New York, New York

Hey everyone!

So I realized I haven't actually posted in over a month... Yikes! I apologize for that. I'm sure my millions of readers have been in a constant state of despair...

So right now I'm in New York. I got here on Saturday night and then on Sunday I went to see Avenue Q off-Broadway with a friend and it was so funny! I loved it. The actress who played Kate Monster was so good that I couldn't take my eyes off her, but other than that, it was easy to forget the actors and just watch the puppets. I knew the music to the show already, so I really enjoyed it. There were a few surprises when I actually saw it on stage, though! If you know the show, you'll know what I'm thinking of. Especially the penny part.

I will be in New York until this coming Saturday. I've been up here doing a lot of networking with alums from my university who are in the entertainment and media industries. I had to apply for this opportunity and interview last semester and they selected six of us to come for the week. It's been fun getting to know the other girls and also meeting with everyone.

I do not know New York, so when I try to describe where I've been and what I've been up to, it will not be very precise. Yesterday I started at the Hearst building and it was super cool. I recognized the interior from an episode of Project Runway so that was amazing. The elevators were really bizarre! There was a panel and you would press what floor you were going to and then the panel would display a letter and you would go to the elevator with that number and it would open like magic. There would be no number keys inside the elevator - it just took you to your destination magically. There were also mini tv screens in the elevator!!! They had ads and news and such. Oh, and in my cab today, there was also a little tv screen with advertisements! Crazy. I also thought my cab driver was going to kill us and about ten to twenty pedestrians and several large vehicles, but luckily I am still alive.

After the Hearst meeting I headed over to the Village to meet with a documentary film maker. We spent two and half hours talking shop and got gelato at Grom, quite possibly the most amazing gelato in the world. Here is what I am basing this judgment on. When I was an au pair in Italy two summers ago, I ate a good deal of gelato at quite a few establishments in Rome, Venice, Florence, Sienna, Milan, and Torino, and of all those places, the best gelato I had was at Grom. I know that I did not cover all of Italy, so I'm leaving room for the possibility that somewhere more southern had better gelato. Since I'm assuming the best gelato in the world comes from Italy, and the best gelato in Italy is Grom, Grom has the best gelato in the world. The nice thing about gelato is that you never really get just one flavor. You get two in the cup, so you can have chocolate chip married with strawberry, or strawberry with lemon, or pistachio with chocolate chip, or... oh I'm getting hungry again! The point is, it's amazing. Anyways, the only Grom locations outside of Italy (I believe) are in Paris and in New York City. So I was determined to find a Grom while in New York. I actually just randomly found this one, so it was fate. It cost $5.25 for a small cup in NY compared to about $3 in Italy, but I guess the cost of airfare to Italy to get some is more than $2.25 so I guess I got a good deal! I had chocolate chip and lemon. The lemon was heavenly. Absolutely fantastic!

After my amazing and expensive gelato, I had a couple other meetings and then headed home for the day. I'm staying with the family of a friend from school, and they've been extremely helpful. I watched part of Double Jeopardy on tv and then fell asleep.

At the end of my week, I will write with all the wisdom I've acquired from these networking meetings/informational interviews and tell you what my game plan going for is as far as finding a job. It sounds like it certainly will be difficult to break into documentary film, but not impossible.

Thanks for reading!! :-)

All the best,
Megan

PS Update on the Living in Sin post: I did sign the lease. My boyfriend and I will be living together starting August 1st, so I have a concrete place where I am looking for jobs. Narrowing my search this was has been limiting, but also helpful. I know where I need to start setting up contacts and I have a more refined search process. Still don't have a job, but I also haven't started applying and interviewing. I will let you know when that comes! I feel really good about living together though.