Monday, August 31, 2009

Nina in New York (NINY): welcome week



So I've moved into my NYU dorm, which is a half block away from Washington Sq Park. There I can watch the dogs at the dog run. I get therapy for my Muffin and Mo withdrawal by watching them get their exercise.

The tradeoff for my awesome location is the fact that I live in an institutional dorm. It looks like prison. A prison with a few homey additions I'm working on installing. The walls are cinderblock, painted white or off-white; it's hard to distinguish under the unnatural glare of our overhead, fluorescent light, the only light source in the room with the exception of our window. The window looks straight across a lightwell to Tower B, meaning there's very little natural light that makes it into the room. However, Victoria and I do have our own personal bathroom, a luxury by typical college dorm standards. The bathroom also reminds me of life on the inside, but there's not much to be done about that.

And now, for the photo tour:
My bed, a Darjeeling Limited poster, a piece of Michael McConnell art, an 18th street block party poster, and a variety of photos. The majority of the wall decorations are still to come. Gotta cover up the cinderblock. Now that I'm looking at this photo though, I'm realizing that it's backward. Somehow it got flipped.

The light. And the window, with the blinds down. Nighttime!


Another view of my room. This one is oriented correctly. I'm the pile of crazy-in-progress on the left, Victoria is the 'Twilight' fan on the right (her poster fell down but I'm sure it'll be back up shortly).

Bathroom. Full view. Today I moved my toothbrush onto the bathroom counter. It adds a human touch to the room. And that's me standing in my roomie's closet space to take the picture.


Toilet, anyone? We now have a bath mat. Once I find a job, I'll buy an extra shower curtain; one of those decorative plastic ones with jet planes or a world map.

Photo tour ends here.

Today was my first day of orientation. It takes 2 days total. I met the kids in my major (there are some chill people and a LOT of Koreans and most likely some overlap between the 2 groups). Tomorrow I register for classes. I'll be taking Fundamental Drawing, Fund. Sculpture, Fund. Digital Art as my elective, "Writing the Essay" which is a required course for all freshies, an art criticism seminar, and my New Student Seminar (only for 1 semester).

As a freshman in my particular college and major, there's very little choice in classes. These are the ones I'll be taking for this entire year. My only choices were my elective and my professors for the drawing and sculpture classes. The first year for a visual art major is dedicated to fulfilling basic art foundation requirements. I do all my liberal arts requirements and continuing art classes, (ones that I choose), in years 2-4. In total, I will be taking 18 units this year, along with my Steinhardt Scholars seminars which take place once a week for about 2 hours. In short, with all my classes, homework, and the job which I need to find and start soon, I will be very busy this year. But I'm excited to get to classes and really start meeting people I have something in common with. Welcome Week is beginning to feel like summer camp.

Tomorrow I'm going to see 'Inglorious Basterds' (i'm ready!), and then I begin the search for the perfect cafe in the neighborhood with WiFi, cheap coffee, cheap food, and preferably a calm atmosphere. We'll see what I find, but I do need a stand-in for Fayes while I'm here.

Sunday, August 23, 2009

Nina in New York


I'm finishing up my first week here in NY and I've seen and done a few things.
1. I visited Michael and Mark at the New York gift show. Mark Poulin had a beautiful booth set up with a fantastic view and hopefully he made some profitable new buyer connections. Find his jewelry here: www.markpoulin.com
2. After the gift show we took a walk along the high line, New York's new, raised, public walkway that spans ~10 blocks in the Meatpacking district.
3. I took a trip to the Frick Museum on 5th ave. and 70th st., right across from Central Park. The building used to be the home of Henry Clay Frick and it now houses the collection of masterpieces accumulated by Henry Frick and his daughter, Helen Clay Frick.
4. I've been staying on the Lower East Side and frequenting many of the local restaurants and bars. Plenty of good food and drink to be had here.
The weather has been ridiculously hot and humid. However, this should probably only continue for a couple more weeks. After that, we're into autumn.

Saturday, August 15, 2009

Goodbye Fayes!


Bye Fayes.
I'm leaving you for NYC and NYU, but I'll miss you and I'll come back to visit once every couple of months or so.

It's been an awesome 3 years, I've met some cool people, some cute dogs, some ugly-cute ones, and watched a lot of movies. Thanks to Matthew and Mike for giving me a great neighborhood job where I got access to both caffeine and entertainment. Everyone needs those two things.

I'll keep you posted on any really big developments in my new East Coast life, and likewise, I would like to hear about important Fayes happenings. 

Love to you all.
Nina

Wednesday, August 5, 2009

TIKI- FAYES

Tonight the Fayes crew is headed to The Tonga Room! Come dance in the rain with us while sipping Mai Tais and saying "aloha" to the Neens.