Baracking Around The Clock

In the days following one of the most groundbreaking elections in our nation's history, my normally divided neighborhood changed drastically. The racial (and gender) slurs stopped, people made eye contact on the street and some even mumbled a "hello". A lady held the door open for me on the way to the subway and I almost had to pinch myself. Not that people are usually rude, they're just trying to be invisible. Everybody goes about their own business. For a little while, people were united. I'm sure my experience with this election would have been quite different had I been somewhere else. But here, in a poor neighborhood where many people had decided they didn't matter, that their voice was not heard and their vote did not count, this election was more than a page in history. When Obama was announced as the new president-elect, I could hear cheers from every direction. I sat up in my windowsill and watched streams of people exit their apartment buildings and flooding the streets, banging pots and pans and creating an impromptu rally for the future president. If you saw what I saw, no matter who you voted for, you would have been inspired by the sudden change, the restoration of hope among people who felt forgotten. The party was still going on when I drifted off to sleep. No longer in my windowsill, mind you.

In other news, my friend Caleb from college came to visit last weekend. We did almost every tourist thing imaginable, all in 3 days. To name a few, We checked out the Empire State Building, walked across the Brooklyn Bridge, and we saw "All My Sons" starring John Lithgow, Dianne Wiest, Patrick Wilson and Katie Holmes. It's a horribly depressing show, but it was wonderful. Every time I watch a show, I still wish it was me up there on that stage. As long as I feel that way, I can't ( and won't) stop trying to be a professional actor.

As payment for my assistant stage managing "The Cenci" for the Red Bull Theater, Lyndsey took me to The Rockette Christmas Spectacular at Radio City Music Hall. Precision dancing at its finest. And yes, they really do kick that high...I was sitting on the second row and was a tad worried that one poorly buckled shoe might be headed for my face. We also got some 3-D action, flying with Santa all over New York City. The show sure put me in the holiday mood. Kara and I are hosting Thanksgiving at our apartment for everyone we know who couldn't go home this year. So far, I think we have 10 people coming. I'm in charge of the baking, so send me your recipes...and all of your luck.

Thanks for all of your cards, emails, and messages (text, facebook and otherwise). I save all my messages and keep all my cards in a box under my bed to pull out when I get homesick or lonely. I'm going to make you proud :) Miss and love you all!

Keeping the Faith

Still here, in case you were curious. My allergies tried to take me down for awhile, but they were no match for hot chocolate, old movies, and my electric blanket. I had my first audition tonight for an Off-Broadway show called "The Awesome 80's Prom". I showed up, waited 4 hours, and didn't even get to read. I was "typed out", which basically means they looked at my headshot, and based on that alone, didn't think I was what they were looking for. What a lovely career I have chosen.

I went back to Central Park last week with Jonathan to see if the leaves started changing yet, but no such luck. We actually walked all the way from Canal Street to the park...which is about 60 blocks, and by the time we decided to exit the park we were on East 90th. That's a lot of walking. I still have blisters, but I didn't feel so bad about eating pizza that night. Here's a picture of us at Sheep's Meadow in the park.



On Monday, I Assistant Stage Managed for the Red Bull Theater again for a reading of "The Cenci". It was a relatively painless experience and I might even get a free ticket to see the Rockette's Christmas Spectacular out of it. One of the actors had to leave for a while to go to an audition, so I got to fill in. I think I did quite well, considering I was playing an Italian man. Sorry you all missed my Off Broadway debut :)


I'd like to take a moment to talk about Halloween. I assumed that people in the city would be too stuck up to indulge in Halloween festivities. I.Was.Wrong. I saw hundreds of people in some of the most outrageous, nonsensical costumes on the planet. The thing about Halloween in NY is, you don't necessarily know if the weirdo sitting next to you is in costume or their everyday wear. There is also a huge parade in The Village where people march around in elaborate costumes they possibly spent months creating. My roommate and I opted out of the parade to see a free Off Broadway show called "Farragut North", starring Chris Noth (Mr. Big on Sex and the City), John Gallagher Jr. (Tony Award winner from Spring Awakening), and Olivia Thirlby (the best friend from Juno), among others. Kara's head of her department was also in the show, so we stuck around afterward and got to meet the actors and talk with them for a while. Afterward, we grabbed a slice of pizza (a staple in my current diet), came home and made some popcorn balls and watched the original Psycho.

It has been a pretty relaxing couple of weeks. I'm still sending in lots of submissions for auditions, so hopefully I will land one that will actually allow me to speak :) Now that I've done one audition, I feel much better about pounding the pavement for more. It's not nearly as scary as I supposed. I'm far from giving up, so keep believing in me folks! I'm on my way!