The C-Side Chronicles: Concrete Jungle: Day 1

Today was the first day of my adventure here in New York City. I'll admit right off that traveling through three time zones in less than twenty four hours during daylight savings time is not a good idea, but it's all been worth it so far.

My dad and I started out the day by going to a little cafe/coffee shop called "World Coffee" where we both had muffins and I had a cup of freshly juiced apple juice. We're trying to be a bit more conscious of what we eat while here so that we don't have to roll each other back to the hotel every night. So far we've done relatively well with that goal.

We then headed to the TKTS line to get tickets for Waiting for Godot, or Waiting for Gu-dot as one of the TKTS guys unjokingly called it. It was cold, but I felt just fine in the 31 degree weather while everyone around me seemed to be freezing even in their marshmallow jackets.

My dad and I were able to get tickets and needed to waste time between lunch and the time the show began. We went to FAO Schwartz and of course, the Apple Store. It was a good time and we saw some things we really liked. For me, it was the Wizard of Oz toys and Beatles merchandise along with all the Apple products I don't already own. For my dad, it was some Beats headphones.

After all this, he and I headed to the theatre and took our very small seats. The show was very well done and the cast was wonderful. I especially loved the set design. I felt like this play could easily be played too seriously, so it was good to experience this story through the lens of friendship that has a very natural feeling string of comic situations. It was also nice to be surrounded by a lot of people who would not normally go out of their way to see a Samuel Beckett play, well, going out of their way to see a Samuel Beckett play.
Next comes the part many people know me for executing: the picture with someone I highly respect.

After the show, security set up these small barricades to keep the already large crowd forming at the stage door in control. We waited for a small while and I sort of made friends with a young boy and his mom near the back of the crowd. You form this sort of short lived friendship as a means of having someone to laugh the situation you are both in off with another person. It's one of the best kinds of friendship. Anyway, I was able to get two autographs and pictures: Billy Crudup and the man himself, Gandalf the Grey/White a.k.a. Sir Ian McKellan, a.k.a. One of the coolest people ever.