clacking keys

many great things to say. silly stories to tell. but still furiously scribbling away. more blogs soon!

worms

i'm the kind of girl that shuts off her power strips when she leaves the house to save electricity. i've been bringing my own shopping bags to stores for years (clothing stores included) because our countries over-use of plastic bags seriously sets my teeth on edge. so back when i lived in buffalo and got heavy into gardening, a compost bin was the bees knees item on my dream list of home accessories. i moved before i had a chance to set one up.

sure, a compost bin means less waste in landfills, but the circular nature of the relationship is the most appealing part to me. i eat food. my garden eats compost. i can nourish my beloved garden, all by feeding myself. not to mention, i can do all this for free! (yes. cheap Corrie usually rears her head in matters)

when i moved to Brooklyn, i figured composting was an option that for the time being was lost to me. gone along with having a living space that equalled more than a few hundred square feet. sure, i could walk my compostable items forty blocks to the farmers market. or take a train into Manhattan to compost things there. but while i might turn off my power strips when i leave home, i ain't no green saint.

my friend Jared enrolled in a few composting classes, mind you, WORM composting classes. i won't lie. the idea was disgusting. "that's great, Jared," i said when he told me about it, quietly gagging back my distaste.

worms? like, in your house?! no freakin' way.

which is about the reaction Jared's wonderful fiancee had to the idea. putting a bin in their building's basement was out, because, well, who wants to risk trouble with the neighbors over worms? it was about this time that Jared proposed the idea to me. the only thing in the basement of Corrie's house is Corrie. wouldn't she love to have her very own worm compost bin?

it was a past dream come true... except with worms.

i could feed my tiny container garden with my own, tiny batches of homemade compost. with Jared quoting statistics of just how much perfectly compostable material gets thrown away every day, and how smaller our landfills would be if only etc etc etc....i agreed. 

i agreed TO HOST WORMS IN MY HOME (okay, they're in my hallway, people. i'm not totally insane). as excited as i was to finally compost, i won't lie - the idea freaked me out. i love coming across a worm while digging in dirt, but owning hundreds of them? i kept imagining millipedee crawly things. no me gusta.

right before we were to set up our bin, Jared sliced his wrist open on a broken bowl while doing dishes. he's fine. but at the time, this meant that the trip to pick up our supplies was done solo by me. riding home on the train holding a carton of worms was not helping me feel more alright with this. 

what follows is our instructional how to of setting up a worm bin. more than that, it is an instructional video of getting over your fears. of embracing being green. of realizing that worm composting is only 1% totally creepy and 99% totally fun....

yes. i did just write that. and okay, maybe it's 2% creepy.

apologies to Jared, i'm not sure why youtube froze the video on this still. maybe because it's awesome.

power up, woman

these edits are murder. considering my subject matter, i'm only half kidding. i was supposed to go in and fix one end chapter and tweak a plot point in the middle. i told my agent i could have the revised manuscript to her on friday. today, my entire manuscript is, while i wouldn't call it "in shreds," i would say heavily, severely frayed.

i've complained and dragged my heels over every revision thus far (my agent loves me, you betcha) but this one is seriously the worst. no for reals this time. i spent all yesterday talking to myself.

corrie, you've been here before. and it'll come to you girl, just be patient, you're so close. and you know these revisions always pay off. and seriously, corrie, stop napping, wake up and write the damn thing already!

around 9:00 last night i went to the gym. i needed to climb some stairs (and apparently watch a tv show about butchering animals). on the way home, i made up a little song that went like this: i can do this. i can do this. i can do this. it doesn't matter how you sing it. it goes to just about any tune.

did i mention i'm in the midst of some kind of massive allergy attack? it's like my brain and nasal cavities are stuffed with styrofoam.

but today i am THINKING POSITIVE. i am TREATING MY WORK LOVINGLY because it only gets one debut and it should be tippy-top perfect. i am AVOIDING ALL MY EMAILS. i am DRINKING COFFEE and FRESH GRAPEFRUIT JUICE. i am USING THE CAPS LOCK BUTTON IN EXCESS.

i'm also taking inspiration from YAK films ("YAK is a production team of young filmmakers dedicated to youth-led multimedia production which provides a voice for resistance and an alternative to played-out mainstream media.") and these two ladies because what it all comes down to is...

I am woman.

I am creative and strong.

And I'm gonna kick this revisions ass...

erm, maybe slightly behind deadline.

a quickie

hi gang.

sorry all, blog posting is going to be a little spotty in the next few weeks. the edits are amping up and then i'm taking a trip home.

i am hoping to post a video on my new worm composting bin (yes, you read that correctly) sometime this week though. and there's always dance videos to put up. and this new youtube channel i'm loving....

so i'll be here, but mostly away. and i can't lie. it's going to be in the 60's and 70's all this week in nyc. so hopefully i'll be outside some too.

badminton, anyone?

a magical evening

on thursday i had a pretty big I Love NY moment. i met a friend in the city for some shenanigans. with a little time to kill before shenanigans could properly start, we were wandering around Union Square when we noticed that a lot of the streets were blocked off. police were everywhere.

it was quiet. it was forbidden feeling. it was doomsdayesque. it was the freakin' President!

"President's in town, ladies." a policeman told us when i harangued my friend (okay, it was Ellen) into asking what was going on.

it must have been a fundraiser. lots of people were lined up outside ABC Carpet and Home. the second floor windows on the building were blocked out with butcher paper. all the men waiting to get inside were in suits. all the woman were in ridiculous, six-inch, tottering, um there's no better descriptor for it, stripper heels. no joke. i'll have to remember that when i meet the president.

smart, classy dress? check. fancy coat? check check. gold spiked platform heels? check check check.

the amount of people and planning it took to pull of this one NYC event was mind boggling. at least eight streets were blocked off surrounding the building. i wouldn't have been surprised if there were a hundred extra cops on hand. secret service was roaming and handing out on fire escapes. anytime a rouge bike messenger tried to zip through, he was stopped by a wall of people, being like, "whoa whoa whoa." and the thing is, all this was needed, because it would have been so so easy to do something bad. planning for variables alone must have taken weeks.

still, knowing that Obama was right across the street, in that building right there! lent a huge air of excitement and importance to the evening. how do DC'ers stand it?

everyone was on their best behavior. the police were super polite and gracious, even telling two women protesting some kind of pipeline that perhaps they'd be more comfortable hanging out with the other protesters right down the block.

i'm always amazed by the who's who of people that call NYC home. Bjork lives in Brooklyn Heights? and the ones you sit next to in restaurants. hello Jay Z. but the President? that's a whole other level. and for an evening, even NY'ers couldn't pretend disinterest.

i know, my photos aren't great. this is
people watching from all the windows.