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Happy Halloween!

Okay, so I am updating this for a few reasons. There have recently been a few updates in my life, and I felt like I should update you on those updates. Really, I just wanted to see how many times I could say updates.

Last night, I had the extreme pleasure of seeing Mike Birbiglia's one man off-broadway show, "Sleepwalk With Me." It was free, too. I guess I should explain that. It's not free for everyone, but I was able to get a comp. ticket. Why did I get a comp. ticket? Well, did you perhaps ever stop to think that I am a more important and imposing figure than you? Yeah, I am talking to you, one of the three people who read my blog.

Nah, I'm not. Actually, here is the scoop. So, as you all know if you read my blog last time, Starbucks never called me back. Idiots. Complete idiots, that's what they are. I hope they burn themselves with their coffee. How sweet a retribution that would be, eh? Eh, what am I, Canadian? Aboot! Okay, so yeah. Starbucks never called me back after two interviews. I figured that I didn't deserve to wait on recieving a call from an establishment that clearly didn't deserve my charismatic expertise. Therefore, I began to look up jobs on Craigslist. That is something that I'd never done before. I had heard of people getting jobs through it, but I was a bit skeptical. I figured that I would find jobs for like, "Dog-crap cleaner," or "Homeless person washer." Why would I want to do those jobs? Luckily, that's not what I found.

What I found was an add to be a promoter by passing out fliers for an off-broadway theatre, or what not. It sounded interesting, and as you know I am a theatre major so I figured that it would be a nice opportunity. Well, I sent an incredibly long email explaining how great I am, and why I would be amazing at the job. I really talked myself up, but like, seriously, I deserve all the praise. I mean, look at me. I'm sexilicous. I wanna sex me up.

So I waited a few days without much hope really. Buuuuut, I got an email yesterday inviting me to come in for an interview, and then I got very very excited when I saw at the bottom of the email a sentance that said, "As part of the job, you are required to see a performance of Mike Birbiglia's new show, 'Sleepwalk With Me.' You will see this for free." Required? REQUIRED!? Required to do something so awesome as see Mike Birbiglia?! I had no flippin' idea that this job that I was interviewing for was passing out fliers for his show. No idea at all. Now, I have been a fan of him for quite some time. Infact, just a few nights before I had busted out 'Guitar Guy At The Party' for a couple of friends. As a comedy musicians, he is seriously an inspiration for myself and for Mike. My step-dad has also heard him on 98 Rock a few times, so he knows him too. I was seriously excited that I would be able to see the show for free. I'd been wanting to see Mike live for a while now, so this was perfect.

I got to the theatre for the interview, and I thought that it went very well. Well, maybe the guy didn't think it went well, but I did. Here is hoping that I get hired. I'll probably be blogging about that sooner or later. If I don't get hired, I am sure that I will have some nasty, spiteful comments to make about how my how the job would have been a limit to my blissful skills. Yes, blissful skills. Buuut, hopefully I won't have those problems and I can keep gushing about how great the interview went, and how I got the job, and how it was AWESOME! I'd rather be positive than negative.

Anyway, after the interview, the guy (Mike) gave me a free ticket to see the show that night. My plan was to stick around after the show and convince Mike to get this guy to hire me, or for him to extend his one-man show into a two-man show. Actually, I didn't think of that second option until now.. but it probably would have worked.

The show was hilarious. Seriously, even though I went for free, I really really want to go again. I'd even pay this time. I really do believe it's worth the money, so even if I don't get the job, go anyway! This has been the first off-broadway show that I've seen, and it was awesome. I've seen a bunch of Broadway shows, and this was even better than some of them. I can tell you right now, the hilarity of Mike Birbiglia ranks up there with [title of show], and Spamalot, which were the funniest shows that I've seen.

Sure, it's a small show. There aren't many props, and there isn't much of a set. The thing though, is Mike proves that you don't need all this to have a friggen fantastic show. Never once does your mind wander, he totally captures the audience for every single second that he's on stage. Heck, even the 'Turn off your cell phones' announcement was hilarious. You all need to go see the show. If you don't, then you really are missing out and I feel very sorry for you.

His comedic timing is impeccible. Honestly, I was rolling in my seat, and the roars of laughter from the tiny audience engulfed the entire room just about any time that Mike opened his mouth. My face literally hurt from laughing so much. You leave the theatre in such a good mood, it's totally worth it to see this show. Mike Birbiglia also uses google alerts, so I am really curious to see if it leads him to this blog.

Okay, so enough of my praise for it, even though I am sure that I could go on and on. After the show I waited outside, but I think that I either must have missed Mike, or he hadn't come out and it was too cold to wait any longer. I do know though, that there were two drag queens outside smoking, and then they went into the theatre. I wondered what was up with that. Found out that there was a drag show playing later that night. Oh boy.

New York City is kinda small. I mean, not in size, but like here is something. I was standing outside of the theatre right next to the Bleecker St. subway station. I was by myself in the middle of Bleecker St., some random area a little ways away from Pace. All of a sudden, like 4 of my friends emerge from the subway, and I was like woah. And they were all like, woah what are you doing here!? It was fun I tell you.

So, today is Halloween. Happy Halloween! I am going out to the parade in the Village, which was rated the number one thing in the world to do on Halloween. I'm really excited to put my junk in a box, and you surely will be seeing pictures later.

Okay everyone, take care. Happy Halloween, don't eat any candy with razor blades in them.

New York is cold.

It's getting really cold out. I wish that I had some more clothes that were fashionable and fit me, but I don't. I'd go to the thrift store to look for cool things, but I am poor. I do have clothes, yeah, and they are cool, but some of them are either too big or too small now. That sucks. But yeah, it's getting really cold outside. Tonight, I went for a walk on the Brooklyn Bridge at 1:00 AM, and walked the entire thing twice. Needless to say, it was freezing out. I'm getting fatter, which isn't a good thing. Actually, I can't tell whether I am getting fatter or not. I need a scale. Well, maybe I don't need a scale, cause it might just depress me. I don't want to be depressed. Still, man it's cold. I wish Sarah Palin were here. I don't know how she'd help, I just wish that she were here. I guess now I won't look so awkward when I rock my sweater vests.

So, I went and saw Ben Folds in concert a few weeks ago. It was really really awesome, and probably the best concert that I have seen of him. It was my third time seeing one of his concerts, and well worth the money. He puts on a great show, and I honestly think that everyone should go and see him if they haven't. I know that you won't, and that I am probably talking to no one, but oh well.

I recently went to Union Square where there was apparently a silent rave going on. Really, I was just there to see the movie 'W'. I liked it, and I thought that it was suprisingly sympathetic to President Bush, and made him seem more of a tragic hero than anything. Just reminded me how much I do admire George Bush, and all you crazy liberals from Pace who are reading this, shut your mouths because I don't really care what you have to say at this point. I am tired of your malice. You know, you fool me once, shame on you. You fool me twice.. fool me twice you can't get fooled again. The movie was good. Go see it!

Did I mention that it's cold?

There is a desk attendant who always looks like he is high. Either he is high, dying, or a combination of both. I really do think that he is on at least one kind of drug. You should see him. He's creepy.

I recieved in the mail from my parents the greatest package that I have ever recieved. It contained a life size cardboard cutout of John McCain, and packs of berger cookies. I was really excited by that. Really excited. You have no idea. I practically peed myself. That last part wasn't true, but I was excited. We had a lot of fun with McCain, and now he's become a wall decoration. That's the best use for him, I think. Plus, this room is so small that there was literally no where else for him to live but on the wall. Heck, he does make a good decoration. It's like a Picasso painting.

My dorm room is extremely messy. You know, speaking of rooms, I have a bone to pick with my parents. In the mere two or three months that I've been gone, Austin has moved into my room, with all trace of me gone. Apparently when I come back home, I have to live in a guest room. That's crap. A stranger in my own house. Please. Bull crap. That's my dang room. Although, I do think that it's interesting that all three of us brothers have lived in that room at this point. I guess that's kind of interesting, huh? It's still crap.

RAPE. Did that make you feel uncomfortable? I'm just making sure that you're still reading.

So, I guess I should talk about school. It's fine, yeah. I mean, I believe that I am doing well in all of my classes, but it's really hard to tell when you aren't really ever assigned assignments. I just assume that I do well because I show up, participate, and do what I'm told with the little outside work that we have besides reading. I guess it's good though, sure. Some classes I like more than others. Some classes I just sit there and zone out on my laptop while watching movies or playing games, other classes I'm really into it. Oddly enough, I am doing well in both of the classes, so apparently you don't always need to pay attention if you just mindlessly type down whatever the professor says without really knowing what exactly you are typing.

I'm also the lead in a show called 'Dog Sees God' here. It's Charlie Brown set like 10 years in the future. I'm playing Charlie Brown! Otherwise know as CB. I'd invite you all to come, but it is way to risque, and even my parents can't come because of such. It's a great play though. Too bad you are missing out.

Looking over classes that I want to take next semester, I've only come up with three. Acting II, Playwriting, and Biblical Studies: The New Testament. Something like that. That should be really really interesting, I'ma thinkin'. I'm also athinkin' that things here would be much better if I had more money.

The key to getting more money I hear, is getting a job. Speaking of jobs, when is that stupid Starbucks gonna call me back? I went in for two interviews, and they said they would be calling me back for first impressions, so I assumed that meant I was hired. Here I am a week later with no call. They better get their act together so that I can make some dang money. Seriously, how hard is it to do what they do? Sam from I Am Sam did it, and he was literally retarded. I can do it too. I'm not even retarded, so that's a bonus. I'm really sexy, suave, charismatic, an amazing worker, and awesome. Why would I not be hired? Nevermind that I came an hour late to the second interview, cause I blew that interview out of the water with my skills. They best be calling me.

You may have noticed the pictures in this post. Yeah, pictures are fun.

So I went busking, or street performing, the other day. Started out in the park, no one listened. Went to the road near the park, no one listened. Went down into the subway, no one listened. I finally found a little area near the Brooklyn Bridge, and people started to listen! Made like six bucks! That was after like an hour, so if I go there and do it longer, I can make like SEVEN BUCKS! Yeah!

Tess, I miss you. Mom, relay that message.

So, guess what. One of my biggest goals of college is to study abroad, and I am really feeling like that may be coming into fruitation. I emailed the study abroad people about it, and they told me to come and meet with them in November so that we can discuss the details. I would be studying abroad my sophomore year, in the spring semester. So I would be there for a whole semester, which is a really exciting prospect. I'd be going to Ireland, Cork to be exact. University College Cork in Cork, Ireland. I've wanted to go there for so long, and Pace has an exchange program there, so we'll see how that spans out. As of now, it's looking very possible, so there is a good chance I think that by this time next year, I'll be getting everything ready to go off to Ireland! I hope that they have Leperchauns! And four leaf clovers! AND LUCKY CHARMS!!!!!

Okay, that's about it for me tonight. Tomorrow

(today), I am waking up early (haha) to go to a place called Almondine Bakery in Brooklyn. Apparently they have the best baguette in the city. I'll be the judge of that. I love my baguette.

Goodnight.

Here I Am

Here I am again, at almost 3:00 in the morning. I did mention that my sleep cycle here is terrible, right? Honestly, I think that I have some sort of sleeping sickness, whether it be sleep apnea, insomnia, or something else. My doctor said it could also be anxiety when I went in for the physical, so maybe it's that. I'm also coming down with a sore throat. Dang, my life is so good here.



It's hard not having money. It's really hard not having money when you want to spend so much money. That's my problem. I go to spend it, and it's not there. I had to go through a couple days having on 56 cents in my bank account. That's right, not even a dollar. Do you know how sucky that is? You probably don't, but I do. The stupid cafe in Pace closes at like 8:00 PM on weekends, so I couldn't go there to use my mealplan. Therefore, I had to get food somehow or starve that night. Seeing as how I didn't have any food in my room, I knew that I would have to go out into the city to get it. I had five dollars, nothing more. No more in my accounts, nothin'. I went down to a market in search of food, and I was able to get a can of Spagetti-Os (the kind with the dog-food like meatballs), a banana, and a water for almost five dollars. I rejoiced, went home, and had my dinner.



It was only until later that night, that I found out Pace University had given me some sort of refund and put 350 dollars into my bank account. I had that money all through my struggles of trying to find food. Go figure.



I have done a lot though. Recently I saw August: Osage County, which is a three and half hour straight play on Broadway. It was long, but awesome. It just won the Pulitzer Prize, and it's considered one of the greatest American plays written in our generation. It was very very good, so I can see where they are getting that from. Estelle Parsons was in it, which you will know her if you watch Roseanne. She plays Roseanne's drunk, lesbian mother. She's like 81 and really good in the show. The old bag has to run up and down stairs over and over, and she's really energetic seeming. She rocks, as does the show and the rest of the cast. I had a great time doing that.



I also recently saw Ben Folds. It was probably the greatest Ben Folds concert that I have seen thus far, and it was also my third. I would tell you the set list, but you wouldn't care, because the few people who read this blog don't really listen to Ben Folds. Oh well. It was great though, that's mostly all that you need to know. The venue was really cool, it was called Terminal 5 and had a few levels to it and all of that. Fun stuff. Ben was great, as he always is. You would think piano rock/pop music would be like, a lame concert, but it's really not. Ben Folds is hilarious, and he makes his concerts awesome.



It's getting colder out, which is nice. I'm not a huge fan of the heat, and in the cold I can put on more layers if I want to be warm, but in the heat I have to either be naked or rip off my skin when that's not enough. Or I could shave my head, but then I would look like a Mexican, ala Pedro in Napoleon Dynomite. The cool thing is though that I get to wear my awesome sweaters and people compliment me on those cool sweaters. Also, my sweater vests don't seem so out of place anymore. Haha, they are awesome and fashionable at the same time. And yes, I am still a heterosexual.

Halloween is coming up soon, I am going to be Shrek. Yep. Suits me well.



I just ordered a McCain/Palin poster for my side of the room. I don't think my roommate was too happy about it. I don't care, he can die. Or be impaled by the horns of a pitbull. What's the difference between a pitbull and a hockey mom? Lipstick. That's right, I love you Sarah Palin.



Tomorrow, Harry Potter will come to the Actor's Studio (which is film at Pace) to talk about things. I assume that Harry Potter will be one of those things. His real name is Daniel Radcliffe, but really, we all know that he is Harry Potter. I'm going to see him, so I'll get to sit there for like five hours and listen to him answer questions. Something tells me that it will be loooooads of fun. Yep. Sure. Awesome. Actually, I am looking forward to it, it might be really cool, and I get to see celebrities. That's awesome, isn't it? Rhetorical question, I already know that it is.



I made my Christmas List, I guess. I didn't really know what to put on it, so it has a lot of different things. Mom, just don't get me a bunch of clothes though. Yeah, you can get me some, but seriously yo, they need to be awesome looking. I know what's awesome looking, so just get the stuff on the list for the most part. That includes those sheep skin shoes/boots/slippers or whatever item of sheep skin you choose to get. You should get me one of those though. Listen, the sheep had to die for it, the least that I can do is wear them on my feet. Oh, maybe you should look into getting me a llama sweater as well. Mom, I love you. You and the rest of the family will be getting various "I LOVE NEW YORK" items. Be prepared.



Amateur Night auditions are coming up. I have a chance to win money! I'll win big with my songs about rape, prostitutes, and creepers. My songs are so awesome!



Counting sheep is a waste of time. It just occupies your mind, and you can't sleep. That's why we kill sheep and make them into footware.



I like apple cider. Mom, please send me apple cider. Please also send me those Berger cookies that I forgot to bring that are in the fridge in that brown bag that I clearly labled no one should eat. You all probably ate them though. Thank you.



I'm running out of things to say. Classes are going well. We had an intense acting class on Friday, and it was really cool. I'm auditioning for the role of CB in a show called 'Dog Sees God' on Wednesday, and I really hope that I at least get in. I'm working crew for a few shows, but I actually would like to act in one as well. This will be my first audition of the school year, so I'll let you all know how it goes. All of you four people that read this. yep.



Alright. So long, and thanks for all the fish.

The First Month

Well, almost. I haven't been here for a full month yet, but it doesn't even really seem that long. Actually, in two days it will have been a full month. That means that I haven't seen my parents, brothers, family, or beautiful dog in about thirty days. For the record, I do miss you guys, but I'm not homesick. I haven't gotten that way, and I doubt that I will. I'm way too busy here to be homesick, because that involves time to sit around and think about how lonely I am, but you can't really do that in New York City.

Here are some pictures for those interested: http://s3.photobucket.com/albums/y90/Buran/New%20York%20City/

Classes are going well. I think that I am adjusting to college life a lot better than high school. In high school you had a little thing called homework which I pretty much could not stand. Here, there really isn't much homework at all. I think I've had maybe one assignment, besides reading of course, which you have to do quite a bit of. The only class that I'm having slight trouble in is Normative Ethics: Contemporary Moral Issues. Doesn't that sound really exciting? Well, it's not. It's really boring and we sit around listening to this man speak about God knows what, and I completely zone out for most of the class. Sometimes I fall asleep, just because I have no effing idea what the man is saying. Of course, when I am awake and I can understand what's going on, well okay, then it can be a little interesting. Last class, I seriously watched Flight Of The Conchords on my laptop with subtitles because it was two hours of listening to stuff that I didn't really care about, and he just reiterates what is said in the previous night's reading. He is a good teacher, I'm not saying that, the subject matter is just extremely bland.

I'm taking two theatre classes. Acting 1 and Props. Acting is really hard, because it's the only class that I've ever taken that requires so much humility from yourself. You have to be completely comfortable with putting your entire self out there for others to mercilessly scrutinize. Sometimes it can be embarrassing, but that is what acting is all about. It's being truthful to yourself completely feel and understand what is being said. That's not always easy, and moreso you have to be fully in-tune so that you're not meing melodramatic or overacting, or anything of the sorts. Plus, we did this excersize where we had to act like animals, and that involved crawling on the ground and I stupidly picked a rat. I cut my knees all up and it really sucked because it got infected, and it was disgustingly painful. Props is busy. Currently, I am serving as a prop master on All Shook Up and Summer and Smoke, and we are also required to put in at least three hours a week of outside classwork time. It's really busy, and I should get on that soon. Technically, I also have University 101 for theatre majors which is taught by this really awesome guy, Grant. He is the director of Summer and Smoke, and from what I gather, the young guy with huge plans for the university. Since there are two directing majors (including myself) in my year, I asked Grant if there was anything that I could do, so he advised me to sit in on all of the Summer and Smoke rehearsals that I could, and become a production assistant of sorts, so that is also what I'm doing. It's a good way to meet people, get my foot in the door, and get experience while I'm at it.

New York is nice. Like I said, there is always something to do. The unfortunate thing is that I have to take a subway mostly if I want to do anything after 10:00. Lower Manhattan tends to shut down around that time, unless if you want to go to a bar, where they don't card you. There are plenty of those, TJs, Hooks and Ladders, Blarney Stone, etc.. When I go, I just buy a soda, but sometimes I like to pretend it's hardcore alcohol. People think I'm pretty cool when I do that. (No they don't.) Sometimes I get the soda for free though, because it's just soda, so that's nice. But yeah, New York is good. I do miss some aspects of Bel Air, like the air not being as dirty, the greenness of it, the fact that Bel Air has Tess, you know, all of the essential things. It's very busy and crowded here, and there is a lot of noise, but it's really cool living here. If you want to do something, there is always something to be found. Also, I live very very close to the Brooklyn Bridge, so I walk that mostly every night. It's got a great view, and one of the only places in the city that you can see stars from. Plus, the view includes a whole bunch of cool buildings which look great at night, the water, Manhattan, Brooklyn, and the Statue of Liberty. Cool stuff. Oh yeah, there is this bum who lives on the bridge at nights. He's got a really cool pirate hat that he wears and has a shopping cart with like a Christmas tree of objects assembled in it. He's really awesome, because he does cool things like talk to presidential placements. I wonder what they are saying back to him. I'm very curious! One of the best things about New York is that there are so many things that I can get student discounts on. The coolest is student rushing broadway shows, where you pay like $26.00 for pretty good seats. It's very nice and handy for a bored night.

So, I've done a lot of these, so these are some of the highlights:

-Gypsy with Patti LuPone- I saw this Broadway show, and it was amazing. Patti LuPone gave the greatest performance that I have ever seen on a Broadway stage. All three of the main characters won Tony Awards for their roles, and it shows. It's a biography about Gypsy Rose Lee, and Patti plays her awesome stage mother.

-Broadway Flea Market- This huge flea market in Shubert Alley where they sold a whole bunch of props, playbills, CDs, autographs, etc. all to benefit Broadway Cares: Equity Fights AIDS, so all of the money went to a good cause. I bought a lot of stuff and wound up spending like 20 bucks for it all. Great deals.

-Wicked- Got to see Wicked for free through Pace. They gave all of the freshman theatre majors free tickets if we wanted them, so of course I took them. It was great, and it's one of the coolest shows on Broadway. It's a spin off of The Wizard of Oz, if you were wondering.

-13- I got a free ticket to attend the first dress rehearsal for the new Jason Robert Brown musical '13' on Broadway. It was very nice, and I'd never been able to attend a dress rehearsal before, so that was really cool. I got to meet Jason Robert Brown afterwards, so that was very awesome. He wrote the musicals 'Last Five Years', 'Songs For A New World', and 'Parade'. He's very good, and the show was good stuff.

-Spring Awakening- One of my best friends, Doug, came up to visit and we went and student rushed Spring Awakening on Broadway. Great show of course, and we had seen it before. We went because Hunter Parrish from Weeds is starring it in. He was really good, and the show again was great.

-Insomnia Cookies - A store that sells freshly baked cookies, milk, and brownies. Open until like 5 in the morning. Enough said.

-The Drama Book Shop- Awesome book store which sells like any script ever. I have spent way too much money there. Wayyyy too much.

-Inside The Actors Studio- They shoot this show here at Pace, so we get to see like all of these stars. As Pace students, we get to go and get free tickets. I think that as a theatre major I am actually required to go to a few of them. The next ones coming up at Daniel Radcliffe (Harry Potter), Ricky Gervais (Creator of The Office, star of the UK version, star of new movie Ghost Town), and Laura Linney (Played Abigail Adams in the John Adams mini-series, has been in a bunch of movies and broadway shows.) Those are all in October, so I'm excited for that.

-Ben Folds- I'm seeing Ben Folds in concert on Wednesday, October 1st. That's going to be awesome because Ben Folds is awesome. Very very excited, and thankfully my tickets came in the mail after Mom sent them from our house where they came.

I'm sure that there are more really cool things that I am forgetting. My room is like a hole in the wall for anyone that is interested in knowing. The view out the window aint so bad, so that's okay. But still, it's small. Next year, my dorm will be much much bigger. The people on my floor are crazy. My roommate is cool though, and we do some pretty fun things. We take our phones and prank call people using George Bush and Rosie O' Donnell sound boards. Also, we take pictures of ourselves and photoshop them into pictures with famous people and tape them to people's doors. One night we dressed as ghosts and knocked on people's doors at like 3:00 AM. They weren't happy. We like to get the free scientology pamphlets and DVDs and give them to this girl Dara, and she gets mad. She chases us around the hall, so when she goes back to her room, we just go and tape them onto her door. Good stuff at Pace University.

I am incredibly popular and have trillions of ladies crawling over me all the time at any given time.

So yeah, that's mostly it. I'll be posting more soon, but it's hard to sit down and find the time to write all of this stuff out. Anyway, I'm going to go. I'll write more later.