I just sprinted through Times Square. I was in Astoria this afternoon looking at a couple apartments, and I left early enough to get to work by 4 (I'm working the front desk this evening). However, they like to do maintainance on the subways on weekends, and for some reason the N train toward Manhattan was closed, so I had to go farther into Queens, get on a different train, and this one decided to stop and sit in the tunnel between 2 stops for 20 minutes. So, in essence, I was 30 minutes late to work. All is forgiven though in NY when you have a good train delay story.


This last apartment I looked at was really good and decently priced. It was in a nice building in a nice area of Astoria in Queens...the only downside was the fact that it didn't have a living room (which we decided we need). Both bedrooms were ridiculously big though. And the real estate agent looked/acted like Lil Kim and carried a teacup Yorkshire Terrier in her bag. There were 6 other people looking at it at the same time, so if we don't just in the next 5 minutes, it will go to someone else...which is probably okay.


I'm trying to keep a positive attitude about finding an apartment in New York. Put lightly, it is a painful process that should not be subjected upon anybody.


In other news, I've been working quite a bit this week. I've settled into the routine now, and with the extra shifts at the Patron Lounges and the front desk, I'm workin about 55-60 hours/week. Multiply my salary by 40 and you might mistake me for an investment banker!


Tomorrow is the Patron Sneak Peek which is taking place at the Biltmore. Basically, there will be a panel of our artistic people discussing our season for our patrons with a cocktail schmooze-fest to follow. I will be helping with the check in/schmooze parts. Tuesday I'm working in the Patron Lounge at night, and then Wednesday is our very first Patron Night. Each MTC show has 3 Patron Nights where the upper-level patrons come to a special pre-show dinner or post-show cocktail hour. For Mauritius, there is a pre-show dinner at a Russian restaurant called Firebird http://www.firebirdrestaurant.com/html/index.htm where I'll be helping with damage control in addition to running the Patron Lounge at the theatre.


This last Tuesday I got free tickets to the MTV taping of Legally Blonde: The Musical. Apparently, MTV and the producers of the musical thought it would be a smart idea to broadcast it on TV. The musical was overall pretty bad, filled with lackluster songs, unimpressive sets, and poor casting choices, but taking it for what it is, it was still fun. Oh, and everyone had to wear pink to get into the theatre, too. Mostly, it was filled with screaming 12-year-old girls who were more excited about the presence of the stars(?) from MTV's The Hills than the actual musical. Check it out October 13th, even though you probably won't see me.

We got assigned out MTC mentors this week as well. They are important people from other departments, and we each get a different one to help expand our horizons, allowing us to have a second mini-internship. I got Kristin in Casting (my first choice!) and the other interns are jealous. We are going to have our first coffee meeting this week.

Our intern seminar this past week was RIDICulous. The Internship Coordinator Amy is good friends with the dramaturg at Disney Theatrical, so she got him to come in and talk with us. He is really friendly, has a doctorate, and is living the LIFE. He basically has a ton of power and say with actual artistic decisions that are being made in Disney musicals on Broadway (Lion King, Beauty and the Beast, and the much anticipated upcoming The Little Mermaid, etc.) He gave a lot of helpful advice, and spilled a lot of dirty secrets on Mermaid fiascos with script changes, last minute music re-writes, etc before it opens in November.

Up in the Heights this week, my landlord Ybelka decided to build a wall in the living room in order to create a fourth bedroom she can rent out. Since she doesn't live there, she gave me the money to pay the men who were doing the labor Wednesday evening. I was not having it, but after a bit of begging, I decided I would do her the favor (plus, she emptied out 2 mousetraps in my room that night that contained 1 dead mouse and 1 semi-dead mouse (that's a whole 'nother bucket of worms)). ANyway, the men built the wall, I did a little quality control to make sure it was complete, and then gave them the money, which apparently was about half of what they were expecting. After explaining to them in my best Spanish that they'd have to go through Ybelka if they had a problem with the payment, they shook my hand and left. Did I mention that the lightswitch to my bedroom, which used to be in the living room, is now in this 4th person's bedroom? Ah, the glamorous life...