Working Day(s)!

Started workin'. So far...not much to report, actually.
Kelly Rose's First Day at Strasberg:

10:15--Leave the 305 remarkably early and begin the mile walk to work. Enjoy the feel of the sunshine, the smell of frying falafel (takes me back to La Basha and to a time when I woke up every morning and literally wanted to rip off my own legs so I didn't have to go to work) and experience feelings of wonder that I WALK TO WORK ON BROADWAY EVERY DAY.

10:42--Arrive at work. Way. Too. Early. I decided that I don't want to be That Girl. Besides, my manager, Joyce, won't arrive until 11 anyway (which is when I am supposed to arrive). Call Mom whilst sitting on a bench in Union Square.

10:57--Walk in and be interrogated at the desk. Discover Joyce is not in yet.

11:02--Fill out what look like incredibly extensive forms. They are surprisingly simple.

11:06--Finish forms. Followed by a lot of watching other people type and watching other people scurry, waiting to be given something to do.

11:15--Pat, the sassy Puerto Rican Strasberg employee tells me, "Not much for you ta do yet. Lemme tell you. Have you had a cwoffee yet? Go, getch yaself a cwoffee and come back in fifteen minute." So I leave. And eat my sandwich on a park bench.
11:30--Begin alphabetizing new student files and entering all the information into THE MOST COMPLICATED COMPUTER SYSTEM EVER. If anyone ever asks you, "Hey, do you want to play on my computer? You can play with FileMaker!" tell them: NOOOOO.
3:30--Walk home, already tired of the mile long walk.

RIDICULOUS. Today was much of the same. I reorganized three HUGE filing cabinets. This does not sound difficult until I explain that I am not tall enough to see into the top two drawers. And apparently the Strasberg Institute has never invested in a stool or a non-swiveling chair. I looked like an idiot, to say the least.

But all the people who work with me are AMAZING. They are all so funny, very nice and very patient with me. Pat, the sassy one, likes to make obscene gestures at me across the office, and she calls me her slave. I think it's a term of endearment.

In other news, Nick and I saw The Toxic Avenger tonight, which is a musical playing Off-Broadway and is HILARIOUS. Nancy Opel is my new HERO. Try and see if you can Youtube her singing Bitch/Slut/Liar/Whore. I laughed until I cried. (And the best part is that there is a promotion called 20/20 where if you buy tickets at 20 minutes to curtain, they are 20 dollars. I am all about that.)

Tomorrow we have tickets to a show called Race Music, thanks to Dana Tarantino. I'm quite excited. It takes place in the Midwest, involving race relations and...music. Haha. I don't know much about it yet.

In short, life is good. Fun is being had by the buckets. My classes don't start for two weeks, so I'll probably be writing to you all about the fine and minute details of filing and alphabetizing. GET EXCITED. It's riveting.
Love always, Kelly

PS: I made pasta for dinner tonight. LEGIT pasta. It was delicious. I am pretty much a master chef. There is a Food Network contract in the works. My agent is currently reviewing it. I am lobbying to call my cooking show From Eating Cold Leftovers out of the Tupperware to Peanut Butter and Jelly Sandwiches: Simple Meals with Kelly Rose. Obvi people will abbrev it to FECLTPBJSMKR. Hard to pronounce, but life-changing to watch.

Orientation Day!

The first order of business is to inform you that, unfortunately, neither Olivia Benson or Elliott Stabler made an appearance as a representative of the NYPD at our orientation today. In fact, nary a cop showed up. Sad news. So the safety talk consisted of a lot of the following: "Ummmm, be aware... Ummm, be smart... Uhhhh, you probably shouldn't travel in back alleys late at night while high on cocaine or anything..."

Very informative, to say the least.

But good news for my worrying mother: New York City is actually not even on the top 10 list of the Most Dangerous Cities in America.

10. Baltimore, MD
9. Nashville, TN
8. Charleston, SC
7. Little Rock, AK
6. Orlando, FL
5. Stockton, CA
4. Las Vegas, NV
3. Miami, FL
2. Memphis, TN

Aaaaaand, the number one, which is actually usually VERY CLOSE TO ME most of the time,
1. Detroit, MI

So I'm totally fine.

We also went on a cruise around Manhattan today, which was a fabulous time. It was super cloudy, as you can observe in photos, but still gorgeous. The Statue of Liberty herself made an appearance. And I can now say with authority that she doesn't just hold that torch; she OWNS it.

At 6:30, Nick and I randomly decided that we were going to see if we could rush tickets for a 7:00 curtain to God of Carnage. This was unlikely for a number of reasons.
1. We had half an hour to get there.
2. It is the "re-opening night" after the cast's six-week hiatus.
3. Did I mention that we had half an hour?

And after yesterday's Day of Epic Walking where Nick and I decided it was a fab idea to waltz our way about 70 blocks from home, running like a madwoman towards Broadway was not my favorite activity.

First day of my internship is tomorrow, so wish me luck luck luck! I don't start classes until about a week later, so I'm not sure what I'll be doing at work yet. Any conversation that I try to have is a variation of:
Kelly: And what will I be doing in the office?
Interviewer/Strasberg Representative: Well, you'll be helping whoever needs help.
Kelly: And what will that entail?
I/SR: Generally being an aide to anyone in the office who might need some additional work done.
Kelly: Facepalm.

And so I'm sorry for the most random post EVER, but I get sad because Nick has significantly more posts than I do, and I'm not sure how it happens like that. Just not fair.
Love always, Kelly
PS: Please feel free to start mailing me things. If you send me your address (you can facebook it or something if you don't want your address on the internet) I'll send you a postcard!

Victory Day!

Today was a day of personal victory - Nick and I went grocery shopping! All by ourselves! And we did it with no help from any parents and/or locals. Hooray!

It was a difficult process, however, because the grocery store proved elusive. There's a store on the corner, but it's really more of a convenience store. It sells the same sort of things as a gas station store and isn't really equipped to sell ACTUAL groceries, like bread or milk or anything. And then we were told repeatedly that if we left the building, the grocery store would be a block over, on twenty-ninth and seventh. This proved to be a lie - it's on twenty-eighth and ninth. LIES. But it's REAL and that's what's important. I found milk and bread and hummus and fruit and now I'm happy.

Especially because Nick and I have just not really been eating, haha. We ate on Friday before 9 to 5 and we ate Subway yesterday, but haven't really eaten regular meals, haha.

I'm well aware I just went on for three paragraphs about grocery shopping, but seriously, you should all be proud. I'm learning how to be a real adult here. A round of applause would not be uncalled for.

Other than that, not much has been going on as of late. I've been checking people into their rooms (this essentially entails sitting on a couch and watching hours and hours of Law and Order: SVU or The Sound of Music and waiting for people to arrive - not difficult). This is kinda lame, though, because it means that I have to stick around our building. But just wait - once I don't have to do this anymore I will be kickin' up my heels, paintin' the town red and livin' large. And updating my slang, apparently.

I shall be reunited with Michael Lapinsky this eve, which is tres exciting, and after that I have one more day of checking people in (I only have to work from 9:00 to 1:00 though, so that's good) and then on Tuesday we have our New York Arts Program Orientation, complete with presentation by an NYPD officer (hopefully Olivia Benson makes an appearance).

Still missing you all, and VERY grateful to the amazing family members that actually read, haha.
Love, Kelly