Hey there Peeping Toms and Peeped Tomatos:
(face it we have all been on both sides of that equation)
Today’s topic is….windows!
Specifically this window, in my living room:
Last year, about this time, the window washers came. I wasn’t told in advance and our windows were open—being ancient industrial windows, they open in a wonky way that leaves large gaps (large enough for dragonflies, definitely large enough for mosquitoes and heat) —I’m not sure why we never replaced them. Perhaps because the only sound worse than a neighbor’s construction is the construction in your own home.
In any event, the windows are old and last year they were not cleaned because they were open and the washers couldn’t get to them.
As you see, this year was no better. Now I have two years of grime in an eye-level stripe on the otherwise-pristine windows.
This annual event is reminding me of nearly every other major thing in my life right now - we know there is a “most efficient” way to do something. Figuring that out doesn’t tend to be difficult, but it requires having a trustworthy team that communicates well. Had I known to close the windows on that particular day, this would not have happened (and I would have nothing to write about).
But it did happen—and it is a combination of too much communication and too little. The building should have informed us what day the cleaners were coming. We would have prepared. I would have nice clean windows. Instead, the building sends out a lot of garbage email and tends to frequently follow up their copious emails with paper notifications. I have grown lazy about reading the building’s emails and mostly only look at the paper notifications that slide under the door, presuming rightly that these will be the urgent ones I don’t want to miss.
But it is not just my building. The whole corporate world sends out copious emails, daily notifications, irrelevant reminders of made-up holidays, irrelevant reminders of actual impending holidays (why on earth is my bank wishing me a happy birthday? it isn’t even accompanied by a sale); automatic drip campaigns send you the same email with a different header if/when you do not open the first one. How can we not get jaded?
Clarity is important. Say what you need to say, and do it once. Half-cleaned windows seem like a metaphor for the level of communication we get in the world. May your week be full of clarity.
Also? Come to my launch party! It’s on June 8th at Pangea and doors open at 6pm—first ten to arrive get a free signed book! Details below:
Writing news:
Wrote this very strange hybrid fable about being a founder.
Am excited for all of you to meet each other on Thursday June 8 in person at my launch party for A FLASH OF DARKNESS at the east village. Click here to RSVP.
If you can’t come, you can still get the book and post a review on Goodreads or Amazon! (LMK if you would like that option).
Also we’ve organized a great online conversation featuring three kinds of collaborations: two famous poets who co-wrote a book, two emerging but very talented poets who are husband-and-wife and use their close emotional bond to jointly promote and create individual work, and a memoirist and her ghostwriter whose knowledge and talent landed her a writing credit as well as royalties. Sign up here: you don’t have to be a parent or writer to enjoy our salons. Livecast at 7pm on Tuesday June 13. Or follow the YouTube channel here.