NEW YORK CITY, CONTINUED

I'm enjoying all caps-ing these titles. I'm just THAT excited about New York!

Thursday:

We went to Coney Island and did all kinds of exciting things. Then we saw Follies. It was awesome, I've decided.

Friday:

We scrambled to do all of the last things we wanted to do, ended up caught in a rain storm, and enjoyed a non-traditional comedy-ish show. 

Today, without Colette (she's off to Hawaii :P), I adventured through Greenwich Village, explored the Metropolitan Museum of Art, had lunch with a friend at The Counter, and saw Wicked (!!). Now I'm sitting in JFK, and it is a sad day. I'm ready to go home and finally get some rest, but I'm sad to leave the city. It really is super. 

Expect a "what we have learned" vlog soon. Well, as soon as Colette comes within my near vicinity. Might be a week or so. 

YAY BLOGGING!

SOME MORE NEW YORK CITY

Wednesday highlights:

• tkts is a wonderful place to get cheap tickets.
• The Empire State Building is very tall.
• Street cart food is delicious.
• Billy Elliott: the Musical is just as fun as they say it is.
• Parks in New York can actually be relaxing.
• Daniel Radcliffe is an amazing Broadway actor.
• NY cheesecake is worth all the hype.

NEW YORK CITY

We're here. It's awesome. I love it. And hate it. But I think that's how a lot of people feel about it.

Here is what we have done:

Sunday:

• chilled at the airport for hours, waiting for our delayed plane
• got into our sweet hotel, staying the 12th floor with a Manhattan view

Monday:

• spent 5 delicious hours exploring the Museum of Modern Art
• checked out Grand Central Station, the New York library, and Times Square
• watched Brian Havig (previously of Divine Comedy) perform stand-up
• enjoyed some real new york pizza with the previously mentioned Brian

Tuesday (that's today!):

• rode the Staten Island Ferry to see Lady Liberty
• ate wonderful lunch in Chinatown, followed by cones at the Chinatown Ice Cream Factory (SO GOOD)
• relaxed in Central Park
• saw Catch Me If You Can, the musical
• savored scrumptious burgers from The Counter and hung out with Colette's brother Mike

Expect more updates we go on more adventures!

Talent Show

I performed in a tri-ward talent show last night. Here's some video. It's hard to hear my guitar, so you'll need to blast it. :)

The song is "Bad Day" by Darwin Deez. I messed up on some words. Don't worry about it.

Don't keep calm and carry on.

I'm done with my challenge, but already back blogging. Goodness.

Just had to share this:

http://flic.kr/p/68q1i9

It's overrrrrrr

Thrice weekly post 15 of 15

I made it. Three posts weekly for an entire month.

I want to do a lot of things these days:

• start learning bookbinding
• finish my library books
• climb lots of rocks
• finish reading Psalms
• edit photos (haha, not really. I hate editing)
• make new photo projects
• adventure for adventure's sake
• shoot off lots of fireworks
• make delicious jam
• yell from the mountaintops
• figure out what I'm doing with my life
  

But first things first, this room needs to be cleaned.

Let him roar again, let him roar again

Thrice weekly blog post 14 of 15

Please check out my new favorite song of the moment here. Amazing stuff.

I had the chance to attend a performance by The Grassroots Shakespeare Company on Monday evening. It was a triple header, but I was only able to attend the last two plays, and I quickly regretted that I had missed the first.

The aim of the company is to re-create Shakespeare as Shakespeare meant it to be. They work without a director and secure props and costumes on their own. Many actors play multiple parts. When actors aren't on stage, they're providing the music for the scenes. At performances, they encourage the audience to booo and ahhhh and yell if they feel like it. There were several great ad lib moments prompted by the audience, and everyone was really able to get involved with the story.

The acting was stellar. It was amazing to see the actors switch from role to role, bringing something completely different each time. I felt engaged with the plays and really enjoyed the experience.

The first play we saw was a pretty common one - A Midsummer Night's Dream. But unlike other performances of the play, this one had an all-male cast. It added a whole new dimension that was originally in Shakespeare's plays, but we usually miss out as a modern audience. A huge highlight for me was one modern reference they included: a comparison of Puck to Link. Other anachronistic items were great surprises: dream catchers to represent the fairies and an umbrella to represent invisibility (that one had me laughing for a while).

Next was Romeo and Juliet. Whenever I see Romeo and Juliet, I always say that I will never see it again - it's just a story of stupidity, in my opinion. But I really enjoyed what they did with it. The first half had me laughing and the second had me close to tears. It was cathartic to yell at the characters as they made their stupid mistakes. Overall, another great performance.

Unfortunately, the company has finished their touring season for this year, but I would definitely recommend them in the future. Whether you're a fan of Shakespeare or not, you'll enjoy the high-paced energy of The Grassroots Shakespeare Company's shows.