I think I have a little explaining to do on my absence from the world wide web. Most of it can be explained by the fact that my house has terrible wifi and my computer refuses to connect. The second half of that has to do with the fact that I have an internship with a CNN show called "The Next List" (view the Blog here) that can be seen at 2 pm ET on Sundays (shameless plug).
When I was thinking about my plans for the summer I never imagined I would be here. I thought I would be working as a cashier in my local grocery store again and potentially studying for the GREs. I never imagined I would have this opportunity. For once in my life I consider myself lucky.
I would not have received this internship without the amazing support from the T. Howard Foundation. T. Howard seeks to place students of diverse backgrounds in internships in the media industry. I have been wanting to blog about my orientation with them since it happened in the beginning of June, but the aforementioned circumstances have kept me busy. Let me just say that it was two and a half wonderful days where I met some amazing people learned more then I could ever have hoped about the industry, networking, and general business etiquette. It really made me think (and I am still thinking) about the kind of life do want to have when I leave college and what that means in terms of a career. All real life, pretty scary things to think about. There is so much about the media industry that I do not know about, so many jobs I could have that I have never even heard of yet and orientation opened my eyes to the numerous possibilities that are out there. After leaving I feel a bit more prepared to take on the world; although I am still partially in denial that such a thing as the "real world" exists.
Me in my fancy work clothes
Nevertheless I started my internship about a week and a half ago. Things that were so scary on the first day (like remembering everyone's names) have become easy by now and I am getting the hang of working in an office. CNN is a lot more casual then I expected it to be. I was afraid of this huge corporate environment where I would be a lowly intern sent to fetch coffee in a scene not unlike one from The Devil Wears Prada. However, that is not the case at all here. Everyone in my department knows my name and I have worked with each one individually. On my second day I was calling people and looking for a location where we could shoot -not your typically intern tasks. The other intern and I even get to work on our own project as something that we can take away with us. Ihave only been here a short time and I have learned so much already.
I have already started thinking about changing my schedule for next year so I can take more production classes. I want to learn more. I want to take the skills I have learned in the classroom and continue applying them in real life situations. I am not sure yet what I want to do with my life, but I know I am taking steps in the right direction to make my dreams (whatever they may be) come true.
Since this is the first official Thursday of summer and it has been a scorcher here in New York and because I have been bad and have not blogged in awhile (reason for that upcoming), I give you, not one, not two, but FIVE songs you should know for what I like to call ITYSKT: Summer Songs. 1.) Summertime Sadness- Lana Del Rey
My friend posted this song on facebook about a month ago and I kept looking for the opportune moment to share it...looks like I missed that moment because the original is no longer on youtube. I did find a live recording that is close to the album recorded one. I love this song because it speaks of goodbyes that inevitably come with the changing of the seasons. When I first heard it I thought it was mournful and yet beautiful at the same time.
"Kiss me hard before you go
Summer time sadness I just wanted you to know That baby you're the best I've got that summertime, summertime sadness"
2.) Summer in the City-Regina Spektor
I know I already shared Regina Spektor recently, but this song is appropriate for a number of reasons. First, I have been spending most of my summer in New York City so it is a song that always comes to mind during my time here (again, more on that later). Second, it is perfect and truthful and for me always brings up memories of hot, sweaty, summer days like today. It also expresses a lot of things I have been feeling lately like how a city can be so big and make you feel so alone.
"Summer in the city, I'm so lonely lonely lonely I've been hallucinating you, babe, at the backs of other women And I tap on their shoulder and they turn around smiling But there's no recognition in their eyes Oh summer in the city means cleavage cleavage cleavage And don't get me wrong, dear, in general I'm doing quite fine It's just when it's summer in the city, and you're so long gone from the city I start to miss you, baby, sometimes"
3.) Youth without Youth- Metric
You may recognize Metric from the soundtrack of Scott Pilgrim vs. the World where their song "Black Sheep" was sung by Envy Adams (Brie Larson). They are one of the few bands that can get away with being fronted by a female because Emily Haines is equal parts sweetness and attitude. While this song is not necessarily about summer, it is a song about playing outside and watching your youth slip away- two things I think summer is all about. It also has a feeling of nostalgia in bringing up song titles from the past.
"Hangman we played blind man's Bluff til they stopped the game Youth without Youth born without time, Youth without
Youth, can you read my mind?"
4.) Escape in the Afternoon- French Films
How could I not love a band with a name like this? I found this band as a result of youtube stumbling (try it, you won't regret it) and I was instantly hooked by their sunny sound. This is one of those songs that should have a music video with teenagers doing fun things like swimming and running and dancing and kissing and just generally making you jealous that your life is not as awesome.
"Oh take me
Anywhere the sun shines
Away the harms of mankind off my shoulders
'Cause anything that we were meant to be
Was lost but I want to escape in the afternoon
To see the youth run through my hands"
5.) Good Vibrations- Beach Boys
For me any summer playlist is not complete without the Beach Boys. They are the quintessential summer band; you can feel the sunshine oozing from their every note. Everyone knows their music so they do not really belong on this list, but I could not help myself. I like all their songs. I had trouble just picking one, but for some reason "Good Vibrations" is always the first to pop into my head when I head out to the beach. Plus, it is a classic.
"I love the colorful clothes she wears And the way the sunlight plays upon her hair I hear the sound of a gentle word On the wind that lifts her perfume through the air I'm pickin' up good vibrations She's giving me excitations"
I feel like the universe is trying to send me a signal. The other day on my train ride into the city the girl next to me was reading A Game of Thrones. It happened again on the subway. Two of my good friends and my boyfriend are reading the book series as well. My dad is obsessed with the HBO show. And me? I just feel like I am missing out on something. A Song of Ice and Fire, the series written by George R. R. Martin, and the show "Game of Thrones" have become one of the most talked about series in awhile. Usually I am part of major cultural phenomena. If you have read any of my blog or follow me on twitter you know what a diehard Harry Potter fan I was from the very beginning. I devoured The Hunger Games trilogy. I jumped on the Twilight bandwagon...before jumping right off. I have even perused 50 Shades of Grey before refusing to read it. I do not know what it is about (A) Game of Thrones that has aliened me so.
Girl power all the way.
After everyone could not stop talking about the first season of the show my boyfriend and I watched it. Watching it late left me open to spoilers like the deaths of major characters-but it was my own fault. However, it did take away some of the shock and awe of the series for me. I have seen maybe two episodes of the current season and again I find myself in no hurry to catch up. Do not get me wrong, I really like it, but I am not an avid fan like most others. I love Emilia Clarke as Daenerys Targaryen whose character portrays both power and vulnerability in equal measures and the adorable and sometimes identical looking Stark (half) brothers. Even everyone's favorite character, Peter Dinklage as Tyrion Lannister I find amusing, but not as rave worthy as everyone else seems to believe. I just cannot seem to agree with the masses on this one. I somehow feel like I missed the boat. I know it is never too late to get into a series; if I just picked up a book or started watching I could be caught up in no time, but I hate being so far behind. I despise having friends ask, "what page are you on?" and when you tell them they shake their heads knowingly and say, "oh just wait what happens next." Even if they do not tell you anything it tarnishes the first reading/watching experience which I believe should remain pure.
Yes, I'm talking to you J.K.
Another part of me just does not want to read it solely because everyone else is; maybe it is the hipster in me. I just cannot believe what a big deal Game of Thrones has become. I feel like everyone is either reading or watching it. I know it is not to the same extent, but this is what it must have been like to be a non-Harry Potter fan during the height of Pottermainia. It is like I do not want to give in and let the rest of the world know they are right. Even though I have watched a season of the show and read two chapters of the first book.
I will probably continue to watch the second season and maybe get up to the point where I can actually watch the third season live. Until then I will contemplate why I do not want to be part of another fandom. I have given my heart to authors so many times and it has been exhausting. I have devoted myself to them and in return they have killed some of my favorite characters, made horrible movie adaptations, and then stopped writing the series and moved on. I take it personally. My heart cannot take it any more. I think it is time I sit this round out.
