Happy Tired

I am morbidly curious to know how many miles I've walked in the last three days, but then, I sort of don't want to know. I know it's a lot. I know I've got unique but equally painful shin splints in each leg. My right arch is still hurting, which it probably wouldn't if I hadn't been on my feet for three days straight but I haven't had much of a choice. Thursday and Friday I'll have off to try and recover, but it's no big deal. One of my hips was bugging me pretty badly today and my core and ribcage are both sore for some unfathomable reason. QED, festival is hard, even on super-intern, and I've only been in town for half of it. I can only imagine that I'd feel exponentially worse if I'd been here for the whole week like the rest of the team.

Not that I'm complaining. The physical discomfort doesn't detract from the immense satisfaction I take in being exceptionally competent at an exceptional number of things. I was trained on the light board today and will be running the show lights all by myself tomorrow which I am tremendously excited about, even if it's just up and down cues forty minutes apart. I had an adventure at the post office, argued with incompetent copy clerks at Staples, and made a good impression at a literary agency while making a delivery. All of which are things that I feel good about. I've learned a bit about Front-of-House and ushering, ate really good soup, and drank essentially a sippy-cup full of coffee and life was just awesome. And for three days I have not counted calories because I'm pretty sure I walked about seven miles each of those days.

Satisfaction.

I'll write more later - I've got a lot of irons in a lot of fires right now, and I'll be updating on various projects as they get worked on. This week so far I've scarcely had a spare minute to think, let alone work on things like Like a Dog in Space or the guide. But Thursday, Friday, and this weekend are my days.

And for now?

I'm happy-tired. :)

I went to a protest.

There was a big march from campus down to the Occupy Wall Street protests today, and I hopped on because one of my professors gave us an assignment to attend. I felt sort of conspicuous being a "protest tourist," but with so many people there I don't think I stuck out. We walked really far but it didn't seem like it - all the way from west fourth to south of City Hall, and there was a lot of just queuing around waiting for the police to let us through. No one was arrested or roughed up where I was - one of the friends from class who walked down with me has been to the protests something like six times working on a photography project, and she explained that a lot of the police in the blue-shirted uniforms feel like they should be walking the protest but their supervisors (white shirts) are keeping them in line.

Some of the people there didn't seem clear on what they were protesting. I wasn't entirely clear on what they were protesting. Mostly I was just amazed by the sheer number of people. I'd hazard to say that there's a lot of anger in America, but it's not particularly focused - there's no clear idea of how to go about making things better short of nebulous things like "Tax the rich," "Nationalize healthcare," and other things the corporations will never let happen. There was a lot of anger about the bank bailouts and I think the lack of jobs? 

I have other pictures but this is the only one I have handy. I took it while we were standing on the steps outside City Hall. 

I'll be frank and admit that there probably wasn't any real reason for me to be at that protest. I've had a comfortable, financially-secure childhood. But at the same time I had every reason to be at that protest, because I'm a college student and I don't want to have to live off my parents forever and in a year or two... that's the world I'm walking out into. But I'm also a privileged white girl who shouldn't be complaining but who knows. 

I'm glad I went. I'm glad I was there. I'm glad I saw what it was about, even if I don't entirely understand what it was really about.

Just gonna toss a Regina Spektor song here and quietly sneak out the back.

-Leez

So it's about ten at night...

And I am finally settled in to my dorm! A lot of people thought I was crazy when I described my place for this year as a "Single Bedroom Triple" but it's really not so bad! It's bigger than any room I've lived in so far and is super-quiet and has AMAZING VIEWS. WINDOWS ON TWO SIDES. SO MUCH NATURAL LIGHT. It took me longer to get unpacked than I would have liked because I wound up helping my friend try to assemble an IKEA shelf unit at his new apartment and... we were not handy enough. But the place is literally the size of a shoebox so it doesn't surprise me that we didn't have room to maneuver. Also he's probably paying more a month than I am and besides the part where I have two roommates I think I definitely win, because his place is dark and awkward and basically a glorified hallway. I mean it has windows but they're airshaft-view. :|

So that's just me checking in! Had a really delicious dinner at a little Japanese place in St. Marks - a big Buddha's Delight style udon soup with like a metric ton or mushrooms and sliced carrots and tofu and scallions - even had enough left over to take some home to eat tomorrow (which is good because I haven't bought groceries yet! Oops!)

Let's not talk about the nervous breakdown I nearly had moving my stuff over from storage, ok?

:)

-Leez

One sleep and then I'm there~

So I head back to NYC tomorrow! This is terrifically exciting except it reminds me that I never typed up my pitch for my play idea and class is on tuesday and I really ought to probably do that tonight. I'm really looking forward to this year, though. I'm excited about basically every single class I'm taking - the pair of anthro courses should be awesome because basically the earlier back in human history it is the more I like it and one is paleolithic archeology and one is human evolution so COME ON THIS SHOULD BE AMAZING. And also Playwriting II is going to be the most incredible thing ever, not even exaggerating, and FSA should be cool, and I AM TAKING A TAP DANCE CLASS, HOORAY.

Got my hair cut two days ago... it wound up too dark and my bangs are still kind of uneven and a little too short but it's better than the shaggy shaggy sheepdog look I was rocking. They'll grow out and look a bit better, whereas before it was just sort of like "Well, okay, I can't see."

So, what else...

I got the disk drive in my MacBook replaced because the original stopped reading things, and since it boots the disk drive when the computer starts up my computer makes a completely different noise when it boots now?

I need to email the internship I was trying to get and find out what's up?

I need to get on the ball with AUSA stuff?

And etc.

OKAY COOL.

NEW SCHOOL YEAR GO.

A riddle for the ages:

If I ate half of a cream puff, walked like a bazillion blocks, and then went home and ate the other half, does everything come out even, and is my self control and dignity intact?

Had an /amazing/ Fourth of July in the city!!!! Sushisamba miso soup is the best miso soup because it has cilantro in it and that is just amazing. Also their sushi is delicious. Also, have a shaky iphone video of things going kaboom. Otherwise known as the end of the NYC Macy's fireworks display. We couldn't get close enough to see /from/ the river, but we all stood in an intersection at twelfth and twenty-eighth and it was a pretty good view, all things considered.

Breathe in. Hold it.

This is the first time today I've really had a chance to chill out, and I'm about to go see if I can brave the crowds at Trader Joes and Duane Reade in exchange for groceries and toiletries... looks like a daunting task! But I got my bedding and dishes out of storage and feel like a super hero. I also vacuumed my dorm room and threw away a lot of rancid food from the fridge because apparently our suitemates don't understand how to clean up after themselves, but that's not really appropriate to go into on the blog.

Later tonight I'm planning an expedition - either solo or with friends - down to Battery Park City to watch the fireworks. Should be fun, right? More fun if I find friends, but either way.

Okay time to go find groceries.

Leez, over and out.

Summation of the Day

After class, I went to the AMNH to work on my anthropology semester project. Got some really great stuff and talked to a really helpful volunteer. I think I can use this.

It was gorgeous gorgeous gorgeous out, so instead of getting on the B-C train, I decided to walk across central park and catch a 4-5-6, which is a more direct route home.

The park was beautiful, the temperature was perfect, and everywhere I looked there were happy, shiny people living happy, shiny lives.

And then I got on the most crowded 5 train of my life. It was like the Tokyo subway (I am assuming). There was no room to breathe.

And right now the guys next door are having a horrible, horrible loud party for the fourth night in a row. Killing them would be bloody, but it would also be infinitely satisfying.

STOP CARRYING YOUR CIGARETTES AT HAND LEVEL (And other things)

On multiple occasions I have been walking down a crowded street, ostensibly paying attention to where I'm going and trying to stay out of people's ways, only to feel a sudden stab/burn/shock to one of my hands. Invariably, when I look behind me, I discover that some dumbass has stabbed me in the hand with a cigarette that they are nonchalantly carrying at hand level, on a crowded sidewalk.

I am sure I am not the only person who has managed to get stabbed with other people's cigarettes.

I mean really, what the hell.

In happier news, I made the school paper.

But really people please be more careful with your cigarettes.

Zoo day!

Today I went to the Bronx Zoo. It's kind of the wrong season for it, because it's cold and most of the animals are inside for the winter and it gets dark at like 4:30, but it was pretty fun. A lot of their exhibits (birds, primates, amphibians, reptiles....) are indoors, so we were still able to see them, and for $5 it's not really something to sniff at! Also they had tiger cubs and they were adorable. :) By the time we made it to the lions they'd already gone in for the day, though, and it seems like the zebras, wild dogs, and baboons were apparently never out at all today.

And it was cold and kind of an old, sad zoo with no sense to the layout and exhibits that were kind of prehistoric but it was fun and I met people and had a good time walking around talking to people.

So today was interesting.

Today, I:

1) Went to an AUSA (Anthropology Undergraduate Student Association) movie night and watched a documentary about the Amish.

2) Made new friends.

3) Played old school Super Smash Brothers

4) Went to a fucking awesome poetry smash.

5) Finally saw my amazing friend Chris perform (he's a hip-hop/rap artist and poetry slammer)

6) Was told by a random person in an elevator that they loved me.

7) Came home and finally watched the movie Moon.

8) Which is a fucking amazing movie. HERE'S A TRAILER, ADD IT TO YOUR NETFLIX QUEUE, IT IS AWESOME. Seriously, I think it's the only movie I've seen that actually manages to match the mood and style of 2001: A Space Odyssey and do a good job of it. I'm easily fascinated by speculative/realistic Sci Fi, but this was seriously amazing. Also I really like the theme music and I need it for my writing playlist.

They're dogs! They're dogs in space!

So my friend Lydia and I have decided that we are going to find ourselves a Yuri's Night party to go to, come hell or high water, and if we don't then we'll throw our own, eat pizza and astronaut ice cream and mocktails, and watch space-themed movies and TV shows. There's a long-established Yuri's Night party in NYC, but it's 21-and-up, and we happen to be... nineteen. So yeah, that's unlikely.

But what I would really like to get ahold of is a copy of this cute little kids movie that will probably never see an american release. They're dogs! In space! Based on a true story! What more can you say about it?

Anyway, April 12th 2011 is the 55th anniversary of Vostok 1, and we are going to celebrate it one way or another.

Unrepentant dorkatude

My idea of a perfect day is getting up at nine AM, printing off an assignment, and hopping a C train uptown to the American Museum of Natural History, a place I am alarmed to say I am beginning to understand the floorplan of. To me, the AMNH is like Hogwarts. For one thing, it's basically a castle. For another thing, it seems like the layout is constantly changing. You take a twisting hallway and two staircases in search of the entrance, and you wind up in an exhibit hall you've never heard of or seen before.

I spent a whole day there today - an hour or so in the hall of human origins, followed by lunch (following a tip from my anthropology TA, I tried the brownies in the first floor cafe - delish!), followed by an IMAX documentary about the hubble space telescope (absolutely amazing), followed by something like four hours in the Hall of Vertibrate Origins, the Hall of Dinosaurs, and the Hall of Mammals and Their Extinct Relatives doing an assignment for Evolution of the Earth.

It was educational.

For example, did you know that reptiles aren't a scientific clade? A clade includes a common ancestor and all of its descended species. Since the reptile category excludes birds, who are descended from dinosaurs (and technically dinosaurs themselves, because the entire definition is based around a shared hip structure). This kind of thing makes me geek out unrepentantly.

I also really wanted to smash some heads together in the Hall of Human Origins.

Guy looking at an exhibit:

"So which one of these is the human arm, and which isn't?"

His friend, pointing to a chimpanzee's arm bones:

"That's the human one. It has an opposable thumb." (Pointing to the human arm) "That doesn't."

Me, interrupting because I think they're dumbasses:

"No, that's a human arm, and it does have an opposable thumb. All primates do."

The first guy:

"Thanks. Man, I told you so!"

The same guys, later:

"So, why didn't all the monkeys evolve into humans?"

And then I went over to the Space Center gift shop to see if they had any books that might be useful to me, but they didn't - I think I got the last copy of Two Sides of the Moon (book review is PFAD... when I finish it, but it's terrific so far) and they just never got more Astronaut Biographies in after that, or else they restock their book selection less often than every two weeks. I thought about getting some Astronaut Ice Cream because I haven't had any since I went to space camp in fifth grade, but then I decided that if I wanted to eat stale marshmallows I'd just eat stale marshmallows, and I didn't want to eat stale marshmallows just because it was nostalgic to me.

(Do real astronauts eat astronaut ice cream, or is it just a space center gift shop gimmick? I might need to investigate.

But all in all it was pretty awesome, and then later when I was waiting for the subway home I somehow managed to get into the same car as my roommate's boyfriend. Don't ask me how, but when the train stopped there was this white guy with dreadlocks sitting right in front of me and I was like, "...Bez?" and he was like, "Hi." New York is surprisingly small once you start to know and recognize people - you run into the same group of people everywhere, even when you least expect it.

That was Halloween

We went to a Steampunk Haunted House and it was pretty awesome. Then we bought candy at Walgreens and watched Rocky Horror on DVD / I kind of watched and studied for a midterm monday morning. That movie makes no sense under the best circumstances and I'm afraid to say I've never really watched it properly - the only time I saw it on the big screen, I had a 100 degree fever and a headache. At any rate, it was pretty weird and confusing. But steampunk haunted house was amazing.

At some point, we decided I was dressed as the bastard lovechild of Lady Gaga and Marvin the martian.

(We stopped for pizza somewhere on the border of Chinatown and Sketchville.)

Don't you think I rocked the pink wig? :)

GUSTER.

Was amazing. My brother has lots of pictures of the interior of the Beacon theater (Both Guster and their opening act, Jukebox the Ghost made a big deal about how it was "The most gorgeous room they'd ever played in.") so I'll get those from him and post them later. The opening act played about a forty minute set and I was pretty sure I had no idea who they were until they played this and then I was like, WAIT I'VE HEARD OF THEM. Anyway they were pretty cool, gonna look them up on iTunes later.

(Also, re: this video, last night I was thinking the song reminded me of Charlie Brown and hey look what they're referencing!)

At that point the theater was pretty empty and Max and I were eying each other like, "This is a sold out show?" but apparently the pros know to skip the warm up guys and show up sometime between 8:45 and 9. By the time Guster launched into their first song (Manifest Destiny, from Ganging up on the Sun), it was a packed house. So they played two older songs, followed by Stay With Me Jesus off the new album (Pattering to the audience, "We're a couple of Jews who don't really believe in God who went and wrote an album that keeps talking about Jesus") and people were still kind of filtering in and getting warmed up, but by the time they started on Ramona, everyone was singing along and it became very clear that audience participation was mandatory.

They played a mix of new and old stuff, a lot of crowd pleasers and favorites - at one point a guy somewhere behind us shouted "AIRPORT SONG," at which point they played Airport Song and I have no idea if he knew the set list or was a good guesser or they listened to him. (They did not respond to similar requests for Timothy Leary).

Some highlights:

"Do I pull off the white denim look?" - at which point they launched into an impromptu jam session about "White denim, black shades, white shirt, shoelace."

During Happier, Max turned to me and asked, "Is this new? I've never heard it." "No!" I yelled back. "It's really, really old!" And then joined the rest of the crowd in shouting "ONE MORE INCH, YOU SON OF A BITCH."

For the start of the first encore, they played "Diane," which has a really distinctive opening base line that will forever stick in my head as the first Guster song I ever heard and is still one of my favorites. This video isn't from the show last night, but it's a pretty good approximation. (People really do sing along to every single song at these shows. See!)

They played two encores, which the crowd seemed really intent on forcing to go on and on and on. Every time you thought they were done, one of the stagehands would hand them a different guitar and they're play something else. The second time they got dragged back out by popular demand, they came down to the edge of the stage and waited for the whole room to be quiet and played an acoustic of "Jesus on the Radio," which was an awesome way to end the show.

In total they played 25 songs in just under two hours, and it was absolutely awesome. So worth the jacked up ticket price I paid on Stubhub!

HERE, I FOUND A COMPLETE SETLIST.

Anyway, when I get Max's photos I'll post them but currently that is PFAD. (Post for another day. Max's word.)

Lately,

My life has consisted of walking all over town on a whim and then wondering why I'm exhausted. Like last night:

Roomie: "Let's go to Whole Foods and then cook dinner!"

Me: "Okay!"

D: "Now let's walk up to 23rd street and visit our friend S who just got in from China literally HALF AN HOUR AGO."

Me: "It's ten PM!"

D: "Let's go!"

Me: "Okay!"

S: "I just got in but my furniture is arranged in such a way that I can't open my closet. I need to unpack."

Me: "Let's move the furniture!"

S: "I feel like I should tell you that I'm drunk."

Me: "LET'S MOVE THE FURNITURE!"

S: "Okay!"

D: "Hey a bunch of our friends are up on the fifth floor, OH HEY THE FURNITURE LOOKS GOOD IN HERE."

Me and S: "We know, right?"

H: "Do I know you?"

Me: "I don't know but you look familiar."

H: "Were you at that thing, with the thing?"

Me: "No?"

H: "Well I'm sure I know you."

Me: "We'll figure it out."

Friends on the fifth floor: "We're bored, let's walk back to P and E's room! Nine blocks away!"

Everyone: "Okay!"

Me: "I live in that building, so yes!"

Me, P, and H: "Let's power walk ahead of the group!"

Everyone else: *is really far behind*

Me, P, and Other-H: "Oh, we should probably wait for them."

Guy at the front desk: "I dislike you young whippersnappers. Also the ID cards aren't all working yet so I am going to make you stand in line and swipe in one at a time."

D: "I don't know how to get to the airport on the subway!"

Me and P: "LET'S TEACH YOU!"

D: "I still don't understand but I will do it!"

Me: "Oh god I am tired. Like, I am so tired I am incoherent."

P: "Yeah I stopped having any idea what you were talking about ten minutes ago."

Everyone: "LEEZ, GO TO BED."

Me: "Okay I am going to bed."

Roomie: "I am on skype with my boyfriend!"

Me: "I am taking a shower be off when I get out I am going to sleep."

And that is last night. Some of the bits towards the end might be fictionalized in the name of dramatic license, but not because I don't remember them. Just because I was really tired at that point at the actually conversation was more like, "Why are you still here, Aliza?"

So my brother is blogging now?

Sibling obligation means I have to link him: http://jumbosized.blogspot.com/ However, dear Max, you have done something with your settings so that I can't find the panel to follow you. :| Not so cool, ja?

Yours truly is back at school. I spent last straight days moving in/helping other people move in, and then have sort of done absolutely nothing for the last two. I'll probably be helping people move again later in the week, but for now I think I will actually try to get some work done at some point, maybe.

I hope so. I mean, doing work would be really cool. I still need to finish typing my Tigerlilly stuff (BAD ALIZA) and need to type up my ideas for full-lengths as well. The roomies all seem really chill. :) One of my suitemates is a major major theater buff (also an acting major) and I think I'll probably be seeing more shows this year than last because she knows how to do student rush and such and is going to teach me all the tricks. :D

I've talked to some friends and ideas for one act play festivals on campus have been tossed around. However it was also sort of late at night when these discussions were had so I don't know if things will come to pass or not. It would be kind of awesome.

My half of the dorm room:

We also have a common room and a kitchen, but they're not totally decorated yet.

Also my phone screwed the pooch. I have to announce that here because my friend D. says he absolutely loves that phrase and he never hears anyone use it. So let's say it loud and clear:

Aliza's iPhone screwed the pooch.

Like, seriously, that thing will not even turn on. Mom overnighted me her old one, and fedex says they delivered it, but the RA desk says they won't have all the package slips sorted until five or so. So I'll go check again later; they are holding my phone hostage, man!

Yours from the big apple,

Leez.

Back to school~

Last post before I leave for school SUPER EARLY tomorrow. Like I think I need to wake up at 4:30 or some crazy shit like that. Kinda crazily shuffling things in my duffles to get them all under 50 lbs... I think I managed but we'll see. Also rounded up some tchotchkes to decorate the dorm with. It's looking like three garden gnomes, an Ugly Doll, and a cool thing I'll post at the end.

Got my hair dyed today, just a darker shade of brown but I like it. :) Nothing crazy - I've always wondered what I would look like as a redhead and I will have to keep wondering, because I know that in real life I would look pretty atrocious with fakey orange hair.

MY PLUSHIE FIGHTS EVIL BY MOONLIGHT. :)

New York Man loses pants, gets an article in the Times.

This is news? Really?! I would say it was a slow day but even that doesn't excuse human interest pieces about misplacing your dry cleaning.

Back to school in eight days (by our counting method.) Start spreading the news, I'm leaving next week! I'm going to be a part of it! New York, New York!

Furthest from the wound

Wrote this first semester for an assignment about a moment experienced on a walk around NYC. My brother requested I post it.

--------

They promised me it would be bigger. They promised me I would feel something. I am standing on a pedestrian bridge over ground zero, and I feel nothing. Perhaps I feel a little bit disappointed by the fact that I feel nothing. It’s as if my whole life until this point beginning with the fifth grade on has been being up to the moment that I stand at ground zero, and it is like cosmic erectile dysfunction.

My relationship with September 11^th has never been a meaningful one. I don’t remember where I was when the towers went down. I was in class, drawing in a notebook or maybe on the way to the bathroom or maybe taking a quiz – I don’t really know, because I didn’t find out that anything was wrong until three thirty that afternoon. My mother apparently called the school and they told her they had things covered and she didn’t need to pick me up, and then they didn’t tell us anything. Other kids parents came and took them home, but no one came and got me. I knew nothing then and hence I feel nothing now.

So I am here, and the universe is not. I am ready for an outpouring of grief, or a great revelation about my own fractured psyche (I don’t know it is fractured, but perhaps I will realize it is), or a sudden rush of patriotic enthusiasm. But I don’t. It’s a city block. It looks like a million other city blocks I have driven past back home every day, somewhere between demolished and rebuilt, a concrete wasteland with a ‘Coming Soon’ sign promising new growth. It’s a city block, not a disaster area, and it neither shocking nor moving. It simply is.

I took a walk in the rain.

I found the city.

Or maybe the city found me.