me, at the beach in Rockaway

Some people will do anything to stay young.

I am not satisfied with staying young at heart.  I want to be young.

Let me be clear.  It is not my youth that I am chasing.  It is the childlike wonder and simple fearlessness that I want.  That is why I surf.

And of course, in order to be good at it, I run every morning and I take hot yoga classes for strength, balance and focus.   Somehow, the stars and the surf are in alignment here in the Rockaways and it is now reinventing itself as the coolest beach with the skyline of Manhattan just over the bay.  There are yoga classes on the beach during the week, beach tennis, a skateboard park and the big deal of the day is the food vendors along the boardwalk now have a liquor license!

How to Rock the Rockaways

You want to know how to do this?

1. Listen, get up early, get out here around 7:30 am on a Saturday.  At this time you can probably find a parking spot off 96th street in the big lot across from the library.  The A train stop is 96th Street.
2. Walk over to 108 street and set up your yoga mat by the water.  The class is free, usually taught by my friend Helen who is fabulous, and begins at 8:00 am for one hour.  There is no better way to start off your weekend.
3. Afterwards, you can rent a bicycle for the day and cruise up and down the boardwalk.  Check out the surfers at 91 street,  I’ll be there.  You can grab a bite at Rippers – great veggie burgers and juice bar.  My fave is the Dreamcatcher.
4. Find yourself a piece of sandy heaven and relax.
5. Rinse and repeat.

Hey, this is a lot of work but it is so worth it.

Sky and his new surfboard

I am lucky to have a friend to go running with every morning.

I am blessed to have a son I can go surfing with every summer.   He is the reason I paddle out to catch waves and try to hang ten.

Today, I saw him surfing with his friends up around 143 street in Neponsit.  It was a whole scene – lean, tan boys laughing in the tumbling waves out past the first set of breakers, giggling girls in bikinis waving at them.  Getting called in by reluctant lifeguards under the stern gaze of their supervisor and whispering conspiratorially,

“Hey guys, I know you guys can swim out there.  My boss is here so I have to call you guys in.  You know I won’t bother you when he’s not around.  We’re surfers too.”

Sky grabbed his board and his eyes barely flickered a hello as he dashed by me with his crew.  Does that bother me?  I suppose it could but, I surf too.

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?

photo by polis poliviou

Being cheap is not the same as being poor.

Today someone told me he had extremely wealthy friends who, whenever they would go out to dinner and split the bill, would order the most expensive items on a menu so they could feel like they really got a great meal on another person’s dime.  Well, how do you think they became rich in the first place?   A bank account can tell you if a person is poor.  A dinner can tell you if they are cheap.

Being a wine snob is not the same as knowing the wine steward.

Years ago a friend of mine memorized the rainfall history of several red wineries in France in an ambitious attempt to become accepted as a wine connoisseur, something only people with too much time on their hands often do.  He was quickly exposed as a poseur by the wine snob community and now spends his efforts befriending the wine steward.

A much easier way to get a good bottle of wine.

Being literate is not the same as being smart.

“It’s the craziest thing, but I just realized I can actually memorize hundreds of facts before tests.  And as soon as the test is over – Poof!  Gone!  My head is completely empty again!”

Mikki was so excited to discover this amazing skill as she was studying for her GRE and LSAT exams.

“You have inherited my superpower.”  I said solemnly.  ”Not being the brilliant little Asian girl that I was supposed to be,  I developed extraordinary skills in other areas.  The ability to stuff enormous amounts of data in my head for short periods of time is one of them.  Use it well.”

Mikki gasped.  ”Do you have other amazing skills?”

I smiled.  ”All will be revealed in good time.  You already possess the ruthless ability to hunt down extra credit opportunities.  That served you well in ratcheting up your GPA into the lofty realm of Dean’s List, didn’t it?”

Her eyes shone.  Her voice trembled as she spoke.  ”I am so proud to be half Asian.”

“Remember, the power of the Number Two pencil is in your hands.  And most of all, ”  I said, holding my head up high,  ” literacy is just knowing stuff.  But being smart is knowing what you need, to do what you need to do.”

Am I saying that education can be replaced by memory tricks?  No.

I am saying that there are many ways to be intelligent in life.  Yes, I was not a good student in the traditional sense. I had to reconstruct a set of skills that would get me through the world of academia.  I had to figure out what I needed to know to do what I needed to do. Creative gate jumping, or developing ways to be a Number Two pencil Ninja on these big tests are means to an end and are potentially more valuable in navigating life challenges.

Do I still use my superpower?

Absolutely.  Put me in a roomful of people and I will remember at least twenty people’s names, make a mental note of a chatty little fact about them, and know where I parked my car.

What is your superpower?

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?

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?

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?

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.

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?

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?

photo by DALIAWMN

There is definitely something disturbingly herd like in this photo.

People, mostly women, on the phones all day.  Mostly connecting callers to the callees.  In a way, I think I do that too.  The difference is that once the connection is made, the job of these operators is done.  For me, the job has just begun.

My friend Andrea and I were running this morning on the beach and she told me that somehow, a cold call from a large financial investment company came through to her direct line.  Usually, her staff chews up and spits out these calls as they come in so the fact that this one made it through was quite remarkable.  The person calling was a young person, probably a summer intern, inviting Andrea to a networking cocktail party in the hopes of getting some business and referrals from her.

“OK, you are inviting me and how many other people to this party?”  I could see Andrea pinching the phone with her shoulder tapping at her calculator impatiently.  She has a meeting tonight with her committee that is setting up a series of breakfasts, workshops and other events for CPAs and was putting her stuff together.

“What?  Six people?  Let me ask you something.  This cocktail party is going to cost you, maybe, $100.  You are going to spend $100 to shmooze 6 people.  That’s about $15 bucks a person.  Now, do you think that is a cost effective way to build new business?”

“Uh, no.  Could you bring a friend or – “

“No.  This is what I am going to do.  I am going to speak to your supervisor and offer her the opportunity to sponsor my twelve breakfast seminars and get in front of 700 accountants who will agree to have you come to their office to make a presentation.  If she agrees to do this, I will make sure to introduce her from the podium and give you props.  You have five minutes to get her on the phone.”

Andrea is my running buddy and my CPA.  She is usually right about everything that has to do with those two things.  Especially when it comes down to making it a habit to run at 5:30 am and to making money.  This kid on the phone did what I did.  I listened to Andrea.

The company jumped at the chance to sponsor the twelve breakfast seminars.  ”It was simple.  What was I going to bring to contribute to tonight’s meeting?  I needed something worthwhile.  This company needed business.  Instead of spending a few dollars and getting me and five other people at a cocktail party, I am letting them spend a few more dollars and getting me and a ballroom filled with accountants and CPA’s.

Everybody wins.  And you know why?  Because I resisted the temptation to slam the phone down.  I took a deep breath and thought about it.”

I think Andrea is well on her way from being a hyper caffeinated A personality person to being more Buddhist like.

A Belle Harbor Buddha.  Which brings me to the following points about how you, too, can approach Neponsit Nirvana and still run with sand in your shoes:

Buddhist in Training

Do the opposite of what you want to do right now

Sometimes the best thing to do is the thing you can’t imagine doing.  For example, actually listening to a sales pitch from a total stranger.  Andrea’s sharp ears picked up the sound of opportunity and the rest is history.

Open your ears, your mind and shut your mouth

I always like to remind you that you can learn a lot about a person in a conversation where you do more listening than talking.  Information is power.

Act like a speck, not a spectacle

Be humble.  Everything you achieve is relative to the bigger universe.  I am sure Andrea’s committee will be thrilled when she talks about this.  But she will be on the beach with me again at 5:30 am tomorrow morning and running towards a new day.

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?

photo by Mike Licht

I am flying to San Diego on Thursday to attend the Americans for the Arts Convention.  I am going to be one of the convention bloggers and a panelist for a session about building community, the arts and social justice.

What I hope to do is produce a few posts that capture the personality of the speakers, some key points, insights and take aways from the audience and – sketches of people I like.

People love when I draw them.  I do my best to capture their personality in a few quick strokes and their clothing in colors, thanks to Sktechbook Pro, the drawing app I use on my iPad.  Here are a few from the last NTen Conference this past March.

I try not to make anyone look horrible.  I know how upset I would be if someone drew me funny looking so I make every effort to bring out a person’s best side.  For someone who took art lessons as a kid using paint, charcoal, pen and ink on paper, I feel somewhat like a traitor using a stylus and a screen.

Here’s what I carry in my artist case:

1. my iPad
2. my stylus
3. my Canon G10 digital camera
4. my Android Charge phone
5. chargers for all of the above

It doesn’t sound terribly romantic or artsy.  And I have to confess, I really don’t like shlepping all of that stuff around.  It’s heavy and feels kind of impersonal in my hands.  But I love love love how the sketches come out and how immediately I can share them with the world.

And isn’t that what you want to do when you create a piece of art?

Stay tuned.

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?

photo by jaquandor

Listen, it is hard work running around in a skimpy star spangled body suit saving the world.

I used to wonder, “Is it just me or do other superheroines get cranky and tired, too?”  And whether or not they do, I do.  My superpowers start fizzling when I don’t get enough sleep or if I skip too many days without running.  Don’t even talk to me about how mad my body gets at me – revenge is always humbling.  There is no way I am going to get myself in any kind of Wonder Woman outfit without paying my dues.

Stuff has a way of getting in front of me.  I get distracted when something falls on my desk and must be taken care of immediately, or if my eye catches an email that pops up screaming, “Urgent!”, or if someone tells me they need my input right now or everything will come to a grinding halt.  The world will explode.  Deadlines will leave us dead in their wake.  People will be disappointed.  And it will be all my fault.

I know.  I will just take care of one more thing before I start my day and one more thing at the end of my day.  That way, I will have less to do during my day.  Of course, all of you brilliant people know what happens.  You have more to do before, during and after your day.  Who thought this was a good idea?

Hmmm, maybe I could ask someone to help me out.  But how could anyone do as good a job as me?  No one can do what I do because I am Wonder Woman.  Well, no one is doing anything, probably relaxing and reading a great beach book somewhere, and I am doing everything.  Sound familiar?

OK.  You get the picture.  Maybe you do some of these things too.  So, what is a modern Amazon warrior woman to do to keep up her powers, her physique and her pleasant demeanor?  I have decided to stop trying to be the most amazing, capable,  stupendously efficient super woman and allow myself to gracefully fall to earth.

Here’s how I did it

Take time for yourself

I allow myself lots of time to putter around and not feel guilty about accomplishing nothing.  This is not easy for list checkers like me but it works really well if you lose the list.

Say no

“Mom?”

“No.”

“Darling, can you – “

“No.”

“Hoong Yee, you must – “

“No.”

It is amazing how much other people can do when you say no.

Call upon your fellow superheroes

This simple act can transform your life.  I believe people need to be needed.  And everybody wants to feel that what they do is valued.  Asking for help can actually help you build a team that will work with you to do what you believe in.

Stop, look and love what you did

I spend way more time angsting about getting stuff done than appreciating what I did.  In fact, I sometimes forget to look back and acknowledge my achievement.  No wonder I feel like a hamster in a wheel.  It is a stubborn habit to break but I do try to give myself and everyone else a moment to bask in our successes and fistbump our fabulousness.

Enjoy being a speck

My mom’s favorite saying.  No matter how important we think our work is, we are just specks in the universe.  So I try to do my best every day and be the best speck I can be, but I also don’t kill myself when things don’t work out.  And neither should you.  My mother wouldn’t like that.

Order in

You’re busy.  You have a lot on your plate.  Spend your time and energy on what is truly important.  You.

Keep those menus handy.

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?

Sky, far left

“Mom?”

“Mom?  I can’t find my cool white tie.  Mom?”

I took a deep breath and did my very best evolved Buddhist move.  It did the trick.  Five minutes later I was burning rubber along the Jackie Robinson Parkway into Forest Hills.  Squeaked into a parking spot, slammed the door and tore down Austin Street to Anthony’s, a mens’ shop that always has some stylish expensive looking linen jacket in their window.

“We’re all out of skinny white ties.  It is June, you know, lots of weddings, graduations, proms.”  I felt my world crumbling.  What was I going to do now?  The young salesman pulled out several light colored ties.  ”Perhaps one of these – “

“Absolutely not.  He is wearing black and white.  Black shirt, pants, shoes, belt – black.  The tie has to be white.”  I practically barked at him, startling a man trying on a jacket in the back of the store.

“I do have one white tie left.”  He rummaged through the display case and pulled out a wide, white satin tie, slightly wrinkled, but otherwise perfect.  ”Give me a minute and I’ll iron it for you.”

I practically floated home with the precious tie.  Sky met me at the door.  ”I have to meet my friends for pictures.  Now!”

Jumped in the truck, tore down the street and pulled up in front of the house.  One of the moms helped Sky put his tie on while I fumbled with my camera.  When I looked up, the smile on his face made me forget everything except that tonight, the night of his eighth grade prom, was something really special.  And you know what?  I was so thankful I was able to be part of the craziness with him.

Do you think they’ll play slow music?  Who should I dance with?  What should I use in my hair, gel or mousse? Did you ever talk about stuff like this with your mom when you were thirteen?  Oh, my God, and here we are plotting prom strategy, Sky and me.  I took another deep breath and did my best evolved cool Mom move.  I just listened and nodded my head non judgmentally.

Every mom standing on the street snapping pictures of this well dressed group of kids had a similar story to tell.   For the girls, it was the dress, of course!  And the shoes, the makeup, should they wear their hair up or down?

It occurred to me that these kids grew up together from mommy and me classes til now.  Many of us moms were waddling around, heavy and pregnant on the beach thirteen summers ago.  How lucky they are to have friendships that stretch from sippy cups and strollers to the dawning of their high school years.

“Mom, stop taking pictures.”

“Mom, you should leave now.”

“Mom!”

Sky was right.  I stood with the other moms watching the kids clambering into cars and driving off to the party of their young lives.

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?

photo by jag9889

I have a secret superpower.

It is my amazing ability to change my world into syllables.

The girl who makes me a cappuccino in the local Italian bakery tossed me an approving nod the other day when I told her every meeting I have deserves  una bella scatola di biscotti.

“You are – ” she leaned over the counter and pushed the bakery box filled with hazelnut and chocolate biscotti towards me.  ” – how you say, smart?  No, not smart.”  I kept smiling although I wasn’t sure where she was going with this and I was still waiting for my cappuccino.

“You know how to – fix things.  Like a the guy who come to clean out that stupid pipe in the back.  Madonna!  What a mess.”

I slowly started to turn on my superpowers to take control of the world.  Take a deep breath, clear my thoughts, focus my mind on the task before me.

Coo-kies and cof-fee…

I lowered my eyes and pulled out my unread New York Times and concentrated on changing her from an absent minded bakery employee  into an efficient milk steaming barista.

For a morn-ing meet-ing of…

She turned to her machines and started making the coffee.  Suddenly she slapped her forehead and said with a wide eyed look of triumph,  “Ah!  I know.  You know what you are?”

So close, my cappuccino is so close.  Must remain calm and the world will be mine.  All I need is one more line and my coffee.

“Di me, bella.  What?”  I said in my best superhero-under-duress voice.

In a conspiratorial whisper she breathed,  “You are one of -  i cognoscenti, the people who know.”

I cognoscenti.

I cog-no-scen-ti

I closed my hands around the coffee cup she handed me and I opened my eyes to meet hers.

Cookies and coffee

for a morning meeting of

i cognoscenti

Perfect.

Mission accomplished, with cookies for later, coffee for now and my morning captured forever in a spillproof haiku.  But what impressed me more was an article in the newspaper that caught my eye as I was syllabicating the world to my liking (is that really a word?).  I realized that my superpowers pale in comparison to what the deceptively simple haiku can accomplish.

What can a haiku do?

It can transform a one of the city’s largest eyesore of a landfill into “urban oasis with wildlife habitats, horseback riding, mountain biking and meandering nature trails”.  The  City’s Parks Department invited people to envision what this future Staten Island park could be like in a seventeen syllable snapshot, a haiku.  The results of their third annual Freshkills Haiku  Contest include this gem:

Somewhere underneath

The bike paths I will ride on

My old love letters

-Stevie D’Arbanville

Imagine that!  The power of i cognoscenti in seventeen syllables can change the world, one landfill at a time.

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?