vacation recap!!!!
Got back from a week vacation the other night. Was very much in need of it as I was starting to feel classic mental burnout that can come from spending 40 hours a week with crazy and volatile people. Was in NYC for a good chunk of my vacation. Funny, I hated the city when I lived there, but as a place to visit there's a lots of fun to be had. As long as it's not my daily lifestyle, I can handle it. However, by the last day, I was starting to experience the things that made me realize why I got the fuck out of the city. Nevertheless, it was an awesome trip!!
The highlight: the Madonna concert at Madison Square Garden I attended with my friend Jamey. It began with an hour wait in our seats which Jamey and I used to stare down this BEAUTIFUL tanned boy sitting across from us. He was gorgeous and gorgeousity combined! At 9pm, the lights went down and the video montage began. Before we knew it, a big disco ball came down from the ceiling and that goddess of a woman known as Madonna emerged from it with lights-a-flashing!!! She was dressed as a combination dominatrix and jockey. She also had a slave on a leash!!!! She did mostly stuff from her new album, Confessions on a Dance Floor, but also delved into renditions of her old classics including Like a Virgin, Ray of Light, Live to Tell, Lucky Star, Hey Mr. D.J.. Madonna is currently 47 years old, but she can still move as if she were 20. Her movements and syncrhonizations were absolutly amazing!!! The most memorable part of the show for me was during her rendition of "I Love New York" when she made a profane comment about our moronic evil disgrace of a president known as Bush. The only caveat to the show was that I heard prior to going that Madonna doesn't like air conditioning which gets shut off the minute she comes on-stage. Well, this was correct as the Garden got wicked hot, but thankfully the high energy of the show kept me and most of the crowd from caring!
Another highlight of the trip was the MOMA. I've never been into going to art museums, but this one was a definate exception. Besides the displays of pieces by Andy Warhol, my absolute favorite artist, they had 2 film exhibits which just blew me away!!! One was called "24 hour Psycho" and as it's name implies, is the Alfred Hitchcock film "Psycho" shown over a big-ass screen (the size of a wall) with no sound, and very slowed down to the point where the entire film plays over 24 hours. My friend Kelly and I watched it for a while, then returned 45 minutes later to see that it was still at the same scene. Another interesting exhibit was this one about sex and violence in film. We walked into a room with benches, handheld mirrors, and 15 TV screens on the ceiling. Each screen displayed a scene featuring either sex or violence in a film, and you can watch it my holding the mirror below it and watching it through the mirror.
The MOMA experience helped me make a decision that I was struggling with for months prior. I recently got the approval for my new schedule at work which will be in effect from September through December. I managed to get into the "nurse's schedule" which consists of working only three 12.5 hour shifts each week. More specifically, I'll be working 2 overnight shifts during the week and the day shift on Sundays. Now as much as I wanted this schedule and traded to get it (weekdays day shifts at my job are quite stressful and overwhelming so I'm trying to avoid them from here-on-in), I realized that being completely free from 9am-5pm each weekday might make me a little bored. Nevertheless, I'll take being a little bored every now and then if it involves only having to work 3 days a week! A mere 3 days!!!! I decided that I was either going to take a class for personal interest or volunteer for a non-profit political group whose mission statement I agreed with. I was agonizing over this decision for months. After seeing the film exhibits at the MOMA, I realized that film is my #1 hobby. I watch many, read about it, write analyses of them that I want to pursue this interest part-time. Seeing Psycho in a manner where I could see each frame closely made me realize just how much you can do with film. Therefore, I made the decision to register for a film studies class at Montgomery College (the local community college in my county) which meets once a week for 2.5 hours. I think this will be the best way to pursue my interest and learn more about the magic of film. Besides, I can use the overnight shifts at work to do the homework. Here's hoping the class is all I hope for and more!
The highlight: the Madonna concert at Madison Square Garden I attended with my friend Jamey. It began with an hour wait in our seats which Jamey and I used to stare down this BEAUTIFUL tanned boy sitting across from us. He was gorgeous and gorgeousity combined! At 9pm, the lights went down and the video montage began. Before we knew it, a big disco ball came down from the ceiling and that goddess of a woman known as Madonna emerged from it with lights-a-flashing!!! She was dressed as a combination dominatrix and jockey. She also had a slave on a leash!!!! She did mostly stuff from her new album, Confessions on a Dance Floor, but also delved into renditions of her old classics including Like a Virgin, Ray of Light, Live to Tell, Lucky Star, Hey Mr. D.J.. Madonna is currently 47 years old, but she can still move as if she were 20. Her movements and syncrhonizations were absolutly amazing!!! The most memorable part of the show for me was during her rendition of "I Love New York" when she made a profane comment about our moronic evil disgrace of a president known as Bush. The only caveat to the show was that I heard prior to going that Madonna doesn't like air conditioning which gets shut off the minute she comes on-stage. Well, this was correct as the Garden got wicked hot, but thankfully the high energy of the show kept me and most of the crowd from caring!
Another highlight of the trip was the MOMA. I've never been into going to art museums, but this one was a definate exception. Besides the displays of pieces by Andy Warhol, my absolute favorite artist, they had 2 film exhibits which just blew me away!!! One was called "24 hour Psycho" and as it's name implies, is the Alfred Hitchcock film "Psycho" shown over a big-ass screen (the size of a wall) with no sound, and very slowed down to the point where the entire film plays over 24 hours. My friend Kelly and I watched it for a while, then returned 45 minutes later to see that it was still at the same scene. Another interesting exhibit was this one about sex and violence in film. We walked into a room with benches, handheld mirrors, and 15 TV screens on the ceiling. Each screen displayed a scene featuring either sex or violence in a film, and you can watch it my holding the mirror below it and watching it through the mirror.
The MOMA experience helped me make a decision that I was struggling with for months prior. I recently got the approval for my new schedule at work which will be in effect from September through December. I managed to get into the "nurse's schedule" which consists of working only three 12.5 hour shifts each week. More specifically, I'll be working 2 overnight shifts during the week and the day shift on Sundays. Now as much as I wanted this schedule and traded to get it (weekdays day shifts at my job are quite stressful and overwhelming so I'm trying to avoid them from here-on-in), I realized that being completely free from 9am-5pm each weekday might make me a little bored. Nevertheless, I'll take being a little bored every now and then if it involves only having to work 3 days a week! A mere 3 days!!!! I decided that I was either going to take a class for personal interest or volunteer for a non-profit political group whose mission statement I agreed with. I was agonizing over this decision for months. After seeing the film exhibits at the MOMA, I realized that film is my #1 hobby. I watch many, read about it, write analyses of them that I want to pursue this interest part-time. Seeing Psycho in a manner where I could see each frame closely made me realize just how much you can do with film. Therefore, I made the decision to register for a film studies class at Montgomery College (the local community college in my county) which meets once a week for 2.5 hours. I think this will be the best way to pursue my interest and learn more about the magic of film. Besides, I can use the overnight shifts at work to do the homework. Here's hoping the class is all I hope for and more!