A Boy Sells in Brooklyn

Monday, June 13th:  ~1:00pm

On Sunday Mimi, Sumie, and I headed down and over to Brooklyn to attend the "Renegade Craft Fair."  Steve Kemp attending a craft fair?  Amazingly, the man whose most successful experience with a glue gun resulted in 2nd degree burns, the man who would rather lose a toe than enter a Michael's craft shop, took his family to a craft fair.  And in Brooklyn at that!  Well, there are a couple good reasons for this turn of events.

1. One of the boys, Mr. Ryan Berkley, had set up shop for two days at the craft fair to sell his amazing assortment of personally penned prints (www.etsy.com/shop/berkleyillustration).  And when a boy is in NYC, that boy should be met.  Who are the boys?  In short, they're a great group of lads I went to elementary, Jr. High, and High School with in Paradise, California.  They deserve their own post, and will get one come Boys' Christmas this December, but for the time being let it be known that a boy is a great thing and something not to be missed.
2. We had a chance to see Ryan, as well as his wife Lucy, sharing their work with other New Yorkers.  It's kind of cool to see a friend of yours at work.  A very different perspective. 
3. Lastly, we had an excuse to get out to Brooklyn, which we do perhaps every two years or so (rather sad, really, given that it's only 30 minutes away).

On our way to the subway Sumie and I had an epiphany.  We'd spent an entire year with Mimi.  We'd taken her home from the hospital by taxi, to the Upper West Side by bus, up to Westchester by car, bus, and train, and to Colorado and California by 737, but never had we taken her on the subway.  Our trip down to Brooklyn would be Mimi's first ride on a New York City Subway, and perhaps her last for quite a long time.  She did well, but was a bit intimidated by all the noise and people.  The living room holds mysteries enough to keep Mimi occupied for hours.  I can only imagine what impact all the sights, sounds, and smells of the subway had on her.

The craft fair was really quite astounding.  Nearly 300 vendors and the "crafts" were not your average after-school or retirement community fare.  There are some genuinely creative people (Ryan included) making a living by sharing their gifts in art, pottery, textiles, etc.  What a great deal of talent and courage these artists must have to see their passion come to fruition.  It gives me a bit of hope for the future, for both myself and for my children, that people can find success and fulfillment without having to be a cog in a corporate machine.  Very, very cool.

Brooklyn itself was also a great surprise.  I regret not having explored the borough more over the past 9 years.  On our walk over from the subway station we hit upon and amazing basement store simply and aptly titled "Junk."  It was fantastic.  A melange of vintage furniture, clothing, electronics, and random ephemera stacked and scattered around a 3000 square foot basement.  It reminded me of stores I'd come across in Northern California while looking for bargain antiques.  Brooklyn itself felt much more like San Francisco to me than Manhattan ever has.  Perhaps it was a good first step for Sumie and I to take for our upcoming move.

Overall, Mimi did fairly well on the trip, but she did reaffirm why we prefer traveling with her by car only.  She's still a very finicky sleeper - she only sleeps in a moving car or in her crib at home - and longer outings can quickly turn into meltdowns.  The best we can do is try to keep her fed and distracted, but even that can be a bit tricky in unfamiliar surroundings.  Here we are in a supermarket near the craft fair attempting to get Mimi topped up with yogurt.  For the longest time she just wasn't having it.  Finally, though, we won her over.

Even after that long day, Mimi couldn't nap once we got home.  Perhaps she was just a bit too excited from the full day.  Though we'll miss NYC, I'm very excited to get to SF where we can explore the history, the beaches, and the second-hand-shops and still have a comfy ride home perfect for napping (for everyone except the driver, which will invariably be me). 

-Steve