Conan O'Brien, poetry, and gay marriage

Well, since classes ended last week, I've had a bit more free time than usual, which has been nice. I took a few nice little walks. David went home on Monday, so I have the room to myself until I go home on Friday morning.

I had a take-home final for Great Poems due today, which was actually reasonably fun to complete, which is unusual for any test. I have two finals tomorrow, in QR and in German. I'm kind of worried about both of them, but I'm going to put a lot of time into them tonight to make sure I don't fail them or anything. I sort of wish they were earlier on in the week, so the lapse between when class ended and when the finals are would be a little smaller, but I'm sure I'll be fine.

On Monday, I went to a really great taping of Late Night with Conan O'Brien. It was an episode with Bonnie Hunt, Matthew Broderick, and John Mayer, and I like all of them at least to some extent. John Mayer was there with John Mayer Trio, and I'm not sure I like them quite as much as I like him as a solo artist. There was a really long wait to get in, as you have to be screened and sorted and all, but it was worth it. I never paid much attention to Conan O'Brien, so I didn't really know what to expect, but he is one of the funniest people I've ever seen. He's kind of like Jon Stewart. He has a way with his face that he can make just about anything seem funny.

This has been a pretty nice week. I probably should have done more studying than I have, but hopefully I'll be fine with the rest of my finals. Today, I'm walking to Penn Station to get my tickets to go home because of the MTA transit strike.

At our last meeting of Great Poems class we came up with the idea to start a poetry club, so some of the people in the class are getting together to make that happen. I really hope it becomes a real thing, as I'd love to go to a poetry club and to continue having the challenge of writing poems on a regular basis. Taking that class has made me think more about continuing to write poems. I really like poetry. It's fun.

Also! In England and Wales, today is the first day for legal same-sex unions, and Elton John and David Furnish are now legally married! It's absolutely great that the wedding went off without a hitch. The only thing that disappoints me is that sources like BBC are trying so hard to equate their marriage to straight marriage that it comes off as being a belabored effort. If they just covered it like any other wedding, that would serve to equalize it much more effectively. Anyway, I'm just really happy about that development. Gay marriage will be in American soon. And if it isn't here soon, at least now we can move to Britain!

End of classes, Rent x 3

Well, I've had the last of my classes, and tonight was my last night of work until January, so the officially is essentially over besides for finals. I have one take-home final and two finals, and they all take place next Thursday (the take-home is due Wednesday at a poetry party).

Last night, I went to see the Rent movie for the third time with Len Shaffer, Christina, and her boyfriend, Richard. It was quite a fun evening I must say.

I was recently reading through some theatre articles and came across some rankings for people's favorite cast recordings of 2005, so I figured I'd take some time in this entry to write about some of my favorite recordings of the year.

Hair, The Actors' Fund of America Benefit Recording
Standout Songs: "I Got Life" (Adam Pascal), "Hair" (Raul Esparza), "Easy to Be Hard" (Jennifer Hudson), "Walking in Space" (Sherie Rene Scott)
Other Comments: After having listened to the OBCR and movie soundtrack for Hair, I easily welcomed this new recording of one of my favorite shows. I tend to like newer recordings over older ones simply for the sound quality, and this is particularly the case for Hair since its OBCR hasn't held up well over the decades. This recording gives some of the songs a bit more of a contemporary feeling, and many of the performers have interesting takes on their songs. This was a very fresh recording of a show many consider dated. Definitely worth adding to a cast recording collection.

The 25th Annual Putname County Spelling Bee, Original Broadway Cast Recording
Standout Songs: "I Speak Six Languages" (Deborah S. Craig), "The 'I Love You' Song" (Celia Keenan-Bolger)
Standout Performances: Very much an ensemble performance
Other Comments: I can imagine opinions as to this recording are probably varied. It took a while for it to grow on me, particularly since the idea of having adults sing as children would can come off as grating. The songs are well written, however. William Finn (Falsettos, A New Brain) is rarely off in his composition skills, and this recording is certainly very entertaining, particularly when it takes a more serious turn with Celia Keenan-Bolger's rendition of "The 'I Love You' Song."

Bright Lights, Big City, Studio Cast Recording
Standout Songs: "Brother" (Gavin Creel), "Kindness" (Sherie Rene Scott), "Heart and Soul" (Gavin Creel, Sherie Rene Scott)
Standout Performances: Gavin Creel, Christine Ebersole, Jesse L. Martin
Other Comments: This show feels a lot like Rent. Based on the book of the same name by Jay McInerney (which is very good), this is a contemporary musical that captures the book perfectly. The performances are great all around. Some of the lyrics can be sloppy, but the score makes up for it with its energy. It's interesting that Jesse L. Martin (of Rent/Law & Order fame) is in a musical so similar to Rent. Patrick Wilson of Angels in America/The Phantom of the Opera fame is also excellent. This isn't necessarily a must-have recording, but it's really great overall.

The Light in the Piazza, Original Broadway Cast Recording
Standout Songs: "Passeggiata," "The Beauty Is," "Say it Somehow," "The Light in the Piazza," "Dividing Day," "Love to Me"
Standout Performances: Victoria Clark, Kelli O'Hara, Matthew Morrison
Other Comments: The Light in the Piazza has easily the best score of this season on Broadway and, along with Caroline, or Change, one of the best scores of this decade. It's a very lush, classically-influenced score, full of rich string melodies that float effortlessly below the beautiful voices of the cast. The three leads, Victoria Clark, Kelli O'Hara, and Matthew Morrison, are uniformly perfect and do excellent work with the score, which has no low points. It takes a few listens for the unique sound of the score to feel entirely comfortable, but after the music begins to settle with you, it's hard to get it out of your head.

Billy Elliot, Original London Cast Recording
Standout Songs: "The Letter," "Electricity," "Solidarity," "Grandma's Song"
Other Comments: I've been waiting a long time to hear this score, written by Elton John and Lee Hall. What I found intesting is that the original director, chorographer, and screenwriter of the movie were involved with the movie in their same roles (with Lee Hall, screenwriter tackling both book and lyrics). The musical comes off as being on a scale slightly too big for its humble story, but, that aside, the score works well on its own. I can't help but feel as if the stage show might seem a little bit too Broadway, particularly in moments like "Expressing Yourself," which takes a moment from the movie (Michael introducing the subject of cross-dressing) and turns it into a lavish production number about "expressing yourself." The moments that work bet for me are those that stay true to the quiet nature of the movie ("Grandma's Song," "The Letter")or allow the emotions of the movie to be heightened in song ("Electricity"). "Solidarity" is one of those songs that seems a bit too big for the plot, with a singing band of miners commenting on society, but it's definitely catchy. I had it playing over and over on my iPod for a few days.

Pacific Overtures, Broadway Revival Recording
Comments: Well, this is one of my favorite Sondheim scores, so I was excited to have a new recording of the show. There really aren't any standout performances or songs, but I think it's mostly a testament to the ensemble nature of the show and the care that Sondheim puts into the uniform quality within his scores. Nothing seems out of place. I like the smaller feeling of the orchestrations on this recording and the crisper nature of the quality. Several minor players from the original Broadway cast are back again, and B.D. Wong is in great voice as the Reciter. This is another of those recordings that isn't really essential to a collection but that I enjoyed immensely.

Worst Recording: Sweet Charity

Honorable Mentions for Best Song (in recordings not featured):
"Days of Plenty" from Little Women, sung by Maureen McGovern
"I Love to Travel" from The Frogs, sung by Nathan Lane and Roger Bart
"Nothing Is Too Wonderful To Be True" from Dirty Rotten Scoundrels, sung by Sherie Rene Scott

Honorable mention also goes to the movie soundtrack of Rent.

"Off to Andersant" and the nearing of the end of the semester

5 classes
2 days of classes
1 essay to be finished
1 take-home final to complete
2 finals to take
2 days of work left
9 days till I go home

Time is simply flying. I can't believe that the semester is almost over. Most of my work for classes is done; all I have left to do is put the finishing touches on my essay for Writing the Essay and finish my take-home final for Great Poems. After that is done, I only have two writen finals to take -- German and Quantitative Reasoning. I have to say I'm slightly worried about my finals, but my grades are, overall, pretty good.

Today was my roommate, David's, birthday. I'm not sure if the grammar in that last sentence was sound, but that's how I chose to convey my thought. Anyway, Jaron, Sam, David, and I went to Cafe Le Figaro (I may also be messing up the spelling of that name). I didn't get anything because of my lack of expendable money, which I'll go into later. Anyway, it was still a very fun time. David and I also exchanged Christmas gifts, which was nice. I got him a green jeweled frame that I was horribly afraid he would dislike, and he got me a scarf from H&M that matches a sweater I have that is really neat. It sort of completes a set in a way, as I have another scarf in the same style with different colors -- I'll have to rotate them depending on my moods, cool colors for mellow moods and warm colors for ecstatic ones.

On Saturday night, I went to see David's one-act, Off to Andersant, as part of the College of Arts and Science Theatre (CAST) night of one-acts. It was one of five short plays that were put on. The first two weren't to my liking; David's was the wittiest of them. The most riotous was the last play, Laurastrata about an assembly of the first wives (and a few others). Overall, the entire evening was great. It was interesting to see the way David's mind works dramatically. A lot of the comedy in the play reminded me of the essence of David if that can be summed up into a ten minute play.

I've been working on things for school relatively efficiently in the past few days. Last night, I got my work done early enough to hang out with Ally for a few hours and watch her bootleg DVD of Rent, which was of pretty good quality, certainly good enough to sit through the whole thing. Today, I got a good deal of the reading that's due for Wednesday for Great Poems -- The Best American Poetry 2005. I have to read the whole book, chose the best and worst poems, and then write a poem worse than the worst poem in the book. It's a neat assignment, but the book is pretty time-consuming. Tomorrow will be slightly more hectic: I have class at 11, a break from 12:30 to 3 where I can finish reading the book, then another class at 3:30 and work at 6, which means I have to put the final edits into my Writing the Essay paper and write my poetry assignment between 10 and when I go to sleep. Hopefully, I'm efficient.

Work is going relatively well. My nights are hit or miss. Sometimes I do well, and sometimes not. Last time I worked, my boss pulled me aside as if chiding me for not keeping up with the pack, so I'm getting slightly worried. I've definitely been improving during my time at the job, and I'm getting better at being persuasive so I feel as if I should be getting more pledges than I do. I really wish I had a different job, and I'm thinking of taking a look for a new one this weekend so I can effectively give my boss two weeks' notice, but we'll see how it goes. It's not so much that the job is demanding, but I feel sleazy having to call people and bug them for money -- no matter how much I know that the job I'm doing helps the university, I can't help but feel slightly uncomfortable. Anyway, the job is certainly not bad -- it pays fairly and is easy enough to perform well at. My boss is fair and so are the supervisors, so I won't be disappointed to continue there through this school year. We'll see what happens. I can't afford to be out of work right now, but I'm thinking of going to Gap or TLA Video and perhaps a few other places (bookstores?) and seeing what I can do.

Oh, so I suppose the next topic of discussion is my money situation. I had about $35 dollars left in my checking account for my use until my printer ran out of ink and I had to go out and make an emergency ink purchase. Now, my checking account is just about obliterated. My savings account has $80, and I owe $65 of it to Christina and $12 of it to Ally. I get $100 or slightly more when I get paid tomorrow, so then I'll be relatively financially stable, as my mom is depositing a check for me to get a book for school, repay me for my ink cartridge, and pay for my train ticket home. Gosh...I never knew money was so complicated until I had to be such a thrifty person. I can't even believe how many Broadway shows I went to see earlier in the semester when I should've been saving money. I suppose after the holidays, when I get paychecks and still have a stash from whatever I get for Christmas, I'll be a little bit more comfortable financially. Ugh. I need to make more money (another bit of a reason to get a new job).

Anyway, I hope everyone is having a nice beginning to their holiday season. I, for one, can't wait to watch White Christmas and perhaps spend New Year's in NYC (perhaps at the Life Cafe). Whee!

Also, going to see Rent (the movie) for the third time on Wednesday with Len, Christina, Olga, Richard, and Ally. Yay!

Working, movies

Well, this has been quite a long week overall. I worked three days, did quite a bit of work on my third progression paper for Writing the Essay and had a generally hectic week. This semester is winding down, but I feel the pressure of finals and the final push to the end starting to build up. On the other hand, things are doing pretty well.

On Thursday night at midnight, I went to see The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe with Ally, Christina, and her boyfriend, Richard. We had a really good time. The movie was pretty good, though I thought some of the villains were laughable. It was kind of like Lord of the Rings for kids. For her birthday and Christmas, Ally and I got her a pair of really neat glass earrings and a book about Festivus (for the restuvus) with a forward by Jerry Stiller. She seemed to generally like both. It was great to see Christina again. Last weekend, we also went to Rockefeller Center and did some shopping together. Rockefeller Center is crazy around this time of the year, particularly on the weekends. All of the older tourists come in from all over in their fur coats acting as if they own the city, thinking of the Radio City Christmas Show as if it were the highest art available.

I got some good new stuff for myself: a coat from Gap that I saved a lot of money on, a pair of corduroy pants, a new white shirt with some ruffles on the front that I like, and a brown pinstripe hat. I also got the Billy Elliot London cast recording, which I paid more than I should have for. However, it's really good. Some of the songs are a little silly, but, its being a musical and all, you do have to suspend disbelief a bit.

Tonight, I went to go see Brokeback Mountain on my own. It's the first time, I think, I've gone to a movie alone, but it was nice, because, rather than picking up a conversation right afterwards about something other than the movie, you're left to reflect on the story after you leave the theatre. I have to say it was one of the best movies I've seen in a long time. The acting was just great all around, and the story was one of the saddest ever, up there with Philadelphia, which still packs the highest emotional punch for me of the "gay" movies I know. I have to agree with my roommate David when he says that, as long as movies are made about gay people just about their being gay, there's not a whole lot of a breakthrough occurring, but I still can't help but feel that someone straight who didn't quite understand the life of a gay person could have watched that movie and perhaps seen something they hadn't seen before. Plus, it's still important that movies that take gay characters seriously are seen, particularly in a world where it seems we want to make gay characters the butts of jokes.

I couldn't help, watching the movie, but wonder if that could've been my life if I hadn't come out of the closet, and it seems as if that's the way a lot of people would've felt watching it who are gay. I thought about the guy I met at the Attic, a gay youth center I went to the night before I came out to my parents, who was in his fifties and who had only recently come out of the closet after having been married, and his life was essentially the life of these characters. There are probably so many people out there who, even if they aren't in the same situation exactly, have the same emotions as those characters. It was just so good.

Anyway, I definitely recommend Brokeback Mountain. I also want to go see Memoirs of a Geisha and The Producers soon. This Wednesday, I'm going to see Rent (movie) for the third time with Ally, Christina, Christina's roommate Olga, and Len, the same guy I met at 2 AM earlier in the semester with his friend and walked around with. I'm quite excited to see it for a third time. Rent definitely earns my pick for sentimental favorite movie of the year if Brokeback, so far, would win my best picture award.

Yesterday and today...poems, work, checks, and the Elvis

So, yesterday was quite a long day. Besides for class, I walked around downtown for several hours. I walked all the way down to Battery Park, around the World Trade Center, around Canal Street. It was pretty fun. Unfortunately, I didn't see any Rent bootlegs, though I did talk to a shady guy who seemed to have a pretty good collection.

After my long, long walk, during which I started to feel sort of malnourished, I decided to splurge a bit and eat out at Peanut Butter & Co. on Sullivan Street. It seemed like an enticing idea, most things on the menu containing peanut butter, so I figured it was worth a try. I had "The Elvis," which is a grilled peanut butter sandwich containing bananas and honey. It was quite excellent and relatively reasonably priced considering how outrageous most restaurants are. I've figured that there isn't too much more splurging to be done in the near future, considering what's coming up: holiday shopping, Lisa's visiting my dorm (and we're seeing a show). I have $150 from the paycheck I just got that has to last me until my last paycheck, which I get shortly before leaving for break, which should be more like $100 or perhaps slightly less. I'm slightly worried really, considering how far all that money has to stretch.

Today was the longest day. I had 11-12:15 class, 12:30-3 class, and 3:30-4:45 class, followed promptly by work from 6-9:30. And work went by so slowly, because I didn't get any pledges.

Anyway, now it's almost over, and Thursday is slightly better, because I have a nice break between classes where I can take some "me" time.

I've decided I want to post a poem on here just for fun. It was this week's assignment for Great Poems class, and the assignment was to write a poem in the style of Wallace Stevens's "Thirteen Ways of Looking at a Blackbird." It's not really supposed to make much sense or have a clear point, but I thought it was pretty fun. Post comments if you enjoy/hate it. I won't be offended if you think it's crap.

“Thirteen Ways of Looking at Water”

I
Yesterday, I paid $3 for 12 ounces of water.
That’s about a quarter per sip.

II
On this island,
We’re surrounded by water.
I would never know without the boats;
I’ve seen them only twice.

III
In some parts of the world, water is scarce,
And people conserve it, bathing rarely.
I, on the other hand, take long baths and gulp
Tall glasses.

IV
Swimming through a warm pool,
I imagine myself a shark,
Cutting the water
Like a child.

V
Gathered around a fount,
Suits chatter about last night’s serial,
A ritual of water and flickering light,
Almost like the cavemen.

VI
As fish swim by,
I stand level with the water,
Imagining what it must be like to have gills,
Propelling myself toward
My reflection in the glass in an aquarium.

VII
In Louisiana,
Entire towns lie beneath water.
I stand in the rain in Washington Square Park and wonder
What that must be like,
These puddles up around my neck.

VIII
Jesus, I am told,
Walked on water.
“Be not afraid,” he said.
Who wouldn’t be?

IX
It’s far too early,
But I slip from my clothes behind the curtain,
Water slithering down my skin
Like sheets of clean
Or snakes.

X
Waking from a dream of something I forget,
I look out of my window and see
A rainbow in the water,
Flecks of light falling
I think of Stevie Wonder –
“Ribbon in the Sky.”

XI
Black umbrella in tow,
I tap my feet on the pavement,
Humming and swinging around a traffic pole,
Singin’ in the Rain.
David asks me if people sing in the streets like in musicals,
And I tell him yes,
Disregarding water-logged All-Stars.

XII
I look at a panel by Wilson Bentley –
Snowflakes, hexagonal beauty.
This is not what I think of
When I think of water.

XIII

A friend told me our bodies
Are seventy-five percent water.
Standing in the rain,
I add the drops on my hat to the drops within me,
Measuring impossibly.

Filling you in...Ashley's visit, "Piazza" (3), "WIW," T'giving, HP4, Rent on film, movie rentals, and Jim and Dave Defeat the Masked Man, Semester #2

**Warning: Long, Long Update Post**

Confused by the title? You should be. A lot has happened since I last wrote on this Blogger. I'm ashamed of myself, frankly. Often, I tell myself: "Ricky, you should write on that blog thing you started." But then, as Oscar Wilde once said about the desire to exercise, "I always lie down until the feeling passes."

November 12-13 - Ashley's Visit, or Everything Goes Wrong but Fun Ensues

So, on November 12th, Ashley came to town to visit me here at NYU. We had planned to go uptown to visit Christina at Barnard and then go to MoMA together with Christina and her boyfriend, Richard, who we were meeting for the first time. Anyway, it took us a very long time to get up to Barnard, so we scrapped our ideas of going to MoMA so we wouldn't have to rush around trying to get somewhere. Anyway, after we had hung out around Christina's campus for a bit, we went down to the Village to go to H&M, eat at Pizzaria on MacDougal St., and go back to my dorm. Richard went off with a friend of his from NYU (he goes to Columbia), and Christina and Ashley and I went back to my dorm to plan our "gay club night." Anyway, that didn't work out. We ended up going to this little place called The Boiler Room, which was seedy, had nowhere to sit, and was populated entirely of old men. Ah, oh well. Ashley fell asleep watching Desperate Housewives, and then she left Sunday morning.

November 13 - The Light in the Piazza (time number three)

So, as part of the Freshman Dialogue program, I saw The Light in the Piazza for the third time. Anyway, I love the show and think that it's the most beautiful show on broadway. However, this being the third time and my being intimately familiar with the storyline, I was ready to doze off part of the way into Act One. Luckily, Act Two held my attention better, and I felt all right with myself as I left the theatre. Almost falling asleep during a musical makes me feel inadequate like an impotent man.

November 20 - The Woman in White

So, on November 20, I went to see The Woman in White, the latest Andrew Lloyd Webber musical on Broadway. The show is playing at one of my least favorite theatres, the Marquis, and the lobby looks a bit like a mall. My seat, in the back row, was about as good as anyone could ask for a back row seat -- excellent sightlines. Anyway, I had heard the music before and thought that it was pretty good. I went in expecting not to be blown away but to enjoy myself, and that's just about how I came out. I really enjoyed a lot of the music, but Andrew Lloyd Webber can rarely achieve anything special (that rare distinction lies with Evita alone in my mind). The highlights of the experience for me were Maria Friedman in the lead of Marian (performing only days after undergoing surgery for breast cancer), Michael Ball, Angela Christian, and Jill Paice. They were all very nice after the show and signed my Playbill for me. The lowlight of the show for me were the projections used as sets. The entire show takes place on a rotating platform encircled by a circular wall on which images are projected as the set. Sometimes things worked out fine, but other times, the transitions seemed sloppy and didn't quite work. Also, the images were occasionally fake-looking. Projections simply can't compare with real stage magic. Some people in the theatre seemed to love the projections, saying that was the way theatre was heading, and I was about ready to cry at the thought of that.

Thanksgiving

This past week was pretty fun. I went home on Tuesday night with Ally, and her mom picked us up in Trenton.
On Wednesday, I went back to visit Upper Darby High School, my alma mater. I got to see how the school newspaper was running (relatively smoothly) and see some of the old faces from last year. On Wednesday night, the bunch of us went to see the Rent movie, but I'll get into the details of that soon.

On Thanksgiving Day, I went with my parents, grandparents, and uncle to a really nice restaurant, William Penn Inn, for a buffet. They had just about everything you could imagine there, and I had roast duck, turkey, and sweet and sour chicken, not to mention amazing desserts. It all seemed very nice to me, but I couuld sense my grandmother missed cooking the turkey and having our quiet family dinner.

It was so very nice to see my family again. I was afraid I would have a bad time at home, but things were quite delightful, really. It was nice to be back for longer than a few days and to have time to really settle in a bit.

Rent, or Measuring Up to a Year of Expectation

So, on November 23, the day of Rent's release, Ally, Christina, Ashley, Leah, Carli, Dave, Eugene, Steve G., and myself all went to see Rent at Granite Run. I was full of anticipation but also full of fear that this, perhaps the one creative work that I hold dearest to my heart, would lay at my feet, ruined on screen forever, leaving me with only the stage show to redeem my soured feelings.

Alas, all is right with the world. Chris Columbus, whose choice as director scared the bejesus out of me, came through. It was genius to cast the original Broadway cast (with the exceptions of Tracie Thoms and Rosario Dawson, both of which fit right in with the veterans). For the most part, things seemed just as I invisioned.

Rather than going into all of the amazing things about the movie, which could take me some time, I'll point out only a few of the flaws or inadequacies that I found.

1. The cutting of "Halloween" and "Goodbye Love," which were filmed and edited out after test screenings, really hurts the plot of the film. Columbus cites emotional reasons (too much built emotion after Angel's death) for cutting out these confrontations, but the movie really suffers for it. Luckily, this cut isn't irreparable, as, presumably, these scenes will be included on the DVD (can't wait!).

2. It was very jarring the first time seeing the movie to see some of the songs turned into dialogue using the exact lyrics that used to be sung. (For example, "You Okay Honey," "Happy New Year," various tune-ups and voice mails, and various other snippets from the show). This problem is alleviated after seeing the movie again and expecting that this is what's going to happen. If you didn't know the show already, you probably wouldn't even realize the dialogue used to be sung, as most of the lyrics don't rhyme.

3. Inaccuracy! The Life Cafe in the film was not the real Life Cafe. Why would they use a bar located on E. 7th Street and Avenue B to be the Life Cafe when the real thing is located only three blocks away on 10th Street and Avenue B and looks more interesting. That seemed like an odd choice. Also, there is no subway stop located on Tompkin's Square Park as depicted in the "Santa Fe"/"I'll Cover You" section. Anyway, for the most part, these are forgivable. No one would notice for the most part.

Overall, great film. I'm so glad that the story is now preserved forever for posterity.

Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire

I saw the latest installment in the Harry Potter franchise the week before Thanksgiving and again on the Friday of Thanksgiving weekend, and I must say that The Goblet of Fire is by far the best movie in the series. Mike Newell, the latest director (after Chris Columbus of Rent and Alfonso Cuaron). I won't go into it too much but I highly recommend the film. It did a great job of balancing the action elements with elements of character development.

Renting Movies

Over break, I rented Bewitched, Kicking and Screaming, and The Color Purple. I've already seen Bewitched, and despite the fact that it would be hard to make a case for it as a good movie, I still find it charming and funny -- perhaps because it was written/directed by the Ephrons of Sleepless in Seattle and You've Got Mail. Kicking and Screaming was passable and quite funny at times. The Color Purple, on the other hand, was a masterpiece. I wanted to see the movie, because the novel is being made into a musical on Broadway now, and it was definitely a riveting story. Whoopi Goldberg and Oprah Winfrey (who was hardly recognizable) were amazing.

Jim and Dave Defeat the Masked Man by David Lehman and Jim Cummins

So, tonight, I called out of work (rescheduled for Friday) to go see my teacher, David Lehman, read poems along with the coauthor of his latest book. This one consists entirely of sestinas (which use patterned end words almost like a villanelle). Their sestinas felt very effortless. It was definitely quite fun. The event was held at the KGB Bar on East 4th Street, which isn't too far away from Hayden, so I walked over close to the start of the event, but there wasn't any room to sit when I got there. Anyway, three of my classmates, Haydn, Sofie, and Shayne, were there, and we all stood together in the back. It felt pretty artsy and cool (oh, God, can you feel the pretension oozing from me?) going to a bar to hear poems read.

Anyway, I bought the book during the break between two halves of the reading, and I can't wait to give the poems a closer read.

Calling All Gay Men at NYU

If you are a reasonably unugly NYU student who at least enjoys attending musical theatre on a periodic basis, please contact me via Facebook (the name's "Richard Pattersson"). I'm getting desperate for a significant other. Some time soon, I'm going to have to become assertive.

The End

Well, I suppose that concludes the summary of my last few weeks. I hope the typos aren't too numerous, but, by now, I've tired so of writing that I don't really feel too keen on going back and revising my post. Also, after this endnote is a list of my schedule for next semester, in case anyone was wondering.

______________________________________________________

Spring 2006

Mon.:

Natural Science II: Brain and Behavior (Lab, 9-10-40)

Tues.:

World Cultures: Chinese/Japanese Tradition (8-9:15)
German Intermediate I (9:30-10:45)
Contemporary Central European Drama (12:30-1:45)
Natural Science II: Brain and Behavior (2-3:15)

Wed.:

World Cultures: Chinese/Japanese Tradition (Rec., 8-9:15)
German Intermediate I (9:30-10:45)

Thurs.:

World Cultures: Chinese/Japanese Tradition (8-9:15)
German Intermediate I (9:30-10:45)
Contemporary Central European Drama (12:30-1:45)
Natural Science II: Brain and Behavior (2-3:15)

Long time no post

So, it's been almost a week since I last posted, so I figured I should write something.There aren't a lot of developments really.

This week went by pretty quickly. The grad students are on strike, so I had two of my German classes cancelled and one of my Writing the Essay classes held in a Starbucks, which was sort of distracting, considering we were reading each other's essays.

I got my first paycheck yesterday for $160, but I haven't been able to deposit it yet, because I just found out this morning it was Veteran's Day, and the bank is closed. It feels so good to be able to not pinch pennies again. I'm still going to try to be pretty conservative with my spending, though, because I want to accumulate a sort of savings just in case I lose my job or need to buy something significant.

My good friend Ashley is coming to stay today through tomorrow, so I'm quite excited. David is visiting his boyfriend back home, so it'll be sort of nice, though they'd probably get along pretty well. I've spent all of this day doing some cleaning. I vacuumed and took out the trash. I also put up a few more things on my wall since I didn't feel like doing my homework.

Anyway, I'll post another update probably after Ashley is gone. Tonight, we're supposed to go uptown to visit Christina at Barnard, and, tomorrow Christina; her boyfriend, Richard; Ashley; and I are probably going to MoMA and to a club or something. Then, Sunday, I'm going to see The Light in the Piazza for the third time. Should be an exciting weekend. Of course, I should probably also be doing homework.

Well, I'll post another update soon.

My first pledge, "See..."

So, today has been a neat day so far. I woke up around noon, had breakfast for lunch, and then went to see See What I Wanna See with Jaron.

The show, playing at The Public Theatre, was spectacular, one of my favorite things I've seen so far this season. The cast features Idina Menzel (Wicked, Rent on stage and film,The Wild Party off-Broadway), Marc Kudisch (Assassins, Chitty Chitty Bang Bang, Thoroughly Modern Millie), Mary Testa, Aaron Lohr (soloist in the Rent movie), and Henry Stram. So, I saw that some of the people were there mainly to see Idina because of Wicked. However, if this was the case, they deserve to be sorely disappointed, because the show was not all about her. Every actor had an integral role in the story, and I loved each of their performances.

The show is an examination of faith that incorporates three different stories into one show.

The first story is told through two scenes, one in the beginning of each act. In the first act, the woman kills her lover. In the second act, the woman's lover kills her. This was probably the weakest of the stories to me, because it had less of a clearly defined theme and purpose.

The second story was about a murder in Central Park. The story of the murder is told from four different perspectives: a thief, who says he killed an actress's husband after raping her; the actress, who said her husband killed himself at her request, leaving her unable to kill herself; a psychic, who channels the husband's spirit, claiming that he killed himself after the two had passionately made love; and the janitor, who is too jarred by the incident to give an accurate account. This portion of the show is a comment on the truth and its variability.

The third story was about a priest who, having lost faith after September 11th, makes up a miracle in Central Park -- he says that at 1 o'clock on a Tuesday afternoon a miracle will occur, and Jesus will rise from the pond. He then encounters a former CPA who has made his home in the park after leaving behind his old life, assuring him that, if he has faith, God will see him on the "Gloryday." He then encounters an actress, whom he has sex with and assures the same thing -- with faith, she will see the miracle. The priest's aunt, a Communist atheist for most of her life, changes her views on faith toward the end of the story when, as she's dying, she proclaims that there will be a miracle. The priest also speaks with a reporter without faith. The priest, having given up on faith and condemned these believers and the masses huddled to see the miracle for their follies, finally glimpses the miracle for himself despite the fact that no one else is watching -- rain began to fall and the followers ran for cover. What an interesting story!

Well, it was a really great show. Michael John LaChiusa, who wrote the score, usually writes really lofty, intellectual music, and this show seemed much more grounded. I can't wait for the CD, as I really liked a lot of the sequences (there weren't a whole lot of "songs" persay; it was mostly recitative). I very much recommend the show to anyone who is into intelligent modern theatre. It was great -- even down to the exciting lighting, particularly during Act One, and the sparse settings that really added interest to the show, particularly the park background during Act Two. I can see where the show has its flaws, as many of its detractors would point out, particularly in the scenes opening each act with the lovers, but it's definitely better than about 90% of the shows out there. It was a great afternoon at the theatre. And, by the way, the Anspacher Theatre in the Public Theatre is a very nice, intimate space and a very beautiful room with a nice atrium.

After the show, I waited and got Aaron Lohr's and Marc Kudisch's autographs. Idina Menzel didn't come out, and I think she was who most people were waiting for. One girl was even crying, and I took pity on her, for she had missed out on the joy of theatre. The joy is not to get an autograph from your favorite star after the show. The point is to open up your mind and experience something new. I really urge people who are only into Idina because of Wicked and who only want to go to a show to see her and to get her autograph to just stay home.

After waiting for the cast in the lobby, I walked home through Washington Square Park, lingering to listen to one of my favorites of the singers in the park sing a few songs, including "Harmony" by Elton John, which he was pretty flat on.

What a nice day!

Oh! Last night, at the Phonathon, it started out as a pretty rough night, but, toward the end of the night, I got a $250 pledge! My first pledge and such a high amount! Yay! They had moved me into pools of people who had given in the past but not in very recent years, so it seems like it's much easier to convince someone who has previously given money to NYU over the phone, no matter what year, to give this year than someone who has never given and may have graduated far more than 20 years ago. So, the job is going relatively well, I'd say.

Halloween, Rufus, Phonathon

So, it's been quite a while since I last wrote on this, so I figured I ought to put up some updates.

First, Halloween was pretty fun. I took off from work to go to the Greenwich Village Halloween Parade with the 12th floor. It took a really long time for the parade to get going, but it was pretty massive. I went as John Lennon, which was a pretty big cop-out of a costume, but it was still fun. John, the RA, went as a middle-aged redhead woman with fairy wings, and he was working the crowd on the sidelines of the parade. It was hilarious! There were a lot of drag queens, which was interesting, and there was a really amazing guy dressed as Angel from Rent who I got a picture of. There were so many creative costumes -- one guy was dressed up as an iPod with big earbuds on his hands, and he took pictures with people that were really amusing. He was even backlit, and the song playing on him was "Thriller" by Michael Jackson. After the parade, I went back to my room and took a nap, but then I went to visit Ally at University Hall, where she was hosting Christina. They're fun kids, but the streets of New York were like mayhem to have to navigate on the way up there. The whole park was closed, and I missed being able to cut through.

The day after Halloween (Nov. 1), I went to see Rufus Wainwright with David, which was quite amazing. I really love Rufus, and he did a helluva job. He has a song called "Gay Messiah" that's really good, and, during the concert, he did a mock crucifixion, complete with costumed Roman guards and a garish blue dress. It was very amazing. It was a really great concert, and our seats were very good. Apparently, Ruthie saw four of the cast members of Lennon when she went last night, and they talked about the concert (Julia Murney, Marcy Harriell, Michael Potts, and Mandy Gonzalez were the ones who were there).

This has been a relatively busy week. Homework has been stressful, and I've had stuff to do in the evenings every day (Halloween Monday, Rufus Tuesday, work Wednesday and tonight). Finally, I get a day off from classes tomorrow, but I still have work at night. I can't wait for Saturday and Sunday, when I have the day off completely.

Oh, on Tuesday, they were also filming a movie in Washington Square. It's a romantic musical comedy directed by Julie Taymor, who directed The Lion King on Broadway; it's called Across the Universe, and it utilizes the songs of the Beatles to tell the story. After checking out the huge Vietnam protest in front of Washington Arch, I checked out another area that's being used as a set on Rivington downtown. There's a whole block that's been redone to look colorful and psychedelic, including a corner store, which has had its awning redone to read "Psychedelicatessen." It looked sort of cheesy, but I'm still interested to see the movie.

Anyway, tomorrow is a relatively relaxed day, and Saturday is See What I Wanna See at the Public Theatre with Jaron. The show is a more artistic show, written by Michael John LaChiusa, that stars Marc Kudisch, Idina Menzel, Mary Testa, Henry Stram, and Aaron Lohr. I'm very much looking forward to it.

I really want a paycheck. I'm pretty damn close to broke -- and I really want to buy some more tickets. Oh my.

The Phonathon is going all right. I've worked two real days so far, and I haven't gotten any pledges yet. I feel sort of bad bugging people on the phone, and the people I've been assigned to call this early on are the grumpy non-donors, many of them older. One guy that I called said his experience at NYU was bad and that, if he had to redo his NYU experience, he'd hire more hookers. When I asked him for a $100 donation, he said, "For hookers?" Oh my. Sometimes calling people is trying, but it also pays well, so I'll grin and bear it.

Good evening.

What a night, homework

So...last night I didn't go to sleep till 7:30 A.M. after having done laundry, eaten a banana split at 5 A.M. and taken a morning walk through the East Village -- all with David and Samantha Bowser, my next-door neighbor. It was quite fun. I slept from 7:30 to 3:30. By then, the sun was about ready to go down because of daylight savings. What a weird day it's been. I really want to go to bed sort of early and get back into a relatively normal schedule.

Homework, oh how I dislike it. It's a busy week this week. I really hope I get to hang out with that Len guy that I met in the park next weekend. I want to find out what he's all about.

Eternal Glory is not ours

We came in second for Floor Wars. It's disappointing, but we still did really well. We won all three of the events held tonight, and we came in second by 25 points. I'm told that the reason we lost is because of poker. Blah. Tonight, we won:

1) Floor Decorating Contest - with our amazing display of 1,000 bats, a dead R.A., the "bat cave," and the painting of Jack Skellington from Nightmare Before Christmas.

2) Penny Wars - Yay! It all goes to Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS!

3) Costume Contest - Josh dressed up all in brown, and the floor stuffed him and presented him on a Thanksgiving platter. I can't even believe he was able to stay still for as long as he did.

Overall, we're an amazing floor. I guess I feel bad most for John, this being his senior year. Eternal Glory was most important to him.

Stina and "Sweeney"

Well, yesterday and today were both really neat days full of fun New York stuff.

The night before last, I stayed up really late watching Desperate Housewives on DVD and helping a little with the floor decoration part of the Hayden Floor Wars competition; our floor cut out 1,000 bats to decorate the hallway, and Emma drew a really great drawing of Jack from The Nightmare Before Christmas for our bulletin board. On each door, the residents' names and causes of death are posted -- it's great!

Anyway, yesterday, I woke up around 12:30 and went out to meet Christina at the Metropolitan Museum of Art at 2. It was so very nice to see her again! I miss being around the people that I'm so immensely comfortable with that I can be totally myself. We walked around the museum for a few hours, checking out mostly American art and furniture and European paintings. I had to look at a Vermeer for my Writing the Essay class and write a short paragraph about it -- that's the main reason we went specifically to the Met. Anyway, it was fun to go back to the museum again. It's always fun.

Afterwards, we went to the Village and ate Chinese at Suzie's -- my fortune was "Happiness is often a rebound from hard work," which perfectly describes how this weekend complemented this past week of class. After dinner, we walked around the Village some more. I hadn't realized just how many streets I didn't know until last night. I need to take a few more random walks around the neighborhood so I get more of a bearing on where I'm going. We stopped at this really amazing bakery for cookies. They had a very long case filled with baked goods that made me remember the bakery I used to go to as a kid. It smelled so delicious!

On the way to my dorm, we stopped at the Tea Spot, which is a little place right down the street from me on MacDougal that has gourmet teas. I had Strawberries and Creme, which was quite good. They always make their tea excrutiatingly hot -- I had to refrigerate it for some time before it was drinkable. Christina wanted to see what all the Desperate Housewives fuss was about, so we watched the pilot episode. She seemed to sort of enjoy it, but it doesn't really seem like her cup of tea. Anyway, by the time the episode was over, it was time for her to go home, so I walked her back to the W 4th subway stop. It was such a nice, relaxing day!

Today, I went to see Sweeney Todd for the second time on Broadway. So, the first time I saw it, I was sort of on the fence. I didn't really buy into the concept of the show (actors play all of the music, highly conceptualized sets and costumes, very different staging concepts). This time, when I wasn't quite so worried about catching every little detail of the show, I definitely appreciated it a lot more. I realized a lot more things about the symbolism of the staging that hadn't sunken in before. I won't go into all of the different things I noticed, but I definitely enjoyed it a lot better. Also, Michael Cerveris as Sweeney seems a lot more comfortable. At the stage door, he said how his voice seemed to be able to hit the lower notes better as he continued to sing the score, and I noticed that that was definitely true. He did a lot better with the lower songs, like "My Friends," than he had seemed to last time. Also, they fixed the false ending that I noticed last time I went. After the final sequence and before "The Ballad of Sweeney Todd," they didn't leave as long of an applause break as they did last time. They ploughed right along into "The Ballad...," and, though the first few lyrics of the song were cut off by applause, it seemed much more natural than having a moment or two of darkness and applause before finishing up the show. It originally made people think the show was totally over. Personally, I think they should simply cut the final reprise of "The Ballad..." and end the show after Tobias is put into a straight jacket (oh my, people who haven't seen this show...a.k.a. most people who read this...will be so confused).

Hah! One other thing: I think Michael Cerveris as Sweeney broke a chair when he threw it onstage during the performance. I thought that was interesting.

I waited at the stage door this time -- last time, it was raining -- and I got Michael Cerveris's signature, as well as Donna Lynne Champlin (Pirelli), Manoel Felciano (Tobias Ragg) who graduated from NYU last year, Alexander Gemignani (Beadle Bamford), and Lauren Molina (Johanna). They were all extremely friendly.

I was also happy to note that the show was sold out and there was a huge line to get into the theatre.

Oh, I also ran into this girl who I talked to at Lennon and at the Broadway Flea Market! She was sitting a few rows ahead of me. She and her friend Jen were really nice at Lennon. I also ran into a girl from my QR class in Times Square; she had just gone to see Wicked.

After the show, I walked back downtown to my dorm, but I stopped at H&M on the way back. I bought a really pretty, warm scarf and a hooded sweatshirt jacket. I really shouldn't have spent any money, but I figured that, since both items were winter clothing, I had justification for my purchasing them. Anyway, at the end of next week, I should get my paycheck, but, until them, I'm pretty close to broke -- it's class, the dining hall, and pre-purchased tickets for me until then.

Tonight, we find out if the 12th Floor won Floor Wars at 9. Wish us luck! I'm feeling relatively good about it. The winner is revealed at a costume ball, and I'm being John Lennon. It's a pretty simple, bad costume, but it was also cheap.

Tomorrow is homework day. I think I was supposed to go to a klezmer benefit for Fyvush Finkel that Susan Watts, my drum teacher's daughter, is playing at, but, since she never called me back with information and I have basically no dressy clothes, I'm thinking I'll just not go to that.

Class, midterm, training, Swoopes

Well, I had German at 11, which was business as usual. My teacher said today that she will continue to teach us even if a grad student strike actually ends up happening, because she values the fact that we pay so much for school. I think that's really great of her, considering that that means a great deal of compromise on her part.

I had my Great Poems midterm today. It was slightly more challenging than I thought it would be, but it was also certainly not impossible. We had a substitute today named Mark Bibbins, who is an award-winning gay poet. He seemed really neat and down to earth, but he also seemed very knowledgeable about poetry. Apparently, he works aside my professor, David Lehman, at the New School graduate program.

Writing the Essay was fine today besides for the fact that I sort of forgot to do my reading for today. It was slightly painful to attempt to gain a grasp on the work in the few minutes when we weren't discussing it. And, of course, just when we get to the essay all about homosexuality, that's the week that I forget to read. It seemed to be a good essay. My homework for that class is insane; it's all over the place. We also have to visit the Met again for another assignment. Ugh. Does he not realize we have busy schedules? It's just lucky I can probably find a day to do this.

Today was my third day of training for the NYU Phonathon. It seems like a pretty stressful job, but I think I have a relatively good handle on the tasks at hand. Of course, Mike, my boss, said that the majority of calls made don't actually even involve speaking with anyone, so that sort of comforts me. I hope I actually receive a pledge within a reasonable amount of time.

So, tonight I found out on the New York Times website that Sheryl Swoopes of the WNBA came out of the closet as being gay. Yay! Now, the other side of the story is that she's in a relationship with a woman who was her coach for a long time. Geez...why do people always come out of the closet in coincidence with some sort of scandal? Just like Jim McGreevey. Ah, well. I'm still happy she came out. She's the first African-American professional basketball player to do so.

Training, upcoming stuff

Well, today was all right. I woke up around 12:30 and had my first class at 3:30, Writing the Essay. It was a slightly better class today than usual, because we were asked to come up with less random crap off the top of our heads than usual. After class, I had only a little bit of time at Hayden before I had to go to my training session for the NYU Phonathon. I had a quick dinner of stuffed shells and buttered noodles before walking to 7 E. 12th St. for training.

Overall, training wasn't bad. The company I technically work for is called RuffaloCODY. It's a group that sets up fundraising efforts at various universities. So my job is to call alumni asking for money and to hold friendly conversations with them. It seems relatively tricky considering my conversation skills are subpar, but perhaps I'll gain some skill in that department along the way.

I have a sort of a get-together lined up this weekend with Len, who I mentioned before (I met him at 2 AM in Washington Square Park with his friend). I think we're getting food, which is always a nice thing to get.

Want to know my plans for the near future? It's mind-boggling!

Tuesday: 2 classes, Phonathon training, studying for Great Poems midterm
Wednesday: 3 classes including Great Poems midterm, Phonathon training
Thursday: Phonathon first day of real work
Friday: Free...Len? Buying Halloween costume?
Saturday: Sweeney Todd at 2PM
Sunday: Seeing Susan Watts at the Kimmel Center (my drum teacher's daughter)
Monday: Halloween
Tuesday: Rufus Wainwright in Concert

Okay...can I say how much I love the "Caroline, or Change" Original Broadway Cast Album? Um, I don't know if I can express it accurately in words. The beauty of Tony Kushner and Jeanine Tesori's musical is just astounding. It has such a beautiful language that captures its characters so well. The recitative and songs perfectly serve their characters. It feels so natural and easy. Sigh.

Home again, "The Piano Lesson," the bitter smell of exhaust

So I went home again this weekend. I was home just two weekends ago, so it seemed a bit premature to be returning, but the purpose of this visit was to take my driver's test (again). So, it ended up being pretty close to pointless since I failed once again. The last time, I failed because I didn't know all of my signals, and this time I failed because I couldn't parallel park (which I passed last time). I can do it when I practice, but the pressure got to me, and the guy that I had this time seemed to count the three back-ins and pull-outs that you get differently than the first guy I had. Anyway, it wasn't technically pointless, since I did spend time with my parents and all.

We went to see Junebug on Saturday night, which stars the lady who played Miss Honey in Matilda, who was really amazing. The movie was really good. It was about the clash between Northern and Southern values that the woman experiences when she travels down South with her new husband to convince an artist to sign with her art firm and to visit her husband's family. It was well-acted and very subtly directed. I usually like independent films a lot more than the mainstream fare.

On the train on the way home, I read The Piano Lesson by August Wilson. Being that I had gone to the theatre dedication in his honor last weekend, I really thought it was only appropriate that I read something by him. I went to Strand Bookstore on Friday before I left for home and bought the two plays that he won the Pulitzer Prize for (Fences in 1987 and The Piano Lesson in 1990). They were both 50% off, which was very nice. I got them for much cheaper than the NYU bookstore carries them for. Anyway, the play was really quite astounding. It concerns a black family that is fighting over a piano and its place in their family. Boy Willie wants to sell the piano to buy land from a white man down South whose family used to own his family, but Berniece clings to the sentimental value of the piano (her relatives carved and claimed the piano from the white family). The whole play concerns the struggle between these two, and it is really quite well-written. I certainly recommend it to others.

Now, I'm back in NYC after another nightmare train ride. Ugh...sticky floors and a crazy young girl who kept singing along with her iPod. Psssh.

Yay, next week includes Halloween.

Midterm, new teacher, going home...again

Well, today was a pretty tiring day, but I'm not really sure why.

I got up around 10 to go to my German class. My first teacher, Antje Pfannkuchen, had to leave us to have her baby next month, so we have a new teacher who's pretty nice. She's funnier than Antje and seems to be very open to helping us learn; both of them are pretty nice. German seems like a friendly department.

Between classes, I looked over my QR things for my midterm. I must admit, though the class is insanely easy, I had a bit of trouble with some of the last problems on the homework, but Christina helped me at the beginning of class, which made it easier to grasp. The midterm ended up not being bad at all. I had expected it to be slightly worse.

After this, I dropped off my QR homework and my Writing the Essay portfolio (my teacher forgot to make a photocopy of it before returning it).

On my walk home, I passed the set for a new NBC drama ,"The Black Donnellys," on MacDougal Street, which was kind of neat.

After going online for a short time in the dorm, I fell asleep for about a half hour and then went to dinner with Ally, which was fun as always.

The rest of my evening was filled with laundry. And David, Sutton, and Elisabeth in my room.

Tomorrow afternoon, I'm going home for the second time. I'm slightly less excited this time, particularly since I have to practice for and take my driving test. If I pass the test, the weekend will have been a success; however, if I fail, I will feel miserable, being as it's the main reason I'm going home, and I probably won't have another chance to attempt the test before my permit expires.

On Saturday night, I think I'm going to go out with Ally, Dave, and Steve, as Steve and Ally are coming home this weekend as well. It will be just like the old times in the Spring when, having nothing much else to do, we'd pass the time in a restaurant making sex jokes and acting generally insanely. I can't wait.

I have to devise my Halloween costume soon.

Midterm! Job!

Well, today I had a midterm in German, and it wasn't too bad. I feel pretty confident that I got at least a B on it. Today was the last day that my teacher will be with, because she's having her baby in November and is taking time off to prepare and all. It's a shame, because she was really nice, but I'm told that her replacement is also really nice and fun.

My Great Poems class was pretty fun. I found out that my professor is publishing yet another book at the end of this month, which is pretty cool. He's a funny guy, and I like that class quite a bit.

Writing the Essay...what can I say? That is the most boggling class ever. I got an A- on my first essay though, so I'm pretty happy about that. I put quite a bit of effort into that sucker.

Anyway, when I got back from my classes (Wednesday is such a busy, busy day!), I got an email about the Phonathon job that I applied for way back when. Apparently, there were ten spots open, so I called the guy who runs it (Mike Brucek) to inquire about the position, and I start training next Monday through Wednesday. Yay! I'm quite exciting that I'll be making some money now. It's something I definitely need to be doing.

Anyway, besides for that I watched some Superstar with Molly Shannon and ate dinner and fooled around on the computer. Now it's about time to do my QR homework and prepare for that midterm tomorrow.

Yesterday and today

Yesterday was a pretty nice day. That morning, I went to bed at 5, so I woke up in the early afternoon and had a late lunch. I went to my one class of the day and did some homework for today. Then, I went with Emma from my floor to a free screening of Shopgirl with Steve Martin, Claire Danes, and Jason Schwartzman. It was a very, very odd movie about a woman who has an affair with an older man after dating a guy who's not so good at romance and how these two different types of love compare in the end. The voiceovers were terrible, and a lot of the movie was sort of odd, but there were also good parts. All of the parts with Jason Schwartzman were really good. I don't think I'd recommend someone see it for the full New York City price of $10.75, but maybe if you can get a discount it's worth it. I'd wait to rent it on DVD if I had to pay to see it.

Okay, so have I said yet how much I'm in love with this bottled iced tea called Teany? It's bottled by the restaurant that Moby started a little bit furher downtown. So far I've had green tea with ginseng and white tea with pomegranate, but I've picked up a few more varieties to try. I really want to go try out the restaurant. Apparently, it's a vegan/vegetarian restaurant that makes those types of food appealing. The menu sounded good to me even though I'm neither vegetarian nor vegan.

Today, I got up bright and early around 8:45 and went to my 9:30 QR lab and my 11 o'clock German II class, both of which were fine. Then, I got a lot of my Writing the Essay homework done. I have a lecture at 3:30 to go to as well. That makes tonight's homework much more bearable. I only have to do my poetry homework, which is slightly lighter than usual, studying for my German midterm tomorrow, and the final few pieces of my Writing the Essay homework. I'm hoping to go to bed relatively early again tonight so I can get up early and be productive. Perhaps I ought to go for morning walks or something. Maybe that would help me be more productive and energized overall. I really need to change my sleep habits. I realized today that it was the first day in five that I've gotten up before noon. That's pretty pathetic.

Making the Great White Way a little less white

So, today was a lazy day for the most part. I woke up around two, ate around three, tried to do work but napped until late in the afternoon. Then I went to dinner at Upstein.

After this, however, I went out to take a walk. I decided to go to midtown and attend the August Wilson Theatre dedication and re-naming. The theatre used to be called the Virginia, and I saw The Little Shop of Horrors there last year. It's sort of an odd looking theatre inside, with weird blotchy terra cotta walls, but, still the renaming was significant.

It's the first time a theatre has been named after an African-American.

The evening was really sad, because August Wilson, who was diagnosed with liver cancer slightly earlier this year, died on October 2. He was supposed to have been in attendance if he had lived long enough, and the dedication was used as a way to remember him in a joyful way.

Charles S. Dutton, who directed several of Wilson's plays was on hand to give an excellent dramatic reading from Ma Rainey's Black Bottom, a portion about a preacher who was made to dance by two white men after being left on a train platform while used the "colored" restroom. He had command of the audience and was an excellent speaker.

After this, Lillias White, an amazing singer, sung the song "Ma Rainey's Black Bottom," which is a part of the play (not musical) of the same name. A short excerpt from Seven Guitars was also performed by members of the original cast.

Then, some of August's own words were read in which he spoke of the honor he felt about having the theatre renamed after him:

"This capstone [of my career] will become part of the shroud of memories with which I will blanket myself when I lie down to pleasant dreams." (paraphrased, but pretty accurate)

It was a really nice evening. I'm so glad that the event was opened to the public, because, though I haven't read any of August Wilson's plays, it seems to me as if the message is certainly not to turn people away. The marquee of the theatre was unveiled after the proceedings inside of the theatre; it was a large neon reproduction of Wilson's signature, and it looked really astounding lit up.

The evening really made me want to read some August Wilson plays, but the theatre store that I usually go to was closed, so I'll have to go another day and get one of his plays to read.

I felt like I was a part of something special tonight. The theatre was packed with people full of respect for this man, and it seemed such a fitting and proper tribute to a man who had accomplished so much. He wanted to write a cycle of ten plays set in each decade of the 20th century, and he did it. And, along with this accomplishment, he changed the conventions of African-American theatre.

"Crossing Brooklyn Ferry," downtown adventures, and a walk in the park

Well, today I woke up around 12:30 determined to complete my Great Poems assignment of reading Walt Whitman's "Crossing Brooklyn Ferry" and taking the Staten Island Ferry round trip. So, I took the subway and ended up at the World Trade Center, which is a short walk from the ferry, but I had no idea how to get there -- thank goodness for maps. The ferry was very long and boring. It takes about 25 minutes each way, and there was a delay on the way back due to a memorial service involving Mayor Bloomberg. Anyway, when the ride was over, I decided I'd like to walk back, so I walked as far as Canal St., stopped to buy two bootleg DVDs (Corpse Bride and Crash, both of which are of poor quality) and then proceeded to walk in the opposite direction of Washington Square until I was almost back downtown as far as the World Trade Center. After this, I walked back up to Canal St. and took the A/C/E or whatever it is back to West 4th and made it back to my dorm just in time to eat in the Hayden dining hall. Needless to say, it was a tiring day.

I got back to my room around 7:30 or 8 and took a nap until around 11. I woke up and went online to talk to several facebook acquaintances, and one of them, Len Shaffer, asked me to go with him and his friend for a little walk. So, I met him at the fountain in Washington Square Park around 2 AM in the cold, and we chatted and walked and sat and talked for a while. He and his friend seemed very nice. It was really nice to get out and do something social after a day of being on my own for almost the whole day (my Poems teacher recommended we go on the ferry alone).

Anyway, it was a long, tiring, yet ultimately satisfying day. Tomorrow will probaby involve quite a bit of homework, as I'd rather not be stuck with as much work as I usually am on Tuesday.

Weighing in on "Sweeney"

So, I went to see "Sweeney Todd" on Broadway tonight. The show ranks among my very favorites. I've seen it before at St. Joe's University and at the Arden Theatre in Philadelphia. This, however, was a very, very different production. I didn't dislike it, and I didn't love it. I felt a bit overwhelmed in general. The production tried very hard to present a lot of symbolism, and I didn't really feel as if the stylistic choices and directorial choices really presented any clearcut revelations that I could latch onto.

All of the actors in the show also play instruments in the show, and all of the actors are onstage throughout the entire show. Sometimes this translates into some interesting symbolism, as when Johanna and Anthony play string instruments together and when the Beggar Woman plays clarinet along with Johanna during "Green Finch and Linnet Bird." The sets were pretty interesting, but I don't really see how they served the story at all. The same thing goes for the costumes. Rather than wearing period clothes, there were neckties and all sorts of out-of-place things. I just don't think it's necessary to make different costume and set choices purely for the director's amusement, and there was nothing suggesting there was a reason otherwise.

I felt, sitting there, as if the symbolism should have been better defined. I almost wished I had a critical essay in front of me so I could latch on to some of the lofty ideas being presented.

Now on to the acting. Patti LuPone, who was in the concert DVD with George Hearn, was superb. On the DVD, she's pretty one-note, squawking her way through all of the songs and lines, but it was very obvious that she poured her soul into this performance. She acting on many more varied levels than she did on the DVD. I was very impressed. Her singing was top-notch, totally different than I've heard her in the past.

Michael Cerveris, who seemed oddly miscast as Sweeney, made a good effort. His singing was generally superb, but he's a tenor playing a baritone's role. I've heard criticism that there wasn't much chemistry between Sweeney and Mrs. Lovett, but I definitely noticed some chemistry. The rest of the supporting cast was all really amazing, particularly Donna Lynne Champlin as Pirelli and Manoel Feliciano as Tobias.

One weird thing that puzzled me is that Sweeney cradles a miniature white coffin during a lot of the second act, and I had absolutely no idea why. His child isn't dead. What??

Also, as the second act came to a close, there was a very awkward moment after the "final sequence" was over where the audience thought that the show was over when there was actually a remaining song. The audience took a very long time applauding only to have the cast waiting to begin the final reprise of "The Ballad of Sweeney Todd."

Overall, the production made me think a lot about various things about the show. I just find an issue with the fact that most of the things I've been thinking about don't seem to come together in any sort of neat fashion to form a complete thought.

The music sounded really good during the moments when characters were singing solo or in small groups, but I missed the lush sound of a full orchestra and chorus. Even if the production utilizes a small cast, I would have liked for there to have been offstage musicians or singers to enhance the effect. I'm so used to Sweeney having a full chorus and orchestra that such a sparse sound was jarring, which isn't to say that it was necessarily a bad choice to use more limited orchestrations.

So...overall, go see it! Any Sweeney is far better than no Sweeney, but this one is a bit odd. I'm not really even sure yet if odd is good or bad or neither. It was just a very interesting experience. I'm very glad I got to experience it for myself and form my own judgments rather than being limited to reading other people's opinions.

It's raining "Sweeney"

For the first month of school, the weather was so beautiful here in New York City. The weather was so nice that you could wander around leisurely in the afternoon aimlessly, which I like to do. Today, it's raining, and the most interesting thing I could come up with to do was my laundry.

Tonight, however, is Sweeney Todd on Broadway. Okay...have I said yet how excited I am about this freaking show? I couldn't be more excited. Wow...I just absolutely can't wait to behold the awesomeness that is Sweeney. The interesting thing about this production is that it's a very scaled-down production, with every member of the small cast playing an instrument in addition to their singing and acting duties. Apparently there is also a new framing device in the show to add a new concept to the story. I'm really hoping it doesn't just muddle up the story and that it actually adds something to developing the themes of the work.

Oh, I got two free passes for Monday night to see the new Steve Martin movie Shopgirl. Yay! I'm going to take Ally.

Tomorrow, I'm probably going to Queens with Ally so she can buy some weird geeky anime CD. Also during this weekend, I have to either cross the Brooklyn Bridge by foot or take the Staten Island Ferry as part of my Great Poems class. I have to write a poem about it as well. I should also probably be productive and get some of my homework done before the night before class.

I want a boy. Ah, well.

Jobs, iPods, and "Sweeney," oh my!

Okay...so, today was so long.

I woke up around 10; the fire drill went off at 10:30. I had class at 11, so I went right to class. This is the second day in a row that there has been a fire drill a half hour before I have class in the morning. Will it end? Let's not make it a three-day streak. It was a long day full of classes from 11 - 4:45. I'm so absolutely dumbfounded as to what is being discussed in Writing the Essay...genocide...different perspectives...handicapped people...wha??!!

I really want a job. So far, I've gotten no reply from TheaterMania.com, where I applied first. I haven't applied anywhere else yet.

In conjunction with really wanting a job, once I get one, I think I really need to treat myself to one of the new video-equipped iPods that will play Desperate Housewives on its screen. Oh my...that has to be the best invention...ever. Considering I probably won't be getting a new iPod in the near future (I mean, after all, my current one is less than a year old, and there are bound to be incredible innovations in iPods before this one breaks), I'll probably buy Desperate Housewives Season 1 on DVD as my first gift to myself when I have a job. And a lot of theatre tickets.

Tomorrow night, I'm going to see Sweeney Todd on Broadway with Patti LuPone and Michael Cerveris. This is probably the most excited I've been for a show in a long, long time. It's my favorite show (well, one of them) with some of my favorite performers and an interesting new concept. I'll weigh in as to how it was tomorrow night when I get back or in the following few days. I'm hoping it's astounding, because I'm going to see it again in another few weeks.

Going Home and Back Again

Well, after the beginning of the subway threats on Thursday, I got a little bit nervous about going home this weekend, but I did it anyway. I took a cab to Penn Station to begin the tortuous four-hour journey to Drexel Hill, which consists of cab or New York subway, New Jersey Transit train to Trenton, Septa train to Philadelphia, el (subway) to 69th St., trolley to Drexel Hill.

Home was very weird. First of all, my living room was very barren; much of my stuff was stored away, and there was a big gaping hole where my couch used to be, as my grandfather and uncle delivered their old couch to us on Saturday, which is a big improvement from the old couch -- it actually has two seats that recline.

We went to Walmart and Perkins on Friday night, and I got a new organizer for my desk, which I crammed in my suitcase to get back to my dorm. On Saturday, the couch was delivered, and then we saw In Her Shoes at Marple movie theatre and ate out at Ms. Marty's. On Sunday, I rented The Wedding Date and Hitch and watched those and Desperate Housewives with my parents. Then, on Monday, I went to this neat burger joint with my dad and then came home. It was a fun trip back, but I'm also glad to be back in New York City. I feel settled in here.

I got an email as soon as I got back that I can see Sweeney Todd and The Light in the Piazza for $10 each, so I think I'm going to take advantage of that offer. Yippee!

I read a lot of Whitman's Leaves of Grass today. It's pretty good, but sort of confusing at times.

Night.

"Doubt" on Broadway; I'm going home.

So, tonight I saw Doubt by John Patrick Shanley on Broadway. Ally had really wanted to see it, and Dave had read it and liked it, so we were both curious to see how good it would be. Now, we had planned to take the subway and have ample time, but there was a subway scare today, so we wanted to take a cab. Of course, after trying and trying to get a cab, we ultimately failed and ended up walking the whole way. We got there, sweaty and tired, about ten minutes before the show. We were originally going to attempt to get student rush tickets, but they were sold out, so we ended up with tickets in the last row of the balcony, which only had two rows and was a tier up from the mezzanine).

Anyway, the show was absolutely amazing. I went in expecting to like it, being that the play won the Tonys for Best Play, Best Director, Best Actress, and Best Featured Actress (and all of the acting winners were still in the play). The lead actor, Brian F. O'Byrne also won a Tony for Best Actor last year for another play, Frozen. So, I knew there was talent in the show, but not to what extent. Anyway, the play totally blew me away. I didn't realize a Broadway production without music could be so interesting. Cherry Jones, the leading actress, was absolutely amazing. She had a way of bringing such subtle undertones to her character, and when she really exploded, she sent chills down my spine. The show is about a child molestation accusation within the Catholic Church during the 1960s, and I was really glad that the play chose a really interesting way to tell the story without being trite like any old child molestation case ripped from the headlines. It wasn't like a Lifetime movie or anything, thank God. This was my favorite line of Cherry Jones's:

"I will step outside the church if that's what needs to be done, though the door should shut behind me. I will do what needs to be done, Father, if that means I am damned to Hell. Now, you should understand that or you mistake me."

I also have one of my more interesting theatre stories to tell. Anyway, the two guys sitting in front of Ally and I in the theatre kept on talking during the first scene of the play, so I shhed them. So, finally, this girl sitting next to them turned back to me and asked me what was wrong and I made a symbol like "they're talking," so anyway, she explained that the one guy was translating the play for the other one. So I felt sort of torn: do I feel bad for this guy who also wants to understand the play or do I acknowledge the fact that, no matter what the guy's situation, it's rude to talk during the play? Anyway, they stopped translating, and I felt pretty bad. So at the end of the show, Ally offered to pay for the ticket for the guy who didn't get to hear the show, but he wouldn't take the money. I felt really awkard, because I should've been the one to offer to pay if either of us would, but I also didn't totally feel like it was appropriate to have to pay for his seat when I felt he was in the wrong. I feel sort of bad for the guy. He wasn't being all that disruptive, but I was pretty distracted. It's as if you're in a movie and the two people immediately in front of you (and, being so high up, you have to look down through the people to see the play) are whispering. Oy...what a situation.

Anyway, tomorrow, I'm going home. David's boyfriend is coming up, so I'm giving them alone time. Plus, I miss my family, and I get to see our new couch and the new PT Cruiser that they bought and my grandparents. Tomorrow, I'm also beginning my job search process before I leave. It sucks that I'm so afraid to take the subway that I'll have to take a cab. Bleh. I'll survive, I suppose.

Ahh, the relief.

Oh what a relaxing day today was. Well, for the most part. I woke up about an hour before my classes started to study for my German quiz and memorize "So We'll Go No More A-Roving" by Byron for my Great Poems class.

My classes went pretty well. The quiz was pretty difficult, but I suppose I survived it. I didn't get chosen to recite the poem, and I barely said a word in Great Poems. Now, don't get me wrong, I really enjoy that class, but I really don't feel that I'm very good at discussing poems. I'm excited though, because next week we have to read things from Leaves of Grass, by Whitman, and I like that. Today marked the end of the process of writing my essay for Writing the Essay, and it was a relief to turn in the final draft.

After classes were over, I felt almost like I had nothing to do. No homework, no other plans. I met up with Ally after class, as she had apparently been stalking me, and we had a snack. I walked her home and then had dinner with my floor (bacon double cheeseburger...mmm).

After that, I did laundry for a long time and talked online. I walked with David to Space Market and then to Morton Williams. Then I walked him to the bus stop, because he was going to visit a friend at Water Street, which means I get the room to myself tonight.

I'm going home this weekend, and I'm quite excited. I miss my parents, and it will be nice to see the familiar places once again. There will be a new couch and a new family car awaiting me, so things should be exciting.

I think I'm going to look for a job on Friday before I go home. I really need an income so I can continue to indulge myself with Broadway outings. And also so I can save up some money and possibly contribute to my tuition and the payment of my loans. Ah, I'm becoming such an adult.

Anyway, I have two classes tomorrow: German and QR, with a nice break in between. I dread lecture, but I'll probably bring something to keep myself occupied as I wait for some sort of revelatory statement that brings me back into the lesson.

I enjoy the 12th Floor. People are so friendly. We're going to kick ass in Floor Wars. (Y'all some bitches, other floors).

Have I said yet how excited I am to see Sweeney Todd next Thursday? I haven't been this excited for a show since Wicked, and the material of that show is so far inferior to Sweeney that it makes me even more excited. Good grief! I've decided that I absolutely love Michael Cerveris (who plays Sweeney), so I hope he does the role justice. I like him on the Assassins CD and in the Passion concert and on the Tommy CD. I can't wait for the new Sweeney CD (released by Nonesuch, which does such a pretty job with its cast recordings).

Oh my. It's nice that I have some time to be preoccupied with musicals rather than school work.

A normal day.

Today was such a normal day. I was going to get up really early to try to get tickets for The Pajama Game with Harry Connick, Jr. or The Color Purple. Instead, I got up way too late and saved myself money. From 12 to 3ish, I worked on my essay for Writing the Essay, because a second draft was due. Then, I went to my 3:30 Writing the Essay class. Afterwards, I did my homework for German, ate dinner at Kimmel with Ally (yay! Asian food), and then did my QR homework, which was so easy that I could have completed it in fourth grade. Oh my.

Now, Ruthie is visiting my room. I enjoy having guests.

Tonight is Sweeney Todd's first preview, and, so far the reviews from those who have seen it have been amazing. Supposedly, the direction and acting are incredibly amazing.

Good night.

"The Light in the Piazza" and Central Park

Well, today, I journeyed uptown. I had originally set out to visit a museum, but I took the wrong subway and ended up on 5th Avenue and 53rd Street near MoMA. Once I was there, I decided I really wansn't in much of a museum mood. I decided to walk around the theatre district when I happened by Dirty Rotten Scoundrels just a few moments before the lottery was going to be drawn. I stuck my name in, figuring that, if I lucked out, I would buy the ticket, and, if I didn't, so be it. I lost the lottery and then walked around some more until I happened upon Spelling Bee. Now, I had thought this show didn't have performances on Sunday, but there was a lottery bucket out and it was near the drawing time, so I tried that one too and lost. Anyway, by this time my "If I lose, I lose" attitude had worn out, so I went up to Lincoln Center and got a rush ticket to The Light in the Piazza, which, I believe, is artistically my favorite musical on Broadway. I can't help but be swept up by the rich melodies and the warm hues of the costumes and scenery. Plus, Kelli O'Hara and Victoria Clark are amazing as Clara and Margaret Johnson.

After the show, I took a walk through Central Park, as there was still a good deal of daylight. I lingered longer in Strawberry Fields than I did last time. The whole time I walked through the park, I had my John Lennon music on. It's so sad to walk through the area with the "Imagine" mosaic. I love how, every day, there are decorations on the mosaic to celebrate John Lennon. Today, there were rosebuds, sunflowers, and autumnal vegetables (small pumpkin, apples). I also went to the Great Lawn, Turtle Pond, Belvedere Castle, and Bethesda Fountain.

I'm so tired right now. I have to tweak my essay for Writing the Essay, because the second draft of that is due tomorrow. I'm very hungry, so I guess I'll go eat now.

"Battle of the Floor Cheers"

So, even though I woke up extremely late today, the day did not go to waste! I spent the afternoon watching the people on my floor devise our cheer for Floor Wars. I also went to Halloween Adventure to get the swords for our cheer. That store is pretty amazing. I'm thinking of being Boy George for Halloween, and I should be able to find all that I need there and at the store Love Saves the Day that I found in the East Village.

Anyway, our floor cheer was amazing. Our theme is pirates, so we had a pirate-themed banner with amazing lettering. We played the Pirates of the Caribbean theme as we entered. Then, we had several chants and a sword-fighting scene. It was pretty amazing. We took home first place! Afterwards, we went out to the Washington Square Diner to celebrate, and I had a tea and ordered ice cream that never came, thus saving myself money.

I'm thinking of going to a movie or museum tomorrow for a little excitement, but we'll see at what time I wake up tomorrow morning.

Late Awakening and the Opening Ceremonies

Well, I just woke up at 3:30 PM. That's a record for me. Of course, I went to bed after 4 last night. I'm a silly, silly boy. Well, at least I got a lot of sleep. I feel sort of refreshed.

Tonight is the opening cermony for Floor Wars, a competition between the floors of my dorm building, Hayden. Our floor is the reigning floor, so we have a lot to live up to. Last year, the theme was "The 12th Floor Empire," as in Star Wars. This year, we're going with a pirate theme. It's kind of neat.

Anyway, this is probably mostly the only thing that will happen today in my life, considering I'm such a lazy ass. I should have gotten up much earlier even if I didn't have anything interesting to do.

Welcome

Well, I think that Blogger looks slightly nicer than xangas do, so I think I'll be blogging on this site from now on. You can check out my posts in NYC so far at http://www.xanga.com/SkywiseYero . Basically, most of what I do consists of sitting around, going to class, going to see shows on Broadway and around town, and walking around the city. Maybe sometimes I'll have interesting observations. Other times I may not. We'll just have to see.