Winding Down

I think I really underestimated how busy I would be between preparing final projects, packing up my entire life yet again, and freaking out over my final countdown of days in the big city. 

Since my last post, I went to the TriBeCa film festival with a few of my awesome co-interns. I didn't know a whole lot going into it, aside from the fact that we didn't really have reservations and were crossing all respective fingers and toes for rush tickets. The ladies told me we'd be seeing a film with Robin Williams, which I was pretty psyched about considering Hook and Mrs. Doubtfire may as well have been the background laugh track to my childhood. Somehow in the rush I forgot that film festivals have a kind of known reputation for underground, weird indie vibes; basically I'm telling you all that I saw one of my favorite childhood movie actors in a film as a sixty year old man cruising the boulevard for male prostitutes. It was different... But I kind of loved it after getting over the initial shock. 

Last weekend I went to Coney Island with my besties from dorm life. I rocked my mermaid leggings since they haven't gotten much sunlight all semester (which is really a shame) and they made for some pretty hilarious photo ops on the beach. I rode the infamous Cyclone roller coaster and it was a blast, front row baby! Mirei, Amanda, and I also hit up the Coney Island Freak Shoe and saw some pretty sick sword swallowing and fire breathing. Pretty much just a typical day in the life of freaks I guess. Also we met the world record holder of eating the most glass. So uh, that happened. And I ate a Coney dog, because that's what DanDawgs do. 

After the island we made a trip to the Guggenheim. Unfortunately, they don't allow photos above the main floor so I wasn't really sure what to do with my hands... Like the entire time. I'd been super excited for this trip all semester because it's pretty much the coolest museum in town. And all around. Probably even upside down. Frank Lloyd Wright designed this bad boy, and I was a fan. It was another day I appreciated art history with Mickelson, and relived class performances of Dada and Futurist poetry all throughout the five floor funnel. The building is a lot bigger than I would've guessed from the outside, with a lot of hidden alcoves that just sort of surprise you. Also since the floors are all set at an angled ramp and run into each other, some museum goers would argue that it distracts from the exhibits that you're there to see. I disagree, in that in many others I've been to it feels like there's a break in continuity between floors and at the Guggeheim, it was all one giant inter connected experience. I'm just saying... 

I also stopped by the Museum of American Illustration at one point. I was really looking forward to finally seeing these exhibits since it had been acquired some cartooning and animation sections, but it was kind of disappointing. Still cool, just not quite what I was expecting. On the other hand I walked down a pretty large expanse of Fifth Avenue the other day just because it was so nice out and well, I felt like it. And lo and behold I stumbled across the New York City Public Library. It was pretty enough from the outside and I'm kind of a sucker for classical architecture so I ventured inside only to find what has hands down been my favorite display all semester: "Why Children's Books Matter".  The designs were all very contemporary but integrated well with the existing architecture and lent themselves to interactivity. Also there was a pretty large focus on illustration and even a section devoted entirely to graphic novels sooooo I was pretty much hooked. Yay, serendipity! 

This week was spent mostly just finishing up projects and tying up all the loose ends. In information design, I finished up my final project of an infographic laying out the Chris Christie "Bridgegate Scandal" pretty early so I finished the extra, voluntary project the professor assigned as well. In Digital Media II, I'm still adding finishing touches to the animated Weezer music video. And then finally in art therapy, we handed in our self boxes and completed the last student led session with a found objects sculpture, so now all that's left is an exam. It's crazy how fast this semester came to a close after weeks of not having class because of the weather. 

Thursday I went out with a few of my friends to Webster Hall in New York City, which was definitely an experience. All the floors have different themes and Thursday night happens to be Ladies' Night, and you can never really beat free.

Yesterday was spent packing which was the most bittersweet hours I've had in a while. This semester has been beyond amazing, but over Easter I definitely started feeling homesick and I'm kind of ready to be back to a set routine and to be around everyone I've missed for so long. Who'd have thought I'd actually want to go back to Iowa? 

Right now I'm waiting for NJ Transit to drop me off a the SHORE! And I took off work tomorrow for a few last hurrahs in the city and to finish printing my finals. I'll update you all ASAP, alas that finals lifestyle is the bane of my existence right now. 

Stay golden, Ponyboys. 

Flushing (And Then Some)

First off, Happy Easter everyone! Recently I was educated on some more diverse holidays by a bunch of my Jewish coworkers, and to all of you, I say Happy Passover!

This past Sunday, I spent the day in Flushing, Queens, as part of my nonstop quest to visit every borough. My first stop was Flushing Corona Park, the site of the New York World's Fair. To my design friends: it's the fair Mickelson was all about in lectures right around the time he showed the film Metropolis, with the weirdly sexual robot. You know the one. To all of my other friends: that scene from Captain America where Tony Stark's dad is showing off some wicked cool stuff was at the World's Fair. Anywho, this month they're celebrating the fiftieth anniversary, which is pretty neat. Unfortunately, after the fair most of the buildings were demolished/repurposed and there isn't a whole lot of it left.

Right in the neighborhood is also CitiField, home of the New York Mets. Admittedly, once upon a time I bought a hat because I thought it was just a girly New York Yankees logo. As embarrassing fate would have it, it was actually a Mets cap. Besides the point, it's easily one of the most comfortable items I've ever worn. I wore the hat to Queens as an insurance policy (nobody likes getting beat up) and didn't realized I'd end up as close to the field as I did. Best spontaneous photo op ever. And as an added bonus, I stopped at a Greek place for dinner and the waiter sent me over a free glass of wine - from the chef.  He said he liked my hat. And I like free wine. So, in the end, everybody won.

After the Park scene, I hit up another item that's been wearing down on my NYC Bucket List: the Socrates Sculpture Park. I'll admit it, I had this idea in my head of just sort of a random hideaway with marble sculptures and a sweet view of the Manhattan skyline. I was only half right. The sculptures are actually all local originals - how cool, right?! - and I came in the middle of the process of building the new exhibits.  There were little girls hammering and sawing, and it may have been one of the cutest, most hands on community service opportunities I've ever seen.  I then experience one of the coolest things I've seen since I got here: massive sculpture fort.  I thought this girl was cool enough as it was from the outside: she was pieced together from found objects: from a headdress of cowboy hats to wooden plank fingernails. But then like a vision sent from the Lost Boys of Peter Pan: you could actually climb inside this thing. Bangarang!

In class news, this week I led a session in Art Therapy! As part Method & Techniques, each week one of the students researches a demographic and technique and runs the class for the day. My assigned medium was Acrylic Painting (one of my favorites!) and I demonstrated a session I envisioned as a sort of ice-breaker for future clients entitled "What does your soul look like?", where the students portrayed their fears as what they felt like, how they envisioned their future, and what made them happy as well as other prompts I offered. I was a little nervous running the session, seeing as how my education and training is pretty minimal, but the girls were great and I was thrilled with the results. In Digital Media, I started work on my final project, which is an animated music video which I'm honestly pretty psyched about. 

This weekend the entire campus closed down for the holidays, which unfortunately included dining. And I didn't realize this until Saturday morning (ha, who am I kidding, I rolled out of bed at noon) and went to grab food only to find LOCKED DOORS! The horror! So I geared up to head into Manhattan, because I'd been wanting some Shake Shack and finally had a valid excuse to wait in that legendary line. On the bus ride over, I checked my Facebook, and lo and behold, some Thetas from Iowa State arrived in NYC that morning and were already posting pictures. I quickly messaged them, and we met up for dinner at a pretty nifty little Italian place near the MoMA. That little taste of home was pretty sweet. Oh, and if you were wondering, Shake Shack was well worth the hour long wait. Never has a burger and peanut butter shake been quite as satisfying. 

Today, I spent some quality time with my Sharpies and paper in Central Park. The true horror of the caricature business is that every day starts out the same good or bad: with a quite lull.  Just as I was debating whether the trek into the city was worth it, a family came up to me. 

"Are you the Hernandez?" they asked me, a question my more noticeably Caucasian self has heard quite a few times these past twenty one years.  

"Yup, that's me." As it turns out, they, too, were also of the Hernandez clan.  Though they were Cuban, I'm pretty sure we were distantly related. Actually, probably not. I digress. They kicked off my drawing spree, and I ended up breaking my sales record out here, so needless to say I'll be munching down pretty hard on my lunch breaks this week. Nomnomnom... 

More nom's to come.

Thanks for reading :) I'll be sure to report back on those noms! 

No Sleep 'Til Brooklyn

Hey there world, how's it hanging? I've gotten a little irresponsible with my blog posts as of late, and for that I apologize. Weirdly enough, I've been pretty preoccupied with real life adventures as opposed to surfing the interwebs. Anywho, I'll take a few paragraphs to catch you up. 

Last time I posted I'd just creeped my way into reserving free tickets to the Daily Show, but my frugality does not end there. Oh no! 

Last Saturday, I along with my trusted sidekicks Amanda and Mirei braved the trek to the Bronx Zoo once more. Once again, we got there a little too close to closing time. But because we're cute females like that, the staff let us come on for the last half hour before all the animals went away - FOR FREE. So we took the express lane through all the animals and it was great. Afterwards, we took the train down to Brooklyn. It was my first time in the borough, and it did not disappoint. In all honesty, I fell in love. It's like Manhattan's hipster cousin to the south, and I'm all about that life. 

The first Saturdays of the month at the Brooklyn Museum are free for one and all, which was the nature of our visit. But after so long on the subway, a girl or three can get a little hungry. Recently I've discovered the lazy magic that is Siri on my new iPhone 5, so I asked where to get some eats in that neighborhood. She directed us to a small diner down the street which the three of us were all for and along the way we found some community art, which was another incredible experience to add to my repertoire.

The museum itself was crazy cool, because along with being free there were also concerts and an impromptu break dance competition on the second floor, because you know... It's New York City like that. The museum has a very eclectic, high quality feel to it. And I'd definitely say it's my favorite museum I've been to out here. It has a long history of involvement in Egypt, so obviously there were mummies all over the place, and there was even an exhibit dedicated solely to cats. Meow! 

On the way back, we stumbled into Big Gay Ice Cream after getting off at the Christopher Street stop and Amanda realizing she knew that part of town. It was an incredible, free day. With absolutely no regrets. Except maybe not getting a photo with the Brooklyn Bridge. Oh, and also seeing a lady drop her trousers and uh... Relieve herself... Right there in the PATH station in Hoboken. I definitely regret seeing that. 

Sunday I did a few more caricatures in Central Park and Times Square before getting some homework done. It was a pretty chill day. 

Just yesterday, I had a campus tour and interview with the director of the art therapy masters program at the Pratt Institute's Brooklyn campus. I was running a little late that morning (story of my life) and in my rush to make the train across the Hudson I leapt through the closing doors in one of my most impressive feats of physical coordination to date. Unfortunately, I'm still Danielle, and in doing so, one of my shoes fell off... On the platform on the other side of the closed doors. So there I was on my way to Manhattan... With only one shoe. 

A couple girls attempted to console me by saying they would have offered their flip flops to me if they had them on me, but because I'm the eternal optimist like that I just took it as an excuse to hit up the Shoegasm store just a block from the Mashable office I've gushed over since I started there. I'll take any excuse to go shoe shopping. While I was hobbling down 23rd Street (considering amputating my city-stained feet with every step) a random man on the street yelled out, "LINDSAY LOHAN! WHERE'S YOUR SHOE?!" So uh... that happened.  

After that morning's fiasco, I made it to Pratt no problem. The campus was GORGEOUS, with sculptures, artwork, and design literally around every corner. The art therapy department head was AMAZING and answered all of my questions thoroughly and was also incredibly entertaining. I guess twenty six years of working as a prestigious art school does that to a lady. Furthermore, she joked that there are cats that have stock in the institute, and they sleep all over the campus. If I wasn't in love already, the Pratt cats got me there. Easily one of the places I've felt most at home at since I got here, but hey that price tag might just kill me. So, I'm still keeping my option open. But if there's a way, I might just have to make that happen. 

After Pratt I decided to rectify my mistake by crossing the pedestrian path on the Brooklyn Bridge. I mean honestly, it started as just one of those "you can't go to NYC and not do that" sort of things, but midway through the skies open up and I saw the entire expanse of the city, from the Statue of Liberty to the Empire State Building. In a word: it was remarkable. 

Fingers crossed, I'll be hitting up another borough tomorrow. And toes crossed, it won't take me a few more weeks to keep all you readers waiting. We'll see, stay tuned... 

Oh and... BONUS VIDEO:

I Had It Comin'

I'm waiting in line to, fingers crossed, hustle my way into today's taping of the Daily Show. My palms are sweaty, my feet are starting to ache, and the man next to me hasn't spoken a word of English since I hiked my way here from the train station a mile away. It's go time.

This past weekend was one filled with a lot of productivity and serendipity - a deadly duo. I ended up working on Friday since there were practically floods in the forecast, a good call on my part, since the weatherman held up and caricatures weren't gonna happen. No siree, bob. 

I don't know if it's the city or the weather, but I got off work around 7 and felt wired. As in, invincible. I wasn't quite ready to truck it back to Jersey, but I didn't really have any plans. Over a cup of bubble tea that has changed my entire outlook on wet-leaf flavored beverages, I had an epiphany. 

See, Broadway is a lot like most businesses in which at a certain point, they get borderline desperate to make a profit. Thanks to the interwebs I was able to look up which shows still had seats for the night - at a tenth of the cost. 

Boom! Right there in web-friendly font laid before my eager eyes seven letters that almost spelled out home: C-H-I-C-A-G-O. 27 dollars, standing room only. Sold. 

I'd seen late night airings of the musical almost every summer on television. I'm ninety percent sure "Cellblock Tango" was the most popular choice for all female group ensemble musical theatre at every one of my high school speech contests. But nothing beats seeing it all come to life for practically free, except for maybe catching a show for... Absolutely free. 

Somewhere along the road between casually pinning to obsessively following boards, I stumbled across a list of things to do in NYC. I'm aware of how nearly every sitcom since the beginning of time takes place here, and it makes me feel like a big deal when I recognize the street corners and neighborhoods in the latest season of How I Met Your Mother (no spoilers, por favor, all this drama at work over the season finale has me trying to catch up like it's nobody's business). So with all of the filming going on it's pretty easy to catch a scene being directed. But I don't exactly have the free time to just wander the city looking for camera, nor do I have the necessary navigational skills, as I continue to prove to myself. A girl can dream? 

Luckily for me, there exists websites that dole out free tickets to the obsessive few. And if there's one thing I'm good at: it's refreshing a computer screen. I've been on a script's twitter updates like an unhealthy scoop of peanut butter on my spoon, and one magical evening the stars aligned, the clouds parted, and Jon Stewart himself appeared before me with a free ticket to his show.

So now here I am, with an email confirmation of a spot in line. There's twenty people ahead of me, and they don't start handing out the actual tickets for another hour. I'm starving for another one of NYC's best grilled chreese SHROOM from The Melt Shop, the group of people behind me aren't sharing their potato chips, but I'm having trouble containing my squeals and couldn't be more ecstatic to be here. 

Back in Business

I spent a week out of New York City - and it may have been the weirdest week of my life.  Over March 6th, I flew back to Iowa to present at the Iowa State Conference on Race and Ethnicity which worked out super well for me because the next week was Spring Break at NJCU, so I just stayed and floated from village to village and made my airfare worth it. Score! So why was it so weird? I did things... like a lot of things... in Iowa. And honestly, it made me a little homesick. Highlights included: hanging out with my ISCORE friends and falling down some stairs effectively breaking my butt, going to Roja with my Kelsey and almost getting tatted up in Omaha, visiting Michelle and almost getting up to 40mph on gravel (new record! I'm a scaredy cat), and finally having my Tallahassee spiked milkshake (complete with Twinkie and Cherry Kool-Aid) with Lu at Zombie Burger. It was a great Spring Break. In Iowa. I know, weird.

But then it was back to the daily grind in NYC! I learned how to animate the human walking cycle and lip sync so it looks like your characters are actually speaking words. It's super exciting and I'm pretty sure my professor thinks I'm crazy for how much I spazz out in class over the little things we're doing. I'm insanely excited to put up my dream sequence project once it's done. Get pumped! This past week I also handed in my puppet for Art Therapy. It turned out pretty well for my first attempt at a marionette.  It was like looking into a mirror... made of clay. The assignment in large part was to include our culture, and it was awesome learning about all the other girls in the class. Diversity is such a strength for NJCU, the other day I had lunch with a redhead from Lebanon, an Egyptian Muslim, and a fellow white Puerto Rican. This is real life out here.

This Saturday I spent the morning at Central Park doing caricatures.  A few weeks ago when I was in Chinatown, I managed to snag a little wheeled dolley that made my life carrying the A-Frame sign ONE THOUSAND times easier.  Also, I mastered the LightRail system so I didn't get angry glares on the bus anymore. I'm still sore after carting that thing around, though. Drawing is my cardio.  I've been a little low on cash from airport shenanigans and taking work off for Spring Break, so I definitely needed some stuffing for my pockets. Also it's hands down been my favorite thing to do out here so fun. It's like a shameless excuse to talk to people and learn their life story. I get some valuable drawing practice, and then they throw money at me. Is there no greater pleasure on this earth?!  I drew some tourists from Germany, India, and even two girls who asked me where the nearest Victoria's Secret was, as if I was some sort of local who knew. Hilarity. There were a few other artists in the park, and I stationed myself next to a man doing miniature clay busts of people, in only twenty minutes. They were insanely good! Next time I've got money to burn, that's happening. Around five thirty, I headed over to Times Square. I drew a few couples, and then some high schoolers happened to pass me by... And immediately declared themselves my fan club. People of that age bracket really get me. But seriously, they shouted out my prices and told everyone I was amazing and should definitely get a drawing from me. Even bigger deal: they were showing Japanese exchange students around the city. Once upon a time I was one of those Japanese students, only you know, American... and in Japan. Full-circle endings... even here.

My under-aged entourage.

Sunday I had big plans! I was on my way out of Manhattan - finally!  Prior to moving out here, I hadn't realized how the majority of the major tourist sights were all within a few blocks of each other... in the same borough... and Spring Break made me realize my stint is half over and aside from LaGuardia (which really doesn't count) I'd never really been outside of those blocks. I'd gotten comfortable. And I'm not about that life.  So there I was... on my way to the Bronx Zoo on Sunday afternoon. I had my big fancy camera and I was ready to get some awesome shots at the biggest zoo in the city. Well... that was before I got off the train in the Bronx and realized I had no idea how to actually get to the zoo, despite the fact that HopStop on my phone said it was only a few blocks away. Cut to me finally getting there - and the front desk informs me that though the website I'd check said they were open for another hour, that schedule didn't actually start until next week. And besides THAT, they put the animals away half an hour before closing, and so in short... I had twenty minutes of prime animal goodness if I wanted to pay my way in.  And so with that, I chalked it up to karma screwing me over after noticing my bragging on the inter-webs of how good I was getting at navigating the city... and talked my tail between my legs and limped on home... via a closer train stop only a single block away and within my freak half-near-sighted-half-far-sighted vision. Sometimes, public transportation just makes me very sad. 

So here's hoping my next venture to the other boroughs goes a lot better, but I still had an AMAZING weekend. Can't wait for what this one brings! 

BONUS VIDEO! Disclaimer: Try not to judge me. 

Insomnia Is My Inspiration

This week was another pretty relaxed one. I made the mistake of watching Orange is the New Black on Sunday to try and fall asleep so uh... that pretty much took up my life. Thank god there's only one season. My roommate has been having random people show up to our room at four in the morning, so between that and my temporary life-consuming addiction, there wasn't a whole lot of sleep to be had.

Strep has been going around, so I ended up calling in sick to work on Wednesday and worked Friday instead. My boss, Nina, is overseas covering the Mobile World Congress. She was in Barcelona for most of the week, further cementing my new goal to become her mind, body, soul. In the least creepiest way possible, of course. Everyone overcompensated for her absence, so there wasn't a whole lot for me to do this week. I did, however, manage to finish the Sci-Fi Tech Timeline - and it got approved by Samsung, with absolutely no changes needed! Which felt amazing, until it got posted and the uber fans came charging with their complaints in picture choices for the Star Trek film tribute. Life is hard, man. So changes are getting made Monday. I'm slowly accepting that perfection is unreachable... slowly.

Classes have been interesting. In Information Design, we're mapping the experience we had in the library a few weeks ago. The professor didn't give us a whole lot of guidelines with the project, so I researched digital publishing via InDesign and created an interactive e-book with the data. The user flipped the pages by grabbing any edge of the book, and it was really cool. However, despite the lack of instruction, my professor didn't like it so it was back to the drawing board. Now it's more of a photo collage feel, and thanks to Bob from Mashable who let me in on his secret of the interactive asteroid map from about a month ago, I figured out how to make that an interactive experience, too. So basically I self-taught myself two new features for my design work, and I'll gladly take that. In Digital Media II, we handed in our first completed animation and we're gearing up for the professor to teach us the basic walk cycle and lip-syncing. I'm so excited! Then in Art Therapy, we've been working on our Midterm puppet project. Here's a sneak peek at mine! It's like looking in a clay mirror everyday...


Then came the weekend. Sometimes it feels so natural on the train, it's almost like I know where I'm going. By that I mean, I'm in no way awesome at navigating the city, but I'm definitely worlds beyond where I was. Which isn't saying a whole lot. But progress is progress, my people. I was TERRIFIED of what the weather was supposed to be like this weekend, but it actually turned out to be okay. Saturday I putted around Journal Square (Jersey City) and got some shopping and errands done, and built up my confidence to venture into the city Sunday morning. Originally I had planned finally busting out of Manhattan and taking Brooklyn by storm, but most of my friends were either busy prepping for Spring Break and Midterms or weren't having it in what was supposed to be a blizzard. So I decided to fly solo like the fierce falcon I am. As you may have noticed, I have a running bucket list on the right panel of this blog, so I decided to try and knock out a few things. After debating between a few things, and trying to keep things cheap since I'll be heading back to Iowa for Spring Break (poof! goes the paycheck) I decided to make another photo study of my new surroundings. I booked it to Chinatown and managed to stumble across the Manhattan Bridge. If anyone asks, I totally knew that was there and found it on purpose. But thus is the magic of traveling without maps.

Not all those who wander are in fact lost. Which also happened to be my motto at the Metropolitan Museum of Art. I find in museums its much more meaningful to kind of find your way into exhibits and be caught off guard by how extensive the collection is - which by the way is the very definition of the Met. Seriously, it could be its own separate country with as much space it contains. I came there way back when I was just a little guy in high school, but my appreciation of art has expanded just a bit since my freshman year. I guess six years has that effect on people. It was incredible. I'd almost say it topped the MoMA, but I'm not sure what could compare with seeing Starry Night (trick question: absolutely nothing).

So that my was my week! Stay tuned, I have to manage to make it to the airport in one piece in my next blog. Fingers crossed this next week brings more sleep my way. After all, there's nothing a little NyQuil can't fix :)

Hitting the Streets

This week has been pretty relaxed for the most part. It's still pretty snowy, but it's finally been starting to thaw out around here, and it's about time! Unfortunately the word on the street is that more awful weather is headed our way on Tuesday, so you can bet I took advantage of the gorgeous weather this weekend while I still could. 

Monday was President's Day so once again... classes were cancelled. I never thought I would appreciate how very few times Iowa State cancels classes (side note, they also did that this week, someone said that was the first time that had happened in six years but I'm still fact-checking that one...). I was planning on heading in to Mashable to get some more hours, but as luck would have the office was also closed and I'm that girl who was silly for thinking they would still be open and unlocked. And my door key was still in my wallet I had yet to claim... So I finally ran to get that taken care of and while I was in the city I figured it was about time for a fancy NYC haircut I had dreamed of. To GroupOn... awaaaaay! My forehead was looking a little naked so I put on some serious coverage. Nobody wants to see that, you know.

On Thursday I had the fabulous opportunity to attend Meet the Greeks, a step-show and showcase of all the fraternities and sororities here at NJCU. It was crazy cool and for the most part it just reiterated my own sense of how incapable I am of dancing. It was neat to see how Greek Life compares to what we have back at Iowa State. Clearly the population is a lot smaller, yet more diverse in Jersey. There seems to be a lot of support for the Greeks out here though despite the numbers, and that's really fun to see in events like these. Can't wait to see more from them in the next few weeks as all the pledges get announced and initiated! 

Class updates, let's see here... Monday class was cancelled. Wednesday in Digital Media we began working on our first official animation project due Wednesday. It's two separate thirty second animations portraying Love and War using only coins. Thursday, I had Art Therapy and we had a demo of the puppets we'll be doing for our Midterm Project. It sounds kind of cheesy off the bat, but the idea is to make high quality, sophisticated puppets and really apply yourself to the project. Thinking critically throughout the process, you build a doll to capture and display your cultural and personal background. Typically I have Fridays off from class and work and it's just a great day to get everything done and out of the way just in time for weekend adventures. However, with Monday being a holiday I figured I'd get a few more hours in. As luck would have it, Friday night a few of the Mashable interns hit up Happy Hour and I still managed to make it home before the bus terminal got scary. Kudos to me. 

The impromptu Sign-enstein with all of my supplies
and cute little stool. Everything fits in my backpack!

Saturday I had a group practice with my Iowa State Conference on Race and Ethnicity group via video conference (seriously... what did people do before the invention of the internet?), and after that I spent the rest of the afternoon preparing for... *drumroll*... Caricatures on Times Square! It took a while for me to hunt down a printing service that actually had the resources to handle a 24x36" sign for my newly-acquired A-frame. While at an art supply store I found a street sign outside that I thought would be perfect for this new venture, and after asking the man if they sold anything similar to it since the closest thing I could find were over $200 easels, he said he'd give it to me for twenty dollars. SOLD! The only real problem was carrying that bad boy the four blocks to the train station, getting on to the bus, getting into my dorm... And then repeating the process. I'm telling you, I'd be jacked out of my mind by now if it wasn't for all this New York pizza. Besides the point, I called Staples and they confirmed if I brought in the file they could print it for me right there and I'd be on my way. Or so they said... after managing to carry this sign what felt like across the world, the best they could do for me was email me when the sign was printed. Which could be a few days. I was a little upset, but figured I'd wait and then on top of that print the largest sign they could give me on the spot and just sort of jimmy rig something that might work. I was disappointed it wasn't the grand debut I had envisioned... but the night still went pretty well.

I managed to snag a spot between two spray paint artists, nestled behind those giant iconic signs in Times Square and between that and Broadway. I managed to grab a lot of people on their way from and headed to shows. I'm really thankful I was smart enough to scope out the prices everybody else was charging. If I did my back home rates, I definitely would not have been nearly successful. Who would have guessed caricatures would be so much cheaper out here though? I drew a couple from Boston as Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (complete with an NYC manhole cover, because I think I'm a hilarious genius) and a little girl on her way to see the Lion King with her dad! I was in the middle of drawing a family who had just seen Pippin, and chatting away with another couple waiting to have theirs done too, when an NYPD officer tapped me on the shoulder and told me to head out after this drawing. I was terrified! I'd looked it up online and didn't need any sort of license to sell art, and even confirmed with police officers in Times Square a few weeks ago, and I sat there stunned while he explained, chuckling, that everybody just had to clear the streets at 8:30 as a safety precaution. What a relief... So though I set up at 6pm, and was only there for two and a half hours, I made bank and let it go. I'll be back soon. No worries. 

The view from my spot between two spray paint artists!

Love the People, Hate the Weather.

This weekend was... what I suppose is a fairly normal weekend in the New York City area. The weather is still just god awful out here and I have begun to accept that it will most likely be like this until the day after I leave. That's just how it is.

Thursday morning I woke up to an email from my boss asking me to work from home because the weather was going to make my commute basically impossible. Nina's great like that.  So I worked on the upcoming "20 Most Brilliant Things Ever Thought in the Shower" from the comfort of my dorm bed. It was a pretty chill day... no, but literally. It was freezing outside. And of course, Thursday was the day I was meeting a friend from Iowa in Times Square. And after someone travels that kind of distance, it's pretty hard not to at least try and make it into the city.

So around 5 o'clock I decided it was time to embark into the icy tundra. Of course, after waiting around for a bus that never came, I called public safety only to find out that since campus was closed, they didn't know if the buses were running either. Nor did they care that I almost drowned in the puddles on the street. In hindsight, maybe they had a right to laugh at my dramatics. I got sneaky and managed to find a way to the path station, and was only a little late getting to Times Square. I'm learning...

So two architects and a graphic designer walk into a pizza place... it sounds like a joke but that was how we ended up in Lombardi's.  It was the pizza place my dad, Amy, and I ended up in and well... the place deserved second helpings. It did not disappoint.  Next on the itinerary was cheesecake from Eileen's, because once again I'm basically obsessed. They deliver to anywhere in the country. What I'm saying, is if you're reading this, you should really look into it. That cake changes lives. Now you would think at this point my thighs and waistline were probably screaming for mercy - and honestly they were - but Nick had found a milk bar the night before.

Yes... a milk bar.  And after hearing that, it's really hard not to try and find it again.  So, the three of us set out to find the promised land. And though it snowed all day, it was now a down pour. I'm talking Noah's Ark in the Upper East Side. Life's not fair. We're soaked through, and we finally manage to find Momofuku (because of course a milk bar would come from Japan), and it made me completely reevaluate my previous statement on whether life was fair. We enjoyed crack pie (which is basically just a fat bomb covered in powdered sugar, I know how it sounds...) and cereal milk.  Which tasted like the bottom of the bowl of cornflakes after all the, y'know, cornflakes are gone. I don't how they're selling something like that.  But I don't mind.

Also randomly at some point, there was a print by one of my favorite illustrators hanging in the train. Marcos Chin is centered out of NYC, and I knew he'd done a series for Grand Central station, but I definitely didn't mind the serendipity of running into this bad boy. Once again, maybe life can be fair after all.  After a pit stop at the boys' hotel in Times Square to dry off a bit and blow dry my boots (not kidding - that happened), Nick and I made our way to Stand Up NY to cash in those free tickets I got from the man whose blue rat peed on my hand.  Basically, my life is a sitcom.  And the comedy show was absolutely hilarious.

After the show I kind of just wandered around Times Square aimlessly, not entirely sure where my station was though of course the next day I'd figure out I was basically on top of it, and after a few words with some drunk guys outside of the bars, I decided it was about time to peace out.  I hailed a taxi for what was originally intentioned to be the World Trade Center station, but decided if the buses weren't running before, I might as well just take this route back to school.  At some point a girl's gotta draw the line between "I can handle this" and "This is Antarctica and I just want my bed." The taxi driver was probably one of the coolest guys ever, because after I told him I wasn't a local and he was nice enough to pretend he was surprised, he gave me a short tour of the city as we drove through it. We managed to navigate Jersey City after pulling over a few times to ask for directions and between laughing uncontrollably he managed to cut me a deal on my cab fare and even drove up on the sidewalk outside the school dates so I wouldn't almost drown in the puddles again. This guy gets it.

So after all of that, it was time for Friday's shenanigans.  I met my darling new friend Taylor and Nick again for dinner in Times Square. We decided on a random Scottish pub, and me being me, ordered haggis. What else could you order there? Moreover, it came with NEEPS and TATTIES. No, I have no honest clue what any of those things are. And no, I'm not interested. It was delicious. THAT'S ALL I NEED.

After dinner, Taylor and I made our way to Murray Hill to see what all the fuss was about. We decided on an Irish pub (I guess the UK was an unofficial theme for the night?) and got lucky with it being karaoke night. We laughed, we cried... at all of the acts. The only thing that could have possibly made more ears bleed would have been me taking the stage myself. But no, no such luck. Anyway, I ended up staying at Taylor's and it was a really great time.

But then of course, it turns out my wallet was missing.  But not my debit card. Which was incredibly strange... And as luck would have it, the snow would pick up right as I was leaving Taylor's. So there I was, waiting for another bus that never came. And once more I hailed a taxi.

I basically swore I would never go outside in this weather again. Most likely unrealistic, but I'm sticking to it as long as I can. I peeled off my soggy clothes, crawled into bed, and checked my email.  And wouldn't you know it? Someone had found my wallet, turned it in, and a police officer had contacted me that I could pick it up and a train station. The rest of my weekend? Basically rejoicing what wasn't the end of the world and staying warm. So very, very warm.

So in conclusion, New Yorkers are probably the BEST people in the world.  But New York weather? That's a whole different story...

Picking Up the Pace

It seems like things are becoming pretty routine these days. I do not have a whole lot to report this time around, aside from the fact that the weather continues to not be on my side. I never thought that I would be the one to complain about a snow day, but it's getting to be a little ridiculous.

Since classes have started I have had a whole one session of two of my courses and three (luckily) of art therapy. Though I don't have a whole lot to go on, thusfar I'm enjoying the content and practice in all three. 

You know... just your
typical art therapy.

I'll start out strong with the class I've gotten the most out of so far: Methods and Techniques in Art Therapy. It's a very tight knit program, with one professor heading the department and teaching the majority of the classes. A definite strength of NJCU is the small class sizes. I think there's only none of us in this particular courses, so it's very personal and I feel like I'm really building relationships with not only my fellow aspiring therapists but also the professor. A large part of each day's session is hands on work: experientials. It's been interesting learning how an experience relates to a client by stepping into their shoes and living the therapy. There's also lectures given by the professor where she tells of her own experience in the field. This has been especially enlightening in that she's still working in NYC, so obviously the diversity of her clientele is just extraordinary and her experience couldn't get much wider. Sometime in April I'll be leading my own art therapy session through the use of acrylic painting and co-leading a session with environmental art. 

As much fun as art therapy has been, I'm also really excited about my digital media class. The majority if it is animation in Adobe After Effects. I was worried this class would be difficult for me to walk into without the same pre-requisites but the professor does a great job walking through the exercises and I actually ended up assisting a few students near by, so that always feels good. The professor has us build the scenes and objects in Photoshop, which has bit of an adjustment from my recent obsession with Illustrator but I'm liking getting back to my roots and learning some new tricks. It's like reconnecting with an old friend and then making a new one along the way. In his demo during class, the professor threw in a random Godzilla in the background. Because, you know, why not? So I think we're going to get along just fine. 

They're not the NJCU Gothic
Knights for nothin'.

My third class is Information Design, a four hundred level course to take the place of the studio I'm missing back at Iowa State. Due to my ongoing battle with the PATH rails, I arrived a little late on syllabus day (whoops!) and so far that's all the class time we've had so far. The professor seems very passionate about the subject matter though, and as luck would have it she's been assigned as my advisor for my co-op learning assignments. I guess what I find most interesting about this class is though it's very specific, it's also everywhere. Information design goes into everything from textbooks to signage, and Professor Quinn really stresses being unconventional in your design. At our first hang ups she offered the critique to all of us they we were very much working within the easy definition of 'design', but why would we bother doing something that's already been done before? I think this class is really going to push my boundaries and redefine my portfolio. There should really be some interesting pieces that come out of this semester. The diversity on campus will probably have a big impact on my day to day design work. I just honestly don't see how it couldn't. 

Clockwise from top-left: my desk,
my mugshot, the art department intern photos,
and the Mashable feature wall in the bullpen.

Aside from the obvious benefit of hands on experience and the general fiesta that is my internship at Mashable, I'm also gaining class credit. Four whole credit hours to be exact. On top of getting paid and spending four days of the week in New York City, I don't think it really gets any better. As in, I'm still ninety percent sure this isn't real life. Nina, the art director, is from San Francisco and is basically a stud. I feel like I'm really learning a lot from her.  She's one of those people who's never happy with a project the first time around, and even in these first few weeks watching my work progress from sketches to the final publish on the site is so satisfying. Dat refinement, yo. Recently some valentines I made featuring Grumpy Cat were posted, and ended up getting over 24,000 shares at the time of this blog's publication! Pretty exciting, if I say so myself. Also I finally got my Mashable suite ID, which I was pretty stoked about but keep accidentally trying to swipe my meals with at NJCU... so that's always a little awkward. I also kickstarted my modeling career the other day with my headshot, so hit me up if you'd like an autograph. My people will be in touch with your people.

I took a few shots of the office on my phone for your viewing pleasure as well. In the top left is the Mash Cafe: complete with couches and TV's which primarily get used for uh... work related stuff. Like the Winter Olympics. Top right is the Brand Cafe with the 3D printer which I have every intention of learning to use for my own nefarious purposes (*cue evil cackle*). The two bottom pictures are of the wall with all the #InterNinja photos (plus Chinese new year decorations) and the sign leading to the Intern Parlor, which features a nice view of the building right next to us (i.e. a brick wall). Aside from what I consider possibly the funniest window placement ever (aside from those apartments in Ames called Beach View, like where is there a beach in Central Iowa? Hello?), it's actually a pretty sweet set-up with blue chalk walls and shenanigans at every turn. There is blue and green everywhere... like my dorm room. So it's easy to feel pretty at home. You don't hear me complaining.

The front door - complete
with door men!

Synopsis: work is great, classes are few. I'm gearing up for an exciting weekend, so I'll leave you all to guess what I'm getting ready for. Hint: I'll be cashing in some free tickets and hanging out with some friends, old and new! 

Out and About

It's crazy how time feels warped when you're not at home. Today marks a whole week since I started at Mashable and eleven days since I moved into my dorm at NJCU. It's gone by pretty fast with as many things as I've been doing but at the same time it feels like I've been here forever. This comfort is all probably due to the people I've encountered.

Once again I can't stress how nice people have been since I got here. My roommate, Keturah/Kae, checks in on me if I've been in the city too long (in my opinion, it's never long enough) just to make sure I haven't gotten into any trouble with the local 'toughs'. It blows my mind that we've only just met. Kae has been great at inviting me along with her friends and I just love everyone I've met so far. She went home this past weekend to work and I was still hanging out with people. I am a social butterfly, hear me roar. Butterflies roar right? It's like a gentle wing flap in your ear. Anywho... I've even made friends with some girls on the basketball team and I've been to a few games. 

Work has been fantastic too! I'm convinced I'm in a movie with how surreal it feels. On Monday, my boss took us to Eataly for lunch. Her husband runs the place and his friends in the kitchen kept bringing out plate after plate of what was easily some of the best food I've ever tasted. I felt like a celebrity at a packed club where the bouncer still let's you in, except in this case there was a lot more cheese and I was totally okay with it. The Art Team is super friendly and I basically want to be the illustrator, Bob, when I grow up.  He's from Omaha (small world!) and the stuff he creates is just amazing. I've already had a project published on the site for the coverage of the Grammy Awards. Pretty soon my info graphics for Facebook's 10th anniversary and e-cigarettes will be up as well. It still blows my mind that I get paid to design! Life's just too good right now. The whole place is just crawling with nerds... just the way I like it. I'll post pictures of the office soon! It's blue EVERYWHERE and wonderful. 

My first weekend alone proved exciting! Saturday I stayed in and got my laundry done and all that boring stuff, but Sunday was when all the magic happened. A few months ago over LinkedIn, I met a fellow Theta from Butler (it's in Indiana!) who landed an internship in New York City as well... doing Graphic Design no less! Obviously, we had to meet up and I figured that day would be the day to cash in my free MoMA ticket! When my parents were still in town we went to the MoMA store and in celebration of not having any required textbooks for classes out here... I bought a textbook. I'm afraid my life is an eternal geek out. To take it one step further, I got a free ticket to the museum along with it and it may have made me squeal like a little school girl. But I digress... Not only did I make it the museum without any train glitches, I even managed to get there an hour early. How out of character! So I explored Rockefeller center and took my sweet time so that my new friend Taylor wouldn't get the wrong idea about what to expect in the future (hint: I will ALWAYS be lost in this city). I'd heard of the MoMA but I hadn't realized just how much of it I would recognize there! I FREAKED when I saw Starry Night! Van Gogh has always been one of my favorites and I even did an imitation project on him in high school. Afterwards, we hit up another item on my NYC Bucket List: Dylan's Candy Bar.

Now if you haven't heard of the magic that is DCB... you are really missing out. Ralph Lauren's daughter, Dylan, is a fashion and candy enthusiast. She also happens to be a fellow Theta. We hit up the three story wonderland that easily rivals Willy Wonka, what with in-house grab candy and even... candy cocktails. I filled up a magical ten dollar cupcake with cookie dough bites and anything and everything peanut butter and chocolate... My waistline never looked back.

I've been living the dream, but it doesn't end in the city. Even my classes are exceeding my expectations. Read all about it in my next blog!