Day: June 3, 2009

Movin’ on up.

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Firstly, thanks to those of you who comment!  I really enjoy getting comments on the blog, it instills in me a sense of ridiculous importance and feeds the inner narcissistic beast.  Keep it up, I will love you forever!

I am posting early today because I am finally MOVING INTO MY SUBLET (yay!)  I’m not sure if I’ll get to post tonight as the woman from whom I am leasing will be there tonight, and I want the few hours before sleep to go smoothly.  However, she will be gone tomorrow, and I will finally be able to settle in and starting living here.  Ee!

Anyhow, today was the first full day, more or less.  We still oriented ourselves, but this time it was restricted to the interns in the Registration department.  Diana (my supervisor) went over, in detail, the project for the summer.  I will be working with the object files for approximately 360 drawings from 1970-1979.  I’ll be looking through the documents in the files, everything from acquisition sheets to correspondence to artist statements, and making sure that the correct information is entered into TMS.  If I find any major discrepancies I head down to the library and do some research, but only if discrepancies exist regarding dates, titles, provenance, exhibition history etc.  Hopefully I can figure out a way to expediate the process (I am a fan of efficiency) and not get too bogged down in the mundanity of data entry.  I had the option of choosing from several time periods: pre-war, immediately post-war, and the 70s, and figured I’d hop on the 1970s because it is closest to my area of personal interest and because artists in the 1970s were feisty.  I hope to read juicy, angsty artists statements in the object files.  I didn’t actually start work today, just lots of orientation, save for lunch (once again in the park with Teresa.  I’ve been getting delicious salads from this UES grocery store called Butterfield Market.  Old-school New York cute.  ) and a weird rambling 45-minute conversation about Martha Stewart sightings, Dr. Ruth, the Turkish-Greek conflict, and the island of Cyprus.  The tangential conversation began when we were discussing the Whitney’s off-site storage area which is located down in Chelsea by a fashion photography studio and, I believe, Martha Stewart’s old company headquarters.

I also discovered that I had connections with one of the other employees in the Registration Department.  While we were orienting ourselves I kept eyeing the girl across the table from me, whose name is Krista, because she looked incredibly familiar.  Right after lunch she said the same thing to me–that I looked familiar.  We both figured out that we were at the Harn in Gainesville around the same time; she was working in the library while I was an intern.  Still, it gets weirder.  Here is the conversation that happened as i was leaving:

Me: See you tomorrow Krista!

Krista: Actually I’m going out of town.

Me: Where are you going?

Krista: To Florida to see my family.  My sister just had a baby, the first in the family!

Me: Aw, yay.  Where in Florida are you from?

Krista: Sarasota.

Me: I’m from Sarasota!  Where’d you go to school?

Krista: Pine View.

Me: Uh.  Me too.  That’s so weird!

As you can tell I am incredibly articulate.  Anyhow.  Krista graduated 1998, with Santosh’s sister (that was the only name she knew that I also knew, i told her I was staying with Santosh).  ALL OF PINE VIEW LIVES IN NEW YORK CITY.  I know I shouldn’t be surprised, but still, small world.

Oh, also, during lunch I was able to check out a bit of the Claes Oldenberg show.  I only had time to really look at two rooms–the room with the fantastic Ice-Bag C that expands and retracts as though it is breathing, and a small room with objects and signs from Oldenberg’s The Store.  I love Oldenberg, so of course I was pleased to see some of his work, and I am looking forward to having more time to see the show later.  The ice bag piece was especially fun.  Part of the charm of Oldenberg’s works, especially his soft sculptures, is their anthropomorphic quality–they sort of look like people, in an odd way.  Therefore, to me at least, it made perfect sense that one of those sculptures such expand and twist and collapse, almost as though it were inhaling and exhaling deeply.  More on the rest of the exhibition when I get a chance to see it.

Anyhow, after leaving the museum I lingered a bit on the UES to check out some grocery stores, then hopped on the 6 to head home.  I really dislike the 6 in the afternoons because it is the only train on the UES and it is OBSCENELY CROWDED.  Today the trains were off schedule and the car was packed to the brim.  I was uncomfortably close to a man who smelled like old gym socks and cigarettes.  When I had a chance to move away from him, I did so, only to end up next to a crotchety old woman who kept bitching about people bumping into her.  As though we had any choice?  If you don’t want to be jostled, don’t get on the subway when it is crowded!  Anyhow, the subways were so off schedule that the train actually skipped my stop, so I ended up walking about ten blocks back to Santosh’s.  In the rain.  Ah well, these things do happen.

So that’s my day.  I’m going to grab some dinner, make sure my stuff is all organized, and then head up to my sublet around 8:30-9:00 (I am subleasing from an incredibly busy woman).  I’ll be happy to be there, but even happier when she is gone, and I have the space and the large bed to myself.  Yay good night’s sleep!

Talk to y’all when I’m  settled!

The Quest to Conquer The Norman Conquests: Part I

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Not too much to say about the day itself: more orientation regarding the library and software the museum uses to manage members/donors and the collection.  Teresa and I took our lunches to the park, where we were asked the directions to the Boat House and the Castle by various tourists.  Once again today was a short day.  I was at the gym by 1:45, and back at Santosh’s by 3:30.

I put myself back together and headed up to Times Square in order to take in some theatre.  I tried to rush Next to Normal which was the Impossible Dream.  I ended up getting some mezzanine tickets for a performance next Wednesday, when Alice Ripley, who is fierce, will hopefully be the newest holder of the Tony Award for Best Leading Actress in a Musical.  I decided to student rush my next choice: The Norman Conquests.

The Norman Conquests is a trilogy of plays written in the 1973 by the British playwright Alan Ayckbourn.  They all deal with the same people in the same house on the same weekend in July.  Each play is set in a different room in the house: Table Manners is set in the dining room, Living Together is set in the living room, and Round and Round the Garden is set in the garden (obviously).  The plays form an interlocking narrative, though each stands alone and you do not need to see the other shows for full comprehension.  However, the more shows one sees, the more one learns about what happens at other times and other places in the house and the more one learns about the ridiculous people who inhabit the house.  It is my goal to see all of the trilogy this summer, and my Quest to Conquer The Norman Conquests began tonight with Round and Round the Garden.

The plays are, basically, a sex farce revolving around the antics of Norman, who was played by an actor who kind of looked like a shaggy dog, Wayne Coyne and, oddly, Eric Atria, the bassist of Morningbell.  Norman likes sex, and drinking, and freedom, and just wants people to like him.  He is very tall, and gangly, and wears a beanie constantly.  Norman will make out with anything, and anyone, to disastrous and hilarious effect.  The current revival is from the Old Vic Theatre in London (Kevin Spacey is the artistic director), and the original cast is pitch-perfect and hysterical.  I was screaming at certain points.  I really don’t want to give too much away, but there is a lot of physical and verbal comedy and the Norman had incredibly expressive eyebrows.  An extremely fun night at the theatre and I am really looking forward to seeing what happens in the living room and the dining room.

I am also looking forward to moving into my apartment tomorrow night!  I’ll be sharing space with the owner for one night but on Thursday I will be happily flying solo!  While I have enjoyed the hospitality of Santosh and his roommate, I am ready to get settled into my own place.  Additionally, first full day of work tomorrow!  As always, will report.