Week 12 & 13: Strike a Pose

I thought that I was going to post last week but I was too exhausted. So, here's my NYFW re-cap.


First some pre-NYFW work... some seating charts, some make-up kits, some nail kits...


Then, on Friday, I had my first two shows: Cushnie et Ochs and ELLE Fashion | Next.

So, for the most part, my main duties were to bring the make-up kits to the make-up artists, the nail kits to the nail artists, and check-in international press for Maybelline. The first show at Cushnie should have been easy, but we were dropped off with about 8 MUKs and 7 NKs at the wrong side of the building. We didn't have time to go around the block, so we went through the main entrance with two Uhaul handtrucks filled with kits. The security guys were no help and even tried to block us from taking the elevator because we were suppose to take the freight elevator, which they didn't even tell us about.

However, once we got backstage, it was smooth sailing. We checked in press and brought them back to talk to Charlotte Willer, who was the lead make-up artist for the show. Honey, the lead nail artist, was so nice and sweet. Overall, it was a good show.

Then, for the afternoon/evening, I went to the David Koch Theater at the Lincoln Center for the ELLE Fashion | Next show. After putting up the seating signs, including Christina Ricci, which I ended up handwriting since we had to change her seat at the last minute. I was assigned to be a "celebrity wrangler," but the lobby was such a madhouse, I felt kinda useless since I couldn't even locate even celebrities. After we go everyone upstairs to the space, I was able to sit through the show from the mezz, which was a pretty good view.

Saturday was easier with only Lacoste.

It was a pretty straightforward show. It was one of my three shows that was in the Tents at Lincoln Center. Remember how it used to be the Tents at Bryant Park? Well, apparently, it hasn't been at Bryant Park since like 2010. I didn't know that. Heh.

The Tents have about four different runway/presentation areas. There's the smaller ones called The Box and The Studio. Then the mid-size one which is The Stage and the largest one, which Lacoste was in, is The Theatre. The lobby are, for lack of a better term, was pretty neat. There were some Mercedes cars on display, a overpriced concession stand, a TRESemme salon, a Maybelline backstage experience, an American Express interactive suite, and a Fiber One booth. There were couches everywhere and queues of people trying to check-in and get their seating assignments. It was a bit of an organized chaos.

Sunday was our busiest day. We had Victoria Beckham in the morning and then Custo Barcelona in the afternoon.


I think I woke up at 4:30 in order to be at the office by 5:30 so that we could get to the New York City Library at Bryant Park by 6. Needless to say, I took a cab to work. Once again, we had to bring in the kits but this time, the freight elevator was not working so we had to carry the kits on the handcarts up two flights of stairs. The hair, make-up, and nail space was along a such narrow corridor that we couldn't fit all the kits on the tables so some artists left the kits on the ground underneath or they shared with others, which isn't a common practice.

I first saw Victoria backstage about an hour after I got there. She was very friendly and introduced herself to people. She oversaw the progress of the models with their hair and make-up. She was just very calm and collective not to mentioned really pretty. David came in a bit later, carrying their adorable daughter, Harper. He was all snazzy in a brown and navy suit.

As the show was about to beginning, we gathered the make-up kits again to bring back to the SUV waiting for us. Since the artists are allowed to take the make-up from the kits, a good number of them were empty so we just piled them on us and took them down instead of the whole carrying down the stairs thing. Unfortunately, some photographers caught us and took photos of us with 6 or 7 kits slung around us. Pretty sure those are the more unflattering photos of me ever. We then went to the office and did a quick turnaround of new kits to bring to the Custo Barcelona show up at Lincoln Center.

Let's talk about the catering backstage for a second. The entire week, I did not have to order food. I literally ate to my heart's content at each backstage. There were mostly deli sandwiches at each but they were so good. At Victoria Beckham, they actually had mini omelets. This is why I could never be a model. Besides not even reaching five feet, I would eat so much at the backstage catering that I wouldn't fit my outfit a mere hour later. At Custo, they had a lox and cream cheese sandwich that I just couldn't help on grabbing.

On Monday, I did the Carlos Miele show, which I was actually able to sit through.


After the long day on Sunday, it was nice to have a calmer day on Monday. We were back at the Tents and this time, just like Custo, we were in the Stage. The lead make-up artist for Carlos Miele was Gato, who was a very nice Spanish, attractive man. He very often wore a backwards baseball cap which I found endearing.

We did the whole check-in press and escort them backstage so they could interview Gato. Quite simple. And since it was rather slow, I got the "ok" to actually see the runway show. It was nice. The actual runway looked like it was backlit with blue lights. I rather liked the pieces, moreso the solid colors than the animal print. It went by so quick, though, considering how much effort it took behind the scenes.

And finally, the last show that I did was Betsey Johnson.


I was warned that this was going to be a shit-show. That it was going to be madness. In the end, it was. The backstage area was in a shape of a lightning bolt, basically. The first section was the dressing are, then it was make-up, and then hair. However, you couldn't exit the hair & make-up areas without passing through the dressing are. Not to mention there was a giant cupcake gumball machine and benches in the middle and at the very beginning, there was a DJ back there as well. The most ridiculous backstage area. Needless to say, no one was really happy.

Luckily, I kept outside of the backstage and just checked-in press at its entrance and in the main space. I got to watch the tributes to Betsey that were playing on the screens on the walls. I also got to watch Cyndi Lauper rehearse. She was so sassy.



Sadly, we had to go backstage since they were opening the house and the madness took over. I ate one too many mini cupcake since this was the only backstage that didn't have a usual catering table with actual food.

For the show, there were 30 models and 90 looks, which is a ridiculous amount. However, it's Betsey's birthday celebration so she did a retrospect for the collection based on the different decades. There was a baby stroller involved at one point as well as a baby pig. Yes, a live baby pig. It was cute but seriously? There was a baby pig.

We were getting hungry and cranky, especially since this was an evening show, that after waiting half an hour longer than we was suppose to, we slipped through a crack in the divider between the entrance and the backstage. The front of house people were not pleased at all but seriously? Isn't that a fire code violation or something? There wasn't any other way out without going through the crowd of models, lined-up to walk on stage.

So, instead of leaving at 9:30 like we originally planned, we left at 10:30 and by the time we got to the office, yummy pizza awaited us.

And that was that. My first NYFW is done. There was ups-and-downs but overall, it was a fun experience.

Until next week!

Week 10 & 11: Flawless

Didya miss me? Probably not, but that's okay. I've been busy, so it's time for an update, right?

Basically, everything's been flawless. These past weeks' adventures have been wonderful and awesome.

Let's start with two Saturdays ago when my friend, Tanya, and I got to see the NY premiere of this season's "Doctor Who." It was fantastic and the bonus was that Matt Smith and Karen Gillan, along with one of the show's producers, did a Q&A afterwards. It was quite nifty.

On Monday, I went to DC to check on my place and then do a screening of "Lawless." I'm not one for blood but it wasn't as bad as I thought it would be, in terms of bloodiness. I mean, there's still blood but not as much as "Saving Private Ryan," in my opinion. I believe it was the first thing I've seen with Shia LaBeouf since "Even Stevens." Heh. He was fine. The other cast members stole the movie from him, especially Tom Hardy and Guy Pearce. Tom's grunts and whimpers were pretty amazing, as strange as it sounds. And Guy... such a great villian. Jessica Chastain was very good as Maggie, too.



Also, while I was in DC, I finally used my two restaurant Groupons and tried a cupcake from Red Velvet Cupcakery.

I went to the first restaurant for lunch when I just arrived in DC. It was the Tackle Box on M St. in Georgetown. It's on the west side of Wisconsin Ave. so it doesn't get much foot traffic but gosh, the food is so good. I got the fish tacos and the lobster roll.

I stopped at the Red Velvet Cupcakery in the Penn Quarter after my screening. I had the Black Velvet and the Southern Belle (which is the classic Red Velvet cupcake). They were very good. Baked and Wired is still my favorite cupcake place but the Red Velvet Cupcakery might be second or third; it's above Georgetown Cupcakes.

The second restaurant was where I went for lunch before I caught my bus back to NYC. I Ricchi is an Italian restaurant that's kinda tucked away off of Connecticut near the intersection of M St. and 19th St. You can get to it by either walking down from Dupont or up from Farragut. I got the tomato & basil soup and the steak with mushrooms. Both were very tasty.

Back in the world of New York, I finally saw "One Man, Two Guvnors" this past Thursday. I just had to see it before it closed three days later. I'm so glad that I did. It was hilarious. And I loved the music! The entire cast was a hoot, especially James Corden, who's just a lovely teddy bear. Also, Tom Edden as Alfie was just brilliant. I'm so sorry if you missed it.



On Saturday, my friend & former college roommate, Jess, came up from DC to visit me. I really wanted her to see "Newsies" before Jeremy left but we lost lotto. We then went to "Peter and the Starcatcher" which we also lost lotto (it was such as large crowd) but ended up with lotto loser. I've seen it before but Christian Borle was still in as Black Stache so I was looking forward to seeing Matthew Saldivar's take on the role. He was very good. He varied, of course, what Christian did and made the role his own. I liked him. Jess liked the show a lot, too.



The following day after dropping Jess at the bus stop, I decided to see "The Avengers" on the big screen again. Do I really need a reason? What was cool was that there were definitely people in there that didn't see it the first time around and their reactions were great. After you've seen the movie a few times, you know what's coming up but goodness, I still cracked up at those scenes.

Anyways, Fashion Week will soon be upon me. The prep has been a lot for me but it's nothing compared to what the others in the office are dealing with. But that's what you'll be looking for in my next post, right?

*crickets*

Week 9: Neighborhoods

This post is going to be either interesting or dull. So, we'll see...

I lived in DC for almost 8 years. While I explored lots of neighborhoods, I kept to ones that I knew the most. I kinda wish that I visited more because there are a bunch that I found out later while I lived there. Penn Quarter was one of those; there are some restaurants around there that I wanted to try. Then, there's U Street that I also wanted to explore. I used to take the bus from Union Station to my place, and that was the route that was taken and I kept making note of places that I wanted to go but never did.

Here in NYC, there are so many more neighborhoods than DC, especially if you get into outside of Manhattan, which I've never explored before. Basically, I know Times Square/Theatre District, Gramercy/Kips Bay, and Herald Square/Garment District. I'm getting into the West Village/Chelsea area as well as the Flatiron.

On Saturday night, my friend, Sally, and I went and saw Cock (or Cockfight the play) at the Duke on 42nd. It was really interesting. Unfortunately, my attention went elsewhere a couple of times during the 105 minute play. There was an adorable service Golden Retriever that was across from us; the play was set in a round. He just napped the entire time but he would pop his head up and got a pet from his owner. He was just a cutie. Then, there was this guy who was sitting diagonal from us:



Jon Hamm was with Jennifer Westfeldt, who's gorgeous. I didn't watch "Mad Men" at the start but got into it in the later seasons. So, my first thing that I connect Jon with is "Gilmore Girls." LOL. Anyways, they were on a date so we didn't want to bother them afterwards. Just made eye contact, smile & nodded which they replied in kind.

So, that took place in a familiar area, Times Square, specifically 42nd Street which was swarmed with tourists. I can managed. I'm used to it.

Now, after Sally headed back to Jersey, my next destination was a bar in the East Village called Blackbird, which was once known as Lakeside Lounge. The East Village... not someplace that I'm familiar with. At. All. However, with GPS on my phone, I can totally find 162 Avenue B, right? Well, apparently not, if my phone died on the L Train over there.

I knew that it was on Avenue B, between 10th and 11th, but I walked up and down Avenue B and just couldn't find the place. I don't know if there was a sign or if I just couldn't find the sign. Either way, my jaunt through the East Village at 10:30 at night was not fulfilling. I ended up speed-walking pass Tompkins Square Park and hightailed it to 1st Avenue, which it like the safe border to me.

How sad am I? I promise that I will give the East Village another shot but this time, in the daylight. Yes, I'm able to walk from Bowery Electric to my place at 1 in the morning. Yes, I'm able to spend the night in Penn Station. Yes, I'm able to stand in line at 3 am for SNL stand-by tickets. But I can't wander the East Village for less that 24 minutes at 10:30 at night. I'm so used to neighborhoods that I know, but hopefully, the longer than I live here, the more neighborhoods that I will get familiar with.

Week 8: I Make The "Best" Choices

I know that in 20+ years from now, my kid's going to want to do something like do a cross-country roadtrip and I'm going to say "No" and then they'll be like "But mom, you did something like that & didn't even tell Lolo and Lola!"

In the past, the things that I've done without telling my parents (or not tell them until waaaaayyyy after the fact):

- wandered around Paris looking for authentic French ice cream
- flew to Boston to visit friends
- drove to Scranton, PA, three times for Office-related events (don't judge...)
- drove to Hershey, PA, for Spring Awakening tour
- flew to San Francisco for Idiot's Pre-Broadway run (again, don't judge...)
- drove to State College to see Idiot tour (see above)
- went to New York for many one day trips, including that one time I missed my 1:15 am bus back to DC so I spent the night in Penn Station (a nice police officer checked up on me every hour since I was to nicely dressed to be an actual homeless person)

Besides the first point, all the rest happened during & after college. I'm an explorer. I like to travel. I like having experiences; many that I know that if I didn't I would regret.

At my high school, soccer was our major sport (we didn't have a football team while I was there; crazy since this was Florida). My senior team, our boys' team was in the regional finals, IIRC, and I really wanted to go, but I had ballet class that night. I went back and forth for a long time but I decided to go to ballet class. They lost. I hadn't missed a soccer game the entire season until that game, and now, I regret not going. So, yeah... I'll take any experience that comes my way (well, within reason...)

So, the past 7 days, I got some experiences... maybe not the best choices, in hindsight, but they were experiences.

I wasn't feeling quite well on Tuesday morning but I had gotten a screening pass to "The Bourne Legacy" for Tuesday night. Now, I know that the camera movements in all the Bourne movies are all over the place and it makes me dizzy, but I really wanted to see the movie and, quite frankly, not pay for it. (See previous post). Because it's a screening, a good seat is not guaranteed and while I ended up not being in the very front, I really wish that I was further back. I had a throbbing headache about 1/3 in the movie and just had to stare at the floor at some really jittery parts. At the end, I had to just sit in my seat for a while so I can manage to wobble out of there.

Was that a good choice to go to the screening? No, but at least I saw the movie for free. Heh...

Wednesday comes along and Bowery Electric had a weekly showcase called "Old Soul Revival," which Johnny announced that he was doing a couple of songs at.



Anyways, as the Twitpic shows, he planned on going on at 10:45. When I got there at 10:30, the set list posted outside said he was going on at 11:05. I thought "Okay. I get to hear more music. That's cool." Then 11:05 came & went. As well as 11:45. And 12:05. While most of the sets were like 3 or 4 songs, the musician right before Johnny played 10 songs. Ten long songs. Three of which he brought "special guests" on stage to play alongside him. After the 5th song, I thought maybe it was planned that he was going to have a longer set than the others, but when I looked at the sound guy, he was confused & looking over his set list, so I guess he didn't know how many songs the guy was doing either. Anyways, at around 12:50, Johnny finally plays.

I really wasn't planning on staying out past 1 am but the place was so crowded that it would have taken forever to get out anyways. I finally left around 1:15 & after missing the bus and not having enough cash for a cab, I ended up walking about 25 blocks home. Summer nights are still humid & I felt blah when I got home at around 1:45.

Was that a good choice to go to Bowery Electric? Possibly... if I left earlier. Much earlier.

Many major cities around the US have Restaurant Week (one in the summer & one in the winter) and New York isn't an exception. I took advantage of it when I lived in DC & ate at some fancy places that I couldn't afford otherwise. Basically, participating restaurants have a fixed price meal for lunch, dinner or both during the "week" (some last longer than an actual week). The price varies each year but it's usually between $22 and $25 for lunch and $30 and $38 for dinner. Last year for NYC Restaurant Week, I went to Bobby Flay's Mesa Grill, which was excellent. On Friday, I decided to go to Porter House, which is on the 4th floor of the Time Warner Building at Columbus Circle. Didn't realize it until I got there that their Restaurant Week menu was basically their Park View Lunch menu that they have all the time. Oh well. The food was still delish & knowing that I could have the meal again for $24, just makes me wanna go again. And the view overlooking Columbus Circle and Central Park was just so pretty.

Was that a good choice to go to Porter House? Definitely.

On Saturday, I went to the New York Comedy Club which is actually across the street from me to see my friend, Jennifer Eolin, do some stand-up. She's a very funny lady & I had a nice time. Comedy clubs are a new experience to me. Previously, I've been to Second City in Chicago, DC Improv in DC, and UCB & Gotham Comedy Club in NYC. I've also seen John Oliver do his stand-up. Anyways, Jennifer is getting back into the groove and if you have time, go to check her out. She has a new webseries called "The Tutorialists" and she has some upcoming stand-up dates as well.

Was that a good choice to go to the New York Comedy Club? Yup. Especially to see a friend do her thang.

Sunday, I caught up with one of my college friends, Matt. We decided to meet up at Rockwood before dinner. I'm pretty indecisive when it comes to food and since neither of us knew the area, we wandered a bit until we came across a small Greek restaurant called Souvlaki GR on Stanton St. The food was very tasty. Definitely going there again the next time I go to Rockwood. Afterward dinner, we went to Stage 1. We saw Jonny Grave play & he was quite good; there were about 6 people in the room at that point & I felt kinda sad that he didn't have more people hearing his music. We left after Jonny was done & got some dessert at the cafe at the corner. Then headed back to see Anna Krantz play. Loved her! She's British so most of her gigs are back in London but I hope that I get to see her again when she plays in NY.

Was that a good choice to hit up Rockwood? Certainly. I caught up with a friend, found a nice Greek restaurant & discover new musicians.

Last night (Monday night), I went to Birdland for Frank & Friends, which was a little cabaret of Frank Wildhorn's songs sung by Laura Osnes, Stark Sands, Constantine Maroulis and Melissa van der Schyff. The place was packed and for good reason because everyone blew the roof off. Such talented people. I want Melissa in another show soon. I've never heard Constantine sing but he was good. Tweeted Laura afterwards & got a lovely reply back. I was only able to talk to Stark afterwards; he's so nice & classy.

Here's "You Can Do Better Than Me" from Bonnie & Clyde, which Stark sang. The actual song is a duet with Ted & Clyde called "You Can Do Better Than Him," but since Stark was singing it solo, thus the change. Heh.



Was that a good choice to go to Birdland? I would say so, but my wallet at the end of the night wasn't really happy. Actually, my wallet wasn't happy at any of the places that I went. Oops.

So, looking back at my week, I really took in New York living... I guess. I could go on with this if I won that 302 million Megaball. This week, I plan on doing more low-key/cheaper things. Let's see if that works and if I continue to make the "best" choices.

Week 6 & 7: Mo Money, Less Problems

I got so busy getting into the groove of things that I skipped last week's post ergo the doubling-up on this week's post.

Now, I know that Biggie said "Mo Money, More Problems" but it's the other way for me. Heck, I've been playing the Powerball more now than I've ever before. Even scratch-offs. I even got carded when I bought one in Florida. Yes, carded. I turn 26 next month. Legal age for lotto is 18. I didn't even get carded when I was 18. But thanks, Publix lotto lady, for making me feel younger.

Anyways, the current Powerball is 212 million. So, that's 100 million without tax? (I really don't know.) What would you do with all that money? Honestly, first thing for me would be giving my parents possibly half of it. They can retire. They can pay off the houses & condos that they own (they thought real estate was the goo investment). They can build the house in the Philippines that they always wanted. They can settle all their debts. It'll be fantastic.

For me, I'll pay off all my credit cards. I'll update/renovate my aunt's apartment. I'll invest in a production. I'll donate to charities. And the rest goes into savings. Yup. That's exactly what I'll do. Even if it's just that first point, I will be happy.

Those credit cards are the bane of my existence. I was perfectly fine & happy with my one credit card that I always paid off but then something happened between my junior and senior year of college and I got three more & I've been struggling to pay them off since. If you can imagine the interest rates on them... blergh.

So, yeah. Sorry, Biggie, more money means less problems for me.

Re-capping the past two weeks.

My aunt & I traveld to Florida two Fridays ago. We took a SuperShuttle which picked us around 4 yet we didn't get to the airport until at least 6. We were the first ones to get picked up and then we went to 4 other stops in the Gramercy/Kips Bay area. However, the last stop was all the way in the Financial District. Really?! And we were all going to LaGuardia. I didn't understand the reasoning. Luckily (or unfortunately) our plane was delayed an hour so we didn't miss it. There were other f-ups at the airport but I must point out a cool thing: the Delta waiting area in Terminal D (IIRC) had iPads everywhere that you can access for free. And if you're there long enough & you wanted food, you could order from the iPad with your credit card & they would bring it to you in 15 minutes or less. The lady next to me was eating a really good looking pesto pasta dish.

We arrived in Florida around 11:30pm and didn't get home until after midnight.

Nothing really excited happened on Saturday besides my dad's birthday party with tons of people I have no clue who they are and they, apparently, didn't know me.

On Sunday, we went to a Mass at Mary, Queen of the Universe Shrine in Orlando. It was a Filipino Mass for a Feast that I'm not remembering; it was mostly in Tagalog. Afterwards, I met up with two of my oldest friends, Cristy & Shannon, at the outlet mall next door. Besides theme parks, Orlando is full of outlet malls. We mostly window-shopped & caught up since I haven't seen either of them in years; we communicate through text, Twitter & Facebook. Yes, we're those types of people now, but we plan on more physical meet-ups. Smiley face.

On Monday, I met up with another one of my oldest friends, Renae. She, unfortunately, recently lost her younger brother in a car accident. I really wished that I could have attended his funeral. I remember him fondly and I know that he could have done so many things. She is in bright spirits & keeping busy; she misses him, of course, but she's pulling through. Please keep her & her family in your thoughts & prayers, if you could.

My aunt & I went back up here to New York early Tuesday morning. SuperShuttle still did a crazy route through midtown & the theatre district. I might just suggest taking a taxi next time.

Wednesday, I saw RENT off-Broadway for the second time. I saw it once with the original Off-Broadway cast. Since then, a majority of the leads changed and with Taylor Trensch on for Mark, I decided that I wanted to see it with the new leads before it closed on September 9th. I enjoyed it more the second time around.

Nothing excited happened Thursday to Saturday besides the fact we bought a new AC! And I'm in love with it. I've named it Dimitri. I have a strange tendency to name objects. It's actually silly and childish, but whatever. Heh.

On Sunday, I met up with some friends and went to Rockwood to see Johnny play again. He had a lovely new hat. Heh.



Monday was unmemorable (It really was; I can't remember what I did that day.) And next week, I'll talk about Tuesday because it goes so nicely with tonight's happenings.

Catch y'all on the flip side!

Week 5: Living

So, life's a bit "meh" at the moment. Work's fine. Living's fine. Relying on past paychecks & parental support is blergh. (Yes, this blog is filled with sophisticated words.) I have to pick my battles & use as little money as possible while still living in one of the most expensive cities in the country.

Back in DC, grocery shopping was easy. I got in my car, drove to Target or Safeway, and with coupons & discount cards, I saved at least 60% on my purchases which would last me a month. Here in NYC, I have no car & must rely on my sheer willpower on how far I want to walk/commute for grocery. I have a Morton Williams on the other side of the apartment complex, but I greatly dislike the fact that the Morton Williams doesn't accept Internet coupons. I don't get the Sunday paper so I can't clip coupons that way. I rely on Coupons.com or SmartSource.com and print them out when I find something I need. If I'm in the area of Union Square or Chelsea, I can probably stock up on fruit, veggies & meat at the Trader Joe's which are there but that's only once in a full moon. And you still can't use the coupons. For a quick fix, I head to CVS or Walgreens to get my coupons done while earning either ExtraCare bucks or Register rewards for future purchases. If I have all the time in the world, I can make the trek up 1st Avenue to the Target. Still need adjusting...

I use Groupon a lot. I still have three Groupons for DC that I need to use. I didn't have time the last time I was there, unfortunately. There was this one restaurant that if it comes up on the Now Deals, I would always get it. It's called Nando's Peri-Peri and right now, their own stateside restaurants are in the DC-MD-VA area, which makes me sad because I miss their chicken. Anyways, I think I found my newest go-to-Groupon restaurant in Guy & Gallard, especially when I'm at work since there's one catty-corner to us.

One Groupon purchase that I made when I first learned that I was moving to NYC was a spa treatment. $69 for a $175 treatment at Kim Laudati Skin Care. In DC, I stuck with one spa & that was the Aveda in Bethesda, so it's crazy, in my mind, to try someplace new. Especially in a new city with so many different choices. The lovely Mary Faber gave me the advice to check out Groupon which is what I did; while I use Groupon a lot, it was for food or goods not services. Anyways, my experience at Kim Laudati was quite difference than what I'm accustomed to, but it was a great service and my skin felt wonderful afterwards. I have crappy skin that needs to be pampered every once in a while or else it'll stage a coup.

Another thing that will definitely take a while to get used to is the whole paying-for-a-movie thing. Yes, paying for a movie. Since 2007, I did movie screenings in DC so I was paid to go to the movies. I am so out-of-the-loop that I honestly wasn't aware how much movies were, even in cities like DC and NYC. If you had asked me when I first moved here, I would say it was $10 for an adult. Apparently, it's not; it's more like $13 or $14 plus any other charges like IMAX or 3D. Luckily, there are places where you can sign up to be notified for free screening passes. There's Cinemit and 43KIX, which replaced buzzbo. But the major one is Gofobo, which sent me passes for "The Watch" and "Step Up Revolution." Unfortunately, the screening was on the same night (tonight... last night... Tuesday night). Since I was taking my aunt, I let her chose. Her criteria of going to things like movies or theatre is whether she's familiar someone or something in the show. Since she recognized Ben Stiller & Vince Vaughan, we ended up at "The Watch." Quite frankly, while funny at some parts, I think we might have had a better time at the other movie.

This is where I have my segue to talk about the tragedy of what happened in Aurora this past week. I love midnight showings. I've been to two Harry Potters, the Hunger Games, the Avengers & most recently, The Amazing Spider-Man. The energy is so different because major fans of the franchise or of movies, in general, go to midnight screenings. Since it's so late, there's a sense of euphoria that comes over people where the jokes are funnier & the action is more exciting. Come on, when Voldemort hugged Draco... there was no greater response than that of the midnight showing. It's where you make friends in the line that you stand at for hours beforehand. It's where you dress up and no one judges you. It's that little secret that you keep from everyone else the next day who'll watch the movie during reasonable hours. And that joy & excitement was taken away by a madman. My uttermost thoughts & prayers go to all those affected by the tragedy.

Many people opted not to go to the movies this weekend in fear of another attack. But I'm not one to be fearful so I went to the 10:25 am IMAX showing of "The Dark Knight Rises" on Monday at the Lincoln Square. And judging by the full house & the lines waiting for the next screenings, it's good to see others aren't fearful either. Because if fear takes over our lives, then we can't live. My grandaunt lives in Hawaii but after September 11th, she's afraid to get on a plane because of potential terrorist attacks; she's missed two of my graduations even though she really wanted to be there. Those whose lives were lost and those whose lives were spared but are not greatly unchanged... we need and should continue our lives as normal without fear of another madman. Certainly, don't be reckless; just don't fear the chance of something happening. Be cautious but don't expect the worst case scenarios. We're not immortal so live life because it's the only one we have.

Although my life's a bit bland at the moment, I'm grateful for everything that I do have. So, I guess it's not really "meh."

I'm heading back home to Florida on Friday and coming back on Tuesday. Fun in the sun? Or running through the rain? I guess we'll see.

Week 4: Sexypants & Screenings

Nothing too exciting this past week... or not? I guess you'll decide.

Internship is going fine. We're still doing media placements and logging them for our client. We have over 1,000 media placements and they're all to be done by this Thursday. We're halfway done right now so hopefully, we'll make the deadline.

Back in DC, I did screenings as well as Audience Reaction Reports which are basically trailer checks which gets the reaction of the audience during trailers. Self-explanatory? Well, while I can't really do screenings in New York, I can still do ARRs. So on Friday, I went to "Ice Age: Continental Drift" for the trailer of "Epic."



At first blush, it reminds me of "FernGully" and "Thumbelina." It doesn't come out until May 2013 so maybe when more of it is revealed then it would stand apart from those other movies... maybe? As for "Ice Age," which I sat through, it wasn't terrible. Then again, I'm a sucker for that entire series. I literally watched the previous three on FX the other night. So, so sad.

Saturday morning, I went back to DC to do some last-minute things including giving the keys to the realtor. Heh. Anyone looking for a nice two bed, two bath condo in NW DC?

On Saturday night, I went & saw "Bloody Bloody Andrew Jackson" at Studio Theatre. After a few workshops here & there, the original production started its off-Broadway life at Public Theater with Benjamin Walker as the title character. It eventually went on a shorten run on Broadway, which is where I originally saw it during its previews. I wish that I had seen it at the Public or even later in its Broadway run, but alas, time machines haven't been available to the public. (Sidenote: it's almost one in the morning so some things will not make sense in the light of day.)


(Photo taken by: Scotty Beland)

Anyways, the Studio Theatre production had Heath Calvert as Andrew Jackson, which he understudied on Broadway. He was really good. The entire cast was good so if you're in DC, go check them out. And get your tickets ASAP. They sell out quickly. Also, it's general admission but the space is small so every seat is pretty good. They just extended until August 19th.

On Monday, I went to a screening of an upcoming digital series called "H Plus: The Digital Series." It's so good and such a mindtrip that you just wanna continue watching it. The episodes start premiering on YouTube on August 8th. There are about 40-something 2 to 5 minute episodes in the first "season" and 6-8 will be released each Wednesday for the first couple of weeks and then 2-3 episodes the following weeks.



It was convinced about 6 years ago and it's amazing that some of the "sci-fiction technology" that was put in has now look more of a possibility. Some things are already a reality... the iPhone and iPad... Google Glasses... it's kinda scary, if you think about it. Heh.

I really excited about it and I hope that y'all share about the series. Here's the link to the Facebook for more info: http://www.facebook.com/HplusTheDigitalSeries

Anywasy, it's time for bed. Nothing really exciting coming up this week but next week, I'm off to Florida for my dad's birthday. I actually haven't been home since February. Hmm...