Tuesday 30 June 2009

The First Night Of Four That Wiped Me Out

So, at the start of the previous post I was raving about how much of a difference a couple days off the ale can make and that I couldn't keep it up for 7 weeks...well one thing lead to another and the run of sobriety ended abruptly on Wednesday night.

So, my friend, K, managed to get a list at a club called The Anchor on Spring street in Soho. It's a good spot and a celeb fave so I thought this was pretty good and offered my help with promoting it. He got some flyers printed up and on Wednesday night we went around our accommodation putting them under doors, handing them out to fellow interns and sticking them to walls, the usual. We decided to head outside and flyer on the street to people who looked like returning interns. Upon going through the rotating door of the New Yorker Hotel we were accosted by two people offering us free tickets to some fashion show going on upstairs in the hotel, we asked if there was any nuditiy, they assured us there would be some, so we agreed and headed up.

Well, we found ourselves in a room of 30 black people (I'm not racist you understand, but when your the only two white guys sat at the front of the black-orientated fashion show you feel a little out of your confort zone, and that maybe you just look like a perve?!) So we watched the fashion feeling a little awkward, the music was played on an ipod...the rest is history. We left soon after and I quickly changed then made my way on my own to meet H, her boyfriend MJ and all the girls who were out at Van Diemens on 3rd and 27th.

As soon as I walked into the bar one of the bar girls was in my personal space asking if I wanted a drink. I thought this was a bit scary at first, but she soon came running back asking where I was from and why I was in New York. We proceeded to talk most of the night in fact, I will call her KVD, she was really, really cool and we got on really well. She plied me with strong vodka and cokes and I plied her with money. We eventually left Van Diemens and moved onto Joshua Tree. I stayed back for one more drink with MW (H's friend from school) for one more drink, we said we wanted to wait for our two friends (J and Miss Texas) who were talking to some lads claiming to be basketball players here for the draft...they wern't. I was actually hanging around to talk to KVD some more, and after knowing Miss Texas's drink out of her hand we all moved up to Josh Tree.

This is where my memory kind of evaporated. I remember having a couple of drinks, meeting a group of lads from England, talking to Miss Texas and taking a couple of random pictures in our usual spot.

Later, everyone was almost on the floor so people started to head out and back to the hotel...I decided that I wanted to go back to Van Diemens and see KVD one more time, so I dragged K, H, MJ, and MW back with me. I soon realised on the walk down that we had lost J and Miss Texas (everyone else had already gone back) and I became convinced that they had been kidnapped or had gone home with some creepers...I tried texting and calling to no avail. I soon forgot though as I talked to KVD some more.

I finally got in around 3:30am and passed out on my bed after trying J and Miss Texas one more time...it turns out both their phones died. Typical.

The Second Night Of Four That Wiped Me Out will air tomorrow.

Wednesday 24 June 2009

What A Difference A Day Makes

Well, it is amazing what a couple of days off from drinking can do for your psychi, health and happyness. I have been off the ale since Saturday night and it is now Wednesday, and I really do feel like a new man. It's been great going out and getting ABLITERATED all across Manhattan every night but it just can't be kept up for the next 7 weeks.

Staying in has not been too bad at all. Sunday evening saw me being dragged to see The Proposal by H. It was alright but for some reason the cinema was filled with people who laughed hysterically at people's facial expressions ALL THE DAMN TIME, and I was sat next to a chinese couple who would not shut the hell up.

Monday saw a little shopping trip around midtown with H. I couldn't be bothered going at first but it ended up being quite good. I got some new stuff, as did she and we got some good food from The Bread Factory on the way home. The downside was being dragged into a HUGE Victorias Secret on Herald Square and getting stuck in the turn-stile doors with my bags in front of a huge group of women, who were all laughing at me. Yeah.

Tuesday began with the vision of going out and drinking, but ended with me sat watching Role Models on my trusty Mac. The film was alright, but the sleep afterwards was much better. I'm finally getting to sleep quickly, and waking up maybe once or twice when a fire engine comes buzzing past the hotel. It is BLISS! I wake up around 8am feeling refreshed and even more alive than the day before, and the rings under my eyes are slowly evapourating.

So today it is Wednesday, the office is empty and I have nothing to do. The agency have one of their BIG events in town - The Piticure. It is a new experiential-stand-alone event supported by a whole host of digital and print material. It is to launch and sample Dove's new Ultimate Visibly Smooth Deodrant range. The team have been working on it for almost a year and it has finally reached New York. The structure offers women (and men if they really want) a Piticure - a Manicure for your underarms. They get a massage and all sorts of other things like that along with a free sample pack. The event looks great and I will hopefully be headed down to see it for myself later today. If you are in New York, it is on Fulton St near the South Street Seaport.

I'm on a serious hunt for hairdressers/barbers today. My hair is getting WAY too long and needs to be sorted pronto. I'm heading up Spring Street in Soho during my lunch break to seek out one I have found online and also find a bar I'm meant to be headed to tonight for food and drinks. I should be heading into a new area of Soho for me today, so hopefully I will see my usual assortment of crazyness.

Speaking of crazyness, how the hell do people sleep on the subway when it is crammed with about 1000 people?! I only have a short ride downtown from 34th to Spring but the short trip always conjures up some sights - whether it be someone sleeping with the head on their lap (probably missing their stop) or a gorgeous girl sat further down the carriage...I really enjoy taking it all in.

That's all for now, the end of the week should be a bit more exciting than the start so hold tight for another update!

Monday 22 June 2009

The Fire Is Out But The Night Life Burns On

Well, last week was quite a week. Going from good to bad, bad to excellent, excellent to okay, okay to shit and then back to excellent again. It was heavily alcoholic, for me it was actually pretty emotional at times and the amount of hangovers was just not cool.

So the fire has been put out before anyone got too burnt. Miss Texas and I will be staying great friends but will not be taking it any further. We hung out at the museum of natural history on Sunday and it was grand. Though her British accent leaves a little to be desired. It is for the best that we don't keep stoking the fire and as the saying goes, what will be will be. I can't lie, I was gutted. I'm getting on with it now though of course, and have met some FUN ladies over the weekend. I couldn't help caring so much for Miss Texas, it was unexpected, unplanned and hard to control and reminded me just how crap feelings can actually make you feel sometimes. I'm in New York to have fun and adventures, not get hung up on one girl, no matter how lovely that girl maybe. She lives in Texas, and me in England for goodness sake!

Plenty more fish in the New York pond and all that.

So on top of all these crazy feelings-related things going on, there were some awesome nights out last week! Met so many cool people, learnt to play Beer Pong, got within 20 feet of Lauren Conrad, walked past Jodie Foster, watched some ladies dance on a bar, met a lovely bar girl from Canada and ran into some girls I met the first weekend I went out in the East Village which was nice. We discovered many new and wonderful bars and places, spent $60 on a bottle of wine and all sort of other random crazyness! The hangovers nearly did kill me though, especially at work so that will not be happening again this week. We need to start doing some things that don't involve getting drunk and actually seeing some more of the city - though maybe the nights out are just too fun?!

I am LOVING that I'm literally not stopping! I have spent a good year being a bum at home, not doing ANYTHING worth talking about except the odd few nights and it has been such a waste of my life. I need to keep this up when I get back to England.

Work is still fantastic, had a nice beer with the CD and Intern 01 on Tuesday evening - we were meant to be brain storming but ended up just chatting about this and that. I also had a lovely dinner on Friday afternoon to celebrate Project Manager 01's One Year Anniversary at the agency. Loads to do and I'm enjoying every minute of it!

I don't quite have a plan of action for after the summer, I have a few ideas floating around in my head but nothing quite set in stone. I already know how HARD it is going to be when I get back and find myself in the country side of Shropshire with NOTHING to do. I won't bore you with my moanings, but it ain't gonna be good!

So what have we learnt? Well, don't allow yourself to care about a girl too much when you only have 8 weeks before you end up 7000 miles apart! And don't waste your life because it is too short!

Wednesday 17 June 2009

Playing With Fire

It is official...I am playing with fire and I am most likely going to get BURNED! But I just can't help it. This is addictive like a drug.

If you ever read/remember the first few chapters of the story I wrote last summer - Our Empire State - then you really should know that I am virtually living that story right now. I wonder how it will end?!

Tuesday 16 June 2009

The Adventure Of A Life Time - Pt. 1.

Well, I'm just over two weeks into my summer long mission in New York City and what can I say, it feels like I have been here a life time already. So, I wanted to update the blog and fill you in on whats been happening, as so much has gone on so far I'm going to tell you about some of my highlights...here we go! (Note, names are being abreviated to keep folk anon if they would want to me.)

1.1
The flight over was well, boring, tiring, lonely but all together a great new experience that really helped me grow a little as a human being. My suitcase was over weight so I was immediately down $50 and then I couldn't get an aisle seat so was squished in against the window for nearly 8 hours next to two Indian guys speaking Punjabi for the whole flight. I watched a couple of films and had a little sleep. The plane did not crash so that was nice....RIP Air France Passengers.

1.2
After getting my luggage I ended up paying $75 on a taxi ride into the city. New York on a budget was not going to plan so far.

1.3
I spent some time wandering around the city on my own. This was refreshing and I felt so proud I had made it all this way off my own back. I had been waiting months for this moment and it was finally here. I then fell asleep...

1.4
On the first Saturday night I met with H, my newest BFF (ha, yes I know.) We had talked on Facebook for a while and finally got together for a night that turned into a drunken free-for-all. I still cannot remember how I got home that night. I also met her old room mate C. It was a grand night from what I can remember, which is not much. I then proceeded to lie in and be a bit late checking into my summer accomm.

(Note: It turns out home sickness can strike with vengence when you have a big hang over!)

1.5
I moved into my room - not what I was expecting - and attempted to get settled. It is kind of like a large white cell with a oddly high bed, an old desk and a TV which is TINY and will not turn fully towards you, and I can't sit up in bed which REALLY annoys me. I have attempted to make it as homely as possible, and so far I have not spent very much time in there anyway and hopefully won't.

1.6
On the Sunday eve I got some food with H and we then went to the orientation meeting where I finally met K1 and K2. Ladies I had met on facebook again. Their accents were cooooool but due to the hangover and mild deafness from the night before I could not tell a word of what anyone was saying. H and I left and decided to call it a night. I went to tune in my cable...as I did a FUCKING HUGE cockroach appeared over the TV right in front of me. I battled with the vile thing trying to kill the unkill-able bastard, finally cutting it in half with a can of hair spray and flushing it down the loo. I reported it - the next day I found the exterminator people had placed mouse traps all over my room...for god sake!

1.7
This is when I started at Cunning. What can I say? I LOVE it here. Everyone in the office is lovely and I was immediatly invited to work on a really interesting brief. Everyday at Cunning is really good fun. My creative director (CD) is hilarious and inspiring, the other creative is a blast to be with, the project duo are insane, the managers are "boss" - it just couldn't get any better.

1.8
Okay, so it got better...my second internship was cancelled the week before I flew out so I was trying to find somewhere else to go after my three weeks at Cunning UNTIL CD offered to let me stay on for the whole summer! I snapped at the chance and I'm now here til August 14th!

1.9
On Tuesday night a whole bunch of people met up and went out to a cool bar on the East Side! Here I met:

K: from Tennesee, great lad!
G: Chicargo and cool!
K3: South Carolina belle!
J: Another North Carolina lady!
B1: Upstate lacross player!
B2: Ohio dude!
U: Great guy from Isreal!

(There are probably more that I have missed off!)

K1, K2, and H all came out too - it was a great night and we discovered a love of Kareoke, and so Kareoke Tuesday's were born. I won't go into great details here, there is just too much to remember!

1.10
We continued to meet up in the hotel bar each night and then venture out into the city for food and drinks! Over these first 4 days I met:

M: Great guy interning at Ogilvy and Mather
E: M's roomate, really cool guy!
Miss Texas: K1;s friend from work, from Dallas and lovely.
S: Chinese dude from Michigan - funny guy!
JE: Simon's room mate and school friend, another great guy!

(Again, who the heck have I missed off?!)

1.11
The first weekend of partying was fantastic. We ventured out to the east side, west side, downtown, greenwich village, east village and just drank, laughed, chatted, danced and all the other stuff you do when your having fun with new friends. The language barrier has been interesting to get used too - I think we are getting somewhere now. We have found some great bars, and actually befriended one bar owner so now we get cheap drinks there. Good times! KT couldn't make it out with us for the first week, and most of the second but hopefully that's going to change in the future!

1.12
Peoples internships are taking up their time as we progress (especially the finance boys who work shockingly long days!) so it's been hard to get everyone together, mini groups are forming from the BIG group which is kinda cool. When we can we all get back together for catch ups which is nice! It's a shame that there are so many people in our accommodation who havn't met such great people as I have.

1.13
Lets talk about girls. I've met A LOT of girls since I have been here, pretty much every night. I'm no Brad Pitt (not in the slightest) but this accent doesn't allow me to even go to the bar to get a drink without someone jumping on me about where I am from, if I support Liverpool, if I live near London and if I have met the Queen. It's been so much fun getting to know so many different American people. I don't think I have found anyone that I havn't liked yet.

1.14
There's one girl I've met who has stood out a little, Miss Texas. Shes a great lass. She came out on Friday night and we had a blast! On Sunday I took her to the cinema to see The Hangover (GO AND SEE THIS! IT IS FANTASTIC!) We then strolled back down 8th Avenue past a woman weeing herself and then I thought it would be grand to head up to the top of the Empire State, so by heck we went and did it! It was great looking out across the city in the evening sun while chatting about everything and nothing. We were both a bit over-whelmed by the fact we lived in this incredible city, really quite humbling. I regret not trying to ambush her up there and plant a little kiss but I'm a shy, bumbling British boy and I'm crap at putting the moves on! haha. We agreed she was coming out this week, and next weekend we are hitting up the American Museum Of Natural History. I love hanging out with this girl, our adventures are gonna be a blast!

1.15
This is the only low-light of the adventure so far . . . I still have not had a damn steak.

1.16
Money is dwindling FAST! I must have spent over $800 in the first week alone. It is SO hard to be kind to your wallet in this city. Drinks are rarely cheaper than $6 a pop or worse and the food is no better.

1.17
The guys I have met have successfully got me interested in Ice Hockey and Basketball which is BIG NEWS as in England, I hate sport really. It's been fun watching the games with a beer, I will really miss that when I get home. I still stand by my hatred of football.

1.18
My journeys to and from work and my lunch times arund Soho have been really great. I always see some odd characters, wierd advertising and just generally amazing things that you don't see in Ormskirk.

1.19
All in all so far I have become SUCH a more confident human being. I talk to anyone, I stand up for myself and I can do anything. I knew this whole experience would be life changing, but I diddn't realise how soon it would effect me.

1.20
New York is amazing. If it carries on like this, it is going to be REALLY hard to go home.


So there is the first highlight update. I have missed out SO much of what I have gotten up to so far but there is just too much to write about. I will update with pictures and more highlights ASAP!

P.S. I cannot be bothered spell checking all that!
P.P.S. Visit http://www.preppypearlgirl.blogspot.com