Scribe

Wow. How dare you.

It has been. So much has changed since then, too.

Missed all of you.

Yeah.

Geez.

Thanks for having me.

Well, I guess it's only been a few months since I've been shopless and it's been an odd adjustment. And I just spent a month in jury duty, so that was a significant portion of my time as a full time juror. But now I. More. Well, I'm spending a lot of my time working as a consultant, working with other stationary brands and retail shops, several of whom are listeners, I believe. I've gotten to talk to and meet a lot of really wonderful people who have all different types of businesses. And so that's been a really fun way to kind of still like, exist in that world and have some sort of impact without having to do the really hard part, which is. Is kind of nice. And yeah, I guess in addition to that, I have a really big project I just started, which I don't think I will be having.

Let's wait a couple months maybe. But yeah, it's nice, though, to have like, days where I. I mean, I'm not responsible for anyone but myself now. So it's very odd. After seven years of managing people and having to be at a physical place every day, it's really weird to be like, on my. Whatever I want to do every day. And freelancing is like just a completely different lifestyle. So it's been fun to relearn how to have control over my own time.

Thanks. That's. That has been so much fun. I really love doing it. And yeah, I mean, I'm pretty good at sourcing things and at shopping. I mean, I did run a shop where all I did was source things for seven years. And so it's been a lot of fun to talk about things that aren't stationary and to get to talk about other objects that are fun to talk about.

No. I think, like, probably the most mundane thing I've been asked for was the first One that I answered, which was somebody who wanted prettier nails to hang things on the wall. And I really love doing that one and that I chose that one as the first one on purpose because I think like those types of objects are the things that bring me the greatest joy. Just like, like better versions of everyday things. I mean, that's like, I mean, I guess at the crux of what I did for a living as a person who sold pencils. But yeah, I really enjoyed that one. I haven't actually looked at my submissions for this week, so I'm not actually sure what is in there that's new, but I'll find out.

Well, I tried to start a book club in elementary school. In fifth grade, I went so far as to even book out a room in the public library. I don't know why they let me do this as a fifth grader. I really wonder like what the behind closed doors conversation was between my mother and the librarians. But I, and I wish I could remember what we were supposed to read. But I, at the time, I didn't really have any friends and so I managed to con like four girls into showing up and nobody read the book. And that was it. Like it was a one meeting book club. It never happened again. But I felt so professional for like booking out this library room for my fifth grade book club. And I also grew up in a house where my mother was a member of several book clubs. And, and I'm sure most people who had mothers who had book clubs had similar experiences where she would host the book club probably about like once or twice a year. Everybody would come to our house and my mom would of course like banish up. Excuse me, banish us to the upstairs. We weren't allowed to be downstairs when she and her friends were like basically just drinking boxed wine and not talking about the book that they read. So I mean, I guess I didn't really have that much experience with book clubs. And honestly, part of the reason why I started a book club is that I had never encountered one that I personally wanted to join. So I thought I will just have to make it up myself.

Well, I think it really depends on what kind of books you're reading and. And who those books are written for. I suppose I personally read because it's an escape. I read for entertainment. I read to learn something. And to share those experiences with other people, especially strangers, I think is a really intimate and weird and wonderful thing. And it's a really, like. It's a really fulfilling way to bring people together. I have made many, like, lasting friendships in my book club who. Who are people I may not have met otherwise and people who I feel as though I grew closer to quicker because we, like, we shared all of these experiences reading the same things together. Yeah, I don't know. I think an experience in a book club really depends on what you're reading and who's reading it. But I think as adults, I think it's one of the. The deepest and easiest ways to build community with each other.

Yeah. So the Orchard Street Reading Society was started, I guess it was probably in early 2018 in my shop. And I really just used. Having moved into really big shop in 2017, I used it as an excuse to host a book club for the first time because I had the space and I had an audience. And yeah, I just. I really wanted to have a book club where we didn't stick to a particular genre of book because I think, like, it's really easy to fall into the habit of reading, like, for lack of a better term, like, really easy. Just like book clubby books or sticking to a particular theme of book. And so I wanted to have a book club where we read really eclectic books and where the vibe wasn't that we were gonna, like, sit around in a circle and talk about the book. Because for me, the barrier for entry to these types of social things has always been that that gives me a lot of anxiety. I'm not Interested in being put on the spot or feeling like I have to talk in order to be perceived as smart or that I have to have an opinion and I have to express it. I didn't want to create that environment. So from the get go, we really, I guess, plan these meetings around an activity or we would come up with topics of conversation ahead of time, or we would, like, go out and do something. And I always made sure to have, like, very specifically themed food that had to do with the book. And we would, like, be careful about what kind of music we played. And the goal was always to, like, just create a really playful and fun environment where we, I guess, more. It was more about, like, celebrating the book we had all just read and not necessarily just discussing it.

It's such a good book. And we did that. That book we read, it was like the last of the books for this book club and its iteration of existing within a shop. And I tested my current format of book club, which is to do field trips instead of meetings. And we did. We did a scavenger hunt at the Met. And it was so fun. Everybody enjoyed it. It was just so much fun. And for me, selfishly, it was especially fun because I got to go spend a whole day at the Met, like the week before, just roaming around in place, planning all of the. All of like, the questions in the scavenger hunt. I made it really hard, but it was really fun. And we even had, like, we even had a girl come who was, I think she's 10. She and her mom came, and it was so fun to do this with somebody who is like, actually of the age that this book was written for amongst a bunch of adults who were just delighted to reread it or read it for the first time. But yeah, that was a blast.

Yeah, well, the. The thing about doing something like that is that, like, you're. If you're going to the Met with this, with. I don't remember what the number is. If you're going with like a certain number of people or more, you're supposed to book it through the group sales office. And I did not do that. And so I just like, I told everybody. I gave everyone like. And in hindsight there people were really confused. I think these direct, kind of cryptic. I like gave them instructions on like where in the museum to meet me that morning because we like weren't going to all enter together so that everybody came and like found me in an area and then we started and ended there and tried to be discreet about it, but no one got in trouble.

Yeah, good job, Johnny. That's a great question.

I wish I could remember. I honestly do not remember at all. It's. I mean, honestly, it's possible that it was from the mixed up files of Mrs. Bazilie Frankweiler, because I loved.

Yeah, it really would have come full circle. I'll have to ask my mom. Maybe she remember. Yeah, I have no idea. Apparently it was something that was probably a little bit too intellectual for my fellow fifth graders because no one read it again. This is what happens when you're like the kid with no friends. But I mean it pays when you're an adult. So yeah, we all end up somewhere. But I don't know. I think that a good, well, a good book for a book club, it. I think it is. I think it creates an environment for the most interesting discussion when it challenges our sense of the world per se. But I, I don't know, I think like one, like one thing that I think is really important is that you pick a book that like 75% of people are going to enjoy. Like, I think it's really important that there's always somebody in the group who didn't like them because what, like what's a conversation. If you're just like talking about how everybody liked the book. I think that's an important thing, is that every that I mean and diverse book club will always have different types of people who glean something different from it. But yeah, I think it's important to choose a book that different people are going to get different things from because that's how you get the most well rounded and eye opening discussion, I suppose. Yeah, yeah. Because otherwise like the conversation just ends. It's like 20 minutes and you all kind of are in agreement about what you got from it and how you felt about it and then that's when you just start drinking your boxed wine.

Yeah, yeah, it is that like Pink Franzia. That's the one.

Oh, that's a good question. And I'm not quite sure what the answer is. I think like, like nobody should be mean to other book club members. I think even if you disagree, I think it's never good etiquette to pick a fight at book club. There, there was one meeting years ago, we read Mrs. Dalloway and we were sitting around a table and we were arranging flowers. That was the activity that we did for Mrs. D. And there were just like flowers everywhere. And we were sitting around the big table in the middle of the shop and there was this man who came and this woman who came who were like completely different age groups, completely different types of people, and they just got into it. Like the entire book club was just about them. I don't even remember what they were arguing with, but they were just arguing with each other the whole time. It was so entertaining to watch. However, I never saw either of them again. So yeah, I don't think that was good for anyone. But yeah, like you think they fell

Oh, yeah, that would be. Yeah. Well, the funny thing is that I'm pretty sure that the, the man who was there on a date, he like brought his date to book club. That was our assumption at least. But yeah, I, I think, yeah, I think that's like the biggest piece of etiquette that one must consider at a book club is don't pick a fight with anybody. It just creates a weird environment for everyone. Yeah, and I, I don't know, I think like formats and procedures, I'm not really sure. I think it's really important. Like most large social gatherings, whether they be virtual or in person, I think it's always good to give people at least 10 minutes at the beginning to settle in and not feel like they have to dive right into something intellectual. Yeah, I think that's a really important thing. And at the end too, like, I think if you've created a good environment for conversation, even if people get tired of talking about the book, if they stick around and just talk about anything for the remainder of the time, that means you've done your job. Especially with virtual book club is really hard.

Yeah. Well, I don't think that virtual book clubs have to be like awkward or weird. They definitely don't. And I think that we just have to be a little bit more creative with virtual club meetups like that. I think that it also requires, it requires a lot more structure. You can't just trust that people are going to like, because like in a group setting, in person and kind of like more. I guess the type of book club I like to run, the thing that I always count on is that people are going to talk like amongst themselves. Maybe we're not doing a big like group discussion one person at a time, but people always naturally like break off in their own little groups or like make a new friend or end up sitting, sitting in the corner talking to Somebody about something really specific. And in a virtual book club, like, that just doesn't exist. And so I think you have to set really tight parameters. In 2020, I did a book club. I really wanted to read Dune because I had, like, never read any science fiction at all. And I just thought, like, if I'm gonna read science fiction, I feel like that's, like, the right one. If I'm gonna.

Well, you know, I wanted to read something timeless. I wanted to read something that had, like. Like, I don't know, a story arc I felt like I could wrap my head around, and so that that's what I chose. But then when I. But I didn't know how long it was, and then I went to the bookstore to buy it and realized that it's, like, a brick of a book. And so I just. I got a bunch of random friends and people in my life to read it with me, and it ended up being, like, literally friends all over the world. And it ended up. I mean, very selfishly. It served me well because it was, like, at least one person from almost every friend group in my entire life, my mom included. Even my mom and my brother did it. But most of the other people didn't know each other at all. And what we did, we read. We read Dune in June. We called it the June of Dune. Yep. And I, like, there were, I think, 20 of us to start. And I, like, like, made these, like. I took, like, a bunch of graphic elements from, like, many different iterations of Dune covers and, like, photoshopped them together and made these, like. Of these, like, laminated bookmarks. And I, like, mailed them out to everybody with, like, a welcome letter. And. And I sent, like, mail. I sent, like, encouragement mail in the middle of the month. And the whole objective was that we, like, had to finish June by the end of June. Like, we couldn't read it in July. And so we had, like. We had three different meetings scheduled for one book because it was such a long book, and, like, people got a little carried away. Like, my mom made a spreadsheet of exactly how many pages and what chapter we should end on every day to keep pace with everybody else. And it was so much fun, and everybody really stuck with it. And we had, like. We had a group chat component of it also, which was real, I think, really, like, brought everyone together in a way that made our zoom conversations a lot. A lot richer because it wasn't just a bunch of strangers, Strangers who read the same book. It was a bunch of strangers who have been interacting with each other for a month. And that was. We just. It was just a WhatsApp chat. And some people just chose not to participate, and some people participated every day, and it was just really fun to read. And, yeah, that was a smaller group, so it was easy to manage that way. But it was so much fun. I thoroughly enjoyed it. And then several of us in Dune Club ended up reading other books. We kept going, like, and through, like, the beginning of 2021. And then we did June of Dune again and read Dune Messiah, the second Dune book. And then this year, we're gonna do it again and read what is it? Children of Dune is the third one. And then we may or may not do the fourth one. Apparently, like, they start to get really bad. But this might just be trippy. Well, this might just be, like, such an important tradition that we just keep going even if they are really bad or really trippy. But, yeah, that. I mean, that was a lot of fun. But I think, like, I think that you can't. With the virtual book club. It's really hard if, like, everybody just kind of shows up and you're just okay. Like, I guess now we talk. I think that the conversation has to be more structured. And I mean, you could. I mean, there could be an activity that you assign people ahead of time, like adults, like, getting homework. It's. That's, like, something that I've learned through various activities I've hosted. Like, it's kind of fun when, like, it's not something you get graded on. So I think, like, giving people homework or giving them something to prepare for, that's going to happen during the book club meeting is really fun or something.

Yeah.

Yeah. Yep, there was, like, a lot of final book. We wore costumes for the last meeting. We all, like, tried to dress up and. Well, a couple people try to, like, make their own stillsuits. It was really fun. There was a lot of, like, very, like, cinnamony baking happening. A lot of, like, spice foods that people were making. I. I found there was a color. It was like a. Not, like, a coloring book. I don't know if they still make these, like, those like, activity books that you get, like in like the coloring book section of like the grocery store. And then in like the 80s or

Yeah. Somewhere online there's like all these scanned in PDFs of an activity book that was made for the Dune movie. And there, there are like recipes and all this weird stuff. So I like, frequently emailed people like, PDFs of this, like, weird activity book so we could do like common things together. Yeah. So I think having an activity prepared ahead of time or giving people an objective ahead of time can be really fun.

No, I've never been invited to a book club and I've never invited anybody to a book club. Which I'm like, now I'm like, well, why haven't I ever tried? If David Eckers will do it, I bet a lot of other people will too. I. Well, the problem too is that I think my book club probably like at least 50% of the books that we've read, the authors are dead. So that's not an option. But I know I've never done that before, but I. It's. That's such a good idea to read a book either by somebody that you know or somebody who you can get ahold of to come to your book club. I wonder what that feels like. As an author, though, I think I would feel a bit sheepish about it.

Yeah, I got that. Sometimes, like, in the shop when people would, like, tell me about stuff that they learned from my book, and I'm like, wait a minute. Did I say that? Like, do I even know that myself? Or have I just forgotten all of this? Like, I.

I think I need to, like, reread my own book because I have forgotten half of what's in there.

Like, what do people do? Like, what, like what does Stephen King do? He's written like a bajillion books. Like, certainly he doesn't remember all of them.

Sorry, go ahead. He probably can't even count how many books he's written.

Well, you're gonna be great. Just, yeah, just be yourselves. Are you having readers submit questions for your author?

I feel like that's, that would be a really fun thing to do. Like have them submit the questions and they have to like, ask the questions too. I think when you, since you'll have, like, you'll have a subject there to, to talk to, I think it's, I think that's a good way to engage the readers and, and then you don't have to do anything.

Yeah, I think that'll be fun. Because, yeah, like, like we said before, everybody gets something different from a book. So yeah, your readers are probably going to have different questions than ones that you come up with on your own. But that's, I mean, having an author on for like a Zoom Book club meeting is such a smart idea because that, like, that is your structure for that meeting.

Oh, that's so fun.

Well, I read this question in your doc earlier, and I meant to actually remember what I'm reading.

Well, I gotta tell you, this jury duty business really killed me. I just was so exhausted. It was so exhausting, and I. It really threw me for a loop. Like, I just haven't read as much in the past month as I normally would because I come. I would come home and just go straight to bed. Yeah, it's. I don't know how people who, like, work in court systems do it every day. I guess, like any job, you just get used to it over time. But it's just so much new information. But I did just finish the book that. Well, first of all, I mean, the sidetrack about this jury duty business, me being who I am, I was the jury duty secretary, and so I got to sit at, like, the book club.

Yeah. Well, yeah. The warden on the first day, he had, like, two jobs to fill, the foreman and the secretary. And he said. He was like, well, I'll decide who the secretary is because you have to have good handwriting. And I was just, like, being a jerk. And I was like, well, I have good handwriting. And then he looked at my notepad and was like, okay, you're the secretary.

No, I would never say that.

We're not allowed to use pencils in the courtroom anyway. But we. The fun thing about this job was that I got to sit at, like, on, like, the top level, where the seats, like, it's. The seats are set up, like, on risers. And I got to sit at, like, a proper desk with, like, a blotter and a drawer, and I had to use, like, a date stamper all the time. And it was so fun. But I. It's nice. I had, like, this. I had, like, a real desk, so I got to, like, move into my desk. I just, like, left all my stuff there every day, and I kept a book in there because sometimes you have a lot of time between cases. And so, I mean, it took me the whole month, but I did just read a book called Olga Dies Dreaming. It just came out maybe a month and a half or two months ago, and I had kept seeing it on lots of lists of best new books. Of 2022. And I'm blanking on the author's name. I'll find out for the show notes for you. But it was really good. It's about a middle aged Puerto Rican woman who is a wedding planner in New York City in 2017 when both of the hurricanes happen in Puerto Rico and her brother is a senator and his. Their mother, their estranged mother is like a Puerto Rican revolutionary who's like trying to overthrow the government. It was really good. It's been a really long time since I read a book that was more entertainment than it was education. So that was. That was, yeah, a really good jury duty read.

Yeah, that's it. Yeah, I think it's her first novel. But yeah, I thoroughly enjoyed it.

No, that's not true.

Yeah. Wow. How dare you. Well, I will say that we, as I sit here, when I quit drinking, I turned my bar cart into a stationary cart. It's very messy. It's like full of stationery. And there's like, I think I'm looking at least. At least 20 pads of post its there. That's the most accessible type of paper in my house. Because my. Well, as we call him new boyfriend Matt, is well known for this project that he did where he called subway therapy, where he had people write how they felt on post its and stick them to the walls of the New York City subway. And it's a thing that he did right after the 2016 election and he like actually published a book about it. So we have a lot of post its in our house. So, yeah, probably the last thing I wrote on was a post it with maybe with a fountain pen. I don't know. I have a fountain pen on the table right now that has really nice green ink in it. It.

It's an Esterbrook esti a fine nib. We used to sell them in the shop and I really like it. The green ink I think is honestly, like, I have so much stuff that's Just, like, left over from the shop or stuff that I've just brought home over the years. It's probably. I think it might be Caran Dash vibrant green. It's just, like, a good standard, like, Kelly Green.

All right, this was. This was a mission that you were on, right? Do I remember that correctly?

I don't think so. Yeah, I don't think so. I really miss getting to talk about really nerdy stationary things all day. That's one thing that, like, is missing from my life now. It's very strange just coming off of National Letter Writing by month, which is. Was a really good excuse to spend a lot of social time talking about stationery. Yeah. It's just really great to hear all of your voices and to be on the podcast again. So thank you.

well, I will take you up on that.

Yeah, so I. You can find me on Instagram Adygraphite. I have a new website. It's just CarolinaWeaver NYC. And you can find links to all of the things I'm doing, newsletters, consulting projects, whatever. That's all there on CarolinaWeaver NYC.

Right. It's Caroline Weaver was taken. So I think that was like, a pretty good second option.