the journal of a penniless diplomat.

WELLL I HAVE NO IDEA WHY BUT MY GOSH DARN PHOTOS AREN’T UPDATING TO THE FINDER FROM IPHOTO SO...

Tue, 09 Oct 2012 01:18:08 +0200

WELLL I HAVE NO IDEA WHY BUT MY GOSH DARN PHOTOS AREN’T UPDATING TO THE FINDER FROM IPHOTO SO I CAN’T UPLOAD ANY MORE. ARRRRRGGGGGHHHHHHHHH. ANGER.

And I have so many fabulous New York shots :(:(:(
Woe and despair. Well I’m about to go out so I haven’t got time for wingeing to the internet. BAI.

Monday 1st October; New York

Mon, 01 Oct 2012 07:20:55 +0200

The past day and a bit I have had the privilege of spending with my beautiful friend Naa in Boston. She attends Harvard- that’s it, you heard right, THE Harvard, THE Harvard College. YEP, THIS BITCH IS SEXY AND SMART. Annnnnnd an elite athlete. Gentlemen, may the best man win.
I felt a weeeeeenyyy bit bad, I must admit. I was ever so sleepy for my time there. So I can imagine into the early hours of Sunday morning I wouldn’t have been the most scintillating company. BUT. I had such an amazing time with her- and Boston is beautiful! As is the campus wowee oh boy. The only bad part about my entire trip was having to say goodbye to her… again. It was bad enough the first time. Uggghhhhh.

In all seriousness though, I am so proud of her. Hearing about her insane life and how she has to look after herself… I wouldn’t survive. I wouldn’t. Just amazing.

I got to meet some of her lovely amigos too! I wish I could have stayed longer with her, but I had no idea how intense college life was. It’s unbelievable she even had enough time to squeeze in my visit.

The bus trip on the way home was a drainer. We were an hour and a half late getting into New York. I’m assuming because of unexpected traffic, because we left Boston reasonably on time. But shouldn’t the bus company have factored that into their schedule if they make this trip every day?! I don’t know. But the drive home was beautiful- evening, driving past all the trees that were infected with early Fall, and then sunset coming into New York. EVEN THE CLOUDS CLEARED AWAY AND IT GOT WARMER AND SUNNIER AS WE LEFT BOSTON [see this is why you don’t ever leave New York except under extraordinary circumstances]. Since I got in so late and had some luggage and shopping, I caught a cab home rather than walk for an hour at 10pm. And I was so shleepy!
Boston was beautiful, really, it was- but as we were driving through Times Square (note: WHYYYYY did he take me that way?!!? MATE DON’T BE FOOLED BY THE ACCENT I’VE BEEN HERE A MONTH AND I KNOW THAT ISN’T THE QUICKEST WAY HOME ONLY A SMALL TIP FOR YOU BUCKO) and I spotted the Empire State building, I thought, ‘Oh thank God I’m back in New York. I’m never leaving you again baby.’
And then I realised I would be. For a very long time. In only a week.

I cant believe it. My last week away from Melbourne. And my last week left in New York City. I nearly started crying in the back of the cab. I know these streets now. So familiar to me- I know automatically where I am and how to get to where I’m going. And I feel so safe here, very settled and at peace. I’ve said so many goodbyes to friends I’ve made on my travels, and now I’ll be saying goodbye to my closest friend of all.

At least I know she’ll always be there when I need her.

ARGH

Fri, 28 Sep 2012 01:15:18 +0200

Just booked my transfer flight from New York to LA (leave JFK at 1pm, arrive LAX at 4.20pm, giving me heaps of time before my trip back to Australia at 11.30pm. I just didn’t want the plane to be delayed and to be in every kind of trouble and miss my flight home). AND! Also booked my bus on Saturday to Boston to visit Gnome!! I have to get to the New York bus terminal at 11am to collect my ticket, the bus leaves at 12… AND I GET IN AT 4.20!! HURRUH!!!

The ticket to LA was a little over $200. Which is the best I could find, excluding the flight that left JFK at 7am which was $198. Even though I have to pay an extra $25 to check in baggage, I figure it’s worth it. I searched around and it was the best I could do. I’m happy! Just glad it’s done.

Tuesday 26th September; New York

Wed, 26 Sep 2012 22:39:59 +0200

Tonight I saw ‘Grace’ at the Cort Theatre.
It was incredible. I was a blubbering mess multiple times throughout the proceedings. Just beautiful.
And I reallllllyyy should add: Paul Rudd was in it. As a lead (not THE lead, 3 out of 4 actors shared equal time on stage and held equal necessity). And I nearly said, ”Tonight I saw ‘Grace’ with Paul Rudd at the Cort Theatre.” But I didn’t, due to thus, dear reader: I would have paid and laughed and cried my way through this production, even if he wasn’t in it. It was just an incredible ALL ROUND production. I forgot that Paul Rudd was Paul Rudd and got caught up in his character’s life- in the life of every character. What an ensemble. Michael Shannon as ‘Sam’ should win ever award ever. As should Ed Asner despite only having two scenes in the entire production BECAUSE WHAT SCENES THEY WERE, and who brought the entire theatre to its knees with two words: “I understand”.
Special shout-out to playwright Craig Wright. Love your work, bro.
Just superb. I’m still thinking about it and feeling it now… which to me is the mark of great theatre.

Something I don’t understand: I rocked up 45 minutes before the show started to see if they had any rush tickets available. Which they did: 2nd row. Orchestra pit. $30. Yeah, alright, it wasn’t dead centre. FOR THAT PRICE DO I CARE?! I got to see everything perfectly, maybe the slightest of slight obstructed views (like I would want to see what was going on in the stage right wing anyway), AND YET. If I’d paid an extra $100.. I could have sat one seat to my right. One seat. Slightly more into the centre. I do not understand.

Not going to quibble with it though, not by any means!

New York: The Empire State Building, taken from a rooftop bar...

Mon, 24 Sep 2012 08:03:20 +0200

New York: The Empire State Building, taken from a rooftop bar just off 6th Avenue. The red and white striped light display is to commemorate the 25th anniversary of ‘Where’s Wally/Waldo?’

New York: me on top of Rockefeller Centre, looking out over the...

Mon, 24 Sep 2012 08:01:07 +0200

New York: me on top of Rockefeller Centre, looking out over the city.

New York: Hollah at me New York Citayyyyy; the view from the top...

Mon, 24 Sep 2012 07:59:10 +0200

New York: Hollah at me New York Citayyyyy; the view from the top of Rockefeller Centre. To the left you can see the Chrysler Building, and to your right, The Empire State Building (please note the red and white light display of the Empire State Building to commemorate the 25th anniversary of ‘Where’s Wally/Waldo?’).

New York: DUN DUN, DUNDUNDUNDUN DUNDUN, DUNDUNDUN DUNDUN (DO DO...

Mon, 24 Sep 2012 07:55:14 +0200

New York: DUN DUN, DUNDUNDUNDUN DUNDUN, DUNDUNDUN DUNDUN (DO DO DO DO DO DO DODODO, DO DO DO DO DO DO DODODO!)

New York: me under the lights of Rockefeller Plaza.

Mon, 24 Sep 2012 07:52:56 +0200

New York: me under the lights of Rockefeller Plaza.

New York: the trees around Rockefeller Plaza all lit up at...

Mon, 24 Sep 2012 07:50:29 +0200

New York: the trees around Rockefeller Plaza all lit up at night.

New York: the People’s Choice Award for Best Dumplings in...

Mon, 24 Sep 2012 07:48:24 +0200

New York: the People’s Choice Award for Best Dumplings in the city.
And they deserved every last vote.

New York: a festival down Little Italy way a few nights ago.

Mon, 24 Sep 2012 07:44:56 +0200

New York: a festival down Little Italy way a few nights ago.

New York: we were on the Subway on our way to China town, when...

Mon, 24 Sep 2012 07:37:43 +0200

New York: we were on the Subway on our way to China town, when this woman got on to the same carriage as me and my cousin. She had balloons just because she was happy, and she gave us one each just so we could spread the happy around! It was one of the most joyous things I’ve ever seen!

Sunday 23rd September; New York

Mon, 24 Sep 2012 07:26:18 +0200

I had a grand old day today!
Woke up nice and late, full from a dinner of Chinese food the night before. Had a wander around this evening, then made my way over to Rockefeller Plaza. Went up to the Top of the Rock and looked out over New York City all lit up ‘nd purdy like.
And I made people in line laugh because in the area where you have to pose for a photo before you go in, everyone was doing boring poses but then I did this one where I was pretending to fall off, and then they kept taking heaps of photos of me doing stupid things with equally stupid faces. And then everyone in line clapped when I left. And it was oodles of fun.

Afterwards, I went to Magnolia Bakery for some sweet, sweet Red Velvet cupcake lovin’. They aren’t as good as I remember nor as good as I wanted them to be. Sigh. On the way home my cousin and I also stopped in at M&M World, because I’d never been in! So I bought some Peanut Butter M&Ms and they well and truly made up for my cupcake related sorrows.

My cousin and I watch a lot of SVU (we’re both now addicted) and the most recent episode was...

Sun, 23 Sep 2012 09:21:55 +0200

My cousin and I watch a lot of SVU (we’re both now addicted) and the most recent episode was ‘The Midtown Rapist’.

Oh good, yeah, great, why don’t we just rape everyone who lives in Midtown New York, good plan.

And I do not trust Detective Elliot Stabler to deal with this issue- his anger management needs some serious work he just flies off the handle too easily and it compromises not only his ability to catch crims but his entire squad. Sort yourself m8.

New York: I took this a couple of days ago in Central Park. Note...

Sun, 23 Sep 2012 05:14:14 +0200

New York: I took this a couple of days ago in Central Park. Note the sunlight creeping through the trees… and now, it’s raining! But I love New York in the misty fall rain almost as much as I love it in the sun.

Friday 21st September; New York

Fri, 21 Sep 2012 20:35:09 +0200

Starting to almost wish I was with my Travel Family at Oktober Fest in Germany. I DON’T EVEN LIKE BEER. It’s just that so many of the beautiful people I’ve met on my global wanderings have all congregated there. I keep getting messages telling me that if I’m still in Europe I have to come down, how amazing it is, so on, so forth.
The word ‘dirndl’ has been written as exceptionally high number of times.
It just sounds like an awesome atmosphere. One group of guys I met in Croatia had been last year and were telling me about it; while the atmosphere was apparently AMAZING, even these 3 boys- who are some of the hardest partyers, upforanything kind of dudes- said they just couldn’t handle it. They had to have a couple of rest days to break up their stay of a little over a week where they just lay in bed int heir tent, borderline unconscious.

So really when you look at it like that…. maybe not so much my scene. BUT! I can wear traditional dress from the majority of nationalities really, really well! And I can sing folk songs loudly! And most importantly, I could see everyone again.

OH AND I BOUGHT A BLACK WOOLLEN CAPE FROM A VINTAGE STORE FOR $20 AND IT IS RATHER LOVELY. So...

Fri, 21 Sep 2012 03:06:15 +0200

OH AND I BOUGHT A BLACK WOOLLEN CAPE FROM A VINTAGE STORE FOR $20 AND IT IS RATHER LOVELY. So there’s that, too! AND A PAIR OF SUNNIES IN EXACTLY THE STYLE I’VE BEEN LOOKING FOR. So again…
look yeah yesterday was a really good day!

Thursday 20th September; New York

Fri, 21 Sep 2012 02:22:31 +0200

Yesterday I walked down to the Meatpacking District. I wish I could have spent more time down there, but I kept getting distracted by shops and sights on the way there, so took a good couple of hours to walk there. Pottered around the place a little, but looked at the time- had no idea how late it had gotten! And I needed to line up to get student rush tickets for a show tonight, which was about a 40 minute walk away.

So I powered up to West 50th Street (at least this city’s the easiest in the world to navigate, so I had no problems with direction), and got a great spot in line to see Woody Harrelson’s new play, ‘Bullet For Adolph’. I loved its dark humour and its historical context (the 80s aw yis) BUT. There was something that made me so uneasy about watching it- I felt uncomfortable watching the show, even though I was having a great time and it was really well written and performed. After thinking about it for a while…
I’m pretty sure it was because I didn’t trust any of the characters. Anyone could do absolutely ANYTHING next. Not only did I not trust them, I didn’t like any of them. Not a single one. They were all horrible people in their own way- there was no line they wouldn’t cross, no thing too taboo to say. Which made for hysterical moments, don’t get me wrong! It just leaves you feeling… a little uneasy as an audience member (no doubt part of the playwright’s intention). But when you don’t like people so much, you stop caring about what they do next. If any of the characters completely messed themselves or each other up- WELL HEY! I didn’t like them anyway, so go right ahead, ruin your lives, get it over with!

Maybe that’s what was wrong with the show in my mind… ‘you’re all going to ruin your lives, so hurry up and do it’. Plus I think the stakes needed to be higher. A lot of the drama relied upon how politically incorrect the characters could be and how unpredictable they could be (… like watching a group of Meth Heads on stage), when a lot of the drama SHOULD have come from the storyline. The outrageousness of the characters was driving the plot, not the plot driving their outrageousness. So it left the show feeling a bit empty.
DON’T GET ME WRONG IT WAS A GREAT NIGHT OUT AT THE THEATRE AND I ADORE WOODY HARRELSON AND THE SHOW REALLY WAS FABULOUS! I’ve just kind of gone to town on all the unsatisfying bits because that’s what I do!
Yeah.

Fin.

New York: you can’t realllllllyyyy see due to the poor-ish...

Wed, 19 Sep 2012 07:46:19 +0200

New York: you can’t realllllllyyyy see due to the poor-ish quality of the photo, BUT! This is The Empire State Building after the rain. You can see all the rain evaporating off the lights, creating a mist over the area. Just beautiful.