When it was good, it was very very good, and when it was bad, it was horrid
The weather here is in the 40's, overcast and
drizzly. I have realized that perhaps I did not exercise the best
judgment while packing to come here as I left my coat and any and all
winter clothes that I own in Georgia. Granted, it was 90 degrees when I
was packing so I think my oversight is not completely out of line. I
have been getting along okay with the clothes that I brought, but the
lack of a coat was a big problem on Saturday when I had to go into the
city. So I had to bite the bullet and buy one. And that is as exciting
as that story gets.
In class this week, Ari taught us a lot of good ways to generate characters and make strong character choices. We started out doing two person scenes where each person picked a celebrity and used the character traits of that celebrity to create a new character. Then he gave each person the name of a different animal and we did another round of two person scenes using traits of the animal to create characters. Finally we did a third round of scenes which worked like a LaRonde, where one person generated a character and the next person to enter the scene had to mimic them entirely- not play the same character, but play another person with all the same character traits. It was a lot of fun, and very helpful since coming up with varied characters is a challenge for me.
After class several of us went out to this bar called, I kid you not, 'The Trailer Park' where you step inside and are in.....a trailer park. It was pretty cool. I got wasted on water. Again. Somebody reign me in, please.
On Friday, I was asked by my boss and the COO of Hatteras to help choose the next rounds of interns. We were going through the resumes when he asked me what I thought of the living arrangements for this internship
Him: So how do you feel living in the home of the owner of the company?
Me: It's good (It is.)
Him: So how have you felt about the living arrangements overall for this internship?
Me: (Thought:) Do you really expect me to answer this? You told me five days before I moved here that I was going to be living with a thirty-something bachelor bartender that I didn't know, in a little house where we would be sharing a bathroom. The thirty-something bachelor bartender turned out to be the last human on the face of the planet that I could possibly live with who drank a lot, had girls over, had a wasted guy crash on his couch, had porn lying around, and who didn't lock his doors. What did I feel about this? Are you fucking kidding me?
Me: (Said:) Well, to be honest, it has been a little uncomfortable.
Him: Correct me if I'm wrong, but you were on the London underground when it was bombed, were you not?
Me: Yes (Not really understanding how he A) knew that, and B) could connect it to our conversation)
Him: Well, I thought that if you could handle that, then you could handle living with John Grogan.
*Sound of jaw hitting the floor (mine)*
Me: (Thought) Excuse me? Did you really just say what I think you did? I hope not, because that is probably one of the most insensitive and inappropriate things that you could have ever said to me. Do you realize that you were about five minutes away from not having an intern at all? Do you realize how many people DID die that day? I understand that to you it was just a headline and that since it was two thousand miles away you just assume that people would just "handle" it. But that is not how it happened. It was very different. I saw people on the train that I might have been on be carried screaming and bloody into the lobby of our hotel while I was on the phone with my parents trying to reassure them that I was not dead. I was trapped in a hotel in a city under full terror alert because there was no way of knowing how many tube lines and buses were rigged with explosives. I do not think about that day at all if I can help it because when I dwell on the minuscule decisions that Kelly and I made to get on the train that did not blow up versus the one that did it makes me nauseous.I do not think about coming back to find my sister in the hotel room and wondering what would have happened if we didn't. Every time I get on a train that goes underground I have to put all my emotions on lockdown so that I don't let into my mind even the possibility that it could happen again. I am fine now because I choose not to dwell on what happened versus what might have happened, but believe me it is all there. Don't cast it up to me like some trivial matter that I "handled." I did not do anything other than what I had to do to make sure that we would have a place to stay while delayed. That is all I did. There is nothing, NOTHING that you could possibly say right now to put that day and living with John Grogan on an equal playing field. Nothing.
Me: (Said) I really don't think that those situations can be compared.
I know that he did not mean for that to sound the way it did- I just don't really like thinking about either of those subjects if I can help it, and to have him say that he thought I could handle living with Grogan because I happened to live through a terrorist attack- it's just....I can't even really describe what it makes me feel other than angry that he would use such an illogical excuse for the company's own bad idea.
*End Vent*
In class this week, Ari taught us a lot of good ways to generate characters and make strong character choices. We started out doing two person scenes where each person picked a celebrity and used the character traits of that celebrity to create a new character. Then he gave each person the name of a different animal and we did another round of two person scenes using traits of the animal to create characters. Finally we did a third round of scenes which worked like a LaRonde, where one person generated a character and the next person to enter the scene had to mimic them entirely- not play the same character, but play another person with all the same character traits. It was a lot of fun, and very helpful since coming up with varied characters is a challenge for me.
After class several of us went out to this bar called, I kid you not, 'The Trailer Park' where you step inside and are in.....a trailer park. It was pretty cool. I got wasted on water. Again. Somebody reign me in, please.
On Friday, I was asked by my boss and the COO of Hatteras to help choose the next rounds of interns. We were going through the resumes when he asked me what I thought of the living arrangements for this internship
Him: So how do you feel living in the home of the owner of the company?
Me: It's good (It is.)
Him: So how have you felt about the living arrangements overall for this internship?
Me: (Thought:) Do you really expect me to answer this? You told me five days before I moved here that I was going to be living with a thirty-something bachelor bartender that I didn't know, in a little house where we would be sharing a bathroom. The thirty-something bachelor bartender turned out to be the last human on the face of the planet that I could possibly live with who drank a lot, had girls over, had a wasted guy crash on his couch, had porn lying around, and who didn't lock his doors. What did I feel about this? Are you fucking kidding me?
Me: (Said:) Well, to be honest, it has been a little uncomfortable.
Him: Correct me if I'm wrong, but you were on the London underground when it was bombed, were you not?
Me: Yes (Not really understanding how he A) knew that, and B) could connect it to our conversation)
Him: Well, I thought that if you could handle that, then you could handle living with John Grogan.
*Sound of jaw hitting the floor (mine)*
Me: (Thought) Excuse me? Did you really just say what I think you did? I hope not, because that is probably one of the most insensitive and inappropriate things that you could have ever said to me. Do you realize that you were about five minutes away from not having an intern at all? Do you realize how many people DID die that day? I understand that to you it was just a headline and that since it was two thousand miles away you just assume that people would just "handle" it. But that is not how it happened. It was very different. I saw people on the train that I might have been on be carried screaming and bloody into the lobby of our hotel while I was on the phone with my parents trying to reassure them that I was not dead. I was trapped in a hotel in a city under full terror alert because there was no way of knowing how many tube lines and buses were rigged with explosives. I do not think about that day at all if I can help it because when I dwell on the minuscule decisions that Kelly and I made to get on the train that did not blow up versus the one that did it makes me nauseous.I do not think about coming back to find my sister in the hotel room and wondering what would have happened if we didn't. Every time I get on a train that goes underground I have to put all my emotions on lockdown so that I don't let into my mind even the possibility that it could happen again. I am fine now because I choose not to dwell on what happened versus what might have happened, but believe me it is all there. Don't cast it up to me like some trivial matter that I "handled." I did not do anything other than what I had to do to make sure that we would have a place to stay while delayed. That is all I did. There is nothing, NOTHING that you could possibly say right now to put that day and living with John Grogan on an equal playing field. Nothing.
Me: (Said) I really don't think that those situations can be compared.
I know that he did not mean for that to sound the way it did- I just don't really like thinking about either of those subjects if I can help it, and to have him say that he thought I could handle living with Grogan because I happened to live through a terrorist attack- it's just....I can't even really describe what it makes me feel other than angry that he would use such an illogical excuse for the company's own bad idea.
*End Vent*