Rivkah's Rambles

It's my last relaxed day in Olympia; I fly home tomorrow so will be consumed with cramming everything into my carry on bag. I wonder if I'll be able to do a Rick Steves from now on and never check a bag. So far, it's worked for my last few flights. Like the fashion ladies say, coordinating is easy, just pick a theme. Mine is black, mostly. Shoes are an issue, though. Next time I leave the pumps at home and pack my sneakers since every morning I wake up early and walk down to Batdorf for my coffee and wireless.

Speaking of fashion, last night was the Olympia Film Festival's annual fashion show (You Have a Body), and it was amazing. Of course, I'm incredibly proud that Ilana was the editor on a couple of the best film pieces, but the show itself was thought provoking, funny, ironic, twisted and touching. "Stare Hard" was incredible: young women shirtless, doing things we wouldn't blink at if guys were doing them; the performance art by Bridget Irish was stunning, especially since her earlier piece in the show was so light and sweet. Finally, Sarah's song about being awesome, so funny. Experiencing something like last night gives me hope. Our jobs and lives may be outsourced, but this convinces me that Daniel Pink is right, the future belongs to the creative class.

I don't want to go all librarian here, but I keep thinking about some recent experiences and wishing that videography was easier. Last night would have been an incredible thing to film and archive, (and perhaps upload to MyLibraryDV?), much like our amazing panel discussion at OPL a couple of weeks ago with Terry Rosenberg, Littleton Alston, Joey Lynch and Patrick Murray. Two hours of intensity about art, words, meaning, and it was only experienced by the 25 people at the program. At least last night I got a great shot of Sarah and the Fly Girls.

It's official, I'm a terrible blogger. I've broken every rule of blogging the the relatively short history of blogging. Life just got in the way. Right this moment I'm sitting at Batdorf & Bronson in Olympia, Washington, enjoying their wireless and fantastic coffee. I'm not alone. It's Thursday. Why aren't these people working? The place is full--I had to fight for a table. Maybe they're working, I don't know. Could this be the future? Sitting side by side, not talking, just typing, typing, typing on our computers, together but not?

Ilana's new apartment is amazing. A family of eight could fit in it. Hardwood floors. The interesting feature? It's on the second floor of a building that is right on 4th Avenue in Olympia, and the single-pane windows don't exactly keep out the noise. I also realized that I'm too old to be using a shower with handles that have to be turned on with pliers. I've become soft in my old age. I've decided that a few days here will be very good for me.