Eat Your Vegetables, Eat On The Roof

Ben Flanner and his cool parents

Dinner and a movie on the roof

Are vegetables good for you?

Of course!

Are they fun?

Fun?  And cool.

Here at the SMP Building in Long Island City, up on the roof,  Ben Flanner has created a one acre farm with a killer view.  Ben has always wanted to run a farm, according to his mom.  I don’t know if he ever imagined that farm to be on top of a former auto parts manufacturing building on Northern Boulevard but that’ s what makes his farm so cool.

We had a dinner for about fifty people followed by a screening of one minute videos created by local artists in their favorite restaurants in Queens.

This is a little film project we call the Moveable Feast.   Do you want a peek at where artists like to eat?  Check these out.

We had salad with greens from the farm and desserts made by aspiring pastry chefs from the food incubator program down the block.  I nibbled on beet greens which are a beautiful deep red color and delicious in a mixed green salad.

Locals Rule

I love being a local.

I love buying local produce, working with local artists, supporting local businesses. There is an unmistakeable sense of pride that is part and parcel of local creative industries.  It is a distinctive Queens edge that comes through.

Especially in the lettuce.

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Style Notes from me, your artspy

Hoong Yee

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Word of mouth is the best way to share, don’t you agree?

Why Thirteen Year Olds Are A Ghostmistress’s Best Friend

my Boo Crew

I had to pinch myself.

I guess not many people think being in enclosed spaces with thirteen year olds is something to go out of your way for but for me, this was the chance of a lifetime to write and be read by the most valuable focus group ever – the kids who haunt the Ghostmistress.  A Boo Crew that keeps growing.

Each week, I posted a part of a ghost story I am writing.  They read it, critiqued it, wrote their own stuff and posted it on the site.  I learned what made them tick, they learned how to be good reviewers in an online community.  We wrote stories, poems and screenplays.  I brought cookies.  Ghost cookies made by my friend and Seth’s carpool buddy, Joanne.

Ghostmistress cookies

Here’s what the Boo Crew looked for:

Dialogue that drives action

Descriptive writing that created a character or a place

Characters that revealed their thoughts

Cliffhangers that provoked curiousity

Characters with complex personalities and unexpected actions

Fast paced stories

Challenges they could relate to such as bullying, being the youngest child, liking someone

I looked forward to seeing the comments the day after I posted each scene.  No matter what I thought of what I wrote, I was always surprised and often startled by their opinions.  Always, always grateful for the chance to have my stuff read by my target audience.

As I work on finishing Ghostmistress this summer, I will imagine a group of blue clad young critics ready to devour the 1000 words I write with a critical appetite.  They have already sharpened my sense of what rings true and what makes a good story they would read.  They have pre reviewed and pre critiqued my young adult story and I am so grateful to them for helping me write a better story.

This makes sense to me.

Need to know what your readers, your audience, your market likes?  Give them a way to tell you.  Let them in on your creative process – a little unnerving, yes, but vulnerability is really appealing.  I created the Ghostmistress site which they took creative ownership of and where they could discuss my story.

How are you connecting with your readers?

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If you want style notes and more for people who change the world, please check out:

Getting to Wow! to feel good, do good and look good

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Style Notes from me, your artspy

Hoong Yee

– Subscribe and get a little Wow! every day

– Forward the link to someone you think would be interested

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Thanks so much! I really appreciate your help.

Word of mouth is the best way to share, don’t you agree?

How To Transform From A Soccer Mom To Surfer Mom

hanging out at Beach 91st Street in Rockaway Beach

I am in love.

This weekend, I took my first surfing lesson and I am in love with surfing.  On Saturday morning,  Seth and I met Fernando, my surfing teacher, at the edge of the jetty just off Beach 91st Street.  We walked back to his house which kind of looks like a tiki hut or a typical surfer’s shack tucked behind a tall beach house just a few blocks off the beach.  I could feel time slip into another pace, the day became one big sunny moment.  Seth settled into his beach chair next to a group of very nice people who decided to be my cheering squad.  They clapped every time I tried to stand up.

“It’s all about finding your balance and controlling your board with your body.  When you feel the wave take your board, jump up and ride.”

That simple directive, so beautiful to watch, is not as easy as it sounds.

“It’s about your arms, your shoulders, your center of gravity.”

Listen, Fernando, its about that and a bunch of other muscles I didn’t know I had. I was on a vintage 60′s long board and wondering how the hell I was going to maneuver it in the water.  I know, lots of arm and shoulder and that pesky center of gravity.  Somewhere in the back of my mind I can see my mom, the evolved Buddhist from Bayside, nodding approvingly.  She likes to remind me about being centered and balanced.  ”In all things in life.  Even on a surfboard.”

Fernando and me

I love sitting on the board waiting for a wave.

Fernando pushed me out and shouted, “Now!”  I waited until I felt the wave move the board.  I actually stood up for a few shaky seconds before tumbling happily into the surf.

Seth brought me a veggie burger from the food stand on the boardwalk when I stumbled on to the sand after my lesson.  You have to dodge skateboarders carrying surfboards and zig zag your way through surfboards and boogy boards to get something to eat but, boy oh boy, is it worth it!  This is the summer of great boardwalk food in the Rockaways.

And the summer I learn how to hang ten.

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If you want style notes and more for people who change the world, please check out:

Getting to Wow! to feel good, do good and look good

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Style Notes from me, your artspy

Hoong Yee

– Subscribe and get a little Wow! every day

– Forward the link to someone you think would be interested

– Link to a post on Twitter (follow me @hylkrakauer)

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Thanks so much! I really appreciate your help.

Word of mouth is the best way to share, don’t you agree?

The Art Of Attracting The Customer Investor

I have been thinking about how to build business markets around art.  Around artful products.

Many artists work on pieces and struggle to find an audience or customers.  Their art embodies talent, skill, passion, and time devoted to creating the work.

This is what artists do.  This is why artists starve.

Why?

If finding a market for your work is part of your plan, it should not be the afterthought at the end of the creative process.  Rather, seeking out your market should be part of the early stages of making art.  Art is, after all, an expression of life or vice versa depending on your point of view.  And being creative in the marketing of your art is another outlet for expression.

I think the most successful people in any industry are the risk taking creatives, the ones who break away from the average perception and make their own.  My father was a civil engineer.  Glasses, faraway look in his eyes, lots of mechanical pencils in his shirt pocket.  He dreamed in code, spoke in equations and often left the house wearing two different shoes.  He was not comfortable with the nonengineering world and when he succeeded in patenting one of his inventions, a calculating triangle with multiple functions, he could not sell it.

If I were bold enough back then, and being a good little Asian girl who happened to be bad at math, I might have suggested something like, “Maybe you could show people how it can solve some of their math problems.”  I know I would have jumped at the chance to buy a boxful of them if it could help me pass high school math.  He didn’t understand the need to involve other people at any stage of this – design, ease of use, practical applications, need, etc.

This is why I love this Kickstarter project for the Capture Camera Clip System that I read about on Fred Wilson’s blog.  It neatly illustrates my theory of the customer investor.  Peter Dering, in his engaging three minute video, does the following:

1. engages your interest
2. describes the problem with carrying around a camera
3. tells you what he is doing about it
4. shows you the process
5. gives you a peek into future products
6. appeals to you to help him bring his dream product to reality for $50 and a chance to pre order one

Peter has given the world a chance to look over his shoulder and watch this product become a reality as an investor and to own one as a customer.  I feel like I am more than a credit card transaction.  I am part of a greater success unfolding before my eyes.

And I will never drop my camera again.

Get more Wow!

If you want style notes and more for people who change the world, please check out:

Getting to Wow! to feel good, do good and look good

Nonprofit Knitwear for all things knit and nonprofit

Style Notes from me, your artspy

Hoong Yee

– Subscribe and get a little Wow! every day

– Forward the link to someone you think would be interested

– Link to a post on Twitter (follow me @hylkrakauer)

– Put a link to the blog in your Facebook status update

Thanks so much! I really appreciate your help.

Word of mouth is the best way to share, don’t you agree?

Fifty Ways To Love Your Conference

I like to think I am a better person, smarter, my head filled with new ways of thinking, and ready to rock and roll after being surrounded by people who love and respect the power of the arts to change the world.

The truth is, I am probably heavier after all of the dine-arounds and dinners out. My card case will explode with all of the business cards I collected. My eyes glaze over thinking about where to start first.

My mother, the evolved Buddhist from Bayside, did not achieve her state of grace without believing in some basic universal truths. She would say,

“Get over yourself. You are just a speck in the grand scheme of things so relax. Take one step at a time.”

Thanks, mom. I know she meant to say something like “a journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step” but after living in Queens you start to sound like a local. Anyway, here are some of my impressions and images from this year’s American For The Arts Convention in San Diego:

Come hungry for ideas and inspiration

Any vestiges of plane fatigue vanished the minute we stepped into the room for dinner with the oh-my-god amazing Ovation crew.  I have been following their programming over the years and truly appreciate their commitment to capturing the stories of this arts landscape we are all part of.

So smart to be reaching out to the field to build local viewerships that will grow, as Elizabeth Streb, my dear friend and awesome dancer likes to describe this as, “like rhizomes”.  Talk about grass roots with grip!

I will also be getting a better camera or phone with a better camera so my shots come out clear.

me, nancy glaze and sonia tower

Wear comfortable shoes

This is a big hotel.  To do your best in dashing from one session to another you must be able to explode from the starting gate, leap over buildings in a single bound and look fabulous.  Make sure you have the right shoes.  Like my friend Naj.  Now here’s a man whose shoes scream comfort.

barbara schaffer bacon and naj wikoff

What’s your story

Caught Dinah walking out of a workshop on storytelling.

“Anything worth blogging about?”  I asked.

She smiled and said, “Couple of things.  For me as a funder hearing from groups in the field, I would suggest they pay attention to really communicating the story of what they do beyond the field so other people get it, and use normal words, no jargon.”

Wise words to remember, everybody!

dinah walls and mitch menchaca

Ladies who laugh too much

Beware!  You could be fired for laughing too much.  Or much worse.

Obviously that doesn’t bother either Danielle or her sidekick, Ramona, who have made laughter a prerequisite for entering their circle.  I am so thrilled to have shared a chuckle with these ladies.  Check us out on AFTA’s Facebook page.

danielle brazell and ramona baker

How to say stuff in Arabic

Shannon wore a T shirt with something written in Arabic.  It is part of a project her partner is involved with to make this language more visible graphically, on T shirts and cards.  Shannon has kindly shared two of these notecards with me that each display a beautifully written word in Arabic.  One that says, “artist” and one that says, “designer”.  It makes me want to learn more.  Seth too.  He wants to know how to say, “Frosted Flakes” in Arabic.

shannon daut and seth, my conference eye candy

As a speck in the universe, I have decided to follow up on just three things today:

1.  Write this blog post for you

2.  Get a comfortable pair of shoes

3.  Call my mother

I am so looking forward to seeing how everyone is doing at next year’s convention in San Antonio, Texas.

Hoong Yee Lee Krakauer is a surfer from Rockaway Beach who blogs at www.hoongyee.com about how to live artfully.   By day, she is the Executive Director of the Queens Council on the Arts.