May 2009 Archives

A week from tomorrow, I'll be leaving for New York, meaning we are officially in counting-down territory. Again, terrifying and exciting at the same time. I've been poking around the internet, trying to find an account of someone's experiences interning with a Conde Nast publication other than Teen Vogue, which is all that seems to be out there. In the process, I've found a few interesting tidbits, such as the fact that this is the first year it's been an unpaid internship (balls!) and the fact that the New York Rangers' Sean Avery was Vogue's editorial intern last summer (hockeyballs!).

I've still got a bit of shopping to do before I'll have a satisfactory business casual wardrobe, but otherwise I think I'm as prepared as I'm going to get. I think this will be so different than any other experience I've had that I can't really prepare myself to any appreciable degree.

In the meantime, I'll be spending some time with my high school friends and maybe taking one more trip to Ann Arbor. April and I have been hanging out a lot, almost unnecessarily since we'll be going back to NYC together, but she's bored out of her mind here in Rochester and I'm doing my best to entertain her. On Monday I'll be taking the annual Frankenmuth trip with my asians, a little earlier in the year than usual. Should be diverting.

I am now more than half-way through the two weeks of my Splendid Isolation and am holding up for the most part. The first few days were pretty rough--a combination of loneliness, trepidation about the empty 14 days looming before me, and frustration at the fact that having to take care of Sydney (the neediest dog in the world) effectively tethered me to the house. Since then, though, it's become somewhat easier. I've fallen into a comfortable kind of routine, mostly involving sitting at my computer, watching TV and movies, going to the dog park, and letting Syd in and out of the house.

I went to the movies by myself for the first time ever this week to see Star Trek, which is a joyride of a film. Certainly not high art, but about as entertaining as a movie can get, with a good balance of action, comedy, drama, and spectacle. I'm thinking about seeing The Soloist this week, and maybe Wolverine if I get desperate. All the other movies that I want to see that have come out recently, like Rudo y Cursi and The Brothers Bloom, don't seem like they'll be playing around here any time soon. Can't wait 'til I get to New York.

In real-life news, another potential subletter has frustratingly slipped through my fingers. Bah.

SO. I got an internship (a while ago) with Conde Nast. More specifically, with Conde Nast Digital, which takes care of the online versions of their magazines plus a few web-only things like Reddit and Ars Technica. Does this mean that Conde Nast has put me in charge of the Internet? In a sense, yes. Or at least that's how I'll think of it.

I'm finally getting everything in order--my housing at NYU is secured for June 7 through August 8, in case anyone wants to visit me. The office I'll be working in is about two blocks from Times Square, so pretty soon I'll probably start muttering resentfully about "those goddamn tourists" like a seasoned New Yorker.

I'm also back in Rochester, having somehow managed to once again successfully complete a semester. Only having one year of college left is weird. Time, right? Crazy. My parents are leaving for their 25th wedding anniversary Mediterranean cruise this week, leaving me with with Sydney and two weeks of what will probably be mind-numbing boredom. I suppose I'll deal. Either the strictly regimented daily schedule I'm constructing for myself will work or I'll just spend the entire time playing video games and making grilled cheese sandwiches.

Either way, those of you who read this should keep in contact with me to prevent me from going crazy while I while away the month of May. That has a nice ring to it. Maybe I'll write a poem.