I actually got up before my hard-working roommate this morning (roommate in the singular, because Verdi is in France with his girlfriend...ahh, life is rough for the trust fund kids)... I have an interview today with a nannying agency so I wanted to get a start on the day. Granted, the interview is not until 12:40, but I have to find a kinko's somewhere where I can print off my resume and references and make a photo-copy of my driver's license and all that logistical mumbo-jumbo. So I'm sitting in an internet cafe perfecting all the documents, and of course, I had to take a moment out to contribute to the blog.

I had a day out with Renee and her friend Melanie yesterday. We went to a film at this indie theater in SOHO. This is the kind of thing that you have to call a film, and not a movie, because it was very artsy and not mainstream and you get the impression that only the artistic types who do not buy into society's conventions know where to find such films. So of course Renee knew where to go... It was fantastic! Everyone must see it, I'm sure it will become available at waterfront sometime... It was called Exit Through The Gift Shop, about the counter-cultural movement of graffiti and street art and this man who started following artists around with a video camera and how he became an artist himself. Really fascinating-- I want to see it again because I feel like there is so much I could pick up on the second time around.

Then Renee brought me to wholefoods where, in typical Renee fashion, she insisted on buying protein powder and juice for me, so that if it came down to paying the rent or eating, I would be able to make myself protein shakes. Not that I think I will be in this situation, but Renee is the resident expert on independent forays in the big city.

She also brought me to Strand Books, the world-famous used bookstore that boasts "18 miles of books," so I could get some books to read on the subway. I got a little Truman Capote anthology (featuring Breakfast at Tiffany's in honor of New York), and I have almost finished all the stories, I really love his style of writing. Interesting tidbit: a Truman Capote manuscript, unpublished, was recently found, and the heroine's name is Grady.

I also bought A Confederacy of Dunces and The Virgin Suicides, and I'll fill you in on how I'm loving those.

Oh, did I tell you I had to withdraw from classes? The workload was about 50-60 hours a week, leaving me no time to get a job, which is completely unrealistic for me. I was really disappointed at first, but Melanie assuaged my doubts: her husband is in the film industry and she said that NYFA is not really a real school, it's more of a place for rich kids and bored rich wives to go pretend they are artsy. She said I should definitely talk to her husband, because he would be more than happy to hire me for some jobs on set if I wanted to get behind the scenes. Also, she gave me the address of this cafe where all the NY screenwriters go to hang out, and said I should go hobnob and get advice...so maybe I will just teach myself to be a screenwriter.

I have been writing everyday. One of my professors compared writing to Ballet: a ballerina will never master first and third position if she just thinks about it and never actually practices them. In the same way, writers can't spend time thinking about what they want to write, they have to just sit down and write, even if it is just a big stream of thoughts...you never know what masterpiece might come out among the thoughts.

Love to the moon (and back),

Grady