Hum A Little Tune

There are certain songs that remind you of a specific time in life.

For example, whenever I hear Penguin Café Orchestra’s “Perpetuum,” I’m thrown back to senior year of college.

It’s well past 2am.
Three of us are slouched over laptops in Katelyn’s room.
We smell like stale coffee.
And as I glance at my lit review, I realize it’ll be another all-nighter. I won’t sleep until after my first class. So I play this upbeat, wordless song on repeat, knowing the tune will get me through the next hour of research.

Another example: During my first year in the city, “Like a G6” blared from every grimy Lower East Side bar. The beat was guaranteed to make people dance, and the lyrics were easy enough to remember. (I also recall one friend drunkenly screaming “Like a CHEESE STICK!” to a crowd of uninterested onlookers while dancing her way to another drink. Said friend shall remain anonymous…)

I remember Death Cab for Cutie’s “Expo 86” while riding a stuffy N train to Coney Island in the summer. My hair was piled on top of my head, and I happily tapped my foot to the beat, relishing in an endless Saturday.

I remember playing “Good Ol’ Fashion Nightmare” over and over again on my way to work after ending things with a boy.

I remember moving to New York and blasting The Avett Brother’s “I and Love and You,” while driving up I-95N. (But then that became too depressing, so I switched to “Empire State of Mind.”)

There was this one song by Ra Ra Riot that played in Bloomingdales – and I loved it so much, I’d avoid customers for a precious 2 minutes and 43 seconds. You could find me in the dressing room, humming along with my eyes closed.

I first listened to Mumford and Son’s new album while walking in the Flatiron District with a leather jacket and a cheeseburger.

The Great Lake Swimmers sung their soft lyrics to a frustrated writer in her kitchen throughout a gusty fall day, while The Naked and the Famous announced the arrival of spring.

M83 “owned the sky” in 2011 (and probably in 2012 too). This band produces epic I-have-to-walk-miles-to-work music.

I danced my way through the Parents magazine internship with Passion Pit, and dubstepped my way through the eight-month Huffington Post gig.

Ray Lamontagne walked with me around Washington Square Park, while Bison’s “Switzerland” played on road trips to Newark. Edward Sharpe took on the East Village and the Shins maintained their persistent role in my life via an outdated iPhone playlist.

But that’s not even half the songs, or half the stories.
In fact, I’m already forgetting some of the details.

There were plenty of lyrics; plenty of remarkable rhythms that matched my mood as I was freaking out and making out and falling down and looking up and trying to remember to laugh, laugh, laugh.

So I thought I’d write a few down… for memory’s sake.

Because each street has a cadenced beat.
Each avenue possesses a subtle symphony.
And, what music we make.

Things I Never Thought

Well kids, we’re coming up on two years time living in New York City. A lot has changed, and a lot hasn’t. (I think that’s the way it should be, no?) Anyway, despite most characteristics remaining intact from the pre-city days, there are a few new little quirks in my personality. Listed below are the things I thought I’d never own, wear, see, or do:

I never thought I’d… not notice when a man dressed up as a large male reproductive organ walked down the street next to me. I can’t say I even blinked at the costume.

I never thought I’d… eat PB&J for nearly 9 months straight.

Or bump into Stanley Tucci and see Steve Martin in the subway.

I never thought I’d… carry 1 to 2 pocket knives in my purse on any given day. And I never thought I’d pull said pocket knifes out of my purse.

I never thought I’d… wear a huge, puffy knee-length down jacket. In fact, it was my uniform in the Winter of 2010-2011. May that coat rest in peace for a few months.

 I never thought I’d… do my laundry at a laundromat with quarters and the whole schlep. I dreamed of big city living for a long time – yet somehow laundry was never apart of those dreams. 

 I never thought I’d… drop Yiddish phrases in my blog posts (see above statement). Or eat a better bagel than one from Einstein’s.

Oh how wrong I was.

I never thought I’d… dance on tables in the Lower East Side.

Or walk and walk and walk until every shoe (and I mean EVERY shoe) has a hole in them.

I never thought I’d… catch a 3am train to Queens or a 4am train to Manhattan.

I never thought I’d… pretty much pass out on 5^th Ave from sleep deprivation. Or email my resume and cover letter to so many companies (I believe my whole generation can nod to this one). 

 I never thought I’d… have a natural affinity for graffiti-covered bathrooms, PBR, hummus, and hollandaise sauce.

 

I never thought I’d… have a pigeon poop on my head.

I never thought I’d… have dinner with drag queens or get tips from a homeless man about living on the street.

I never thought I’d… meet such interesting, fabulous people who I encounter everyday and depend on incessantly. 

I never thought I’d… wear so many colored tights, layers, headbands, hats, leather, or satchel bags. But it’s just so easy!

I never thought I’d… be in a photo shoot or a fashion show. And I didn’t think I’d see a movie before it was released or participate in a 100+ person pillow fight.

I never thought I’d… feel so low or so high, or feel so much from a constantly morphing life among the extremes, where your values are tested and your ideals are tempted to both wither and mature within the exact same second.

I never thought I’d… be so scared of cockroaches.

Or be so fond of green grass on trips home.

And I never thought you’d… read this blog.

So thank you. 

Oh also, I never thought I'd... almost punch my sister in the face when she came up behind me in a bookstore. Personality quirk. What can I say? Don't reach for my purse G-race. 

How Can I Assist You?

"Like No Other Store In The World"

Oh yes. They hired me! This move to NYC is finally beginning to take full form. After hours of resume-dropping and subway-hopping, finally a little progression is on the horizon.

Just call me Rachel Green.

Okay I know her job was a little more glitzy , but it's certainly a start.

More to come...

The outside of the SOHO building

5th floor dinning

Classic black and white tile throughout the bottom of the store

Searching, Hoping, and Jumping

And I thought going to Ireland for the summer would be difficult.

No, moving to New York is definitely trumping that trip right now. There is no program to call when I have questions and no associate to contact when I arrive in the city. No family will take me in, and no host-mother will cook my dinner for me. Suddenly, Ireland doesn’t seem scary at all.

But moving up north for an undetermined amount of time does.

I’m going to have a hefty rent to maintain and a job (or two) while going to school fulltime. Not to mention I’M LIVING IN NEW YORK. By myself? I need to figure out the subways, and the sketchy streets, and the cheap eats, and the places with the hopping beats, and the cool coffee shops, and where to find the cops, and all the really nifty, non-touristy, New Yorker spots.

Quite a list.

So in June I’ll go up to New York and hopefully find a spot to live. By July I would love to be moved in and August would be the perfect month for the start of a job. In September school starts and by October I hope to be acclimated and moderately content.

Oh if only it were that easy… But that’s the update.

PS – I jumped off of a roof (well dangled and fell off of a roof) the last night of college. A warning to future graduates: I do not regret fulfilling my bucket list YET. But if I have to get an MRI next week, that statement might be retracted. So think twice before you climb the abandoned Hiden Wood Lanes.

Here are some pictures from Graduation I found on my parent's cameras. Note: You will NOT find these pictures on Facebook. This is more of a "behind the scenes" approach...

JR. Wow.

No she didn't... but yes. Those are crocks.

Huh...

All the "Single Ladies." And JR.

Some more of JR's moves. Nices faces in the background.

Being "fun" and "crazzzy."

From just us...

to everyone.

Not really into the ceremony yet...

Lost and lacking friends.

Looks good Grace.

Can you believe we're "adults?"

Beautiful sisters.

And the plans are coming together...

I’ve been bad. There has been a severe lack of blogging in the last several weeks, but my LAST DAYS of college are wrapping up; so busyness must be tolerated.

To all those “what are doing next year” questions that are slug at every graduating senior, I finally have an answer for you. April 12th, 2010 Pace University in New York City accepted me into the Dyson School of Arts to receive my master’s degree in Publishing. Yay!

So if all goes according to plan, mid-summer I’ll be on my way to the Big Apple. And for you blog followers out there, this means you will have something a little bit more interesting to be reading about. I do love you CNU, but the next adventure is calling my name… And an adventure is what I need so I don’t become a sentimental mess as I leave my home of four fabulous years.

So. New York. Get Ready.

PS – Anyone have any tips on how to pay for grad school? Because I’m going to need them. I mean seriously… email me ;)

Current background on my computer