The Beginning

I'm writing more out of a sense of responsibility than anything else.  I feel like I should get down the details while they're still fresh, even though I don't have much to report, because maybe it'll be important to me someday.  Or something.

It was a tearful goodbye.  Barry drove me to Santa Ana where my plane was departing from, but although the drive was lighthearted and warm, the last half hour before I left was really hard.  We'd left a little later than we should have, so we didn't have a lot of time together in the airport before I had to go through security and get to my gate.  He's been remarkably optimistic about our situation as well as what awaits me in New York, but despite his comforting words, I left a sobbing mess (the lady taking tickets at the gate took pity on me and actually re-sat me at the back of the plane so I wouldn't be bothered).  As the plane took flight and I felt the distance between us grow, I could only stare out the window at the golden rivers of headlights moving below like blood cells in an artery, and wonder if I was making the right choice by leaving.

When we made our descent into JFK airport, I noticed that the flashing lights at the end of the wings were highlighting little specks of something in the air, and I realized that it must be snow, but by the time we landed it was too warm and the snow above had evaporated before it reached the ground.  Still, it was quite cold outside (somewhere around 30 degrees) and there was plenty of snow piled up along the road.  Barry's uncle picked me up and drove me to their house in West Orange, NJ, and I spent most of the rest of the day napping.

The next day (yesterday), I went to the city to familiarize myself with transportation to New York, as well as to find Milk Studios (so I could be confident that I knew how to get there for my interview) and check out the Webster Apartments, which I've been considering as a temporary housing option.  The bus ride was fairly quick and painless, but expensive (almost $8 per trip... meaning $16 round trip).  I did get a 10-trip pass once I got to Port Authority, which offered me a slight discount, but I still had to shell out $70 for 10 trips (5 round trips).

Since Port Authority is on 42nd, Webster is on 34th, and Milk is on 15th, I decided to skip the subway and just walk to where I needed to go.  Manhattan is surprisingly small in that respect; there's a lot to see but 30 blocks isn't actually that far a walk.  And it might have been pleasant too, if it weren't for the arctic winds... it's not really that cold when the sun's out, but the wind chill factor makes it feel 20 degrees colder.

The Webster Apartments were better than I expected in every respect, except for the actual rooms.  The location is superb... it's almost right across from B&H, and it's sort of centralized, so most of the things you'd need to get to in Manhattan are within walking distance.  The interior by the information desk is nice, with a little common area with couches, and even the showers aren't as bad as I feared (instead of the dorm style of having 7 or 8 shower stalls right next to each other, there are 3 private shower rooms on each wing, so they're still shared by all the girls on that wing, but it's more private than a dorm). But the rooms... the rooms are tiny and hideous and unfriendly.  The bed looks even smaller than a twin if that's possible, the blankets are this terrible salmon color, and the walls and desk and everything else in the room are the kind of color that looks like it might have been yellow or white once, but it faded and turned into kind of a doctor's office cream color.  It's also old, so the corners are grimy and the closet space is sort of gross.  I mean... I could live with that, and the location alone is enough to help me overlook the yuckiness of the room, but I also have to consider that the flat rate for interns is $315 a week (or $1,260 a month).  Again, considering the location (also the fact that they provide meals), that's actually not bad... but it's more than I should be spending when I have other options.

Milk was easy to find and was actually close to the studio that I was at with Timothy White last summer when he was doing a promo shoot for Rachel Ray.  It's not the nicest part of Manhattan, and it always seems to be windier than everywhere else, but the building itself looks nice from what I could see.  By the way, on that note,  I emailed the guy I've been in contact with from Milk when I got in on Sunday, and we arranged to meet for an interview on Wednesday (tomorrow) at 2pm.  I'm nervous (naturally) mostly because I don't really know how to prepare for it; I have no idea what kinds of questions I'll be asked, so I guess at some level all I can really do is prepare myself mentally, leave myself plenty of time to get there, and act charming and professional.  I'll need to go into the city a little earlier anyway because I need to print my résumé, so if I get there by noon, I should be fine.

Aside from yesterday, I've pretty much stayed in my room since I got here.  I've been doing a lot of research on possible other gigs/jobs in the area, and I've actually been pleasantly surprised at the number of intriguing listings I've found, especially on Craigslist.  I know Craigslist isn't the best place to go to look for jobs, and to be fair, most of the stuff I've found has been unpaid stuff, but my focus can't ONLY be on finding a paying job.  If there are other opportunities that maybe don't help me pay rent, but still give me the chance to network, for instance, I think that's worth my time.  The most promising lead so far is a model who is launching a new clothing line in the spring and wants to work with a photographer to get pictures for her company.  I haven't seen her work yet (so I don't know if I'll like it), and it is unpaid (at least for now), but I figure that it might not be a bad idea to collaborate with other newbies in the business; perhaps we can help each other grow.  She also asked for references, and has already contacted a couple of models and a swimsuit designer that I've worked with, so although I can't necessarily assume anything based on that, it does give off the impression that she's professional and is serious about this.

I guess that's all I have to write about for right now... I'll have more after my interview.
Aaahh!  Wish me luck!