God Put a Spell On Me

In one simple word, I would describe Godspell as awesome.

It was hilarious. It was spontaneous. It was moving. And it brought me to tears. Godspell is probably one of the best shows I’ve ever seen.

For those who don’t know, Godspell is essentially the parables, the last supper, and the crucifixion in two and a half hours. It’s a primarily comedic musical with improv thrown in throughout the show.

Theatre-in-the-round

Top 10 reasons I loved Godspell and you should see it on Broadway:

1. It's performed in a theatre-in-the-round (aka arena theatre), making the retrieval of props interesting. (Actors opened up doors in the stage floor to pull out all sorts of props throughout the show.

2. Baptismal water fell from the ceiling and into a baptismal tank in (yes, in) the stage.

3. Ancient philosophers were baptized and jumped up and down with joy, as if they were worshipping the God they just accepted. It was so powerful it gave me goosebumps.

4. Parables were creatively presented through pictionary, skits, and charades. Audience members close to the stage were pulled on stage to help the actors a couple of times.

Confetti by my feet

5. It was improvisational and current, with references to Occupy Wall Street ("Occupy 50th Street! Occupy 50th Street!") and the quality of understudy ("You're just an understudy, what do you know?").

6. Confetti and props were thrown into the audience a few times, and the actors were constantly wandering the aisles and interacting with the audience.

"Wine" on stage

7. At intermission, Jesus invited the audience to "have some wine" on stage. Several actors stayed on stage and chatted with the audience.

8. The Last Supper, Judas's betrayal of Jesus, and the crucifixion were powerful and moving scenes.

9. Overall acting and singing was good...although, let's be honest, some had better, stronger voices than others.

10. It was hilarious, interactive, and engaging, but it did a great job of introducing the Gospel to anyone in the audience who had no idea what was in the Bible.

Tickets provided as a courtesy

Intermission. Audience on stage with actors.

Post-Intermission, Pre-Act 2. A few actors singing and having fun on stage.
One actor  sat at the piano that's in (yes, in) the stage.

Apple-Picking Upstate New York

Who goes apple-picking without picking a single apple or eating one picked at the orchard? Me.

Last Sunday, I went upstate with a group of students from my House (see below for a paragraph about the House System at The King’s College). Every house goes on some sort of retreat each semester, some are day-long trips while others are overnighters. My House calls it Barton Day Away (BDA).

Picture captured while bus was moving.
Best  I could do while the bus was moving.

This year, the student leadership team decided to kick off the day with a waffle feast before going to an apple orchard, Masker Orchard (www.maskers.com) in Warwick, NY. About 20 Bartonites participated.

We were packed into the apartment of 3 students while we ate freshly cooked waffles with syrup; juicy, defrosted mixed berries, and Nutella. The waffles just kept on coming and the girls just kept on eating.

The trip up to the orchard was beautiful. We took a bus from Port Authority, which drove by trees, trees, and more trees, as well as a couple of lakes. The leaves were changing colors - green, yellow, orange, red...it was a picturesque autumn day. The kind some believe only exist in the movies.

Another picture captured while bus was moving.

Once we arrived at the orchard, we sprawled out with our picnic blankets and ate lunch, peanut butter and jelly sandwiches; sparkling apple cider (bottle top opened with a knife by McKinley because we had no bottle opener); and for dessert, good homemade goodies: apple pie, pumpkin bread, chocolate chip cookies, and pumpkin chocolate chip cookies. Yum, yum. The ladies of Barton sure do know how to pack a good snack! :)

Most of the gals ran around the orchard, picked apples, and ate some. Many lounged around and read for classes the next day. Most even made it down to the general store where the orchard sold homemade jams, apple sauce, apple butter, and country-style kitchen decor. There was also homemade apple pie, pony rides, face painting, and farm animals (although the farm animals weren’t worth seeing...a few animals penned up in about 15x15 space).

All in all, it was a restful day, and I got to spend some time getting to know the girls from my House. I can’t wait for BDA in the spring!

About the House System at King’s (where I work):
Each new student at The King’s College (www.tkc.edu) becomes a member of one of ten Houses, each named for a notable leader who embodies the ideals of The King’s College. Through their House, students will have countless opportunities to build close relationships, join together to explore New York City, grow spiritually and intellectually, and have fun.

Each House as a Staff Advisor and a Faculty Advisor. I am Staff Advisor to the House of Clara Barton. Go Barton!

Ladies of Barton walking down the orchard hill, going home

Picnicing in Prospect Park, Brooklyn

I attend Trinity Grace Church, which has 4 locations in Manhattan and 1 location in Brooklyn. Today was a church-wide picnic at Prospect Park in Brooklyn. As iconic, intricate, and beautiful as Central Park is, Prospect Park, in some ways, is better.

Prospect Park has never-ending fields of grass, making it the perfect location for a picnic. In fact, everyone else in NYC agrees me. The park was filled with people picnicing with family and friends, but there was still more than enough to invite thousands of more picnicers to join us.

The majority of TGC’s picnic was spent playing flag football. I was on the UWS Marrieds team (Team Name: High Flyin’ Kites...another blog for another day), and my primary offensive role was to hike the ball while my primary defensive role was to rush the quarter back. I thought for sure I’d hate it. Not so. I loved it. (Team Pic to follow)

Anyway, on our way home, walking through the park, we were able to see what others were doing on their day off work, on their day to picnic. The diverse nature of the City was made very clear.

One group had been transported to the 21st century from the medieval era. On their patch of grass, they were challenging each other to duels and fighting “to the death.” They wore medieval garb and fought with medieval weapons (made of foam so as not to hurt anyone, of course).

Another group was barbecuing and steaming foods in giant pots that resembled the trashcan that Oscar the Grouch lived in. What were they steaming? You’d never guess it...crabs and lobster tails. Even more intriguing, it was a reunion, recalling old times when they were in...nope, not college or high school...jr. high. I’ve never known anyone to have a jr. high school reunion, but they sure did seem to be having fun.

When our group went to look in the "trash can," they offered
us crabs. We took 4, and Philip and our friend Andy ate some.
Apparently, it was yummy.

There were, of course, the standard birthday parties, barbecues, tanners, and families just spending time together. No park in the City would be complete without the people and groups that seem typical and the people and groups that defy expectations. If one is missing, you’re surely not in NYC.

Apartment Hunting in New York

Apartment hunting in New York is really only fun if you have lots of money to spend. Otherwise, you end up living in a dump. Well, unless you room with half a dozen other people in a high rise loft or something along those lines. So you can guess that Philip and I have had a rough time finding an apartment.

Some NYC real estate offices have
cool waiting areas!

Our sublease is up on July 30, so for the past month, month and a half, Philip and I have made apartment hunting a full-time job. Unless we’re eating or sleeping, we’re on Craigslist, real estate websites, or makeshift apartment search websites or we’re visiting places from everywhere in Riverdale in the Bronx (WAY up north in NYC) to Astoria in Queens.

What makes it even tougher than our financial situation in general is that NYC has super strict renting policies. Basically, if you’ve ever missed a rent payment, if you’ve ever been to court with a landlord (regardless of circumstances), if you don’t make 40x monthly rent, etc. it’s virtually impossible to rent an apartment. 

Office desk, office chair, and visitor chair

Then there’s the broker’s fee. Arizona real estate agents, read carefully: If you want to provide shoddy services to your clients (not that I suggest it) while making bank, move to NYC! The real estate agents we’ve worked with here are the worst we’ve ever worked with, and many of them make 15-18% of the yearly rent for each rental transaction (as opposed to the 6% you make!). It’s a crazy market here in the City.

Anyway, our search is over. We now have a place to stay for the month of August. I’m sorry, did I write “place”? I meant “places.” Yes, we’re playing the New York game of live-where-you-can-until-you-find-the-perfect-place-for-you! As soon as our lease is up, we’re moving into a shared apartment for a week and a half before finishing out the month in a beautiful shared apartment on Roosevelt Island. Wanna know how beautiful? Check out these views from the apartment:

Pics above and below: East River and Manhattan Skyline

Okay, so I know my earlier pics of the office furniture didn't really have to do with our apartment search, but it kind of did. We talked to and visited so many real estate agents and offices that when I saw that particular office, I had to take pictures and share. It was, by far, the trendiest office space I have ever seen in person (as opposed to magazine pictures, TV shows, movies, etc.).

By the way, remember that I said Philip and I found a place to stay for the month of August. Wish us luck on our next search!

NYC in the Summer

Although it may be hot and humid, summer is the best season to visit NYC if you’re on a budget. The City offers so many free events around the different boroughs that it’s hard not to find an event you might enjoy.

Stage before it got dark and before
singers started performing.

A few weeks ago, there was a traveling classical theatre troupe performing Moliere’s The School for Husbands in Central Park. When I write “traveling,” I literally mean traveling. After each scene, all the actors and audience members would move to another part of the park, re-situate themselves, and continue the show. Philip and I showed up late, so we didn’t stay, but we were at the park long enough to see them travel. It was interesting.

Eating brick-oven pizza while waiting
for friends.

Last week, Philip and I attended a Met Opera recital at Summer Stage in Central Park with a couple friends of ours, Ryan and Tiffany. Although you’re not allowed to supply your own alcohol in the park, there was a beer and wine vendor at the event. They also had brick oven pizza, taco, hot dog, and ice cream vendors there. Hot dogs, by the way, are not always typical in NYC. This particular stand offered hot dogs made with different meats, including a vegetarian version.




It’s like a picnic everywhere you go. We took our blanket to the Met Opera, which we set on top of something (carpet? fake grass?) they used to establish a seating area. The seating area comprised of a roped off section with fold-up chairs for Met Opera members, as well as floor seating on both sides of the members-only section. Behind that section were metal bleachers for non-members who didn’t want to sit on the ground.


There are so many other free events that people can take advantage of that it doesn’t matter if you’re a broke college student or artist or actor trying to make it in the glamorous city of Manhattan.

Your wish is my command: Lincoln Center Ballet

I’ve always wanted to go to the Lincoln Center. And I’ve always wanted to watch a professional ballet performance in NYC. And I’ve always wanted to sit in theatre box seats.

Well, all three wishes were granted last night. (Does this mean I'm out of wishes?)

Philip and I attended an American Ballet Theatre performance of “The Bright Stream” at the Lincoln Center’s Metropolitan Opera House. If we had waited just two more nights, I could’ve watched Julie Kent on stage - that would’ve been an experience! (Julie Kent is the principal dancer at the American Ballet Company in one of my favorite movies, Center Stage.)

We started in balcony box seats, but shortly after the show started, we moved to regular balcony seats. When they said box seats had “partial views,” I didn’t realize it meant “you’ll only see half the stage.” (I’ve had partial view theatre seats before, so I had an idea of what to expect. This theatre was nothing like what I had previous experienced before.) Anyhow, I didn’t feel so bad changing seats because half the balcony boxes emptied out by the time intermission came around.

Staggered lights

The Metropolitan Opera House was grandiose. It looked like what you would expect an opera house to look like based on what you see on TV and in the movies. The house lights were staggered, dangling at different heights, until they turned off...at which point they were pulled all the way up to the ceiling.

The ballet was fun, a comedy about mistaken identity (a male ballet dancer was on pointe...hehe), but I wish we could have sat closer. Musicals and plays are in theatres that are much smaller, and I can see the facial expressions of the actors. The opera house was so large that I had to strain my eyes to try to catch the dancers’ facial expressions...and I never did. In fact, I tried so hard to see their facial expressions that my eyes hurt by the time we left.

Nevertheless, I thought the Lincoln Center and the Metropolitan Opera House were worth the price of admission. The ballet was fun, but I think I would have appreciated it more if I had sat closer to the stage. And the box seats? Well, it’s fun to say I sat there, but I’d never buy them again.

Good Southern BBQ...in NY?

“Do you smell that?” Philip asked me.
“Mmm...yeah, I do,” I responded as the aroma of BBQ kicked my salivary glands into overdrive.

We had just arrived at the Big Apple BBQ Block Party, an annual weekend-long BBQ event that raises money for the Madison Square Park Conservancy. Over 15 of the best pitmasters from the southern states and New York, NY were serving all sorts of BBQ - pulled pork shoulder sandwiches, sausage, beef brisket, whole hog, different types of ribs, all natural turkey, coleslaw, and beans - at Madison Square Park in Flatiron.

Whole hog

Over 100,000 people are typically served over the course of the weekend. And Philip, four friends, and I were among the first of those 100,000.

A lot of people who attend this BBQ Block Party have done their research. They know whose BBQ they want to eat and why. Some pitmasters have somehow managed to gain either a following or a level of fame that draws eaters to their booths, and people will stand in line for hours to pay $8 for a small plate of BBQ prepared by the pitmaster of their choice.

The short line for Big Bob's

Two of our friends had been to the block party before and suggested we arrive as soon as the event started, 11 am. We arrived at 10:59, and almost immediately, I started salivating. Because of this “come early” strategy, the longest we stayed in line for anything was about 45 minutes.

We started at what we knew would be the most popular stop at the block party, Big Bob Gibson’s Bar-B-Q. (See Big Bob's chopping up their "pulled" pork in the video below.) By the time we got our pulled pork shoulder sandwiches (just under an hour long wait) and finished eating them, the end of the line was about 2 hours away from the cash register. Eek! 

Our next longest wait was about 45 minutes for pies from The Original Fried Pie Shop. The only reason it was that short was because our strategizing friends left four of us in line while they figured out what was going on with the lines at the pie shop. Long story short, the vendor didn’t know what to expect at the event, and as a result, their system was chaotic.  Our friends figured out there were four lines (instead of one), found the shortest and grabbed our pies. (The people we had been standing by in the extra long line would probably be there at least another hour and still would not make it to the front.)

The Original Fried Pie Shop chaos

Were the pies worth the wait? Well, I guess the 45-minute wait was fine...and I could even handle the cold wind and rain...but I certainly wouldn’t wait 2 hours for it. By the way, “Fried Pie” is a fancy term for “I’m an upgraded McDonald’s pie.” It was shaped like a large, flat empanada, and it was filled with - you guessed it - pie filling. Between the six of us, we had at least one apple, apricot, and blackberry; the only option we were missing was the peach.

 

The Big Apple BBQ Block Party was an interesting experience, and we all left talking about how we need to do it again next year. As I sit here writing this and smelling the BBQ smoke on the clothes I wore, I can’t help but think, “Yeah, I’ll go again next year. But I might be more strategic about what I wear.”

St. Louis Style Ribs from Checkered Pig

Pitmasters/Vendors Philip and I visited:
1. Chris Lilly, Big Bog Gibson Bar-B-Q, Pulled Pork Shoulder

2. Tommy Houston, Checkered Pig, St. Louis Style Ribs

3. Michael Rodriguez, The Salt Lick Bar-B-Que, Beef Brisket and Sausage

4. Jenn Giblin, Blue Smoke, Rootbeer float

5. The Original Fried Pie Shop, Apricot and Blackberry

Super 8? Nah...I'd give it a 10

WARNING: This is not a spoiler alert. You do not have to proceed with caution.

Everything is better in NYC - you don’t even have to wait for a midnight showing to watch a major flick! It’s only Thursday, June 9 1:15 pm as I write this, but I’ve already seen one of the most anticipated summer movies even though the release date is Friday, June 10.

I’m not sure what I expected from the movie, but it wasn’t what I expected. It was, however, well done. I mean, J.J. Abrams and Steven Spielberg collaborated on this movie. Did you expect anything less?

Philip and I went to a 10:45 am IMAX showing of Super 8 at the AMC Loews Theatre by Lincoln Center. The screen was twice the size of the average movie theater - In fact, I tried capturing the screen on my camera, but I could only get half the screen in the shot. And the theatre itself was massive...but empty.

One of Philip’s favorite things about anticipated films is that they are packed with excited movie goers who are just as excited as he is to watch the newly released movie - particularly at midnight showings. But in an effort to be one of the first to watch the movie (and save $15), we went to the first showing we found, a pre-release of sorts, that not many people seemed to know about.

We did, however, get free (small) posters for Super 8 and free small popcorns.

Was it worth it to wake up early in case a line would form for the movie? To show up so early we were locked out of the theatre and ate breakfast at a local diner while we waited? To find the best seats in the house and snag ‘em?

Yeah, it was worth it.

Oh, and for those who are going to watch the movie...don't get up as soon as the credits start rolling. You might be in for a surprise!

Married Couples Only

Waiting to release the kite at the perfect time

What does a kite, frisbee, and football have in common? They’re all things that can get stuck in a tree.

As we enter into the heart of summer, our married couples home fellowship is choosing a different activity for our Wednesday night time slot. This week, we packed up our dinners, blankets, and picnic toys and headed to Central Park.

One of the most prominent things I’ve noticed about get-togethers in NYC is that people don’t really potluck. It’s every man for himself. If we had been in Arizona, we probably would have been responsible for bringing drinks or a side dish. Here, we were responsible for bringing our own dinner. It’s interesting how much a culture can change after only a 6-hour flight.

Frisbee stuck in the tree

Anyhow, it was a beautiful evening spent in the park with some new friends. Our husbands aren’t particularly skilled at keeping their toys out of the trees. With little to wind tonight, it was hard to get a kite up in the air, but as soon as it started flying, it was tangled up in some tree branches. The frisbee fared better, although it also got stuck in a tree a couple of times...only to get knocked down by a football the guys kept throwing into the tree.

The wives did what they do best: chit chat. We just enjoyed each other, laughed, and had fun.

Wives laughing at husbands trying to
get their frisbee out of the tree

Every town and every city should have its own Central Park, a beautiful grassy park with trees for shade and open areas for such games as bochee ball (the guys spent half the evening playing). And every church should have a married couples home fellowship. I’ve never known so many married couples my age who I could relate to and fellowship with. It’s fun having married friends.

Memorial Day Photos

The Art of Negotiation

It used to be the place to go if you wanted a cheap Gucci purse. Or Prada wallet. Or Oakley sunglasses.

The streets of Chinatown used to be littered with luxury knock-offs on every corner, but in the past few years, they’ve come down hard on the vendors selling luxury imitation goods. 

Anyone who wants cheap jewelry, scarves, purses, sunglasses, and more can get them from tiny little shops about 50 sq. ft. big (although there are only about 20 sq. ft. of walking space). There are plenty of good-looking products that are cheaply made...about the quality of goods you would find in Forever 21 or H&M.

Shopping in Chinatown

Although high quality luxury knock-offs are not sold openly on the streets anymore, a person need not work further than a few feet before being accosted by an African American or Chinese, “Chanel? Louis? What you looking for? Handbag? Oakleys? Coach? What you looking for? Handbag? Sunglasses? Watches? Got Rolex. What you want?” or “Got purses in bags. Got purses in bags. Louis? Gucci?”

African Americans sit around on steps with giant black trash bags big enough to hold a big kid or small teen, and these bags are filled with luxury knock-offs. The Chinese, on the other hand, take you to a small room in the back of an alley - a small room with false walls - to show you their luxury goods.

One thing to remember about Chinatown: Never pay full price for anything. They give you one price. Then they immediately give you a lower one.

“How much is this purse?”

“$25. $20.”

“Okay. Thank you.”

“$20. Yeah? Okay. How much you want? You name price.”

“No thank you.”

“Name price. You name price.”

Sometimes, negotiation is as easy as not countering.

Philip was disappointed that I didn’t get a knock-off, but I did leave with a black metal double-headband with a jeweled flower and a small orange crossbody purse. My mom is the best haggler I know, and today was a testament to just how much I learned from her.

Starting price: $37

Ending price: $26

I’m looking forward to my next trip. Perhaps I’ll come home with a luxury imitation purse next time...and an even better deal!