Lines

Obscenely long lines that don't have a cool ride at the end just plain SUCK. I was at the Social Security Office and I stood in line for almost three hours. That was after going to the Manhattan office last week only to find out that you have to go to the office in your county. For me that's Queens and it was the last stop out on the E train. It took a long time to get out there, but I have to say the lady was very nice and very efficient- there were just so many people. I'm sure they were all taking advantage of not having to be at work today, too, but somehow I thought that I might be the only person who would want to be there on New Year's Eve. I was wrong. Something that just struck me as silly was the conversation between two women in front of me. They were complete strangers sharing personal information with one another in a line that was full of people listening including me. The younger girl- we'll call her Kathy to protect her identity (Not that she cared all that much)- was the talker and shared far more information than the other woman (I don't know her name) who was there to get her new baby girl, Elise, a social security card. Kathy is 26, grew up in Westchester, went to college in Albany, now lives in Elmhurst, Queens with her new husband that she married on October 28th. They had previously lived in Astoria (Queens), Greenpoint (Brooklyn) and Williamsburg (Brooklyn). There were 160 people at the wedding and she converted from Catholicism to Judaism for her new husband. But not to worry, he's Reform so she still gets to have a Christmas tree. They are waiting two years to have kids and her mother-in -law was unwilling to help them financially with the wedding. Warning!- if you are already complaining to perfect strangers about your mother-in-law after only two months, get into therapy now! Her job situation is a little precarious. The company she works for (she's a buyer for a retail clothing store- which again I will not name to protect her identity) was bought out and she is in the process of being downsized. I do have to say that I caught all this information while attempting to read my Time magazine in which they named Vladimir Putin as the Person of the Year. When these women said their good-byes I was shocked that they didn't exchange phone numbers. They knew more about one another than some of my friends know about me. Then again, I do have a blog. Strange how we are able to rationalize things...

Oh and by the way- HAPPY NEW YEAR's! Be safe and have a great time!!!

My Very Own Quote

The cup is almost always half full and for those times that it's not I have the ingredients to fill it back up. I just have to dust them off and figure out how to mix it.

Sad

Two teenage boys outside my window last night at 1 AM.

Boy 1: "You gotta go home, man."
Boy 2: (very upset) "I am not going home!"
Boy1: "Well, you can't stay out all night."
Boy 2: "Actually, I can. You're lucky your Dad's dead. I'm not going home."
Boy 1: "You can't stay out, come home with me."

Thank God I have a great family.

Christmas Party

Richard, my musical theatre teacher had a Christmas party last night. He had made tons of homemade Italian food and I had too much red wine! There was artichokes, sausage and peppers, pesto rigatoni, and my favorite eggplant parmigiana. I walked into the party a little nervous because it was super crowded and I wasn't sure I would know anyone, but there were some people from my classes and it was a great time. I was not planning on being there all night, but Leah said that after eleven the Broadway actors start showing up- and who showed up but Karen Ziemba. I have never been to a party like this but it was a ton of fun. There were stars from times past too. I met a lot of people and I am so proud of myself- I carried about 10 business cards and handed everyone of them out. I'm not normally good at things like that, but I knew the party would be an opportunity to network. The best part of the party for me was as the crowd was filtering out a guy I had met (I don't remember his name- too much wine) played the piano and myself and two other women sang Christmas songs. Carols are one of my favorite things about Christmastime and I love to sing them at Mass on Christmas Eve with my family and then all the way home in the car. I'm not going home, so I was sure that I would be singing them to myself in the shower this year, but sitting around a live piano was fantastic! My kids will play piano...

Overheard at Walgreen's

So I was at Walgreen's waiting for some photos to be developed. I was wandering the aisles attempting to kill some time when a twenty-something woman walked rapidly into the store on her cellphone. She passed behind me and this is what I heard:
"(In a defensive tone) I mean, nobody's perfect. That's why Jesus died."

It made me laugh. Bless her heart...

Ten on Tuesday

1. It's officially a week until Christmas! Mere and I just finished trimming the tree. Mere, OB and I went to get it on Saturday, but we ran out of time to do anything other than put it in the stand and water it.
2. I just started shopping for Christmas. OOPS!
3. The elevator in the building I work in has a small flat screen TV that said Monday was the last day to get your cards in the mail to guarantee delivery by Christmas. Thank God for Priority Mail!
4. I'm staying in NYC for Christmas.
5. I've been applying for health insurance. The application is in, now they want additional information and I have to sign a contract to give them my first born...
6. Starting to catch up on some political news. I watched the first half of the Republican You Tube debate. I just have to say, all the talk about guns- silly, in my opinion. If you want to hear an interesting discussion on the topic listen to this interview by Leonard Lopate with a former gun lobbyist Richard Feldman here.

7. I watched Joyeux Noel last night with OB (from his Netflix Queue). I just have to say it was a good movie (I recommend it!), but man's need to battle man is the strangest concept for me to wrap my brain around. As soon as I think I have it figured out, some paradox shows itself and the reasoning for it (or against it, for that matter) breaks into a million little pieces.
8. Opinions can be lethal.
9. Another concept that can set your mind spinning is the "us and them" mentality. There is no way to be separate from this mindset. Even though we think of ourselves as individuals we are constantly placing ourselves or being placed by society into groups. Groups invariably create an "us and them" collective mentality.
10.I think leaf blowers are the laziest invention, EVER!

Lesson of the Day

Don't watch Apocolypse Now before going to sleep and expect to be able to sleep well. It won't happen and you'll feel like you should skip work and sleep all day.

Quote

"Unique is unique. There is no very unique or extremely unique. There is only one. There has never been another Jodi Beck and there never will be again. That is unique."

Thanks, Uncle Joe.

Actually Heard This

On the #6 train heading uptown yesterday afternoon, I overheard this conversation.

Man in his 20's (with a valley girl accent): Yeah, I don't know who I'm gonna vote for yet. I'm just gonna vote for the one who's gonna win.

Asian-American Man in his 20's: I know, and it's really down to Hillary and Obama. Either one would be fine, they really are the same.

Man in his 20's (still with a valley girl accent): Yeah, I'm gonna vote for the one who's going to win.

I am still in shock! Problem one with the conversation: How could anyone possibly know who is going to win before the votes are counted. This is a huge problem with the media coverage this time out. They have been touting the inevitability of certain candidates and people actually believe it. Polls are the worst invention ever! And can anyone tell me if they have ever actually been polled during any political campaign this year or ever? Problem two with the conversation: Last I heard the only people who have dropped out of the race so far are Stephen Colbert and Tommy Thompson. People need to believe that their vote is what counts, not what the pundits say. Problem three with the conversation: Hillary and Barack are not the same. In the grand scheme of things of course they fall closer to each other on the spectrum of politics than say Kucinich and Gulliani, but they are not the same.
I am still undecided and I am not endorsing anyone with this message.
I am Jodi Beck and I approve this message.

Difficult Week

I realized that I hadn't written in almost a week. It was one of those weeks that I'm glad to put behind me and to direct myself forward toward the moments ahead. I was afraid this week that I'm not in the right place. You know that feeling that no matter what you are doing you are somehow behind. The puzzle wasn't coming together. It became that type of fear that almost cripples you. I'm not used to that type of fear. I normally face my fears head on. My fears are normally of the type that push me into action. This week my fears had me wishing I had stayed in bed. I will not have a week like that again. The things I need to focus on in the coming weeks:
1. Meet with Richard to go over Ross Reports
2. Write a cover letter for agents
3. Send out mailing with my new, fabulous headshots!
4. Work with Doug to figure out a cabaret
5. Find a second job (I babysat last night and I absolutely loved it!)
6. Find a reasonable health insurance plan
7. Take stuff to Goodwill- I'm tired of looking at it in the foyer (Yes, I said foyer- I have one of those in my fabulous apartment!)
8. Get a Christmas tree
9. Meet with new voice teacher for more music
10. Become more aware of my bad habits (nervousness brings them out, but it is also the time that I am the most unaware of them) and conquer them!

Unsilent Night

How cool is this? Phil Kline an Akron, Ohio native (yep, good, creative people come from Akron- Ohio, it's the heart of it all, you know!) who has lived in NYC for quite some time came up with a concept of Unsilent Night. I read about it on Charissa's blog, and went to find out more information. Anyway, on December 15, 2007 thousands of people will descend on Washington Square Park carrying their boom boxes with them. When they arrive they will pick up their reserved copy of a cassette (yes, I said cassette) and when Phil Kline directs them to do so they will press play at the same time and a symphony will burst forth. Sound cool? I thought so. I emailed to reserve my cassette. Now I'm off to check to make sure my tape deck still works and how many batteries will be required.

Erin and Janet Yoho

I've been thinking about these two people a lot lately. I think that it's because I just had my 30th birthday, something that won't happen for Erin until next August. Anyway, they were a big part of my life for a long time and they just aren't anymore. My sister separated all the pictures my mom had of all of us kids and so many of them include Erin. My brother John asked me what happened and I told them all through tears how I lost my best friend. I know its a long shot considering not very many people read my blog, but I want to say "Erin and Janet, I've been thinking of you both lately and I hope that you are well and happy. You were important people in my life and I will always have a place in my heart for you."

Autumn!

It is December 1st, but there are still 20 days left until the winter solstice. The leaves left the limbs of the trees later than usual this year, but it gave me the chance to remember why this is my favorite time of year. When we were kids we each had a rake. The backyard was full of trees and we would have to rake up the many colored leaves that had fallen from their branches. We would groan and complain, but it would always be a great day. It would be cold outside, but we would work up such a sweat that we wouldn't wear our coats. The pile of leaves would get bigger and bigger throughout the day and when we were finished, with blisters on the insides of our thumbs, we would leap into the leaves and roll around in them! That was so much fun! Sometimes we would arrange the leaves in a sort of maze, too. I was reminded of this when I was walking home the other day. I love the sound of leaves crunching under my feet. In fact, I seek the sound out. You have to pick a leaf that is wrinkled and dry. It looks like crumpled paper that has been rained on and then dried by the sun. Those leaves make the right sound. It sounds like the crackle of a fire in the fireplace. I found myself running after this sort of leaf just knowing it would sound as perfect as I imagined.