I am looking to purchase a new laptop. I am thinking of Dell because that is the company that I am most familiar with, but I am hearing the the quality is going down some. I am not sure if that is a rumor or not. I need a laptop for work and want something that has a good graphics card for gaming and design. Can anyone suggest a good system/company? Also, what is the difference between a Radeon 256 card and a G-Force 256 card over than $200 in price for the G-Force?
I found out on Tuesday morning... That I'm Moving to New York City at the End of August. I'll be working as a first hand at the Metropolitan Opera for this next season. If there's ever been a surreal moment in my life, this would be it.
I'm done! Yesterday, I received my MFA in costume design from the University of Missouri-Kansas City. My parents are here to help me celebrate. We are packing up the apartment, which begins the month process of moving out. In retrospect, I have been going nonstop since Christmas. In the packing, I found a calender which never made it up on the wall. I've been too busy to put a calender on the wall. Either busy or lazy. Or tired. The next few months are rigidly planned as well. I am working on a show at KC Rep here which opens at the beginning of June. During this month, it's possible that I can come to Texas for an extended weekend. In June, I am driving three days to LA for a weekend portfolio review. By that next weekend, I will begin my summer job in Bay View, Michigan. After mid-August, Texas will be my next destination where I hope to spend some time. It's possible and very likely that I'll be moving to NYC at the end of August. There are opportunities for employment which is exciting, but until I hear something final, I don't want to jinx anything in writing.
Since Christmas, there have been very few of my close friends in Texas that I have contacted and for that I am very sorry. I miss you all, and I hope to see you very soon. Things are quieting down in some minor way, which brings me joy and, well, time to sit down and write something.
Week one at the Met has been amazing. On Monday at nine a.m., I was asked to take the chorus measurements, of which there are ninety-eight, and convert them from inches to centimeters. Later, I found out that I was sending these measurements to Emi Wada (http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0905253/) for an opera she’s doing next year. I was quite giddy. Was this normal to interact with people I respect and whose work I know very well? At that point on Monday though, I knew that any sort of celebrity awe was not an option on a professional level. A beat later, Catherine Zuber (http://www.ibdb.com/person.asp?ID=24742) poked her head in, flaming red hair perched tightly up in a pony tail, just to say "hi". I was introduced as the "new intern". An hour later, I was doing a walking tour of the building, which is enormous. I have never seen any theatre's backspace area compare to the magnitude of the Met. We walked to the wings of the stage to see a woman doing interviews with the press. Recognition. It was Julie Taymor (http://www.ibdb.com/person.asp?ID=7020).
Arriving back in the office, I met with the two British designers for a production for next year. The Met works two years in advance. They know what the new shows will be and the designers, directors, and singers are already cast. They both work constantly in England and have amazing bios in Opera, Theatre and Film. On Tuesday, I went shopping with them in the fabric district, making swatch cards for them. We had great conversations over lunch about working in England and how Americans can break into that scene. I think there is a possibility there for further contact. They both seemed genuinely interested in what I was doing.
Most of the rest of the week was spent helping around in the office and doing research for the two British designers. On Friday, I had my chance to see my first opera here. It was the final dress rehearsal for a production of La Forze del Destino starring Deborah Voight. She is amazing, incredible, awesome. The theatre sits four thousand people and not one of the singers wears a microphone, yet their voices can be heard clearly throughout the space. Opera and theatre differ in the length of the performance. Where it is becoming customary now in the world of theatre and film for nothing to last longer that two hours with maybe a fifteen minute intermission, this opera was four hours and thirty minutes from start to finish with two, thirty minute intermissions.
I have tomorrow off due to the holiday. I think I might do something touristy.
An update. It's been too long, but finally the time has come to write something.
I am in Boston right now, beautiful city. I've been here for a few days and tomorrow I take the train into New York for an internship here: http://www.metoperafamily.org/metopera/home.aspx. For the next six weeks, I will immerse myself in Opera. I hope to have a wonderful experience and have a chance to explore the city. This is one of the places I might move upon graduation, including LA, London and possible back to Austin.
Housing in New York is the big unknown. Well, not completely. I have a couch to sleep on too far away. I am looking for something nearer the Met to eliminate the hour commute to work in back. If something doesn't present itself, literature will hold my attention on the daily trip. I need to read The Count of Monte Cristo before I get back, this might be a good time to do so.
I've packed and repacked and repacked my luggage. I am working on repack number 4 at the moment. I bought a new wardrobe, but I bought too much. I've figured out how to fit everything except my camera into my backpack, this includes my laptop. I've ben told that unlike the underground of London, the subway in New York is not as luggage friendly. We shall see.
Well, so far I've found lots of people who want to hire me when I leave for school. Apparently, no theatres in Austin need my expertise until after my final year starts.
4 squares unsweetened chocolate 1 cup butter or margarine 2 cups sugar 3 eggs beaten 1 teaspoon vanilla 1 cup broken walnuts (if desired) 1 cup sifted all-purpose flour 1/4 teaspoon salt
Melt chocolate and butter over hot water (she uses the microwave). Remove from heat. Add sugar, eggs, and vanilla. Mix well. Stir in walnuts. Mix and sift flour and salt; add gradually, mixing well (Quote: "They're so easy, I don't even sift the flour."). Pour into greased and floured 9" square pan. Bake at 350 degrees for 45-50 minutes. Cool thoroughly before cutting into squares.
We spent twenty three hours on the road to Michigan for my grandma's funeral. She was a few weeks short of her ninetieth birthday. We left at 4 am on Saturday and almost fifteen hours later parked our vehicle at the Days Inn in Des Moines. The trip for today was only nine hours, yet we still left by 6am to make the viewing at four this afternoon.
There were not many people at the viewing, but this was to be expected because she outlived many of her family and friends. We found out today the remaining two brothers and sister died earlier this year and she was the last or her family. Due to her assisted living and the dementia, no one was sure if she knew that or not. Funerals are a weird event to understand because the passing of my grandmother, although very sad, led to the happy reunion between the people from the area and my mom and her brother and sisters, many of whom they had not seen for over twenty years.
Tomorrow is the funeral, which I expect will be nice and exactly the way Grandma would have wanted it. That evening we are driving back to Chicago to stay with my Aunt and Uncle, and then we head back home the following morning. I'll be back in Texas on Wednesday night.
I plan to come home on Wednesday on next week. I'll be home for a week and a half and then I am heading to New York for about a week and half. Then I will be returning to Georgetown for the entire summer for some much needed relaxation.
I do this every vacation. There are certain activities I put off doing until the last minute, which sometimes results in not reaching completion. None of these activities are terribly time consuming, but I never can keep them in my mental “to do” list. So here’s the list:
1. Finishing designing M for M. 2. Be a good nephew/cousin and write letters to relatives. 3. Some bonehead in Missouri (well, probably many boneheads) decided that it was okay to tax my car. Fine. State of Missouri, I write you a check for $698. 4. Build Wedding Dress 5. Update portfolio 6. Update Resume.
It’s a small list really, but I find myself watching TV and not being active. Some need to be completed within the next week or so (see no. 1-3). The wedding dress can wait, but I am starting it this weekend and will have it done within a week.
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