Central Perk

Ahhh Summer….so many truly awesome things about summers in New York.  Here are some of my favorites;

Women busting out their summer whoregear attire, everyone migrating to the Hamptons on weekends while my broke ass can barely afford to sit on the roof of my building gazing at the picturesque view of a gas station, flawlessly applying makeup only to have it melt down my face 3 minutes after leaving my apartment, being in a subway car shoved up against sweaty tourists wearing fanny packs from Duluth, the smell of bubbling horse poo wafting in through my windows, and sitting on the great lawn in central park crazy-watching.  Here are some of the things one can expect to see on any given afternoon in Central Park (photos were taken yesterday…..thank God for camera phones);

1) Weird half naked overweight men taking naps.

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2) Couples dry humping one another as if the park is a setting for a cable access porno and they are the stars.

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3) Upper east side “I’ve had so many plastic surgery procedures that my face now looks like a science experiment gone retarded” women pushing their dogs in strollers.

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4) Musicians with random instruments like, say….bagpipes (which inevitably reminds me of that episode of “friends” where Ross plays ‘celebrate’ on the bagpipes….see video below) strolling up and down the paths.

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5) Hasidic Jews with ear curls wearing 907 layers of thick black clothing sweating like whores in church in the 90 degree heat.

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6) Men from Staten Island with gold chains around their neck staring at exposed bikini breasts shouting things like, “hey sexy….wanna come to papa?”

7) Trasian (trendy Asian) tourists taking a break from shopping at Fendi, Henri Bendel, and Gucci in 6 inch heels.

and

8.) Me walking around taking pictures of all the weirdos.

Career Shameer……Can’t I just get a sugar daddy?

craigslist_art_257_200804231320471I feel, as well as many of my fellow actors at the present time,  like I am having either a delayed “I’m 18 and I don’t know what to do with my life” crisis, or an early midlife crisis….and It came as a TOTAL shock to us music school graduates that we actually have NO skills outside of singing, and dancing. SO what happens when we want to live in the real world? Answer: we are screwed.

 I mean…..I love theater but I am just not making enough consistent money to survive as a functioning adult….especially in this balls economy. So the next logical question is ok……what else do I want to do with my life? This shouldn’t be too hard!  I mean…I am REALLY talented and good at SO many things.  I am quite optimistic!

 So, at 12:00 PM I open a new document on my computer with breathless anticipation and gear up to start writing all the things, aside from theater, that I am good at!   This is how the session went:

(after 10 minutes staring at the blank page) I exclaim,  ”I know…..no WONDER I haven’t been thinking of anything….I haven’t had my coffee yet!!!”

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20 minutes later I return with coffee in hand and snuggle back into my chair and write “Kimmy’s alternate career choices” 

After staring at the blinking curser for 30 minutes, I realize that I MUST be hungry.  Everyone knows you can’t properly think on an empty stomach, after all.  Eating will DEFINITELY get my neurons going.

After Eating giant sandwich, chips, milkshake, ahd half a pint of Phish Food ice cream, I am full.  Reeeeeeeally full.  So, I again sit down in front of the blinking curser and begin to brainstorm…..but my belly is so full and I am just uncomfortable sitting in front of the computer.  I have no choice but to move to the couch.  Hmmmm, maybe I should watch some TV to get ideas about different jobs that I’d be good at!  I can’t believe I hadn’t thought of that before!

 So I watch a 3 hour marathon of The Real Housewives of New York City and then an hour of Toddlers in Tiara’s (the show really SHOULD be called “I was ugly and fat in high school, so I am living vicariously through my toddler…..and ruining her life).  They should just take those kids straight from the pageants to the psych ward, where they will all eventually end up anyway.  A stitch in time saves 9, right?  SO why not cut out the middle man and put those girls behind padded walls now.

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Ok back to the topic at hand….. I finally feel READY to figure out my life.  I am once again in front of the blinking curser. It is 6:00 PM  

Ummm well…. I’m  really good at facebook. YES I AM!!  I’m good at facebook!!!…so I write it down 

1) Facebook!

Hmmmm I am good at singing!  wait….this is a backwards step.  OUT of musical theatre OUT of musical theater OUT OF THEATER!

I am good at making people laugh.  yes! Ok making people laugh is a go.  So I can make people laugh….on stage.  DOH!!!  

Oh yea!  I am REALLY good at Scrapbooking!   Scrapbooking for…….myself……..for no pay.  K, that’s not gonna work.

Urgh now I am hungry again.  (I take 30 minutes to eat) It’s now 6:30 PM

Back to the grind……I am going on Craigslist to see what jobs are out there;

1) Bloggers! (ooooh blogging job!!) “Bloggers must be comfortable blogging topless”  oh, um, no

2)Personal assistant! “7-10 years support experience at the C – Level or Chairman” (I don’t even know what this means) aaaaaand…thats out.

3) Personal Shopper!  I mean…..I LOVE to shop!!!!!! I’d be PERFECT  ”Qualified candidates must have a client book with their own loyal customers.”  Well, since all of my friends are broke out-of-work actors, this maaaaaay be an issue.  wah wah. onto the next.

4) Babysitting? “applicant must love children”   crap.  

K, I’m starting to get discouraged.  And realizing the only things I am good at pay 0 dollars a week. 

OOOH I got it!  I can be an egg donor!  I hear it pays SO well. “Donors will have 4-5 doctors appointments a week, be on very high estrogen birth control to sync you up with person receiving your eggs, go through at least 2 extraction surgeries which are extremely painful, complete medical history of donor and every family member……” Ok they lost me at extremely painful and 4-5 doctors appointments a week. scratch that.

THIS IS IT!!!  Someone needs help with his “booming film career” I could be his Production Assistant! YES!!!  I could totally do that. “Must be familiar with the adult film industry” aaaaaand scene

So, it’s 12:46 AM and so far I have ;

Kimmy’s Alternate career choices

1) Facebook.  

Fuck.

Match.douche

chipotle

Soooo contrary to what one would think, it is INCREDIBLY difficult to date in NYC.  Even though there are millions of people crammed on this tiny island, meeting a possible love interest is as difficult as catching a NY bus that does NOT stop every single block for a wheelchair to be moved in and out on a hydraulic lift that takes at LEAST 20 minutes. (this happens EVERY SINGLE time I get on a bus….like it’s some cruel karmic joke)

    I mean, if you are say, a cute, spunky, theater girl surrounded by anti-vagina theater gays in her profession who also refuses to go online and date again…..what are your other options?  I mean….when someone who I don’t know approaches me on the street, I automatically think they are crazy and walk briskly away, or pelt them with my bag.  We are so conditioned to think that rapists are lurking around every corner just waiting to mug, rape, and pillage us. So our natural inclination is to flee that situation by walking/running/skipping away as fast as we can while ignoring the poor person who was only going to ask us directions to the Shubert theater.  Yes, this is probably a useful survival technique, but NOT a good dating one.  

I was on a train last week making very blatant eye contact with a cute man across the aisle just waiting for him to give me his number and tell me I am OBVIOUSLY the woman of his dreams. I naturally start making a list of my bridesmaids, and mentally trying on several wedding dresses with similar plunging necklines. So… the train stops and he gets up, walks directly towards me, puts his head next to mine (I turn my head ever so slightly and pout my lips in anticipation for the kiss that will end all other kisses) and says, “Excuse me maam, can you move your head a bit to the right so I can see the map behind you?”  MA’AM!!??  When did I graduate to Ma’am??!!!? First stop “ma’am”, second stop Adult diapers and metamucil.  So, ok, the train is out, the sidewalk approach is out, internet is out, and musical theater is certainly out (no pun intended).  Where does that leave us single girls??

I read in New York Magazine that the number 1 pick up joint in New York city Is……..wait for it………Chipotle.  Chipotle?????!  So, I am supposed to go sit at chipotle alone and wait for an attractive man to come sit next me and stuff his face with a burrito the size of a full grown pit bull?  As he is shoving copious amounts of bean cheese, sour cream, and guac in his mouth, I can only assume the conversation would be like this:

Me: Hi!!! My Name is Kimmy!  Nice to Meet you!!!

Mouth full cutie:  Shwah fgam huwads Davidh (tiny piece of sour cream glops into his lap)

Me: Um…k….good talk.

So, that seems highly unlikely too.  New York Magazine also suggests dining alone in a nice restaurant so men will approach you.  Ok First off, I probably can’t afford this restaurant.  Secondly, when I see people sitting alone at nice restaurants I just feel bad for them. Ya ya so maybe they like dining alone blah blah blah, but I can’t help it….I feel like they must not have one single person in the word to eat with, and if that is the case, they are clearly bat shit crazy homicidal maniacs who chop up little children and make them into soups.  And I never really liked soup,  sooooo….. that’s out.

So what are we left with? Bars? Christ.  So you walk into a loud bar dressed in your whore gear and battle 30 other girls in similar whore gear for the bar tender’s attention. After you elbow the blonde bitch next to you who CLEARLY got here AFTER you, and has wedged herself between your vagina and the bar, you finally get his attention by pushing her head to one side and talking before she has a chance to react.

Me (over bass so loud my body is thrashing up and down): Can I have a vodka soda?

Bartender: a WHAT?

Me: a vodka soda!!

Bartender: GIN AND TONIC???

Me: V O D K A   S O D A!!!!!! (my voice starts to get hoarse)

Bartender: THAT WILL BE $27 PLEASE!!!

Me: (cries on the inside as she forks over the money and is handed a thimble full of ice and a splash of vodka. )

So, then you and your friends take a lap around the room and see drunk men’s eyes go directly towards your breasts and stay there for the remainder of the night.  You finally stumble upon a group of young professional guys laughing and having a good time.  You start up a conversation with said men;

Me (Screaming to be heard over 50 foot subwoofers playing Kanye West): SO WHAT DO YOU DO??

Yuppie #1 (speaks to my breasts)1: OH I WORK IN BLAH BLAH BLAH BLAH WALL STREET BAH BLAH SECURITIES BLAH 

Me: UM..YA! THAT SOUNDS….INTERESTING?

Yuppie(again…directed to my breasts): YES, IT IS…WE ARE WORKING ON A BLAH BLAH BLAH MERGER BLAH BLAH. I’M REALLY EXCITED ABOUT IT.  BLAH!!

Me: YA. THAT DOES SOUND REALLY UM, EXCITING.

Yuppie: WHAT DO YOU DO??

Me: MUSICAL THEATER

Yuppie (at breasts): (Blank look) OH. IS THAT LIKE A PLAY OR SOMETHING? AREN’T THERE A LOT OF GAY DUDES IN THAT?

Me: (gives the universal “save me from this douche” signal)

Yuppie#2 (subtly slips his ring finger into his pocket) Side Note: this really happened: HEY! WHAT’S YOUR NAME?

Me: HI…NICE TO MEET YOU, MY NAME IS “NEVERGONNAHAPPEN”. (I walk away)

So, the chances of meeting a guy at a bar who understands what we do for a livingbar1are slim to none.

 

Sooo back to the online drawing board we go. I did Match.com once a few years back and met some…um….interesting people, to say the least. One guy and I had been shooting witty emails back and forth for weeks which, of course, was awesome because I dig funny guys.  The pictures he had up on the site were literally abercrombie modeling shots from an ad campaign a few years back. I was skeptical that this guy was a real abercrombie model (and didn’t like-a-the-penis), so I prepared for our meeting by telling myself  he would most likely not look anything like those pictures. I was just hoping he’d fall somewhere into the “Not totally deformed and hideous” category.  Well, I was wrong.  He looked BETTER than the pictures.  I was shocked. He sounded a little like Donald Duck, but I quickly looked past that into his dreamy green eyes and pretty, PRETTY face.  SO, the night went surprisingly well.  We went to a bar with a fireplace and got to know each other over many glasses of Shiraz. The witty banter was flowing with the wine and we were in Defcom Phase 3 flirtation mode. I was almost giddy…this guy was too good to be true! Model turned wall street broker from the midwest who is close with his family and FUNNY. So it’s getting late and he had to get up for work ,so he put me in a cab…..but not before he insisted on making our next date.  He PAID the cabbie and I drove home. I called my mom on the way;

Me: Mom! I just met my future husband!

Mom: Oh Great!! SO the date went well?

Me: SOO well, he’s from the midwest, loves his jo……hold on mom I think he just text me.  Aww I bet it was so say goodnight 

Me (looks at phone and reads text aloud)  ”Hey baby (aww!) I can’t wait to see you tonight and cum on your t^$#@ in the kitchen floor next to the refrigerator. And then we’ll ********** (content censored from this point)

Me: Um mom, gotta go.

I analyzed that text for a great while trying to rememer if I had gotten so drunk that I didn’t remember having a conversation about sex next to a refrigerator…or near any kitchen appliance for that matter.  Nope…..pretty sure that NEVER happened.  He was Sexting someone else!  30 seconds after our date he was sexting some other girl.  I decided to text him back and tell him he had accidentally written me instead.

me: Ummm just to let you know, you just text Kim.  I don’t know if that was on purpose or not.

He was never to be heard from again.

Moral of that story??? Move to one of those adorable polygamist compounds and have your marriage(s) arranged for you.  MUCH easier.

I see stupid people….

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I feel there should be some kind of test one has to take to live in the city of New York, because I think we have successfully hit our idiot quota.  

Me ordering a sandwich at subway yesterday: “Hi, can I have a 6 inch turkey on wheat, no cheese”

Sandwich artist with IQ of a retarded chimp: “Do you want cheese on that?”

Me: “No.”

Sandwich artist: “lettuce/tomato?”

Me: “Yes”

Sandwich artist: “what kind of cheese?”

Me: (blinks) 

Or this verbatim conversation that happened yesterday in my bank;

Worried woman (rushing up to the bank teller window): “Did you find a phone here? I think I left my blackberry this morning. Did anyone turn it in?”

Bank teller: “No, but what’s your cell…..we can call you if it turns up.”

Woman: (silence)

    If you haven’t yet discovered www.overheardinnewyork.com please run, don’t walk.  This site is genius…..I mean, if you are a New Yorker, you have heard many a dumbass conversation while you are out and about on any given day.  This site provides a sounding board for people to post the hilarious things they hear.  So, I thought I’d dedicate this post to stupid people everywhere…..you know who you are;

Button-down and khakis guy #1: I wish I had a bi-polar friend…it’d be like having two friends in one!
Button-down guy #2, completely serious: Yeah, that’d be awesome.

 

Three-year-old boy: This is an iPhone, it can play YouTube videos.
Three-year-old girl: I know.

 

Woman looking for friend who got lost in massive crowd: Marco! Marco!
Massive crowd of people: Polo!

 

Guy #1: So when’s your birthday?
Guy #2: It’s June 24.
Guy #1: Hey, mine is May 24.
Guy #2: And my girlfriend’s is January 24.
Guy #1: Wow…we should all have sex.

 

Hobo #1: Britney Spears is a pussy.
Hobo #2: I was tapping her before she got pregnant.

 

Subway operator: This downtown 1 train will not be stopping at 50th Street. I repeat, will not be stopping at 50th Street.
(a minute passes)
Subway operator
: We will not be stopping at 50th Street. There is a stalled train there. We will be going straight to 42nd without stopping at 50th.

(another minute goes by)
Subway operator
: This is a downtown 1 train, next stop will be 50th. Shit! 42nd.

 

Guy #1(in PATH station): I went out drinking last night and didn’t smoke.
Guy #2: Except cock.
Guy #1: Yeah, besides that.

 

Hobo with cup of change in hand: You have any change?
College kid: Sorry, I don’t have any money.
Hobo: Get a fucking job.
College kid: Fuck you! You first!
Hobo: I’m working right now, asshole.

 

If you have heard any ridiculous conversations recently, please send ‘em my way.  And, for the love of God, if you are stupid…please don’t procreate.