Death and Capitalism

Alexander McQueen died today. Apparently is was suicide.

I'm selling a blazer on eBay. It's McQueen. There had only been one bid on it yesterday. Today, it's up to $105.50. I bought it on eBay for $100.

I'm profiting from this man's death. It feels odd.

He was a genius and his presence in the art world will be missed.

I would embed a YouTube video of one of his collections, but they were all incredible and one can't be singled out over the others.

RIP Lee.

Today was wonderful.

I woke to a blizzard, snow pounding the streets out my window. I prayed for an email alerting me of NYU's closing due to the heavy snowfall. No dice.

So I dressed and made my way to Studio.

Our first class, the aforementioned acting one that was (and still is) kicking my ass, started out with some sound-and-movement and evolved into something a little unexplainable ... I'd rather speak to you about it than write about it, so don't hesitate to ask if you're interested. Anyway, after we finished that, we went to Washington Square Park and had this enormous snowball fight, teacher included. It was one of those remarkable, chance things. Everyone, and I mean everyone, loved it.

After that, we went our separate ways. Voice class had been cancelled since our instructor lives outside the city and couldn't make her way in due to dangerous roads and all that. I went out and bought some dumplings and sesame pancakes at this dilapidated little restaurant in Chinatown and came back to my apartment.

After doing the requisite Facebook check, I logged onto my Gmail account and there it was, a little message whose subject line read: Early Closing Due to Winter Weather. It was the most beautiful thing I have ever seen.

Some good (and slightly belated) news.

I'm in a show. An ETW mainstage, which is great. Even greater is that it's written by Taylor Mac and directed by Paul Zimet. This is an incredible opportunity and I'm really excited. It doesn't start rehearsing until Spring Break, so I have ample time to loaf around, doing absolutely nothing of real importance.

At the end of this year, all ETW second-years have to plan, produce, and perform their own ten minute piece. These are aptly titled "Second-Year Projects." I am terrified. In a good way. I want to accomplish so much, but I have to remember that it's ten minutes. I certainly can't fit my whole life into that. So much of my free time (prior to Walk, which is the Taylor Mac show) will be devoted to working out my ideas into something tangible.

Classes are good. I'm really loving voice - singing becomes more and more enjoyable with each class. I think I'm opening to the idea that my voice can grow and change and sound like something other than a dying cat.

Acting is kicking my ass. We're working with Raina Von Waldenburg, a protégé of sorts of Jerzy Growtowski's main actor, Ryszard Cieslak. It's a very physical approach to acting and doesn't allow for much thought, which is really good. It works from pure impulse. I'm struggling, but that's essential. If I didn't I wouldn't be learning.

So. There it is.