everglades

It's 3:30 and I'm still in bed. All I want is to feel better, eat funnel cake and lay in the sun. For now, I will watch movies in the dark. I don't think I can get myself to write anything.

Last night we went to see the Gyor National Ballet perform Rite of Spring and Petrushka. These dancers were phenomenal. I've never seen so many strong men and women on stage at once. They are had beautiful abs, legs, arms and feet.

The night before last we went to Brooklyn to The Bam and watched The Bridge Project's As You Like It. The set was absolutely fantastic and the lighting design was awesome. However, I felt that the American actors were not as strong as the Brits, which isn't shocking. I am hoping that we get to watch their performance of The Tempest.

Anyway. I can't think of a single thing I want to do here. It's too cold and too expensive.

Movie tomorrow morning. That's something to look forward to.

letters

Never made it to Miranda.
Haven't done laundry.
Need to catch up with journals.
Must find stamps.
Am confused and exhausted.
But mostly exhausted.
And sweaty.

Not to forget broke.

rain on the doorstep

Just got out of work and I'm utterly exhausted and beyond glad that I have the weekend free to spend time with Douglas, Jess and her fiance John. For now I will shower, get dolled up, head to the Urban Bush Woman and then out to some dance club for Kendra's 22nd birthday. Tomorrow, I hope to do laundry and then go see Miranda at HERE. Sunday will be a movie date in the morning and then picking up Douglas from the airport or train station. (I also have to catch up with my journals and my novel. Oh lordy.)

the thing that

There are many things in New York that I love.

They would be better though if I had someone here to truly enjoy them with. Don't get me wrong - there are wonderful people here with me. Luckily, I've only been annoyed once or twice thus far. However, there is no one here that I can truly get along with. Better yet, the people here are either aquaintanced friends that I don't want to spend all my time with or ones who can hurt me most. Sometimes I think I am expected to be with certain people. I suppose none of this really matters. I came here to get NY experience on my resume. I am here for myself. Not for anyone else.

Anyways, I can't believe we've only been here for a week. It feels like much, much, longer.

This morning I ate breakfast at New Wave and then head to 53rd between 5th and 6th to MoMA to check out the Bauhaus and Tim Burton exhibits. Bauhaus reminded me of Ikea while Tim Burton was just a large array of film memorabilia. I put my paycheck in the bank. I came home and changed, then head out for chinese food before going to the Bowery Poetry Club to hear a little bit of literature.

Here I am now, working on my novel, a short fiction piece, my blog, my twitter and my facebook. Keeping in touch with people is a lot easier when you aren't expected too.

Speaking of which, I need to put stamps for my letters...

Work at HERE in the morning. Too bad the room is almost unbearable with heat.

Good news? Douglas gets into NYC on Sunday! Which is in TWO DAYS!

puppets

I've decided that I want to be a puppeteer. Or a robot conductor. (Conductor?)

Recap of the past two days in a nutshell:

- Julliard Jazz Ensemble above Central Park in the Time Warner Building.
- Emperor Jones at the SoHo Playhouse which is just around the corner from HERE. The puppetry was wonderful.
- Meeting with Jess and John for Starbucks and then heading back to her Fordham apartment. I've missed them so much. It's nice to have a little bit of home.
- At work now. Listening to Stacey (my boss) interview two other possible interns.
- I want muffins. Or black-bottom cupcakes. Which doesn't have anything to do with the last two days but I don't care.

After work I must order pizza for our music meeting with Murray. I already printed out my journal. Whew.

I suppose I will write more later. I do have quite a bit to talk about.

tough love

After going on a wonderful early morning movie date to Daybreakers, I was fortunate enough to spend the rest of the day wandering the Museum of Natural History. The Planetarium was worth every penny, even if it was just to hear Whoopi Goldberg talk about the galaxy and stars. It was an unbelievable display of projections and sounds that I can't imagine designing. Afterwards we went to eat at Shake'n'Bake (or whatever it's called...Shake Shack possibly). The french fries and shakes were delicious.

Side note: bagels are a daily food item. They are cheap and delicious. Also, pizza. That's all I have to say about that.

Tomorrow is my third day of work. It's tough. I mean - very tough. Speaking of which, I forgot to write about a phenomenal event.

On my very first day at HERE, I was standing outside on my first job. I was asked to spray paint the bottom of two large faux-grass mats black. This should have been easy, however I have no such luck. It was below 20 degrees outside, extremely windy and my spray painting area was right next to a construction site - therefore there was tons of flying gravel and dirt. So there I was, bent over two huge grassy mats, trying to hold down the edges so that they wouldn't fly away while attempting to spray paint. The paint went everywhere so I had to spray from close to the mat which meant that they whole process took longer. And then, of course, I wasn't allowed to go inside until it was completely dry as to not kill all of the dancers with fumes. Of course, neither of them were drying fast enough and I was turning into an icecicle.

Here's the wonderful part: I was standing there, holding one of the mats up in the air (I faced into the wind so that it would stick to my body) when a group of people walked by. None of them noticed me except for one. He was probably in his mid-20's and cute. I remember he was wearing a brown coat and grey beanie. He walked by, making eye contact with me. Thinking that he was judging me, I turned to make sure that he was moving on and low and behold - he was looking back. And then he was stopping, shifting around and then walking back. I can see myself now - my hair blowing all over the place, my hands covered in black paint and a giant grassy mat stuck to my legs.

"Excuse me, miss?" The cute man in the brown coat was just a few paces away.

"Yes?" I asked.

"Do you...do you need help with something?"

I couldn't believe my ears. Here was an attractice man NEW YORKER asking me if I needed help. I declined, telling him I was waiting for the mats to dry and he moved on.

I don't think I'll every forget the kindness he showed that day. It definitely made work at HERE that day a little better.

wolf pack

Today was a lazy day. First we wandered to The Strand bookstore which has 18 miles worth of books on bookshelves. It was super crowded and the books were a bit pricey, so I bought some postcards and a nice tote bag. Afterwards we got tacos (finally), head to Urban Outfitters for some clothing (oops), and then went home to change for the New York City Ballet. The final part of the ballet called Firebird was the best. Disclaimer: I know nothing about ballet technique so my judgement is definitely not reliable.

Now I have a headache, a purple mouth from my grape water, and bags under my eyes. Perhaps tomorrow I'll be inspired to be more graceful. And here's to hoping Patricia gives us dance lessons before this semester is over so that maybe we will know what to talk about in our journals.

Tomorrow morning I must wake up early to see a movie and then possibly head to the Museum of Natural History to learn some cool stuff about...natural history. Cheers and beers.

every place i've been

I'm finished. Through. Ready to pack.

the tipping point

New Yorkers have attitudes. There's nothing surprising about that. (We all know that Yankees fans cause the most trouble at games.) However, it is still a bit shocking when the attitude is turned towards you. For example, you'll be in someones way and you'll get an earful or you can't figure out where to order your veggie wrap at the local cafe and you'll feel moronic when you're told what to do. It's like the attitude is everywhere. So, here's to hoping it becomes just one of those things. Like pigeons or traffic at the Columbus Circle subway terminal.

The first half of today was terrible - entirely because I wasn't feeling well. I could barely enjoy the Whitney as we got to explore two amazing exhibits, Roni Horn and Georgia O'Keeffe. Horn's portraits were fascinating but her sculptures were simply mind boggling. One was of what looked like a 4 foot by 4 foot ice cube (minus the ice). The top was clear and you could look inside of it to see the different layers. However, one of my favorite parts about the Whitney was that there were windows. This ice cube was placed next to one of them and it reflected the nearby buildings if you looked at it from an angle. My favorite room of Horn's exhibit was of photographs she had taken of the water of the Thames. On the photograph were placed tiny numbers which corresponded with notes which were written on the bottom. Example, "Water is sexy" and "Black water is not sexy."

The Georgia O'Keeffe exhibit was beautiful. Her use of color boggles my mind and it was awesome to see her first abstractions in charcoal. The portraits taken of her naked were beautiful...I didn't know she was so sexy! (I should have. Her work is sexy.)

After the Whitney, I took the bus back to the hotel where I napped until I felt better. I am very sad for John, who lost his metro card. Mitch found it, but not thinking it belonged to any of us, he tossed it. Sad faces all around. I'm hoping the purchase of a new one doesn't put a huge dent in John's budget! After being at the hotel, the two of us went to Cafe 71 for dinner and then head to the New York Guitar Festival where we got to watch two silent films whose music was played and improved live to us by two wonderful guitarists. I don't have the program in front of me so I can't recall their names, however, next Thursday Justin Vernon of Bon Iver will be doing the same for another silent film. Lucky ducks that get to see that one...

Tomorrow, I have another day at HERE and then I get the night free. Maybe I'll finally get the chance to go to The Strand to get some postcards and a photo for Mrs. Williams to prove that I went. Love to all and to all a good sleep.

two in the morning

It's been awhile since I last wrote, and I've missed you!

Let's take a brief moment to talk about the subway. It's beyond easy - if you're capable of reading numbers and letters while hundreds of people are running around and pushing you forward to somewhere you probably don't want to go. It's a constant state of thinking uptown, downtown, express. The most difficult thing is getting your legs and stomach to cooporate with your out-of-town heart when the train is swishing from side to side and everyone is taller than you so you can't see anything but the man's lapel in front of you. I quickly touched hands with an attractive suit today when we both frantically reached for the same bar as the C train lurched to a sudden stop - so I suppose that is a plus. If you are lacking in human contact, the subway is certainly the place to be. I digress.

Yesterday was my first day of work at HERE, and it was a long one full of tech, cleaning and office work. (All of which needed to be done.) I suppose I won't go into much detail because that would bore you, but do know that I'm trying my hardest to make a good impression and to not complain. I had to go straight to the theatre district from work to make it in time for Next to Normal the musical. Long story short I thought it was only sub-par, but everyone else thought it was great. I suppose it simply was not my cup of tea. Luckily for us, we got treated to food and cheesecake at Junior's, which was placed nicely next door to the Booth Theatre. After food was sleep and after sleep was work again today.

Today was a little different than yesterday. The morning seemed to fly by as I helped clean the tech closet and dimmer room, yet dragged on as I helped do necessary office work in the afternoon. If everyone else in the office didn't work as hard as they do (and they are constantly working) I would probably have a problem with cutting out 800 or so tickets - which is very tedious busy work. However, my co-workers are in the office from 10 in the morning until god-knows-when and I know they need every shred of help available.

Best case scenario is that they'd want me to stick around or would help me get a job after I graduate. Even working box office a couple of hours a night would be wonderful, I think.

New York is a strange place. You can easily have a love/hate relationship with it. Everyone says, "How can you be bored? There's so much to do!" but I found myself wandering around town with John looking for food after work, and not one of the restaurants were tempting. I suppose this is because - sometimes, not always - I have trouble with unfamiliar places...that I prefer to stick to what I know. Fortunately, The New Wave Cafe on 78th and Broadway has breakfast all day and is cheap - two things that I love.

After dinner we came home and I fell asleep around 6:30, entirely accidentally, and now here I am at 2 in the morning unable to go back to bed and listening to the hiss of the radiator. Tomorrow is Georgia O'Keeffe at the Whitney and the silent film/guitar improvisation.

I think I'll wake early and get breakfast at Cafe 71.

farkel and other such adventures

I honestly do not remember the last time my body was this sore. From walking.

A little about today: Woke up at 8:30 today to shower, ate breakfast and then met up with the group to head off to the Guggenheim Museum. Located on the east side of Central Park, this amazing museum is in the shape of a honeycomb, with outward slanting walls and a winding path that circles around the inside - the paintings line this path. The museum itself almost distracts from the artwork displayed inside: that's how beautiful it is. (The picture above is of the ceiling of the Guggenheim that I took from the lobby. If you've never seen the building, designed by Frank Lloyd Wright, you must look it up for pictures. Or visit yourself. 1071 5th Avenue at 89th Street.)

Lucky for us, we made to the museum just before the Kandinsky exhibit closed. I started at the top where his oldest works were displayed and made my way down the spiral to the earliest works.) I'm uncertain as to which was my favorite, however I do know that it is somewhere in the middle of this career. I also enjoyed Kandinsky's series of watercolors which were reminiscent of Paul Klee with their almost-airbrushed coloring and almost-stenciled forms. In all of his works you find a battle for non-objectivity and rarely do you see him succeed. It's quite sad.

Also at the museum was a installation sculpture by Anish Kapoor called Memory. It was absolutely unbelievable. A must-see. I can't even begin to describe it in the time allotted.

After the museum, John and I bought our first New York hot dogs and then attempted to find our way home on our own. We failed but luckily ran into Mitch and Kendra - head to a cafe (the name escapes me) and then the two of us followed the two of them home. John had an almost-lost-metro-card situation which was hilarious to watch. You'll be happy to know that it was just a false alarm. The card was in his coat pocket.

At last we made it home and John and I had a small opportunity to rest our feet before heading off to do a test run to Soho where I could find my internship at HERE. (1 train to Columbus Circle then C,E train to Spring St..) Fortunately, the jog was quite easy. After finding the theatre we wandered Soho, and then head home where we searched far and wide for Dunkin Donuts. We did not find one - however, we discovered later that there was one quite near our hotel...in the opposite direction we had looked.

The night is not over yet folks. John and I made it home, found Dylan and Christine and then head back out to Times Square for Dylan's first adventure to the M&M store, Toys'R'Us and to the ever daring Marriott Hotel elevator. If you haven't tried the latter, you must. It's a free thrill. We ate McDonalds for dinner. From Times Square we took the subway to Dylan's internship at the Vineyard Theatre near Union Square where we saw the National Debt clock. (It was sad to watch the amount get bigger and bigger by the second.) Finally we made it home, where John and I watched another episode of Fringe as I uploaded pictures from my camera to Facebook. Huzzah for at last having a little bit of internet and a little bit of time!

Tomorrow I have to wake up early, shower, eat breakfast, and head off for my first day of rush hour traveling to HERE, where I get a tour of the space at ten o'clock. So here's (haha) to making it safely and on time. After I get home I get time to nap before heading back to the theatre district with the entire group to see Next to Normal on Broadway.

Now, my friends, I must get some shuteye.

77th and broadway

This is my first official post from New York City. Let me go back. Yesterday we took the bus from Baltimore to New York, took a cab to the hotel and then walked to the theatre district with my mother and her friend, Buzi. So Mom and Buzi wanted to see a show - we ended up getting very last minute, third row tickets to Jersey Boys for cheap! It was a very like-able show. Peppy music everyone can recognize and sing along with and some cute actors for the women to swoon over. (Before the show we stopped at Cafe 71 for snacks and then a pub for drinks. You know how that goes.) After the show we walked back to the hotel. (Thats over 60 blocks total of walkage.) At the hotel I did a bit of unpacking, said goodbye to Mom and Buzi and then got to hang out with John! (I will write more about the hotel later...)

So, not having been to New York before, John had to see Times Square. Since it was nigh time, I figured why not take him. We walked there and back - which means I did the trip twice. It wouldn't have been so bad if it hadn't of been so cold. No complaints, though. Taking John to see Times Square is much more satisfying then going with someone who's been there before. I took him to the M&M store and Toys'R'Us. On the way back home, we enjoyed the light-endowed trees, Lincoln Center and almost getting hit by taxis.

Today, I woke up relatively early and walked back to Cafe 71 with John, Mitch, Kendra, Erin and Dylan. We got our first New York bagels and then head off to buy our first subway passes! From there we diverted our attention to Central Park, where we wandered through Strawberry Fields, the John Lennon memorial, to the Bethesda Fountain and then to the Belvedere (sp?)Castle. Many pictures ensued.

In an hour we have a group meeting and then a mixer to get to know each other and our teachers. Should be nice. Who knows what else we will do later...

I slept well for the first time in weeks. It bodes well for the rest of the trip. Hopefully for the rest of the year.

beach house

Today is technically Friday which means...NEW YORK TOMORROW.

Things I still need as today progresses: finish doing laundry so that I can finish packing my clothes, find the lint brush, find the umbrella and jacket in a packet, find appropriate shoes, go shopping for groceries, and sleep more. I definitely need to get my normal sleep pattern back. I don't know how I'll make it through the next week if I don't. (Point in case: it's past three in the morning right now and I'm barely tired. I suppose I should just make myself wake up very early so that I'll get tired sooner. Or whatever.)

Enough rambling for now. Onwards and (hopefully) upwards.

empire state of mind

Hey folks! This is my first entry over here and I've got exciting news! I will officially be living in the Upper West Side of New York City in THREE days. I'll be taking the good ol' Megabus for a little ride and then a cab and then voila! At the hotel unpacking! Going with Darlene and Buzi should be pretty exciting. They may be past middle-age, but they certainly are fun.

I will be interning at the HERE Arts Center and going to tons of museums and art galleries and the opera. I will be seeing Bob Dylan's apartment. Hanging out with John & Jess - who are soon to be married friends from high school. I'll be a hell of a lot closer to home. (Not that I can go home, but it's the thought that counts.) And most importantly of all, I'll not be at Coe. Which is wonderful.

I must run. Have to get a little closer to finished with this whole - packing - business. Breakfast at The Paper Moon in the morning. Ciao for now.