Thursday, August 30, 2018

Life in public


I went down to my old magazine yesterday, which has moved to offices in Brooklyn with a much reduced staff from the days when I was on the masthead. They are now in a very cool looking former warehouse complex with polished concrete floors, exposed pipes and ductwork, and large banks of windows letting in lots of light. Very Brooklyn industrial chic, complete with a coffee bar and cafe right there on the work floor and a full time barista on staff. But as cool as it all looks, the staffers miss the days when people had offices and cubicles. The open concept design with unbroken rows of desks, everyone shoulder to shoulder or staring across at each other from behind their computer screens, affords no privacy for sensitive conversations, and it's noisy and distracting, too. But I did note that even though they are short staffed and overworked, folks did not seem oppressed, and that is an improvement, perhaps, from the days when the magazine was owned by Time Inc., and everyone did indeed feel anxious and burdened.

I was there to get software and fonts loaded onto my laptop and get a refresher in InCopy, which I actually remembered pretty darn well, like riding a bicycle really. I am editing for the magazine again, have been for the past couple of months, working remotely, which is perfect. But being back in the office among people with whom I once regularly burned the midnight oil stirred up feelings. I'll just say, those women give the best hugs, and they made me feel welcomed back to the team, even on an informal, open-ended basis. This could be good. I just have to make sure I am very organized, as there is also the book I'm working on, and I intend to do my darnest there, too.

I actually went from the magazine's office to an interview with my book subject and her parents yesterday. Her mother plied me with delicious meat and spinach pies, and sweet sage tea, as we pored over photo albums and they shared the stories behind each picture. It was fascinating to note that as intense as my subject is in the public sphere, her family of origin appears warm and funny and easygoing. I imagine they must provide a healing refuge for the organizing work their activist daughter does out in the world. I am really glad she has the security of her family, where she can sink into being unconditionally loved and a relaxed, bantering way.

Later, when I got home, my son and one of his friends showed up and the two full grown men dozed on my couches until evening, when they got themselves together and went out to meet friends who are in town from other states and from England for a wedding of one of their camp crew this weekend. They've been celebrating non-stop since the bachelor party in Nashville last weekend, and it will continue until bride and groom are hitched beside a lake in the Connecticut woods this Sunday.

I took that photo in the Juno car at 7:30 AM on the way to Brooklyn yesterday morning. It was already almost 100 degrees outside, but inside the car was air conditioned and the soft early morning light invited me to take a selfie before getting all bedraggled by the day. Despite the sweltering heat, it was a good, productive morning and afternoon, and very social. Today my plan is to do nothing else but sit at my desk looking out at the trees, and write.

15 comments:

  1. How is it that you keep looking younger and younger?!

    I'm not a fan of open-concept offices; I don't feel I can fully relax, ever. Good luck with all your work projects. Sounds busy but satisfying.

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    1. jenny, the secret lies in only posting pictures that lie, haha. I don't like open concept workspaces, either, unless it's a cafe or communal workspace where I'm surrounded by strangers.

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    2. I can't even take a picture of myself under any conditions that lies enough to suit me. You, however, are just beautiful. Period.

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  2. You're a beautiful woman.

    I'm glad you're enjoying your new job. I find it amazing that people make a living writing, it sounds so wonderful, I'm guessing very difficult too.

    I also think it's pretty cool I know a real life writer who lives in New York City. Does that make me sound lame?

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    1. lily, i find it amazing that people make a living from writing, too, and sometimes we actually don't, but thanks for the kind words here. And lame? Absolutely not. I think it's pretty cool that I know someone who does the work you do, which I know is incredibly hard and often emotionally wrenching. I'm grateful you do it.

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  3. You are on a roll, woman! Getting it all done. You amaze me.

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  4. My god, woman. You are stunning. I am beginning to think you are a goddess and just not telling us. Seriously. You have no wrinkles!

    Like, Lily Cedar, I am in awe that you are a writer that lives in New York. My husband and I watched a 4 (5?) hour documentary on New York from the 16th century to the year 2000. It was one of the most interesting programs I have ever seen. There is so much going on! The people. The different cultures and religions. The architecture. The politics. It just kept getting more and more mind-blowing.

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  5. In all the photos of you, I see what it is to love and be loved and to be doing the work one was born to do. Your light shines.

    Interesting to learn that there has been a return to open concept design in office settings! Although cubicles became something of a joke, I loved my cubicle with its fabric walls onto which I could pin photos and reproductions of art work and this and that. I am easily distracted and would find it very difficult to work with a group of people without the buffer of cubicle walls. Even better for me than a cubicle was working alone at home as a medical transcriptionist and now as an artist. The medical transcriptionists I know work well independently and yet we feel a sense of camaraderie and enjoy getting together occasionally since the hospital outsourced our work so that they could pay pennies instead of a living wage for their medical transcription needs.

    Good to know that you are at home writing today!

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  6. You certainly don't look old enough to have grown up children! It must be being so busy keeping you young !

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  7. You look stunning! And all that you do throughout the day is so exciting and interesting, I am delighted.

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  8. I read this post and I think how wonderful it is that you get so much done in one day, have so many loving encounters, are creative and truly beautiful. I went for a walk yesterday and never take selfies!

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  9. well, here I am echoing all the others about the beautiful woman. sounds like a productive day. I don't think I'd like the open concept either but what do I know? I've never held an office job. what I think when I see those 'industrial' buildings with the high ceilings and exposed pipes and ductwork is how hard it must be to heat in the winter.

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  10. You amaze me in that you are such a deeply, beautifully sensitive person (that is a compliment to me so I hope it falls like one on your ears) who has also accomplished and continues to accomplish so much work. I don't often see these two things go together.

    I have read that open concept offices are so much worse for productivity and job satisfaction than those cubicles the hippies liked to mock.

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  11. You are so pretty and vibrant looking, and I like the little snippets you share in this post about the magazine and your current work. I worked in a huge office we called the warehouse, ugh. I have written for dozens of magazines as a freelancer, I think it is way cool you were on the masthead.

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