NYC Night Life and Daytime Outings!
Well, it's definitely well known that the "Birdland" is my favorite spot in the whole world. I must say that going is kind of an elaborate treat for me, however I do make the most of this situation by developing friendships and connections. I have found that the best way to initiate conversations is by playing the Alaska card. Virtually everyone is fascinated by the fact that people actually live in Alaska and do normal activities up there. People legitimately seem to be shocked that such a rare breed of artist like myself can come out of a place like Alaska. In this photograph I am pictured with Salsa George, a fellow who I actually came into contact with last summer.
Another spot that is becoming a hangout is "Don't Tell Mama." Once again my friend Shirley who really is one of the most thoughtful people and really does have the best connections introduced me to this place. Ricky Ritzel who is pictured in the middle of this photograph is the piano player who plays in a cabaret style and mixes a whole lot of showtunes and past hits together. Dr. James Johnson also came to this outing as well as Shirley's attorney friend Ami.
A few days later we went to "Slava's Snow Show." Since Valerie and Barry (coolest power couple ever, who came to Fairbanks and taught percussion at the Fairbanks Summer Arts Festival) play in "The Lion King" pit orchestra and were given comp. tickets to this show. Being awesome and totally thoughtful they decided to bring me and Shirley along for this wonderful experience. Here is a photo that we took at intermission in front of the Snow Show backdrop. They have snow as a prop to throw up in the air and by the time this photo was taken I'm afraid that we were all posed out, but Shirley with her energizer bunny-like tendencies was still going strong and was the only one who was able to incorporate the snow into the shot.
A few days later I went to "The Iridium" blues club. My friend Shirley knows this guy named Will Friedwell who writes an art column for the "Wall Street Journal" and writes a blog that is called "Will's New York City Night Life." Anyways I was able to contact him through email and set up an outing at the "Iridium." I have to say this whole experience made me feel completely grown up and I'm incredibly grateful that this experience was made possible.
Life can't be all fun and games, a part of life has to be devoted to improving your craft. One day in my group therapy the app. "Meetup" came up as a topic. In addition to hearing the stories of mania and depression we talk about interesting aspects of life. For some reason the Meetup group that involves "cuddling" came to the forefront of our discussion. I couldn't believe that an entire group could be devoted to cuddling.
So one of the Meetups that I decided to go to was a live broadcast of a podcast featuring an interview with Alex Wolf who is a tech. junkie and Social Media Wizard. After her interview I became totally convinced that I needed to read her book and become totally fluent at "Instagram." I ended up buying her book and that's a picture of me and Alex Wolf posing next to her book, which I have managed to get about half-way through.
Of course I can't go anywhere in New York without hitting Times Square. They say that the longer one has lived there is a determinant of how comfortable one is in Times Square. I guess being one of the theatre makes my voyages through Times Square inevitable. On my way through I have seen many-an-action figure, but this inflatable Ted was truly remarkable.
