New York is a really, really big city. This can be easy to forget sometimes when you live here, because it is all so close together, and the train and bus systems are so simple. But, parts of the city are obnoxiously far away from one another, and, sometimes, you have to go to many of these places in one day.
Yesterday was one of those days for me. And, I did a decent job of capturing it in Instagram photos for all of you. So, here's the saga!
First of all, I had a bit of a late night on Monday. I went to see Measure for Measure at Shakespeare in the Park, which is run by the Public Theatre. The performance took place in the Delacorte Theatre in Central Park, and was great. I had a lot of fun. There are some nitpicky thins that I could say about the design, and some of the acting, but in general I thouroughly enjoyed the production, which made me happy. Bad Shakespeare makes me a very unhappy camper, and good Shakespeare just brightens up my whole existence. This was good Shakespeare. If you live in New York City, or near it, you should definitely go. It's worth the free admission for certain. Of course, I didn't actually have to wait in line, because Danny works for them, but I would have. I went to see this with my friend Spencer, and afterwards, Danny joined us and we went for a late meal at a diner on the Upper West Side called Cafe Viand. I had some scrumptious pancakes and was a very happy lady. This lasted until after midnight... hence the inclusion in yesterday's activities.
After this, we returned home to Flatbush, where I took no photographs. Oops. In any case, Flatbush is quite a bit of a way from the Upper West Side, considering it's in Central Brooklyn.
Yesterday morning, I putzed around at home a little bit, relaxing, and hanging out in my neighborhood. But, my first big destination of the day was Astoria, Queens, for my singing lesson with the glorious Kara Boyer. If you live near New York City and need a new singing teacher- go, go, go! She's changed my life, and I'm not saying that lightly. Seriously, just... just go. Astoria is very far away from Flatbush. I'm not sure if it is further distance-wise than the Upper West Side, but it is certainly farther train time and convenience wise. Totally worth it though. Kara is amazing.
The next stop on the list for me was Stella Adler Studio of Acting, in Chelsea, where I work and volunteer. Yesterday was a volunteer day. I help out and assistant-teach in the Stella Adler Outreach Program, which provides free acting training for low-income high school students in the city. And we find some of the most incredible, talented, devoted, and kind young men and women in New York. I've been predominantly working with one group in the program, and these students never fail to impress me. They are so good, and even when it seems like they might not be able to pull off what they have been asked to do, they come through at the last minute with flying colors and knock our socks off. They are just, wow. I can't be effusive enough about how much I care about these people. They win. Speaking of which, they opened tonight, and their show is amazing. I'm so insanely proud- if there was a legitimate mountain near me, I might have climbed up to the top of it and screamed it to the masses. Alas, this is not the case.
Next, I got on an N train at 28th St, and took it to the 59th St stop in Bay Ridge, Brooklyn, where I would transfer to an R. I was going out to Dyker Heights to hang out with my friends Dennis and Pat, who I hadn't seen in a few weeks, but are always fun. They are twin brothers, but barely look alike at all. Danny was out there too. Bay Ridge and Dyker Heights are some of the southernmost points in Brooklyn, so it took me about an hour to get there overall.
This is a detail of a mosaic in the Bay Ridge-86th St R train station, where I disembarked, as it were. I like Bay Ridge- it has a distinctly middle class feel to it, and there is a lot to do. If it weren't so obnoxiously far away from Manhattan, I wouldn't mind living there at all. But, more than a 45 minute commute doesn't really appeal to me, and I like Flatbush a lot, so, at the moment, I plan to stay where I am. Bay Ridge is neat, though.
By this point, it was about 9:30 at night, and I was walking to Pat and Dennis's house. I was rather exhausted- I had spent about two hours of my life on the train that day, and done some serious acting work in my singing lesson, which is more exhausting than most people would expect. Acting burns around 400 calories an hour, which is way more than walking quickly, nonstop, for that amount of time. It's hard work, and well, I was feeling the end of the day lag.
Solution: STARBUCKS. Yep. I'm addicted to caffeine pretty badly, and, correctly anticipating that we would be hanging out until around midnight, I needed some type of pick me up. The beverage of choice for me was my recently acquired favourite- a skinny Cafe Misto. I've generally been a latte fan, because I like steamed milk. But, Caffe Mistos are coffee topped with steamed milk, and are about a dollar cheaper, or more, per size. I've dropped latte from my ordering vocabulary.
I was going to get some food at Starbucks as well, but Danny let me know that they had some already. Honey Nut Cheerios and almond milk, to be exact. I was all kinds of excited. So, despite the fact that those bagels look scrumptious, I passed, and headed along on my way. Soon, I was at the house, and we hung out for a few hours, chilling out and preparing some characters for my upcoming first game of Dungeons and Dragons ever. Woot.
A bit before midnight, we left Pat and Dennis's house, and went to catch the bus. For the first time in New York City history, the bus was early. It was supposed to leave at 12:05, and when we got there at 12:00... it was pulling away. We sprinted about four blocks before we realised that we were screwed. The B16 bus only comes once every half an hour after midnight... so... yeah. We didn't have many options. After our coffee beverages we were both surprisingly awake, and neither one of us had any commitments today before 11am, so we elected to walk the slightly under an hour home. It was lovely. The air was cool, people were around, but not too many. We just chatted. However, at some place in Sunset Park, we did come across this, I don't know what to call it, thing. Ride thing. I don't even know. It's like a possessed donkey pony ride terror that will haunt my dreams. In any case, it's how I finished off my night.
If you wonder what my life is like... I clocked almost two hours on subway trains today too. Welcome to life in New York.
Queens, Brooklyn, and Manhattan, New York City, New York, USA
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