NO ORANGE!

I was going to skip out on the daily blog tonight, but after the W's slow internet decided it wouldn't allow me to rent a movie off i-Tunes before bed, I'm back to blogging to try and fall asleep.

Work was solid again today. I went to Cafe Metro for lunch. It was one of those places where they had different counters for pizza, Asian food, salad, pasta, etc., etc. Well-I had a huge craving for pizza and it was hilarious when I sat among the crowd of girls around my age all eating salads while I devoured by super delicious pepperoni pizza. It was well worth it.

I did more transcribing at work today. The footage is very intense in regards to political and social issues in New Orleans. Would you believe that in about five hours I was only able to transcribe about 25 minutes of footage? And apparently that was moving fast according to another intern! The footage is heavily laden with dialogue and movement. I don't know how the producers keep it all straight.

I think that having to transcribe actual words from real people will be such a great exercise for sharpening my own writing skills in terms of script writing for the future. In fiction writing, dialogue is a tough, tough thing to master and what could help me more than having to analyze real life dialogue for hours at a time?

The search for a close park to run in continues. I talked to the guys at work since they are obviously familiar with the area and they told me to head to the river, so that's what I'll be doing tomorrow morning hopefully! They also informed me of free movie nights on Mondays at Bryant Park. I really want to check that out one night! Apparently hundreds of people go.

Tonight at the W, I couldn't help but laugh at the dining situation. It's funny because they have little labels near all of the main courses and desserts that list the calories in the food. Helpful I suppose, but it just seems so stereotypical of a place that houses all girls and women. Then again, I heard NY has some kind of rule about certain restaurants having to inform customers of the calories in the food. Can you imagine that in Oklahoma?

It was also funny when I went through the line and grabbed a piece of lemon cake off the tray and then asked the lady for an orange. And in broken English she replied, "NO ORANGE!" And I said "Huh?" And she she replied again, "No orange, you got cake."
Apparently the secret rule is fruit or dessert-you better pick one.

After dinner I went for a walk and made my way up to Times Square. I don't think I could get sick of walking around this city. I love being out and feeling a part of things. The walk just reminded me, again, how lucky I am to be here.

I got my first real dose of the city smells tonight as everyone was putting out their garbage from the day. Now that I'm sitting here in my room I'm beginning to wonder what I might have stepped in because it seems some of the smells have followed me back.

It is insanely hot in the W. There is air conditioning in the TV room and maybe a few other select rooms, but definitely not in the dorm rooms. It's crazy because it only got up to around 80 today, but it was nearly as miserable as when it is about 95 in Oklahoma. I guess it must have something to do with how compact everything is in the city. Looks like I'll be making a trip to K-Mart to buy another fan!

I had a good talk with a friend from home today about how crazy it is to really be out "on my own." This time its not like study abroad, where you instantly bond with the other students because you know you're stuck together for a summer. This time, my summmer and how it plays out is really up to me. It's a crazy, scary, exciting, mysterious feeling altogether. I think this is definitely the right time for me to have a challenge like this, considering come next January, after I graduate in December, I might be making a more permanent move somewhere. This summer is just what I need to toughen me up.

I'm excited for the weekend and time to do more exploring. I'm really craving a good long run in Central Park :)

Time remaining on i-tunes movie rental download: 33 hours.