bet on it.

It's autumn in New York! The last two days have been incredible because I didn't sweat buckets as I stood on the platform waiting for the subway to come. It's still hot down there, but since it's cooler outside, walking everywhere is much more bearable. Yesterday was a perfect day. All the fashionable New Yorkers broke out their new fall attire and took to the streets. I met up with Alex and we did another round of apartment hunting in Queens, and we saw one that might be a possibility. Since he's done with his job now, he can come up more often and we can get this searching ordeal licked. Then, he headed back to New Jersey, so I did a little shopping on Fifth Avenue and then sat in Central Park and read scripts for awhile. Part of my job is knowing all about the plays we are doing this season, so I'm in the process of reading all of those now.

After the park, I walked over to Lincoln Center (where the Metropolitan Opera is, along with Julliard, The American Ballet, etc) and I just soaked it all in. It was the first time I got over there, and I felt like it was one of the most spectacular and comforting places I've seen in New York so far.

This week went very fast for me. I'm pretty much all trained in at work now, so I will probably start actually taking calls on the Patron Hotline this week. I spent a lot of time getting the Patron Lounge ready for its season debut on Thursday. Everything is well-stocked and in place. I was a little worried about running it, but after my first time, I've found that it's actually a lot of fun. I basically just chat with the patrons before the show and at intermission as I get them wine and make sure their experience is going well. One man even gave me a $10 tip just for watching a shopping bag of his for the first half of the show!

I got news that Aunt Janine passed away as this was going on Thursday, and it saddens me because I thought for sure that she had longer. But, it may be better this way instead of having it drag out longer and be more unpleasant in the end.

On Wednesday, MTC staff were invited to the final dress rehearsal of Mauritius before it started previews on Thursday. I wasn't as sure as to what the outcome would be when I read the script, but after seeing it staged, I can say that it's an incredible play. The cast is amazing, and there is a great dynamic tension that plays out well throughout the show. The staff at MTC were very happy, and there's talk that it might be the best play we've done here in some time. I think there's definitely some Tony buzz starting up. It's so cool to see the advertisements for it all over the city too. And the theatre, the sets, and everything else look great.

I had to stop by the theatre to drop something off on Friday before the show, and as I was leaving through the stage door I literally ran into Allison Pill (the main actress) smoking a cigarette. It was funny.

We started our weekly intern seminar this week where a different head of each department comes in and talks to the interns for 90 minutes. This week was George, the director of Telefundraising at MTC, and he was great. He has a pretty zany life story and he offered a lot of useful advice for making it in an industry like New York theatre. He really emphasized how you have to spend time learning names and knowing the important who's, what's, and where's of the industry's history.

Right now I'm working the front desk at MTC from 9:30-4 and then I'm working in the P.Lo for tonight's show. I've found I actually can make a bit of extra income by doing these outside-business-hours jobs. I got a new bank yesterday because apparently US Bank is not really a US bank. I decided to go with Chase because they have the most ATMs in NYC. I need to set up my direct deposit and then I'll be good to go.