I realize that if I attempt to devote the blog to blow by blows of my weekend activities I may fail miserably because the more I fill my off time, the less time I'll devote to blogging and it'll just be entire entries about what I've done and no room for reflection. But this weekend was loads of fun, a diverse set of activities, so I feel I must comment, divulge, expound upon and otherwise treat you all to a summation of my escapades, in no particular order.
Poker night has become a staple, something I can always count on happening if I'm looking for something to do to break the monotony. Sunday night was probably the most fun it has been yet. There were seven people total there that were playing, plus Karishma who came along to observe (I sort of dragged her there after we had gone to a street festival with Emily who was visiting this weekend. More on the street festival and Emily's visit later on. Karishma said she didn't want to play but I told her she didn't have to and to come and just watch. After all, it's a $5 buy-in so it's not something to just jump in on and do horrible at, especially with so many sharks in the room. Okay, I really must close these parenthesis. It's getting ridiculous.) I must say I'm getting the hang of it. I even gave Mike a run for his money, as we went head to head for a couple of hands, just the two of us. He beat me in the end. I bluffed when I shouldn't have. I think what made it so fun was that everyone who had gotten out was on the edge of their seat watching the final hands with bated breath.
Thursday night, Karishma's parents took us out for dinner at a Korean place near Union Square called Dosirak. It was great stuff and the first time I'd had Korean food in, let's just say, a very long time, due to painful associations with the stuff. Karishma's parents are very generous, (it was her father's birthday that night), and they insisted on paying for everything even with eight of us at the table. The night before they had me over to her place and cooked a fabulous "prawn" curry with fried king fish. Her father has even invited me to come to India sometime. I accepted. Sounds like a fabulous adventure. And all of his friends are musicians including his brother so it sounds like I'd have a great welcome and they'd want me to play in their studios with them. I'm in. They are traveling around the east coast this week and will be back in NY for another week afterward.
Beyond that, I worked Friday and Saturday but, each night, there was something going on afterward. Friday night, I met Emily and Paul (a friend living in Astoria whom I've not seen since I moved up here) in Williamsburg (B Burg) at a bar called Spuyten Duyvil (silly Dutch name). Spuyten Duyvil has an amazing beer selection and a great garden in the back that unfortunately closes at 1230. Paul's friend Randy came along and we all just chatted the night away.
Saturday night, I was invited to a party up in Astoria where Paul and Emily were, incredibly close to Katrina's place. So, I stopped by Katrina's to chat and pick up some mail and then, on to the party. The party was at another UNCG grad's apartment, a couple that I knew from the dorm days. They weren't expecting me, well, Carlos wasn't, so it was neat to surprise them and I got a bit of a reaction out of people there. I've known that they lived in the area but had been putting off contacting them for no apparent reason. At any rate, we all spent the evening catching up as there were several other UNCGers there as well that I remembered from back in the day.
There being so many of my friends already up here kind of drives the point home that I was meant to come up here and be around people that have similar ambitions. I'm starting to feel like I belong and that no matter what happens to me, I'm going to find the opportunities that I need to advance my career with almost no problem. I say "almost" to avoid sounding naive or too hopeful. I think what I'm really getting at is that, as long as I'm constantly looking out for my career, meeting people who are in the business and am generally "hungry," as my dad says, I should be okay. (Footnote: hungry referring to my desire to get somewhere with my career rather than waiting for something to happen, not the other kind of hungry where there's nothing to eat in my fridge but a stick of butter and some old cheese.)
Things have been happening work-wise. Joel, whom I met at Farah's Oscars party and whom I wrote music for, invited me to come and help out on a film shoot the other day to get some experience for my resume. I'm going out next week again to help out. I'm planning on building up the film experience section of my resume using people I already know and/or just met. Meanwhile, with Technicolor back on the radar and the potential for movie and TV extra work (slim potential, I might add), I'm feeling pretty confident that, next month, I'll be able to pay rent and eat, again. Go me.
Some pics from the street fair and a little info.
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| 5th Ave Street Fair Best |
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