Good things have happened this week.

Let's revel in the splendor, shall we?

On Sunday my friend and accomplice Meena and I went to 3rd Ward for a bluegrass show. Now, bluegrass in a big Brooklyn factory art space is a tricky thing, but 3rd Ward did an admirable job as far as I could tell from our brief stay there. The key was placing the musicians outside, although it did pour down rain for fifteen minutes or so.

As an aside, I really like the outside area of 3rd Ward. It's sort of a closed in alley with multi-level fire escape stairwells that tower above you when you stand on the concrete slab floor.






I remember being out there for a breather in the middle of the night years ago, the first time I went to 3rd Ward. I had moved to Brooklyn a couple months before and went to meet my friend Ashley for a dance party there. This was before my bike made it out from Portland, and so just before dawn when I got tired of dancing I walked home. In retrospect, that choice seems fairly crazy because even years later the area is pretty desolate. It's smack in the middle of the trucking route for the industrial district of Williamsburg. I remember Ashley told me to be careful but also said I projected a "don't mess with me" vibe that seemed to be serving me well. He, on the other hand, was at the receiving end of all manner of non-violent Brooklyn crime: bike theft, van theft, vandalization of his stuff, etc–all in the few months he spent in town.

Anyhow, that night at 3rd Ward was special, and the outside area there is particularly charged. So it just felt good to listen to bluegrass out there with my friend. I suppose the visit planted a seed, because a few days later, after looking over the courses 3rd Ward will offer in the fall I decided to become a member and take a writing course there!

It deserves an exclamation because this decision is the kind of thing that I have thought of for years now (certainly all the years I've lived in NYC) as out of my reach. I have a hard time accepting joy. Maybe that seems odd because I have this blog that is a sort of call to indulge in peace and joy, but I also had that last blog, you know, which was all about how to have fun on practically no money. . . and this decision to join 3rd Ward and invest in myself as an artist required some money.

This sort of thing makes me think: oh, money's not so bad (as a concept). . .see there, Budis, how you were able to use money to explore your art. But if I take one giant step back, Mother-may-I style then it's clear: hold on, the only reason you didn't explore and invest as deeply in yourself as artist in the recent past is because you lacked the money.

Wow, I had intended to write about the whole week, but I only got a little bit out. Well, there's more where that came from.

xoxo,
K. Budis