Now where is Wisconsin again?

While my sister is at work, and I am jobless, I am being used as a personal assistant. Today's job was to bring her two garbage bags of clothes to Beacon's Closet in Brooklyn. The bags were heavy and annoying to carry. I was especially excited about being put to this task after I first got on the subway going the wrong direction in Brooklyn. Eventually I made it to the correct stop, but realized I had to walk really far to reach my destination, and I did not know which direction to start off in. Luckily, I had the moleskin New York guide that Julie had given me for my birthday. Thanks to that thing, I made an educated guess, and walked 12 blocks in the right direction, while looking like a homeless person. Now this is where my story got interesting...
A man walking a dog comes up and asks me if I wanted help caring the bags. I told him no thank you so he went ahead, but was waiting at the next light and asked me again if I wanted help. I was struggling and it was only another block so I said ok. As we walk the two blocks to the resale store, he tells me how he makes bags for dogs and was walking his dog to the park when he saw me. He decided to run up to catch up with me to help. I was grateful to have a good samaritan and we parted ways.
The people at the resale store said it would be 35-40 minutes so I decided to walk around the neighborhood. My good friend Sam, the man from before, was suddenly behind me. Apparently he saw me walking around again and ran out of his apartment to find me. He's pretty much the typical native New Yorker who's never flown in a plane and had no idea where Wisconsin was (northeast of here maybe?). I told him a little about the Midwest and then he proceeded to tell me all the secrets of religion and how to live a happy life. Did I mention this was after he told me that if he hadn't seen me walking by, he'd probably be smoking a joint? Well, the next 15 min of our walk were dedicated to The Secret, you know, the one that Oprah talks about. He even offered me a copy of The Secret video. I told him thanks but no thanks, I'm more of a reader....

I gave my regards to Broadway

When I was a little girl, my dream was to be on Broadway. I was in community theater and sang solos throughout elementary school. I even wrote about it for school assignments. Unfortunately, after a horrible audition, I developed stage fright and now hate even talking in front of people. Though my childhood dream to be on Broadway will never be realized, I still (with a tad bit of jealousy) love watching other people perform. I had seen signs yesterday (on my 12-mile walk of the city) for the Tony Award winning musical "Spring Awakening" and decided this was the show for me. I ordered a ticket for myself in the 8th row and away I went.
I must say, "Spring Awakening" deserved the Best Musical Award it won. It was absolutely fantastic. (It may sound somewhat familiar to the 90210 fans out there *cough* Danielle *cough* as this is the musical that one skinny girl is performing in at school). I laughed, I cried, and the most exciting part (at least for me) was meeting Hunter Parrish, who stars in it, after the show. He was amazing in it, and I surprisingly good singer, which you would never guess from his character on "Weeds". I don't care if this makes me a loser, because he is adorable and really nice and Meredith appreciates my feelings on the subject :)
On the subway train back home to reality, I had an interesting encounter with a woman. She stared at me for most of the ride and then decided to pull out a piece of paper and a pencil and start drawing. I'd like to think she was drawing the guy sitting next to me, but nevertheless it was extremely awkward. When I got off the train, I got harassed by a group of teenage boys, probably around 14 who shouted at me and blew me kisses. I guess odd and annoying people from the subway is something I have to get used to. Gotta love New York....

Flying high

Midwest airlines may tell you that they are sorry for your loss. They will be exceptionally nice to you and waive the $100 fee (but still make you pay any difference between the costs of your old and new flights). You think, gee, maybe not all airlines are awful. And then you get on the plane. And you realize you are seated in the back row, with the small, but still leather (what a plus!), seats. Without a window, of any kind, in the window seat. If I would of known there would be no window next to me, I would not have chosen the "window seat." Way to take advantage of a grieving customer, Midwest. The best part of the flight was when they announced that passengers on the left side of the plane would have an amazing view of the city. Hey, I was on the left side! Oh, wait. Boy, that view of the tan wall was pretty.
I did arrive though, safely to New York City, and am currently sitting on my sister's bed. My first adventure to make copies of Jeni's keys started off a little shaky (I went the wrong direction for several blocks then after being reoriented with a phone call to my sister, missed the locksmith and had to turn around) but I made it back! High five!
I may venture out again tonight for dinner, but otherwise this weekend I have big plans. Tomorrow I'm going to get a new bank account, ride the subway, and hopefully find myself a way to monetarily survive the next 6 months. Whether this will be by working in a store, or the streets, only time will tell...

Nope, that's not my doppleganger, that's still me

My plans for New York City have once again changed. First, my program that was supposed to begin in November got canceled and now I have to wait until June to start training. I was still supposed to leave September 10th, now yesterday morning, I received unfortunate news that my grandma who has been battling cancer, will be leaving us soon. Hearing this news is bittersweet, as now I am certain that I can be there for my family and to be there for the funeral. I will be staying in Madison until further notice.
This just reminds me how unpredictable life can be. I am extremely grateful for the time I have spent with my grandma, one of the sweetest people I have ever known, and although it is sad, I am glad that soon she will no longer be in pain.
I hope (insh'Allah for my Muslim friends) that this will be the only sad post I write, but I figured people would want to know what's going on.