Easter 23 and 24: middle May days

5/12/14

Jerry, known affectionately by RL as the Mad Uke, in real life a respected contractor, and one of his team, have come to check the place over and come up with  an estimate. RL comes in to meet his old friend, but just a few minutes late.

Marc stops in with some questions about operations. Quickly resolved.

What you’d call a slow day.

Jeremy G and Jenna are outside waiting for the rest of the Workcenter Choir and Seed Group to arrive for the regular Monday night meeting and rehearsal. They’re hanging in there. Something big cooking for later in the month. Looks like Mario will be returning from Italy, he feels something is growing here. Seeds sprouting.

As the day closes, Ric C, my old neighbor, attorney, auctioneer, music manager, therapist, singer-songwriter, friend, is here. We’re off to the Stadium to see the Yankees and Mets, Subway Series, round one. He’s brought peanuts and homemade turkey sandwiches. Way to avoid the exorbitant Stadium prices. It was bright and sunny an hour or so ago. Clouds seem to be gathering.

When I stop through hours later, the Mets have came back to win a wild one, 9-7. And all is quiet at West-Park.

5/13

Ryan and Sam stop I to see me. They’re two of the younger Dzieci company members. Both were in Fools’ Mass and Passion. Bright faced and enthusiastic. The have a vision of a late August semi-immersive production of Cymbeline. We’re going to look at some spaces, see what works. As we pass the Noche studio, Ryan says greets Soli warmly. Turns out Ryan and Sam joined Noche for a filming of their evolving Antigone up in Great Barrington in the Berkshires. Martin wanted Grotowski trained actors. Matt recommended them. So they joined the cast. And killed each other. They love our building. The collaboration that takes place there. The vibe of creativity that is always present. And the ghosts. I show them the word blood in late Victorian font emerging from underneath the paint in the chapel and they both laugh. I’ll be interested to see what they come up with.

Jamie brings by a team from a church oriented construction/management group for another look at the building to see what we need to do. They would offer us a package deal. I just want to get us moving. RL has a way if breaking it all down to the simplest most manageable components and a step at a time process. Let’s just get it started.

Marina stops in on her way home at the end of a long day of rehearsals to say hi. And remind us of what they need to make a proposal. Chickens and eggs here. I love how she’s picking up solid  business sense the same way she’s learned dance.

Jeremy M is back from Switzerland. Seems like some  of his stuff is missing. We talk some music. Church music. And I tell him about the communists. He knows them well. And tells me of their solid work in the prisons and how they’ve helped prisoners turn it around. And how they’ve been right at the center of the work against the stop and frisk policy of the last mayor’s administration that caught so many black and brown citizens in its random clutches. He needs to run. We’ll talk again soon.

And now I’m off to teach in Newark. Election day there. To replace the golden boy mayor, now junior congressman Cory Booker. There’s Ras Baraka, son of playwright, poet and activist Imiri Baraka (ne. Le Roi Jones) vs.newcomer and seeming technocrat Bookerite Shavar Jeffries. Baraka was part of the old school Sharpe James machine and holds the labor vote. Jeffries seems to have Wall Street support even while presenting himself as  a  reformer.A responsible reformer. They’ve been duking it out. Should be interesting.