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.