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Yesterday, while walking through Park Slope to find a decent coffee shop with free wi-fi, I was told by a tall, dread-locked man walking next to me that I walked really fast for being so short.

Sunday, after leaving church in the uber-expensive Upper East Side and hunting a place where I could purchase a hot tea and wait on Lauren, I wandered up Madison Avenue for a while. As I neared the steps of a church where a homeless man was situated, I caught snippets of his "begging". As people would pass he would call out, "Hey, I know you're rich, why can't you give me some money?" My favorite line was directed to the lady in front of me, "I see the shoes your wearing. I know how much they cost. I know you can spare a dollar. Or two." But the best part of my day occurred when I passed him and he was completely silent. I don't think there will ever be a time when I will be mistaken for an Upper East Sider. Or as one possessing copious amounts of money.

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seven

That's it. I'm buying my rave/dance/electronica listening neighbors a pack of glow sticks for Christmas. Maybe they'll get the hint.

six

This weekend saw the death of my beloved iPod. And, yes, Melanie, I got the dead iPod face. I think it has been the most unfortunate thing that has happened since I've been here. Not only did I lose my iPod, but most of the music on it was only on my old backup hard drive that died earlier this year. Actually, it died right after I took most of my music off of my computer. I also lost all of my work I did as an undergraduate designer. But this isn't a eulogy for my long dead hard drive, but for my much beloved iPod. It was a first generation color iPod. And I loved it. (On a happier note, I plan on taking it to an Apple store here and seeing if they can do anything about it. Although, I seriously doubt it, because it is about 4 years old.)

Other than my iPod dying, I went to see a free movie at MoMA Friday night. It was pretty fun. Even though I was the only person under the age of 65 in the theater. But I walked around the museum a little beforehand and looked at some hand painted movie posters from the 20s. Some of them were absolutely amazing.

I read through a good portion of my NYC Free & Dirt Cheap guide. (Thanks Emily!) I plan on heading over to the Brooklyn Botanic Gardens tomorrow, because Tuesdays are free. Yay free things in New York!

I haven't heard anything back from any of the interviews, but I did apply to about 8 more jobs over the course of the weekend and today.

Oh, I officially can't stand David Lynch. For those of you unaware of who he is, he was the creator of Twin Peaks, the mastermind behind the 1984 movie version of Dune, and the writer and director of Blue Velvet. Did I mention that I was mildly intrigued by Twin Peaks, which turned into annoyance after the show became the most ridiculous thing I've ever seen and Dune was laughable at how ridiculous it was. (I know I sound redundant, but no other word adequately describes both of the aforementioned works of film and television.) Blue Velvet, though, was just awful. Awful. Awful. And now, after three tries, David Lynch and I are done. I will not give him another try, nor will I ever, ever, ever give him the benefit of the doubt for not having seen enough of his "master works". We're done David Lynch, and I hope you know it.

On a happier note, I'm glad to be signing off and watching my movie of the day, Rebel Without A Cause. I very much enjoyed East of Eden and highly recommend it to anyone interested. (Kim, have you seen it? I would think so with your James Dean love, but one can never be too sure.) Anyways, that is all. I miss everyone and wish you all could come visit me. But not all at the same time.

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Today was marked by my fourth interview this week. I'm hoping to hear something soon. Until then I'll be heading out to a coffee shop and applying for more jobs.

I was tagged by Melanie a couple of days ago to write 6 random things about myself so I figured this evening was a good night to do it.

1. I hate being told what to do. Actually, telling me not to do something is the quickest way to get me to do it.

2. I can fall asleep anywhere and pretty much during any circumstance.

3. I own precisely 10 cameras, 4 rolls of undeveloped film, and 20 rolls of film waiting to be used.

4. I don't have a favorite flower.

5. My favorite thing in the world is laughing with my friends and family.

6. I hate touching cotton balls. Or cotton in any pad, tip, ball, or wad form.

Alright, I'm no good at tagging people. But if anyone is up for doing this, I tag Lauren + David, Aunt Sheri, and Emily.

Other than that, I miss everyone tremendously. And I wish I could hang out with everyone this weekend. And I'm looking forward to watching The Office in 7 minutes.

four

Today things began looking up. I went on my first interview. Albeit with a headhunter, but she already has a job prospect for me. I finally walked across the Brooklyn Bridge. It wasn't nearly as long as I expected. I actually took some photos this afternoon. It has been too long since I picked up a camera for fun. Also, I have two more interviews this week.

Friday I went to see my first movie by myself. It was actually incredible. I've always been a little scared of seeing a movie by myself. Somewhere, somehow the notion that movie-going is not a solitary experience was ingrained in me. So, after I dropped off my disc at the print shop I wandered around for a while. And I wandered into a movie theater. It was amazing. I stretched out over the seats however I wanted and read a book while I waited for the previews to start. I never knew it could be so awesome.

I'm pretty tired and I still have my movie of the day to watch. I actually skipped yesterday's. Oops. After an unexpectedly busy day yesterday, I stayed up late retouching my portfolio for the interview today. Again. And then again on the subway ride to the interview.

I still miss everyone. Tremendously. But tomorrow also promises to be bright, because Rebekah is flying in tomorrow night for a business trip and I'll get to see her for the first time since she moved. Yay!

\\\\\\\ - Apparently this is Margot's contribution to my blog for the evening. I'm sure she misses everyone, too.

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I have a very romantic idea of what winter is. I'm beginning to realize, though, that my idea of winter compared to actual winter is not quite the same thing. My highly romanticized idea of winter probably comes from living through 24 Southern winters, which is to say no winter at all. I've always longed for snowy winters full of hot chocolate, snow men, and snow ball fights. Now that I am gearing up for my 25th winter here in NYC, I'm beginning to feel the reality of what winter really is. It is cold and windy. The snow gets dirty. Days are dreary. People aren't laughing and acting like they are a part of the movie White Christmas. And that makes me a little sad because it means that I've grown up just a tiny bit more.

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Today, I feel like a big poser. I'm writing in my blog at a coffee shop. But isn't that what all the cool kids in New York do?

Stray NYC Observations:
- Everyone is really skinny.
- The "cool kids" don't smile on the subway... I smile a lot.
- People here aren't amazed by where they live. You can find anything and I'm continually astounded by this. For instance, I was walking to the movies the other night and I saw a blow-dry bar. A place designed specifically for having your hair blown dry.
- Too many people smoke here.
- The Brooklyn Museum looks like it has a spaceship coming out of it's center. But when you walk down the spaceship stairs it feels like you're at the beach.
- I like the option of walking everywhere.
- On a typical day in Baton Rouge/Mobile/most cities the streets are a little emptier during business hours. Not true here. There are people everywhere. Where do they work? How do they survive? How can I get a job like that?

I'm actually excited about this weekend. It looks as though I'll be going to the park to friz around (I still feel like a loser using that phrase, Melanie) and walking the Brooklyn Bridge at some point. I still feel like a tourist.

one

I moved to New York City a month ago. Since I have no job, I do a lot things for free... like walking to the park, the library, the coffee shop with free wi-fi and baristas that tell me my headbands are cute. Other than that I hang out with my roommates and keep making plans with my friend Jesse to go throw the frisbee around (or as Melanie calls it, friz around), but we keep having weather delays. I miss my friends and family a lot, but to keep from focusing on that, I've started a couple of new projects.

Project 1 Get A Job
This is self-explanatory.

Project 2 Get Into School
Since I want to go back to school I'm working on my various applications and creative submissions. Here are the schools I'm currently considering, but am open to suggestions:
NYU
USC
UCLA
Chapman
UT Austin

Project 3 Get Educated... sorta
This project consists mainly of me furthering my film literacy. I feel like I am lacking quite tremendously when it comes to the breadth of my film knowledge. There are some gaping holes that need to be filled in and that is where the public library comes in handy. My goal is to watch a movie a day until I get a job. If you are at all interested you can keep up with my progress here.

Project 4 Get Entertained
That would be this blog. It will give me something to occupy my time when I am feeling particularly lonely and sad. And a place where I can tell everyone back home how cold it is here. Expect to hear a lot about that.