The Bravest Woman I know

Don’t worry, this isn’t going to be one of those gooey, heartwarming stories about overcoming cancer or climbing Mount Everest in a wheelchair or rescuing wheelchair-bound kittens with cancer from a burning Mount Everest.

When I made the decision to set aside a career in illustration for the chance to make absurd, useless art robots in a desperate economic climate, I was a snivelling weenie about it.  All I had to do was buy a bunch of crap and rent a booth for a few days at a trade show. And I still was totally freaked out that this was going to end in financial disaster.  Well, we all know how THAT turned out.

Last week I went to Brooklyn to attend the grand opening of “Green in BKLYN”, a shop selling “eco-friendly solutions for daily living”.  It has been the dream of my friend, Elissa Olin, to open a store that would sell the kind of products that she wants to buy, and to serve her community in the process.  She’s been doggedly pursuing this dream for the last year, and through a combination of vision, determination, and sheer stubbornness, has succeeded in opening the cutest store with the coolest products you can imagine.  I’d have given up twenty times over when faced with the hurdles she’s faced, but there we all were on Earth Day, drinking organic wine and eating Middle Eastern food and toasting the success of my brave, brave friend.  If you can, visit her at 432 Myrtle Ave. in Brooklyn, or check out her website at www.greeninbklyn.com .

And yes, those are Fobots in the front window.  Well, they ARE recycled.