Ohhh...just look...it's like I'm in a storybook!
I'm actually here! I can't even believe it...I'm actually here, in New York City. The Upper West Side to be more specific....66th and 3rd to be exact. Let's see if I can tell you all the things that have happened since Monday...wow only five days!
Monday:
Mommy took me to breakfast before going to the airport. She then walked me in, after having told me a few days prior that it was silly for her to go into the airport because she couldn't walk me past the security checkpoint. But she walked me in anyway, and my baggage just barely passed the weight limits. Mommy started tearing up which is probably the third time I've seen her cry in my entire life, once when her mother died and once when I was singing the national anthem. It was then that I realized that I've never truly been away from my home for three months at a time. Yes I've 'lived' away from home but I came back often enough, even if only for a few hours, to never have made it even a month without stopping home, or at least seeing my parents. And while my mother insisted that this year my contact with them has been lax in terms of calls and emails home, I've realized that it's because they were so close. I mean, I knew that if something should happen they are only half an hour or forty minutes away. Also, I know people in Ann Arbor, granted not that many that I would call on a Saturday night but still, I talk to people in Ann Arbor, but I'll explain that later. So anyway, I walk to my terminal and am an hour and a half early, great. They're cleaning my terminal and there are exactly two other passengers sitting there waiting. I pulled out my magazine that my sister got me as a good luck/bon voyage gift along with a invaluable map of Manhattan which I don't leave the apartment without now and some snacks and whatnot. So waiting in the terminal I can't help be completely jealous of this probably late-20's, early-30's ish woman sitting across from me reading Dan Brown with a model-esque figure and enviably volumized hair. The luggage man (I don't know a better word for him) let her dog sit with her out of it's cage while we waited to board because the poor, ADORABLE dog wasFREAKING OUT in the cage. He was named spike and was probably the most well-behaved dog I've ever seen. I also couldn't help but overhear then a threesome walked into the terminal and joked about the 'Nederlander terminal' so clearing I watched them (I did a lot of watching in that hour and a half) and listen to their conversation. I never figured out if they were in anything but I think they were. I think the two girls who were there may have been actors in a tour and the man part of the production team perhaps. But it was just absolutely exciting to hear them talk about Actor's Equity and flying to summer stock auditions while waiting for my flight to New York to work for a theatrically minded company. AHHH! So anyway, the flight got delayed...we didn't take off for an hour after boarding. It was also the tiniest little plane I've ever been on...two seats on one side, the aisle and the one seat on the other in each row. Thankfully I'm short because one poor fellow had to duck when walking down the aisle. So anyway, flight was fine, beautifully sunny. We land and I HAVE TO PEE! I mean what do you expect, breakfast with mom, water while we were delayed, soda during the flight...COME ON AMERICAN AIRLINES WHAT WERE YOU THINKING! But the thing is that the flight was so tiny that I'm positive the luggage with be unloaded in record time and I don't want to just leave my luggage there while I potty so I get my two wheely/jam-packed way over packed pieces of luggage and then attempt to manuever myself into the bathroom. Ten minutes later I was calling my mommy to let her know I landed safely. Then into the taxi line and onto a taxi on my way to my home for the next three months. The most awkward taxi ride ever. I tell the man "66th between 2nd and 3rd" like I've been practicing in my head while waiting in line, desparate to sound like a veteran New York-er. Well, see then the man starts mumbling. I can't understand what he is saying but am CONVINCED he is talking to me because he keeps kind of looking back over the shoulder. After a few times of him mumbling and me saying 'what? pardon?' I realize he is DEFINITELY not speaking English and must be talking either on some sort of blue chip type thingy or mumbling to himself. So then he drops me off and I stumble into the apartment. Needing to call my mommy again to tell her that I was safe in the apartment but ALAS no service ANYWHERE in the apartment grrrTMobile. So I step outside to walk around the block and call mommy and whaaaa there's a crowd of people on the street at 3rd and 66th and a CAMERA. So dummy me, talking on the phone, I walk down to see what is going on. Well, then I realize they're taping something but i have no clue where to go so I book it the opposite direction while still catching a glimpse of an man walking out of the building with blood coming from his neck but is clearly unphased by this fact. So I walk around the block a few times and when finally allowed back on my street when they are done filming I see someone with a Gossip Girl hoodie on...so I may or may not be on a future episode of Gossip Girl! That night I stayed in, afraid of the city after dark and planning what I would do with my next day.
So Tuesday:
I decide to try my hand at student tickets for Broadway. Here's the issue, I was also determined that the first Broadway show I was going to see was going to be Little Mermaid. HI it's me! Please. And the issue with that is stupid Disney does not do student tickets. LAME Disney LAME! Well, I know TKTS does tickets so I'll try that. Not really knowing what else I wanted to do, I had written down the address for a few sample sales I had found. Well, knowing the address and knowing how to get there are definitely two different things. Also, having a map does not always help, especially in times square. I didn't feel comfortable pulling the map out in the middle of the street (which I know now was a lame thing to think) so I just sort of ended up walking around for a while, turning where I thought I should turn, figuring out the numbers were going up not down and going around the block to try to head the right way. I ended up somewhere shady looking and decided that I would walk back toward the mid-town/theater district/times square area and find a starbucks and get a coffee and figure out where I was going. Also it was sorta cold and my feet were sort of hurting. So I did and figured out a path and started on my way. I met a man named Bubba South while waiting at a crosswalk. He asked if he could share my umbrella while waiting and I was kind and he told me he was a songwriter and really only approached because he has just written a song about a girl in her pretty green shirt and alas I was wearing a green shirt. He is originally from Ferndale but most recently from Florida and here for some sort of financial consulting job. He asked for my number and got a fake one while giving me his business card. Meh. Anway, I walked past the Empire State Building and Rockefeller Center on my way but ALAS I have just drank a grande coffee and I HAVE TO POTTY! So after praying for a bathroom to fall from the heavens right in front of me, I see a Barnes and Noble. Thank you God! They have a bathroom and it was huge so I had no qualms about using them for a bathroom. I made it to the sample sales and there were lots of cute things but I only bought a shirt because while everything was marked down considering it was designer stuff...I wasn't really in love with anything enough to spend the $40-$75 for anything. And then I needed to trek back to get tickets. WELL now it's raining and I have to potty again. I end up stopping at Barnes and Noble AGAIN for a bathroom...unsure of whereelse I might be able to stop without feeling obligated to buy something (ie Starbucks). And make it to the line about twenty minutes later then I had wanted to and the line is all the way behind the building. WAH WAH. So I got in line, sure that what Little Mermaid tickets they may have had would be gone but now NEEDING to see any show. I met a very lovely woman and we chatted about what shows were available and our top three choices then to our own stories, where we were from, why we were in the city, etc. She was lovely. She was from California, here with her family for a little get-away. She worked as a manager for her husband who plays religious music for many many MANY churches. At the end, she blessed me which was really touching to me. I had been kinda scared to talk to people all day so it was nice to find a geniunely nice person. So now I'm cold and wet and it's like 3:30. I start walking home (not daring to try to navigate the subway) and make a few stops at stores (the hershey and m&m stores, the MTV stores...) I make it home basically in time to change into dry clothes and head back to the Lunt-Fontanne. And let me just say, I was not disappointed. It was AMAZING! I mean, you have tell yourself that you are going to see a Disney Theatrical production and take that for all it's worth but still. Sierra Boggess, while I desparately wanted to hate her and think that I could totally have been a better Ariel had I tried out, was simply perfect. Her mannerisms and facial expressions were spot on. Her speaking voice bugged me ever-so-slightly but not enough to make me dislike it. I also didn't like the boy playing Flounder that night..it wasn't the one who was from the cast recording and I didn't think he fit the character that well. He seemed like he'd be one of those obnoxious, 'i'm the best at everything ever and i'm way better than you' little boys which just bugged me. But anyway, love love LOVED the show. I would have loved to stay and try my hand at the stage door thing BUT I was petrified of being in the city alone after dark and figuring out how to get home so I BOOKED IT out of the theatre afterward. Maybe I'll pull and Lauren Norris and do a stage door at TLM one night and pretend to have just seen the show..I mean I have the playbill. So I basically run home not wanting to be mugged/kidnapped/raped/murdered on my second night in the city and have my mother have the right to say I told you so. Haha lame reason I know. Straight to bed, big day the next time.
Wednesday
My first day at NCTF. I was SOOO NERVOUS! I showed up a few minutes late despite having given myself an hour to get to the office. I of course took a few wrong turns. But I made it and Bruce and Todd weren't even there yet. So 23rd floor 505 W 8th Ave is the home of the National Corporate Theatre Fund. When you walk in off of 8th Ave the security guard has to see your id (unless you have a security card that you just swipe at the little turnstyle thingamajig. Then up the elevator 23 flights and you get off in the green-painted hallway. And there is the door to NCTF. You walk in the door and you are in a large room ending at a big window. Immediately to your right is my desk with a divider behind it which hides the copier, printer, fax, and kitchen-y area. Adjacent to that little area is Emily's desk and then a divider thing and then Todd's desk. In the middle of the room is a big conference table. And then there are two smaller rooms off of this big room, one a storage area, and then other is Bruce's office. Bruce is the 'big man' - executive director. Then there's Todd who is the development officer. Lastly Emily, just recently graduated from NYU is marketing and office assistant. Then lowly me. When I got there there were donut holes yay! And I learned that Bruce is gay and has a partner; they live in a co-op building which is a popular alternative to condos here in the city; and they were just recently forced to get rid of their german shepard because of the others in the co-op. Note that Bruce hardly seems the german shepard type but...to each his own I suppose. Todd is married with children. Emily knows a few MT's from U of M from a program in London. So today I learned a lot of basics. For instance, it is my job to update the website discounts every monday. I am also to handle emails regarding lost discount passwords as well as phone calls to that affect. I am the one to answer all phone calls and transfer as needed. Also noted that Bruce will frequently hold impromptu meetings by stepping out of his office and sitting at the table. Anyway, I only work four hours a day so I was off at two and I don't really remember what I tried to do after work. The past week has involved many wrong turns and subsequent wandering around convinced I could figure out how to get back. So back to the apartment, feet on fire from all the wandering. Readying myself for the next day.
Thursday
Falsely confident with my navigation of the city, I take the subway. And I got on the right train, but head the wrong direction and before I know it I'm in Queens..WHAT! Crap! So I"m like 15 minutes late to work but it's okay, they're nice about it. And Emily gets me to work on my first project, compiling the seasons for next year for all of the theaters NCTF is someone affiliated with in a spreadsheet to be given to corporate clients. I won't bore you with details. BUT I will tell you how exciting it is to be at work and being paid to discuss whether we think that Xanadu will still be running in November when we have an event scheduled or whether we should try for a Feb matinee of Billy Elliot or trying to fight for something earlier. Also, I was told me save June 4th because there is an event at A Catered Affair that is not selling well. So then before leaving, Emily asked me to run a few errands: make a deposit, bring the receipt back, mail a letter and run up stairs to apply for a security card. Well the security card went fine, and then I went to the bank and that was fine. So I get back to the building and brainlessly stick one of the two envelops in the letterbox and realize as I let it go, that it's the envelop with the deposit receipt and not the other envelop. CRAP! I asked the guy at the front desk and he said there was nothing he could do and that we'd have to contact the post office. NO NO NO! So i go upstairs and face the music. Emily says she'll handle it, not to worry and that it was two and I was free to go...MEEH! So then I attempt to go to another sample sale...and clearly make a few wrong turns and an hour later end up in....chinatown. CLEARLY not where I meant to go. (At one point I ended up on 14th street and thought of the Rufus song and then saw the one center for gays, lesbians, etc and gained new understanding to that song.) Well, when in chinatown, do as the chinatown-ers do? So I explore a little. Let me tell you, you feel like you are in different country with all the non-english going on there. And you can not take two steps without someone trying to sell you something. Like Ali, who was the very persistant, very mumbly man who tried to sell me "Rolex, handbag, necklace...boyfriend." and then walked down the street with me a ways trying to get my number. Nope buddy sorry. Another time, I got whisked into a SHADY SHADY SHADY secret roomwhere the back wall opened and the Gucci was kept. Unforunately I didn't have much cash with me, not expecting to end up in chinatown so I couldn't buy anything. But I have a purse in mind that I want and plan to go back for. Also, it reminded me of Sylvia...and made me slightly more lonely. I've definitely taking Amy - Miss Purse Queen - there when she comes...we've discussed. So back to my apartment for So You Think You Can Dance. Also got hit on again which led to the birth of Logan, my boyfriend. :/ It's just easier to say "Sorry you can't have my number Logan wouldn't like it," as opposed to "Sorry you can't have my phone number because I am a good girl and am not up for one night funs."
Friday
I make it to work on time and without taking any wrong turns! YAY ME! It's a pretty chill day. On fridays in the summer, NCTF closes at two not that it affects me at all because I always leave at two. But Todd is wearing jeans, Bruce is absent ('working from home') but calls about twenty times. And I am almost finished with the first/more important half of the season project which is good because there is a big meeting next week that they need it for. Todd is great and so is Emily (Bruce I haven't talked to as much). They are very helpful...brainstorming other places they may have connections at to get me other thingsto do since I'm only working part time. Anyway, Emily invited me to her picnic on monday since NCTF is closed for the holiday. Also her roommate's sister who is my age is staying with them for the summer for an internship and also doesn't know anyone here so it would be nice for us to have each other. I'm pretty sure I'm going go, even though it means getting myself to Long Island City. Anyway, I wander some more and then head to Central Park for some lovely sun (finally) and some good reading. I found a lovely rock to sit on. I was also told "You look real nice lady" by some little high school aged skinny boy. Weird. Anyway, I head back when the sun can no longer be enjoyed due to large skyscrapers.
Today
I woke up and headed straight to the theater district for a student ticket. I got one for the matinee of August: Osage County. I wanted one for the evening, hoping to do some more wandering during the daylight and then have somewhere do be during the night. But alas there were none left. In fact, I was pretty luck to even get a ticket at all. So, I found a dollar store to stock up on cheap essentials and then showered and headed back to the theater. August was AMAZING! Well deserving of the seven Tony noms. Also what was great about the student ticket was that i was sitting with students (funny how that works) who were friending and more than willing to chat during intermissions! But really, August was suburb. If Deanna Dunagen or Amy Morton don't win for Best Performance by a Leading Actress in a Play I will cry. I laughed, I cried, I gasped, I 'No she didn't!'-ed, I "did she really just go there...SHE REALLY JUST WENT THERE!"-ed, I cringed, and I thanked God my family is not that messed up...my immediate family at least. The three-act, two-intermission play got over at 5:30 ish and I decided to head back, not wanting to wander past dark much (although I do feel more secure about now...specially on the subway with other people). I decided though not to take the subway and walk as it was still pretty nice and I wanted to try to make a few calls which can not be done on either the subway or in the apartment. So I called Wesley back and chatted a little. He is in California but coming to the city next saturday so I'll know someone. While it may not be the best idea to hang out with him a lot, it'll still be less lonely. Also called the rents but that's neither here nor there as I am to contact them at least every other day so they know I'm alive. Now I'm here, sitting on my fire escape, listening to playbill radio, telling you my life story. I'm thinking tomorrow I'm gonna head to St. Patrick's Cathedral for mass ( I promised mommy I'd go at least once). Maybe back to Chinatown to get that purse. Then I wanna try my hand at running the path in Central Park. I haven't been running as much so I don't know if I'll be able to make it around...but it's a goal by the end of the summer for sure...probably by the end of the next few weeks even. But I figured sunday was a good day for that. Then i wanna bake cookies to take to the picnic (because I want to be liked!).
So that's my New York life so far. Really exciting I know. I feel really lame and like I haven't done a lot of things considering I'm in New York but then again I have three whole months to explore and a budget to stay on (tuition to pay in september). I miss you all so far. I wish I could move you all to the city with me because New York can be large, scary and lonely without people to do things with. Well, I should get some shut eye. (That's another thing, no matter how early I go to sleep, I don't feel like I really sleep...meh) Oh well. I hope everything is going well for you all. Miss you! Visit me (although, not in large groups and not in June if you want to stay here with me because it's a room with a daybed and a trundle underneath, a kitchenette and a bathroom)! Love you! Ciao!
PS Sorry for the obnoxiously long post...I seem to have forgotten how to do the little cut thing to hide it all. I'm really sorry!
PPS Why is it that I am only getting hit on by black man. I hope not to sound/be racist but really. REALLY? It's my butt isn't it :(