Clarissa's Blog

It’s midnight, and I’m at the airport waiting to collect a friend arriving from Athens. And tomorrow morning I’ll have to collect a new hire arriving to sign the contract.

I’m way too elderly for all this upheaval.

I hit 60,000 words in my Ukrainian book today. I started on April 4, and yes, this is taking an enormous effort, especially since I’m still struggling with the language.

But 60,000 words, OMG, this is actually happening.

And of course, there’s the very American touch of placing free fresh produce for people to pick up in even the most techie and contemporary places:

God, I love the co-working space. I don’t mind people being around when I work. In fact, I prefer there being people. But I need them to not know me.

It’s completely free to work at the co-working space. And there’s free coffee and even free beer of many different kinds. Free excellent Wi-Fi. Table tennis. Isolated, quiet spaces for zooming. Meeting rooms. Sofas, armchairs of every kind. And it’s huge.

Of course, instead of “accelerator” I could say “co-working space” but I only come here to work alone. My nervous system is collapsing under the weight of the secretary wriggling in discomfort 5 feet away from my door. At the spacious accelerator, nobody knows me or wants anything from me.

I’m back at the accelerator, this time without a group. But before I begin to accelerate I want to share a grievance. Yesterday when I was paying for this original collapsible bag, the store owner who looked like she is in her early sixties brightly informed me that her mother has one just like it.

I still bought it but I feel completely ancient.

Hopefully, the youthful environment of the accelerator will help. On the other hand, I took a vacation day at work to be able to come here and… work. That’s not very youthful.

Are they intentionally trying to be funny because, OK, it’s working.

Russia today destroyed 60,000 tons of grain in Odessa that were being shipped to China.

Let’s all observe the big, scary China… do absolutely nothing.

Since we are talking about visual art, here’s a piece by Silvia Georgieva:

I will buy paper copies of all books by Elizabeth von Arnim and strew them around the house strategically in hopes that Klara will pick them up and fall in love with this brilliant author.

There are many great writers I discovered because my father and great-grandfather snuck them among my belongings.