ATC in NYC

If by chance I end up living in this city permanently, I do solemnly swear to never take the view for granted. Please hold me to it.

The Coolest Season in the Coolest City

Why My iPod Will Make Me Miss My Subway Stop

If Damien Rice Were Obscure Enough to Star in a Musical

A Throwback to Lunches in Third Grade

As much as you may think Belmont’s PR guy hired me to write this (I did take a class from him freshman year!), I am actually really excited to go back to school next semester.

For starters, it was just >announced< that Belmont will host the Town Hall Presidential Debate for the 2008 election season. That’s a big deal. While I was piddling around on The Tennessean’s website, I also noticed our basketball team just beat Alabama. That’s a really big deal. Right?

This only goes to show you can do great things when you get that smelly TBC to stop bullying you around.

I admit, it’s known for being a tad idiosyncratic. I mean, the powers that be were not happy enough to have an alum make it to the #3 position on American Idol - they had to name a street after her. But any university that will allow me to make up my own major and let me spend an entire semester living and working in New York is golden in my book.

Manahttan will be a pretty hard place to leave. But at least I don’t have to go back to Vanderbilt for a year and a half (just kidding Christine!).

What in the world are you supposed to do in this city when there is a >strike on Broadway<?!

Apparently, there is actually quite a bit to do when the lights go down at the theaters…

1. Head to SoHo (if you dare fight the crowds) and pick out some new winter clothing. With temps dipping to the 30s and 20s, you’re going to need some warmer attire… quickly.

2. Catch up on the latest at the cineplex. Try something quirky, such as >Lars and the Real Girl<. Disclaimer: the only time the movie theaters should be utilized is during said strike action (or after you have failed miserably at obtaining rush tickets).

3. Hit the books at B-orders. Or Barnes and Noble. Does anybody else miss those 40% off coupons the Borders Rewards people e-mailed out like every week when the program first started? Those were the days…

4. Go skating in Bryant Park. It’s free! If you have skates… But to rent them is only $10, which really is a small price to pay for sheer Christmastime merriment.

5. Nothing! Now I’m not going to admit that I slept until 4:30 today… but sometimes doing absolutely nothing in New York can be surprsingly fulfilling…

I believe I reached a new level of arrogance this evening - I walked out of a legit Broadway play at intermission. Why Andrew, you say, would you do a thing like that? Some people would kill to be in your position right now. Let me say, in my defense, that the tickets were free. So no harm done there. Furthermore, I could not comprehend a single thing that was happening on stage.

The show was Rock’N'Roll, a new London import from famed playwright Tom Stoppard.  All I know is that it had something to do with communism, something to do with Pink Floyd and absolutely nothing to do with fun, frothy entertainment. Which isn’t a bad thing, by any means. It’s just that dramas so cerebral you can’t penetrate them with a jackhammer are not my idea of a fun Saturday night. I should have known to stay away as I had trouble deciphering the basic plot of >Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead< senior year.

The only other pieces of entertainment I can remember walking out of were the original Austin Powers (my mom made us… and I don’t blame her) and the recent film Closer (which was not a light-hearted Julia Roberts comedy like my group originally thought). Let’s take a poll: what memorable (or rather, less-than-memorable) concerts/shows/movies can you recall walking out of before they were over?