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.