Day 16

Let me introduce you to some of the kids in my group.

We are group D. Yesterday after orientation I came down to the lobby to find Matt and Kate dictating to the group, made up of then-strangers all sitting in a circle. Now, being theatre people, we are all shamelessly in each other's business. Matt is kind of our... Mother Hen. He wears it with pride. He announces where our next class is being held and makes sure that everyone is accounted for. I like it. Trevor, from North Carolina, is our token feminine-but-no-one-knows-if-he's-gay kid, whom I call Nicknamer McGee. He insists on giving everyone nicknames. He calls me Legs because I have ridiculously long legs and because I wore shorts yesterday and also because I wore spandex shorts in our dance class today. He calls other people by the city they are from. My scene partner is called Vancouver... (why I keep getting stuck with Canadians in my dorms and theatre classes I don't know.) He's a pleasantly plump kid with earrings and glasses and a truly delightful chuckle. We had fun exploring the New York Public Library at Lincoln Center today and were scheming how we could get our hands on their endless archives of Broadway productions that have been filmed over the years... it makes me drool to think of it. Reagan (that's her real name, not her city, or a nickname) is from Alabama. She says "yes ma'am" and "yes sir" and it freaks our calloused New York acting teachers out. She also has no uvula. Gean-Marco Soressi is not Italian. He just looks 100% Italian and has an Italian name and kind of speaks with an Italian accent. He was genuinely confused when everyone kept asking him where he was from upon meeting him. "Washington D.C.," he would answer, as if it were obvious. He is so bizarre.

The walk home from Barnes and Noble tonight (after reading the entire "Letters to a Young Poet" by Rilke, because I didn't want to buy it and because it's due first thing tomorrow morning) was kind of lonely! I was walking by all these restaurants and seeing couples sharing their dinner, swooning over candlelight, filling up on pasta or sushi or cheesecake or wine. And after a day of dancing and tromping around mid-town looking for copies of plays to read and scenes that should be memorized by next week I was pretty exhausted and I just wanted to be home. (And isn't it remarkable that this IS my home?) Luckily I had just read Rilke's advice in a letter to Kappus which said,

"Do not be frightened if a sadness rises up before you larger than any you have ever seen. You must think that something is happening with you, not that life has forgotten you."

I loved that and it brought me comfort after such a long day. More tomorrow, praise be to Allah! I am still constantly surprised to be here! I really hope I wake up here again. That would be the best.

Love.

Day 15 - I love this opportunity

Hi everyone!

Many thanks for the encouraging emails, texts, phone calls, etc - I had a fantastic first day of school and feel so privileged to have this opportunity for the summer. I had three classes today after our general orientation. Every Monday we have what are called Seminars where guest artists/speakers will come and talk to us. Today was the founder of Circle in the Square, Theodore Mann. He is very old. My first class was Classical Text, which means we are working on archaic text and Shakespeare and things. The teacher is incredibly intense and I anticipate getting my butt kicked by her, which is just what I need. Terry, my other teacher of the day, is 88 years old and still kickin. Well. Okay, I wouldn't use kickin to describe this woman's actions, but she is incredibly insightful and can read people like a book. I'm excited for these classes and look forward to learning as much as I can this summer.

Have I mentioned how much I love street performers?

I saw In the Heights tonight - the 2008 Tony Award winner for Best Musical. It was a really amazing production - they also won Best Choreography, and I can now fully see why. It was non-stop energy, movement, music, drama, and a very moving story told very passionately. I always appreciate actors who give themselves fully to their audience and to their story - it makes it so much more believable and just pulls me right into the palm of their jazz hands.

Love to all!

Day 14 and I'm a giddy school girl

I START SCHOOL TOMORROW. I packed my lunch, it's in the fridge. (and I left a note on the front door to not forget my lunch and to have a good first day!) I laid out my outfit, it's pretty cute. I showered in case I wake up late. I have my bag all packed and ready with about five photocopies of my class schedule in case I get mugged on the way to school and they happen to want my class schedule. I'm just extremely excited. Unfortunately (or fortunately, depending on how you look at it) my schedule on Mondays is really pretty mellow. We'll have an Orientation in the morning, which should be neat, but then I don't have my first class until noon. And then I'm done by 4:30. Sooo it will a real casual day for me. Get back to me on Wednesday when I have class from 9:30a-6:30p.

Today was a beautiful day here in Manhattan. It was pretty humid but you know how I love that. I don't have any photos today. I tried to enjoy myself and take very few things with me when I went on a short walk earlier. I am going to wind down for the night and go to bed early. I'm sure I will lay there with wide eyes for about three hours like most kids do the night before school starts. It should be great.

My roomie Liz just brought me a beater of cookie dough. Don't be jealous.

"The cure for boredom is curiosity.

There is no cure for curiosity."

- Dorothy Parker

As always, love to all.

Day 13 - crazy cuckoo!

Well hello. I'm tired. This morning I woke up for an early yoga class, with the same instructor I had last night. As usual, I came away feeling happy and healthily centered. My goal for the day was to obtain my library card. I took the train to 42nd and walked a few blocks to 5th Avenue. I intersected with this American-Asian Pride Parade thing. So that was cool. I went over to Bryant Park to watch a few countries go by with their flags and things. I was thinking to myself, "If America had a pride parade, what would the music on our float be? Country music?" I have always liked that about these other countries - they have cool garb and things.

Tibet's parading peeps:

This little girl was adorable, waving and smiling like a pageant queen:

Bryant Park:

YES, this photo depicts a carousel - you can see it in the distance. I went over, so excited, and they wouldn't let me ride it because I'm "too big"!! I was so sad. :-(

Well, I was pretty much done with the parade so I walked a few blocks and found the New York Public Library. I was greeted by Aslan the lion from the Chronicles of Narnia:

It is so beautiful in this library, my goodness! We couldn't use any flash on photography, so I apologize for the blurry photos...

Me in the Reading Room right after I was issued my library card!!! I was the happiest girl in the land!

This big main branch is the one on 42nd and 5th Ave. It is not a circulation branch so you can't actually check any books out - instead, you can use these Reading Rooms and it was packed with folks reading and on their laptops and things. It is GORGEOUS inside this place - the ceilings are all beautiful murals and the windows and arches and chandeliers are all just amazingly beautiful. Thanks to my mother, I have a healthy love of books and a deep respect for sanctuaries such as these.

Random dude in a subway station - I talked to him for a bit and he said I should sing in the subway sometime. Mayyyybe I willl...

On my walk home I saw this beauty and had to sit down on some apartment steps and take it all in. How amazing is this cloud? I wish you could have seen it in person...

I got a snack and then headed out to do my grocery shopping. Halfway there it started pouring rain on me. Umm P.S. four flights of stairs is exhausting with three bags full of groceries... Ugh... (Thanks to Tristen for all the healthy-eating-know-how!)

TONIGHT WAS A REUNION! I found out my friends Riley and Jon moved to the City from Salt Lake!! I met up with them and their friends Eric and Maggie tonight - it was such a pleasant rendezvous! From L-R it's Jon, me, Riley, Eric, Maggie. We ate at Tony's - a family-style Italian place on the Upper East side. It was delicious. I had a blast and we were stuffed by the end... Mmm...

Overall I'd say I had a pretty fantastic day. I accomplished what I set out to do and I finally had some normal social interaction with familiar faces :-)

Love to all!

Grand Central Station Tour

If you want to read a ton of info about the tour of Grand Central Station, read on in this post, it's ALL information from the tour.

***OTHERWISE: SKIP TO THE NEXT POST!***

(just scroll down for many moons until you see the title "Another Good Day")

I learned SO MUCH on this tour about the station. This is just some of the most interesting stuff my guide talked about. He teaches seminars, gives lectures, and does tours for all kinds of stuff. Check out his website if you're interested.

So, this is a portion of the notes I was frantically scribbling in my Moleskine and will now try to decipher for you:

We were standing in the main terminal and were told to look in each of the windows - there were statues carved depicting all sorts of symbols of travel - wheels, carts, luggage. boxes, cars, trains, etc. Then, on the ceiling, as you may have seen in the video clip, there are constellations painted onto a night sky - the most timeless and dependable travel companion in the history of Z world!

(I apologize that I don't have tons of photos to accompany this info. I was caught up in my writing and trotting along at his heels asking all sorts of questions during this time.)

The tour guide, Peter, really stressed how a building speaks to us - how architecture serves a purpose and tells a story. When you entire Grand Central Station from Lexington Avenue, the ceiling is low, the walkway is narrow. The building is telling you to hurry up, to get out of the way, to enter or exit quickly depending on your direction. As you walk in to the terminal, things start to open up, you emerge into the main terminal, and the light pours over you. This is meant to feel like a spiritual experience - I tried to be receptive to it and it really did feel like being lifted up, kind of cool. Stairways on each end of the terminal are fashioned after those in a Paris Opera house. When you enter this station you enter in style. It was fascinating to watch the people ascending/descending the stairs. Nearly every single person would slow his/her pace and at least 80% of the people would pause for a moment to take in his/her surroundings. It was so interesting. That's the way the stairs were intended to function.

The vast windows on each end of the terminal have been said to be the greatest in the world. There are catwalks on the outside where you can see folks walking to work or men working on the windows cleaning them. New York gets HOT - and how would you go about cooling a place that hosts 500,00 bodies per day? You simply open the windows. It's like air conditioning. New York also gets unforgivingly cold in the winters with harsh winds. How do you heat this place? You close the windows and allow those same 500,000 bodies to emit 98 degrees of heat as they pass through the terminal. It heats itself. Remarkable, no?

This place was going to be demolished in the 50's. In 1995 a major renovation happened. The entire terminal was cleaned from top to bottom by hundreds of men and women, scrubbing away every day. There is a single rectangular piece on the ceiling where the decay and dirt was left as a witness of those times - I tried to get a photo but it was so high up, I couldn't get a good one.

The terminal went through a phase where huge Kodak pictures were strewn across in 40ft banners and that huge clock was installed, but those banners were taken down and the clock was removed - now only a flat-screen that occasionally flashes advertisements. This was to preserve the art of the humans moving through the space - to make that natural phenomenon the singular living, breathing creative process to occur there.

You can imagine how many people arrived here from all around the country on long-distance trains. In the area of the station where these folks arrive, they were vomited into a corridor that has incredibly low ceilings and narrow hallways - again, the message is clear: keep moving, knucklehead, and learn how to walk faster, and oh yeah - welcome to New York City. 270 of these trains would arrive in one day - about every 3 to 5 minutes a new train would pull in. It would dispose of its passengers and then wait in another part of the tracks for a few hours for people to come back and get things they forgot, etc. This level of long-distance arrivals is an entire floor above those who arrive for their commute. Why? Because commuters are LATE. And these exhausted travelers are slow, lost, and in the way. Smart, huh?

Once the long-distance travelers instinctively move through the corridor and past the "Kissing Room" where families/friends could reunite, their eyes fall upon shops and open hallways. "Heyy, relax, spend some money, have a cupcake." A warmer welcome at last. Then you can either walk up the ramp out to a taxi stand or walk straight onto the most expensive subway system in the world. These people were immediately granted total access to the City.

A hotel was built on top of the station, but there was no need to go out of the way to accommodate those who arrived - this train station was such a success that hotels opened up all over the block for the new arrivals. So, Grand Central had a bunch of space to use. The CBS radio station found its home in a portion of this station, as well as tennis courts, and the Campbell Apartment, which is now home to the most elegant cocktails in all of New York City. That lounge was just exquisite, but so dimly lit you couldn't get a proper photo.

This is some interesting stuff, and then I'll wrap it up: the trains are located 2 stories below street level. The commuter level, again, is 3 stories below street level. All of these terminals are accessible without stepping on a single stair - it is all connected by ramps - but as we were walking I didn't notice for one second whether we were going up or down, because the inclines are so slight... It was fascinating. Hence, the station is called the "Great, stairless terminal." And why? Because steps slow you down. Move, move, move!

60 tracks across, 2 stories underground, it spans from 42nd Street to 50th and from Lexington Avenue to Madison... In 1929 the entrance to Grand Central looked like this (you'll recognize those massive windows from the photo I posted of inside the terminal):

(Now the streets are level with the one shown here - there is no ramp)

Land is infinitely precious in New York and there was no time to waste! ... Streets were built and joined by metal plates. Buildings were built upon steel beams. The European-style Park Avenue turned into one of the most expensive streets in all of America, and millionaires were moving out of their mansions into apartments on 5th. Everyone wanted in. The richest, most intelligent people in America (and really, the world, because of its draw and attracting folks from every country on the planet who could make their way here) were now living in this area on top of blocks and blocks of trains.

While standing on the sidewalk at the end of the tour, I looked down and saw the jagged cracks and splitting concrete. This is due to the hundreds of trains passing beneath my feet, and beneath the streets of New York all day every day, rumbling and tumbling through the earth, taking all 8 million people of New York City to their destinations.

Another good day. Imagine that.

Welcome to today's post.

Bonjour, mon cheveaux. (Hello, my hair.)

This morning I woke up to what may be the most annoying noise I've ever heard in my life. A bird that should have lost its life long ago due to disturbing the peace was squawking in a way that said, "WHYYYY AM I STILL ALIIIVE? I'M SO ANNOYIIIING..." So I got up, showered, and headed out. I got a bagel from some random place on 72nd. (I think the shop was literally called 72nd's Bagels) Then I sat at the subway station in a little plaza and ate it before hopping on board the 1 Train and going down to 42nd. Then I walked a few blocks to Lexington Avenue to the location listed online for Grand Central Station tours to meet. I was five minutes late due to a late train, and there was no one in sight. I ran across the street inside the Terminal and looked around, asked some tellers at a few windows, and no one was helpful. I had just about had it, super upset about missing my long-awaited tour of this magnificent place. I walked down to the center of the terminal and shot this little number:

I was standing there craning my neck to see the constellations painted on the ceiling when I heard a loud obnoxious voice (I thought the bird that woke me up had somehow followed me to the station) - I looked and saw a man with a clipboard. A TOUR GUIDE! I went over and listened. THE TOUR! The Universe had smiled upon me once again. I thanked it.

These are the lovely giant windows that serve an incredible purpose, described above in the tour-info post. :-)

After the tour I was wandering along 51st and saw this well-kept New York secret:

New Yorkers, despite all their success and achievement, are terribly insecure for being told they are such a pushy population. So, they have these "Security Booths" on the streets for people to step into and gain their confidence back before braving the crowded streets once more. I wanted to go inside but a man in a really nice suit shoved his way in before me and started bawling.

As many of you know, I absolutely love Cathedrals. This is St. Patrick's:





It was absolutely beautiful inside and sooo peaceful. I love that there are places on this earth that simply demand silence - some castles and gardens I saw in Spain had this same feeling. Some beaches in Hawai'i have this feeling. It is so poignant. How neat that amidst all the business buildings, apartments, stores, taxis, and restaurants there is this massive church in the center of it all - doors open - and inside is total calm and quiet.

Then I found a subway station that had trains to get me home. I was standing on the platform where the front of the train stopped so you can't see the full speed of it pulling in, but this is a video for those who have never taken a subway/tube/metro/trax ride. (kidding about trax. kinda.)

Once home, I made an early dinner and headed off to POWER YOGA! It was a total butt-kicker but so spiritually/mentally/physically cleansing. I was loving it and pushed myself to try some new things. The instructor was fabulous - better than the one I had on Wednesday, so I'm going to her class tomorrow to enjoy more Yogi wisdom. :-)

Love to all. Namaste.

"Hello A.D.D., meet N.Y.C."

I have many humorous things to share with you, my nearest and dearest most loyal blog readers.

First, I was on the phone with mom earlier when I said, "I never really make it to my destinations on time because I get so distracted on the way there." She said, "Yeah, a person with ADD in New York - good luck!" We got a good laugh out of that. It's so true though. I told her I need like a GPS chip in my head in that monotone voice saying, "Continue forward. Do not look side to side." Or I need a dog cone: [Insert Ali Here].

Next, I find the snippets of conversations of the people I pass in large crowds to be absolutely fascinating - since I am not engaged in conversation I am constantly hearing these pieces from all around me, and today I heard this kid say, "I mean, I think about getting hit by lightning all the TIME!" ..... I literally whipped around to see who had said that, and I kid you not, this guy was the most pastey-white Dungeons & Dragons Extraordinaire material I've ever seen. He truly is the least likely candidate imaginable for being struck by lightning because I'm fairly positive he must have gotten lost and wandered above ground from his mother's basement...

One of my absolutely favorite things about this city is that no matter where I go I am always surrounded by two or more languages. I'm on the subway and have German on one side of me, French on the other, and I'm sitting across from Japanese people. It is truly amazing. Throughout all my traveling I've never known another place to feel like being in another country as well as the Heart of America simultaneously.

That reminds me of the next thing I wanted to say: I am so happy that we were raised well-traveled. I love that Lane took us on so many vacations and that I can navigate effectively. Granted, I don't always do things in a straight-shot, but I sure know where I'm supposed to be and how to get there. I have just been taking my time... for example...

How could you regret wandering around and stumbling upon this? I came across this beauty while I was walking in the wrong direction to Time's Square. How grateful I was to have found it. I stopped, sat on the side of the fountain, and wrote in my Moleskine and watched people for probably thirty minutes. I really had nowhere else to be (a luxury I'm taking advantage of before classes start on Monday) and I wasn't in a hurry. Behind me was a bunch of food stands (another fascinating thing about this city, how accessible food is) and people rushing around with shopping bags and cell phones. But here, in front of me, was serenity. And a nice misty breeze that felt and smelled like nectar in the heat.

All that sitting and doing nothing made me hungry so I got an afternoon snack at Au Bon Pain, a cute cafe that is here in New York and other places of genius like Boston. I love apple strudel. (Don't be jealous.)

It was here that I was talking to mom and said, "The combination of my love of food and my taste in men is going to have me married to a tall skinny boy who loves me and won't notice me getting fat and we'll end up like an insect couple: the preying mantis and the ladybug." *sigh* HOWEVER! This morning I did my part to fight obesity. I went to a personal training session at my gym and had my butt royally kicked by a giant mass of a man named Garth. After an hour of intense workout I wanted to cry, but my body was thanking me. Having taken that step in my personal fitness I passed on the option to go to Yoga tonight.

I spent the rest of the afternoon/evening walking around the city for about 2 1/2 hours, sitting in plazas and watching people, going into shops, and eventually ending up here in Time's Square at the TKTS booth, just sitting on the steps and observing everyone. You can see the insanity of the line of people on the left side of this photo - they are all waiting in line for discounted tickets to shows. Now you know what I mean when I tell you I'm going to TKTS for tickets. What I really mean is: I'm going to Disneyland for a few hours.

After lots of people-watching and a failed attempt at getting lottery tickets to Wicked, I headed home and grabbed some delicious bar-be-que from a local place right by my apartment. As I was standing there waiting for my food to-go, I saw the announcement on TV that Michael Jackson died. It was at that very moment that his song "The Way You Make Me Feel" came on - how bizarre is that?! Everyone in the restaurant was a little freaked out by the irony... Now it's time to see some dancers get kicked off So You Think You Can Dance.

Love to all!

Blerpader

Nothing too amazing to share about today in terms of touristy stuff, but I had some really ground-breaking things happen for me personally! Early afternoon-ish I went to my voice lesson with Phil Hall, a Musical Theatre coach here in the city. We worked on the piece I'll be presenting in the workshop when classes start next week - it's called "But The World Goes Round." (Dave! This is your song!)

I found it apropos to include me in front of the giant globe in Columbus Circle!

I am trying really hard to figure out a way to post a 2min mp3 clip to this blog from my lesson to give you an idea of what we're working on... maybe Christine can help me figure out how to post mp3 files. Or Jude how did you post a video? Anyway, it's called "mixed belt" and the purpose is to sing healthily while sounding like you're belting. Ha. Pretty easy shmeesy, right?...Actually it's one of the the hardest things I've done in three years, even after all I've learned from studying strictly classical voice! I should note that I'm incredibly grateful for my classical training and the fabulous work Julie has done with me - and can now truly see how beneficial it has been and how it has opened infinite doors to all kinds of styles and techniques that I now get to start dabbling in...

I came home and napped and things and then tonight I went to Yoga. I finally achieved this pose:

Oh wait - no, sorry - that's a picture I found on google. And that man is out of his mind. Well, actually, he's probably more enlightened than any of us looking at his photo. My POINT is that the class was fantastic. I loved it and needed it and enjoyed every sweaty moment. I found myself smiling a few times in different poses as a manifestation of my body's appreciation for taking care of myself. I'm going again tomorrow - "oooommmm..." (Ruby, no Tibetan bells at this studio. Wah.)

Tonight I watched So You Think You Can Dance and enjoyed resting my feet and my sore body. It's been raining, but tomorrow is supposed to be super beautiful so hopefully I can get tickets to Shakespeare in the Park tomorrow night!

Getting Lost and Liking It

Well, I have failed in one regard: a huge event happened today I didn't get a single photo of! I had a rendezvous with my friend Alyson, whom I met on my plane ride to my L.A. audition for Circle in the Square. She works for an architect firm here in New York, and is brilliant in so many ways. She is single, incredibly successful, and full of energy and life. I found it very uplifting to be around her. I took the subway to her office and met up with her there. We went to a nearby place for sushi (delicious) and caught up. She is a delightful human being. We're going to get together again soon.

Then, I did something I haven't really done yet in New York... I got lost. Kind of on purpose. I took the subway up to what I thought was 81st, and it ended up being EAST 81st, (I live on West 81st) which means I was several blocks and the whole width of Central Park away from my apartment. Good one, AL. I finally found 5th Avenue, which was familiar, and - souprize! The Metropolitan Museum of Art! (The "Mmmm...ah" as Julia called it, versus the "Mohmah" - MOMA) Ta duh la! (See below!)

I spent over two hours inside this exhibit called "The Pictures Generation." It was such a pleasant stumble-upon type experience. I was so bummed, we weren't allowed to take any photography in the exhibit, so you won't get to see the entirety of what I did this afternoon. But I took this one illegal photo - Barbara Kruger's art really stood out to me... She did prints like this one - big bold lettering with pretty aggressive statements concerning war, feminism, and other heavy issues...

Then, I met this freaky disaster:

***please click on this photo and notice the gentlemen squatting over my right shoulder. bwahh!

It was MASSIVE - it took up the entire roof of the museum. What is it? I have no idea. The security guard had no idea. In his Russian accent he said to me, "This I do not know. I not understanding it - was surprise for me too." HA! Apparently he showed up to work one day and was told to guard this. As if someone will be walking away with it on a leash at any moment... It was incredibly cool, don't get me wrong, and MASSIVE, but just bizarre...

I liked this one.

OKAY, and then I came back down to the ground level and looked at some Greek art for about a half hour. I love Greek statues. Maybe because they're all naked. I walked up to this particular statue from behind to admire the intricacy of how her braids were sculpted...

Then I walked around to the front of her and found out that she was killing herself for having just been raped. The Greeks had some sad situations, I think.

They also, despite the persistent nature of their nude men, seem to always attempt to cover up... though they really suck at it, to be honest. Like, really, what kind of effort is this? ("Oh! I'm naked? Silly me! I'll just put my hand above my chest so that people think I'm not doing it on purpose!") LIES! (But, like I said, I don't mind it one bit. If I was a Greek sculpture I would prefer to be naked for eternity, too.)

Then, I got lost. Again. I walked down this path and under this epically beautiful tunnel, though my picture doesn't do it justice, and ended up...

HERE:

How GORGEOUS is that? I sat here for sooo long, and wrote for a bit. I was in Central Park somewhere.

After what must have been another mile of walking, I found a street. Hooray. A street. Then I found a Nail Salon. Hooray, a Nail Salon! Then I got a pedicure. My feet were sooo happy.

Around 5:15pm I met up with Stephanie Sundine - the most fabulous inspiration of a woman who directed our Opera in the Spring at the U. We went to Cafe Lalo - a very well-known and very DELICIOUS cafe. I got some kind of spinach/feta/potato/delight torte of magical wonder. It was so good. We had a great chat.

BACK TO TIME'S SQUARE! To see my next show...

After three acts, and over three hours of intensely emotional laughter and tears, I was truly moved by this piece of theatre. It tells the story of a freakishly messed up family whose patriarch commits suicide and leaves his already-dysfunctional family in a state of madness and confusion. The dialogue is like nothing I've ever seen live - I just loved it. I left the theatre feeling a mixture of grief and desperation to never be a part of an experience like that in real life. It's amazing how Art can move us. I'm loving every moment of this adventure.