Week one
Well, it's been a week since I woke up on Sasha's couch in Denver and in all honesty, it feels like it's been an entire lifetime since that morning. This week has possibly been the most jam packed, exciting, full and interesting seven days, ever.
Sunday - I woke up to an apartment that was still empty of my flat mate, and although clothes were still jumbled on his bed, there were three new dishes in the sink.
I started to change my wonderings about my flat mate, from wondering if he existed at all, to thinking that perhaps he was a superhero and this weekend had just been one for a LOT of crime in the city.
Never the less, I got up, dressed and showered and went exploring in my neighborhood a bit. I stumbled into a very neat vintage store that is just two blocks from my apartment, and also a tiny little corner park that has been turned into a victory garden of sorts. It felt so good to be around plants, I found myself reaching out to touch them, and run their spunky green leafs between my fingers. On the walk home I bought some shampoo and a glass bottle of peach tea.
I planned on metting up with an old friend of mine, Rafael, who I hadn't seen in 4 years or so. His family used to come through my hometown in Colorado and he lived on Statin Island.
I was an hour late meeting him, because I got royally lost on the subway. But hey, I got there even if it was eventually, and he was waiting for me, leaning up against his messenger bike against a wall in the shadow of a building.
Our eyes met across the busy street and a smile bloomed on each of our faces. We were smiling at each other like cats, waiting for the light to change and when it did I looped across the street and into a hug. It was as if no time had passed.
We walked down the High Line, which is an old railway line, suspended above the city, thats been turned into a walking path. We caught up on families and college and friends. The hot sun soaking into the city and making both of us sweat. We caught some pizza in a greasy little place on the west side, and it was so good to just see a familiar face and have someone to walk the streets with. He walked me to my subway stop and then he disappeared into the night on his bike, heading for the ferry. I headed for home.
I was just about ready for bed (still empty apartment) when I heard a knock on the door, I went to investigate and found a Rachel on my doorstep.
Rachel is the sweetest, she is a fellow red head, and Colorado dancer, who I have met, maybe once, but she has been living in Italy studying painting for the past year and half and I have followed her delightful posts on facebook. So when she was looking for a place to stay in New York for a week, I knew, even though I didn't know her, that I wanted her to stay with me.
I invited her in, and gave her some ice water and a hug. As we caught up we sat on my kitchen floor eating pop sickles, the cold on our tongues doing little to combat the sweat pouring off each of us. But we were as happy as children.
She slept in my big bed with me, our giggles and words being spoken late into the night, long after the light was gone from my single bulb hanging from my ceiling.
Monday - First day of school.
Monday morning dawned and the nerves and excitement woke with me. After breakfast and finally meeting my flat mate (he works at Prada, so he's a kind of superhero, I suppose) I gave myself an extra half hour to get to my school in case it was hard to find. And damn, am I glad that I did. I came out of the subway and up across from the Empire state building, the people a throng in the mid morning light. I could feel the energy of New York as I crossed 5th avenue, pausing for the briefest of moments to look up and then down the incredibly long avenues crammed with cars and cabs, the roads so long they disappear with the curve of the earth. I felt a goose bump form on my arms. I was actually here, doing this. I couldn't wipe the smile from my face.
Even in my happy delirium, I knew I wasn't quite in the right area for my school, and indeed, my phone had been lying to me. But really, I think that I was supposed to come out there, out of that subway, so that I could see New York like that. So full and big and brilliant. So full of life as to send shivers down my skin.
I ended up running the last 4 blocks to get to my school building on time, but I made it, sweaty, breath heaving and a little nervous. But as I sat in the waiting room before class started, I smiled at people and they smiled back.
Class was amazing, I won't bore you with the exact details, but I think it's safe to say I picked the right school. My class is 30 or so, mostly college age, but not all. That first day was an introduction into what we'll be learning for the next 6 weeks. It exactly what I've been wanting to get in my acting for a while, but that I have been unsure with how to actually break it down into something so simple. They teach it is all about the vulnerability and immediacy of being in the moment, on stage. That's what's so damn captivating, when you are watching someone, not play someone else, who is in an awkward situation, but to just let yourself be in the awkward situation. With out hiding behind those walls we make as actors (and as humans! Especially in this society) it brings a level of humanity and reality onto the stage that is spelbinding. It's pretty much, amazing.
After school, I went home and took a nap, a shower and as I was about to head out again, I heard a buz from downstairs saying something about a delivery. I was excessively perplexed but we let the delivery guy up any way and on our door step he asked for me. In his hands was a glass vase containing a red rose and a note congratulating me on my first day of school. And signed with love all the way from California. I stood there, trying to take it all in. I've never gotten flowers delivered to me before. I felt overwhelmed and blessed beyond measure.
So after situating the flowers on our minuscule table, and wearing an incredibly wide incredulous smile, I headed out, striking for the subway and soon enough the middle of the city. The reason?
Zach, the sweet actor, from the plane, had offered to show me around the city a bit and the first thing we did was catch an outdoor movie in Braynt Park in the middle of Manhattan.
I have never watched a movie with so many people in my life. The entire park was jammed with blankets and picnickers. The sky over head was blue, but clouds chased each other, like giant sails of giant ships, their whites reflecting in the shadowed glass of the skyscrapers. Eventually they gave way to rain clouds and the entire park was drenched. Umbrellas went up, people hudled, others packed it up and ran for it. We sat, laughing in the rain, watching it fall in giant drops on all the movie goers. After a while more we hid beneath our picnic blanket, huddled like children.
And then the darkness came and with it the start of the film. It was Charlie and The Chocolate Factory. The old one, complete with singing oompa loompas, that the crown joined in on and the ruckus echoed off of the giant buildings surrounding the small park. It was an epic night to remember.
Sunday - I woke up to an apartment that was still empty of my flat mate, and although clothes were still jumbled on his bed, there were three new dishes in the sink.
I started to change my wonderings about my flat mate, from wondering if he existed at all, to thinking that perhaps he was a superhero and this weekend had just been one for a LOT of crime in the city.
Never the less, I got up, dressed and showered and went exploring in my neighborhood a bit. I stumbled into a very neat vintage store that is just two blocks from my apartment, and also a tiny little corner park that has been turned into a victory garden of sorts. It felt so good to be around plants, I found myself reaching out to touch them, and run their spunky green leafs between my fingers. On the walk home I bought some shampoo and a glass bottle of peach tea.
I planned on metting up with an old friend of mine, Rafael, who I hadn't seen in 4 years or so. His family used to come through my hometown in Colorado and he lived on Statin Island.
I was an hour late meeting him, because I got royally lost on the subway. But hey, I got there even if it was eventually, and he was waiting for me, leaning up against his messenger bike against a wall in the shadow of a building.
Our eyes met across the busy street and a smile bloomed on each of our faces. We were smiling at each other like cats, waiting for the light to change and when it did I looped across the street and into a hug. It was as if no time had passed.
Rachel is the sweetest, she is a fellow red head, and Colorado dancer, who I have met, maybe once, but she has been living in Italy studying painting for the past year and half and I have followed her delightful posts on facebook. So when she was looking for a place to stay in New York for a week, I knew, even though I didn't know her, that I wanted her to stay with me.
I invited her in, and gave her some ice water and a hug. As we caught up we sat on my kitchen floor eating pop sickles, the cold on our tongues doing little to combat the sweat pouring off each of us. But we were as happy as children.
She slept in my big bed with me, our giggles and words being spoken late into the night, long after the light was gone from my single bulb hanging from my ceiling.
Monday - First day of school.
Monday morning dawned and the nerves and excitement woke with me. After breakfast and finally meeting my flat mate (he works at Prada, so he's a kind of superhero, I suppose) I gave myself an extra half hour to get to my school in case it was hard to find. And damn, am I glad that I did. I came out of the subway and up across from the Empire state building, the people a throng in the mid morning light. I could feel the energy of New York as I crossed 5th avenue, pausing for the briefest of moments to look up and then down the incredibly long avenues crammed with cars and cabs, the roads so long they disappear with the curve of the earth. I felt a goose bump form on my arms. I was actually here, doing this. I couldn't wipe the smile from my face.
Even in my happy delirium, I knew I wasn't quite in the right area for my school, and indeed, my phone had been lying to me. But really, I think that I was supposed to come out there, out of that subway, so that I could see New York like that. So full and big and brilliant. So full of life as to send shivers down my skin.
I ended up running the last 4 blocks to get to my school building on time, but I made it, sweaty, breath heaving and a little nervous. But as I sat in the waiting room before class started, I smiled at people and they smiled back.
Class was amazing, I won't bore you with the exact details, but I think it's safe to say I picked the right school. My class is 30 or so, mostly college age, but not all. That first day was an introduction into what we'll be learning for the next 6 weeks. It exactly what I've been wanting to get in my acting for a while, but that I have been unsure with how to actually break it down into something so simple. They teach it is all about the vulnerability and immediacy of being in the moment, on stage. That's what's so damn captivating, when you are watching someone, not play someone else, who is in an awkward situation, but to just let yourself be in the awkward situation. With out hiding behind those walls we make as actors (and as humans! Especially in this society) it brings a level of humanity and reality onto the stage that is spelbinding. It's pretty much, amazing.
After school, I went home and took a nap, a shower and as I was about to head out again, I heard a buz from downstairs saying something about a delivery. I was excessively perplexed but we let the delivery guy up any way and on our door step he asked for me. In his hands was a glass vase containing a red rose and a note congratulating me on my first day of school. And signed with love all the way from California. I stood there, trying to take it all in. I've never gotten flowers delivered to me before. I felt overwhelmed and blessed beyond measure.
Zach, the sweet actor, from the plane, had offered to show me around the city a bit and the first thing we did was catch an outdoor movie in Braynt Park in the middle of Manhattan.
I have never watched a movie with so many people in my life. The entire park was jammed with blankets and picnickers. The sky over head was blue, but clouds chased each other, like giant sails of giant ships, their whites reflecting in the shadowed glass of the skyscrapers. Eventually they gave way to rain clouds and the entire park was drenched. Umbrellas went up, people hudled, others packed it up and ran for it. We sat, laughing in the rain, watching it fall in giant drops on all the movie goers. After a while more we hid beneath our picnic blanket, huddled like children.And then the darkness came and with it the start of the film. It was Charlie and The Chocolate Factory. The old one, complete with singing oompa loompas, that the crown joined in on and the ruckus echoed off of the giant buildings surrounding the small park. It was an epic night to remember.
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| The bugs bunny shorts before the film. |
After the film, Zach put me on the train and I went and met up with a few friends at a blues club called Terra Blues, in the hopes of a little dancing. The club was pretty dead, but the band was pretty good and as we leaned against the bar and listened to the souls of these men poured out like liquid gold into the shadows of the room, something inside was still satisfied.
It was late and Rachel and I started our treck home, stopping briefly to get orange juice with my friend Dana, who walked us through his old neighborhood and to the union square subway station.
It was a great night.
Tuesday
School on Tuesday was great, we did monologue work and even though it had months since I'd practiced my own, I faced my fear of failing and embraced the fact that I would be pretty bad and got up anyway. It was liberating, trying to leave the rehearsed behind.
After school, I met up with Dana and Rachel again and we went to central park and I fell asleep on the grass. It was heaven to feel the earth beneath me again. And then, it started raining. We huddled beneath the base of a tree and then once we were so wet, we embraced the precipitation Running and jumping in puddles and spinning on bare heels in the wet grass. Our laughter ringing out and coming back to us from the half empty park.
We then, did a bit of exploring, and found ourselves in Sheep's Field. I made a bee line for the tree in the west (I think) corner. And of course we shed our bags and shoes and climbed up into the branches made slippery from the rain.
On Tuesday nights I have a night class for TV and Film acting and after our romp in the park and a quick slice of incredible pizza I was on my way again, tired, dirty and rain wet, but determined.
The class is full of beautiful people, but I was extremely surprised to learn that I have the most experience in front of the camera. And by the end, when we had to pick scene partners I felt as if a que had started to be my partner. I have never been that girl before. It was a little alarming but flattering and sweet. I like my classmates. I ended up riding home on the subway with a girl from my class, Maria, who lives just one subway stop away from mine. We chatted about shows and money and living in the city and it was lovely.
Wednesday
School was good, although my late nights were beginning to catch up with me and I nearly fell asleep in class. We were working on Script Analysis and it was very interesting, I just needed a nap. It's days like this that I slightly lament the fact that I can't drink coffee.
After class I caught the subway back to Brooklyn, and met one of my friends, Cassandra, from Perry Mansfield, who I haven't seen in two years, on a street corner in Williamsburg. It was wonderful.
We spent the afternoon together, walking around Williamsburg and watching the hipsters.
We then meandered our way to the east river and sat on the banks for a while, just watching the city and feeling the breeze coming off the river and hitting out sweat dampened skin as our minds were lost in thought and we sat in the quiet of each others loved company.
After we had sat there for a while we got up and walked around, finding a place for dinner where we could people watch and talk about all the things that have happened in the past two years.
After this, we went to a park and waited for her friends. We watched a local baseball game from a park bench and then ended up setting up camp at another outdoor movie in a dry parking lot filled with young people and dogs. The smells of hot dogs (probably they were really veggie dogs) and cigarette smoke wafted over us as we sat on the asphalt.
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| You can see the empire state building and the Chrysler (I think) building, faintly in this photo. |
After meeting her friend, and a few minutes into the pretty horrible 90's movie I made my rounds of hugs and headed for home. I was really proud I didn't have to use my map to get there.
Thursday
Thursday dawned and with it I got up, cleaning up the laundry that was drying on every surface of my apartment (thanks to the lovely Rachel, who did a load for each of us while I was at school on Wednesday) and tackling a list of things I needed to get done. Like make sure I could pay for all my classes, and that my debit card was working as well as find a scene with my scene partner for my night class. And then off to school, without getting lost, or using my phone. (It's the little victories!) Class on Thursday was about the business of acting and agents and head-shots and the selling of yourself. It was intense, looking at all the things we have to do, to make it in this business, but it was really interesting as well and very informative on all these things we have to know.
Afterwards nearly my whole class trooped to the drama bookstore around the corner and tried to find scenes to rehearse for class on monday. I think my partner and I found one, but we only bought one copy of the script so I haven't read it yet. But we'll practice today or tomorrow.
After that, I booked it home, so that Rachel cold go out, I had inadvertently left while she was in the shower and had taken the key with me and she had no way to lock the door behind her, so she stayed in the house and hung out. She has been in pain with a sprained ankle for a few days now, so the rest was actually pretty welcome, but I was happy to let her go explore while I laid down and took a nap.
After that, though it was more adventures. I met Zach in Central park and he showed me his favorite places and where he used to be a security guard for Shakespeare in the park. Aparently he was such an incredible security gaurd that that is where he got his start, with an interview on NPR about his job and subsiquently got asked to audition by a bunch of casting directors who liked him. He showed me the outside of the theater in the park and we ran into his old coworkers, who were delighted to see him, hugs and slaps on the back all around. They invited us in, to see the progress on the set for the show opening in almost two weeks. It was incredible. Seeing the stage, crawling with people and lights, the rows of seats, some filled with shrubbery meant for the set, that hadn't been placed yet; but I could feel the magic in the space.
This was my week. Hard to believe it has only been a week it was filled with so much. But I loved it, in a new kind of way, I love this city and the way it pulls and the way it moves. People say New York is hard and unfriendly, but to me, these people are just people and when they ook at me on the subway and we can share a smile, that is a small kind of victory that sparks my heart and makes me smile.
I found a kind of joy this week, one I have been looking for for a long time. It's an intense satisfaction, the challenge of doing something real and doing it with God. In as much honesty, vulnerability and courage as I am.
It feels incredibly good and deep in my heart. and I feel strongly, that this, huge, amazing city, so far from my mountains, is really where I am supposed to be.
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| The beautiful city |
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| The sun setting in the windows of the buildings across the reservoir in Central Park |
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| Playing tourest |
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| Frozen Hot Chocolate from Serendipity (like from the movie!) |
This was my week. Hard to believe it has only been a week it was filled with so much. But I loved it, in a new kind of way, I love this city and the way it pulls and the way it moves. People say New York is hard and unfriendly, but to me, these people are just people and when they ook at me on the subway and we can share a smile, that is a small kind of victory that sparks my heart and makes me smile.
I found a kind of joy this week, one I have been looking for for a long time. It's an intense satisfaction, the challenge of doing something real and doing it with God. In as much honesty, vulnerability and courage as I am.
It feels incredibly good and deep in my heart. and I feel strongly, that this, huge, amazing city, so far from my mountains, is really where I am supposed to be.
Till next time,
Elizabeth
This is a collection of photos from a free Tango class I stumbled upon last Sunday in Union Square. I couldn't help but to document the joy.
So thankful for this experience and this journey. Not sure how I got to be so blessed by so much beauty surrounding me.
Thank you for being a part of it, even if it's just in reading these words.
Until next time,
bare foot mountain girl
This is a collection of photos from a free Tango class I stumbled upon last Sunday in Union Square. I couldn't help but to document the joy.
So thankful for this experience and this journey. Not sure how I got to be so blessed by so much beauty surrounding me.
Thank you for being a part of it, even if it's just in reading these words.
Until next time,
bare foot mountain girl
