly art. Since you asked, I don’t know. I just know I enjoy the dialogue and the event. I wish I could be there. As someone pointed out, it’s truly an event when that much cloth and space does not a corporations logo on it!

That’s not to say I’m not enjoying where I am. Although I have sacrificed my mornings, I have gained the opportunity to meet many new people though work. I love my customers. Unfortunately, it’s the ones that don’t seem to earn me any commissions that I seem to enjoy to most. For example, one on my early customers was a massage therapist needing business cards. She was a phone customer who needed a little guidance on how she needed to present her credentials, etc. After speaking on the phone a couple of times, she eventually came in and we met in person. She works at a day spa and had lots of good information about the area to share with me. Last Sunday, while writing at the Bean Street Café, five women at a nearby table caught my attention. Their conversation was funny and interesting, but not gossipy. At one point I leaned forward and realized it was Rivkah, my customer – not a name easily forgotten. I said hi and I was instantly drawn into the group. Rivkah introduced me and told me they were having their monthly book club meeting. We all chatted for a little while and then I was asked to join them in reading their next book. We are reading the “Life of Pi.” They were so funny and lighthearted with each other, I am sure I will enjoy getting to know them a little better. One gave me her business card, and she is the person my boss has been telling me to contact at the Chamber of Commerce. How’s that for a coincidence?

Another example is the artist who came in to buy second sheets for her letterhead. It became a paper learning experience for us all. I won’t bore you with the details, but after numerous trips in and a couple of mis-orders, we finally got the right paper for her. As she walked in my office unannounced this last time, she said, “ remember me…” and I just automatically replied “ of course … my favorite artist…” We got the paper issue all straightened out and then got into a discussion of art and how she has been able to support herself with it compared to me, coping out and becoming a graphic designer instead. She invited me to her open house this weekend at her studio. I have invited my other new artist friend (who is opening her new gallery soon) to join me. I am so loving this! I feel as if I am being offered an opportunity to revisit something that was very important to me when I was younger but had to put aside in the interest of earning a living and supporting a child.

But that is part of what I asked for when I came here. Some of you already know this, but when I pack my car with the things I knew I would need for the first few months, the real luxury items I brought were my paintbrushes. I haven’t used them since my last oil painting done in 1976. I have stored them carefully and had them nearby – just in case. I left behind my guitar and most of my books – but for some reason, I felt the necessity to bring them. Maybe its just symbolic or maybe I will actually have a chance to use them, but I have them and they seem to be drawing to me people, or maybe I should say women, who can inspire and help me. How great is that? It’s a fair trade for the lazy mornings I spent in Starbucks, right?