cat whiskers and cookie paws

Went to see Fela! tonight on Broadway. Mick Jagger was there. In the audience.

That is all I have to say about that.

In other news, I wish it weren't so cold. Or that this trip was a fall thing because wandering around NYC right now is like running in giant wind tunnels. It's exhausted. And yes, I am writing this at 3 in the morning. That's what I get for napping I suppose.

Tomorrow we are heading to Astoria (Woohoo!) to the Museum of Moving Images. I'm not entirely sure what to expect, however our film teacher Alan is awesome. He used to go to Coe and actually went on the NY Term as well!

More news: I applied to work in the Writing Center over the summer. After New Zealand of course. This would mean free housing on campus and $1500 in my pocket. I'd have to buy food but after NY, I certainly know the way to save. I could easily walk to Hyvee on 1st Avenue. I could also get a job at one of the local restaurants or cafes! This is probably a pipe dream. I don't even have the job yet secured and am not sure I'll be the lucky consultant to get it. (I would DIE to write the Writing Center summer news letter!)

I suppose I should sleep.

smoky rolls down

I don't have much to say about the day. It snowed like it was supposed to and I barely got anything done. Just typed up one and a half journals. Which, I suppose, is one and a half more than I would have done on any other day.

Went to see Dear John and liked it as far as sappy romances go. John disliked it, which wasn't a surprise.

Stayed inside and watched the snow for the rest of the day. Until, that is, it got too dark to see.

Took a lot of pictures of nothing.

All-in-all, it was worth not going to work.

Tomorrow we head to another museum. Hopefully I am feeling well enough to enjoy it.

Now, to bed.

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!

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.

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.

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.