Back from Hibernation Pt. 1 Ethan & Lebanon

Hello everyone!

After a solid month, I'm back! I was trying to think back on everything that's happened since I last wrote here, but to be honest, there's a lot going on in my head these days and I can't really keep it all in any form of linear structure. Instead of just updating you on my life, I think I'll just share some other things...

So, I was reading my most recent issue of Entertainment Weekly earlier today and indulging myself in an article about Katherine Heigl and her decision to leave Grey's Anatomy. First off, WHY, IZZIE, WHY? After all the stuff she's gone through, why not wait for a proper exit instead of one in which no one even knew it was her exit from the show? Furthermore, you're my favorite character on the show--at least now that George is gone--WTF? Who cares if you had to revive a deer in the back of a pick-up truck a few years ago? Doctors in real life have done stranger things! Hell, doctors on TV have one stranger things: have you seen True Blood? (End rant.)

Anyway, the point in mentioning this article is because even though I was incredibly upset with my girlfriend Katherine Heigl, her reason for leaving the show are based on her family. Unbeknownst to me, she and her husband adopted a baby girl over the last year and it is their decision to spend more time as parents; better parents, even.

Why mention this? you may ask. Well, I have found a very similar situation poke its dark and twisty head much closer to home; Oxford, OH, in fact. For those that have not heard, my best friend and mentor Dr. Ethan Sperry has decided to resign his position at Miami University and take up a new position at Portland State University in Portland, OR. Much like the lovely Ms. Heigl, Ethan's reasons for leaving are family-related, as well. Both his wife's family and his brothers reside on the west coast (Seattle/Tacoma-area and San Francisco, respectively). Ethan and his wife decided after they started a family a few years ago that living so far away from their families was in no way how they wanted to raise their children. Furthermore, they are city people and Oxford is far from a city... Unfortunately, the number of good choral positions on the west coast are few and far between. Thus, when a good one does open up, the number of applicants is well above 100. For the position at PSU alone, they had some 187 applicants, of which Ethan was their top pick. Naturally, he spent spring break at the school, getting to know the lay of the land a bit and meeting the choirs. To his surprise, he found immense potential in this department. Fortunately for him, it was a no-brainer for the PSU administration to nab him while they could. Unfortunately for us, this position provides Ethan and his family everything you've wanted.

I was recently back in Oxford for the Intercollegiate Men's Chorus Conference hosted by Glee Club. It was here that I learned this news. When I found out, it was still a secret to pretty much everyone. My learning came by way of "coaxing" it out of one of the elder members of the group. Maybe he's just not a good secret-keeper, or maybe it's just very hard to keep me in the dark. Either way, I'm glad I found out when I did. Before leaving Oxford, I very nonchalantly told Ethan, "I know." His eyes widened and I told him, "It's OK. I'm not mad anymore." I then made my way to Lebanon. (More on that in a minute). I returned to Oxford twice more while in Ohio. On Sunday, I came back to talk through this matter with Ethan and find out what his next step was. Obviously, he had to break the news to the choirs--he wasn't quite sure how to go about this. In true Ethan fashion, I didn't want to worry anyone and he didn't want to give anything away. In true Miami choirs fashion, they all kind of had a clue. Somewhere along the last year or so, word got out that Harvard Glee Club's director was going to be resigning and Ethan had thrown his name in the hat for the position. To make matters worse, Harvard's director had said Ethan was the only person he wanted to see succeed him. Whether this is true or not, I'm not sure. Regardless, Ethan was not offered that position--but the choir kids didn't know this. Most of them came into rehearsal Monday night knowing they had some business to tend to and were fairly certain he was going to tell them he was taking the job at Harvard. I knew this was not true, but couldn't really tell them anything else. This was not my news to tell. After receiving a number of phone calls about the matter, I decided to drive back down to Oxford on Monday for the big announcement--to give moral support to both Ethan and my friends in the choirs. Let's be honest, I had nothing else better to do... Thankfully, the announcement went very smoothly and there were no angry outbursts. Yes, there were tears, both students and Ethan. Yes, there were still questions to be answered. But there was no question in anyone's mind that trying to convince Ethan to stay was an option. The only thing we can do now is make sure that his remaining time at Miami is some of his best. Watching Ethan conduct a concert for the last time at Miami may quite possibly be the most difficult thing I'll have to do for a while. However, I can't even BEGIN to imagine what he must be feeling.

As sad as it is to say, I actually am very happy for Ethan. While seeing him go will be an unbelievably difficult thing to witness and knowing he won't be there whenever I go back to visit, I can't help but be thankful that this opportunity presented itself to him at this junction in his life. He's been at Miami for 10 years now. In a few weeks, the Collegiate Chorale will have their first EVER Alumni Reunion Concerts. My only hope is that this tradition continues after Ethan is gone. From what I've heard from him, the Chorale was next to nothing when he first arrived. So much so that at the first officers' meeting, he had to INTRODUCE the officers to each other! Imagine being a leader in a group and not knowing the other members, let alone the other leaders... Now, the Collegiate Chorale is one of the most respected choirs in Ohio. I'm proud to have sung in Chorale for a semester, but even more proud to have witnessed how great a group can be. Best of luck to all those returning for the reunion--I hope to come back for the next one.

In other news, I mentioned going to Lebanon before. NOTE: THIS IS LEBANON, OHIO. NOT THE COUNTRY. As you may recall from previous ramblings on here, I did an 8-week stint at Lebanon High School as a student teacher in their choir department. During my time there they asked if I would be interested in emceeing their show choir competition that fall. WHY YES, OF COURSE! I exclaimed. Much to my surprise, I actually did pretty well with this task and they asked me to return for another year before the competition was even over. So when I was returning to Lebanon this time, it was to return to the Lebanon Show Choir Class as their emcee! Once again, one of the longest days of my life, but DEFINITELY one of the most rewarding. On top of just having fun with this job, they also allowed me to perform a few songs while we were buying some time. Furthermore, THERE'S VIDEO.

This year's competition saw 13 groups perform all day and featuring some of the most incredibly talented students I've ever seen--it kind of makes me sick! However, I could not have been more happy to be back here and see some fantastic shows. Maybe I'm a little biased because I've worked with them before, but my favorite show was Hurricane Red Hot's UNSTOPPABLE! I love those kids so much for all their talent, dedication, and shear excitement that they bring to each performance. They gave in fantastic daytime performance, including a solo by the winner of the Best Female Soloist (a young lady that has also been invited to attended Governor's School in WV--CONGRATS!). However, their finals performance was quite possibly the BEST I've EVER seen them perform! I mean, HOLY CRAP, Y'ALL! Unfortunately, they were not match for the Fairfield High School Choraliers--last year's Grand Champions at Lebanon and Nationals... Yeah. They're REALLY good! I referred to them as "the scariest kids on the block" because their show dealt with all kinds of magic and death and whatnot and whosit. It was just fantastic! Congratulations to ALL! I can't wait to go back next year and see what they've all cooked up in a year's time...

I think this will have to suffice for now. There is much more to discuss, but I think you've all had enough of my ramblings for one post. Maybe I'll post more before another months passes...

Happy Adventures!

Grab a snack and a Red Bull...

Hello everyone!

17 days is a long time for me to not write, but there hasn't been anything too eventful to write about, let alone much time. And even as I write that, I know it's kind of a lie. For some reason I feel like I'm more bogged down than ever even though I'm not working nearly as much as I was back during the holidays. True, it's NYC and I work in Times Square so there must be business. However, even Times Square has slow times of the year.

So to fill any empty time, I've spent a great deal of time reading. Recently, I finished Stephen King's "Under the Dome". I had never read anything by him before and so I thought I'd pick up his most recent read clocking in at a whopping 1074 pages! Let me tell you: it took me a month and a half to finish this book and it was totally worth it, up until about page 1070. The explanation of what this dome that incapsulates this small Maine town seemed kind of cheap after the series of events that develops throughout the narrative. However, I would totally recommend it because it is one of the best books I've ever read--just not one of the best endings. A couple friends of mine at work also read it recently and absolutely loved it, including the ending.

After conquering the Dome, I have begun some lighter fair: "Me Talk Pretty One Day" by David Sedaris. Again, I have never read anything by Sedaris before, but I've heard great things about him and have seen his books in prominent positions at bookstores (where I frequently spend afternoons off). So, as I was walking out the door on Monday morning to go to work, I stopped by my roommates' bookshelf and saw "Me Talk Pretty" and decided to give it a shot. I'm nearly finished reading it and find myself getting lost in Sedaris' essays about his life. The first half of the book deals with his childhood and family, including his sister Amy that appears on "Strangers with Candy" on Comedy Central. The second half deals with his extensive time spent in France, learning the language, the culture, and coming to realizations about American culture. At one point he discusses the fact that we, as Americans, are forced to cater to many people's stupidity in this country. This is a fact I've consisted found throughout my life. Everything from the warning on McDonald's coffee that "Contents might be HOT" to how careful professionals must be to avoid getting slapped with a lawsuit from some angry customer that thinks they have been treated unfairly. In my observation, it seems our nation really is the land of opportunity--opportunity to take advantage of others. Without any reservation, I'm sickened by how our country fights over some of the most ridiculous arguments and think that stating "It's a free country" frees you from taking responsibility for your own rudeness or inability to think of anyone but yourself. (End of rant)

Last Saturday, I began taking an acting class. As I discussed in a previous post I won a raffle at the reading series wrap party for a free 8-week screenwriting class. I decided I didn't have a screenplay in me to write, so the teacher suggested I take the Acting for Writer's class. The interesting thing about this class is that it is centered around character-creation and -development. It is also a very physical class in which we make use of every inch of the space. I left class last week sweating and having to go straight to work for a busy Saturday night. Only seven more weeks to go with it. I think it's going to be a great experience.

Further in the realm of my career, I've seen a few improv shows at People's Improv Theatre where my friend Josh is a student. Josh wrote the screenplay Coming Attraction in which I played 15 characters. A lot of his improv friends came to the reading and noticed me after the shows and have been asking when I'm going to start taking classes. My response so far has been, "As soon as I have the money." This is definitely something I want to start soon because I can see myself doing this stuff with all the characters in my head. I feel so much more comfortable being someone other than myself in front of an audience sometimes, which I guess is why I enjoy being a character actor so much. I'll let you know when something actually happens.

My friends Amanda, Sean, and I have begun a new tradition! Every Tuesday night we cook an amazing dinner and watch LOST! It started as us just deciding to watch the premiere at Sean's after Amanda and I worked the lunch shift at work so we needed dinner and the suggestion was made to cook pizza before the show. I think the second week was sushi, I'm not sure. Maybe I'm trying to forget that whole night because that was the episode entitled "What Kate Does" and I found it to be pretty forgettable. Last week, Sean and I made fried chicken thighs, risotto, broccoli, and peanut-butter swirled brownies. This week was a very special treat as I had my first EVER lobster! Sean and I made a trip down to Chinatown and found a small seafood shop where we picked up a bunch of lobsters and a few pounds of king crab legs. Amanda bought some finish touch ingredients for cheddar biscuits that turned out pretty good, we need to tweak the recipe. For dessert, I made grilled pineapple topped with vanilla ice cream and brown sugar-rum sauce. This has turned into something I find myself looking forward to each week because it features my favorite things: food, friends, and LOST!

On the topic of LOST, I feel like this season is really starting to put itself in high-gear getting some things answered and asking questions that are quickly answered. The last two weeks have been simply awesome. If you don't watch LOST, I am so sorry for your life. DO IT!

Happy Adventures!

A directional shift.

Hello everyone!

After last week's epic post, I decided to just say hey and let you know about a few developments in my life.

Career-wise, I think I may be looking away from Broadway for now. From the look of things here, not a whole lot is happening in the way of unknown talent making much headway in the business. Furthermore, after the reactions from the reading series, I've decided to look more into film/TV. As such, I've been put in contact with some very good resources to get on the right lists to start getting this party started. Who knows? Maybe by the end of this network season you'll be seeing me on your favorite show? So far I've been submitted to the casting directors of 30 Rock and Rescue Me!

In other news, my parents may be coming to visit!!! They informed me that the topic has been discussed in the house and a road trip may be in the works for sometime in the next few weeks. Besides the obvious thrill of having my parents come see where I live/work, they will also be bringing some necessities I've been going without for the last six months: my TV and vacuum cleaner.

Less than a few weeks to go in this year's Oscar Race and things are really starting to heat up: The Hurt Locker has been gaining some much needed momentum in this home stretch and it is kind of poised to be the film to beat some March 7. Avatar is still a favorite with the populous crowd, but the artsy folks are gunning for James Cameron to sink like the real Titanic. I just hope that ten years from now people aren't saying they hate Avatar and deny seeing it in theatres, much like some are these days with Titanic--you saw it and you LOVED it! Sadly, I am one of the four people on the planet that have not seen Avatar yet, but I plan to remedy that fairly soon. However, I did catch Colin Firth in A Single Man--highly recommended. It's not a huge film, by any means, and it is incredibly subtle in its drama, as is Firth's performance. Additionally, I finally saw Nine. Nothing to run home about, but fairly enjoyable. Marion Cotillard, I love you.

Be sure to vote in the poll. Just FYI, if Fergalicious (Nickalicious) wins, there better be some good suggestions coming my way for new lyrics...

Happy Adventures!

Six months, and so much to talk about...

Hello everyone!

It's been two weeks since I've last been on here, and to be honest, you may need to take a break in the middle of this one. (Sorry, Charlie.)

My last post was titled FRIENDS because I had lots of stories surrounding friends visiting, or just great nights of hanging out with new friends. When something needs to be said, it needs to be said: I have the greatest friends in the world! The city was graced with the presence of my pint-sized friend Drew last week. He was in town with his law school's Mock Trial team and was kind enough to pencil me in for an evening of catching up over drinks and dinner, followed by breakfast at Brooklyn Diner. (Just to clear the air, it wasn't that kind of visit...minds out of the gutter.) Anyway, it was really nice to see Drew, especially he was one of the last people I saw in Ohio before moving. Drew, come back anytime.

In the continuing saga of Nick's Reading Series, I bring you the final episode:

On the evening of January 28, I participated in the reading of a new screenplay titled Breaking Fences by William Morton. The story surrounds a young man falling in love with a girl (played by my good friend Emily) that crashes into the fence of his apartment late one night. My characters included the main character's supervisor at work (whom serves as a father-figure to him), a Fussy Man, a Serious Man, a Young Man, and Tommy a 6-year-old boy that has just found out his dog has died. Yes, it's a comedy. Our reading was very well-received and I think the writer is definitely got something great right there. Kudos to Emily for turning in an incredibly well-read and nuanced performance of the leading lady! So proud of YOU!

January 29 brought what can only be called as my TOUR DE FORCE performance of the screenplay Coming Attraction by Josh Berman in which I played (count them) 15 characters: Jason (a club doorman), Cinnabon (an Lebanese body guard), Dr. Marcello Salvadori (an Italian Sex Therapist), a dorky Bookstore Attendant, 3 friends of the main character on Answering Machines (Jon, Marcus, and Steve), a flamingly gay Clothing Guy, Hick #1, the Guy Who Works There ("There" being the rodeo), the Rodeo Announcer, Alan (a man who has recently returned to American from working with elephants in Sierra Leon), Adam (the main character's older brother--think Old School Vince Vaughn), and Fred (a 19-year-old prick), and the actual Answering Machine itself. This was quite possibly the most fun I've ever had in performance, for obvious reasons. And yes, I had accessories to help distinguish between the different characters.

January 30 was a double feature of A House Divided by Minette Greenberg about a Jewish family and an African-American family dealing with the aftermath of a tragic accident in Queens in the early 90's. Among my roles in this script was Schlomo Pinsky, a "husky" man that has an eye for the main character. Definitely the high drama of my weekend, but such a satisfying experience. To be honest, I enjoyed listening to the rest of the incredibly talented cast reading the script more than my own scenes--which I enjoyed immensely, of course. Immediatley following I read the roles of Fr. Flanaghan and a Pinkerton Guard for Frankie & the World's Fair Pear by Debbie Klaar. This is a family film taking place during the 1964/65 World's Fair that set up shop in Queens, where I live. Watching the main characters played by child actor's of appropriate ages doing such a fantastic job was just a treat. I can't wait to see what happens for these kids, honestly.

Sunday, January 31 brought about my fifth and final script entitled Another Goode Life by Nadia Tabbara. The best way to describe this script is to say it's Eternal Sunshine but reversed: the main character actually has his memory erased so he must put the pieces together himself. Truly beautiful writing and such an insightful process of working through this script. I was the narrator, as well as a Guitar Player, the voice of the Subway, a boxing ring Announcer, and a Construction Worker.

If you were keeping track, that's about 30 characters in 4 days within 5 scripts! To be honest, I didn't know who I was the end of it all, but WHAT A WEEKEND!

To celebrate the work and success of the series, we had a wrap party at the Playwright's Tavern on 49th where we all gathered to have a few drinks, laugh at goof-ups, and wish each other the best on our next endeavors. For me, this was the best networking I've ever done. From all the people I met because of this series, I have invites to join an improv group, an offer to take a part in a play that is hopefully going to be produced off one of the scripts from the series, help in tackling the industry, lots of advice and where to go and what to do, and a FREE SCREENWRITING CLASS! To say nothing of the phenomenal new friends I've made, this was quite possibly the best weekend of my life and the greatest thing I could have ever done for my career.

It's the next step that scares me, to be completely honest. After this series, I got some of the best reviews of my life and all the hope for a fruitful career. But it's not the people in this series that will be casting anything I'll be auditioning for anytime soon. My only hope is that the reactions I receive out in the audition rooms will be as enthusiastic and encouraging as those from this series.

In other news, there is a new poll on the right-hand side of the blog. Check it out, take your pick, and wait to hear which song I'll see at the Lebanon Show Choir Classic on March 20!

So, how are YOU all?

Happy Adventures!

Friends!

Hey gang!

My life has come to this: dipping delicious italian bread in a jar of peanut butter. How did this happen? I don't know, but it's actually pretty delicious. Some may say, "Choosey Moms, Choose JIF", but I'm getting dippy with some Skippy and I must say: me likey!

I've just returned home after another night in a darken theatre. This evening, however, was spent in Broadway's newest house: Henry Miller's Theatre. Currently, the first-ever revival of Bye, Bye Birdie is taking up residence here, but only until this Sunday. Produced by Roundabout Theatre Company, it features a pretty impressive ensemble of celebrities headed by none other than John "Uncle Jesse" Stamos and Gina "Showgirls" Gershon. I'm sure Ms. Gershon wouldn't appreciate that reference, but I wasn't sure how many of you would be able to pin point her if I said "Face/Off" instead... Anyway, both actors were pretty decent and had their very own shining moments. But I must admit that this show belongs to Bill Irwin as the father of a small-town girl chosen to receive a kiss from Conrad Birdie (an Elvis-wannabe). Mr. Irwin not only steals the show with his perfect mix of neurosis and slap-stick, but he's one hell of a nice guy to meet at the stage door. Yes, theatre dorks, I met BILL IRWIN! And he's awesome! And yes, non-theatre dorks, I met John Stamos! He is equally as kind but was on his way out the door to meet a huge crowd of adoring fans (mostly middle-aged women...). Before I close off this paragraph, I do need to mention the kids in this production. They really do command the stage and make the most of every second on time. Since they took up residency at the theatre, I've been privileged to get to meet a lot of them and admire them. This is probably mostly due to the fact that they have my life, but I won't hold that against them. Great job to all involved!

On subject of shows, I forgot to mention the most incredibly emotional theatrical experience of the year: HAIR!!! As I mentioned in an early post, my friends Sean and Amanda bought me an incredible ticket to see HAIR for Christmas/my birthday. As expected, I cried during "Aquarius" and "Let the Sunshine In". A few years ago, I saw a production of HAIR at Miami, but I believe there were substantial cuts for that production, I'm not sure. However, the entire show is pretty random in its structure, but is powerful in so many ways. The music and story are wonderfully interwoven, but it's the complete dedication of the cast to each and every word that makes this show such an phenomenal treasure for an audience. Most importantly, after the ensemble moves the audience to tears singing "Let the Sunshine In" at the end, they come back on stage, the band starts it up again, and the cast invites audience members to join them onstage for a dance party. I know what you're thinking: Nick wouldn't go up there, he's too shy. BULLSHIT! You KNOW I did! I looked out into the audience of the Al Hirshfeld Theatre and knew that was exactly what I wanted to see for the rest of my life. But the evening didn't end there, I proceeded out of the theatre and over to the same stage door where I met David Hyde Pierce after Curtains a few years ago. But tonight, belonged to the tribe of HAIR. Each and every single person came out and signed each Playbill or poster or whatever people wanted signed. More importantly, they listened to each person's reaction to the show and looked each person in the eye and said, "Thank you" in a beautifully genuine tone. They've had this very same reaction for almost a year now--some of them for longer since they've been with this production since it premiere at the Public Theatre during the summer of 2008--and yet, they seem to never tire of the power their performances have. I really admire them all for their candor and for their "leave-it-all-out-there" performances. Peace, Love, and HAIR!

This past weekend saw the return of someone to my life it had definitely been missing: the Morgmaster! My good friend from college Morgan was in town visiting with a friend and she was kind enough to pencil me in for some time. We got to hang out at my place, then we had dinner at my restaurant, then we--wait for it--went to a show! As Morgan was a psychology major in school, we decided on Next to Normal as an appropriate show. As you may remember, I saw N2N back in November with KTD and Emily. However, seeing a show a second time has never been so wonderful! More than anything it was great to spend the evening with a good friend I haven't seen for quite a long time. Morgmaster, let's please not spend so much time apart?

UPDATE: So last week I told you all that I got my first role in a reading called A House Divided. Well, unless you stalk me on facebook, you may know that I've also been cast in readings of FOUR OTHER SCREENPLAYS! It's incredibly exciting, brilliantly humbling, and fanastically schedule bulking. Fo rizzle: I have so little free time between now and the end of the month since I'll be reading up on 5 scripts. Thankfully, one isn't all that involved and I don't have that much to learn. The down side is that I've only seen two of the scripts, so I have no clue as to how involved the rest of my work will be. More to come...

In other news, I recently rejoined the human race in Netflix. More importantly, I've joined race of laughing humans by watching 30 Rock. In about three sittings, I watched the ENTIRE first season. Holy crap! It's so good, it's making me like Tracy Morgan, which if you know me at all know that I do NOT find Tracy Morgan funny--so that's saying something. Furthermore, I have received the first two discs of season 2 of Mad Men. I've already given the first season a try and wasn't all that impressed because it didn't feel like anything really happened, but I'm willing to give it another shot to win me over.

And just as an added bonus for making it this far, I present to you my good "friend" Susan Blackwell in her own Broadway.com series entitled "Side By Side By Susan Blackwell". Basically, the handsome lady hangs out with her fantastic act-y friends and asks them random questions that are HI-larious! (My new life goal is to lick or be licked by Susan Blackwell) Enjoy!

http://www.broadway.com/videos/all/side-by-side-by-susan-blackwell-episode-two-gavin-creel-beth-leavel-kelli-ohara/

Happy Adventures!

My first role!

Happy (Not-so) Monday everyone!

YES! As the title reads, I have been cast in my first role! Don't jump up and down just yet, it's a part in a screenplay reading for a master class. But Nick, what does that mean? I'll tell you! It means that a bunch of writers are taking a master class from an established writer that has chosen to enlighten the world of these young writers with his knowledge of writing. What this means for me is that they need actors to play out these scripts. I was chosen for a script entitled A House Divided. I have no idea what the story is about, nor do I know anything about my character. Right now, the only information I know is what has already been mentioned and the date of the reading: Saturday, January 30 at 1 PM in the Bridge Theatre (I don't even know where that is...) I'LL GOOGLE IT! [Please wait while Nick googles "Bridge Theatre NYC"...]

[Thank you for your patience. We now return you to your "regularly scheduled" blog.]

The Bridge Theatre is part of the Shelter Studios home on 54th St. in Manhattan. It's not big, but will be the first "professional" acting I'll do in NYC! Can you say "excited"?!?!

In other news, I don't even know if I mentioned this before, but I got an iPhone just before flying back to NYC. I like the phone, I'm not happy with AT&T's service. Hence, I dumped AT&T and have gone back to Verizon where they have given me a great deal on the new Droid phone. I'll let you know how this goes.

In other other news, I've already bought my ticket for my next trip back to Ohio which will be March 16-23. Look out Ohio, I'm comin' for ya!

Not a whole lot else going on recently. I haven't been to the gym in two weeks and it's starting to annoy me, so I'm definitely going after work tomorrow--NO QUESTIONS ASKED! Hey Nick, you wanna go to a movie after work tomorrow? No, kid, I gotta go to the gym!

Happy Adventures!

A new year and I'm already slacking...

Happy New Years everyone!

2010. Honestly, where are the hover-boards and such that were predicted to be around in the Back to the Future movies? Those would have come in good use once I got back to NYC last week: there were a few extra million people in the city for New Year's Eve and I have never seen so little of the pavement as I walked from the train to my restaurant. It was unbelievable, at the very least. I've never been impatient around tourists, but I seriously just wanted to maul them all down so they'd get out of my way. Definitely a new feeling to me. Life was thrown into hyperdrive as soon as I hit the pavement upon getting back and it didn't let up until I got home around 9 pm on Saturday after my third straight double. (This included one 16-hour day on New Year's Eve. In Times Square. Life. Sucks.)

There was a bright, shining few moments between all the madness:

1) After work on Wednesday, I met up with Skittles and his family for dinner. I hadn't seen him since the weekend before I moved in August and let me tell you, I think I missed this guy more than anyone. Have you ever had a friend that never really had to get to know, you just knew the minute you met that this was one person you wanted to be around for the rest of your life? (I just read that and I realize it sounds very I-like-it-so-I-should-put-a-ring-on-it.) That's exactly how it was when I met him over three years ago when he arrived at the New Guy party for Club. It seemed like he was just happy to be wherever he was. I told him while we were sitting at dinner that it was the moment I first met him outside Western Lodge that I decided I wanted him to be my Little. Quite possibly in my Top 5 Best Decisions. Which, of course, has made the last two years being away from Miami even more difficult. In that time Skittles has become Vice President of Club (a position I held four years ago), a Student Conductor, and Musical Director of Cheezies, not to mention some kind of icon around campus. (Don't deny it, dude: YOU ARE!) Seriously, everyone knows him. Anyway, dinner was great with him and, it seemed, his entire family tree. After dinner they went off to see Finian's Rainbow, which I have already seen so I opted out of it. However, we did get to meet for breakfast the next morning and got to have more time to catch up, which just made me miss having that time all the time even MORE. Oh, well. I'll see you in March, bud...

2) While Skittles and his family went to Finian's Rainbow, I made my way up to 52nd St. to see the current revival of Ragtime which has recently announced a premature closing date. The first time I saw Ragtime, I drove down to Lynchburg, VA, with my friends Charles, Charlie, and Amy to surprise Brad (all high school friends). Even at this small school with immense talent and little budget to spend on their productions, I knew this was a very special show. Cut to me losing count of how many times I was moved to tears during the nearly 3 hours I sat in the Neil Simon Theatre experiencing one of the most incredible theatrical productions I have EVER seen. Everything was great. Everyone was great. It was great. I only wish there was a word that could accurately describe how sublime this show is. The energy in the theatre was tangible just waiting for the show to start. As soon as the lights started to dim the audience erupted with cheers and applause. Each number got bigger applause than the previous one which constantly built until the end of the show. As soon as the lights blacked out for the end of the show, everyone in the theatre jumped to their feet. The cacophony of sound rose with each bow until it culminated with a sound that could only signal the entrance of a stage legend. However, instead it was a young man named Quentin Earl Darrington making his Broadway debut in the lead role of Coalhouse Walker Jr. This is a moment I will never forget for as long as I live. Mr. Darrington gives nothing short of a career-making performance and should most definitely be practicing his acceptance speeches which he is sure to make come awards seasons. This man became a star right before our eyes on the stage and even from the second-to-last row of the audience I could see the tears streaming down his face as he came up from his bow. This is what I hope to achieve: move people to the point that their reaction moves me to tears.

3) The money was good.

But now, the tourists are gone and things have already begun to normalize in life: my sleep schedule actually exists and there is no more money to be made at the restaurant, which sucks. I may be looking for more gainful employment for the next few months.

I remember thinking this week that there was so much I needed to write about in this blog, but I guess not as much as I thought. However, I would like to give a shout out to my buddy Brenton that informed me that he is an avid reader of this blog and, dude, I am so happy you do.

Happy Adventures!