Thursday, January 31, 2008

My humble abode.

First things first: this is a movie I will be seeing.

I took some pictures of my apartment a while back, in case anyone would like to experience my little corner of NYC:


My room. You can't really tell from the picture, but it's actually quite a good size, especially by New York standards. I was so excited to get my dresser and my (super-cheap and awesome!) bookshelf so my crap isn't in boxes anymore. My walls are still sad and bare, but the decor will have to wait until I have a larger cash flow.

More room angles:





Our awesomely long hallway. The first door on the left is a storage closet, followed by my room, and then the bathroom. Next are the doorways for the kitchen and living room, and then the two other bedrooms are at the end of the hall.



The bathroom. We all share, and surprisingly, there hasn't been any problem yet. We all start work at different times in the morning, so luckily we never have to fight each other for the shower.



Where the magic happens (also: gas burners!).



The living room.



From the hallway, looking through the living room into the kitchen.


And that's my home!

Monday, January 28, 2008

Living the dream.

Taking the subway every day makes me miss London. In the Underground, everything is so simple. It's logical. At every stop, a soothing British voice tells you very clearly what station it is, what the next will be, what other Tube lines you might be able to transfer to, and sometimes even what well-known landmarks are nearby. Tube maps are helpfully plastered all over the inside of the train, on the platforms, and throughout the stations. An electronic marquis at every platform tells you how soon the next train is coming and, if applicable, which route on the line it's taking. Platforms for each direction of a line (e.g. Central Line Westbound and Eastbound) are located adjacent to one another, and are easily accessible and clearly labeled.

Not so with the New York City Metro. Say, for example, you are waiting for the C train to take you home after work, and you wonder when it might be coming. Three minutes? Fifteen? It's anybody's guess! In the meantime, three E trains and two A trains come, and due to your fiercely growling stomach, you secretly vow that if the next train isn't a C, you will throw yourself onto the tracks in front of it. (These are all hypothetical situations, obviously. But for the record, the next train was a C.) And what if you get down into the station, only to realize that you can only get to the Northbound line, when you are intending to travel South? Oh, no problem, just go back up the stairs and wait at the crosswalk in the pouring rain so you can search for the other entrance down the street. Perhaps you need to find a new destination, and you're not sure of the route. Surprise! We've hidden all the maps, so it looks like you'll just have to pick a train at random and hope you don't end up in the Bronx! And as an added bonus, the train you choose may or may not be stopping at its scheduled stations, depending on the day, time, and phase of the moon. Just a fun little game we cooked up for you to keep things interesting. Enjoy!

That being said, I love it here. My apartment is great, my roommates are cool, and best of all, only three of the days after my parents left were spent unemployed. On the advice of a friend of a friend of a sister, I emailed the Human Resources department of EMI Music Publishing to see if they had any temp work, as a way of getting my foot in the door. The next day, I got a call from a woman in EMI's licensing department, asking if I'd like to come in and talk about a full-time paid internship. Um, yes? This was especially hilarious to me, because when I had to do my (unpaid!) internship for Media Music, EMI was one of the 40 or so companies to which I applied and never heard from again. This was almost ridiculously easy. Anyway, I've worked here about a week and half now, and I really like it. I help with the requests that come in for licensing songs for TV and films. And while the pay for the internship isn't great, I'm learning a ton and I get a lot of real work to do, which is awesome. Plus, we get free concert tickets! And from everything I've been told, EMI hires a lot of their interns - many of the people I work with started as interns, actually. All in all, I can't complain.

Also, a homeless guy told me yesterday that he liked my hair. Everything's coming up Laura!

Saturday, January 26, 2008

I heart...

I realized I never got around to talking about my first few days here with my parents, so I suppose I should do that now. I posted pictures here for anyone who is interested and hasn't seen them yet.

It was really great having my parents come out with me, especially because my dad always seems to know the fun/interesting things to do wherever we go. We got into the city on Tuesday night (January 8th) and they stayed until the following Sunday night. During that time, we managed to see several shows, sail around the island, catch a movie, and eat at two of the best steakhouses in Manhattan. Not bad, eh? Rather than go through an entire travelogue, I'll just hit the highlights...

Shows: We were frequent patrons of the half-price ticket booth, which was awesomely located on the sidewalk outside my parents' hotel on Times Square. Wednesday, we caught a matinee of Curtains starring David Hyde Pierce, which was very fun and probably my favorite show we saw. After the show, it was back to the ticket booth, where we decided to see Spamalot (the second time for all of us) that night. It never disappoints. Thursday night, my dad gamely bought us all tickets for Legally Blonde: The Musical, which was everything you would expect it to be. Total fluff, but definitely entertaining. Friday night we saw a play called The Farnsworth Invention, written by Aaron Sorkin (of The West Wing, Studio 60, The American President, etc.) and starring Hank Azaria (best known for his voices on The Simpsons). It was about Philo Farnsworth, the original inventor of television who got his idea stolen and died in obscurity, and it was really good.

We also took the Circle Line cruise around the island, which was really fun. It took us all the way around Manhattan and past the Statue of Liberty, and the guide told us tons of information and stories about the city. I was most interested in the fact that just west of Central Park, between 76th and 64th streets, lives an extremely high concentration of famous people. I think I will make it a priority to spend a great deal of time wandering up and down Central Park West until I encounter some of these people.

On Saturday we had a late breakfast at the diner from Seinfeld, walked through Central Park and took a tour of the NBC studios. That evening we had an excellent steak dinner and then saw The Great Debaters, which was good. On our way back to the hotel, Times Square was swarming with people, including guys handing out fliers and trying to get people to come to some comedy show. One such gentleman tried to get my dad's attention as he passed. My dad, still smartly dressed in the slacks and suit jacket he'd worn to dinner, ignored his persistence. Finally the guy just shouts, "Hey, rich guy!" Heh.

Still a lot more to update on, but that will happen at a time when I'm not starving, and that time is not now.

Monday, January 14, 2008

Fame.

Photos and a detailed update to come, but for the time being, I must relate an encounter which pretty much made my week.

So I go to church at my new ward on Sunday where, naturally, I introduce myself in Relief Society. After church ends, I'm making my way down the hall toward the exit when a girl turns to me and says, "Hi, Laura?"

Me: Yes!
Girl: I am a HUGE fan.
Me: ...what? [I am confused. I do not know anyone here. I have been here for 5 days. How can I already have a fan?]
Girl: I love your CD! I got really excited when you introduced yourself and I realized who you were.
Me: ...really? Thanks!

I think that New York and I are off to a rather auspicious beginning.

Monday, January 7, 2008

[Insert your favorite "New York, New York" lyric here]

The holidays were fabulous. The whole fam spent our time together partying like crazy. And by "partying" I mean "playing Rock Band and watching Flight of the Conchords." And by "like crazy" I mean "while drinking mass amounts of Martinelli's." Good times!

Now everyone's gone back to their respective homes, and (almost) all of my worldly possessions are either in boxes or suitcases, ready to go. I leave for New York in 12 hours.

Holy crap.

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