The Good Morning Experiment

So between my last post and this one I've had two of the best weekends of the quarter: Key Laborers back in Cincinnati and Valentine's Day this past weekend with Dan, Mark and Caitlin in town for a visit. They were both fantastic. It was amazing going back to Cincinnati and seeing so many people I love so much. Some awesome things happened there. I left that weekend in the frame of mind I wish I had been in at the beginning of this quarter. I needed it a lot.

As for this past weekend, you should check out Caitlin and my facebook pictures, because I'm not going to write about either of those weekends right now. I'm going to write about what's going on right now.

I haven't been very fair to New York City since I've been here. I've allowed myself to blanket New Yorkers with the stereotype that they are all cold and unfriendly, but that really isn't the case at all. In just the last few days I've had some surprisingly wonderful interactions with strangers.

Friday night I walked and talked with a girl who needed directions to Humbolt, and I told her I wasn't sure but that I thought it was just a few blocks ahead. I told her I wasn't sure because I've only been here for a month and a half, and we chatted about my internship and it turned out she was an NYU grad and aspiring actor from Lexington, Kentucky. As we walked together, it turned out I was right and we did get to Humbolt! She was super nice and very thankful for the help.

Just yesterday I made a comment to a woman in the elevator and she actually told me to have a nice day as the doors opened on her floor.

These kind of things are minor, but they've shown me that when you can break that initial barrier, New Yorkers can actually be very friendly and pleasant. Walking to work every morning, I pass by plenty of people on the sidewalk in my neighborhood, and I have been frustrated that no one ever looks you in the eyes when you pass by them. I've really wanted to dole out a few Good mornings on my walk to work, especially on bright, beautiful mornings like so many we've had in the last week.

Well, today I decided to just start saying "Good morning" to strangers, regardless of whether they'll look me in the eye or not. In the first day of this experiment, I had some interesting results.

First, I said good morning to an old woman carrying bags and walking next to the corner grocery. Much to my surprise, as we walked toward eachother, she actually did look me in the eyes, allowing me to smoothly and happily say "morning" to her. She smiled a toothless crooked smile and gladly responded with a "morning" of her own. My first subject was a success! I was filled with instant joy; this could actually be fun.

Next up was a middle aged woman who refused to look up and make eye contact. As we passed I said "Good morning" and she responded with a high-pitched and very surprised "Good morning" of her own, but she didn't turn around at all or look at me. Her surprise made me laugh as I kept walking.

Finally, as I got closer to the subway, I walked toward an older man who did not look very pleasant or happy, and as we passed I quickly gave him a good morning. I noticed he turned around to look at me, so I turned around to find him looking at me with a huge smile and a seriously confused look on his face. He did not say a word and turned and kept walking. It was great.

So I'm not actually conducting any kind of crazy experiment where I'm really trying to mess with the minds of hardened New Yorkers, I'm just trying to look at the world with a different lens. Maybe somehow I can just have a tiny impact on this city.

Now, I know some mornings I won't feel like putting any effort into saying anything to anyone, but I do hope to keep this up as much as I can. Some people might give me weird looks. People might just ignore me completely. Regardless, It's fun to have a little mission while walking to work. The responses I got helped make my day fun and interesting, and if nothing else, I made a few people smile.

Who knows where this will take me in the next month. I hope to stay relatively motivated in this "experiment," and I'm stoked to see what kind of results come out of this.


Before I go, here is one picture from this past weekend. This is me sitting with a duck listening to Hans Christian Andersen tell us a story in Central Park on Saturday night. Good times.


I hope everyone is doing well! I miss you all.

Ogle Meets Ogre

Last week was definitely a good one. After a few weeks feeling like it would be tough to feel connected to this city in the middle of Winter, I've started to. It was pretty great to just start to notice some of the charm of this place and to realize that there are wonderfully great people here.


Friday night, Kristen and Dan came and met me after work in Dumbo for dinner. While I waited for them, I discovered an amazing rare bookstore right down the street from my office. There is some amazing stuff there, especially in terms of design books. I might have to go back to buy the spanish copy of the information design book, "Open Here."

After we had dinner at Rice, we headed to Union Hall, a very cool bar in Park Slope. The upstairs is like a big den or library and has a full bocce court inside. (Ahh, that reminds me how wonderful Christie's will be in the Spring!) Anyway, we went downstairs to check out some bands playing for an Ethiopia fundraiser. We only got there in time to see one band's full set, Sarah Fullen & the Stanleys. I was definitely a fan. They had a whole lot of soul and a wicked good horn section backing them up.

Saturday morning I woke up early and went over to M&M's World to try and win a lottery ticket to Shrek the musical. I put my name in around 9:30 or so, went back at 10, and was the very first name called! How about that?

I paid $26.50 for a seat in the front row of the right side of the orchestra, but I'll get to that later. After buying my ticket, I headed up to Columbus Circle and walked over to Lincoln Center. Unfortunately it was almost all walled off for renovations, but I hope to head back either for the Evening with Alan Menken or a cheap partial view ticket to the Metropolitan Opera. I'd kill to get inside that opera house. It must be amazing.

After scoping out some books in Borders back in the Time Warner Center, I grabbed a gyro and headed into the park. This time, I was determined to get deep into it.


The two pictures above are two parts of the park I was very excited to reach, the fountain at the edge of the lake and the beautiful bridge at the end of the mall. Both of these feature pretty prominently in movies and commercials and whatnot and are just plain beautiful. I don't have a picture of the amazing ceiling underneath the bridge. Some things you should just experience for yourself.


As I headed into the Ramble it was pretty ridiculous to think about how removed this patch of land is from the hustle and bustle of The City. It was beautiful covered in snow and ice. The lake was also frozen over, with the tracks of animals who braved the ice to cross to the other side. Looking back toward the buildings, everything seemed so calm and peaceful.

I kept heading north, determined to get further into the park, and eventually made my way to Belverde Castle. I climbed to the top and looked out over the park, expecting to be near Harlem by now after walking for what seemed like so long. Of course I was wrong, and I was maybe a third of the way through the park. I made it to the resevoir before I decided it was time to head back for my matinee.


So I got back to Shrek and walked into the Broadway Theatre to find my seat. What I discovered was that on the side of the orchestra in the front row, the stage level is a good six inches or so above eye level, meaning that I couldn't see anything that happened below anyone's waist. Needless to say, as the performance was starting I was eye-balling seats further back where I could see the stage, knowing the show had plenty of gags I was missing, including most of Lord Farquaad's.

Although I stayed up front for the first act, during intermission I went about 3/4 of the way back in the orchestra to an open end seat next to a very nice lady from New Jersey who bought tickets to the show as a gift for her friend and sister. We chatted a bit about co-op and the show and she was very glad to hear how I am trying to make the most of my time here. She was great.

Now I know what you're thinking. A musical version of Shrek? That sounds pretty ridiculous. How good could it be? Well, let me tell you, I went into Shrek having heard good things, but I had no idea how good it would end up being. I've got to say, out of all of the shows I've seen this quarter, (five total) Shrek is definitely my favorite.

Sure, I enjoy the Shrek movies (the only Dreamworks animated movies that I do), but this musical (which has only been open since Decemeber) takes the story and adds so much heart, energy, depth and fun to it that it becomes something really special.

First off, the staging and sets are great. Everything that takes place in the forest is absolutely beautiful. And the creativity and comedy weaved into the staging is fantastic.


Without a doubt, though, the best part of Shrek the musical are the performances of its five leads. Brian D'Arcy James as Shrek, Sutton Foster as Fiona, Christopher Sieber as Farquaad, Daniel Breaker as Donkey and John Tartaglia as Pinocchio were all born to play their parts. All five of them have been nominated for tony's in the past and Sutton has won.

To give you a better idea of what the show is like, here's a video for you to check out. This is Brian D'Arcy James, out of make-up, singing Shrek's beautiful "I want" song, "Who I'd Be." This song definitely reflects the big layer of depth that the musical adds to Shrek's character. (1:39 is where the song starts if you want to skip to it)

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Pretty cool, eh? I love the piano in the bridge.

Don't worry though, this is a unique sensitive moment in the show for Shrek, he's also the Ogre we all know and love with plenty of farting, burping and off-color jokes.

Here's just one more video that shows some more of the humor mixed with the heart. This is Sutton Foster as Fiona. You might recognize Sutton as playing Bret's sign-holding girlfriend Coco in the first season of Flight of the Conchords.

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Sutton was definitely my favorite in the show. She has amazing comic timing and performing talent. She's the one I gave my standing O to. She plays Fiona the way she was meant to be played, strong and quirky without the occasional annoyance of Cameron Diaz.

I'm a big fan of that song. And actually if you can't wait for the cast album in March, this song can be downloaded on the website. Enjoy.

Daniel Breaker, as I said was great as Donkey, and apparently he still hasn't seen the movie. Christopher Sieber, who was also in Spamalot and played Mary-Kate and Ashley's Dad on Two of a Kind, was a great Farquaad, pulling off what has to be one of the most physically demanding roles on Broadway, and he also was responsible for one of my favorite moments in the show, a send up of another favorite musical of mine. John Tartaglia was an amazing Pinocchio, which in itself is funny, since John himself is a very talented puppetteer, having stared in the original cast of Avenue Q and playing the title character in Johnny and the Sprites on the Disney Channel. I had a huge smile on my face during the big fairy tale creatures' number in the second act. Then again, I think I had a big smile on my face the entire show.

There it is, my drawn out and unnecessary full review of Shrek. I loved it. I'd see it again in a second. If someone was coming to New York, I'd tell them to see Shrek. It was hilarious, heartwarming, and full of energy and joy. And there is certainly not a better cast on Broadway.

Awesome.

Alright, its Wednesday night. The week has had its ups and downs, but Friday I'm headed back to Cincinnati for the Navs Key Laborer's retreat. I am absolutely stoked to see people and take part in the weekend. It will be amazing.

You know, it's really fun to write this blog. I don't know who reads it, but I'm just glad to have everything written here, to help me store my memories.

New York, I'm actually enjoying living here. Let's see where this relationship goes, eh?