Working Woman!

That's me! The Working Woman! I'm sure there are plenty of other women who work more than I do in New York, but I got another part-time job! I just started working at a Barnes & Noble in midtown. Yup, I'm learning how to make lots of coffee. I'm still getting trained, but I like it so far. Mostly, I'm excited that my weeks no longer consist of just looking for jobs! It's a good feeling to be busy.

Let's see, oh! I went to a poetry festival last weekend! I figured that it might be a good way to do a bit more networking since I knew that some small presses would be there. The poetry festival was on Governors Island. And the ferry is free on Saturdays! I am all about the free stuff!

And how is that for a view of Manhattan? Governors Island is way closer than I thought it was going to be. And it's so green! I think I saw two pretty big playgrounds. Little-kid-me would have been in playground heaven. I think there's a hammock garden there too, but I didn't see it! That sounds like the perfect playground for adults. I'll go back before too long and lounge in the sun.

The poetry festival was in this little area with three different stages, a group of food trucks, and a random typewriter in a booth.

The typewriter was a part of "The Typewriter Project." It was just sitting there for anyone to come and type on it, so I did. It was kind of fun. I think the guy who went after me must have been some big poetry hot-shot because nobody was around the booth while I was there. Then when this other guy gets in, like ten people crowded around and tried to shake his hand. Granted, they could have all been congratulating him on his crazy hat, or expressing their thanks that he showered that day (I did too by the way), so I guess it's still a mystery.

I started wondering about what makes a poem a poem. Maybe it's kind of childish, but I really like rhymes and rhythms in poetry. I might have missed something vital while listening to these poems, but I didn't hear any rhyme or meter. And nobody snapped! What? They all clapped at the end, like the polite golfer clap after someone's just hit the ball onto the green. Maybe it's just the progressiveness of New York--snapping was yesterday's thing. But I did enjoy/understand some of the poems.

Also, I seem to have some maturing to do since I still find stuff like this funny:

There's a glare on the poster, so it might be a little hard to see, but I love what a little marker can do. Bam--vampire friend. It reminded me of when Jesse and I used to draw mustaches and moles and eye patches on the people in programs. It is kind of funny though, right? The more I look at it, the funnier it gets. Just look at it one more time, you'll see what I mean.

Oh, and I found a place to live in September! I'll be moving to a nice little apartment on the Upper West Side. It's going to be much closer to work. And maybe I can go running in Central Park!! Also, I just killed a mosquito before it ate me. I'm in a pretty good mood.

First Day on the (Very Part-Time) Job!

That's right--I got a job! Although it's actually an internship. It just sounds better to say job, and there are fewer syllables. And yes, it is very part-time, which means that I work two days a week, six hours a day. Today was my very first day at CSLA, or Charlotte Sheedy Literary Agency!

I was, of course, a little bit nervous to see what it was like in a literary agency. I had a great time though! I did get a little bit lost on my way to do an errand, but my smartphone came in pretty handy then. I became very well acquainted with the scanner/printer, and I learned some of the daily stuff that goes on in the office. The best part was when I got to read a manuscript. Yes! Can you believe that I get paid to read stories and give my opinions on them? Of course, that's not all that I do, but it made me very happy today. When I got on the subway to go home, I thought, "Shouldn't I be more tired?" I felt great! I think that's a good sign.

As far as other eventful things that happened this week, I went to a reading by Joanna Rakoff who wrote My Salinger Year. I finished the book the day before the reading. Here are some pictures from afar.

Yeah, that's a pretty awesome place to do a reading. Sometimes a passing boat or helicopter made a lot of noise, but it was neat to be outside. And how could you get tired of that view? I stayed at the Brooklyn Bridge park for a little while afterwards with some friends, and this is a little snapshot of what the skyline looks like when it's getting dark.

This is just about where I watched the fireworks on the 4th of July. It's a great view! Oh, and there was a separate reading at Bryant Park where Piper Kerman, author of the book Orange is the New Black talked about her experience in prison and read from her book. I could only stay for a couple of minutes, but her book sounds fascinating! You probably recognize the title from the TV show that's based on it. I'm not super interested in watching the show, but I do want to read her book!

Also, I did a little exploring around Harlem. My roommate wanted to take me out to celebrate me getting the internship. After some research, I settled on the Dinosaur Bar-B-Que. It was so good--thinking about it now makes me hungry! And then as we were leaving the restaurant, we saw this:

I kind of wished that it was a Batman sign, and then I kept wondering what Harlem Man would be like. An awesome jazz musician? Speaking of awesome jazz musicians, I walked by the Apollo theater and saw names like Ella Fitzgerald and Etta James engraved on the ground. Pretty cool.
And I can't forget about these guys!

There was a whole crew of guys out here, in the middle of Harlem. It's not a very good picture, but there were at least four or five guys on the drums. I didn't get the trumpet player in the picture. I love the music on the streets and in the subway. I even saw some break dancers in one of the subway cars.

Also, I found out that quite a few people in Williamsburg (in Brooklyn) are vegan. I really wanted to laugh when this one guy got on the subway and was trying to sell an iPhone case for super cheap. He paused in the middle of his sales pitch and said, "By the way, I think you all should know that I'm a vegan. You could help support a good man." I know he was just trying to sell something, but it struck me as kind of funny because for all we knew, he might have stolen that iPhone case from a nearby store.

I went to a couple more interviews for some part-time positions. I don't think they would be as exciting as working for a literary agency, but I'll take what I can get! Have a great week everyone!

Meandering

I didn't see any famous people this week. You win some, you lose some. But really, how can you lose in NYC? I did a lot of meandering this week. I couldn't tell you where I saw this now, but it was a beautiful thing to see when getting out of the metro.

I don't know if you can make out what that says, but it's Charles Scribner's Sons--a publishing company. Some of their authors are Ernest Hemingway, Kurt Vonnegut, and Stephen King. Pretty cool, eh? And after that, I bumped into this beauty!

It probably doesn't look familiar from this angle, but it's 30 Rock! The Rockefeller Center, which I believe is the home of NBC. A lot of TV comes out of this building, including SNL. Definitely cool to see.

Also, I discovered that the park by my apartment is filled with skunks, but they only come out at night. I went for an evening jog and was, at first, delighted by all of the fireflies. Then I stumbled across a few of these bad boys.

Just the fact that I was close enough to take a picture of him is disturbing enough. They didn't seem too bothered that other people were in the park. I gave them all a wide berth though. I probably won't go out on any more evening strolls through the park. But the fireflies were quite nice.

I found myself near Times Square yesterday. It's kind of nice just to walk through it. I stopped at the M&M factory thinking that I would get some M&Ms, but I couldn't find my favorite kind. I know, they literally have walls of M&Ms of all colors. I even found some that said "I heart NYC". I couldn't find the crunchy ones though. They have a crunchy middle, and it's not a peanut inside. They probably were there, but if you factor in all of the people that were there too and the fact that it's built like a maze (so that you never get out!), it's understandable I guess.

Oh, and I'm starting to go to some interviews. It was a little different walking around Manhattan dressed like all of the employed people (meaning not in my sandals, shorts, and a t-shirt). I kept thinking, "I probably look like I've got a nice job. Hehe." Not that dressing up nice means that you have a really nice job, but I kind of connect the two in my mind. It was only amusing to me because it felt like I was deceiving everyone, but that they were maybe falling for it (or they didn't really care either way).

Also, this is a side note here, I'm starting to realize just how big some publishers really are. I knew that there was more than just editing to be done for every book, but I mean there's a lot more that I didn't know about. I went to an information session about a masters in publishing at one of the universities, and though it's not necessary, I'm kind of thinking that it might be a good idea. It's something to think about anyway.

Fireworks and Famous People

I figured it was probably time for another update on the newbie life. I'm still loving it here in New York! And here's why:
Fireworks! Oh yes! I decided to head down to the Brooklyn Bridge Park to hopefully get a good view of the fireworks.

I got there with some time to kill, so I waited in line for an hour at the Shake Shack to get a hot dog and some blueberry pie custard. My timing was perfect! Just a few minutes after getting my food, the fireworks started.

It was funny though, because at first we could only see them far off in the distance. This Italian couple behind me kept talking about how stupid it was, and everyone in general seemed pretty let-down. And then--BOOM! They started going off really close to us. I looked around, and I think every person had their phone/camera out and were recording. I got a little of it on video and some pictures. Unfortunately, I wasn't able to get the video on here, so you won't be able to hear the annoying guy that I was next to. He was one of those people who talks to everyone around him in general. Such is city life, right? And I thought it was actually kind of funny. He was freaking out about the noise and the smoke. Maybe next year, he'll just watch it from his TV.

On Monday, I went to this nearby museum called The Cloisters. It's this old monastery in the park where I like to go running. I loved the super thick stone walls that kept it nice and cool inside.

It's pretty big. These are two different courtyards where I took some pictures. Here's a different vantage point.

It's got some neat tapestries inside and some stained glass windows. I like those kinds of things.

Oh, and I had to get a picture of this!

They had this little tomb-like place, and each person had their pet with them. This guy's got his faithful dog at his feet. Man's best friend. I don't know if this means that their animals were actually buried with them or not. I hope not, for the animal's sake, and that it's just a representation.

Later that night, I saw Jerry Seinfeld!!! That's right, the Seinfeld from the TV show called, Seinfeld. My picture of him isn't the best, but I was trying to be really sneaky.

There he is, at the Gotham Comedy Club. So, I'm really lucky. My roommate is interning right now at this comedy club, so she gets to see some shows for free. She didn't know that Seinfeld was going to be there, but she said it was going to be someone big! That made for a pretty exciting night. Oh, and he looked around, saw my Vespa bag, and said, "That's a cool Vespa bag." Then he just went right back to his stand up performance. I liked that bag already, but if Jerry Seinfeld says that your bag is cool, it means that it's really cool!

And then, I saw another famous person--Rainbow Rowell!! First of all, isn't that one of the coolest names you've ever heard? I have never heard of anyone else named Rainbow. Who is she? A writer! And not just any writer, a really really good writer.

She released her newest book (Landline) yesterday. I tried to stop myself from buying a book to have her sign, but seriously, when am I ever going to get the chance to have Rainbow Rowell sign a book for me? So I bought Fangirl and read about 70 pages of it while waiting in line. It was kind of a long line, but so worth it!

I know they say that New Yorkers don't go crazy over celebrities, but I can't help myself! If you've read any of Rainbow Rowell's books, you'll understand. And I've been here now a grand total of two weeks. I love this city!

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Laundry Day!

Why am I so happy about laundry day? Aside from having clean clothes, which I strongly recommend to everyone, it reminds me of a Dr. Horrible song.

I was humming this just a little bit as I did my laundry. Unfortunately, there was no Neil Patrick Harris in my laundromat.

Just to warn you, this blog post may contain excessive videos and photos. You have been made aware!

Laundry day was sorely needed because I have been making my clothes very dirty this week. First of all, I flew here.

Yes, I was mostly just sitting there, on a plane, but for those of you who don't know, even just wearing your clothes makes them dirty. Yup, we are messy mammals.

I go running in the mornings and often take walks in the evenings.

I went to the Gotham Comedy Club for a night of some stand-up comedy (this is the only picture that I didn't actually take).

I visited Central Park on multiple occasions.

Yes, that is a gondolier. I had to take this picture, you know, because of my Italian obsession.

I sampled some of the local cuisine. Take a look at this baby! I went to a restaurant called Cachupas y Mas. I believe this is called a cachupa (with roast pork, yum)!

I went to Prosper Park in Brooklyn and watched some Shakespeare. "As You Like It." Oh, and I found a hula hoop! Somebody had just left it there--a perfectly good hula hoop! So, I took it home with me on the metro.

And last night, I went to the literary event of the century.

That's right folks, Star Wars and Shakespeare. Exist, it does.

Of course, in addition to the party, I do lots of business. I've been trying to give my resumes to whoever will take them. Now that my clothes are clean, I can go out and do it some more!

Until next time, then!