More Hours in the Day

(More blog entries from kellykelly)

I was not flaking last night when I didn't show up to the planning meeting for the big December 15th party; Chris forgot to tell everyone I was in an Audit & Finance Committee meeting with a Board Member.   I really wish I could have been there - and yet, to be honest, I loved last night's committee meeting.  
There's been a big push on fundraising - and sometimes it feels like all we focus on - but the festival is starting to bubble, really.  Chris is gonna laugh: there's some great news but we can't say a thing yet.  And there I am... saying something.  I can't wait.  But I MUST! Errrr!

I don't know if a lot of people are aware of this, but Fall Collection is not my full time job - that is the dream for one day hopefully soon.  I currently work at another non-profit and have to carefully divide my time.  I'm fortunate to have a great boss - who happened to see me in Fall Collection 2004 and support my efforts to grow the company by giving me flexibility.  And seriously, thank god for Chris because the work load has been overwhelming.  I could not do everything unless I had serious support from him, Liz, Zack, Gil, Cristalle and so many other volunteers.

Chris and I were talking bands the other night - this is one of the reasons why I love working with him: he goes out a lot, and has great taste  He wanted me to go check out a band Wednesday night but I just couldn't.  There's not enough time right now with all the other work that's got to get done now.  So I'm happy that he can keep his ear to ground and know what's going on.

Today at lunch, I left work and ran up to a Board Member's apartment to drop off a packet that's going to a filmmaker we are hoping to add to the Advisory Board.  As I swiped my metrocard, I remembered the day I used it 12 times in one day dropping off letters all over town to board members in the city.  When I told a friend that -  he was like, that's nuts - I could never do that, run around town from 8 am til 11 pm, get home at 1 am go to bed and do it again.

Anytime I ever hear that I always wonder, "did you ever really try?"

There were a lot of things in my life I thought I could never do. In 1997 a friend asked me to do the Boston to NY AIDS ride.  I rode a bike as a kid before but never like that.  And so along with my friend I trained for 6 months.  I did well except for hills.  Hills killed me. I HATED Riverside Drive, hated the 9W going south.  Uh.  When I finally did the ride, one 8-mile hill almost made me cry so I got off and walked that hill.

And it haunted me for years.  So in 2001 I trained again.  And when I said I trained again, I mean I would bike 200-350 miles a week, 4-5 spin classes, and this time when I'd climb hills I'd turn around at the top and make myself do it again.  So in 2001, I kicked ass on that ride.  But the biggest take away I had other than a metabolism like a bonfire for a month: I can do anything if I take it one step at a time.

There have been years of my life where I felt dormant and sometimes I wondered if I wasted parts of my life - and I remember wondering, "This is why I came to NY?!"  I love New York City so much.  And I love Fall Collection so much - I believe in it unlike any project I have produced before.

I wonder, in this day and age, as NYC has so many big arts institutions, can the little guy have a place? I'd like to think so.  Because right now no one can tell me otherwise.

Kel

PS: to the people who are sending submissions - DON'T!  We aren't accepting submissions yet.  You'll know when we are - trust me.

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