Out one day, Walking one day
After spending an extended amount of time in Barnes and Nobles, I discovered a book called Road Trip Nation. Three guys, not sure what they wanted to do after graduating college, decided to take a three month road trip in an RV and interview every interesting person they could get their hands on. The result was a documentary series for PBS, a renewed dedication to pursuing what they loved, and the book that I just read.
Just half an hour looking at that book, and I already feel inspired. My mind kept going back to an article I read recently in May's ReadyMade Magazine. It was about the McMenamin brothers, a duo who has bought, restored, and remade a number of buildings in the Greater Northwestern area (think Seattle, Portland, etc.). They've turned an old elementary school into a hotel, a run-down movie theatre into a restaurant, and that's just the tip of the glass. You really need to read the article, they're fascinating (your local Barnes and Noble should have a copy of Ready Made in the "Special Interest" section of the periodicals).
I feel like I share something with the McMenamin brothers. Their offbeat sense of humor (there are separate Honors and Detention bars in the elementary school hotel), the desire to create an experience, to reclaim the old and turn it into something fresh--those are things that I am drawn to every day. It really makes me want to further examine the art of making old buildings into new businesses, especially restaurants and hotels. I love food, cooking, the experience of a good meal, the details in decorating and the aesthetics of design. I always feel like I have so many interests that I am all but schizophranic, but maybe God just blessed me with so many interests becuase they're all supposed to culminate in one thing. ANd I cna't think of anything better to blend them into than creating something that a community will be able to enjoy.
Who knows, maybe this is just a pipe dream--but what's life if you can't get excited about those dreams and do everything you can to make them real?
Just half an hour looking at that book, and I already feel inspired. My mind kept going back to an article I read recently in May's ReadyMade Magazine. It was about the McMenamin brothers, a duo who has bought, restored, and remade a number of buildings in the Greater Northwestern area (think Seattle, Portland, etc.). They've turned an old elementary school into a hotel, a run-down movie theatre into a restaurant, and that's just the tip of the glass. You really need to read the article, they're fascinating (your local Barnes and Noble should have a copy of Ready Made in the "Special Interest" section of the periodicals).
I feel like I share something with the McMenamin brothers. Their offbeat sense of humor (there are separate Honors and Detention bars in the elementary school hotel), the desire to create an experience, to reclaim the old and turn it into something fresh--those are things that I am drawn to every day. It really makes me want to further examine the art of making old buildings into new businesses, especially restaurants and hotels. I love food, cooking, the experience of a good meal, the details in decorating and the aesthetics of design. I always feel like I have so many interests that I am all but schizophranic, but maybe God just blessed me with so many interests becuase they're all supposed to culminate in one thing. ANd I cna't think of anything better to blend them into than creating something that a community will be able to enjoy.
Who knows, maybe this is just a pipe dream--but what's life if you can't get excited about those dreams and do everything you can to make them real?
posted by Crystal at 3:58 PM
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