Hell, Yes!

I wandered to the New Museum today in Soho. It was only $8 to get in as a student and was 4 floors of art from 50 artists, from 25 countries, all 33 or younger. You start in what the refer to as the education room. It references important events in society and pop culture, as well as advances in technology. I was blown away by the insight these young artists offered. I don't want to ruin all the instalments, but there was a banana peel, very realistic hands, and a video of someone playing Mozart's Turkish March on a silenced piano. It was a very interesting exhibit. They also have performances, movie showings, and discussions, so I'm hoping to catch one of those sometime.

Yesterday was spent MANUALLY doing assignments for the fall. If you're one of my res life peeps, you know how much I HATE doing work in RMS, but I now see why having a system can make life SO much easier. It's definitely a better system than having to use Word, Excell, and Access to manage residents.

Tonight is staff development for the RAs and RDs at an Italian restraunt in Brooklyn. I'm excited to finally hang out with some of them. Finals are almost over for the med students, so I may have new friends to hang out with again. 

Tomorrow morning I plan on going to the Greenmarket at Grand Army Plaza right outside Prospect Park. Hopefully I can get good pictures with the Nikon and have those up after I develop them.

Peace!

How Do You Get To Carnegie Hall?

One answer is practice, practice, practice. The other is working for a university that holds it's two graduation ceremonies at the hall. I spent about nine hours in Carnegie yesterday and could have wandered around all day. It's absolutely breathtaking. There are also pieces of memorabilia and compositions in their author's own hand lining the walls from Beethoven to Mahler to John Adams. I was in absolute awe.

Getting there was interesting. we crossed the Brooklyn Bridge and then drove through Manhattan. On the way back, I discovered a Junior's in Brooklyn. If you haven't heard my mom or I rave about this place yet, it's been the best cheesecake we can find in NY. It's nice and creamy and they use a spongecake crust instead of graham cracker. It's AMAZING.

Monday we had a cook-out for the residents. No matter where you go, you can guarantee that food will bring out the masses. It's a res life tradition all over. I met a few more members of the student staff, so that was nice. They all keep telling me they need to take me out to see the city, so I'm excited.

Sunday I didn't do much of anything. I spent a few hours in the big, comfy bed at my parent's hotel room after they left for the airport and then headed back to Brooklyn. That night I went up to Atlantic Ave with Amanda, the other intern, so we could pick up a few things from Target and grab dinner. We found a great little Mediterranean restaurant right near there. Amanda is from South Dakota and has a slight accent. She also says "you know" a lot more than I'm used to. She seems nice though.

Saturday was a trip to New Jersey to visit the extended family. It was nice to finally put faces to all the people my Nana talks about. It's really strange that part of a family that I've never met acts so much like the side I do know. I guess it's a big family thing. They were all really nice and it's really easy to get there and back by the trains. Hopefully I'll be seeing a lot of them while I'm here.

Friday was my first day of work. I basically went through the residence life website and made notes on it. Then we had a birthday lunch that lasted about two hours. Then I was done. Nice and simple. Afterwards, mom and dad and I went to eat at a little Chinese restaurant called Ollie's and then wandered around Time Square. With it being a holiday weekend and the middle of Fleet Week, it was really crowded.

Thursday was shopping day. We went to Atlantic Ave to the Target and then Red Hook to the Ikea. I absolutely love Ikea. I could spend a whole day (and way too much money) there. Then, we just ordered a pizza to be delivered to the apartment and spent a night in.

I was so glad to have my parents with me. It made moving in and getting settled a much easier process than it would have been originally. I don't know what I would have done without them.

By the way... if you want to mail anything to me, here's the address:

811 New York Ave Rm 806

Brooklyn, NY 11203

Peace!

First Night Alone

Flying in this morning to La Guardia was awesome. I love seeing the city from overhead. It reminds me how much I love big cities.

We got to the school and I did a good bit of running around to finalize some paperwork. They had balloons and some food already in my apartment for me, so that was nice. It's still REALLY bare in here and is lonely at the moment. It's just going to take some getting used to.

I got to ride the Metro back to Brooklyn from Manhattan alone tonight. The only downside was the odd smelling guy that decided to squeeze in next to me. Hopefully that will be one of the last times I'm alone at night. It's not that I'm scared, it's that I don't know the area at all. Plus it was dark outside by the time I got off. So, I just waited for the shuttle from the university to come get me.

That's all for now. Slightly boring and uneventful, but I made it here in one piece and with all my luggage! Work starts on Friday for me, so I can't wait for that!

Peace!

Previews to the Main Event

Welcome everyone!

I'm going to try really hard to update this at least weekly over the summer.

For those of you who don't know, I'm going to be in Brooklyn, NY at SUNY Downstate all summer. I have an internship with the Residence Life department there. They're setting me up with an apartment and paying me. Plus, it's a great opportunity to build my resume for grad school.

Again, if you don't know, I'm looking into going to graduate school for Higher Education or Student Affairs. Basically, I want to work at a college. It's a great set up for an entry position, especially in housing.

So, I've been in Texas for about a week now with my family. I was lucky to make it here with all my luggage, thanks to my brother. It was a very interesting day and a looooong story. I'm willing to tell it upon request. It's weird being right back in the same neighborhood I lived in the last time we lived here, but nice to kinda know my way around. I got to see one of my best friends for two days (Emily), which is WAY more than the last time I was here.

Something I'm REALLY excited about while I'm in Texas... CENTRAL MARKET! For my fellowMaconites it's like Fresh Market on steroids. I'm going on Monday to entertain myself for a few hours. I'm getting bored at home during the week, even with Mom in the house. She works from home, so 7:30-4 is work for her... not fun times. We did go shopping, so that was nice.

So... concerns that I have about being in Brooklyn:

1. Not knowing people
2. Getting lost (although, I have a decent sense of direction)
3. Not getting to know the music scene that's out there

That's about it. Other than that I am SO ready for a change. It's a much needed change in pace and scenery for me.

Peace!