So I spent most of September and October traveling back and forth to Maplewood, NJ whilst playing the leading lady, Amalia Balash, in She Loves Me, a lovely little musical that inspired the film You've Got Mail and probably countless other story-lines (boy and girl write letters, boy and girl meet unknowingly, boy and girl hate each other in real life, boy and girl agree to meet, boy realizes girl is the hated-girl, boy is asshole to girl, girl thinks she's been stood up, boy feels guilty and tries to amend his actions, boy and girl start to like each other, girl doesn't realize boy is the boy, boy confesses to girl, happily ever after time ensues). I learned a lot and gained an NYC vocal coach out of the experience, which has been a fabulous addition to my life. However, what I'd really like to talk about is what this show taught me about New Jersey Transit. Yes, ladies and gents, that is an experience in itself. It is a thing of madness and mystery, and to immerse oneself in it for a month and a half deserves an award of bravery. This is a place where 40 year old businessmen will elbow you in the face and push you down the stairs; where one of them will take up three seats with his briefcases, his newspapers, and his suited-up ass even though people are standing up and seatless all over the train car. A place where anyone, yes, anyone, is willing to shove you into a pillar or a door in order to make it down the stairs first to ensure a seat on the train. The holding room looks like it's full of zombies, staring up at the screens which will post which track each train departs from a mere ten minutes (or less) before scheduled (or delayed) departure. As soon as a track is announced, there is a flurry of running and movement. I have been trying to figure out a way to describe this phenomenon in words rather than pantomime, and I don't know if I can...so find me sometime and I'll show you. Traveling on NJ Transit is really an art - an art that one must master, lest he or she want to get trampled. While much cleaner and comfier than the subway, I'd have to say that I saw more despicable behavior in these travels to NJ than on the C train to Brooklyn. Let's go back to the lessons we learned in kindergarten, please, and remember not to shove, and remember the importance of sharing and compassion. Living in NYC or NJ does not give us a pass to be immature mongrels of society. No. Haha. Once I started to view it as humorous, I felt a lot better. Now if I could only view the actions of the many NYC shoppers in my place of work as such, I'd be less stressed and less angry at the end of the day. Personal project, I guess.
I spend a lot of time observing the behavior and actions of those around me, with positive and negative thoughts and conclusions built from these observations; however, my ability to write about these things ebbs and flows, and I don't feel as though I am flowing today.
I got to spend time with my dad in September, and then my mom and sister came to visit for the show. I definitely wish my family lived closer to me, it would be nice for these visits to not be so short and scattered. But beautiful and special nonetheless. Autumn is the time of visiting friends and family, which is always exciting and sad. Seeing people whom I haven't seen in a long time is magical and energy inducing; yet, it also makes me realize how much a part of each others lives we are not, how little of the day to day we actually know about each other. Facebook, Twitter, emailing, texting, blogging, etcetera, help ease that pain of disconnection, but our lack of involvement is still evident in the many times we all say a phrase such as, "What?! No, you didn't tell me that! I can't believe it!" It isn't as if we don't care to tell one another, or that we forget. We're just all trying so hard to stay afloat in our own lives and we know everyone else is doing the same...it's difficult to put everyone's happenings and needs first when ours are so desperately asking to be attended. I think of myself as being very good with communication and "keeping in touch," but I am not nearly as talented at the skill as I'd like to be.
Moving on completely, the latest book we read for the book club I am in was The Catcher in the Rye. I had never read it before, (I know, shocker...but I didn't read the Harry Potter series until the summer the 6th book came out...sometimes I like to be late on literary trends.) and I absolutely loved it. Before reading it, all I knew was that the main characters name was Holden Caulfield and that it was controversial when it was first published. Obviously the book is a great deal more than that, haha. If you haven't read it, you should, there is a reason it's so famous.
I feel like I thought my grand reopening back into the blogging world would be brighter and more joyful and full of deep thoughts...but as usual, I just rambled. I hope you got something out of it, dearest reader(s?), and I promise I won't wait so long to write again.
[amanda]
title quote: originally Tears for Fears "Everybody Wants to Rule the World" from Songs from the Big . Chair, but there is an EXCELLENT cover you should also check out by Anthony David featuring Shawn Stockman of Boyz II Men (and I think I'm right in saying that "Boyz II Men" is one of the greatest group names ever. I mean, you have boys spelled with a fuckin' "Z" at the end, Roman Numerals II for the word "to," and then just regular "men" but whatever, that would have been overkill, right?). Anyway, check out both renditions of the song. Pretty awesome.
