Theatrical Day!

It has been quite a busy last few days. I've seen a lot of shows and other theatrical things and it was FABULOUS. I also worked, which was significantly less interesting.

To start the post with a downer: work on Friday was DEATH. It was fun to chat with Pat and Joyce and everything, but I needed to cut out index-ish cards for each Strasberg student. They were printed four per page. There are 300 students. I cut out 1800 INDEX CARDS ON FRIDAY. And no one mentioned that they needed to be organized, so I just kinda threw them around willy-nilly. Only after I was done did someone mention, "Oh, by the by, Kelly, those need to be in a VERY SPECIFIC ORDER." I had to organize alphabetically by teacher. And within those categories, by day the class is taught. And within that, by hour of the day. And within that, alphabetically by student.

DEATH. I started this task at 10:30 on Friday and didn't finish by the time I left at 5:15.

But the rest of the weekend was very theatre-filled and fab. Ish. On Friday, our NYAP advisor gave us tickets to a show called Race Music. Hearing the description of this show (something about a black man in a Midwestern city applies for a radio announcer job and is rejected because he is black. The show is an examination of racial relations in pre-Obama 1999) makes it sound really interesting, but it ended up being...not very good. And that's being generous.

The biggest issue is that the writing was TERRIBLE. You could see the actors struggling to make their lines sound legit (any show that tries to work in, "Harv, that is so uncool" is never going to really succeed) and they tried as hard as they could, but could only go so far. On the upside, the lights were GREAT.

So Nick and I made a game of comparing Race Music to every Albion College production that has happened during our college career and deciding whether those were better or worse. The conclusion: our school's shows lack the polish of Race Music (let's be honest, they were professional actors and they were a legit Off-Broadway show). But mostly we decided that The Runner Stumbles was the worst production EVER.

On Saturday, Nick finally wandered down to my room at 11:30 (I had clearly been awake for EVER) and we just up and decided to try to win the Hair lottery. Which is at noon. So we scurried the fifteen or so blocks (we are all about scurrying places) to make it in time. But unfortunately my 8 to 6 luck did not extend to Hair. But God of Carnage was literally fifty feet away, so we decided to get SRO tickets for that. GOOD DECISION. The show was only 90 minutes or so, so it wasn't terrible to stand, and the show was AMAZING. IMMACULATE. I can not find anything wrong with it at all. Marcia Gay Harden was flawless, as were the other actors. The lights were beautiful. The set was perfect. The play is so well-written that I am currently considering inventing a new religion in which Yasmina Reza plays are my Bible. Seriously. It was amazing.

Plus I got to meet Marcia Gay Harden. Who was SO NICE. She was very approachable, we chatted and she was so gorgeous. A wonderful person.

And today Nick and I headed back to Times Square to go to Broadway on Broadway, a free outdoor concert where all the musicals of Broadway perform. Also AMAZING. It was perfect weather (it had been raining on Friday and Saturday, something I was only willing to tolerate because A Steady Rain opened on Friday and that's exactly what happened, haha), all the performers were great, we got to see a preview of things like White Christmas and Finian's Rainbow and was just a whole pile of fun. Seth Rudetsky did a song along, and then we saw him later on at the Avenue Q box office, and stalked him slightly. Not for long, because he eventually got in a cab, and we didn't talk to him because he was with his family, but we definitely creepily followed them for a while and snapped some photos.

And then later on today, a whole bunch of us went down to the VMAs at Radio City Music Hall, realized people had been there since 9:00 AM and we couldn't see anything and bailed to come back to the 305 and watch them on TV. But we saw all the setups for the VMAs! Hooray! Just as interesting, if you ask me. Actually, if you were to ask me in person, I will probably tell you that I actually ATTENDED to VMAs. Yup, I met Taylor Swift. I saw Shakira and Pink show up in the same dress. I saw Kanye go CRAZY. True story.

So it was a busy weekend. I got to do a lot of amahzing stuff, and I was even on call on Saturday night. I'm just a social butterfly. :)

I miss everyone from back home. Your thoughts on everyone moving to New York City to be with me? I have one extra bed, so you'll all have to share. TOTALLY fine, I imagine, haha. I'll be expecting everyone next weekend. :)
Love you all, Kelly

PS: Today, Nick and I took the subway for the first time since we got to the city. I'm pretty proud of us.

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

Celebratory Day!

Life update: I moved to New York City today.

Which is mostly a big deal because it has been a loooooong process, begun on Wednesday night (circa 192839287519 days ago in my mind) when Nick arrived at my house, and finally FINISHED today.

The nights in between were spent at my house, basically killing time until leaving, and at a Quality Inn in New Jersey with both a pool and a continental breakfast. Legit.

And then today was a Celebratory Day! for a number of reasons:
1. We made it both safe and sound to the city. Hooray! (This is actually probably the most important, I suppose.)
2. All of the crap that I brought fit into my room. See Nick's Facebook album (probably tomorrow) for a reference to that statement. If I could emphasize the word TINY any more, I would totally do it. But point of the story: all of the completely useless crap that Kelly brought with her fit. This is an Olympic Gold Medal-worthy feat. Or at least one of the lesser Pulitzers.
3. I won tickets to a Broadway lottery already! I'm just lucky. Nick was rockin' his defeatist attitude, so his name didn't get called, but I was all about the thinkin' positive. So we saw 9 to 5, which closes on Sunday. And met Allison Janney, Actual Famous Person. We also met Stephanie J. Block, Incredibly Talented Womyn. And Megan Hilty, Dolly Parton Doppelganger. A good time was had by all.
4. We did not get mugged. This will always be a cause for a Celebratory Day! and possibly a few sighs of relief.

So life is good thus far. It's mostly just odd, because everything still feels like a vacation. I still feel like I'm only here for a few days or so, and it hasn't quite sunk in that I don't need to do everything this weekend. It's kind of a weird feeling: I'm going to be here for a while.

I miss you all SO MUCH, and PLEEEEASE comment so that I a) hear from you and b) feel like writing this is worth it. All it takes is a Google account! Easy peasy lemon squeezy.
Love always, Kelly