Our First Day: Pants Wetting, Umbrella Fails, Singin' in the Rain, & Upskirting - Marilyn tyle!

Rain in New York City is TERRIBAD. Either the wind manages to circumvent the buildings well enough to blow it SLANTWISE, or it ricochets off the walls. It is omnipresent and unavoidable. IT IS A MEANIE FACE.

On our way to work, these are the adventures we had:

1. We experienced the quickest Starbucks stop I've ever fenagled on the corner of 78th and Lexington. 

2. We realized it was raining, and if we sang, we could say we were singin' in the rain on the way to our first day. Ashley sang a line of this:

And I sang this as dramatically as possible.

Event #3. I wet my pants. The rain's MEAN, I'm telling you.

I've been saying for weeks that I'm going to wet myself when I get to NYC. MY PROPHECY CAME TRUE. The first thing I had to do at the Tower was hunt down a bathroom with a hair dryer.

4. New York City weather also has the personality of a pervy male manga otaku. One of these moments was totally involved.

6.  This happened to both of us simultaneously.

7. I showed up at the Tower looking like this:

Even though Ashley still looked impeccable. Especially the hair.

8.  We went to work. On our first day, we got to work a little bit with Sailor Moon and Air Gear. SQUEE <3

TTFN!

~Courtney

the Pre-Beginning Shakes

All right, I know Mom, you don't have to tell me. Go to sleep. I get it. Big day tomorrow, what with starting this internship thing and all. Barely learned the subway in time (we only know our stops, anything more and we're venturing into Dangerous Territory), but we're here! We're good!

And first day forecast?

Rain.


Big hulking showers of it. Just cascading down. Like avalanches! All right, maybe I'm over-exagerating a little---or maybe I'm not. Does it rain the same here as it does in Columbia? Do the streets flood like in the Vista? Should I instead be investing in a Central Park rowboat instead of a MetroCard?

Breathe, Ash. Mom would say. I've had jobs before. I've worked before. This is nothing new. But I've never had to rely on public transportation to get me there, and while the subways don't scare me, I'm daunted by the morning commute simply because it'll be crowded. There will be people.

Oh, and let's not forget that Random House Publishers? Hi, I've only been reading your books since, like, ever and a half. Or at least ever. Maybe a soft ever.

There really isn't much to report on the night before, only that Courtney and I are excited. We are so excited, it's hard to contain ourselves. We shared Youtube videos, danced to Just Dance moves, and giggled over anime theme songs (don't worry if you don't understand, not many people do) to de-stress ourselves.

Breathe.

It's going to rain on the first day of the internship. I'm not sure if this is a good omen or bad, but I think the rain is going to be what we make of it.

On Hailing Cabs and Finding Grounded Stars

Day One in New York City... check.

Well, half a day, I reckon. It was an adventure, to be sure. My feet are sore, my Toms are dirty, and I've learned that I can suck down a rum and coke in five minutes flat (you learn something new everyday).

Today has taught me three things:

1. Expect delays within the first 5 feet of Manhattan.

2. Hailing a taxi in front of the Hilton on Avenue of the Americas is HARD.

3.  Toting a teal teddy bear around with you will not increase your chances.

We also went to BookOff, one of three stores in the entire country that sells discounted manga, DVDs, and books. It was pretty rad. There were also epic searches for bathrooms (honestly, do I HAVE to buy something to use your toilet? I'll tip you five bucks if you let me pee in that commode), epic searches for $5 margaritas, and epic unpacking escapades. I learned that it takes 4 shower curtain rings for our shower curtain to reach the floor as to prevent The Great Flood from filling up our tiny bathroom. I learned that there is no such thing as a cheap meal. And I learned that many New Yorker women really do wear heels. And here I thought it was just a Hollywood Film thing.

There are several ways to end this entry, but I think I'll end it with a heartfelt goodnight. I think Courtney and I deserve some sleep.

Love,

Ashley

The Final Countdown

In a week's time, I'll be either a) sitting in a car bound for NYC, or b) in a hotel in New Jersey trying to get some shut-eye (although that will be incredibly impossible). I can't believe that the time has flown by so fast. I'm still stunned that I'm still going, that this is still happening. I dread the thought of waking up only to realize that it was all a fantastic dream.

But what a dream, right?

There's a nervous jitter shaking my bones. What am I to expect? Who will I meet? Will I find who I'm supposed to be? Personal questions. Soul-searching questions. Questions left best in secret diaries... but there is something thrilling in the pursuit of the answers.

I'm one of those weird ones who are comforted by words---it doesn't matter whose. Dead people, living, fictional. My courage is found in quotes, and so I collect them like other people collect bottle caps and baseball cards.

Here's a few of my favorites, on adventuring, on beginning anew,

"... after all, maps are just paper anyway." Rosemary Wood, why i let my hair grow out 

"There is nothing to regret --- either for those who go or for those who are left behind." Eleanor Roosevelt 

"Not all those who wander are lost." J.R.R. Tolkien 

"I don't want to come to the end of my life and find that I have just lived the length of it. I want to have lived the width of it as well." Diane Ackerman 

"Every day is a journey, and the journey itself is home." Matsuo Basho 

"Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things you didn't do than by the ones you did do. So throw off the bowlines, sail away from the safe harbor. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover." Mark Twain. 

"The world is a book and those who do not travel read only one page." St. Augustine 

"Why do you go away? So that you can come back. So that you can see the place you came from with new eyes and extra colors. And the people there see you differently, too. Coming back to where you started is not the same as never leaving." Terry Pratchett, A Hatt Full of Sky 

"Make voyages. Attempt them. There's nothing else." Tennessee Williams 

"Wherever you go, you take yourself with you." Neil Gaiman, The Graveyard Book 

"The journey is part of the experience --- an expression of the seriousness of one's intent. One doesn't take the A train to Mecca." Anthony Bourdain, A Cook's Tour 

"It's not about the destination. It's getting there that's the good part." Morgan Matson, Amy and Roger's Epic Detour

And now that I have thoroughly exhausted my favorite traveling/adventuring quotes, I think it might just be time to start packing. Tomorrow. Maybe.

But speaking of traveling (while we're on the subject, Courtney), there are a lot of very good traveling YA novels circulating the shelves these days. I have to admit that I've read almost every single one of them, except for The Disenchantments by Nina LaCour but that's only because Summer in the City snagged my attention---albeit briefly.

These are some of my favorite roadtrip reads (I'll probably be re-reading A&R on the way up to NYC, to be honest)!

So, what's your favorite roadtrip books/quotes/pictures? 

Ashley

Our Lil Road Trip to see Stephanie Perkins, Megan Miranda, Kiersten White, & Beth Revis

First of all, Happy Birthday to my little brother Riley, and May the Fourth be with you.

Ashley has already blogged about this here, but she and I drove 2.5 hours up to Asheville and the 2.5 hours back on Tuesday! It was so worth it. We met some fascinating people.

Kiersten White can write a book in 1-3 weeks, while keeping up with her children and motherly responsibilities. Incredible! This is the author of the Paranormalcy series with the pink taser named Tasey. She adores mythologies which carry well across cultures, and they are her inspirations.

Stephanie Perkins has adorable fashion sense and a Cricket-like husband who makes fantastic coffee! I could not resist getting both Lola and the Boy Next Door and Ana and the French Kiss signed. Lola was a ten-year project! I knew it seemed really sophisticated to me for a reason!

Megan Miranda has researched cases similar to the one she wrote about: People have been trapped under the ice even longer and survived.

Beth Revis loves explosions. She owns a beautiful little silhouette necklace that glows in the dark and MUST be haunted.

Ashley and I are in the back.

Megan Miranda, Kiersten White, Stephanie Perkins, and Beth Revis

are in that order in the front. 

Megan Miranda says we all look possessed. Ashley looks possessedest. :)

~Courtney

The Southern Gals and the Ghetto Bus: Ya'll Lookit This!

After we found out about the internship, we spent a good five days not sleeping, not eating, and responding to everything we could find on Craigslist, Padmapper, Backpage, and Streeteasy. At least two organizations attempted to scam us, and Google Maps became our new BFF.

Well, we discovered that prices in Harlem were significantly lower. No shiznit, Sherlock, I know. We learned our lesson pretty quickly after we Googled the Street View of a certain address and saw a certain bus.

This bus was supposed to be a yellow school bus, but it was really a converted "pedo van" with a mushroom-like hat. It also had the words "FUCK SKOOL" - not school, SKOOL - graffitied on the hat. The faces and license plates were blurred out - but the curse word remained and the spelling stayed beautifully uncorrected.

We laughed until we cried. Then we took screenshots of it and effectively creeped upon a creeper bus. Please enjoy the sense of humor which evolves from our sheltered lil nerdtasmicosity and sleep deprivation.

~ Courtney

Apartment Hunting Torture Chamber

Ever since hearing back from the internship, I've been on constant surveillance of apartments and sublets, all to no avail. I'm not sure where to start, to be honest. Craigslist? Reality Management? Feelers have been sent out the furthest reaches of the world!

But you know what I've learned in the day and a half of looking? It takes some series cahonas to move -- legitly move. I've talked big about moving for a few years now (wanderlust, save me) but it's never been so real as the prospect of a summer in the city.

Now it's real. And it's happening.

We're fishing in sites like padmapper and craigslist. We're scouring facebook for possible hook-ups. I'm twittering up a storm (@pashleyy). But still... nothing.

We refuse to give up hope, however. We refuse to surrender. This is a once in a lifetime chance to do something remarkable. So we're going to do it.

Something remarkable.

Ashley