Everyone says that Christmas in the city is a beautiful thing. I agree. A girlfriend and I were running down 5th Avenue last weekend (literally running). We were late to the Alvin Ailey show, but I couldn't help but be completely shocked by the amount of Christmas lights! It was absolutely gorgeous! I am not surprised. Its New York City people, lights are their thing. Have you not been to Times Square?
Today I experienced Christmas in a little more non-traditional way. We got off the train and walked past 4 young (and skinny) men. They were dressed in Santa outfits, with their beards pulled down, smoking cigarettes. Not very Santa like! We arrived at Joffrey to find that other people have had bizarre Santa encounters this morning as well. A friend saw fifteen Santas waiting in line to get Metro Cards for the Subway? Ummm....Santa? What happened to your sleigh? We finally found that "Santa CON" is taking place in the city. It is a bar crawl throughout the city. All you need to participate is a Santa costume, resulting in a overwhelming amount of drunken Mr. and Mrs. Claus throughout the city. Very entertaining, but if I was a parent, I would have kept my kid INSIDE today.
In the most important news, today I experienced a Christmas miracle. See, Wednesday night I was on my Mac Book ordering my dad a Christmas present. That is when my clumsy elbows knocked over my glass of water that was conveniently located right next to the computer. Water filled my keyboard. After I soaked up as much water as I could, I called my best friend. She had a similar disaster with Won Ton soup. She told me NOT to turn it on. Apparently trying to turn it on is what ruins your hard drive, not the water. Then I called Miguel, who was amazing already at the Apple store in Kansas City asking about what to do about my soggy laptop. (Yes, he is that awesome.) For the remainder of the evening I sat on my bathroom floor with my blow dryer on the low-cool setting trying to dry out the insides of my computer. The next step is to wait a few days just to ensure that everything is dried out.
For the past two days I have been staring at my poor computer on my desk, but today was the third day. I woke up bright and early. I was sweating because I was so nervous to try to turn it on. I have almost 4,000 songs and hundreds of photos on my computer. Hundreds of dollars worth of music for auditions and choreography. My professional head shots and dance pictures. Are they gone forever? Should I call my mom and dad to tell them to return my Christmas gifts? No, I should wait to make sure its really gone... Ok here it goes.
I plugged it in and pressed the button. DINGGGG The apple ding sounded. It was turning on! Then the apple appeared! Then the wheel-of-death...watched it spin for a few seconds (holding my breath) and there it was, my desktop. It is my very own Christmas miracle! Just like Jesus, after three days, it resurrected.
Thank you Jesus for resurrecting my computer. You are awesome, I promise to spend less time on Facebook. I promise!
A week from today I fly home for the holidays, but this last week is going to be a rough one. Tomorrow morning I have to a photo shoot for our program. Apparently we are going to have our hair powdered white. I'm sure that will result in an interesting blog. To be continued?
Saturday, December 11, 2010
Wednesday, December 1, 2010
Lighting the Tree, with ALL of New York
I love Christmas. I really really love Christmas. Except last night, I hated Christmas.
You see, we made plans to go to the Rockefeller Christmas Tree Lighting months ago. So Tuesday after class we dragged our super sore post-Thanksgiving break bodies to Rockefeller for some good ole fashioned Christmas spirit, NYC style. We left right after class, because like everything in New York, you must arrive 3 hours early. for. everything.
5:30 We walk out of the train station to find (of course) hundreds of people. Who can give up their entire Tuesday just to sit in the rain at Rockefeller Center???
5:45 We were shuffled into an area that resembled somewhat of a holding pen, now that I think about it. We had our bags checked and were sent right on in. It wasn't until after we got settled that we realized that we couldn't even see the Christmas tree. We could see a TV screen with the live feed of the concert though! It read: ristmas at ockefeller enter. I guess 3/4 of a TV isn't bad.
6:45 Just as we began to get tired of waiting, we were distracted by a commotion in the holding pen next to us. A fight! Two guys with NYPD Counter Terrorism on their jackets came running. They attempted to jump into the crowd, but clearly there was no room. (What do you think the fight was about?) They had to unhook the holding pen gate, to reach to two guys fighting. They pulled two men out of the crowd and began to handcuff them. One guy was apologizing to his girlfriend and the other just looked embarrassed. They didn't look like terrorists, but thank you NYPD Counter Terrorism Squad for keeping us safe and completely ruining that guy's date.
7:00 Once the show started I actually enjoyed myself. Sure it was a cramped holding pen, but I was with my girls. The performers were great. Boys to Men performed and it made my life. There was a 10 year old girl who absolutely stole the show.
8:00 A group of people from the front decided they had enough and left. In response to their exit, the entire group decided to over compensate for their empty space. Then it all went down hill. The girls got pushed forward. I was pushed to the side, over the side of the pen. Ouch, but maybe everyone will get settled and I can get comfortable again
8:05 Momentary distraction by Mariah Carey singing on stage with little kids dressed as cheerleaders?
8:10 I realized that this is our new permanent spot for the remainder of the evening. I can't even talk to my friends about the awkward Mariah Carey performance.
8:15 Cramping begins and I start to devise an exit plan. I look behind me at the hundreds standing between me and the exit
8:20 Accept defeat.
9:00 Tree is lit, I can see it through the Lego store' s window.
On our way home I finally was able to see the tree. It was beautiful.
moral of the story:
Lighting a Christmas Tree is a family event that should take place in your home, with plenty of elbow room.
You see, we made plans to go to the Rockefeller Christmas Tree Lighting months ago. So Tuesday after class we dragged our super sore post-Thanksgiving break bodies to Rockefeller for some good ole fashioned Christmas spirit, NYC style. We left right after class, because like everything in New York, you must arrive 3 hours early. for. everything.
5:30 We walk out of the train station to find (of course) hundreds of people. Who can give up their entire Tuesday just to sit in the rain at Rockefeller Center???
5:45 We were shuffled into an area that resembled somewhat of a holding pen, now that I think about it. We had our bags checked and were sent right on in. It wasn't until after we got settled that we realized that we couldn't even see the Christmas tree. We could see a TV screen with the live feed of the concert though! It read: ristmas at ockefeller enter. I guess 3/4 of a TV isn't bad.
6:45 Just as we began to get tired of waiting, we were distracted by a commotion in the holding pen next to us. A fight! Two guys with NYPD Counter Terrorism on their jackets came running. They attempted to jump into the crowd, but clearly there was no room. (What do you think the fight was about?) They had to unhook the holding pen gate, to reach to two guys fighting. They pulled two men out of the crowd and began to handcuff them. One guy was apologizing to his girlfriend and the other just looked embarrassed. They didn't look like terrorists, but thank you NYPD Counter Terrorism Squad for keeping us safe and completely ruining that guy's date.
7:00 Once the show started I actually enjoyed myself. Sure it was a cramped holding pen, but I was with my girls. The performers were great. Boys to Men performed and it made my life. There was a 10 year old girl who absolutely stole the show.
8:00 A group of people from the front decided they had enough and left. In response to their exit, the entire group decided to over compensate for their empty space. Then it all went down hill. The girls got pushed forward. I was pushed to the side, over the side of the pen. Ouch, but maybe everyone will get settled and I can get comfortable again
8:05 Momentary distraction by Mariah Carey singing on stage with little kids dressed as cheerleaders?
8:10 I realized that this is our new permanent spot for the remainder of the evening. I can't even talk to my friends about the awkward Mariah Carey performance.
8:15 Cramping begins and I start to devise an exit plan. I look behind me at the hundreds standing between me and the exit
8:20 Accept defeat.
9:00 Tree is lit, I can see it through the Lego store' s window.
On our way home I finally was able to see the tree. It was beautiful.
moral of the story:
Lighting a Christmas Tree is a family event that should take place in your home, with plenty of elbow room.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)