44 Comments

Cool. That's all I can say. Cool.

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It was . Very.

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Came here to say the same.

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Fabulous story, Laurie--and fab retelling of this singular and unique experience. Would make a great play 🙂

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I’m so pleased you enjoyed it. Please come to a Zoom conversation some time!

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so great to read this, Laurie. It was an unforgettable month and you were amazing. I am glad I chose you. Also a pleasure to read your reflections on Flux Factory in general. I sometimes forget how special it was, even through all the madness and fleas. :)

much love,

morgan meis

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So great to hear from you, Morgan! I would love to catch up some time. Richard and I live in Hudson, NY, in case you are ever up this way, and we come to the city (at gun point ish.) I have stayed close all these years with Mitch and Paul David, both shooting stars in their ways. Please send me you contact info to: lauriestone@substack.com. xxL

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wow wow wow! when i first started reading this i wasn't sure if it was a complete invention. then my friend adam (who's friends w/ ranbir) wrote me asking if i'd read it as he's in india now and had recently chatted w/ ranbir. such a small world and speaking of that, what a cool awesomely weird project! i would've done it in a heartbeat (the meals provided alone would have been a luxury, like being on residency.) also 80 pages in a month is a lot!

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I loved this. Also reminded me of more exciting times in art and in everything else.💥⚡️💫

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Thank you!

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"He’d dreamed up the experiment while writing his dissertation on Walter Benjamin, believing he’d have nailed it, boom, boom, boom, if he’d been confined to a box without distractions." I think anyone writing about Walter Benjamin would be plagued with distractions. The nature of the beast.

Sounds like your were in a punk Yaddo. "If I lifted the mattress, I could see visitors crouching along in a tunnel that divided my house into two parts of a brain. ... There was a humming energy around us that more than one visitor compared to a meditation circle. ... the stimulus of weirdness"

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What a craaaazy story. I love the possessed artists and writers. What a novel, what a life!

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What a cool project!

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You took a leap of faith and it paid off in more ways than one could have imagined. Wonderful experiment and love your take on it.

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Oh, big thanks!

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This is SO COOL! Great story!

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Thanks a bunch!

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What a fabulous experience, BTW, we live in a tiny house—485 sq ft—and love it 😍

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Thanks, love!

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A truly wonderful story and reflection on such a fruitful collaboration,evident in how you write so juicily about the houses, the artists, Flux. Every inch an offering, every house a story, every meal a work of art. A novel-ling of life. Love Myla Golberg's comments. What story sprang from your curious mind during it all?

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Fabulous, and intriguing experiment. Thank you for sharing it with your readers Laura. 🤗

A friend of mine Michael Moschen who invented contact juggling learned to do so teaching himself by locking himself in a room for weeks and weeks. http://www.michaelmoschen.com/

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I know Michael. Great artist.

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Sweet man, and so talented 💖

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“I was too excited by my life to have fears.” This knocked me over. I’m so happy to have found you and your writing ❤️

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Ah, love, so happy to be found!

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This was such an intriguing story. I loved the intimacy of all your shared details. Fascinating to see how the architects responded to your needs and how you created adaptations as the days rolled along. I also love the voice you write in. It's so inviting. Recently I read the Best American Essays 2023 collection, which was guest edited by Vivian Gornick. In her wonderful introduction, she writes about the essay writer's voice...how it must be believable and trustworthy and make us want to continue reading about whatever experience they are sharing. That quality of inviting a reader in is not always so easy to achieve, despite a compelling story. I know for myself with non-fiction, I am often struggling with truth-telling and fear; the wish to communicate and the desire to hide. Your writing here feels so open...something I aspire to. On the experience of the project, I found it so interesting that you chose to come out of the house to greet people and talk with them. It reminded me of the stories of the mystic, Julian of Norwich. Although she led a cloistered, contemplative life, her small house had a garden and was on a road, and from the biographies I've read, she often came out to greet passersby and have a conversation. The writing life for me is a balance, between the isolation of the creative process and the regenerative energy of engaging and observing the world around me.

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Oh, Katie, this is such a great and full-hearted response. I think you might find a lot of use in coming to the Zoom conversations o craft and establishing a voice beyond fear of what others may think. This will be one of the topics of the next Zoom on February 24 from 3 to 4pm EST. If you would like to rsvp, please email me at: lauriestone@substack.com.

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Thanks, Laurie. Feb 24th should work for me...I'll confirm as the date gets closer!

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Please send me an email: lauriestone@substack.com

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Will do!

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I love this and can’t remember the last time I read something so fascinating

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Thanks so much! Please feel free to RSVP for the next Zoom conversation on February 24 for paid subscribers. You can email me at: lauriestone@substack.com.

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