Week #3: "Dressing for fall in a rigid ocean way, leaving sun guts behind"

Another week = another update! I keep meaning to update sometime during the week so my blogs aren’t so unbelievably long, but the week goes by quickly, and here it is, Friday again!

I suppose I should start with last weekend then. On Sunday, Fallon, Kelly, Nick, Jess, and I made a trip down to Coney Island for the day since it was the last day of the season that the Cyclone rollercoaster was running. Prices are high at Coney, even higher than I expected. It even costs a quarter to use the bathrooms--it’s like Urinetown (the musical)…or Europe! We rode the “Wonder Wheel” and the Cyclone once each for a grand total of $14, but I don’t regret it because it was a good time! Both rides are fun but extremely uh…historical. Some would use words such as old, rickety, dangerous, but I choose to think of it as charming—always best to look on the bright side! Plus, there’s a sign next to the Wonder Wheel saying there has never been an accident in its 89 years of existence. I don’t remember seeing a sign like that next to the Cyclone though, which is just about as old…hmmmm…good thing I've gotten over my fear of rollercoasters!

the five of us about to take the subway to Coney

I wasn't kidding... and they were pretty uncleanly for costing a quarter, too

The rest of the day we spent on the beach and the boardwalk in the absolutely beautiful weather. I got to see the Atlantic Ocean in all its glory for the first time since I was 10, so yay for that! We also ate authentic Coney Island foods such as Nathan’s hot dogs and funnel cakes. I normally despise hot dogs, but I made an exception for Coney, and I wasn’t disappointed. I was pretty happy to satisfy the funnel cake craving I’ve had for a year or two now. The vendors dumped about half of pound of powdered sugar on top of the one I shared with Kelly, and it was a breezy day, so by the time we finished eating, we were covered in sugar, but it was delicious.

view of Coney from the Wonder Wheel

one of many pictures Nick took of us jumping on the beach

Also, if you’ve ever wondered what the worst job in America is, you can stop wondering because I’ve found it. We came across a game called “Shoot the Freak,” which is really just a chance to use paint-ball guns to shoot at a kid who runs around in a black hoodie in 80 degree weather. That kid better get paid more than minimum wage…

historically charming? maybe not so much in this case...

My internships have been showing some improvement, so I think I’m sticking with them. I had my first “press day” with UDP last weekend and even though it included folding endless stacks of papers, I also got to meet a lot of people within the presse. We’ll see how many of their names I can remember tomorrow. I do have to say, Brooklyn is certainly a different world than Manhattan, but that’s one of this city’s charms! Each area has its own “feel”—styles, quirks, people, etc.

a canal I walk by to and from work in Brooklyn

I’ve started doing a bit of editing and review work for UDP too along with my more typical office and organizational duties. I’m still getting plenty of chances to work on my upper body strength though—don’t worry! Just the other day I did inventory for one of the presses, which meant I got to carry very heavy boxes of books up and down ladders all afternoon. I feared for my safety more in those moments than I ever have while walking in the streets of the city, but I lived to tell the tale, and my boss was very appreciative of my efforts. Yay?

Since some of you have said how much you love my literary facts, here’s another one for you! I got the wonderful chance to meet John Ashbery (previously mentioned famous poet) at a book party Wednesday. The book that was being published and celebrated, Faster than Birds Can Fly, costs $2000 (within the college student's budget, no?), so I opted for another book of John Ashbery poetry, and he kindly signed and inscribed the book for me. It was pretty loud in the gallery and he seemed a bit hard of hearing perhaps, so I didn’t get the chance to ask him for poetic words of wisdom, but it was still an honor. The title of this blog is from the new book. Anyone who includes “sun guts” in a poem automatically scores some major points, in my opinion. I know you’re all dying to know what all is involved with a NYC book party. Well you know, the usual: strobe lights, techno music, hard drugs and lots of alcohol. Just kidding…except for the alcohol, but it’s just champagne and wine.

I have discovered a new love in NY: thrift store shopping! Let’s just say that if my feet were one size smaller, I could have bought a pair of Prada shoes for $20. Normally, I don’t care about designer labels one bit, but I kind of want a pair just to say I have some (and I know you’ll appreciate that especially, Raquel).

Another new love in the city: La Bergamote Café. There are many great eating places in NY, but this is quickly becoming a favorite among favorites for me. It’s just nine or so blocks from our housing, and one of my bosses takes me there for breakfast once in a while. It’s an authentic Parisian café and they have the most delicious pastries. Ever. Think of the best croissant or danish you’ve had; now multiply that by a million and add a little bit of heaven, and you might get an idea of what I’m talking about.

Some of us went to Comedy Cellar again last night, which was wonderful because I had a pretty rough day and I was in need of some laughs. My favorite was a comic who’s been on Flight of the Concords—James Smith, I think? Dry humor is the best. Dave Artell also fought off a couple of pretty intense hecklers, so that was entertaining, though slightly uncomfortable, to watch.

A night out on the town: at "La Esquina," a little Mexican restaurant in Soho

Tomorrow night, I’m going to see a screening of "Brief Interviews with Hideous Men," and John Krasinski (Jim from the Office) will be there in person introducing the film and doing a short Q&A session. Can’t wait! Did I mention I kind of like this city a little bit?

Week #2: Tonya Harding, manuscript mania, the beats, and the blues

Another week has gone by so it’s time for an update!

New York is a funny place. I always knew that, but I truly realized it last Saturday. Where would a bunch of college students go on a Saturday night in NY, you ask? Why, the Trailer Park Lounge, of course! Yes, there is such a place, and lucky us, it’s located just a few blocks away from our housing. The Trailer Park has some interesting décor, but I think the shrine to Tonya Harding takes the cake. Unfortunately, I didn’t get a picture of that, but I did get a picture of the place in general:

Yes, those are paper towels instead of napkins and yes, that deer head is wearing a mullet wig. Only in New York…

Sunday, I worked a book fair in Brooklyn, and by “worked” I mean I sat around and listened to poetry while baking in the hot, hot sun. Later, a bunch of us went to check out the red carpet for the VMAs (MTV video music awards). We got there at about 6, and when we saw the crowds of people and realized no one was arriving until 8, we left, but I can say I was there! Here’s a picture of the madness:

Instead, we crammed into one of our TV lounges and watched the VMAs toget

her, and what a crazy awards show it was! If you saw it, you know. Gathering around the TV is kind of a norm here. Every Wednesday night a bunch of us watch Glee together after going to Baskin Robbins for dollar-scoop Wednesdays. A dollar for ice cream in New York? Sweeeet (literally…sorry, bad pun). P.S. Josh Groban was on Glee last week! Only for a couple minutes though, and he didn’t sing. Sad day.

Ok, time to talk about the reason I’m technically here: WORK!

Let’s start out positively. I absolutely love my internship at Futurepoem! September is Futurepoem’s open submission period. My main job at the moment is to go through all the manuscripts (probably will be about 250) to pick the top 30 “finalists” that will be reviewed by the entire editorial board. This morning, after a trip with my boss to the giant post office near Penn Station, in which the workers berated him for letting the manuscripts pile up so long, I got to start going through what we’ve received so far (a whole shopping cart’s worth). It's a strange feeling of power to be able to open up those packages and sort those giant manuscripts into yeses, maybes, and nos. Each writer puts hours and hours into these works, and I can dismiss them in minutes. Weird.

My other internships…I’d rather not spend too much time talking about them. I have nothing against the organizations themselves or the people I work for, but the work I'm doing...that's another story. At one, I’m basically a UPS worker, without the truck. For six hours Tuesday I did absolutely nothing except deliver/pick up packages and package books. Don’t get me wrong, that needs to be done, but if that’s all I’m going to be doing, the guy really should have looked for an intern with muscles instead of literary skills. He could have at least warned me to wear better shoes for that glorious experience. I had to print out three years worth of e-mail the other day too. I could just hear the trees crying. At the other press, my project for the next month is to reorganize some shelves. Enough said.

one of the presses I work for, located in the basement of an old factory in Brooklyn

It’s in the works to find a new internship for me though, something more journalism-related. A lot of the good internships are gone now, understandably, but we’re looking, and there are a couple of hopefuls.

Negativity over. Want to know another reason why this city is so weird, and yet amazing? Yesterday, at a lecture we attended for seminar, we had two empty seats next to us and our adviser invited a woman to come sit in one. They chatted for a while casually, and later, she told us the woman was Anne Waldman…wait, THE Anne Waldman? The Anne Waldman I studied in Beat Literature? The Anne Waldman that worked with Allen Ginsberg and founded a school with him? That Anne Waldman? Really? I couldn’t have known about that while she was sitting about five feet from me? I guess you just never know here…

Anne Waldman and Allen Ginsberg

Well, I suppose it's time for me to go to sleep, since I have a busy day of organizing shelves tomorrow! Haha! No...really. Anyway, I will end with some pictures I took while in Central Park during my day off Monday. The weather was absolutely beautiful!

Strawberry Fields: a tribute to John Lennon

fountain you may recognize (it's in a lot of movies)...I can't remember the name of it

video of two excellent musicians under a bridge in Central Park

P.S. If Nick is reading, sorry for stealing your blog title, even though I didn't know about it. Haha!

The First Week

By the suggestion of my parents and others, I’ve decided to keep a blog while I’m here in New York City because it's an easy way for me to keep everyone updated on how I’m doing and what I’m up to in the big city :-)

So, for those of you who don’t know (who are very few I’m sure because I talk about New York ALL the time), I’m living and interning in NYC this fall as a part of the New York Arts Program. I’m living in Chelsea (midtown Manhattan, somewhat near Times Square) with about 30 other students. For my internships, I'm splitting a full-time schedule among three small presses: Ugly Duckling Presse, Granary Books, and Futurepoem. All of them are non-profit, and they try to publish works that probably wouldn't be published elsewhere.

As of yet, I've mostly been doing typical intern-like work. My most exciting tasks in the first two days were to pick up/deliver packages and make an ad for a recycling bin on craigslist. No joke. Some other work I will eventually be doing, however, is reviewing submissions, designing publicity materials, and helping with events, among other things. My first substantial job is to copy-edit a manuscript this weekend for Futurepoem.

Some of the work these presses publish is a bit "out there." Its been hit or miss with everything I've read so far, but I have absolutely fallen in love with one UDP publication already, A Plate of Chicken by Matthew Rohrer. SO GOOD. NYC is just full of literary goodness in general. For example, Granary Books recently published a book by John Ashbery and Trevor Winkfield, and the party/reading is coming up later this month. I did a paper/presentation on John Ashbery's poetry for one of my classes, so it would be sweet to see him read and possibly even meet him. I also found out the other day that my boss at Granary spent time with Allen Ginsberg in the 70s in Boulder, CO at the Jack Kerouac School for Disembodied Poetics. Legit!

Enough with the English babble though. As for the city itself, I’ve only been here a week, but I love it! My room at “305” is bigger than I expected. We’re lucky because there are only three of us in a quad (extra bed for anyone who wants to come visit)! The housing isn't glamorous by any means--there are rumors of roaches and mice, and the bedding they gave us is mucho sketchy. But for New York, it’s a nice place in a good neighborhood.

A bunch of us during our orientation ferry "cruise" around Manhattan

There’s just SO much to do and see here! In the last two days alone I’ve gone to an improv show, a play, and stand-up comedy at the Comedy Cellar in Greenwich (which was hilarious). It's hard to force myself to go to sleep at night because hey, the city doesn't sleep, so why should I? And there’s so much to EAT too! Food is definitely one of the best things about NYC. I tried Falafel the other day. Delicious. And I ate at a café yesterday that had the absolute best coffee I’ve ever tasted. Mmmmm. Don’t even get me started on pastries and desserts!

Most of my exploring of the city has been good, but yesterday was…interesting. It was the first rainy day since I've been here, but it wasn’t just rainy, it was absolutely crazy, windy, cold, inside-out-umbrella kind of weather! I went with a couple guys in the program to grab lunch before heading to our seminar. Our info said we were meeting at W. 10th St, but after we walked ALL the way to Greenwich Village (where W. 10th St. is located), we couldn't find the place. We wandered around and asked for directions for about an hour before we found out we were supposed to be at W. 10th Ave and not W. 10th St…one little typo makes a BIG difference. The actual location was only three blocks from our housing. Wonderful. We were completely soaked by the time we got to our seminar, but hey, it was a once-in-a-lifetime, NY experience!

The subway walls are watching you! Creepy...

I also took a trip down to Ground Zero for the 8th anniversary of 9/11 yesterday morning, since I didn’t have to work. The whole area was swarming with tourists in ponchos, police, and people handing out trachts (mostly political, meh). I almost turned around and got back on the subway because it was so ridiculous, but I decided to walk for a while, and I finally found the place where they had the memorial service, which was nice to find because it was the only place in the area where everyone stopped, calmed down, and listened respectfully. I stood there in the cold and rain for quite a while because I didn't want to have to fight through the mess again to get back to the subway. Yay America.

Well, in closing of my probably-too-long, first entry, I want to say that this whole experience has already been opening my mind in a lot of ways, and being here this semester seems to be exactly the thing I need right now. I’m sorry for any of you who are missing me in Michigan and Iowa, and I miss you all as well, but just know that I am having a GREAT time, and I’m safe. Promise.