Today we had to make 5 extra welcome packets for some of the artists and other festival people, so Deborah (the other literary intern) and I had to go out and get five subway maps. The problem is, the guys in the subway kiosks will only give you one map at a time. So we each went to the uptown and downtown stations right near work, then I ran into Boram Lee walking down the street near the uptown station. She went to Harvard-Westlake with me, and now goes to NYU. It was super random to run into her, but not unpleasant. We said "hey" and the usual pleasantries, then I asked her to go down into the uptown subway station and get me one more map (for a total of 5 - 3 from me and 2 from Deborah). Boram did that for me, which was really nice of her, and I couldn't find Deborah when I came out of the station so I went back to the office. But when I got back it turned out that Deborah had gone to a station about a block away to get a third map of her own, so we had an extra map!
Later in the day Lisa (my boss), Jess (Artistic Intern), Cate (Literary Fellow - as in she has a fellowship), and I had to go downstairs to meet the caterer and set up for the reception that marks the start of the festival. The caterer was really late getting to the theater, because she was working another event in Newark, NJ earlier in the evening, so Lisa got a little stressed. But Juliet (the caterer) got there in time and it all worked out. Jess, Cate, Lisa and I had to work as the cater waiters for the event since Juliet only brought a bartender (not her fault, it was our budget, etc.). What I mean by that is we had to wear all black, then stand in the corner and pretty much do nothing except occasionally throw away empty cups and discarded napkins left on the tables. And help with set up/clean up. At first Lisa had dictated that we couldn't eat the food, except for the occasional grape or piece of cheese we swiped while no one was looking, to maintain professionalism, but later in the evening she repealed that ban. Thank GOD, since I hadn't eaten beforehand (bad call) and I was STARVING!!! There were some delicious chicken skewers that I ate on some of the bread that was supposed to go with cheese, like a little chicken sandwich. And I had one amazing strawberry!
We (the interns/temporary cater waiters and I) met this actor named Chaske, who is in one of the readings and on one of the panels. I think Jess met other people but I didn't (I might have been too busy eating). This guy looked super young, like our age (I say "our" but my fellow interns are actually all much older than I -- at least 4 years -- since they've all graduated from college already and I haven't even started), but he talked about being in school (i.e. college) in NYC when there were still hookers and drugs and strip clubs, etc., all over Times Square (late 80s/early 90s) and how he watched it all change, which indicates that he's older than he looks. I think it would have been really cool to see that transition, though.
Going back upstairs after the reception to put a bowl away and get my coat, I saw John Doyle also going upstairs. I held a door open for me, he smiled at me like he knew me (!!!), and asked how I was (as he was passing, so obviously he didn't really care, but I still responded briefly and asked him how he was doing to which he responded "fine"). That was pretty cool.
Then Deborah and I split a cab home, because she lives across the street from me and the subway late at night is super creepy. Especially since Deborah told us a story this morning about some serial subway rapist who operates on trains running from Union Square to Astoria. Not fun.
Posts
No comments:
Post a Comment