Hello, Sun. Where have you been?

It's been sunny for two days! I can't believe it.

This morning I sat in the park and did some writing. This afternoon, I went to Laughter in the Park at Washington Square Park. The comedians were funnier in this Laughter in the Park than at the Union Square one, I thought. Plus, Lee Camp was one of them. I wasn't expecting that. Still, I left after the 6th comedian because the sun was moving and I lost my shade. Plus they were coming around with the donation pail. (Is that mean?)

Fireworks

So much for staying in for the night. Sarah knows a guy who has rooftop access to his apartment, so Sarah, Lauren, and I, plus some people from class and a bunch of people I didn't know went over to his apartment and watched the fireworks from the roof.

Me, Lauren, Sarah on the rooftop

The fireworks were amAzing. Three sections were in the middle of the sky and three sections were behind some buildings, which looked really cool with the light bouncing off the glass. It went on for half an hour. They had some cool picture ones like dice too. Car alarms started going off and stuff.

It was a cool experience, everyone was together watching the fireworks, yet everyone was so far away. All the rooftops around us had people on them. It was like the end of The Day After Tomorrow. It's like everyone's waiting for the world to flood.

We were on a six-story building not far from Times Square. I took some video for you:

It was funny walking home. 42nd Street Station is the most ungodly giagantic station ever. There's this long tunnel crammed with people, no end in sight. Must have walked half a mile underground trying to get to the right platform. Signs above our heads say things like "Why bother?"

4th of July

trash sculptures

Started the morning at the market, then walked a few blocks uptown for some shopping. Bought strawberries because they felt patriotic. Very summery, I feel. I realize that I'm wearing my London t-shirt, but it IS red, white, and blue, just not the right flag.

Did some homework. We got in a little bit of trouble for not having keynotes on Thursday, but nobody really told us what they were and that we were supposed to have them. But they're done now.

I took a walk to the water because I wanted to see where people are lining up to see the fireworks tonight, but everything's all blocked off. Time Out did an article about how it's not safe for all those people to be on the piers, so they're closing them for the night. Ah well. I took a walk. Didn't even know where I was most of the time. Ended up way down on 3rd street somehow. Found a nice little park. Should have brought a book. There's a fenced in area where dogs run around too. Maybe I'll just stay in and relax the rest of the day.

Dog park

Random thought: YouTube birds should not be as amusing as they are. Do you still want a bird, Mom?

There are no jobs in New York

I've applied to 18 jobs so far. They're getting more and more random as I go. I just applied to a job that's looking for writers for an internet sitcom (see post here). So random. I've actually been applying to some freelance stuff, I guess as a backup plan to make money while I'm still looking for a full time job.

In other news, I finished CHAPTER THREE of BURBANK WITH A BAEDEKER.
Click here to read.

Oh, and this is just something I think is funny that I linked in chapter 3. The Northern Line on the London Underground is so screwed up. And this proves it.

Vacation!

Got to sleep in on a Friday. Started the morning with breakfast at Au Bon Pain and read at the park. I'm reading 13 Reasons Why which is a YA book from Penguin. It's kind of addicting. The Columbine book I'm reading is good too, but it's just heavy, obviously.

Then Lindsay and I went to The Proposal. There were some cheesey moments that I didn't like so much, but overall, it was a very good movie. Oh, and here's the good bit: Ryan Reynold's character's job (editorial assistant for a book publishing company) is the job that I'm applying for (along with over half the people in my program). What fun.

The good, the bad, and the rainy

Good News
Took a tour of an independent bookstore today, which was pretty cool. The person who started it was quite young, but I guess she had enough money for such a big project.

Bad News
Got a bit stressed out over resume/job stuff yesterday. Apparently you're not supposed to advertise that you're a writer if you want an editorial position. It makes sense, but it's a little snobbish at the same time. Also, other people in the program are getting interviews and even jobs already. Not really sure what's going to happen with me.

I got rained on hardcore today. Not sure when my shoes are going to be ready to wear again.

Oh no! Robert Llewellyn got in a bad car crash. He's okay now. But his beloved Prius isn't. Read here.

Good News
On a lighter note, it's now a three day weekend and I have no plans (other than lots of homework) so I can do whatever I want! Happy Independence Day weekend, everybody!

my videos

This is a bunch of video that I have shot so far. Watch it. It's under three minutes long.

I just met Spike Lee!

I follow a lot of random things on Twitter, including this weird celebrity stalker site that tells you things like when and where movies are made so creeper fans can crash the movie sites. But today, I noticed it said that Spike Lee is doing a DVD signing. I thought, "Oh, that's pretty cool." But then I saw that he was signing Do the Right Thing because it's the 20th Anniversary and a double-disc set just came out. I love that movie! I actually thought about buying it last year when I saw it. What's more, it was being held at Barnes and Noble, and I still had the rest of my gift card from the other day. Now I knew I HAD to go.

It was pretty cool. He didn't do a talk or anything, but that made it go pretty fast. I'm glad I left early because the rain delayed the trains and Spike ended up coming in at 7:15 instead of 7:30, so I was already on the train home by 8pm.

I like how he's distracted in this photo. Some lady took something, so he kept saying, "She can't take that. Don't let her take that." But now I have a signed copy of Do the Right Thing and it only cost me $6.

Scholastic Tour

Wow, this place is amazing. Better than what I pictured as a kid, which was a bunch of gray cubicles where writers worked. There are cubicles at Scholastic, but they're colorful and filled with books and toys and posters. There's a rooftop cafe in a greenhouse. The conference room has red walls made of bookshelves that display books and toys and magazines, and the microphones are decorated with cartoons. There's stuffed animals everywhere, including a 5-foot Clifford at the entrance of the library. The carpets have the mission statement printed on them. Oh man, it's just so neat. Our guide did assure us that people do, in fact, WORK here. We stopped in the store as well. It's like a playground in there. It's crazy. I would totally work there.

I did apply there, but I'm not sure my info went through right because apparently I had applied to a Scholastic internship last summer before getting the Bleak House gig, so all my details were on file. So when I went to submit my application for editorial assistant, it was just like "Thank you for your application" and I freaked out a little because I hadn't given them any of my information. Then I realized it HAD my info already, but info from before I graduated, before NYU, before Bleak House, before basically everything that gives me any sort of credentials. I updated my profile, but I'm not sure if it was too late.

Two weeks to go!

Photos

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2151795&id=73405296&l=dc343ca21c


The Job Hunt

I did get rejected by the literary agency I applied for. Apparently they don't want anyone who is new to the area. But on the plus side, the woman who told me about their freelance video editing pool has reviewed my work and says that she will let me know when they have some work to be done. So that's cool.


Post-weekend

I had to write 6 book descriptions this weekend. That was done after a nap and a trip to the grocery store. What a weekend. Now it's back to classes. Okay, focus. I also have a nice new roommate (my brother's age) now who is taking performing art classes.


Bloggers

We had a pannel of bloggers today. Interesting things that came up: Publishing isn't in a crisis--NYC conglomerates are. People spend money on social things these days, not merely products. Authors can get money without retailers and publishers. Publishers and agents still have a role, but the order isn't always the same now. 40,000 books sold is a success. 40,000 magazines sold is a disaster. Women buy more electronics than men, and they buy more books. "Human nature needs a sorter" but book production is becoming lateral and not through media conglomerates. UK publishers are "in a weird place." Espresso book machines are the future bookstore.

At lunch, I sat in the park. There were four benches in a row, each with one person in it. Left to right: woman reading a book, man reading a kindle, woman reading a magazine, man reading his cell phone screen. Print and digital in harmony!


Tomorrow

Tour of Scholastic Books.


New Ricky Gervais film. Looking forward to it: