NYC Weekend

Yesterday was one of those perfect weather Saturdays that make me love New York City. I went to a crazy Pilates class taught by an ex-Vegas show-girl. Then I laid by the river with the roommates for an hour, which is definitely the best part about Hoboken. At 3, I went to the Rock N Roll Hall of Fame Annex in SoHo because the limited time exhibit was John Lennon: The New York City Years. It was SO AWESOME. Even without the exhibit, the place was great. I'm a hard core 70's rock fan, and I was definitely born in the wrong decade. It makes me very jealous that my mom has seen all the great 70's bands in concert including Floyd, Zeppelin, Allman Brothers and The Who. Okay well she didn't actually get to see Pink Floyd but she was outside the stadium trying to sneak in..so I hear.

After that, my friend and I went to dinner at a deliciously cheap place. My whole dinner was about $7 including tip. As we were walking back to the subway, we noticed tons of people lining the streets and hundreds of cops. We asked what was going on and they said Obama was going to be driving down 6th Avenue. We waited for about 10 minutes and his entire entourage drove right past us. Apparently he was just having dinner with Michelle in the Village. It was exciting and everyone was cheering. These ladies behind me were practically crying because Michelle waved. 

Later that evening, the roommates and I went to the Lower East Side, realized we didn't fit in because we're too preppy, and then went to the Financial District. I never went out down there, and it's eerily quiet. No traffic, no one on the streets, but when we went into the bar, it was like going back in time and they were playing swing. It felt sort of like a speakeasy. A 68 year old man gave Steph $80 to make sure we got home safe... aka the use of his personal driver or something. I don't even know. But we did take a car home and sat in tunnel traffic for half an hour at 4 am. 

FAIL PIZZA... yes I did that.

What the H?

Today I discovered a cheap way to drink coffee if you're not in the mood for straight free coffee from the dirty work machine in the office kitchen which makes the "coffee" taste like motor oil. Go to Starbucks and get a medium (grande, whatever) iced coffee with milk and a shot of vanilla (or whatever flava-flav you want). It's only $2.11, compared to a Grande vanilla latte which is $4.34. It doesn't make any sense, since it's the same drink, but I will go with it. Pretentious schmucks. Okay, okay it's been called to my attention that it's not the same drink. One is espresso, however they taste the same and they have the same effect. At least on me, but I'm naturally wired so maybe it's entirely different and I just can't tell.

The Never-Ending Graduation Saga

Susan graduated yesterday at noon. It's now noon on Sunday and there's no sign of leaving State College anytime soon. I'm on my MacBook in Irvings because I can't take the anxiety of my family trying to move both of my sisters out. I don't feel bad not helping, because I'm fairly certain that there are 8 too many cooks in the kitchen as it is. Friday, I left work at 2 and my mom and I didn't leave Hoboken until 3:30. Then we had to go home to PA to get her luggage and switch cars. Not only do we have too many cars, we book too many hotel rooms, and we waste too many minutes. Uncle Jack decided to come with us, so he finally rounded up all of his stuff and we were about to get on the highway when some 100 year old woman ran out of oil. So I turned around and went to our gas station. He debated for another 10 minutes... "I better go. She's 100. Nah she'll be okay til tomorrow. Let's just go." "Are you sure? Okay I'm going to start driving." "No I better do it." Brakes. "Just go. Let's go." Accelerate. Phone rings. "Dammit. I have to do it." Drive him home. Half an hour later I get on the highway sans uncle and I drive like a maniac for the next 3 hours to relieve stress. Get to PSU at 10:30pm. We thought we booked two too many hotel rooms so my mom took her own room. 2:30am the uncles and aunt call because some of them don't have a room when they arrive. Someone cancelled one and never told us. They wake up 75 year old grandparents to sleep in their room. 

Saturday 8am. No one knows we have a breakfast reservation except my mom, my dad and me. There are 12 people with us. We finally all sit down by 9am. The uncles never show up. I go up to the buffet, fill my plate and a cup of cranberry juice and as I'm walking back to the table, I slip on the slate floor and catch my balance by flinging all of my food into the air and onto the floor and spilling most of the juice on my hands, the floor and some ancient old lady's white pants. No one in my family notices. Neither does the old lady. I say nothing. I start walking back to my table after getting a waitress to clean it up and I slip again, spilling the rest of the juice all over the floor. Someone should really salt the slate floor. FML. At least I didn't actually fall.

Graduation at noon. "Will all of the alumni stand up? Let's honor them with a round of applause. Penn State is the biggest, most powerful network in the world." Is that a fact? This isn't Communist Russia or Nazi Germany. It's a freakin college in the middle of Pennsylvania. Most of my family stands up with pride. I stand up awkwardly. 

Dinner at 5. We're late so the waitresses are stressed. We wind up sitting there for three hours. I'm sure there were reservations after us, but no one seemed to care as they ordered third cups of coffee, dumping out the cold coffee from minutes before into their water glasses to get a refill of "heat." Meanwhile I can hardly swallow because I'm just uncomfortable. Pappy asks me again, "What are you waiting for? When are you getting married? It's time to have some bambinos." WTF. The family cannot stop saying my sister's boyfriend's name. "Where's Dave? What is Dave doing? Is Dave coming to breakfast? Is Dave going home tonight?" WHO AM I? WHO ARE YOU? WHAT IS HAND? WHAT AM I? 

9:30pm a prom starts filtering into the hotel. One girl brings a cardboard cutout of Edward Cullen. FHL. I went out with my uncles and sister and aunt and her friends. I feel old. I drink 2 beers and start falling asleep. The uncles are ready to "Party" at the "Shandygaff." Does anyone call it that these days? It's "The Gaff." I saw a guy wearing a shirt that said, "You can't spell C-ck--cker without OSU" and I felt like I was more mature than my grandmother. I really want to go back to NJ. I need a vacation from my life. 

The Perils of Ordinary Life

I just finished reading this book called, Art & Fear: Observations on The Perils (and Rewards) of Artmaking. Susan sent it to me. I read the whole thing entirely on subways, so I read it with an ounce of rage and more than a little irritation usually while standing and aquiring bruises on my limbs from being tossed about the train car. Anyway, two things stood out. "The only work really worth doing - the only work you can do convincingly - is the work that focuses on the things you care about." As suspected, I am unhappy because I don't have enough time to do what I care about. Unfortunately, I'm censoring my life and coloring inside the lines to an extent because I'm afraid of not being able to pay the bills. Can I afford the bills now? No, so I guess that's a moot point, even though "moot" is a stupid word. I am so incredibly sick of the corporate mind set and the pretentious creative surface work of the advertising world.

The other thing that stood out is an obvious point but one that I don't take seriously. " To demand perfection is to deny your ordinary (and universal) humanity, as though you would be better off without it." On some level, I feel like I would be better off without it but that's assuming my soul would survive without a body. I also had this weird revelation on the way home just now that I don't know if I ever want kids. Very cynical but I would kind of feel bad for bringing another human into the world to experience such emotion, mental battles, and... humanity, especially if the kid inherited my intensity and inability to be happy or satisfied, along with my hypochondria and nightmares. This is pessimistic and if I change my mind, I will need to teach the kid about flowers and butterflies and unicorns prancing around in clouds and then raise him or her or them in a faraway land with hobbits and maybe I could marry Kirk Cameron. But that is quite a long way off (God willing). Meanwhile, I will apply to grad schools (NOT in NYC) and keep cursing my life everytime I get another urgent request from the client. Everything is temporary, at least.

BONGO!?

Out of nowhere, and without rhyme or reason, completely randomly, I thought of the movie, "Bongo." Produced in 1971, narrated by Jiminy Cricket, a bear joining the circus and falling in love with a cute girl bear wearing makeup... SO GREAT! Apparently it was only released on video cassette in the late 80's, and we owned it and watched it often. I'm betting my mom gave it away or threw it away which makes me sad because I feel like watching it at this very moment. I specifically thought of the part where he's dreaming and there are train sounds and someone is calling his name. I think the grizzly was named "Lump Jaw" or something.

High On Art

Chris Botti in Boston Album featuring Sting, John Mayer, Steven Tyler, and my favorite:
Cinema Paradiso Chris Botti featuring Yo-Yo Ma

Trouble

I'm thinking that relay flip cup in a random bar while there's a pandemic going around is akin to playing Russian Roulette...

This morning on the way to work, a religious zealot was walking behind me screaming about God or something, so I cranked up my iPod. "Get Low" by Lil Jon was on. What a contrast. It made me smile.

In other news, I'm joining a dodgeball league in the fall. Dodgefall. I have rage issues.

My writing teacher says my style and humor are similiar to Sara Barron's, and she told me to read People Are Unappealing: Even Me. I'm not sure if this is a compliment or not...

A sales rep just sent me a lottery ticket ($220 million). If I win, I'm quitting my job, taking a world tour, and moving to California to surf. SEE YA!