Day 34 - The Day of Knowledge

I declared this day my Day of Knowledge. I woke up, walked to Barnes & Noble, got a drink and muffin in the cafe and sat at that bar looking out over Broadway from 10:00a.m. to 6:30p.m. I was reading The Artist's Way and doing all of the journaling and recording of quotes/thoughts that goes with reading a book like that. I was soaking up every phrase and every moment. I watched people quite a bit, resting my pen and my mind while I observed the behavior of those out on the street as well as the friends that sat on either side of me at the bar. The chair on my left was occupied by twelve different people throughout the day, and the chair on my right was occupied by three. I have pages and pages of notes recorded in my notebook from all the reading and observing I did today. I enjoyed it so much. I will talk about them a bit more below.

Dinner was super delicious macaroni from a cafe on Broadway at 71st called Cafe 71. It was so delicious. I also got a lemon cupcake (which have particularly cool meaning for me now, for those of you who know what happened that fateful night I ate a Magnolia lemon cupcake, haha!) and bought some macaroni to-go for my lunch tomorrow. It was really amazing macaroni, okay? ALMOST as good as Tristen's... Almost.

After dinner I dropped by the West Side Market for my groceries. I was carrying them home and whistling, happiest girl in the land. I love living here, love seeing and smelling and hearing all of the people and experiences around me. I bought the most delicious-looking nectarines ever from a fruit stand on the corner. Mmm I can't wait to eat them tomorrow morning for breakfast.

The other day I meant to include a story Matt told me about the most humid day in the world as experienced by Harlem: he walked out of his apartment on that INSANELY hot day and the streets were flooded with water - people had busted a fire hydrant to relieve themselves in the scorching heat. He said the streets were filled with people, naked Hispanic babies running around, and cop cars. He said a few cars were driving by the hydrants super slow like they were in a car wash, getting their tires all clean and taking advantage of some other fool's illegal acting out... I loved it. The way he told the story was the best - I wish I could describe it the way he did. He said it took him ten minutes to get to his subway station four blocks away because he could barely move through all the soaking wet, shouting, singing, laughing people, and then he walked through ankle-deep water to cross the street and get to the train. Gotta love the summer heat. (Christine, I know you would have been one to organize breaking the hydrant!)

***Quotes/thoughts that moved me today***

a very select few from sixteen pages of notes

• You will discover the joy of practicing your creativity. The process, not the product, will become your focus.
• Anger should be acted on, not acted out. (We often feel angry that we feel angry.)
• Art illuminates us. It casts a beam into the heart of our own darkness and says, "See?"
• Accurate criticism gives a sense of RELIEF.
• I asked mom if I've always loved to read and she said, "Always." We brainstormed various phases of literature I went through - Beverly Cleary, Mrs. Piggle Wiggle, Amelia Bedilia, Anita Stansfield romance novels, Ender's Game series, Lord of the Rings, Harry Potter. Never any Mystery Novels and very few classics like "A Tale of Two Cities"
• Mom and I also talked about games I liked when I was young. She said, "You loved ponies, dolls, anything you could use your imagine with. You could make a game from a sprig of broccoli."
• Be kind to yourself! Ways I am kind to myself: socks, gerber daisies for my room.
• Write about the kind of God you believe in - a God of energy - a nontoxic idea of God.
• God was extravagant - so why can't we be? The Creator didn't place restrictions while creating - take snowflakes for example. EVERY SINGLE ONE is different!
• We try to be sensible... as though we have ANY proof that God is sensible!
• ART IS NOT ABOUT MAKING SOMETHING UP! IT IS ABOUT GETTING SOMETHING DOWN!
• Expect the Universe to support your dream.
• Perfectionism is a refusal to let yourself move ahead. It's a closed system. It's egotism.

Challenge to anyone who made it this far in the blog: Complete the following sentence, "If I didn't have to do it perfectly I'd try _____."

Also, I made hard-boiled eggs tonight :)

Love to wall.