Firsttracks.gather.com

I had the privilege of being a fly on the wall at the Firsttracks final five show yesterday. My brother Jacob and his friend Sita were chosen from hundreds of contestants all around the US. Last night at the Living Room in lower Manhattan they played for an audience and the judges (one of whom was Paula Cole!).

Please log on to firsttracks.gather.com and vote for your favorite. Voting is April 21-28. You can vote once a day everyday.

Is He Dead?

My mother was in town during the Christmas holiday and I just had to take her to a Broadway show. She had visited New York as a child, loved theater, and had never been able to see a show. So for her 50th Birthday I decided to take her to see Mark Twain’s Is He Dead?

We went to the box to get our tickets. The ticket holder informed me that I booked tickets for the weekend prior! I couldn’t believe it. I’d mistaken the date. But not to worry, he informed me. It was kind of my lucky day, he continued. Sure enough he comped our third row tickets when we had purchased fifth to the last row at the very top of the three tier Lyceum Theatre!! So our $25 a piece tickets ended up being worth $100 each!

And how grand it was. Almost the entire show my mom and I were laughing. Not so much at the sometimes ignorable dialogue, but the physical comedy had our sides splitting.
Plus, who can deny that Norbert Leo Buts (Tony Award winner) is to die for? He defiantly gave my mother and I a pretty little smile. And when I say pretty I mean it; he was dressed in a lovely blue satin gown with beautiful red curls.

August: Osage County

Wow, what a week. Sadly I only enjoyed the week from in bed. Being sick sucks.

Right along, then.

August: Osage County, what to say that the professional critics haven't already? As one of the best reviewd plays on Broadway it's hard to say something new. So I'll go from my personal experience.

I'm lucky enough to know one of the actresses in the show, Kimberly Guerrero, so my opinion is extremely biased. But knowing her made me feel like I belonged to this crazy family is some way. The set was one of the most simple, yet amazing, sets I've seen. And don't get me started on how beautiful the Imperial Theater is (which I will have you know I was lucky enough to see from behind the stage!!).

I was either laughing or crying through out the entire show. It was funny, it was moving, and the ensamble cast were all perfect in their portryal of one of the most disfuntional families known to man.

The most touching part of the entire play was when Kimberly aka the housekeeper Johanna, is holding the crazy mother, Violet (played by Deanna Dunagan) and she starts singing to her. I was crying like a baby.

Bottom line: if you can handle the subject matter of insane family drama, go see this the moment you get into NYC.

Sita and Jacob need us!!!!!

Alright everyone, I know this is a critical review blog but there is something I need EVERYONE's help with.

Decca Records is hosting a contests for singer/songwriters and my brother Jacob and his good friend Sita have just entered the contest and to all our delight have been given RAVE reviews already from the studio people. My favorite review is when they told Sita and Jacob they were the best they'd heard all day. That's pretty big.

So, for more information on this upcoming compitition please see this link:
http://www.gather.com/viewArticle.jsp?articleId=281474977225853&grpId=3659174697251734&nav=Groupspace

or go to the site to search around for yourself:
firsttracks.gather.com

Please remember to check up on this as Feburary comes to a close. If they win this, they get signed to Decca. This is huge guys, really huge.

Check out their myspace pages for more music, and fyi they are working on putting more music on their myspaces:
Jacob
http://profile.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=user.viewprofile&friendid=155982768&MyToken=c559bbf6-425c-41ff-ad63-4770b11d6f9e

Sita
http://profile.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=user.viewprofile&friendid=121889987


Alright guys, let's make this happen!!!!

Spring Awakening

Alright, Broadway show number two.

Not keeping up with the Broadway buzz, I hadn't heard a thing about Spring Awakening until a friend came to visit. Not only is she a super fan, she is also slightly obsessed going so far as to etch pictures for the principals. Really, friend? Really?? I didn't understand the obsession and thought she may be slightly unstable (born and raised in SoCal doesn't do so much for the sanity development part of the brain, sorry SoCal peeps). So my friend, let's call her Tiffany, she hadn't even seen the show yet and was obsessed. Less than a week later, after having gone twice, she dragged me to her third show. I went kicking and screaming, well not literally, but I hadn't decided until the night before to actually go.

So, here I am third row right of the stage. Lights up, curtains rise.

From the moment Lea Michele opened her mouth I was hooked.

The show consists of not only the vocal talents of this young cast but an amazing on stage band. The musical overall was funny and very touching. Not only did the show entertain but it also has an amazing message. With the recent pregnancy of a teen sensation (Jamie Lynn Spears, the much loved Zooey 101 on Nickelodeon) and the sleeper hit Juno, this show is just another avenue for parents to have dialogue with their teens about love, sex, and puberty (thank GOD I'm not a parent yet).

After the show I waited, just like my crazy obsessive friend, in line to meet the cast. It must be said that I embarresed myself. But that I am so proud to have seen this amazing show with such talented people.

Blake Daniel and I.

Jonathan Groff and I.

A Chorus Line

This was the first Broadway show I've ever seen. Opened April 16 1975 with over 6,000 performances as of 1990, A Chorus Line is the longest running American Musical.

Possibly one of the best shows on Broadway. Maybe that is because it's my first, but none the less, I was moved by the acting, awed by the dancing, and dazzled by the glitter (I can't help it).

After the show my brother, his friend, and I waited to congratulate the actors. She was visiting and wanted to get autographs. Meeting the people who had just put on an amazing, emotional, moving performance was a pretty amazing experience. Unlike watching a movie and leaving the theater, almost walking back into the "real world," seeing a show and meeting the cast after give you almost a closure.

So biased as I may be, the longest running American Musical has to be so for some reason.

http://www.achorusline.com/

The First Offical Critical Review...2007 and I are OVER.

Hellooooooo, 2008. 2007, we had a nice run, but with all the changes, you had to have known that this was coming. Times Square being fitted for the 100th ball (now "green" thank you very much), the 2008 eyeglasses being sold. You must have known. I hope it wasn't a shock. But it's time for you to be left in the past. 2008 and I are really happy, I know we just started our relationship, but honestly you and I were done long before January 1st. Around Novemeber, if your lucky, we were coming to an end. You had to have felt the chill in the air, the trees loosing their color, the lakes loosing their sparkle. It was time to end before I held on to something that cleary wasn't going to last. I'm sorry, 2007, but it's over.

And with a new year I thought it only fitting to begin a new type of blog. This is my critical review bolg. Love it, hate it, I don't care, just read it and please add your own opinions.

New York's Achilles Heel

Yep, that's right, I have just discovered New York's Achilles Heel. And guess what it is? TRANSPORTATION!





Imagine my surprise when I get off the bus at the R/W Subway station just to find it isn't running! No explanation or anything. All I knew was it was closed. So I head over to the next station, the N, and guess what? It is down also! So I get in line to wait for the bus to take me from Queens to Manhattan. The bus just doesn't seem to be coming. I run to a store and get some cash out to grab a taxi. And wouldn't you know it that the taxis are all occupied. Seriously, it was a two hour wait at most companies for taxis. So I waited in the now very long line for the bus. When I finally got the third bus that came my way it was PACKED. And I mean people sitting on each other! I was crouched down on the floor at the very front. I'm not even kidding you. People on the streets were laughing at me. And I was laughing at me too. But I was just so happy to have made it on the bus and get myself to work. And with all the problems I was only an hour late!! My office manager came over, looked at me and went, "Oh wow! You're here! I can't believe it." And I couldn't believe it either.




But anyway this little story of my morning is just to tell you all that there are so many people in New York that the moment there are delays on any type of transportation it seems that everything just falls apart. But thank God for that nice bus driver who let me on.

My wall of protection

I was at a bar last night (no this isn't one of those stories) to support my brother. It was his first show in New York (and after the "musician" before him emptied the bar and almost made me change that whole no alcohol thing) my brother tore up the stage and made the left over attenders very happy. But something I've learned about myself, extensively; is that I am a very closed off person. That is, once I feel someone pulling away from me, lousing their interest (friend or otherwise) I completely pull my emotions back into my heart and begin erecting that wall of protection. Once this wall has begun construction it is really hard to halt, tare down, and forget the whole idea. I'm just so afraid of being rejected that I choose to pull away before I get hurt. No whether or not the other person means to "loose interest" or not, in my little world of I-know-I'm-right it doesn't matter. Once I have that in my head that this person is about to reject me, I decided to give them the cold shoulder.
So that is what I learned last night. And I don't really know to change--or know if I want to.

I Suppose

Sometimes I start to reminisce about the past. I wonder what things would have been like had I made a certain decision: went to this school, finished the year in this state, finally told that boy how much I liked him.

But every time I start to get all nostalgic I just think about the ending of one of my favorite movies, Mansfield Park, where Fanny Price is tying up all the loose ends for the characters and after each character she says, "Things could have turned out differently I suppose....but they didn't."

And I remind myself of that every time I start thinking about the "what-ifs" in life. Things could have turned out very differently for me, but I bet you I wouldn't be who I am today if that were true.

Also recommended for the "what-ifs" category, Sliding Doors. This is a fantastically amazing movie.

Wishful Dreaming

I had this dream last night where I was yelling at someone and telling them all the things about them that bugged me, all the negative things I felt towards them. This person got really angry back at me. It was one of the biggest fights I have ever had. But I was relieved to finally tell them how I felt. And when I woke up I was still relieved until I realized it was all just a dream.

From: http://www.spiritcommunity.com/

Anger - Angry

dream interpretation/meaning of dream

This may be a carry-over from your daily life. In our dreams we can experience and express such feelings safely. Feeling great anger in your dream may be disturbing but pay attention to it and attempt to deal with all of your emotions in a more appropriate and productive manner.

Even though I was really angry in how I handled my feelings in my dream, the feeling of relief that I had made it seem worth it. I'm glad that this fight didn't happen in actual life but it really got me thinking. Should people walk around this earth being completely honest with each other? And I don't mean honest like "wow you look really ugly in that," or "I hate your new hair cut," but being honest like, "What you just said really hurt my feelings," and "When you talk to me like that I fell like you are talking down to me". In my dream these things were so easy to say, granted they weren't said properly (I don't think expressing feelings of hurt need to involve anger) but I still said them. And I felt relieved. I had never woken up so relieved in my life, like a weight was lifted off my shoulders. It was really fantastic. So how do you go from being painfully understanding and not standing up for yourself to being truly honest with everyone around you? I would like to learn whatever the answer may be.

Guess What

I JUST GOT AN APARTMENT!!!!!!

PICTURES TO FOLLOW....

Why I haven't written

Last Friday was amazing. I was able to see Toni and Michael for his birthday, and meet their assorted family members. I thought everything was coming together fine in my big city life. I felt like I was succeeding.

The Truth.
While in no way am I failing, I feel like I'm not succeeding the way I planned. I came out here expecting to live the dream of being Carrie Bradshaw, whom I totally look up to as much as one can a fictional character. We are both writers, both love fashion, and both moved to the big city expecting our lives to begin. But I didn't realize how difficult it would be. Don't get me wrong, the city and I are still going VERY strong. But I am so stressed by finding my way I am losing momentum to go forward. It is such an amazing experience, even in the really desperate times, like right now, when I don't feel like I can go on, I know that I will make it through to the other side. I know that in time I will be living in the lower East Village, writing regularly, and shopping for amazing shoes. But for now. I feel like I am sinking away into failure.

Carrie once said:

“As we drive along this road called life, occasionally a gal will find herself a little lost. And when that happens, I guess she has to let go of the coulda, shoulda, woulda, buckle up and just keep going.”

And that is what I am going to do. I am going to let go of all the coulda, shoulda, wouldas, and buckle up and keep going until I can't go any further.

Three things I want to do in New York

It has been amazing exploring all that this amazing city has to offer. My favorite things to do right now are to wander around and stare up at the 10+ story buildings. The architecture here is amazing. I love how old colonial all the buildings are. The way you will see a whole block of apartments together and each two window sections have completely different styles. It is so beautiful. Then, when you look carefully you will see a top floor garden on an inconspicuous floor, that is truly conspicuous if you are paying attention. I love it.

But there is so much more I want to do, to see, to explore here.

These are the top three things I hope to do:

1. HBO Movie in the Park:

On Mondays during the summer you can go to Bryant Park, bring a picnic and sit on a blanket watching classic black and white movies. While I haven't had a Monday to experience this yet, Casablanca is playing in September, and even if I have to go alone, it is worth it.

2. Watching the Ball drop in Times Square.

I know that this is such a tourist thing to do, but I have to experience it just once. I'm not a big New Years celebrator, but when my Gina gets here this is something we have to do. I know it will be crowed beyond belief, but it will be well worth it.

3. The Tribeca Film Festival:

This is an Indie film lovers dream come true! Thank you Robert De Niro!! Hopefully I can get in to some real gems this 2008 season.

Friday the 13th

You know, for the longest time Friday the 13th has been considered a very unlucky day.

In an article by About.com's David Emery, he explained some culture's disdain for the number 13:

It is said: If 13 people sit down to dinner together, all will die within the year. The Turks so disliked the number 13 that it was practically expunged from their vocabulary (Brewer, 1894). Many cities do not have a 13th Street or a 13th Avenue. Many buildings don't have a 13th floor. If you have 13 letters in your name, you will have the devil's luck (Jack the Ripper, Charles Manson, Jeffrey Dahmer, Theodore Bundy and Albert De Salvo all have 13 letters in their names).

Continued on in his article, Ebory quotes an old tale:

One hundred years ago, the British government sought to quell once and for all the widespread superstition among seamen that setting sail on Fridays was unlucky. A special ship was commissioned, named "H.M.S. Friday." They laid her keel on a Friday, launched her on a Friday, selected her crew on a Friday and hired a man named Jim Friday to be her captain. To top it off, H.M.S. Friday embarked on her maiden voyage on a Friday, and was never seen or heard from again.

And one story that resonates around the world is the tale of the Knights Templar, recounted by Katherine Kurtz from Tales of the Knights Templar

"On October 13, 1307, a day so infamous that Friday the 13th would become a synonym for ill fortune, officers of King Philip IV of France carried out mass arrests in a well-coordinated dawn raid that left several thousand Templars — knights, sergeants, priests, and serving brethren — in chains, charged with heresy, blasphemy, various obscenities, and homosexual practices. None of these charges was ever proven, even in France — and the Order was found innocent elsewhere — but in the seven years following the arrests, hundreds of Templars suffered excruciating tortures intended to force 'confessions,' and more than a hundred died under torture or were executed by burning at the stake."

So what about all the other "bad days" that have happened in the world's history?

The atomic bombs hit Japan on August 9th, a Thursday.
And 9/11 happened on a Tuesday.
The Titanic sunk on April 14th, a Sunday.
And Martin Luther King Jr was shot April 4th, a Thursday.

So I guess what I'm saying is that a day can only be unlucky if you make it unlucky. I on the other hand choose to break free of the stigma of the unlucky Friday and the unlucky number 13 and say "Hello world! I am not going to let 13 get me down!"
And just in case I am wearing my horseshoe necklace...and a green shirt (you know the luck of the Irish thing....).

I have fallen in love for the first time....and probably the last.

It seems as though I am in a very committed relationship. Most of you who know me know that I am not one to easily, or in this case quickly, commit to any sort of serious long term relationship. But, as love has a way of appearing when you least expect it, I have fallen madly deeply in love with the City of New York.

"Impossible!" You are probably thinking. Well, I am here to tell you it is possible to find true love! And I have found my true love.

From the busy streets where people are as diverse as their clothes; to the muggy, dusty, smelly, subway stations transporting people to their desired location; to the musicians filling every nook and cranny available to showcase their talents; to the myriad of things to do at any given moment; I am in love with this city.

I can't wait to experience the most romantic season here in New York, winter. I believe then I will officially be engaged to the city of my dreams. But for now we are going steady. I think it is almost time for the city to meet my parents!

I Stand Corrected.

I found out today at CNN.com that my post from yesterday was written under false pretenses. It has to be said that I was wrong about that whole women-talk-way-more-than-men thing. But if you lived one week in my life right now, you would totally understand my post.





From CNN.com:
Another stereotype -- chatty gals and taciturn guys -- bites the dust.
Turns out, when you actually count the words, there isn't much difference between the sexes when it comes to talking.
A team led by Matthias R. Mehl, an assistant professor of psychology at the University of Arizona, came up with the finding, which is published in Friday's issue of the journal Science.
The researchers placed microphones on 396 college students for periods ranging from two to 10 days, sampled their conversations and calculated how many words they used in the course of a day.
The score: Women, 16,215. Men, 15,669.
The difference: 546 words: "Not statistically significant," say the researchers.
"What's a 500-word difference, compared with the 45,000-word difference between the most and the least talkative persons" in the study, said Mehl. He said the least talkative person in the study -- a male -- used just over 500 words a day, while another male topped that by more than 45,000.

From my Perspective

Why I don’t think men want to get married.
1. Because then they have to share their space with another person, or worse they have to move into someone else’s place making them the “outsider.”
2. Because women talk more then men. And sometimes when a man spends his whole day at work talking or listening to people talk all he wants to do when he gets home is be quiet. But all she wants to do is…talk.
3. Because one thing about women is not only do they like to talk, they like to talk on the phone. And when they make phone call after phone call and all the man wants to do is sleep, that voice can start causing a rift.
4. Because no one likes to hear about money. And like I said above, women like to talk. A lot. 5. Because sometimes you just want to walk into your place, throw your stuff on the floor and sit in front of the TV without speaking a word.
6. And, come on, man or woman, sometimes you just don’t want to clean up after someone else for the rest of your life.

Finding Some Alone Time in New York

What a "subway" coaster of a week it has been. I can't explain all the emotions I have gone through, all the emotions I am continuing to feel. Sometimes I feel regret for the comfort of my "former life". Sometimes I feel like I am still a child trying on my mothers dresses and high heels, but I'm not quite ready to go out and grow up. Other times I feel like I'm right where I need to be. I feel like I am an adult. I feel like I am on the right path.

It has been such a confusing time in my life. I have never felt like so many different emotions. And I'm not talking about feeling different daily, I am talking about feeling different every other hour.

I have met some amazing people here so far. I have been wandering around the city meeting people who I know I will only be in their life for a moment. I have also met some people who I will be in their life longer. But in each moment I meet a new person I feel like I am a little closer to who I am about to become.


I sat in Cafe Lalo the other day. I felt a little silly writing post cards and sipping an iced latte, munching on Rocky Road mud pie. I was sitting alone, next to the street, watching people pass by, listening to the young girls chatting indifferently to each other, watching the servers stand around waiting for something to happen. And I realized that I was like those servers. I was standing around waiting for life to begin. But I finally realized I was tired of waiting and I made life begin.

I think about all the people who I love who I left back home. My sister, my best friend, "the boy," my mentor. Sometimes I feel guilty that I left these people. I almost want to get on the next plane home and give up. I want back that comfort of knowing where I was, who I was, every little detail. But I can't do that. I can't because during all my alone time I have realized that I am finally ready to begin my adulthood. I am doing something for me.

Well enough of those "I" statements. I just had to get that out there. So thanks for reading.

I HEART NEW YORK

I love love love it here. I am having a blast and I will update very soon with amazing stories and great pictures. Ohhhh I can't wait! But my net is really bad. So just keep on holding out I will have it soon.