Week 2

Holy COW! I can't believe I've been here for over a week! On one hand it feels like i just got here and otherwise it feels like I've been here for years. Especially in terms of At the Table. The play has grown so much since we started (only a week ago, yesterday) rehearsals. I can't even believe it. The past two days of rehearsal have been especially productive. We officially have Scene 1 on its feet! It's very exciting.

Monday was our first Equity day off, although I went an alternative route and instead of doing nothing it feels like I did EVERYTHING. First, Elizabeth and I went to see Avengers: Age of Ultron at the movies. Movie theaters in New York are interesting. For starters, two movie tickets cost 40 AMERICAN DOLLARS. 40. AMERICAN. DOLLARS. That's all I can say, really, if I keep talking about how much it costs to go to the freaking movies here I will start to feel sick. The one we went to had four floors, and compared to Buffalo or Cincinnati, the individual theaters themselves are a lot smaller. The IMAX Experience theater took up an entire floor. For those of you who haven't been to NYC, I feel like this is a great example of how much is packed onto a relatively small chunk of rock that is the island of Manhattan. Anyway, back to the movie - Age of Ultron was AMAZING. It was hysterically funny, first of all. Way to go, Joss Whedon, I applaud you, sir! There was a VERY funny Eugene O'Neill joke that only myself, Elizabeth, and one other person in the theater laughed at, so they must have been a theatre person too - this only made us laugh even harder. I give this movie a solid 5/5 on the Nicole Santiago Movie Ranking System.

My reaction to Avengers - Age of Ultron. A repeated reference, but applicable.

Any-who so after the movies Elizabeth and I had to go our separate ways since she had rehearsal for another project she was working on and I had plans to go to my very first Mets game!!!! This wasn't before Elizabeth did a very, very, very bad thing (for my bank account at least) and introduced me to a little store called Century 21. I don't know what god created this wonderous place, but they have ALLLL of the designers you've ever heard of for prices you'd never even ever imagine in your wildest, craziest, most out-of-this-world dreams! I saw a pair of 7 jeans for 30 dollars. I actually held them in my hands. It was a beautiful moment. I saw things, I tried things on, I walked out with a lighter wallet and a big smile! Then it was a super quick stop at Argo Tea (must have been created by the same god as Century 21) and I was off to Queens!

The Mets game was great! Me, Craig-a-tron, Aaron, Clevy (one of Fault Line's communications directors), and a few other friends met up at CitiField. What a GOREGEOUS ball park, lemme tell ya. *Also, a side note: this stadium had the best ball park food I've ever had. Shoutout to Clevy for convincing me to go with two hot dogs instead of one.* Some of you may know this, but I grew up in a big sports family. We were born and raised on Major League Baseball, and some of our favorite trips as a family have been to cities with Major League Baseball teams. One of my life goals is to visit every MLB stadium in the league, and I hope to do so with my Mom, Dad, and my brother when we can all get together. Going to the game really made me home-sick for my family, but we had a great time none the less! The game itself was one of the more um, boring games I've seen though, I have to say. The game was 1-0 Mets until the top of the 9th when the Cardinals scored one to tie it up. While this is normally against my religion, the game was in the bottom of the 12th inning and it was almost 11:00 PM, so we had to pack it in and go home. The game didn't end up finishing until I got back to my apartment, which is about an hour of commuting time from CitiField. The Mets won the game in the 14th inning. Congrats to them, but there was just no way we could have stayed. We had rehearsal Tuesday morning at 10:00 AM and the trek back to Manhattan from Queens is not a quick one. The commute to and from the stadium is a cool one though! I had a great view of the city and caught a glimpse at the sight of the World's Fair and the site of the US Open for Tennis. It was pretty cool (of course I have pictures)!

Manhattan Skyline - View from the 7 train

Construction being done on Arthur Ashe Stadium @ the World's Fair

CitiField - Home of the New York Mets

While this blog is important for cataloging all of the cool things I get to do while I'm here, I think it's important to mention that this is not all fun and games. It definitely gets lonely being in this huge city by yourself. For me, it's been especially difficult at times since I've never lived without at least a roommate before. It's very strange. I'd say the only difficult adjustment I've had to make is being so far away from people that I know. It's crazy because there are just SO MANY people here that you'd think it'd be easier to meet people, but I sometimes think the population numbers just make it harder. But you know, everything is a learning experience and I find things that make me feel a little more at home here every day.

That being said, I think I've definitely succeeded at making my tiny room my own. I have a wall dedicated to notes and photos from my family and friends in Buffalo and at Xavier. It's really amazing to have my own bathroom that I can keep as neat and clean as I want it to be (I am a FREAK when it comes to this), which has been a cool thing about living by myself. I also have a queen-sized bed, which is bigger than any bed I've ever had so that's pretty cool. It's also pretty nice to be able to go to sleep whenever I want and wake up and take my time getting ready without having to be extra quiet or hurry up. Also thanks to my awesome parents and grandparents, I have a TON of snacks that I can eat whenever I want too. And Stephen was right...EVERY PLACE IN NEW YORK DELIVERS. This has been a little bit tricky for me (really just my wallet) to get used to these past two weeks, and I'm definitely going to be cutting back on that. *Ollie's Sushi To Go, though...best Edamame I've ever had, I highly recommend it.*

My Friends & Family Wall - If you would like to contribute to it feel free to drop me a note! I love getting Mail!

306 W 94th Street

Room 416

New York, New York 10025

I have a quote of the day for all of you as I sign off for the night. Another big day at rehearsal tomorrow!

Quote of the Day: "There are moments when silence, prolong'd and unbroken, more expressive may be than all words ever spoken, it is when the heart has an instinct of what in the heart of another is passing." - Owen Meredith --> Again, if anyone would like to explain this to me, I'd appreciate it.