Christopher Bloomfield and Craig Walzer
Description
Craig Walzer, 28, interviews his friend Christopher Bloomfield, 28, about their experience setting up a bookshop on Greek island in their early twenties.Subject Log / Time Code
Participants
- Christopher Bloomfield
- Craig Walzer
Venue / Recording Kit
Tier
Keywords
Transcript
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00:03 Going to go first. Sure. My name is Christopher Harris Bloomfield 28 years old. Today is September 20th 2009.
00:14 And I've known Craig since.
00:18 Kindergarten
00:20 Earlier than that pre-kindergarten at The JCC ours is the first family that the walser's met when they came to Memphis. We are probably two or three little under two years old little under two years old. We did go to pre-kindergarten and kindergarten together it
00:40 So I'm Craig Walter and also 28 end date is also September 20th. And where in San Francisco is location and
00:52 The relationship is mutual good music in the background, and I guess we'll just talk about a few things, but I
01:10 I guess we should.
01:12 We can kind of launch it with talking about the bookstore.
01:18 And then
01:21 You want to introduce the idea of what we did together? Sure. Well, I think it all started in 2001 mm to sorry when we went to Paris and Amsterdam for winter vacation and hung out with some friends at Shakespeare & Company in Paris part May and we were pretty enthralled by the whole thing and a few years later if spring 2003. I got a call from Craig's and hey, we got this idea to do a book shop in Greece. Do you want to come?
02:05 And I said actually no, it's not worth it said hey, I got this idea and I said, can I come?
02:10 And you said damn Nido? And I said, yeah, I got a little and you said well that all right.
02:19 Yeah, I completely remember exactly where I was sitting in my house in Providence when we had that conversation actually.
02:26 Yeah, it was right around the time that we were having arguments back and forth by the Iraq War. Also, you're playing Devil's Advocate with your brother. I think but yeah, so that's so the go back a little bit further. Go back to do you remember what else you remember about that first time? It's interesting that you say that there is this like the beginning you go back to 2002 New Years. Can you be more specific about one-tenth rolled means their? Yeah, there was just the sort of feeling we were there with a bunch of people who had either been living at Shakespeare & Company or we're friends with a lot of the group that had already formed kilometer zero and I just remember thinking it's going 2-0. Sorry kilometer zero is a small artist Collective and literary magazine that was put out by some people that we're living in and around fix for a company or like who Jeremy Mercer Loop Basham, Adrian Hornsby Timothy Vincent Smith, Craig Walser.
03:24 Jeremy Johnny diamond diamond and it was his buddy that they were going to do some Steven Johnny wasn't it? Stephen Johnny?
03:35 And
03:37 And there was just the sort of feeling like we were what we were doing or what I was doing. I was at Indiana University at the time and what I was doing was pretty standard and cookie cutter and that this was something that was
03:52 Just very different than anything that I had really thought that I could do or be a part of
03:58 And everyone was very welcoming and warm. We were there with our friend Daniel Margulies who had none from high school through youth group stuff and everyone was just kind of seemingly there on some sort of mission, but not a specific Mission. Just kind of being cool.
04:16 Yeah.
04:18 See you in thrall. I was pretty enthralled. I was realizing that what was happening at school was pretty lame in general. It was just your standard for years and Indiana. I was doing a degree in philosophy and a minor in English and not really enjoying myself and I really enjoying the surroundings.
04:38 And just pretty pretty bored. Not really sure what I wanted to do next.
04:42 But still thinking that I should probably figure out what I want to do next, but I'm probably not going to make much though there anything specific about the time in Paris that you remember.
04:54 I mean, I remember we did mushrooms for the first time in Amsterdam. That's true. The Italian girls in Paris and wandered around with them and just kind of stared at them. That's true. It was girls that I didn't normally think I can sit there and have a conversation with and to be honest. We didn't have that much to say because they didn't speak that much English as Folk know Italian, but the mushroom experience was pretty mind opening. Although it wasn't the greatest time for me. I spent most of the time in my head discussing whether or not I was actually in love with these past couple of girlfriends both named Sarah and wondering if I was ruining your time because all I could do was talk about those things while that was happening. It looks very strange place where on every street corner with somebody trying to sell us ecstasy. Gulka.
05:40 So
05:43 We drank in Paris and did drugs in Amsterdam and he hung out with people who are different than most of the people that we never hung out with right.
05:52 It was good and it was pretty good. It was pretty good. So
05:59 That's what it says looking at it three years later. And what happened was that what was the motivation to do it specifically like, what did you what did you want to get out of it?
06:14 And what was it that we were doing?
06:18 Will the idea came from your trip to the Greek Islands with your friend Oliver you had been telling about was just a guy that I would love a guy that you just kind of thought was great. The sort of All American tall blonde haired guy from upstate New York. You guys did some traveling you came to this island. You saw that there was no proper Bookshop, you would finish her books on the ferry there one around to find new ones couldn't really find anything past the standard Beach books and thought hey we could do this. I'm pretty sure you guys didn't even go to the village that we ended up settling in and that you were pretty drunk standing on a table when you decided to do this idea that all right pretty close the table and Proclaim that he would fight and die for the restaurant that we were in the cuz he liked it so much.
07:11 Turn on the walk back yet.
07:15 So just to sweat inside the island of Santorini, which is an island in the south of Greece and it's very nice to look at and very nice to wander around in.
07:27 And but that that part is sort of
07:31 It's it is not what I'm interested in talking about so much here. I mean both so the basics behind it is that we flash forward to it to what happened. How did you come into the project light? Can you take it through through your eyes those first few weeks and months of what was going on. So after we talked about this on the telephone and I said, can I be in and you said yes, we graduated from college both of us back to Memphis. I think you had three jobs. I had to I was working at Mcalister's Deli at my Dad's Law Firm. I'm living at my brother's house paying very very little runt. Just saving up money for this project eye in the morning and then teaching elsasser GRE stuff in the evening. So we were saving though working hard.
08:31 So it wasn't a great time, but I wasn't a bad time. This is all right, cuz I know where everything is and get to spend time with family before going away. So you got you took off. I think a couple weeks in the middle of December Christmas before Christmas and I spent New Year's Eve. I spent four nights in Miami for Phish concerts on the 20th 29th 30th and 31st and missed the van trip from England to Greece and will and Tim and Daniel Mario is driving an old blue Ford Transit van from Cambridge England down to
09:14 Mainland Greece Whirlwind drive to Italy and then took the ferry to Mainland Greece and then took the ferry to the island arriving there on the 4th of January 2004, which is correct birthday. Right and I got there I think on the 11th or 12th of January. So by the time I got there everybody hated each other for various reasons and very clearly being pretty excited about the whole thing having just had four of the best consecutive nights of my life at fish and just sort of pump for the whole thing. Not really sure what I was going to be doing not really sure was expected of me and I get there and we're staying at this apartment in the next Village over called Phoenix. Yeah, I flew to London stayed in Maria's old apartment with Maria's.
10:09 Old roommates who is Maria? Maria public appearance is a Greek cypriot To Us grew up. I think they left Cypress when she was 8 and they grew up in London. That was her head. That was her head. Right? And Maria was very good friends with Jenny Bingham at Cambridge. Jenny was at that time the long-term girlfriend of Tim.
10:45 Vincent Smith also a Cambridge who was one of the first people I think that you contacted with the idea of the book shop. Cuz one of the first people I clearly remember that one of those nights in Paris discussing the Beatles, I was in the middle of I just finished my history of The Beatles course, and so we were just kind of over that and Wellington were cousins, right? They're both very English very very pale Tim's very thin but wiry and anyway,
11:22 Will is extremely good-looking dude with a very unique way of speaking is difficult to describe to somebody who hasn't heard. So so Maria got in touch with you via Jenny who at that time was that we all sort of at least I can recall on first meeting and thinking this guy can do anyting sort of a mix between a MacGyver and
11:58 Just the kind of guy that can do anyting give him some wood. He'll make you a bench give him some tools will make you something.
12:06 And is also very artsy fartsy artsy-fartsy in his own and his own way of being 40. And so I flew to London. I had two nights there and I was pretty Jet Li the whole time. I think I slept for over 12 hours when I got to Maria's light days with Murray is his old roommates want American Girl whose name? I don't remember she took me to a bar. I was nice and then I flew to Athens first time in Greece first time in Greece, and I don't really recall.
12:43 Everything I would ever call is having very detailed instructions that you would give me all the telephone on what I need to do. Once I get to the airport which involved exiting the airport buying I think it was at the time was a three-year a 50 bus ticket on the x96 that took you to the port at press from the airport construction is because last time would we have gone to Europe in 2002 would even be able to put the money in the phone in the public phone booth? You kept asking me to do everything that's true. You are pretty much in charge of buying our tickets you are in charge of the whole shebang which was the result of
13:27 Me being in curious and inept.
13:33 Navigating in foreign lands. Okay, so I passed out on the floor. It's like a 10-hour Ferry overnight. I arrived in the early early morning. You guys pick me up in a Danny The Blue Van. I think it was you will and Tim Tim was wearing Jetties coat was in the middle of the night. It was pretty them. It was dark until I arrived when you arrive in the day you get to see this crescent-shaped gorgeous Island and when you arrive at night and when you have been sleeping the whole time you sort of get up and see this tremendous rock face in front of you and it's pretty disorienting was formed by a volcanic explosion a couple thousand years ago or so. Right? Right. So it's sort of a crescent with an extra chunk that's been disconnected, but you can follow the lines to wear it once was a circle
14:32 Call the Caldera right so what happened you got to pick me up in the blue van to you will tell him and I think Daniel and everyone's pretty excited their hugs. Nice to meet you sort of thing. You are pretty crabby happy to see me because it seems
14:53 At least from the get-go that. He was really getting along for whatever reasons. It was the case already not getting along by the time for sure. I remember that you do.
15:06 Or a bit upset in general and then there was a dealing with Tim sister Sally that was making it kind of awkward between you and Tim will was sort of trapped within this. I'm not really sure what I'm doing here, but I'm leaving in 5 days sort of thing. What can I do but I'm here for the ride. Daniel was also in that similar. I'm not really sure what I'm doing here, but I'm going to make the most of it.
15:32 And so it was definitely sick of Daniel at that point 10 being the oldest at this time. I think he's 27 here. We're all 2024 if we could just turn you turn 24 know cuz remember when I spoke at the end of the first season, we were renewing the lease and I spoke to the Architects on the phone and asked how old I was and I said, I was almost twenty-four. I don't rub it in that I've ever been 23 right you turn 24 on the day that we got to the island 2004. You turned one in 1982 right turn 23 at the beginning of 2004. That's right. You're the oldest and was using that to his advantage in any way that he could okay. Daniel was also there for the short-term in Severn was kind of wondering what Daniel Aguila was sort of
16:25 Openly there for the short-term goal wasn't sure and was going to end up coming back. He was kind of he was into the the basic idea and I immediately I liked will will soon to be the guy that I could connect with since you seem to be on a different plane at this point. Yeah, I'm dealing with the things that you were dealing with. Right and so we drove to this apartment in the village that's next to dealing with the Sally situation. Okay. She you guys had decided to not be together and here you are with her brother who looks very like much like her and dealing with the character of Tim while dealing with the fact that you're no longer with Sally but not exactly but close we were going to really know because you didn't really talk to me about which made it more difficult would more difficult when will or Maria or Tim or Daniel be like, hey, whatsup with Craig I had to be like up. That's just Craig.
17:25 I talked to me about it. Okay, I admit I've been in
17:31 Touch with Sally for the time that it was gone. And originally the thought was for her to come out to the bookstore and where we would consummate our love.
17:40 And just when I've just before I came to England to see her for the first time in a while before the band trip, she emailed and said she met this guy she was going to go be with this guy. She was living in Holland at the time. She was going to she was going to go and be with this guy but she's going to stay in Holland and be with this guy and I saw her for the first time at Christmas jazz after hearing this news. So I was disappointed about that. And of course it's strange to leave this person fruitlessly and then go spend time with her brother living together full time and don't think a bookstore that Sally and I were going to live in so so that was on my end what was going on, but like what? Okay, so take it back to take it back to the van trip.
18:27 Picking you up from the port and we stopped along the way didn't wait. That's true way to stop along the way to watch the sunrise. Yes. I have a pretty clear memory of Tim walking off and striking a pose. Basically with his hands in his pockets and Jenny's coat flying behind them sort of staring off on the opposite direction of the sun and it was the light there is very different than the light that I'm used to hear. There's a lot of the buildings are all white washed white The Rock has a weird red
19:06 Color to it. And so because the island was blown to pieces you can see the different through the different strata. You can just see a pattern that's emerged with all kinds of different colors in there. We were there in January. So it was pretty pretty green, which is not what you expect in January, but there are islands all around it that you can see that look swimmable, but are not
19:34 And on the island itself all the villages carved into the cliffs like Stone case that are built into the clips basically, right? So you get there and you see the place and it was good and what happens next but I felt I actually got up to go Sunrise. I felt the need to be especially concerning these accents. I felt the need to be smart. I know I love these guys will and Maria had been to Cambridge and Jenny and you being you and Daniel being Daniel and will speaking in the way that he does. I just kind of felt the need to be smart and I felt that I should be stinking profound thoughts at this time, but the only thing I could think of was holy shit. This is gorgeous. What am I doing here again?
20:22 So then we get back in the vehicle we go to the swimmery of the yard her apartment who I think we met your first day there then bent down to pet the cat. She said oh you like cats would you like to look after my cats and dogs for a few weeks while I go to Athens beautiful village house and was turned into 6 weeks, right? Because it's Grace and all we had to do was feed the animals which were going through their own.
20:58 Phases there's a lot of cat sex.
21:02 What you do not heard sounds like screaming children, and I've never seen that before cuz most of the cats that you see in America don't have testicles and aren't just out getting down but I do very clearly remember walking into the house. We were is divided into three basic with three Apartments. The one on the far left. We called the womb which is where Maria was by herself. No windows and we sort of knocked on the door. It was very early was like six or seven the morning. I think maybe not even maybe five or six and Maria set up and said, let me have a look at you as she put her glasses on and give you a big hug and a kiss on the cheek on both cheeks actually and I just remember feeling very warm and comfortable there with Maria who I was going to later have some disagreements with okay? Okay. So this first few days is I recalled from my perspective this for a few days to sort of a few were you were getting a sense of the lay of the land and it was a little bit for
22:02 Two in many ways the fact that there is no real running water in the in the place. We were in the electricity with Spotty. The living conditions were not normal like we were getting water water from the sister and then using not to wash dishes and boiling that to drink and things like that as well as using the water to the poop down the Turkish flu. That's somehow this old lady had used the last 30 years.
22:31 And when was the first time because of zaira Khalid like those first weeks with Spotty for you were on and off certainly.
22:39 What play was it? Would you remember the first time were you said yourself? This might not work? Oh, yeah, I think it's about two and a half weeks and I very clearly wrote in my journal this whole thing is a throwaway. I'll be here for 5 or 6 months. It'll be fun and then we want something else cuz that point like I said, everybody hated each other we had these massive egos Somehow mine wasn't the biggest sitting at a table discussing what ended up talking to me like bulshit after bulshit after bullshit about the plans to build us book clams and about the energy of the place in about what we wanted and all this kind of stuff. I really agree, but we all kind of knew that we wanted to be there for the Bookshop, but at that time it wasn't just the Bookshop. It was an artist community in this Village that used to have an artist Collective on every corner.
23:29 Everybody was just talking a lot of a box and I also recall being around one of the dinner tables and now I don't do very much cooking. So I was doing a lot of dishes which is fine with me. But after a long dinner where we have had a lot of whiskey there's a lot of back-and-forth is still what we wanted kind of thing and somebody's we started to argue you guys started. Are you at that point? I was staying pretty quiet through most of the bills and most of the day is just sort of observing the whole thing and I think Tim turn to me I was like, what do you think Chris and I think I said something along the lines of that. I just don't see what it is that were talking about which seemed to be
24:10 Enough to satisfy everybody and we sort of moved on from there back into more grounded thoughts about what was about to happen at this point. We had no none of us had any business skills and none of us had a good Maria was in a Greek speaker at you would have been pretty tough time with the whole translation thing and yet we needed to rent a place build an interior to it fix it up on the outside and stock it with books and get a legally run.
24:37 Corporation business up and running by the spring time when the Taurus season started, right? And this one also Tim is the only one with any building experience.
24:47 So so it was yeah, it was not a it's not the best time we had some dial-up internet and I remember running very big and long emails to my mom dad and brother about how just describing what was happening and how you know, don't worry. I'm not going to be stuck out here for the rest of my life. I'll be coming back pretty soon and going to law school or something like that. It was not fun. It was not fun. But we made progress slowly. Okay, we got an accountant who was clever. There was some persons text runs and of course I didn't because it wouldn't have never been the plan for me to be on the paperwork are there was a lot of me staying at home cleaning up or doing whatever while you and Maria would go run and do business things and Tim would want her out the dogs. So as a lot of me reading which was a turning out to be okay that I was going to be that first year. I think I read something like thirty two books that first year.
25:44 Because I was a lot of time where you guys were doing stuff until I would have to wait for you guys to come back having just gone through great bureaucracy the beginnings of Greek Revival. She's not even in the main village on the island. You guys were not getting along at this point for whatever reasons and I would have to hear a breakdown of your experience. Which you at that point. We're not in the mood to give me. When did we start getting what was the the fast forward this lovin? It ends up that we do get a lease on a place right a really nice spot. That was the first night when we started kind of realizing that it was all going to happen, which is the night that we got the keys you showed up in the rain with the keys and a bottle of champagne with not a smile on your face. It was kind of like a shrug. We got the place.
26:32 And then we proceeded to get hammered and then we actually went back out to get more whiskey which was not one of the smaller things in the world to do because we were all pretty hammered right on thin streets with a big van on the right side right in the snow for the first time in years. I did in the snow and no yes, it was snowing and we do have a video we got naked in the snow and Anne-Marie got stuck up on a set of stones naked in the snow, right? I do remember being naked. Everybody was naked in the snow at Maria's house in January. Not the naked Marina. That was Armory, right everyone every other person. There is any memory error York, that's so
27:28 Okay, so the so at that point you felt like they were at that point at you like that. We're making progress we got to now we can finally get started and we won't be sitting there mentally masturbate. So we did and we started building and we learnt in toddlers how to build you got to slow down cuz Tim didn't teach me how to build shelves table teaching you how to build shells it got to the point where I couldn't even be in the same room as him because of
27:51 His displeasure with our lack of skills and is generally sighing attitude if I know how to do this. So you two are in there working while I was trying to do some stone work with cement on the outside while Maria was doing god-knows-what, but a lot of it was spent with me with my headphones on.
28:17 And grinding my teeth, I mean or was it a little bit later, but I think it was it was before we love returned.
28:29 There was around that time that you were seriously think you've just leaving Orange right up. So the place that we found was beneath this the remnants of the 14th or 15th century Venetian Castle, which is more like a Lookout Point for Pirates and the space is just beneath that and but upon the castle is a nice space where tourists can come and watch the sunset and you get the whole view of the whole island and it's it's very pretty and I remember sitting up there when you came up and we sat there and I was pretty ready to go and you said something along the lines of how this will probably be the coolest thing that I'll ever do it would be a shame. If you left I thought to myself Craig you can go fuck yourself cuz I plan on doing a lot cooler things that hanging out with these massive egos mentally masterbating whole thing that we ended up doing and I decided to stay I haven't I haven't formulated a real plan for leaving.
29:22 But it was I was pretty close to saying I'm out here the six years later. We're all still involved in this in some way or another book shop is up and running with some even worse giving me a condensing story substantially, but most of the original players are still involved somehow and in the semi everyone still in the loop. Nobody's completely drifted off the far end of those original folks over there. The shop is still up and running after six years we go back. We look after the place and everything dude, like you remember the time when like what what was the one we were talking earlier before we came here you kind of mention all these moments that were important moments for
30:08 For the shop then you talk about when we move the boat and it was a near disaster cuz we tried to put a full size boat on the Terrace and almost killed Nico's when you and Maria were having that issue when you got the van stuck in almost were at each other's throats arguing about it. Most of these were like funny in retrospect, but certainly miserable in a moment episodes. Like do you remember the time where everything just worked?
30:35 Yeah that
30:38 Once the boat ended up on the Terrace and we all realized it our fears of it. Not fit. We drag this boat from the post office, which is like quarter mile away all the way through town busting lights like streetlights. And on this tiny little skinny streets in this is a pretty decent size boat that was given to us and it took like 13 of us and lots of the village was just there watching so which I didn't I was against the plan to begin with because of that we would be going through this High Street 10-minute belated everybody into doing it to this point Oliver's Alright, by the way, he is freaking out there's a video that's and nobody's really sure what the plan is Tim seems to know what's going on. We end up 6 hours later later getting the boat to the top of the stairs. We have these massive stairs to do with another two hours to get a bug downstairs onto the Terrace once it was there and once we filled it up with the books.
31:33 It all seemed to sort of like well, I don't really like this guy to him cuz he's a manipulator in an asshole. But he's really good at what he does and sometimes he's really right.
31:43 Enter from there. Was that the worst president we cruised through the first season not at all. We had to deal with getting these books. We got these 22 talk to me about like the moment that everything he seemed. Okay, like an you'd like to remember a day. What was the day like when we were in the zone in the first year?
32:03 What did it look like what happened a day in the zone the first year. Are you thinking something specific now? Just pay me a picture a picture. I think when Jeremy and Luke were there and we were showing films pretty regularly downstairs in the yellow room English, right and having a couple of Outsiders there to sort of quell any sort of interior discuss that we had with each other and it is time to Jeremy and Luke were there we are already up and running is a shop and I think we had they were there during the pier. We had something like 17 or 18 guest staying with us and living with us in this Bookshop that we've drilled some beds and living space in the caves down underneath the shop.
32:55 So it was a real part. It wasn't just the two of them over there. Right? But those are the two that I have very specific memories because they came.
33:05 They set themselves up. They were reading the paper every morning. They were drinking coffee. They kind of arrived with everything ready for them.
33:14 So somebody would wake up around 9 or 10.
33:19 Open the shop, but the things outside that we would put outside to let people know there was a business down there people would come in. We sell them books in the selling of the books has the most fun. It was a kind of thing that made everything worthwhile because generally we were just telling books that we liked.
33:37 So the afternoon carry-on somebody would make lunch not me.
33:43 And then there would be with a sleepy time to start drinking wine and then sunset time would come and we'd have more and more people come down. And then that would be the beginning of the night and then the night would go on until pretty early but it was it wasn't anything like spectacular outside the sunset wish you could watch them until that was like hey, this is Amanda magnificent day, but because of that like 17 18 people are there in everyone's talking to how great it isn't. So how beautiful it is in everyone's getting all these other plans it definitely seems as if we had we had crossed a certain point to where a this is real and be this is something that we could do for a little while.
34:23 Are you do you think we should have just stopped it right there. I was of the thinking that if we didn't find a place soon. So we were definitely going to be in this place for 1 year. This guy Dimitri who owns the place was going to beat us and make us Matthew Hotel so we knew for sure that we had to find another space and I remember thinking that I don't think I necessarily want to be with these people for another year doing that whole other experience again, but you and Maria I did a lot of legwork to fight other spaces and there's a whole file we made this big dossier for to sell ourselves somebody else that wanted to give us money to rent space.
35:00 Although the whole time. I was thinking I'd be pretty happy just to close up. Now. Do you think everybody was everybody but Tim, I think I think so. I could you were really talking to me about that sort of stuff because you were dealing with it with Maria and I think didn't want to have to repeat yourself. And Tim was still very excited and still planning on building a small Amphitheater on the terrorist. That was even no longer going to be ours in a few months and it seemed like to me that everyone was like, hey, we did it we have to move but we did it and it was great. Let's make a book of ourselves.
35:38 I don't remember it was absolutely did. I know that there were a few times we sat down and said we need if we're going to do this again where you need to figure it out by this time, but
36:00 No, I don't remember anybody really getting up an articulating and saying why don't you why do we call it a day now know why not? Why didn't anybody do that?
36:10 I think it's a time. We were still pretty proud of what we had just done. I had a feeling that I kind of wanted to do it out of spite for your parents who had come to visit and your dad to take me aside and said listen, you know, you can't do this forever. Right? And I kind of wanted to tell him fuck you sure we can't because I got my buddy crago here who can take care of business. We need to take care of his and so there was this feeling of we're pretty proud of what we done sure we can do it again. We can do it even better and I kind of want to do it just as people think that we should stop even though the people think that we should stop or sometimes us the day and how do you just we have just a little while left here but like like when you look back on that time to
36:59 Do you miss it do you think did the goats the emotional?
37:07 Feeling that you have like what do you take away from it at this point?
37:11 At this point I look at those first two years because the second year was a lot of rehash of the first in terms of buildings. We found enough space in the middle of town and there were a couple of new characters. But at this point I think that it was it was exactly what somebody in their early twenties would dream about doing that 99% of people don't which is just saying fuck it. Let's try something and we did and we were pretty successful. I'd even though it involved a lot of bitter feelings a lot of exclusion a lot of ideas that did not match up with everybody else's and had to be laid to the Wayside and yet it's still sort of was a central project that everybody loved for their very own reasons and kind of wanted to keep going no matter what what is still kind of the case?
38:03 Maria right now is ready to enter her second retirement face, but continues to send emails about things just because she can't get enough of it cuz she loves it so much probably because of the negative feelings like Maria and I are best friends now and I love her and mostly I think comes from that time when we really hated each other and I think that the fact that we did not get along very well in those first couple of months set the bar pretty low that we were able to clear very easily. And even though we continue to have some issues we sort of come out as a pretty strong family with different Dynamics in between but also just a good opportunity to have a space where somebody can do something different.
38:48 I bet it's six years on now and people are definitely farther apart than they have ever been in this where in touch much less than we ever have been before and when we say has this person doing it has that person doing me of less and less. Update each other how long until it just dissipates. I think it's like personally I think it is just barely holding on but I wonder if at some point that Central core of shared experience was shared memory the thing that keeps us emotional connection that we have over the shared history is just going to be forgotten are going to rest and crumble. How long is it like just this is your Parting Shot here, but like the what's what do you give the lifespan on that? How much longer do we have?
39:35 That's a difficult question. I think that we could go on for another 20 years. I think could be the kind of thing there. I won't hear from Lisa for another year-and-a-half and then all of a sudden our schedules will work out that we can be there for New Years together and we'll get back and we'll remember all the things that we had to go through and it'll be great and it might be the case that we leave after that trip and don't speak again, but I think it's going to continue because I think this place is special enough and our memories are still pretty sick. We did a pretty decent job of of documenting them to the point where we're not really going to forget how good it was and we do a pretty decent job of her not remembering how bad it was.
40:12 Is it filled when you measure the space between what it was like that and what it's like now is it?
40:20 To feel good about the space that we've come that we passed through since then or do you feel like
40:30 How do you how do you measure that space between I feel good about a lot of the people who we don't we didn't know beforehand who have been able to come through and have an experience that they wouldn't be able to have anywhere else until a lot of it seems like we did a lot of the the grunt work so that others can enjoy themselves. But in terms of the core group, I can't see a time when we wouldn't be speaking. Even if it's just a hello or we can hold on to that at least.