Noon or Midnight?

I reside at 844 Myrtle Ave, Brooklyn NY, 11206.  I can't really say I'm living here though.  My room is in the basement on there are no windows and there is no air ventilation.  I miss the sun.  It's too bad, I wish I had something great to share.  I'm unemployed, but at least my economics education reminds me that this means I'm still technically part of the workforce because I am actively seeking employment.  I guess we share something in common, this Limbo hosts great company.  It's very good to hear from you Eli and Kate.  I think if anyone has sunny days ahead, it's the two of you.

Gung Ho is trying to play as much as we can here in NYC.  Actually we just had our first show in months, in Saratoga!  While there I joined Will and helped dig a foundation.  Thanks man for the job.  Funny that I can't get a job here, but while there I got one within a day.  No worries, I am going to a Temp Agency this week.  Gung Ho has some shows lined up for October, and hopefully many more will come.

I just finished The Books of Modern Rags, a songbook of solo piano music that I have been working on now for two years.  I am satisfied and fulfilled with the fifteen compositions.  Currently I am researching copywrite law and publishing means.  We'll see.  Just something I love doing.

I will let you know when I feel settled again and when I can tell if it's Noon or Midnight.

Sincerely,

Corey

4 years of college later and I'm living in a basement and doing manual labor

Howdy my dandy little comrades, 

Hooray for Kate and Eli for starting the initiative on making this blog happen. I'm not much of a blogger, nor am I much of a computerer, but if there's anyone who is worth operating one of these soul-sucking machines for, it is you guys. I hope this can turn into a venue for sharing resources, plans and ideas in hopes for reconnecting with one another in the future around activities that can both benefit the soil, the people, the non-people and each of us individually. 


My current dwelling is a remodeled basement on Clinton St in Saratoga, just a block away fro the Getty and Price Chopper.  Yes, I'm still here. My former landlord from last year offered me to crash in his basement for free, in exchange for helping him build a root-cellar and a 3-story porch above it on the old brick house that he and his family live in. He's a really cool guy, a Skidmore alumni from '92 actually, who owns a few houses in Toga and knows a crap-ton about building almost anything-- porches, foundations, doors, windows, stairs, art, gardens.  His specialty is converting basements into beautiful, functional spaces that are packed with chalk-board walls, art and light switches. He's been inspiration to become a do-it-yourself type of person, and I am learning all sorts of things from him.. This is a good way to live, both in terms of understanding what you own and manage and saving money. It's also part of a semi-interest of mine: learning how to retrofit old homes and buildings to incorporate more ecological/appropriate technologies into them. It seems less resource-intensive to work with what is already in existence, rather than tearing down the old and building new. 


Anyway, hopefully we will finish the addition by late October, and I will be returning back to western Mass for a few months to reconnect with friends and family for the holidays.  Then, Mexico. My tentative departure date is January 15th.  I desperately want to drive there for the experience of really seeing how far away Oaxaca is and for boycotting of using airplanes. BUT tickets online are like $200 dollars if I buy them nowish, so I'm having an intense economic vs. moral debate with myself on it... and I can't find anyone who wants to drive.  Anyone interested? I envision driving a junker down there and abandoning it or selling it at some point before returning to the States.  
Kate and Eli, your in Limbo, wanna go to Mexico? Learn spanish, work with Gustavo, get your hands dirty, come up with urban agriculturally/ permaculture projects. Farm. Meet up with old friends. Go to the beach. Be Merry.  


If only I had a camera to show you all this basement.  Too bad. You will have to come visit!! Seriously, I'd love to see any and all of you.  It's my first time living alone and it's been a difficult transition.


Best of luck to all of you, get in touch whenever, 413 320 7052
Will Coffey

Sitting here in limbo

Here we are.  Jobless, distressed and mustached.  But how did we get here?

Our plans had assembled themselves last Spring to working through AmeriCorps at a farm-based community that lives and works with people who have developmental disabilities.  On 600 acres of beautiful rural Columbia County, NY, it seemed rather ideal.  Eli and I moved there in early July, only to find, ironically, isolation, and not the peaceful farm life we had imagined.

I suppose within any large group of people there will be messy politics, but this community is also much more religiously involved than they advertise.  Upon expressing my personal discomfort with weekly Bible readings, I was met with contempt and I would say there was even coercion happening.  I could go on, but in short, we were asked to leave the community, against our will, and maybe even against the AmeriCorps policy(!).  We drove away on sweet and sour terms — I loved working on the 2 acre herb garden that produces teas and remedies, and Eli on the animal farm, but we couldn't maintain our health and sanity in a place where we felt disrespected and where our rights were being violated.

So, now that I have returned to ground zero, I am reflecting upon my experiences, and am resettling my goals and aspirations for the next year.  Both of us have decided to apply to other AmeriCorps programs in the Cleveland, OH region, where Eli's dad lives.  But for now, sitting in limbo in Boston.

and...we got a kitten!  She left the farm with us, and we named her Luna.

~Kate