Kansas Goes to NYC

Stories From The City

Stephen Colbert vs. David Letterman
 
Attending a David Letterman show taping and then going Colbert Report taping is like attending your dad’s slow pitch softball game and then going to see the Yankees play in Yankee Stadium (no offense dad, you are a savant right-center fielder).  
 
Having only the experience of Letterman, I felt pretty fortunate to have seen it. We lucked into the tickets, front row seats, caught a decent show, and had a few laughs with Dave.  It felt like one of those “New York Things to Do,”  like seeing the Statue of Liberty.  You go, appreciate what it is, have your moment with it, and then leave, never really feeling the need to go again.  
 
I have rarely laughed as hard as I did at Colbert, ever.
 
Letterman is a made man.  He gets his jokes in, chats up the celebrities, and slams Paul 3-9 times (Paul, by the way: expert keyboardist, comprehension skills of a second grader).  You appreciate Letterman for what he has done, not necessarily what he is doing.
 
Colbert is a force of nature every second he is in the studio.
 
We got to the show an hour and a half before we are told the taping begins.  The entire crowd packs into a small room for the first hour, several times being told “how excited we should be” by PAs whose forced enthusiasm makes them hard to look at.  Because they over-booked our first attempt at seeing the show, we had VIP seating and ended up 3rd row, dead center.  

Letterman’s warm-up guy made a few tourist jokes before bringing out Dave.  Colbert’s guy had everyone in tears within five minutes.

One tends to walk away from performances, wondering what the talent is really like and how much they actually want to be there.  I got my answer from Stephen 45 seconds before the show started.  While frantically transitioning from Q&A to the set, he walked up to the stage manager, gave her a hug and a kiss on the cheek.  I saw him mouth “How is your dog?” to which she nodded fine and smiled.  

Bryan, our friend Eric, my cousin Jake got a very special experience that I would recommend to everyone.

Celebrity Turkey

I know you recognize him.  ”Twister”, anyone?

Sunday: Jason Sudeikis (SNL, Hall Pass) Village Pourhouse during KU’s loss.  Went up to him to thank him for his good words about the Midwest during a recent podcast appearance.  He was some combination of high, drunk, or really tired from being on Saturday Night Live the night before.

Monday:  Joey Slotnick (Top 5 of guys you know you recognize but cannot name one thing they have been in, or think of their name for that matter)  At the Home Depot, having as much trouble as I was finding the exact bolt needed from the wall filled with bolts that never fit.

Tuesday: John Cryer (Insert Two and a Half Men joke here) I am not going to count Stephen Colbert as my Tuesday celebrity, but I will count one of his audience members.  I saw him outside before the show, but didn’t call it until he and his lady-friend sat down in the theater.  I glanced over a couple times and saw him fighting off the “laughing too hard tears.”  He looked like he really, really needed that night.


Sister City

My sister, Kelly, left Manhattan, Kansas, for Manhattan, New York, for her spring break.  She had a great time seeing sights, a show at the Philharmonic, and partaking in the women-dominated sport known as shopping.  It was one of those weeks where everything just seemed to work out, so much so that I and the rest of our family has had to emphasize to her that actually living in New York would not be like that week.  

She returned home with new shoes, clothes, and stories.  She texted me a few days later saying, “You know you are back in Manhattan, Kansas when you see someone carrying around a deer skull.”


Going Corporate

As of April 27, 2011, I officially started working for The Man. Our good friend Eric is moving to California, and his old position at The Wall Street Journal was offered to me by his boss (and my iPhone scrabble buddy) William.  I will be working in “Luxury Marketing,” primarily helping put together presentation materials for the sales team whenever they are pitching to a luxury advertiser.  Some of you may be wondering, and yes, this is an eerily similar storyline to that of WWF superstar, The Rock.

In the 1998-1999 season, then “People’s Champ” The Rock traded in any street cred he had and started working for “The Corporation.”  “The People’s Elbow” became “The Corporate Elbow,” the cheers turned to boos, and junior high boys everywhere wept.  

What I am getting at is that despite my best efforts to get through life as a hippie spirit, it turns out the things that hippie spirits like doing (seeing the world, going to events, …living in New York), cost money.  

Despite having to wear a dress shirt to work for the first time in my life, I am very excited about this new chapter.  Corporate America may not be for me in the long run, but if I am going to experience it, this is the best time and place to do so.




Enjoy the last few looks of winter.

I Am

One of the perks of living in NYC, one which is compounded by working at a giant media company (one day i’ll get around to writing about this), is that I occasionally get invites to cool things that other people don’t get to go to.  Tonight was one such event.

Tonight I attended an advance screening of a film called “I Am” by the director Tom Shadyac.  He’s famous for movies like Ace Ventura, Liar Liar, and Bruce Almighty.  A while back, he had a cycling accident that led to a life threateningly severe case of post concussion syndrome (PCD). This whole experience led him to reevaluate some things in his life and compelled him to share the truths he had come to know. The result was this documentary.

Essentially the film is an exploration of two questions: What’s wrong with the world? and What can we do about it? The answers are both infinitely complex and utterly simple. Featuring interviews with some truly brilliant individuals, the film is full of the sort of ideas that make you feel really guilty about the state of our society but also make you feel really empowered by the incredible nature of the universe.  If this all sounds a little new age and zen, it’s because it is. The screening tonight was organized by a whole bunch of hippie organizations in New York, none of whose names i can remember, but all having something to do with Buddhism or Oneness or Collective something or other.  Still, the film was stunningly beautiful, and forces a really valuable mode of thought and reflection.

By far the coolest part of the experience was after the movie though.  Tom Shadyac fielded questions from the audience for close to an hour, further articulating the themes of the film and engaging in a really heartfelt and genuine conversation with the people in attendance.  It was one of those comforting experiences where you feel good that, for a brief time, you are surrounded by really mindful and positive people who deeply care about the welfare of all humanity.

If you can’t tell, it was a pretty moving experience for me.  So, go see the film.  I promise it’s worth it.  It might make your brain hurt a little bit, but it will also make your brain feel really good.

There is no “them”, only “us.”

Bryan

Happy Anniversary

Six months ago today, four kids from Kansas moved to New York City. A lot has changed but a lot has stayed the same. It is a gorgeous sunny day.

It doesn’t take long for the magic of NYC to wear off. Eventually it became just a place where we live. The big buildings just become surroundings. The people all just blend together. Then every once in a while we get a rare moment of reflection. Of the seven billion people on earth, I am one of the luck few that gets to take the greatest city on the planet for granted everyday.

People who have never even been to America, or tasted the American spirit, pine for our streets and colored lights. Maybe not everyone believes in the American Dream anymore, but I think it’s still around. That’s why we came, and that’s why we’re still here.

Happy St. Patrick’s day from the greatest city on Earth.

-T

New Year, New York

Editor’s note: Summarizing my life into words and entertaining stories is proving to be more and more of a challenge, partially because I have entered a fairly heavy routine and partially because I feel like I am leaving a stage of change and observation and entering one of doing.  I am working a lot, commuting a lot, and trying to enjoy the times with friends in between.  That doesn’t leave a lot of time for wild adventures and subsequent blog posts.  I hope as the weather warms up, I will have a little more energy to be an explorer of NYC and not just a worker bee.

 

I have been very blessed in the time since my last post.  And it all started with being on TV (again (maybe)).

The Real Housewife of New York meets The Real Boy from Kansas

 

The Real Housewife on the far left, her husband wearing the upholstery, er, jacket.

Two Fridays before Christmas, Ryan Pfluger and his trusty sidekick (me) went to photograph a pseudo-celebrity.  The subject was Alex McCord of “The Real Housewives of New York,” and the shoot took place while cameras were there filming for her show.  For those of you don’t watch the Bravo Network (this is me hoping my mom isn’t the only one who reads this blog), TRHoNY is a reality show about a handful of well-off NY women ‘friends’ in their late thirties to mid-forties and whatever issues and problems well-off NY women have.  I did see the first and maybe second episode of the first season and I did recognize Alex, but beyond that I had no real fandom for the show.

Someone who did was Ryan’s boyfriend, Jeff.  Jeff was acting as the assistant to the assistant photographer so that he could hang out for the day and meet Alex.  I had heard a lot about Jeff and seen several really great pictures of him but it was my first time meeting him.  We had a good time shooting the breeze during our downtime and I hope to see him again.

Ryan and I got set up pretty quickly and ended up waiting around while the hair and makeup people worked on Alex.  Several times Jeff brought something to Alex and was evidently nervous around her.

 Random Tangent:  I used to get nervous around people ‘more important than I’ and cute girls.  Between meeting SO MANY PEOPLE these last few months and meeting several ‘VIPs’, I sort of grew out of any nervousness.  People seemed to like me better once I got comfortable around them, so without realizing it, I did away with the whole nervous-at-first stage.

 I get nervous around two kinds of people: people I idolize and therefore am worried about what they think of me, and cute girls.  Watching Jeff around Alex, I had a sort of epiphany that the Kitley I become when I am nervous is not the Kitley I am the rest of the time, so if someone is ultimately going to like me I might as well be myself and not really worry about what they think.  One of those easier-said-than-done things, but the realization alone is very empowering. 

I was snapped out of my deep thought when Alex was listing off places she had grown up.  An abridged version of what happened follows:

“..partially in Dallas and partially in Kansas” said Alex, unable to look around the room while the beauticians were at work.

“What part of Kansas?” the lowly photographer’s assistant asked from across the studio.

“Who said that?” asked Alex, still unable to move.

“Uh, Kitley, I work with Ryan and I am from Lawrence, Kansas originally.”

We continued talking for a while about our hometowns and the frequency with which she had been back.   She was really nice and easy to talk to; the hardest part for me was not looking at the cameras.  She was very good at talking in a way that works for reality TV, but no two people would really talk like that all the time.  This type of talking was even more evident when her husband showed up and they both spoke to each other with an essay-like explaining structure to each thought. 

 

Alex, through Ryan’s film camera while he was shooting with his digital.

All in all, the entire shoot was a success, Ryan got some really great stuff, and Alex was a surprisingly nice and humble person.  It amazes me people want their entire life filmed.

Going Home for the Holidays

I had mixed emotions about going home.  Obviously, part of me was very excited but another part felt a little defeated that I had been in NY for several months and hadn’t secured full-time work.  I also realized that this was the first time in my life that I was just visiting home.  I’ve either always lived in Lawrence/KC or been somewhere else temporarily. 

My family helped with the costs of travel as my Christmas present.  It may have been the greatest present ever.  Seeing everyone was great, being in familiar places was great, and time to re-evaluate life without having to deal with ‘city things’ was very therapeutic.  

 

Christmas Dog! Luke could barely contain his excitement.

After a week of holidays, food, friends, a few chores, bowling, and movies, I had to return to NYC.  As I sat down on the plane during boarding, I received an automated text message saying that my flight from Baltimore to NYC had been cancelled due to the blizzard in New York.  I rushed off the plane, called my family to come back to the airport and get me, and canceled my trip back.  I ended up getting a few extra days at home before catching a flight to Philly and then taking a train the rest of the way.   

I miss my family and Lawrence every single day, but I appreciate the level of special it all becomes for me when I am away.

Basketball

Every now and then, Tyler and I reminisce about how much we miss college, mainly the rec center.   He misses it because of the great workout equipment, and I miss it because of the basketball.  We both miss it because of the cute (nervousness-inducing) girls.  I was only taking film classes my last semester, and because a lot of that work happens on the weekends, I had a lot of free time during the week.  Every night that I could I would go up and play until it hurt to stand.  I could always find competition and always wanted to get better.  I think everyone has that one thing in their life that they feel the happiest doing, and even though they can’t explain it to anyone else, and there isn’t really anything to show from it at the end of the day, it’s all they want to do.  That’s basketball for me.

The Cage, one week later I would be shooting hoops on a 60 degree night. 

Between the famous street ball locations, the Knicks at Madison Square, and the highly touted players that seem to come from here every year, I always thought of NYC as the basketball capital of America.  What I didn’t factor in was the lack of places to play in the winter.  My sole release has been my weekly basketball league.  After a rough start we have won our last two games and started to figure out how to play together. 

And finally, a steady paycheck…

After months of looking online for jobs, contacting everyone I know, and a lengthy interview and try-out process, I finally have a job. 

Hello World Communications, my new office. (The text isn’t real, just a CG technique I was demoing).

Initial Reactions:

·      I was hired to work full time at a video equipment rental house.  While that sounds fairly boring, the specific rental house that I work at is a very unique, energetic, and close-knit place.  The staff is made up of five other guys and two girls, all thirtyish or under.  No joke, I actually like all of my co-workers.  The owner is an older, methodical man who has owned this company for tens of years.  My main responsibilities are to check gear in and out, take orders/talk with customers, and occasionally do fun things with the gear.

·      I am very fortunate that not only is it an answer to my fiscal prayers, but I got pretty lucky and ended up in a great environment.

·      It is all very Montessori in structure - other than the occasional request from the boss or front manager, it is really on each individual to do the things that need to get done, and creative free time is encouraged.  So far I have gotten to test out some of the gear, done a fashion video edit, gone on location for an advertising pitch shoot, and been asked to head the committee to change the design of the website.

·      There is a full kitchen! I really like eating and the kitchen allows me to eat well multiple times a day and for very little money. 

·      Technically we are in the Chelsea district, on 22^nd Street and 6^th Avenue, but I walk entirely through the Flatiron district to get there (including  going by the Flatiron building every day).  Trader Joe’s, Chipotle, and a Bally’s are all a stone’s throw away.

·      The most pleasantly surprising part of the work is when I am asked to go on errands.  Even though it has been a soul punishing winter, I really enjoy walking around outside.  It also gives me a reason to explore parts of the city I might not get to otherwise.

 The Horizon

- We had back to back 60 degree days this past week.  I even got to go shoot around in the dark after work one night (dark is relative in downtown NYC).  It reminded me of how much I love getting out and doing things when it is warm in the city.

- In mid-march, my sister Kelly is forgoing any spring break trips to lawless Mexican cities or Disney World to come visit me!

- I have yet to announce it to my office, but I am officially heading the ‘NCAA tournament bracket pool’.  There is only one other college basketball fan in the office, which means I should be the most knowledgeable, come March… and THAT means I will probably loose all of my money to a lot of beginners luck.

- This summer, I am eyeing a trip to Europe to see some friends and my dad’s brother, Glenn, and his family.  They will be doing a mini tour based around the women’s world cup in Germany.  I have never been too Europe, and with friends and family being in several destinations, I am trying to make this my next adventure.  Plus, if I am not saving for something, I end up spending all of my money on Chipotle and sneakers.

Because of my inexcusable absence from blogging, I made an effort to capture some of the things I see.  Write your own captions.

-Kitley

The Progress Report

I’m feeling very existential. Yep, it’s one of those posts. But bear with me for just a moment.

                       

The human condition, as I see it, is the summation of life’s peaks and valleys, struggles and successes (I know, every high-school blogger ever has a sentence similar to this to pretend they understand what being “growed up” is all about, but just roll with it for a second). Despite the fact that pain and unhappiness are logically regarded as the blemishes on our track records of life, they are crucial for understanding the nuances of joy and victory. Which is why I cherish every loss and every arduous endeavor I have happened upon.

Virtually everything I am proud of, whether it be the content of my character, or my collection of artistic exploits, has been directly influenced by moments of struggle. They’re born from stubborn pride, loves lost, second places, last places and being told I can’t. However macabre, depression is a friend I welcome from time to time, who illustrates to me the facts of life; most of which I might never learn in the sunshine of a perfectly contented life.

New York has a very specific flavor that I’ll probably always struggle to put my finger on. It’s definitely part silent camaraderie with the masses. It’s part voluntary subjection to a current too strong to fight against alone. Part self-serving disregard for the individual. Part grime. Part pride. There’s a dash of loneliness. A peppering of fear for the uncertain future. Depending on the day, you might get just a hint of self-loathing credence for your lack of value. New York is an interesting dish that when paired with a nice cold glass of your own subsistence, yields a buzz of hope for the day it all becomes worth it. Every key typed. Every pencil scratched against paper. Every dream manifested. All taking you from the valley of the hopeful, to the summit of substantiation.

“Sunny days wouldn’t be special, if it wasn’t for rain
Joy wouldn’t feel so good, if it wasn’t for pain
Death gotta be easy, ‘cause life is hard”

Curtis “50-Cent” Jackson

-T

Is This The World We Must Live In?

New York needs to get itself together. The bananas have never been quite the caliber I would expect, and the problem seems to be getting worse. See for yourself. These bananas (not plantains) in Target are so green that they’re closer to blue than yellow. Maybe some people are into the whole “crunchy” banana thing but I know better.

Once again New York, you are a mess. I don’t think I’m out of line when I say I’m not going to spend ¢19 EACH on bananas like this. I won’t stand for it. This is the type of thing Kansas just quite simply doesn’t tolerate. First you let them take away your ripe bananas, then the right to vote. Before you know it, we’re allies with North Korea and living in squallier. The upside would be that some rich country that feels bad for us might actually send us ripe bananas.

-T

Why Every Landlord Should Also Own a Liquor Store

After careful, concise study of what attributes make a good landlord, we here at KansasGoesToNYC have developed the following one question test.

How many bottles of Patrón have you received from him/her?

                             

If you answered “less than one,” your landlord may not be that tight. If you answered “one or more,” your landlord most certainly is tight. Our landlord, Raphael, is tight.

-T

All Is Calm, All Is Bright

The weeks of wondering where the line between “unpaid internship,” and “legalized slavery” is drawn has lead me here. Maybe its just those corn fed values we talk about. Maybe it’s just growing up in the Midwest and hearing stories about people like Heisman trophy winner Eric Crouch of Nebraska, who wrote thank you letters to the people who wrapped his ankles in the locker room before games.

For what its worth, my little proverb of the spirit of giving in my workplace is documented on my personal blog, but it’s definitely worth sharing with the fine folks of Kansas:

HERE

Sorry for the low quality, but here is a picture I snapped walking past the tree.Merry Christmas everyone. Safe travels, and good will to all.

-T

Echoes

In a city so vast, it is strange how it all falls together. Garrett and I spoke recently on this subject of seemingly random interactions. Literally millions of people wander the streets of New York City. Everyday I look into the faces of thousands, sometimes tens of thousands of people. Somehow despite this, we manage to make meaningful interactions with others. Roger Waters of Pink Floyd wrote, “strangers passing in the street, by chance to separate glances meet, and I am you and what I see is me.” I used to think that was just a cool lyric, but I think I’ve learned to appreciate its poetry.

A little over a week ago, someone threw themselves in front of a subway train somewhere around Atlantic Avenue (I feel it would be disrespectful to not clarify that the transit authority will not disclose information of this nature, but because all train traffic on the 2,3,4, and 5 lines, going both directions was not allowed to pass through this stop due to an “injury,” it points toward a suicide. An injury not resulting in death would be speedily attended to and only halt one direction of traffic), a sad reality of the Big City. I needed to commute to Brooklyn for work, so I was forced up to the surface to hail a cab. I was in the financial district at this point and most cabs were already filled because of the time of day. As I walked down the sidewalk with my hand out, I saw ahead of me a man about to step into a cab so I inquired if we might be able to share. He agreed.

We had the obligatory introductory conversation as we headed toward where we decided we would ultimately stop and split ways. I learned that he had also been halted on the trains. It ending up being a relatively lengthy cab ride, so I was glad to have shared the cost. Several minutes passed, and we approached the intersection at which we were planning on stopping.

Cab Driver: You care if I make a left up here so I don’t block traffic?

Man: (to me) Where are you going exactly?

Me: Oh, up on the right a little ways. I can walk from wherever. It’s not far.

Man: (to Cab Driver) Well turn right if you must, and then just keep going a little ways.

We drove to almost exactly where I needed to go, and he told the driver to stop.

Man: This is where I live. This a good place for you?

Me: Yeah (pointing 30 feet away), I’m working there.

Man: Wow, how random is that?

Quite. Quite random. Two people who had never met, get into a cab for a lengthy drive with only a vague idea of where the other is headed. And those places are virtually the same place. Not a major place, like Grand Central. Our paths intersected at exactly the right moment (had my gait been a slightly different speed, and I walked by only seconds earlier or later, it would have never happened), at exactly the right spot (had my absolutely random path to hail a cab taken me in a different direction, it would have never happened), to head to a remote location in a different borough (a mostly residential area in south-central Brooklyn), for entirely different reasons (his to go home from work, mine to go to work from home). It would seem that a unification by chance like this would face such astronomically low odds, it would nearly never happen. And yet somehow, it does.

But that’s not what made this especially eerie. Remember that conversation Garrett and I shared about how random interactions in the city occur? It had happened only minutes before these events. We were talking about it over coffee on my break.

-T