It doesn't suck to be Me!!

Well, I'm not sure anyone ever reads this anymore--but I bet someday Dara will stumble across it and maybe my mom, but I am 2 weeks into my time in NY (with only 2 weeks to go) and, with a week of big assignments ahead, some blog-posting procrastination was in order.

I had a busy, but good, weekend. A friend and I put our name in for the Wicked Ticket Lottery on Friday. We didn't win, and ended up going to dinner at a yummy hole-in-the-wall vegetarian Indian restaurant and walking around near Penn Station. During the day on Saturday I did some "work" (which mostly amounts to wasting time on my computer--but I did get some stuff done) and then met up with another friend from college and his girlfriend, who live in Jersey City/NY respectively. We had some yummy Mexican food and then looked into going to see a movie, but there was nothing we were dying to see that we hadn't missed and also ended up walking around--Penn Station again, and also Times Square.

My goal for this summer was to win the ticket lottery for Avenue Q. For those who aren't familiar, many Broadway shows have some way of getting cheap last minute tickets--some have rush tickets, some have ticket lotteries. For rush tickets you usually have to stand in line at the box office the day of the performance and you can get tickets for around $25--sometimes obstructed view, sometimes standing room only, sometimes you need a student ID. Some shows also have ticket lotteries about 2 hours before the performance, you go and put your name in and they draw a certain number for cheap, usually good seats. I think the whole thing started with Rent and was a way for students or other locals to see shows cheap. Anyway, I had tried last year to win tickets to Avenue Q and never did, so this year I was determined. I went once last week, and didn't win, and then went again this morning. I went by myself and figured I'd get two tickets and, on the offchance I won, would spend the next two hours calling everyone I knew in NY to try to find someone to go with me. A few minutes before they did the drawing, someone tapped me on the shoulder. It was a girl about my age--she asked if I needed one or two tickets and I told her I was getting two and was going to call a friend. She mentioned that she had put down to get two, but that if she won, she wouldn't need the extra ticket. I said what the heck, if I won she could have my other ticket, and vice versa. Lucky for me--she won! She was also really interested in seeing Wicked (she had seen Avenue Q last summer) and the drawing for that was just after this one. I told her that I would walk over with her and put my name in for that, to give her an additional chance to win. Neither of us won that, so we ended up going to Junior's and having pink lemonades at the bar, and then going to see the show. She was from Australia but living in New Zealand working for the New Zealand Ballet. Last summer she went on a trip of a lifetime around the world, after saving for six years, and spent 13 days in New York--during which she saw 19 shows!!!! All from lotteries and rush tickets. She was back this summer on a shorter trip (US only) but was trying to see as many shows as she could again. It was really fun to meet her and hang out with her--and I sure am lucky she tapped me on the shoulder because she's the only reason i got to see Avenue Q today!! (hence the title of the post: it doesn't suck to be me--one of the songs from the play is "it sucks to be me"--one of my favorite lines:
"Your problems aren't so bad!
I'm kinda pretty
And pretty damn smart.
I like romantic things
Like music and art.
And as you know
I have a gigantic heart
So why don't I have
A boyfriend?
Fuck!
It sucks to be me!"


But it was really exciting to (kind of) win and go and be rght in the front row. I am trying to figure out how I can do as many more ticket lotteries as possible for the rest of my time here. It's getting so hard to squeeze in all the things I want to do in my last two weeks as a New Yorker. I will have to come back and visit lots!!

All right, I'm impressed if you're still reading, so I'll go now and save the rest for another day. Lots of love. And if you're reading this, you should post something!!!!