Home Sweet Home

Yes, I'm aware that all my Brooklyn posts bear the tag "Home" and this one will, when Blogspot asks me to do so, bear the tag "Travel," but Alabama is still in many regards home and I'm happy to be back. I felt like I was slowly seeping into a funk for the past couple of days in Brooklyn. All the IKEA furniture had been built, my to-do list was a majority crossed off. But everyone I know is working, leaving me home alone with very little to do. So I decided now was as good a time as any to take a respite at home. And what good timing it was! I found out yesterday that No. 3 has been assigned. It's been awhile since I've posted about work, so I'm not sure if "No. 3 has been assigned" means anything to my lay readers. Basically at the beginning of the training week, we all drew numbers out of a hat. I drew No. 4. No. 1 got assigned to "Gossip Girl," No. 2 got assigned to "Law and Order: SVU." And yesterday I found out that No. 3's been assigned to "Running Wilde," a new show from the writer of "Arrested Development," Mitch Hurwitz. So I'm next up! In the meantime, I'm going to shadow a second-year DGA trainee, who's working on a film called "Premium Rush"—starring Joseph Gordon-Levitt. I'm pretty psyched to see a real set operate. I'll be starting that up next week when I get back.

But for now, I'm home and I love it...or at least most parts of it. I think I've reached the conclusion that when you no longer recognize a single haircutter at your lifelong haircutting place, then a little piece of home dies. That was the case today, when I went to Head Start and discovered all new faces. My haircutter was so fresh in fact, that midway through my haircut, another woman interjected and proceeded to give the woman a tutorial in cutting hair...using my head! It definitely ranks up there as one of the more bizarre moments of my life.

My mom and I also decided to take on the task of finding art for my apartment. She showed me a couple prints of watercolors done by Zelda Fitzgerald shortly after Scott died. I liked them and after a whole convoluted process, we finally emerged with seven prints. I think they'll be perfect for our apartment. They're New York, but not too New York. Plus they have the added bonus of being done by an Alabamian. And they'll hopefully be good conversation starters. Here they are:

Brooklyn Bridge

5th Avenue

Times Square

Central Park

Grant's Tomb

Washington Square

Grand Central Station

Fleas and Brute Force

I feel like this weekend was the first time I really got out to experience New York. In the weeks past, I've gone out to bars with friends, but this weekend was all about checking off the to-do list. I guess it all started with Friday. My brother roped me into volunteering for the Harlem Children's Zone for its annual Summer Olympics. So we woke up at 6am to hop on the A express train bound for Washington Heights. I spent most of the day getting the kids into the Whole Foods sponsored Nutrition Zone. The sweet payoff for that job was that I got loads of free Whole Foods hummus, kiwi, and grapes. I also took part in the staff 55-meter dash. Let's just say, it was an embarrassment.

Saturday started out slow. It was a scorcher in the city, so I stayed tucked away in the apartment. But as soon as the sun went down, I met up with some friends to go see "Fuerza Bruta"—an Argentinean dance show experience. I think that's the best way I can describe it. It started out with some lights and high-powered fans creating ambience. Then a guy on a giant treadmill emerged from behind a curtain and started sprinting, ultimately plowing through a bunch of walls of cardboard boxes. Some dancing ensued from other actors, then a huge pool with scantily-clad women descended above us. More crashing through cardboard boxes when all was said and done, the place turned into a club, with the DJ laying down house tunes while rain poured from the ceiling of the theater. It was all a very bizarre experience. Luckily, I had done my research and knew to dress casually. Some of the others didn't fare as well.

Today, my non-brother roommate and I wandered over to Atlantic Avenue, where every weekend the Brooklyn Flea Market takes place. While the building itself was very nice, the contents of the flea market left a lot to be desired—mainly women's clothes and jewelry (everything oozing with hipsterness). But it was definitely something I had wanted to do.

I leave tomorrow to go home to Birmingham for a little bit (still haven't booked a return flight). It'll definitely be a much needed break for my psyche as well as my wallet.

I Like IKE-A

"You have to question your life choices when you're planning your meal at IKEA," my non-brother roommate interjected in the midst of a heated discussion about Swedish meatballs and Lingonberry jam. We were on our third IKEA trip in our second UHaul van in two days. It had to end then. I moved through IKEA with the deliberate precision of someone who's spent way too much time at IKEA. I got all the finishing touches (nightstands, bedding, etc.), and have spent the majority of this week assembling furniture and getting our apartment up to speed while my roommates are at work.

Now that the majority of it is done, I feel I can relax, watch some TV, and post on my blog again. I think I'm going to let pictures narrate this entry. I'll start with my room.

This is my bed. I realized that everything was varying shades of beigey-gray, so I decided to get a little green pillow to add some color. I don't have any overhead light in my room, but I like the dim lighting provided by the atmospheric lantern lamps. It makes my room really warm and soothing. The bedside tables are also new and have glass tops that mirror the glass sliding doors that you'll see in this next picture.

So this is looking across my bed from the other side. My room is certainly "cozy." My fourth wall is entirely sliding glass doors. So I got this curtain to block out light in the morning. It's both a blessing and a curse. I now sleep well, but I also sleep well into the day because I have no grasp on what time it could possibly be. The curtains also do a good job of blocking out sound, like that of the dryer, which you may be able to see is right outside my door. I also got a dresser with glass facades on the drawers to match the sliding doors.

Here's our living/dining area. Things are still a little messy while we finish setting up, but we put the dining table by the window and put the TV area in what the floorplan designated the "dining area." I think it will help to reduce glare on the TV. All we're missing is a couch, but we're in the process of getting one that looks like this. Ours will have the chaise on the other side, so as to close off the dining area and open the TV area to the kitchen...

Still a couple of things that need some tidying, but it's coming along. We got all the necessities, toaster oven, coffee maker, pots and pans. Still a couple of things need to be worked out here, namely I just need to readjust my understanding of how big (or should I say not so big) the kitchen is. I keep catching corners with my hip and accidentally slamming my shoulder into the fridge because expectation and reality haven't yet aligned themselves. And of course, while trying to cook last night, I made a total mess of things. I bumped into an open bottle of vegetable oil, spilling a quarter of its contents all over everywhere. And then while making wild rice, the spice packet slipped out of my hand, spilling garlic powder and pine nuts all over the stove and floor. So still some kinks to work out, but it's coming together well.

Waking Up In Brooklyn

The day has finally come. My first morning waking up in Brooklyn. For the entire lead-up to this moment, I thought we were doing pretty well in terms of moving in. My mom had shipped us two big boxes of "stuff"—essentials really, I thought. But as soon as I started organizing things and taking stock of what we still need, I came to some shocking revelations. This is what we have:

• Hi Def DVR box...but no TV.
• Shower curtain...but no curtain rod.
• Dishware...but no silverware or glasses.
• Coffee mugs...but no coffee maker.
• Wineglasses...but no wine.

So we're basically half-way there on everything. But all of that changes today! My brother rented a UHaul van for the afternoon, so we're going to make some runs to IKEA, Target, maybe Bed, Bath, and Beyond. I don't know, I don't know if we'll have time (*name the movie reference there). So hopefully after today, our apartment will be a bit more habitable.

I tried to make some headway on buying stuff yesterday by going to Macy's. They were having a one-day sale, but everything was still SO expensive. I was trying to get some bedding, but all the beds-in-a-bag had cheesy floral patterns or fire trucks. The only way I could just get a solid-color comforter was to get a comforter + separate shams, pillows + separate cases and shams, sheets, a bed skirt, a mattress pad all separately. The problem is every piece was running baseline at like $40 or $50. I'm sorry but I refuse to pay $50 for a single pillow case. Hopefully, Target or Bed, Bath, and Beyond can give me better options.

I did, however, find a bunch of awesome 99¢ stores near our place that could be a good option for buying glasses (I found I could buy 10 big glasses, and 8 short glasses for $16), as well as other kitcheny objects like measuring cups and stirring spoons.

Well I'm going to try to make do with our bathtub, since I can't really take a shower without flooding the whole place. That's issue #1 today, get a shower curtain rod.

Also, for those wondering, still no word on when I'll get my first gig. I emailed back and forth with the program administrator, and it seems that there are three people who still need to be placed ahead of me. I think the way it works is that we are assigned in pairs. So the first two "first-years" got assigned—to Gossip Girl and Law and Order: SVU, respectively. But now they need to assign two "second-years," then the first-year guy who drew number three, and then me! I saw Inception last night, so I'm keeping my fingers crossed that Christopher Nolan wants to shoot something in New York. But I'm guessing I may start work in mid- to late-August.

First Post from Brooklyn

We are well on our way to moving into our new place! The cable guy is here this morning and just finished setting up the wireless modem. So while he finishes setting up our HD DVR box, I figured I'd send my first post from Brooklyn.

I have to admit, as much as I disparaged "waking up in Brooklyn," I am actually now eagerly awaiting my first night (and morning) in my new home. Especially when I read articles like this piece from the NY Times. Apparently Brooklyn is just chock full of free concerts. This past weekend, my brother went to Prospect Park where there was a free Roots concert going on. Next week the Beach Boys and the Monkeys are performing in the same concert and then in August Aretha Franklin is performing...twice. I actually have a bone to pick with Ms. Franklin. She was supposed to come to City Stages—a now-defunct concert series in Birmingham—a couple of years back as the headlining act. At the last minute, she bailed to perform at a bigger venue in Atlanta, leaving us with Poison (ugh) as our featured performance. Anyway, I'm psyched to take advantage of some of those concerts.

Also, my brother and I went to Williamsburg (a neighborhood in Brooklyn) to check out a furniture store that he had been reading a lot about. I had certainly heard the rumors about how hipstery Williamsburg is supposed to be, but my God I had no idea! As we were waiting for the L train at Union Square, teems of people in skinny jeans and thick-framed glasses swarmed around us. It was almost comical.

At the furniture store, we found this terrific L-shaped sectional couch that will fit perfectly in our living room. We didn't order it quite yet (so we could compare prices online), but I think it's a pretty sure thing that we'll be getting it.

Afterwards, we grabbed some dinner at a nearby El Salvadoran place. It actually reminded me a lot of Honduras. I got a frijoles con queso pupusa (tortilla stuffed with refried beans and cheese), aguacate (sliced avocados), and enchiladas de pollo (chicken enchiladas). It was muy delicioso, que rico, and all that good stuff. But above all, it made me really nostalgic to be back in Honduras to see my girlfriend again :(

A Case for Teleportation

I hate traveling. Actually, let me re-phrase that, I love my destinations—especially this trip to Honduras, which was exactly the trip I was hoping it to be—I just hate getting there and back again. That was certainly the case when my Tuesday travel back to New York seeped into my Wednesday.

It started as most travel days do for me, I woke up early, showered, and threw all my stuff in my suitcase. I checked my email and, little to my surprise, I had an email from Delta saying my flight was delayed—only half an hour. But when I emerged from my room for breakfast, my girlfriend's sister said that apparently the Tegucigalpa airport was closed for the next week due to some repairs. That would have been good for Delta to have told me a month ago when I made the reservation, let alone that morning when they said I'd only be delayed a half hour. So I dug around online and found that sure enough the Tegucigalpa airport had scheduled the repairs a month in advance, but apparently had failed to mention it to the airlines who had to land there. Long story short, I think under the pressure of a potential lawsuit, the airport officials did whatever needed to be done to get the airport passably operational so my flight could take off—two hours later than originally scheduled.

I then had to connect in Atlanta. Bad weather had forced us to maintain a holding pattern for about an hour, so we arrived three hours later than originally scheduled. Of course, the bad weather also delayed my departure to New York, so I wasn't rushed through customs. The big board initially said my flight was pushed to 11:10 from 9:30pm. Ok, I thought. This way I can get some dinner and watch some of the All-Star game. I found a place close to my gate, ordered a sandwich and a beer and picked up the game in the third inning. I talked to a sufficiently-inebriated guy who had been trying to get home to his wife and kid in Phoenix since 6pm—after four weeks digging up WWII-era chemical debris from an Army compound in the Atlanta area. He was soon replaced by a professional bass-fisherman, who was trying to get from Little Rock, Ark. to Las Vegas (via Atlanta?) for a fishing trade show. He had been traveling since 6am. I was beginning to detect a pattern.

I checked out of the conversations and the game just after the sixth inning to go catch my flight, only to find that my gate was only just now seating a much-delayed flight to Denver. Fearing a gate change, I asked the woman at the desk and she assured me I was in the right place and that my flight had now been pushed back to 11:25. Enough time to go to the bathroom and get some reading material for the flight. When I emerged from the newsstand with the latest copy of the New Yorker and Entertainment Weekly ("homework"), I checked the big board once more. JFK...JFK...JFK...Ah, JFK...1:00?!?!?! Yes, my flight was scheduled to leave Atlanta one hour after it was initially scheduled to land in New York. So I returned to the bar to discover that just after I had left Brian McCann drove in three on a bases-clearing double in the top of the seventh and my bass-fisher buddy had been replaced by a woman trying to get from Minneapolis to San Diego, via Indianapolis and Atlanta (not all in the same day), who was sharing the same delayed fate. I was suddenly attune to the grumblings of the masses, a constant refrain, "I've been traveling all day," percolating across the terminal.

As I was finally boarding my plane at 1, I did so behind a couple, who had only managed separate middle seats. I asked where they were sitting and one had the seat next to mine, so I offered a trade. I was hoping that karma would reward me with a seat on an empty row, or at least next to someone engaging enough to pass the mind-numblingly earliness of the now-morning's flight. Nope, landed myself between two heavyset women—one of whom, I think, was wrapping up a phone-sex conversation as I took my seat. Both fell asleep as soon as we began taxiing and I soon realized that my little TV screen required me to pay for everything, including the headphones.

To cap off the night, when we landed in New York, the plane pulled up just short of the gate. "We're going to sit here for a little while," the pilot chimed in overhead. "We have to wait for a grounds crew team." After an excruciating 20 minutes, we finally pulled into our gate at 3:45am. "Welcome to New York," the flight attendant said, adding with a stinging tone, "Have a nice morning."

I eventually made it back to the apartment at about 5, after a painfully slow baggage claim process (I contemplated leaving it behind) and passed out. I'm hoping next time I travel, they can just beam me up.

Not Fit For a King

News travels fast and far. Especially when it's about LeBron James. The top news result for LeBron, when I Google-Hondurased him, was "Cleveland 'destrozada' por la marcha de James y Miami 'celebra' su llegada," or, according to Google translator, "Cleveland 'devastated' by the departure of James and Miami 'celebrates' his arrival." While my heart does go out to Cleveland, especially considering its history of lousy sports, I also feel a little bit robbed.

I was really warming up to the idea of becoming a basketball fan. I felt that Brooklyn really had the perfect storm brewing. The Russian oligarch/Jay-Z are planning to move the Nets to Brooklyn, LeBron was considering the Nets, and Brooklyn shares the same boundaries as Kings County. If LeBron truly is King James, wouldn't he want his own county?!

Anyway I digress, it seems I will hold on to my satellite allegiances in baseball and football because there's no treading on those and because the only thing I like less than the NBA is hockey (sorry Rangers and Islanders).

In other news, all's well in Honduras! My girlfriend and I went bowling yesterday and we're planning to go to one or two of the outlying towns (Santa Lucia and Valle de Angeles). In the meantime, my brother and third roommate are planning the official move-in to our apartment tomorrow. We found a pretty awesome L-shaped couch on Craigslist that I'm hoping we can land, because it would fit perfectly in our apartment. Brooklyn, here we come, with or without LeBron!

¡Feliz 4 de Julio!

So this was news to me at the time I was buying my tickets, but it is significantly cheaper to fly on the 4th of July. After searching wildly for midweek-to-midweek flights that were running at least $650, I finally stumbled upon a 9-day, roundtrip flight to Tegucigalpa, Honduras for just $500. Now those who don't know me are probably thinking, why Honduras? Well, simply put, the love of my life lives there. My girlfriend and I met freshman year in college and have been together ever since. We haven't seen each other since the chaos of graduation/moving out this past May, so it's nice to be able to have a relaxing week+ with her.

I've been to Honduras once before, during the summer after freshman year. We really packed in a lot during that trip—bat-filled caves, Mayan ruins, Caribbean islands off the North Coast. It was all very Indiana Jones, which is right up our alley. So this trip is going to be much more relaxing. We're going to take in some awe-inspiring waterfalls as well as Isla El Tigre (an island off the Pacific Coast).

My girlfriend's family has moved around a lot over the years, so they're in a different house than the one I stayed at last visit, but I couldn't be more comfortable here. When I arrived, her dog, Bucho, excitedly ran around me in circles—apparently a sign that he remembers me. Bucho's a tiny little Chihuahua, so last time I came to visit he was having some hesitancy walking down the stairs at their house. During that stay, I finally helped him conquer his fears and we've been best of friends ever since.

I've just now woken to my first full day in Tegucigalpa and it sounds and smells like breakfast is cooking, so I'll sign off for now.

A Dodgy Part of Town

So it's official, we're moving to Brooklyn! I signed the lease Wednesday and my first act as a proud Brooklyner was to hop on a bus with one of my college roommates and travel up to Boston to visit some of our other college roommates. To be fair, it'll take a little while to get our new place up to speed (turn on utilities and the such).

My mom sent me this article from "The Cinematical" about Emma Watson and her boyfriend filming his band's new video. She refers to her character being in "a dodgy part of New York." From all I can glean from this music video, that dodgy area looks a whole lot like Brooklyn. I took offense to her statement, but my mom reassured me that Emma was just paying an homage to the baseball history of Brooklyn. Somehow, I doubt that.

But honestly, Brooklyn is most certainly not "dodgy." My brother and I walked around it last Sunday and, for a Sunday night, it was actually kind of happening. There's a nearby street called Smith Street that one of my brother's friends said is his favorite street in all of New York. We're also not too far from the promenade, which apparently is supposed to have a great view of Manhattan and I think the Statue of Liberty. We have a park of our own, just around the corner from our building.

Anyway, I'm heading back down to New York today after two days of catching up with old friends. My brother and I are planning to move some stuff into the new apartment when I get back, and I've been put in charge of setting up our internet tomorrow. Either tomorrow or Sunday will be the first morning where I will officially be waking up in Brooklyn.