Madeleine Gets a Studio

Yes, I got a studio! It all happened out of the blue. I had not been thinking about it recently, but I had thought in the past about how nice it would be to have a place to go to write--not a cafe--and I wondered if I would get more done that way. Of course, I assumed that I would--and now we'll find out...

What happened was this: a friend (let's call her Cindy) was leaving town for two months and needed to sublet half of her studio. She mentioned this to Agnes, thinking that Agnes might want a studio, but the space has some restrictions, i.e., no oil paints, no plaster, basically no working with any material that Agnes might want to work with. Also, Agnes is not employed at the moment, so paying for a studio right now is sort of a stretch. So Agnes mentioned to me that she had heard from Cindy, that she was back in town (after months away) only to be leaving again this week, and that she was trying to sublet her studio, which is two blocks from our apartment, but that Agnes couldn't take it for the reasons listed above. I said, "I should take it." The phrase slipped out of my mouth; again, it was not something I had been considering, and then Agnes said, "That's a great idea." And then I started to think that it was a great idea, so we emailed Cindy, and I walked over that night to see it, and here I am in the studio right now writing this blog post.

So now in addition to the blog, which was set up as a way to compel or force or shame or (you choose the verb) me into writing/completing my stories, I also have a studio space for two months (or longer, if I like it) which I am paying for, which is to say that if I don't get a lot of writing done in these two months I will feel rerally bad. This is good for me! Shame usually works, or guilt. The same reasoning/method applies to joining a gym; I am going to join a gym soon (I have been talking about this since January). I hate going to the gym, but then once I pay for it I will go to the gym, because I paid for it. I am writing in circles, it seems.

I must say, though, I enjoyed packing up some of my writing things and walking around the corner this morning (afternoon, actually) to go to my studio to write. Agnes, too, is happy to have me out of the house. But some pitfalls: 1) the studio has Internet. I have been on the Internet since I got here, taking care of business, but that must be limited if I am to get anything done; 2) I share this studio with someone else whom I don't know--we each have our own spaces, though, and there is a wall between us, and he is not coming here until August, and he is supposed to be nice and quiet and we will probably be here at different times, but...

I am excited and inspired.